in which both Jews and Gentiles were equally interested. We have not merely as good reason to believe that "the Prophecies were delivered at the time, and by the perfons, to whom they are commonly-affigned," as to believe that Cicero wrote and pronounced his orations against Cataline and Antony, in the century before Christ, and that Virgil wrote his poems in the reign of Auguftus; but we have a regular fucceffion of teftimony to the truth of this propofition, which the Jews have brought down to the present times.—And the univer- fally high eftimation, in which these writings appear from various hiftorical evidence to have been held, from nearly the time of their delivery, will affuredly establish the other propositions stated in page 6, in the mind of an impartial enquirer. I shall only observe further, that they were translated into Chaldee about the year before Christ 420, and into Greek, the language then moft generally understood, in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus an era remarkable for investigation and science, and which being after the predictions, and before many of the events which have fince fulfilled them, clearly prove C 2 prove these writings to have been handed down to us, without alteration. Efpecially when we confider, that the multiplicity of copies, which were spread into all nations by the Jewish colonies, from the time of the captivity, were constantly read in all the synagogues, and open to the perufal of all people -were tranflated into many different languages-quoted by many hiftorians-and their truth doubted by none, till within a very recent period. I shall now ftate very shortly as much of the biftory, and the nature and use of Prophecy, as will put the reader in fair poffeffion of the fubject he is called upon to confider.— A believer in the Scriptures conceives that fome memory of God, and fome knowledge of the difpenfations of his Providence having been preferved traditionally from Adam (con'firmed probably by other occafional communications of the divine will), through the 'antediluvian world, the few who kept up in their lives any juft fenfe of his providence were by means of Prophecy, and the miraculous interpofition of their Maker, faved out of the general wreck of the deluge-That after a time, the impreffion of even that awful leffon wearing out of the mind of the greatest greatest part of mankind, it pleased the Supreme Being not to leave himself without a particular as well as a general witness; and therefore he again chofe one of the few families, who preferved their belief and knowledge of him, and trusted them with the promifes of his mercy.-And left this again fhould fuffer by the vague nature of all tradition; he, before the recollection of their father Abraham had faded from the minds of any of his descendants, and while the history of the world and of the earlier Patriarchs, which had been brought down in regular fuc- ceffion through but very few generations, was well known to them, appointed Mofes to explain the creation and the state of man on earth; to record the intentions of God towards man, and to be under him the lawgiver of this family, now becoming a nation, and deftined to preferve this hiftory, these records, and thefe laws, to the end of the The tradition was conveyed from Adam through Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, Ifaac, Joseph, and Amram, to Mofes, feven intermediate perfons—and of these seven, feveral were a long time contemporary with each other. Methuselah was contemporary with both Adam and Noah; Shem with Noah and Abraham; Ifaac with Abraham and Jofeph; and Amram the grandfon of Levi (who was the brother of Jofeph) was the father of Mofes. world. From this period, therefore, is to be dated the beginning of written Prophecy. Mofes, the first and greatest of the Prophets whofe works have been tranfmitted to us, recorded the wonders of creation and providence, from the beginning of time, till the arrival of the Ifraelites at the borders of the land promised to the children of Abrahama period of above 2500 years-established the covenant of God with his chofen people-fet before them the conditional promises of God -drew a strong and accurate picture of their national character and fate for a series of ages, which are still running their course-and predicted the appearance of another "Prophet like unto himself" (by which, according to all antient interpretation, is to be underftood another Lawgiver), to whom he commanded them" to hearken," under pain of the heavy displeasure of the Lord their God. -The Prophets, who followed Moses in continual fucceffion for above a thousand years, were employed in preferving the remembrance of the gracious promifes of future Redemption to fallen man, and the knowledge of a future state of retribution-in keeping up a fenfe of the conftant fuperintending providence of God over all the world-in gra dually dually explaining the fpiritual and typical meaning of the Mofaical Law, and in preparing the Jews for the reception of that second difpenfation, which it prefigured, and was defigned to introduce at the appointed time, as the promised univerfal bleffing. The great object of Prophecy being a description of the Meffiah, and of his kingdom, the prophetic ministry ceased when that object had been fufficiently difplayed.-At the period allotted by the Prophet Daniel, for "fealing up the Vifion and the Prophecy"-after the peaceable re-establishment of the Jews in their own land-and within about 400 years of the time appointed for the appearance of Christ, Malachi closed the prophetic volume in a manner which strikingly confirms this truth, "that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of Prophecy." He threatens the Jews with punishment and rejection; declaring that God would "make his name great among the Gentiles," for that he was wearied with the impiety of Ifrael: he exhorts them earnestly to repent, and to observe the law of Mofes, till that prophetic meffenger fhould appear, who, like "a harbinger, was to prepare the way of the Lord, whom they fought," i. e. for the Meffiah-" who would fuddenly come to his temple"-and whofe approach |