decalogue also intimate that the institution of the Sabbath was not a new thing in Israel. The fourth precept is introduced by the word "remember," which is not the case with any of the others. Several heathen writers, among whom are Homer, Hesiod and Linus, mention the seventh day as a festival and solemn day, because all things were finished within six days."—(Allix.)

"In confirmation that all men have been derived from one family, let it be observed, that there are many customs and usages, both sacred and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, which could owe their origin to nothing but a general institution, which could never have existed, had not mankind been of the same blood originally, and instructed in the same common notions before they were dispersed. Among these usages may be reckoned,-1. The numbering by tens.-2. Their computing time by a cycle of seven days.-3. Their setting apart the seventh day for religious purposes.— 4. Their use of sacrifices, propitiatory and eucharistical.-5. The consecration of temples and altars.— 6. The institution of sanctuaries or places of refuge, and their privileges.-7. Their giving a tenth for the use of the altar.-8. The custom of worshipping the Deity barefooted.-9. Abstinence previous to their offering sacrifices.-10. The order of the priesthood, and its support.-11. The notion of legal pollutions.-12. The universal tradition of a general deluge.-13. The universal opinion that the rainbow was a divine sign.-14. And the olive branch a token of peace."-(Clarke.)

The truth of the things related by Moses, might,

as we have already seen, be very easily preserved by uninterrupted tradition. The patriarchs were remarkable for their longevity, and in the absence of books, and that infinite variety of news, which are in circulation at the present day, would be more likely to talk over, again and again, in the course of eight or nine hundred years, all the remarkable things that happened when they were young; and as there was but one Adam and Eve, and one Cain and Abel, &c., it was not possible for these things to be forgotten. Adam could relate them to Methuselah, with whom whom he was cotemporary 240 years; and Methusaleh to Noah, with whom he was cotemporary 600 years; Noah might have related them to Shem, and Shem to Abraham ; Abraham to Isaac, Isaac to Joseph, Joseph to Amram, and Amram to Moses.

In these books of Moses, we have what may very properly be termed an impartial history. Histories written in the present day, and especially ecclesiastical histories, are famous for the reverse. In these merely human compilations, the writers generally take care to exalt their own nation, family, or sect, and to lower those of their rivals. But in the Morelates all the

saic history, the author honestly times, circumstances, places, persons, and actions, favorable or unfavorable, no matter, if necessary to the perfection of the narrative. "There are many passages in them which any person who lived after Moses' time, would certainly have left out, if for no other reason, for this, at least, the mention of them was highly derogatory to some of the first families in Israel. Most men are careful to conceal what

ever is dishonorable to their families.

Moses, on the contrary, records things prejudicial to the memory of his ancestors, and derogatory to his own. When he speaks of Levi, the head and father of his own tribe, he leaves an eternal blot upon his memory; and when he speaks of himself, he lays open his own failings and sins, and leaves himself at last "in the plains of Moab," in view of the promised land, but not permitted to enter therein. Such sincerity and impartiality mightily increase the authority of an author."—(Allix.)

"The miracles of Moses have four marks of authenticity peculiar to them, which evidently demonstrate their divine origin. 1, They were the objects of sense, that is, perceptible to the senses,2, They were performed in the most public manner, in the presence of millions of people,-3, A great part of the ceremonial law is founded on them,— 4, A great part of the precepts took place from the time of their being performed, and have continued the same to this very day-the miracle of the manna, which continued nearly 40 years-the plenty, in the 6th and 49th years—and the fact that no enemy should desire to make inroads upon their territories at the time of the three great festivals, when the men of war were gone up to Jerusalem, are strong proofs of the divine origin of our religion."-(Levi's Answer to Paine.)

The memory of the miracle of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, and of the death of Egypt's first-born, is perpetuated to the present day, in the feast of the passover, among the Jews. And the fact, that the people are a separate, distinct, and peculiar people,

unmixed and alone, though scattered among all the nations of the civilized earth, is a proof that they are the chosen people of God, and that Moses was their law giver, their sacred historian, and their heaven-inspired prophet.

66 to

"The laws of Moses respecting the poor, the widow and fatherless, hired servants, purchased servants, and slaves, are vastly superior to those of ancient Greece, Sparta, and Rome; or even of those Christian States who still continue to make void the law of God by their political traditions. "It makes one tremble," says Montsequieu, read over the Roman laws respecting slaves. They compare them to the beasts of burden, and give them up to the most cruel torture. Did the master of a family happen to be assassinated, all those under the same roof were condemned to die, without distinction. What could unfortunate slaves do, against voluptuous and imperious masters, who were restrained by no laws?" Excesses of incontinence are attested by the same writer. "Even Cato, the wise Cato, carried on a scandalous trade with his beautiful slaves."

At Lacedemon, let the slaves be treated in the cruelest manner soever, yet they could claim no protection from the laws. If any one looked above his condition, he was condemned to die, and his master was fined. The Spartans, being authorized by such laws, used to fall upon the Helots (slaves) whilst they were at work in the fields, and without mercy would destroy the ablest among them; and this for mere exercise, and lest the slaves should increase too much.

And Rome, still more barbarous, calmly viewed her great men slaughter their slaves, without the least cause of complaint, in order to throw their bodies into their fish ponds, to make their lampreys, by such nourishment, more delicious. And in the amphitheatre, and on festival days, thev caused more blood to flow than in many days of battle. Our code of laws is short and clear; kings can read it and nations understand it; whilst the laws of some of the most refined civilized nations, after many hundred years' labor, are scarcely any thing more than undigested compilations-confused heaps of foreign, oppressive laws, and barbarous customsdark labyrinths, in which the most learned counsellors lose their way, and through which the greatest lawyers can scarcely show a path; for what is law to-day is not allowed to be law to-morrow.

It must farther be observed, that all the tribes in the whole nation were governed by the same laws and statutes! But in many nations and governments, every town and every hamlet has its own laws. What is just (in the eye of the law,) in one village, is unjust, two miles farther off; and they change laws as often as they change post horses.

Our laws are uniform and invariable; they are the same to-day, and are known to every Jew; while those of Lycurgus, in about five centuries after they were made, were all forgotten. The morality of the laws of Moses is mamifest to all who will be at the pains to consult them. There is scarcely a vice which they do not condemn. It is not enough that evil actions are forbidden; evil desires are prohibited. "Neither shalt thou desire