vert their censure to applauses. As for the rest, to take things in the worst light, what can the world do to me more than the infirmities of my nature will very speedily do of themselves? The public can neither confer nor deprive me of my reward; this depends not on any human power. You see therefore, that my measures are taken let what will happen; for which reason, I would advise you to press me no farther on the subject; as every thing you can possibly advance will be absolute. ly to no purpose. Yours, &c.

J. J. ROUSSEAU.

Lately died in Lithunia, a man aged 163 years. This modern Mathuselah, at 89, married a second wife in the 15th year of her age. He had been a soldier, had been wounded, but never had been sick. A monument has been raised on his grave. He was 11 years older than old Parr, who died in England in 1634, aged 152, and who lived in ten reigns.

DOES it

OES it consist with the goodness or wisdom of God to deliver himself in such mysterious terms, that the wisest and most learned men, with all their labour, can never be certain when they come at the meaning, and most own that they cannot agree, because their understandings are confounded in the darkness of it; and where there is not sufficient light to convince reasonable men, their understandings are unenlightened. In obscure prophecies men may everlastingly puzzle themselves and others, without any certainty of ever being in the right. This is the case of all those prophecies which Mr. Jackson has given himself so much labour about, fetched from Daniel and the Revelations. If Prophecies are not commonly understood, or not understood by common readers, they were not designed for common good. If those of the Faculty only understand them, they are then only learned prescriptions to keep up the craft and dignity of the Faculty. If we know not certainly what a Prophecy signifies, of what signification is it? Common sense is sufficient for common honesty, which is plain and open, and delights to shew itself clear and fair.

By what means can we be sure of the certain times when the particular Prophecies were written ? and that we have their uncorrupted writings? For it is well known that corruptions have

crept into the Text, and that it was the work of Ezra and others, after the Jews Captivity, to find out and correct them, as well as they could. If the word of God has been corrupted, there can be little Dependance on the word of man, or on his wisdom or honesty to make it pure; for there are certain degrees of prejudice, partiality, interest and ignorance, that man cannot surmount. The facts predicted should have been known to be fulfilled by those that knew the Prophets and their prophecies; unless there can be demonstrative proof, that the traditional Prophecy could not possibly be corrupted. Oral tradition cannot be trusted to in the second or third Generation, scarce from a second or third Person; The natural infirmities of men generally corrupt it without Intention. It is rare, that two or three persons tell so much as the sense of the particulars of a story exactly one after another.

A Prophecy, when delivered, should he such as no human reason could forsee, nor could possibly be any random Guess; then the original or true copy of it should be well witnessed, and preserved by men that had no interest in deceiving the world; if possible, in such manner there could be no possibility of corrupting or altering it. It should also be so clear and intelligible, as to admit of no misunderstanding it. The afr cumstances that come after to pass, should so agree with the plain Prophecy, that it may be as well known to be the fulfilling thereof, as a man may know his own face in a glass; or, deception may creep in; the very possibility of which therefore should be absolutely guarded against. The better the chain holds together, the stronger it is, extraordinary cases must have extraordinary proofs; and after all, when the things predicted is past, the credit of its prediction naturally lessens, as time increases; because it is well known, that the world is full of impositions; And in the things of God, there ought not to be the least shadow of it.

Though it is endeavoured to be proved, that some of the Prophecies were literally fulfilled; yet if all were not, if some prove false, it is a proof the Prophets were not under the influence of an infallible Spirit, or not infallibly guided by it; and be the case either way, we cannot trust to them in all cases; and if not in all we cannot in any, unless we can distinguish those cases. If the Prophecies contain some good and true things in them, can those recommend them that are not so ?

It was observed, that there is the greatest difficulties in applying Prophecies, which are not clear and explicit to their in

tended purpose; or in knowing to what intent or purpose they were given for instance; what Prophecies some apply to the Redemption of the People of God by J sus Christ, others have thought are only applicable to the Redemption of the Jews from the power of the king of Assyria, and had respect to the times they were written in. And though some of the Prophecies are said to be in part only accomplished; in either case the parts are a great way asunder.

If the Prophets did not prophesy false things, they were sometimes misunderstood, and in the greatest essentials. The Jews expected their Saviour to be a temporal king, so did the primitive christians, before and after the Crucifixion of Jesus; for the Millenarian Doctrine of his coming again to reign on the earth, is spoken of in several places of the New Testament which was to have been immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem; and though the day and hour was not fixed, it was to be before that generation passed away, the Disciples were bid to expect it, watch for it, and be ready, not for the Holy Ghost, his substitute; but for Jesus himself, and the manner of his coming was described; therefore those were called the last days and times, And though we are told the Gospel was first to be preached to all nations, we are also told, that so it had then been in the Apostles time. And Christ's temporal reign on earth, was the opinion of the first Fathers of the church, viz. Cerinthus, in the first century, Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, had it from the christians by oral tradition. It was also embraced by Justin, Martyr, Irenæus, Tertullian, Hippolitus, Lactantius, Theophilus of Antioch, Methodus, Victorinus, and the most illustrious of the ancient Fathers, were Advocates for the Millenium. It was impossible to persuade the Jews or Jew Christians to the contrary. They expected Christ according to the Prophets, to sit on the throne or kingdom of David, which was a temporal kingdom, and from Jerusalem he was to administer judgment to all nations. The wise men that came to seek Jesus understood it so; so did the angel Gabriel. Yet we are now told they were all mistaken, and that his kingdom was spiritual; for tho' it was expected to be worldly, we are now sure his kingdom is not of this world, unless the established christian churches are a part of the world, having wordly power and grandeur, where his deputies generally rule, as if they never expected king Jesus would come and call them to

account.

Believers of Prophecies being puzzled to explain them, when the letter of the Prophecy was not parallel to the letter

of the story they applied it, have understood, what was wanting to be made out, in an allegorical, figurative or mystical manner; so they have made a mysterious application to the letter of the prophecy, or some one mystical prophecy to many very different cases: or the mystery of one, to the mystery of the other; and by the spiritual wire-drawing of one or all these methods, they always may make out what they please. If by any of these means the expositor by chance or hard labour draws a tolerable good parallel, the prophet gets sure praise; but if he fails, which is oftener the case, the expositor gets sure disgrace. So difficult has the exposition generally been, not only to common understandings but to learned men, that happy is he who has gone into the battle, and come off without a scar in his intellects, or being crippled in his understanding; and some have been affected with a kind of prophetic delirium all their lifetime after.

PUBLIC DISCOURSES concerning the principles and character of Christian superstition, will be delivered by the Editor every Sunday evening at seven o'clock, at Shepherd's Long-Room, No. 11, George

street.

NEW-YORK:

PRINTED and published by the editor, at No. 26 Chathamstreet, price 2 dollars per annum, one half paid in advance every six months.

PROSPECT,

OR

View of the Moral World,

BY ELIHU PALMER.

VOL. I:

SATURDAY, April 28th, 1804.

No. 21.

Comments upon the sacred writings of the Jews and Christians: Genesis, chupter 30th.

COURTING, SWINDLING, AND WRESTLING.

THE twenty-ninth chapter of this book, is taken up with a

long story about Jacob's courtships, contracts and intrigues with his two cousins, Rachel and Leah; daughters of his uncle Laban. The story is trifling, destitute of all the features of interesting facts, and wholly unworthy of the dignified appellation of holy writ. The thirtieth chapter is still worse; it contains an account of the conjuring manner, in which Jacob swindled his uncle Laban, out of his flocks and herds, and then gave him leg bail for security; the story is not remarkable for delicacy or even decency; it is a ring-streaked and speckled revelation, as may be seen by reading the thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth verses, It would be well for the learned believers in christianity, to peruse with attention the thirtieth chapter of Genesis, and then show us if they can, the divinity of such an indelicate piece of conjuration; such gross impositions upon credulity, are really to be deplored, and the more so, as they tend to corrupt the purity of youthful ideas, upon the important principles of decency and Philosophy: in the thirty second chapter, we have an account of the athletic exploits of Jacob and Jehovah, in which, however, Jacob comes off second best, and no wonder for the match was not equal. In verse twenty fourth it is said, and Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. In the caption of this chapter, it is said that Jacob wrestled with an angel; here it is said to be a man, and in the final issue of the business, it appears to be