SECT. lemn hour of retribution, an hour not very 1. far diftant from any of us, every pursuit, and every action, which has not, either mediately of immediately, had a reference to the one thing alone absolutely needful, will then appear lighter than vanity itself.

The ftudy of antiquity, if properly directed, may juftly claim no contemptible rank in the service even of Religion. Every hiftorical fact is entitled to a greater or a lefs degree of our belief, according as it is more or lefs fupported by concurrent teftimony, and more or lefs ftamped with the marks of internal veracity. We are not accustomed to judge, how far a transaction is probable or improbable, by the circumftance of its being more or less remote from our own times; but we take into confideration the credit due to its hiftorian, the coincidence of his narration with that of other authors, and the evidence which arifes from its internal credibility. Hence we perpetually admit or reject the works of different writers, without being in the leaft influenced by the mere antiquity, or the mere latenefs of the period in which they flourished; and the valuable remains

of

of claffical history are received as authen- CHAP. tic, while the fabulous legends of the mid- I. dle ages are justly configned to obfcurity and contempt. In many narratives, even of modern date, we are obliged to depend folely upon the affertions of the compiler; and we admit by much the greatest part of ancient history entirely upon the fupposed fidelity of the writer. We stop not to inquire, how far his detail is supported by the testimony of others; nor do we demand any other mark of internal credibility, than the unguarded fimplicity of truth. Civilization was once at fo low an ebb, that the fcience of the whole world centered almost exclusively in the petty republics of Greece. That country was doubtlefs indebted to other nations, and borrowed largely from the more ancient refearches of Egypt and Phenicia : but the writings produced in thofe other nations

a

"The chief and most ancient hiftories among the "Greeks were only a corruption of the hiftory of elder "nations, especially Phenicia and Egypt: for of these two "Philo Byblius, the Tranflator of the ancient Phenician "Hiftorian, Sanchoniathon, faith, they were, waλaIOTATOI TWI σε Βαρβαρων, παρ' ὧν καὶ οἱ λοιποι παρελαβον ανθρωποι, the moft an"cient of all the barbarians, from whom the others derived their theology; which he there particularly inftanceth in." Stilfingfleet, Orig. Sac. B. I. C. 2.

SECT. have, for the most part, either entirely peI. rifhed, or have been handed down to us

only through the medium of Greek literature. As we approach nearer to modern times, that moft decifive fpecies of evidence, concurrent teftimony, gradually increases. The fame facts are related by unconnected historians, in different countries, all far advanced in civilization; and the image of truth is thus ftamped indelibly upon the feveral narratives.

The most ancient records now extant are thofe of the Jewish nation, and the feries of events detailed in them extends even to the creation itself. The account of thofe early and fingular tranfactions is given with an unexampled brevity, and an unaffected fimplicity. The hiftorian appears to be equally free from the love of praise, and the defire of exaggeration. Inftead of labouring to extend his subject, he feems ftudiously to contract it; and instead of adopting the luxuriant language of allegory, he is remarkable for the majeftic plainnefs of his expreffions. The undoubted antiquity of the Pentateuch, and the high veneration in which it has ever been held by the pofterity of Ifrael, cannot

fe- CHAP.

fail of exciting the attention of every rious inquirer. Unlike the gaudy fables of Paganism, the narrative, which it comprehends, is short, fimple, and unadorned. Supernatural interpofitions indeed frequently occur; but they are invariably afcribed to one fupreme and exalted Being, the Lord of heaven and earth. No mention is made of the real exiftence of any inferior deities, nor is there even a hint given. of that canonization of mortals, which prevailed fo univerfally in the mythology of the heathens. On the contrary, the religious worship of the Gentile world, though repeatedly mentioned by the author of the Pentateuch, is mentioned only in terms of the fevereft reprobation, and the most indignant contempt. The accommodating fpirit of Paganism readily permitted an univerfal toleration, and encouraged the frequency of religious communion; but in the Jewish records, every fpecies of worfhip, except that of the one true God, is pronounced to be vain and abominable. Like fome detached and prominent mountain, in the neighbourhood of a vaft and uniform plain, the code of the Hebrew legiflator forms, in this refpect, a striking contrast to the mythological fables of

every

I.

other

SECT. other nation, and with a folitary majesty 1. stands totally apart from the various fyftems of ancient idolatry. The grand characteristic of heathen devotion, however diverfified by caprice, or modified by imposture, is uniformly Polytheifm. The objects of adoration may indeed occasionally differ in number, titles, and attributes; but a multiplicity of deities still constitutes the general creed of paganism; and a dereliction of the pure worship of the Unity is equally chargeable upon the refinements of Europe and Afia, the degraded worship of the western hemisphere, and the base fuperstition of Africa. The wisdom of Egypt, the learning of Greece, the masculine energy of Rome, and the diverfified knowledge of Hindoftan, were alike unable to preferve them from the univerfal contagion. Ifrael alone was exempt, though far inferior to the literary part of the ancients in mere human philosophy, and the exclufive characteristic of the Pentateuch is the doctrine of the unity of the Godhead.

Such is the wonderful volume, to which the Jews pay implicit obedience, and upon which the whole fabric of Christianity is erected. It has long enjoyed a kind of

pre