The apostles have applied some parts of this Psalm to Christ, and they knew that the whole would be accomplished in him; yet in their discourses and writings, they avoided a particular mention of the destruction which should fall upon the persecuting princes, probably because they would not offend the Roman emperors, and give malicious men an opportunity of accusing the Christians as bad subjects, and as enemies to the government.

But we will not dissemble another interpretation which hath been given of this psalm.

"It was made, say they, by David, for the use of "the people, of his subjects, who were to rehearse it "in the house of God, at the tabernacle.

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"It relates in its primary sense to David, and the

meaning of the first verse is, The Lord Jehovah hath "said to my Lord, (king David) Sit thou, &c. It is "true that David was no priest, but the word Chohen "is ambiguous, and may mean either a priest, or an " intimate friend of the king, who hath free admis"sion to his presence, one of the great courtiers; ac"cording to which sense the fourth verse may be interpreted, Thou art of all the sons of men, my princi"pal favourite, who hast free access to me.

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"But then this psalm, like many other prophecies, "hath a double sense, and is applicable to the Messias, and is much more eminently accomplished in him than it ever was in David."

This interpretation hath been proposed and adopted by Ruarus, and by some other Socinians. See Ruari Epist. T. ii. p. 116.

Now, if we should admit this double sense, yet it must be observed that Christ applied this Psalm to himself, that the apostles applied it to him, and that

their interpretation was fully justified by a long train of various events, and by the accomplishment of the whole prediction in Christ, which is an irrefragable proof that they understood it rightly.

But there is no admitting this double meaning without adopting a precarious hypothesis, contradicting the general opinion of the Jews in the time of Christ, rejecting the version of the LXX. which translates Chohen, iepes, according to the usual sense of the word, and offering violence to some parts of the Psalm, which cannot be applied to David unless in a sense very low and flat, sensu valde diluto. David could not say of himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, nor did he sit at the right hand of God, exalted above men and angels, nor were all his enemies subdued under his feet, nor did they whom he conquered pay him a willing obedience, nor was he an everlasting priest, or an everlasting king, nor was his dominion extensive over the nations and the Gentiles.

Davidis revera fuisse Psalmum testatur Christus, et Petrus. Uterque ostendit, vi verborum, de Christo agi, non de alio; qua in re non aptantur ei verba, quæ et alii convenire queant, ut interdum fit in vaticiniis; sed statuuntur non aliter posse intelligi.-Hoc unum non facile cuiquam concessero, hunc Psalmum non ad Jesum Christum solum et quidem directe referri oportere; quod nec diffitebatur H. Grotius, qui ceteroquin insimulatur, quasi vix ullam prophetiam directe ad Christum solum pertinere fassus sit. Quod tamen immerito viro magno objicitur. Clericus. See his Comment on this Psalm.

The condition of the Jews under Constantine should now be considered, but I shall take the subject from an earlier date, and offer a few remarks on the state

of

of that people from the destruction of Jerusalem to this day.

"Howsoever unentertaining the history may seem "to be which we have undertaken, yet it presents to "the public view an object worthy of observation, "and the greatest prodigy that can be imagined, "namely, the preservation of the Jewish people in the

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midst of the miseries which they have undergone "since seventeen hundred years. Religions depend "on temporal prosperity; they triumph under the protection of a conqueror; they languish and sink "with sinking monarchies. Paganism, which once "covered the face of the earth, is extinct. The "Christian church, glorious in its martyrs, yet was

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considerably diminished by the persecutions to "which it was exposed, nor was it easy to repair the "breaches in it made by those acts of violence. But

here we behold a church hated and persecuted for "seventeen hundred ages, and yet sustaining itself "and widely extended. Kings have often employed "the severity of edicts and the hand of executioners "to ruin it. The seditious multitudes by murders "and massacres have committed outrages against it "still more violent and tragical. Princes and peo

ple, Pagans, Mahometans, Christians, disagreeing "in so many things, have united in the design of ex"terminating it, and have not been able to succeed. "The Bush of Moses, surrounded with flames, ever "burns, and is never consumed. The Jews have "been expelled, in different times, from every part of "the world, which hath only served to spread them in all regions. From age to age they have been exposed "to misery and persecution. Yet still they subsist, in spite of the ignominy, and the hatred which hath "pursued

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"pursued them in all places, whilst the greatest mo "narchies are fallen, and nothing remains of them be"sides the name.

"Their misery bears its peculiar characters, in "their other captivities God marked out a time in which he would be propitious, and break the yoke "of tyranny, and restore to them their lost liberty. "The longest, which was the Egyptian captivity, yet "lasted only a few ages. After threescore and ten years they returned from Babylon, and the perse"cution of Antiochus was to cease after three years "and ten days: but of their present evils God hath "not fixed the expiration.—God comforted them un"der their other distresses by heroes, or by inspired men. Ezekiel prophesied at Babylon, and Daniel, long before the event, pointed out the Messias. The Maccabees arose against the kings of Syria, "and raised up the fallen glory of the nation; but "hitherto none have appeared, besides false messiahs, "who, by their attempts to shake off the yoke from the people, have only encreased its weight. The "prophetic succession is extinct, and no sacred messenger arises to promise the end of miseries which have lasted so many ages.

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"Even when God delivered them up to infidels, "he preserved a body of the nation, by removing it "to one place. It was entire in the vale of Goshen,

when they were called out of Egypt. Cyrus. easi

ly re-united the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, to "send them back to Jerusalem. One part of the na

tion inhabited the same cities, and the Israelites oc"cupied the two borders of the river Chabor; but at the destruction of Jerusalem, and afterwards in Adrian's war, the nation, enfeebled by unparallel

"ed

"ed massacres, was dispersed through all the pro"vinces of the empire. The dispersion is as great as "it ever was, and scarcely are to be found the re"mains of the ten tribes'in the east, where formerly they were numerous and considerable.

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"The Romans, when they made themselves mas"ters of Judæa, left to its inhabitants a public worship, and the exercise of their laws. The synagogues, as those of Damascus, judged with authority of religious affairs, in which even the Chris"tians were interested. The High Priest was not " without power. There were judges even in Chaldæa, as it appears from the history of Susanna, false as it is. But not the shadow of sovereign authority now remains, and yet the nation remains, ." and consists of millions.

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"The judgments which God has exercised upon "this people are terrible, extending to the men, the "religion, and the very land in which they dwelt. "The ceremonies essential to their religion can no "more be observed. The ritual law, which cast a "splendor on the national worship, and struck the

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Pagans so much that they sent their presents and "their victims to Jerusalem, is absolutely fallen, "for they have no temple, no altar, no sacrifices."Their land itself seems to lie under a never-ceasing "curse. Pagans, Christians, Mohammedans, in a "word, almost all nations have by turns seized and "held Jerusalem. To the Jew only hath God refu"sed the possession of this small tract of ground so supremely necessary for him, since he ought to "worship on this mountain. A Jewish writer hath "affirmed that it is long since any Jew was seen set