Some of them are historical; others legislative, or doctrinal; which, though partaking occasionally of the hyperbolical phraseology of the East, are, upon the whole, extremely simple and natural. Some again are avowedly prophetical, others avowedly argumentative, abounding in the figures of oriental rhetoric, and the images of oriental poetry; while all partake, more or less, of a mixed character, in which narrative appears side by side with prophecy, and prophecy, or sacred poetry, side by side with narrative or dissertation. It is extremely difficult to believe that any impostor would dream of adopting such a system, which, while it gives to the work, upon the whole, a marked and peculiar character, seems to throw an obvious air of inconsistency over its detached and separate parts. But this is not all.

The Canonical books of the Old Testament, or those which the Jews have always received as written by the inspiration of God, are the same which were treated with peculiar respect by the primitive Christians, and are now admitted into the canon of the reformed churches of Europe. They were, of old, divided into three classes; of which the first comprehended the five Books of Moses: the second, all the Prophets, or books believed to have been written by prophets; and the third, those treatises or poems, the design of which was either to celebrate the praises of the Most High, or to inculcate lessons of piety and morality among men. A classification similar to this seems to be recognised likewise in the New Testament, where our Lord speaks of those things which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning him; for, as Dr. Lightfoot justly observes, the term Psalms comprehends all that class of which we have spoken as devotional, and to which the Psalms, as being the introductory book, gave a title.

But the more specific order into which the books of the Old Testament were arranged was as follows:

From this classification, it is abundantly evident, that the books of the Old Testament were regarded by the Jews with different degrees of reverence; indeed, it is well known, that there existed in our Saviour's day a numerous and powerful sect, which rejected the authority of all, except those ascribed to Moses, and enumerated together under the first head.

That these heretics erred in denying the Divine authority of the rest cannot be doubted; yet it is indisputable, that the Books of Moses, more than all the others, were and are entitled to peculiar reve

rence; because in them is contained the complete code of the Jewish law and religion, with a history of the stupendous events on which is founded the whole scheme of revealed truth. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, to ascertain their authenticity and Divine origin, that being a matter upon which rests all the foundation of our faith and hope; for, if they be proved to be what they profess to be, the authenticity of the others, which continually appeal to and depend upon them, follows as a matter of

course.

Nobody will deny that, if the miracles recorded in the Book of Exodus, and the other writings of the Hebrew lawgiver, were really performed; if, as is there related, the first-born of the Egyptians were all cut off in one night, and the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea, the waters standing like walls on their right hand and on their left, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that Moses was commissioned by God, in whose hand he was, as he represents himself to have been, a mere instrument.

He, therefore, who supposes that these great works were not performed, must affirm that the books in which they are recorded were forged; and that the forgery took place, either at the era when the miracles are stated to have been wrought, or at some subsequent period. In other words, it must be assumed, either that there was such a man as Moses, who really conducted his countrymen out of Egypt, and really wrote these books, filling them with fictitious legends which he persuaded his contemporaries to receive as truths, or that the books were compiled in some generation posterior to the epoch of the exode, and imposed as authentic documents upon the people.

That they could not be forged at the era in which the miracles are stated to have been wrought, a very slight degree of reflection will suffice to point out. These books inform the people for whose use they

were written, that the author, after having inflicted various plagues upon Pharaoh and his subjects, brought them, with their flocks, their herds, and all their other moveable property, with a high hand, out of Egypt; that they were led by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night, to the brink of the Red Sea, where the enemy, who followed in chariots and on horses, overtook them; that to make a way for their escape, Moses stretched out his rod towards the sea, which became immediately divided, leaving a dry space walled in on either side by the waters; that through this space the Israelites marched in perfect security; while the Egyptians, plunging in after them, were, upon the arrival of the fugitives at the opposite shore, overwhelmed by the returning waves. Is it consistent with reason to believe, that Moses, or any other man, could persuade upwards of six hundred thousand persons, however illiterate or barbarous, that they had actually witnessed these miraculous works, if no such miracles were wrought. Be it observed, that there is no attempt, in the Book of Exodus, at mystery or concealment. Their author appeals continually to the experience of his readers, as to men who had themselves seen and heard the wonders which he records; is it conceivable that any person inditing a tissue of gross falsehoods, would adopt such language? Will any man pretend to say, that the most eloquent writer in England, or in the world, could persuade six hundred thousand Cherokee Indians, were it possible to collect so great a crowd together, that he had last week, or last month, divided the Mississippi, ten miles below New-Orleans, by stretching out a rod towards it: that he led them through the channel from the state of West Florida into Louisiana, the waters standing like walls, on the right hand and on the left; and that by merely stretching out his rod again, he caused the river to resume its ordinary course, overwhelming an army of Kentucky backwoodsmen, VOL. I.-C

who were in pursuit of them? The Cherokees are certainly in a more degraded state than were the Israelites at the period of the exode; yet we take it upon us to affirm, not only that such a deception could not be passed upon them, but that no sane person, far less a man possessed of the splendid talents which undeniably belonged to the author of the Book of Exodus, would so much as dream of making the attempt.

But though not forged at the era in question, is it not rational to believe that the forgery took place at some subsequent period, and that a rude and barbarous people were easily persuaded to receive as authentic, statements which humoured their prejudices, and flattered their national vanity?

We have already shown, and every one acquainted with the national character of the Jews must be aware, that the books of the Old Testament, more especially the Pentateuch, could not be welcomed by that people as favouring their prejudices and flattering their vanity.

To the extreme disposition towards idolatry, which long prevailed among them, as well as to a thousand personal indulgences to which they were prone, these books stand strongly opposed; while the account which they give of the origin and early history of the Israelites, is certainly not such as to please a people vain beyond all others, and jealous even to this day of their renown. But this is the feeblest objection to which the theory is liable.

It is asserted in the books of which Moses claims to be the writer, that they were delivered by him to the congregation, and carefully preserved from his day in the ark of the covenant; an ark which, upor the supposition stated above, had no existence prio. to the forgery. It is farther asserted, that they contain not only a history of certain miracles wrought by their author, but the statutes, or municipal law of the land, with which the people were required to