their towns fortified by nature, and by art: their forces concentrated, and their interests united by alliances: this union was strengthened by alarm: they had every thing to lose, and with the most determined and steady courage, they resolved to repel the invaders.

After the spies sent by Joshua to inspect the country had returned in peace, preparations were made for passing the river Jordan. This hazardous undertaking, which was to cast the die, and to commence the conflict with the Canaanites, was arranged under the immediate direction of Heaven. The people sanctified themselves, and the priests bearing the ark of God opened the procession. Each tribe observed the same order as they had done in their marches. The enter⚫ prise commenced on a day which answers to the thirtieth of our April, the day on which the paschal lamb was selected and separated. At this time of the year, Jordan usually overflowed its banks, from the melting of the snows of Lebanon, and of other neighboring mountains. But so soon as the feet of the priests, who bare the ark, touched the waves of this rapid river, God caused the stream to roll back: and it stood in heaps far beyond the city of Adam, while the flood below continuing its course to the Dead Sea, opened a passage of about sixteen or eighteen miles in breadth, for the armies of Israel, till they had passed over. The priests who had continued in the bed of the river till the whole army had crossed, now remained while twelve stones were set up which might be seen on either shore when the waters were abated, and until twelve stones, taken out of the channel, were piled on the other side of the river. They then ascended to the opposite shore, and Jordan, with its wonted impetuosity, rolled its stream towards the Dead Sea.

After this miraculous passage, the passover was celebrated for the third time. Jericho was soon after taken in an extraordinary manner; and the account of its capture, is abundantly strengthened, by the fulfilment of a most remarkable prophecy uttered at the time. Joshua predicted, when it was rased to the ground, that whosoever should attempt to rebuild it, should "lay the foundations thereof in his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son.”— This curse was literally fulfilled above five hundred and fifty years after it was denounced. Hiel, the Bethelite, attempted to rebuild it: but "he laid the foundation thereof in Abiran, his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub," who both died in consequence of the trespass of their father. After the death of Achan, the conquest of the land was effected in about six years.

In the battle against the five kings who fought against Gibeon, two miracles are recorded: the assistance afforded the Israelites by a fall of hailstones, and the standing still of the sun and moon at the command of Joshua. For the first of these, we observe that it is now no uncommon thing to read of a storm literally of stones, which probably was the case in this tempest of Joshua: and these phenomena have been attributed to earthquakes, eruptions, and various causes. The miracle then, consists in the timing of this awful storm, and the direction of its fury against the enemies of Israel. For the standing still of the sun and moon, we conceive that this miracle does not militate against the present system of astronomy, since the suspension of the earth's motion would produce the same appearances, and not only the sun and moon, but all the planets, would necessarily seem to

be stationary. As this last was a miracle, conspicu ous not merely to the enemies with whom they fought, but to all nations, it must have been to the Canaanites, a most afflictive demonstration, that the hand of God was against them, and with their enemies; and thus is the design, the propriety, and the necessity, of this miracle, at once demonstrated. Thus by little and little the whole land was subdued, till the Israelites obtained complete possession; and before he closed his eyes in death, Joshua divided the whole country among the several tribes, and beheld the final accomplishment of the promise, which God had made, so many centuries before, to Abraham. Having brought into as narrow compass as possible the statement of these facts according to the scriptures,

II. WE SHALL SET BEFORE YOU SUCH FOREIGN TESTIMONIES AS APPEAR TO US CALCULATED TO ELUCIDATE AND TO CONFIRM THIS ACCOUNT.

We shall produce,

I. POSITIVE EVIDENCE FROM THE MOST ANCIENT WRITERS, either relative to particular facts, or to the circumstances attending them. The birth of Moses, his deliverance from the water, and his receiving the moral law, is selected by EUSEBIUS out of ARIstobuLUS. The ancient writer of the ORPHIC verses, after asserting that only one God is to be worshipped as the Creator and Governor of the world, adds, "So was it said of old: so he commands, who was born of water, and who received of God the two great tables of the moral law." STRABO applauds Moses for reproving the error of the Egyptians in likening the Deity to beasts, JUVENAL mentions the adherence of the Jews to their law "given by Moses." As a writer he is

spoken of by DIODORUS SICULUS, PLINY, and TACI TUS; and they regard his history with great respect We have already seen that LONGINUS quotes the opening of Genesis, as an instance of the true sublime. CHALCIDIUS borrowed many things from the writings of Moses, whom he calls "the wisest of men, enlivened not by human eloquence, but by divine inspiration." HERMIPPAS, in his life of Pythagoras, quoted by Josephus against Apion, says, that "he took many things into his own philosophy from the Jewish laws." Ancient writers in general conspire to speak highly of the piety of the Jews, so long as they adhered to the law. These testimonies furnish a most decisive evidence, both of the antiquity of the Mosaic writings, and of the estimation in which his history was held. The EGYPTIANS imitated the Urim and Thummim, mentioned in the ceremonial laws: for DIODORUS says, that the chief justice "carries on his neck an image of precious stones, suspended on a golden chain." The heathen POETS assert that Jupiter overwhelmed the enemies of Hercules in ARIM, which is precisely the country where Joshua fought with the children of Anak, by "a tempest of stones." Moreover it appears credible that the fables current in the heathen world, of the protraction of the day and of the night, attributed to their deities, as their pleasure, or their convenience required, originated in the fact of the miracle wrought by Joshua, in arresting the light of the sun and moon.

The establishment of the Jews in Canaan, as a fact, cannot be questioned. They long made it the seat of empire. Skepticism itself admits the existence of the

Grotius de Ver. Relig. Christ. § 16. See also note 1, of this Lecture, at the end of the volume.

nations which preceded Israel: but objects to the conduct of Joshua in dispossessing them of their territories.

The testimonies which we have adduced confirm the Mosaic history as a whole, rather than detached parts of it; and surely when it is considered, as it has been clearly proved by Josephus on the testimony of MANETHO," that the settlement of the Jews in Canaan was three hundred and ninety-three years before Danaus came to Argos, whom the Grecians acknowledge their most ancient prince, and from whom they are frequently named; and that it preceded the transactions of Troy, celebrated by their most ancient poet, a thousand years; particular confirmations of such striking events as the deluge, and a general acquiescence with the scripture record, is all that ought to be, and all that can be, expected from heathen writers. They could not know any thing of these circumstances but by tradition. ORPHEUS himself lived but one thousand years before Christ; HESIOD, nine hundred; HOMER, eight hundred and fifty. Orpheus himself, therefore, was only contemporary with Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. The settlement in Canaan took place one thousand four hundred and twenty-seven years before the birth of our Lord: that is, four hundred and twenty-seven years before Hesiod: and five hundred and seventy-seven years before the celebrated Homer. Is it a subject for wonder that obscurity should rest upon facts so ancient? We appeal to the unprejudiced-is it not rather extraordinary, that facts so remote should have evidences so strong and decisive? We wish to produce,

* See note 2, of this Lecture, at the end of the volume.