Five Pebbles from the Brook Part 9

[fn61 before "and" insert "Grammar"]

[fn62 for "violations" read "quotations"]

[fn63 Gospel ac. to John. xii, 38. Rom. x. 16. Acts viii.,32, 33.]

[fn64 That Grotius would sometimes prevaricate to serve a turn is certain. There is an anecdote on record, contained in the notes to Gibbon's account of Mohammed in his Roman History, which proves this. In Grotius' famous book on the truth of the Christian Religion, there is a story that Mohammed had a tame pidgeon which he taught to come and peck in his ear, in order to make his followers believe that the bird was the organ by whom he received revelations from G.o.d. This story is not believed, nor was ever heard of among the Musselmen. On the publication of Grotius'

book, a friend learned in Oriental Literature, came to him and asked him for his authority for this story, Grotius frankly owned that he had none, in other words that the story was a pious fraud in order to stigmatize Mohammedanism. "This story" Gibbon says, "was accordingly left out of the Arabic version of Grotius' Book, intended to circulate among the-Musselmen, for fear that they should laugh at such a piece of ignorance or effrontery: but it still maintains an edifying place in those copies printed for the perusal of Christians."! I quote from memory.

It is really a pity that the Protestant Church, which like a Magdalen professes to repent other errors committed during her former connection with "the mother of abominations," should yet retain so many of the bad habits contracted during their past intimacy.

Some folks have even pretended to have observed, that notwithstanding their old quarrel, they seem to have recommenced a "nodding acquaintance." I hope the report is untrue.]

[fn65 Mr. Everett will probably say, that he made these deadly stabs at my character upon the same principle that the New England Cobbler killed the Indian Hogan Mogan. "Not out of malice, but mere zeal Because he was an infidel."]

[fn66 I have a right to believe so, for Mr. Everett quotes Priestley's notes, p. 339 of his work. Dr. Priestley united in his character, the rare concurrence of a keen controversial writer, with great fairness and candour. He seems always to have been willingly disposed to resign an untenable opinion, when convinced by the arguments of his opponent. His conduct in regard to the question between the Jews and Christians, may be considered as a proof of this. He wrote letters to the Jews in defence of Christianity, which were replied to by Levi. In this controversy Levi had evidently the better of Priestley. Priestley seems to have been sensible of this, which occasioned him to examine the question more minutely. The result of his examination led him to avow, in a Dissertation in the Theological Repository published in England, I believe in the very one which Mr. Everett refers to [Theol. Rep. vol. 5.] that the prophets clearly justify the Jews for expecting as their Messiah, a glorious monarch of the house and name of David, who should reign over them and all the human race; but he also maintained as I think in the same Dissertation, that Jesus Christ is nevertheless predicted by the 53d. of Isaiah. Several years afterwards, when Priestley resided in America, he published his notes on Scripture, wherein he abandons the Christian interpretation, of the 53d. of Isaiah, and applies it as I do to the Jewish nation.]

[fn67 If all that Mr. Everett has said upon this subject were true, it would amount after all only to an argument ad prejudicium, for the Jews of past times, who believed the dreams of the Rabbies, but is of no weight whatever with those who reject them, as do all the Biblical critics of the present day.]

[fn68 There occurs to me an instance of carelessness or something worse on the part of Mr. Everett in p. 342 of his work. I had said in my first publication, that "there is in the speech of James, Arts xv. a quotation from Amos in which, to make it fit the subject, (which after all it does not fit) is the subst.i.tution of the words "the remnant of men," for "the remnant of Edom," as it is in the original." On this Mr. Everett remarks with astonis.h.i.+ng'

composure, "There are few of my readers to whom I need say, that the same Hebrew word means 'men,' and 'Edom,' according'

as it is p.r.o.nounced, and St. James has as fair a right to p.r.o.nounce it men,' as Mr. English has to p.r.o.nounce it 'Edom.'" The only way by which Mr. Everett can escape the charge of fraud in this affair, is by allowing that he did not take the trouble to look at the pa.s.sage quoted from Amos, ix. 12. in the Hebrew Bible, from which it will appear that neither St. James, nor any other Saint, has a right to read the pa.s.sage "the remnant of men" (or Adam;) because the Hebrew word contains a letter (vau,) which the word Adam does not contain, and which limits its signification to Edom.

I would observe by the. way, that the pa.s.sage in Amos "that they, (i. e. Israel,) may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen (or nations) which are called by my name, appears to contain an allusion to the Christians and Mohammedans, who are the only nations besides the Jews who invoke, the name of Jehovah, and profess faith in his prophets. There are not a few pa.s.sages in the prophets, which have a significance at present, which they could not have had at the time the predictions were uttered.]

[fn69 for "sun" read "been"]

[fn70 for "simple" read "single"]

[fn71 In the beginning of the 9th. ch. of Daniel, the prophet says; "I Daniel, understood by books the number of years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord G.o.d, to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." It appears from his prayer, that he supposed the Babylonish captivity of seventy years, would terminate the chastis.e.m.e.nt of his nation. Upon which the angel Gabriel was sent to "give him skill and understanding,"

and to inform him, that their chastis.e.m.e.nt would not be terminated by the captivity of seventy years, but by one of "seventy times seven," i. e. a long and undefined period. The words "seven," and "seventy," were frequently used by the Hebrews to signify an indefinite number, and "seventy times seven" is a Hebreism used to signify a great and indefinite number. Thus one of the disciples of Jesus is represented as asking him, "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him; until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven." Mat. ch. xviii. 21, 22.]

[fn72 In my first work I had alleged this prophecy of Daniel, and had inserted this word "in" enclosed in a parenthesis, in order to signify, that it was not in the original, but was suggested by it as necessary to the sense of the original. This "in," in a parenthesis, the zealous Mr. Everett, who loves to find fault, p.r.o.nounces to be "an absolute interpolation," "and a shameless one too." p. 157 of his work.]

[fn73 The reader will see that I suppose the original to make one period of seven weeks, and one of sixty-two. "The English translation renders it "seven weeks and threescore and two weeks," making one period of the two. This appears to me to be inadmissible: because if the prophet meant to signify but one period, he would, as I think, have said, according to the a.n.a.logy of the Hebrew language, not "seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks," but "nine weeks and threescore, weeks," In the Hebrew the clauses of the seven weeks, and sixty and two weeks, are separated by a character which frequently, in the Hebrew Bible, performs the function of a full stop.]

[fn74 delete "Joshua]

[fn75 read "heels over head"]

[fn76 Mr. Everett appear; himself to have been somewhat embarra.s.sed by the gravity he is obliged to maintain in holding forth this ant.i.thetical "a.n.a.logy." For he says, that he forbears "to pursue a.n.a.logies like these, which though they abound in the writings of the Old Testament, [I challenge him to point out a single such instance] and are familiar to all the nations of the East, have long been succeeded among us by a stricter style of reasoning" p. 178. They have indeed been long since exploded by the Modern Biblical Critics: and I doubt not that if this curious a.n.a.logy should ever be subject to the notice of Eichorn or Lessing, they would in their closets peruse it "with a smile or a sigh."]

[fn77 "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?--I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat--I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the peoples there vas none with me: for I trode them in mine anger, and trampled them in my fury, and Their blood sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment.

For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help: and I wondered there was none to uphold, therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury it upheld me, and I trode down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my fury, and I brought down their strength to the earth." See Is. ch. lxiii. in the Hebrew. This pa.s.sage relates to the "Great and Terrible Day of Jehovah." mentioned in Malachi. The Psalms of the Prophets abound with descriptions of [fn78] it both terrible and magnificent.

See for example Ezekiel x.x.xviii: & xv-xix chapters. Joel ch. iii. and Zech. ch. xiv.]

[fn78 for "of" read "and"]

[fn79 The enumerations given by the Jews themselves are always below the truth. They conceal the real amount for particular reasons. In Spain and Portugal, where it is dangerous for a man to be known to be a Jew, there are notwithstanding, many thousands; probably one third of the population of Portugal is of Jewish descent. I have seen a Jew at Paris, who had resided several years in Spain, who has told me, that the number of his nation in Spain is great and unsuspected. I believe him, for Orobio and Acosta, both Jews of the Peninsula, affirm that Jews disguised as Christians, were to be found not only among the populace of the Peninsula, but among the n.o.bles and bishops. In those countries (Spain and Portugal,) where the Inquisition obliged every body to be educated as Christians, the fathers who were secretly Jews, were accustomed, when their children came to the years of discretion, to inform them of their descent, and to engage them secretly to conform to the religion of their fathers. If they found their conversion impracticable, these wretched parents were accustomed to poison such children, to prevent their communicating the dangerous secret to the Inquisition, which would occasion the whole family to be burned alive. See the Biography of Orobio and Acosta for some interesting information upon this subject.]

[fn80 for "exonerated" read "consecrated"]

[fn81 "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel, neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me," i. e. the house of David and the tribe of Levi shall never be extinct, when called upon to fulfil the prophecies of the kingdom of the Messiah, and the re-establishment of the ritual of the temple, David will not want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel, neither will the priests the Levites want a man to do sacrifice. And how was this to be secured, because says G.o.d, "as the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites the priests that minister unto me." That this is the sense of the phrase "shall not want a. man," is evident from the employment of the same expression by Jeremiah in x.x.xv. of his Prophecies: "Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the G.o.d of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever, ch. x.x.xv. 19. i. e. not that a particular descendant of Jonadab the son of Rechab should always be standing in the presence of the Lord for ever: but that he should never want a representative, his posterity should never be cut off. It is a singular fact that the descendants of Jonadab the son of Rechab still exist in Arabia, preserving' the customs of their fathers; they are called "Beni al Khaib," i. e. descendants of Heber. See Jud. ch. iv. 11.

To these considerations it may be added, that Jeremiah himself predicts the dethronement of the house of David, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the priests, and the whole Jewish nation, and as it is an allowed principle of sound criticism that if the expressions of a writer are capable of two significations, 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 should be interpreted in the sense which excludes self contradiction.]

[fn82 Ezekiel gives a. prophecy of the same events spoken of by Jeremiah, and in these words. "Thus saith Jehovah G.o.d; I will even gather you from the peoples, and a.s.semble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered; and I will give you the land of Israel. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their G.o.d." Ezek. x. xi. 17, 18, 19, 20.

Now what is meant in the Old Testament by "G.o.d's statutes, and G.o.d's ordinances," is not the Mosaic law always signified by these expressions? Again, Ezek. says, ch. x.x.xvi. 23, &c. "I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord G.o.d, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, 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 release you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." See also Ezekiel, ch. x.x.xvii.

from verse 20 to the end.]

[fn83 for "the" read "a"]

[fn84 Ac. to the Hebrew.]

[fn85 In my first publication I had maintained, that Jesus Christ had not taught the abolishment of the Law, and alleged in proof the pa.s.sages following. "Think not I am come to destroy the law or the Prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pa.s.s, one jot [i. e. the smallest letter of it] or one t.i.ttle shall in no wise pa.s.s from the law till all be fulfilled." (or consummated) Mat. v. 17. 18. "It is easier for heaven and earth to pa.s.s, than one t.i.ttle of the law to fail." Luke. xvi. 17.

Mr. Everett has a device by which he thinks he can evade the gripe of these pa.s.sages: perhaps the following may satisfy him that there is no way of escape. Luke reports, Acts xxi. 20. that James the bishop of the mother church of Jerusalem, said to Paul, "Thou seest brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe: [i. e. are Christians] and they are all zealous of the Law." Now if Jesus Christ had taught the abolishment of the Law, it appears to me that, his followers would not have been zealous in adhering to it: as to do so would be giving the lie to their master's doctrine.]

[fn86 So called, in Is. Ch. lxvi. 22.]

[fn87 The ancient Britons were savages and painted themselves blue when wis.h.i.+ng to appear in full dress. In truth it is hardly three hundred years since the bears of Europe have learned to walk up on their hinder legs, and had "a man's heart given unto them." And it is only about two hundred years since "the wild boar out of the forest" [fn88] has become a learned pig. It is not much more than a hundred years since the people of Boston, have left off hanging their fellow creatures for being witches and Quakers.]

[fn88 after "forest" insert "of the North"]

[fn89 Mohammed was descended from Abraham through Ishmael.]

[fn90 The numerous regulations concerning defilement, and the ritual of purification, contained in the Pentateuch, were very proper in reference to the immediate and personal presence of the Divinity among the Israelites, which therefore rendered the most perfect cleanliness a duty. These regulations were also adopted to the peculiar circ.u.mstance of the Jewish nation, which, was separated from all the rest of mankind and not obliged to go over their frontier to mingle with other people. But it is very true that such regulations are "not calculated for us" Gentiles; because men who are obliged constantly to mingle with other men, cannot observe them.]

[fn91 for "rights" read "rites"]

[fn92 delete "the"]

[fn93 According to 1 Chron. ch. xxix, 3, &c. the gold employed in adorning the Temple, amounted to at least 8000 talents, and the silver to 17000 talents. This vast ma.s.s of treasure was given by David and his princes: how much was added to it by Solomon is not said.]

[fn94 The number of the males of the tribe of Levi in the time of Moses, is said, Numbers, ch. xxvi. 62. to have been twenty three thousand. But in the reign of Solomon the number of males of the tribe of Levi from thirty years and upwards, was thirtyeight thousand. See 1 Chron. ch. xxiii, 3.]

[fn95 for "streaming" read "steaming"]

[fn96 The name of the Deity "JEHOVAH," is a compound of two Hebrew words, the first of which signifies "HE IS," and the second "HE SHALL BE." The word JEHOVAH expresses these two sublime ideas in three syllables.]

[fn97 for "unfeeling" read "unreflecting"]

[fn98 Mr. Everett represents me as supposing (because I maintain that it is the sense of the prophets that the temple of Jerusalem will oneday be the house of prayer for all mankind) that all nations must come and wors.h.i.+p at the temple three times a year as the Jews were required to do. See Mr. Everett's work, p.

207.

But if Mr. Everett were more familiar with the Bible, he would learn that the prophets represent that this visit to the future temple, from other nations than the Jews, will be required only once a year.

"And it shall come to pa.s.s, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to wors.h.i.+p the King Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles." Zech. ch. xiv. 16.

Now supposing that the Old Testament predicts the truth in affirming that the earth is to be restored to its primitive state, as it was at the beginning, when G.o.d viewed every thing that he had made, and behold it was very good. If the earth is spontaneously to produce the delicious nourishment which we may suppose that Adam enjoyed, a journey once a year through an ever varied paradise to the temple of Jehovah, can surely be no toil. If a person will look at the situation of Jerusalem on a map of the world, he will be sensible, that no spot on earth is as eligible to be chosen for a common centre of wors.h.i.+p for mankind as that city. It stands about sixty miles from the Mediterranean, which communicates with the Atlantic, and not many days Journey from the Red Sea, which communicates with the Indian Ocean. And when the winds and waves shall cease to be dangerous, who would not desire to visit as often as possible, the land which is said to be "the glory of all lands," and illuminated by the ineffable symbol of the immediate presence of the Lord of the Universe, at whose effulgence "the sun shall be ashamed, and the moon confounded."

Neither is it necessary to suppose, that I know of, that every man of the human race should be annually present; if some come from all nations, all nations may be said to come. See Appendix, I.]