me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unta all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: and I have said, I will bring you up out of the afflictions of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, the Lord God of the Hebrews hath met us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Aud I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: but every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment : and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians."

In the very first verse of this chapter, we have a new name for the father-in-law of Moses, he is here called, Jethro: in the last chapter, he was called Reuel, in other parts of the Bible, we shall find him called Raguel. All very proper, cries the Priest, no contradiction, because Jethro was his proper name, and Reuel signified, that he was a Priest; and Raguel has the same meaning as Reuel. As clear as can be you see. We shall meet with Parson Jethro again, by and by, and shall then perhaps have a word or two more to say of him.

In the second verse of this chapter, we are told, that the Angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses in a bush, which burned with fire, and was not consumed: in the fourth verse, we find a contradiction to the second, and are told, that it was God himself who appeared in the midst of the bush, and played at BO PEEP With Moses. Really this is almost as bad as shuting the Jewish Deity up in a box of Shittim Wood! The reason that the Pentateuch is ascribed to Moses as the author, is, that no other person could be supposed capable of narrating all those bush visits of the Deity, and that whilst Moses was in the habit of seeing and conversing with this Jewish God, he received all the particulars of the creation, the deluge, and all those amusing stories in the book of Genesis, with instructions, that he should write them as a revelation, and a me

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mento of him, the true God. This is the only ground, that the Jew or Christian have for believing the authenticity of those books, and a more rotten foundation can scarcely be conceived. Almost every chapter proves to us, that Moses could not have been the author, even admitting the history narrated to be true, but when it is clear, that the whole of these tales are borrowed traditions from other nations, and like some of our modern provincial tales, related in every town and district, as having happened there only, with some little variation as to names, no one rational being can for a moment allow himself to be duped with a belief, that what he reads in the Bible can be true: but here, if we only reject Moses as the author, the whole mass of absurdity falls with him. I have no hesitation in saying, that of all the sacred books that have been imposed upon mankind, the Bible is by far the most. preposterous. The pretensions of Mahomet are moderate, when compared with those of different persons in the Bible. He found it necessary to practise some little frauds, but his chief motive was evidently to bring his countrymen to the worship of One God. Mahomet never pretended to have seen God, or that God came upon earth to see him, he amuses us with a story of a flight that he took to Heaven, on a White Charger, and tells us that he felt the finger of God on his shoulder; but he has not like Moses made him hop from hill to hill, and bush to bush, and shut him up in a cage like a bird. I shall make one observation further, and then proceed with the tale of Moses and his God. They are but few of mankind, but what have believed in the existence and occasional appearance of spiritual beings-beings that could render themselves visible or invisible at pleasure, and take what shape they pleased, we find even in our periodical journals of the present day, old tales of this kind revived, and new ones invented, just as if it were for the benefit of mankind, that the fraud should succeed and be perpetuated: even literary men of the present day, are weak enough, or base enough, to wink at the imposture. I hazard the assertion, and I challenge proof to the contrary, that there never was, that there is not, and that there will never be any thing spiritual in nature, by which I include the universe. God is not a spirit, as has been falsely asserted, every expression of the kind, every pretence of seeing him, has been a fiction. God is nature, and nature is God. When we contemplate and admire the works of nature, we contemplate and venerate God. It may be demanded, that I explain what nature is? I cannot, further,

than to say, that it is the cause which keeps matter in perpe tual motion, and makes it subject to continual change. All matter is continually going through a process of composition and decomposition. Nature is the perfection of chemistry. I by no means despair, that the workings of nature are beyond the reach of the knowledge of man. Science is as yet in its infancy. It has been opposed in all ages by impostors, and priests, and tyrants, the uniform enemies of mankind. If any one will say to me, there is a spiritual being above nature, say. tell me where it is, how it is to be known. Shew me its power distinct from nature, and I will believe. Until then, I reject all that is set above nature.

I

This tale of God's visiting Moses, is very badly narrated, we are told, that God said unto Moses, "this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain," should we not read "thou shalt serve me upon this mountain." The very next verse contains a gross absurdity, and places Moses in rather a curious point of view. Moses demands the name of God, that when he goes to the Israelites, he might have some means of distinguishing him from his fellows, or other Gods. Here is a proof, that Moses, or rather, the compiler or author of this tale, could have no idea of a spiritual and omnipotent being as God. The answer which this God is made to give to Moses, is as ridiculous as the question put to him. And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' A very sublime name say our priestly commentators. But really if we attach the real merit to the words, it is such an answer as every fool and every knave might give, without exposing himself to contradiction. The expression is put into a false tense, it stands in the Hebrew, I WILL BE, THAT I WILL BE, which is still more ridiculous. What a fine specimen we have of the character of the Jewish Deity, at the close of this chapter. He first tells Moses to go to Pharaoh with a lie in his mouth, then promises Moses that Pharaoh shall refuse his request, that he (the Jewish Deity) might have an opportunity of displaying his cruel powers, and, lastly, instructs the Israelites to plunder the Egyptians as much as possible. Still this religion boasts of its morality! This Book merits the title of a Primer, to instruct mankind in vice and wickedness. I proceed with the fourth chapter:--

"And Moses answered and said, but, behold, they will not believe

me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto thee. And the Lord said unto him, what is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod. And he said, cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent: and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And, he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, bath appeared unto thee. And the Lord said furthermore unto him, put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand in his bosom; and when he took it out, behold his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon dry land. And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor sinee thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said unto him, let me go, 1 pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace. And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life. And Moses took his wife, and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine hand; but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born. And I

say unto thee. Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born. And it came to pass by the way in the iun, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go; then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed and when they heard that the Lord had visited the chil dren of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."

According to the commencement of this chapter, Moses is rather sceptical, and his God is obliged to practice a few legerdemain tricks to fill him with sufficient faith to fulfil his mission to the Israelites. Before I make any observation on Moses' rod, I will give to the reader Adam Clarke's commentary on this very part of the chapter:-" From the story of "Moses' rod, the heathens have invented the fables of the

Thyrsus of Bacchus, and the Caduceus of Mercury. Ci"cero reckons five Bacchuses, one of which, according to "Orpheus, was born of the river Nile; but according to the 66 common opinion, he was born on the banks of that river. "Bacchus is expressly said to have been exposed on the river "Nile, hence he is called Nilus, both by Diodorus and Ma"crobius; and in the hymns of Orpheus, he is named Myses, because he was drawn out of the water. He is represented by the poets, as being very beautiful, and an illustrious "warrior; they report him to have overrun all Arabia with (C a numerous army both of men and women. He is said "also to have been an eminent lawgiver, and to have written "his laws on two tables. He always carried in his hand the "thyrsus, a rod wreathed with serpents, and by which he is "reported to have wrought many miracles. Any person 66 acquainted with the birth and exploits of the poetic Bac"chus, will at once perceive them to be all borrowed from "the life and acts of Moses, as recorded in the Pentateuch; "and it would be losing time to shew the parallel, by quoting 66 passages from the book of Exodus." (May we not reverse it Doctor, and say, that the tale of Moses is borrowed from that