tion-their hearts may probably be interested in the fate of Israel, and their unfeigned gratitude may either lead them to, or establish them in the worship of Israel's God. As I have endeavoured to render my little history perspicuous and entertaining, by dividing it into distinct epochs, or periods of time, and preserving the thread of my narration unbroken, so I have been careful to give the dates of important occurrences, and have taken every opportunity of obviating such apparent contradictions as are sometimes brought forward by profligate and unthinking Atheists, to invalidate the truth of divine revelation. The chapter which is designed to form a connecting link between the histories of the Old and New Testaments, and that which carries on the narration from the death of St. Paul to the awful accomplishment of our Saviour's predictions, in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, have been carefully compiled from Josephus, Dr. Prideaux, the English Universal History, and other works of established celebrity; and will, I humbly hope, he found of real utility. Conscious of the necessity of insisting upon the fundamentals of Christianity in a work of this nature, I have frequently endeavoured to impress my readers with suitable ideas of the Holy Trinity, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the infallible miracles by which our holy faith was first planted in the world; and I earnestly pray that the Spirit of God may so enlighten their understandings that they may not only read, but mark, learn, and inwardly digest those objects of eternal moment. Far from wishing to depreciate the labours of my able predecessors, who have written upon the basis of the following work, I cheerfully affirm, that they have deserved the sweet remuneration of public applause; and I sincerely hope that future generations will rise up and call them blessed. But as some of their valuable works are too expensive for the generality of pupils in small academies, and others are rendered uninviting by being thrown into the form of a catechism, I have presumed to offer a little work on a different plan, which, from its compressed size, may be purchased by all ranks; and which, it is hoped, may prove equally acceptable to youth, and to persons of maturer age, who wish for a perspicuous and uninterrupted view of the history of the Bible, and the final catastrophe of the Jewish metropolis. Should it be objected that I have passed over most of the Jewish ceremonies, together with the lives and transactions of many prophets and pious men, in silence, I beg leave to remind my readers, that this omission was indispensably necessary, to avoid frequent digres sions; and must not be imputed to carelessness or inattention. As my only designs in compiling the "Sacred Mirror," are to fortify our youth against the growing errors of scepticism; to show them, as in a glass, the portraits of good and wicked men; to bring them into an intimate acquaintance with the lively oracles of truth; and to allure them insensibly to the practice of virtue, I certainly hope that it will be perused with impartiality, and judged with candor. The known generosity of a British Public, and the general character of our learned and justly esteemed Reviewers, encourages me in this expectation: I have, therefore, only to submit. my labours to their examination, and to pray that the Father of Lights may crown them with his holy benediction. THOMAS SMITH. April 7th, 1803. |