quired only the blood of the lamb, because the type of him in whom was no fin, the immaculate and holy one. Did the heathens pollute their temples with scenes of guilt and riot, and make even a traffic of debauchery; for this was their common practice. In the Mofaic law, the temple of the Most High was, on the contrary, declared to be dedicated to purity. It was the refidence of the holy of holies, and all pollution, all abomination was confidered defilement to the facred place. Did the law of Mofes prescribe or permit immorality. Were not all the flagitious practices of the Gentiles represented as the objects of detestation, and the means of defilement? Is not the infatuation of those astonishing, who look on the religion of the old covenant with averfion, while no refentment is felt at the abfurd and difgufting inftitutions of Polytheism? It is even probable, that idolatry was not in itself fo offenfive to God because it robbed him of his worship, but because it corrupted morals. The worship of imperfect beings can add to the glory of God in no other way than by the promotion of universal righteousness.

The Jews have been called a barbarous and ignorant people, unskilled in art, avaricious, and addicted to the moft grofs fuperftition.

That they were not without skill in the arts of life, is apparent from the various circumstances of their history; the building of the ark and the temple. Of Solomon it is declared, he was well versed in natural knowledge; and the acquifition of the Jews in art or science was perhaps nearly, if not equally, advanced with that of the nations of the fame age. For, after all, to what did the knowledge of the ancient world amount? Some arts feem to have flourished, which subsequent ages have loft; but natural knowledge was always in a very confined state; it was the superstition of philofophy, grounded on conjecture, not on experiment. What was the aftronomy of Egypt or Chaldea formed on? Systems now well known to be abfolutely falfe. It is therefore a great mistake to confider the Ifraelites as comparatively barbarous, or ignorant. But if it be granted, that the children of Ifrael were a barbarous race, this circumftance would of itself be an argument in favour of revelation. For it is inconfiftent to suppose illiterate and uncultivated men, unaided by divine inftruction, to be capable of entertaining fuch fublime and clear ideas of God as the Jewish Scriptures contain, and which were never discovered by more civilized people. Compare the produc

tions of Greece and Rome in the highest state of the arts; and what fhall we find in them, however excellent in other respects as models of compofition, that can at all rival the Hebrew Scriptures, when the majesty, the mercy, or the holiness of the Deity are displayed? It is in these facred writings that we see also the pureft morality inculcated; not indeed brought to such a state of perfection as in the Gospel, but still eminently fuperior to the precepts of all cotemporary or known religions. For here it is neceffary to feparate the tenets of philofophy from facred inftitutions. It has been already remarked, that philofophers were indifferent to the practice of the world out of their own immediate schools, and that the religion of the ancient world seems not to have had any immediate connection with virtue. Men were indeed taught to appease their deities, and to court their favour. How? By rites and ceremonies; by oblations and facrifices. Such indeed were prescribed by God under the old covenant, but it was ever explicitly proclaimed and univerfally understood, that these did not difpenfe with the obligations of moral duty. If then no conceptions of natural religion were ever fo clear, no declarations fo exprefs, as are evident in the Jewish

revelation, is it not to be concluded that the Scriptures must have derived their origin from a fource fuperior to human ?

In

If while many inftitutions are to be found in the Jewish laws and precepts that are evidently excellent, fome it must be confeffed there are for which we cannot account. reasoning on these we ought to confider them as far as poffible with all their relations. Here indeed our judgment will be imperfect, because we cannot fee the tendency of the whole scheme which is embraced by the unlimited providence of the divine Author. We must remember however, that of these many were peculiarly adapted to extraordinary circumstances; to a people who were defigned to be unconsciously, and often reluctantly, the inftruments of preferving the knowledge of the true God, of juftice, and morality in a corrupt and perverse world. As the knowledge and virtue of an individual will degenerate unless it have some example, unless it be preferved from contamination by conftant vigilance; fo it is with nations, and with the whole race; for, unless some principles of renovation be given to the moral constitution, it will decay like the phyfical. The law of natural conscience kept the Gentile world from total

corruption. Under the Chriftian difpenfation. we have a renovating principle, the gift of grace and I would draw this inference, that had it not pleased God to preferve mankind by that filent but irresistible voice of confcience from total degeneracy, that law which was written in their hearts, the world would unavoidably, by the constitution of things, have fallen into an irrecoverable state of depravity. Yet if natural religion could enable us to acquire notions of morality, we ought never to lose fight of this consideration, that nothing but revelation can sanction the principles of justice and virtue among men. On the motives of

natural religion they will be only a temporal convenience, adapted entirely to the improvement or accommodations of temporal life. Revelation is the bond which unites man to God, and connects our present interests with eternity.

Befides the excellent tendency of the Mofaic inftitution to preserve a true sense of the unity and perfections of God, which is a ftrong internal evidence of its origin, we may further obferve, that it contained much encouragement to benevolence; notwithstanding that it prescribed many diftinctions which appear to be fupercilious. The unlimited law of