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of any fuch diftinction: there is no reafon to think that any fuch was intended by the author; feveral prophecies of the one part as well as of the other have been fulfilled at both periods, but they have all more amply been fulfilled during the latter period; and there cannot be a more lively picture than they exhibit, of the fate of the Jews at prefent.

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1. We will confider them with a view to the order of time, rather than the order wherein they lie; and we may not improperly begin with this paffage, ver. 49, The Lord fhall bring a nation against tee from far, from the end of the earth, as wilt as the eagle flieth, a nation whofe tongue thou shalt not understand;" and the Chaldæans might be faid to come from far, in comparison with the Moabites, Phiines, and other neighbours, who ufed to infeft Judea. Much the fame defcripon is given of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah, (v. 15.) Lo, I will bring aration upon you from far, O houfe of lirael, faith the Lord: it is a mighty tion, it is an ancient nation, a nation fe language thou knowelt not, neither derftandeft what they fay." He comres them in like manner to eagles. am. iv. 19.) "Our perfecutors are after than the eagles of the heaven: they purfeed us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness." But this defcription cannot be applied to any naFon with fuch propriety as to the Romans. They were truly brought from far, from the end of the earth. Vefpafian and Adrian, the two great conquerors and destroyers the Jews, both came from commanding here in Britain. The Romans too for the rapidity of their conquefts might very well be compared to eagles, and perhaps not without an allufion to the ftandard of the oman armies, which was an eagle: and language was more unknown to the Jes than the Chaldee.

them all into his hand." Such alfo were the Romans: for when Vefpafian entered Gadara, Jofephus faith, that he flew all man by man, the Romans fhowing mercy to no age, out of hatred to the nation, and remembrance of their former injuries. The like flaughter was made at Gamala, for nobody efcaped befides two women, and they escaped by concealing themselves from the rage of the Romans. For they did not fo much as fpare young children, but every one at that time fnatching up many caft them down from the citadel.

Their enemies were alfo to befiege and take their cities, ver. 52. "And he fhall befiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou truitedit, throughout all thy land. So Shalmanefer king of Affyria came up againft Samaria, and beficged it, and at the end of three years they took it." (2 Kings xviii. 9, 10.) "So did Sennacherib king of Affyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them:" (b. ver. 13.) and Nebuchadnezzar and his captains took and fpoiled Jerufalem, burnt the city and temple, "and brake down the walls of Jerufalem round about." (Ib. xxv. 10.) So likewife the Romans, as we may read in Jofephus's hiftory of the Jewish war, demolished feveral fortified places, before they besieged and destroyed Jerufalem. And the Jews may very well be faid to have trufted in their high and fenced walls, for they feldom ventured a battle in the open field. They confided in the strength and fituation of Jerufalem, as the Jebuntes, the former inhabitants of the place, had done before them: (2 Sam. v. 6, 7.) infomuch that they are reprefented faying (Jer. xxi. 13.) Who fhall come down against us? or who fhall enter into our habitation?" Jerufalem was indeed a very ftrong place, and wonderfully fortified both by nature and art, according to the defcription of Tacitus as well as of Jofephus: and yet how many times was it taken? It was taken by Shifhak king of Egypt, by Nebuchadnezzar, by Antiochus Epiphanes, by Pompey, by Sofius and Herod, before its final deftruction by

2. The enemies of the Jews are farther characterised in the next verfe. "A natun of fierce countenance, which fhall not regard the perfon of the old, nor fhow faar to the young." Such were the ChalGens; and the facred hiftorian faith ex- Titus. prefly, (2 Chron. xxxvi. 17.) " that for the wickedness of the Jews God brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who flew their young men with the fword, in the house of their fanctuary, and had no comphon upon young man or maiden, old Man, or him that tooped for age; he gave

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4. In thefe fieges they were to suffer much, and efpecially from famine, "in the ftraitnefs wherewith their enemies

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fhould diftrefs them," ver. 53, &c. And accordingly when the king of Syria befieged Samaria, there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold they beficged

it, until an afs's head was fold for fourfcore pieces of filver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of filver." (2 Kings vi. 25.) And when Nebuchadnezzar befieged Jerufalem, "the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land." (2 Kings xxv. 3.) And in the last fiege of Jerufalem by the Romans there was a moft terrible famine in the city, and Jofephus hath given fo melancholy an account of it, that we cannot read it with out fhuddering. He faith particularly, that women fnatched the food out of the very mouths of their husbands, and fons of their fathers, and (what is moft miferable) mothers of their infants: and in another place he faith, that in every houfe, if there appeared any femblance of food, a battle enfued, and the dearest friends and relations fought with one another, fnatching away the miferable provifions of life: fo literally were the words of Mofes fulfilled, ver. 54, &c. "the man's eye fhall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his botom, and towards his children, because he hath nothing left him in the fiege, and in the ftraitnefs wherewith thine enemies fhall diflrefs thee in all thy gates," and in like manner the woman's" eye fhall be evil towards the husband of her bofom, and towards her fon, and towards her daughter."

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5. Nay it was exprefsly foretold, that not only the men, but even the women fhould eat their own children. Mofes had foretold the fame thing before, Levit. xxvi. 29. "Ye fhall eat the flesh of your ions, and the flesh of your daughters thall ye eat." He repeats it here, ver. 53, And thou shalt cat the fruit of thine own body, the fleth of thy fons and of thy daughters;" and more particularly ver. 56, &c. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to fet the fole of her foot upon the ground,for delicatenefs and tendernefs-the hall eat her children for want of all things fecretly in the fiege and fraitnefs, wherewith thine enemies fhall diftrefs thee in thy gates" And it was fullled about 600 years after the time of Mofes among the Iselites, when Samaria was befieged by the king of Syria, and two women agreed together, the one o give up her fon to be boiled and eaten to-day, and the other to Giver up her son to b. dreffed and caen to 30. ow, a. d one of them was caten accordingly. (2 Kings vi. 28, 29.)

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It was fulfilled again about 900 years after the time of Mofes, among the Jews in the fiege of Jerufalem before the Babylonish captivity; and Baruch thus exprefleth it, (ii. 1, &c.) "The Lord hath made good his word, which he pronounced against us, to bring upon us great plagues, fuch as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to pafs in Jerufalem, according to the things that were written in the law of Mofes, that a man fhould eat the flesh of his own fon, and the flesh of his own daughter:" and Jeremiah thus laments it in his Lamentations, (vi. to.) "The hands of the pitiful women have fodden their own children, they were their meat in the deftruction of the daughter of my people." And again it was fulfilled above 1500 years after the time of Mofes in the laft fiege of Jerufalem by Titus, and we read in Jofephus particularly of a noble woman's killing and eating her own fucking chiid. Mofes faith, "The tender and delicate woman amorg you, who would not adventure to fet the fole of her foot upon the ground, for deli catenefs and tenderne fs:" and there cannot be a more natural and lively defcription of a woman, who was according to Jofephus illuftrious for her family and riches. Mofes faith, the fhall eat them for want of all things:" and according to Jofephus he had been plundered of all her fubitance and provifions by the tyrants and foldiers. Mofes faith, that the should do it "fecretly;" and according to Joe phus, when the had boiled and eaten half, the covered up the reft, and kept it for ar ther time. At fo many different time and diftant periods hath this prophecy b y ber fulfilled; and one would have thought th fuch diftrefs and horror had almoft tran fcended imagination, and much less t any perfon could certainly have forekt and foretold it.

6. Great numbers of them were to deftroyed, ver. 62. "And ye shall b left few in number, whereas ye were, a the ftars of heaven for multitude." No not to mention any other of the calamit and flaughters which they have undergone there was in the laft fiege of Jerufalem b Titus an infinite multitude, faith Jofeph who perished by famine: and he compute that during the whole fiege, the numbe of thofe who were deftroyed by that au by the war amounted to eleven hundr thoufand, the people being affembled fro all parts to celebrate the paflover: and th

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fame author hath given us an account of 1,240,490 deftroyed in Jerufalem and other parts of Judea, befides 99 200 made prifoners; as Bainage has reckoned them up from that hiftorian's account. Indeed there is not a nation upon earth, that hath been expofed to fo many mafiacres and perfecutions. Their hiftory abounds with them. If God had not given them a promife of a numerous potterity, the whole lace would many a time have been extirpated. 7. They were to be carried into Egypt, and fold for flaves at a very low price, ver. 68." And the Lord fhall bring thee into Egypt again, with fhips: and there ye fhall be fold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man fhall buy you." They had come out of Egypt triumphant, but now they fhould return thither as flaves. They had walked through the fea as dry land at their coming out, but now they fhould be carried thither in hips. They might be carried thither in the thips of the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Romans who had a fleet in the Mediterranean; and this was a much fafer way of conveying fo many prifoners, than fending them by land. It appears from Jofephus, that in the reigns of the two firft Ptolemies many of the Jews were flaves in Egypt. And when Jerufalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who were above 17 years he fent many bound to the works Egypt; thofe under 17 were fold; but flittle care was taken of these captives, that eleven thousand of them perished for want. And we learn from St. Jerome, that after their laft overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them were fold, and thole who could not be fold, were tranfported into Egypt, and perished by hipwreck or famine, or were maffacred by the inhabitants.

8. They were to be rooted out of their own land, ver. 63. "And ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goeft to poffefs it." They were indeed placked from off their own land, when the ten tribes were carried into captivity by the king of Affyria, and other nations were planted in their ftead; and when the two other tribes were carried away captive to Babylon; and when the Romans took away their place and nation; befides other captivities and transportations of the people. Afterwards, when the Emperor Adrian had fubdued the rebellious Jews, he published an edict forbidding them upon

pain of death to fet foot in Jerufalem, or even to approach the country round about it. Tertullian and Jerome fay, that they were prohibited from entering into Judea. From that time to this their country hath been in the poffeffion of foreign lords and mafters, few of the Jews dwening in it, and thofe only of a low fervi.e condition. Benjamin of Tudela in Spain, a celeb.ated Jew of the twelfth century, travelied into all parts to vifit thofe of his own ne tion, and to learn an exact fate of their affairs: and he hath reported, that Jeru falem was almot entirely abandoned by the Jews. He found there not above two hundred perfons, who were ter the oft part dyers of wool, and who every year purchafed the privilege of the monopoly of that trade. They lived altogether under David's tower, and made there a very little figure. If Jerufalem had fo few Jews in it, the reft of the holy land was ftill more depopulate. He found two of them in one city, twenty in another, moft whereof were dyers. In other places there were more perfons; but in upper Galilee, where the nation was in greatest repute after the ruin of Jerufalem, he found hardly any Jews at all. A very accurate and faithful traveller of our own nation, who was himself alfo in the holy laud, faith that it is for the most part now inhabited by Moors and Arabians; thofe poffeffing the valleys, and these the mountains. Turks there be few: but many Greeks with other Chriftians of all fects and nations, fuch as impute to the place an adherent holiness. Here are alfo fome Jews, yet inherit they no part of the land, but in their own country do live as aliens.

9. But they were not only to be plucked off from their own land, but also to be difperfed into all nations, ver. 25. "And thou shalt be removed in all the kingdoms of the earth;" and again, ver. 64. “ And the Lord shall fcatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other." Nehemiah, (i. 8, 9) confefleth that these words were fulfilled in the Babylonish captivity; but they have more amply been fulfilled fince the great difperfion of the Jews by the Romans. What people indeed have been scattered fo far and wide as they? and where is the nation,, which is a ftranger to them, or to which they are ftrangers? They fwarm in many parts of the Eaft, are fpread through most of the countries of Europe

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and Afric, and there are feveral families of them in the West Indies. They circulate through all parts, where trade and money circulate; and are, as I may say, the brokers of the whole world.

10. But though they fhould be fo difperfed, yet they fhould not be totally detroyed, but fill fubfift as a diftinct people, as Mofes had before foretold. Levit. xxvi. 44," And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not caft them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them." The Jewish nation, like the bush of Mofes, hath been always burning, but is never confamed. And what a marvellous thing is it, that after fo many wars, battles, and fieges, after fo many fires, famines, and peftilences, after fo many rebellions, maffacres, and perfecutions, after fo many years of captivity, flavery, and mifery, they are not deftroyed utterly, and though fcattered among all people, yet fubfift as a diftinct people by themselves? Where is any thing comparable to this to be found in all the hiftories, and in all the nations under the fun?

11. However, they should fuffer much in their difperfion, and should not reft long in any place, ver. 65. "And among thefe nations fhalt thou find no eafe, neither shall the fole of thy foot have reft." They have been fo far from finding reft, that they have been banished from city to city, from country to country. In many places they have been banished, and recalled, and banished again. We will only just mention their great banishments in modern times, and from countries very well known. In the latter end of the thirteenth century they were banished from England by Edward 1. and were not permitted to return and fettle again till Cromwell's time. In the latter end of the fourteenth century they were banished from France (for the feventh time, fays Mezeray) by Charles VI.; and ever fince they have been only tolerated, they have not enjoyed entire liberty, except at Metz, where they have a fynagogue. In the latter end of the fifteenth century, they were banished from Spain by Ferdinand and Ifabella; and according to Mariana, there were an hundred and feventy thousand families, or as fome fay, eight hundred thoufand perfons who left the kingdom: moft of them paid dearly to John II. for a refuge in Portugal, but within a few years were expelled from thence alfo by his fucceffor

Emanuel. And in our own time, within thefe few years, they were banished from Prague by the queen of Bohemia.

12. They fhould be " oppreffed and fpoiled evermore;" and their "houses" and vineyards," their" oxen" and "affes" fhould be taken from them, and they fhould "be only oppreffed and crushed alway," ver. 29, &c. And what frequent feizures have been made of their effects in almost all countries? how often have they been fined and fleeced by almost all govern ments? how often have they been forced to redeem their lives with what is almost as dear as their lives, their treasure? Inftances are innumerable. We will only cite an hitorian of our own, who fays that Henry III. always polled the Jews at every low ebb of his fortunes. One Abraham, who was found delinquent, was forced to pay feven hundred marks for his redemption. Aaron, another Jew, protefted, that the king had taken from him at times thirty thousand marks of filver, befides two hundred marks of gold, which he had prefented to the queen. And in like manner he used many others of the Jews. And when they were banished in the reign of Edward I. their eftates were confifcated, and immense fums thereby accrued to the crown.

13. "Their fons and their daughters should be given unto another people," ver. 32. And in feveral countries, in Spain and Portugal particularly, their children have been taken from them by order of the government, to be educated in the popish religion. The fourth council of Toledo ordered that all their children should be taken from them, for fear they fhould partake of their errors, and that they fhould be fhut up in monafteries, to be inftructed in the Chriftian truths. And when they were banished from Portugal, the king, fays Mariana, ordered all their children, under 14 years of age, to be taken from them, and baptized: a practice not at all juftifiable, adds the hiftorian, becaufe none ought to be forced to become Chriftians, nor children to be taken from their parents.

14. "They should be mad for the fight of their eyes which they should fee," ver. 34And into what madnefs, fury, and defperation have they been pushed by the cruel ufage, extortions, and oppreffions which they have undergone? We will alledge only two fimilar inftances, one from ancient, and one from modern hiftory. After the deftruction of Jerufalem by Titus, fome of

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the worst of the Jews took refuge in the catle of Mafada, where being closely befieged by the Romans, they at the perfuafion of Eleazar, their leader, first murdered their wives and children; then ten men were chofen by lot to flay the reft; this being done, one of the ten was chofen in like manner to kill the other nine; which having executed, he set fire to the place, and then ftabbed himself. There were nine hundred and fixty who perished in this miferable manner; and only two women and five boys escaped by hiding themfelves in the aqueducts under ground. Such another intance we have in our English history. For in the reign of Richard the Firft, when the people were in arms to make a general maffacre of them, fifteen hendred of them feized on the city of York to defend themselves; but being befieged they offered to capitulate, and to randome their lives with money. The offer being refuted, one of them cried in defpair, that it was better to die courageously for the law, than to fall into the hands of the Chriftians. Every one immediately took his knife, and ftabbed his wife and children. The men afterwards retired into the king's palace, which they fet on fire, in which they confumed themselves with the palace and furniture.

15. "They fhould ferve other gods, wood and ftone," ver. 36; and again, ver. 64,"they should ferve other gods, which neither they nor their fathers had known, even wood and ftone." And is it not too common for the Jews in popish countries to comply with the idolatrous worship of the church of Rome, and to bow down to flocks and ftones, rather than their effects hould be feized and confifcated? Here again we must cite the author, who hath mot ftudied, and hath beft written their modern history, and whom we have had occafion to quote feveral times in this difcourfe. The Spanish and Portugal Inquifitions, faith he, reduce them to the dilemma of being either hypocrites or barat. The numbers of thele diffemblers is very confiderable; and it ought not to be concluded, that there are no Jews in Spain or Portugal, because they are not known: they are fo much the more dangerous, for not only being very numerous, but confounded with the ecclefiaftics, and entering into all ecclefiaftical dignities. In another place he faith, The moft furpriting thing is, that this religion fpreads from generation to generation, and ftill

fubfifts in the perfons of diffemblers in a remote pofterity. In vain the great lords of Spain make alliances, change their names, and take ancient fcutcheons; they are ftill known to be of Jewish race, and Jews themselves. The convents of monks and nuns are full of them. Most of the canons, inquifitors, and bishops, proceed from this nation. This is enough to make the people and clergy of this country tremble, fince fuch fort of churchmen can only profane the facraments, and want intention in confecrating the hoft they adore. In the mean time Orobio, who relates the fact, knew thefe diffemblers. He was one of them himself, and bent the knee before the facrament. Moreover he brings proofs of his affertion, in maintaining, that there are in the fynagogue of Amilerdam, brothers and filters and near relations to good families of Spain and Portugal; and even Francifcan monks, Dominicans, and Jefuits, who come to do penance, and make amends for the crime they have committed in diffembling.

16. "They fhould become an astonishment, a proverb, and a bye-word among all nations," ver. 37. And do we not hear and fee this prophecy fulfilled almost every day? is not the avarice, ufury, and hard-heartedness of Jew grown proverbial, and are not their perfons generally odious among all forts of people? Mohammedans, Heathens, and Chriflians, however they may difagree in other points, yet generally agree in vilifying, abufing, and perfecuting the Jews. In most places where they are tolerated, they are obliged to live in a feparate quarter by themfelves, (as they did here in the Old Jewry) and to wear fome badge of difinction. Their very countenances commonly diftinguish them from the rest of mankind. They are in all refpects treated, as if they were of another fpecies. And when a great master of nature would draw the portrait of a Jew, how deteftable a character hath he reprefented in the person of his Jew of Venice!

17. Finally, "Their plagues fhould be wonderful, even great plagues, and of long continuance," ver. 59. And have not their plagues continued now thefe 1700 years? Their former captivities were very short in comparison; and Ezekiel and Daniel prophefied in the land of the Chaldæans: but now they have no true prophet to foretel an end of their calamities, they have only falfe Meffiahs to delude them

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