fuch an Hero, an Apollonius, a Barcosbas, or a Mahomet, and had all been Baptiz'd in his Name; and Swore by his Name, and upon that very Book, (which I had then forged, and which they never faw before) in their publick Judicatures; that this Book was their Gospel and Law, which they had ever fince that Time, thefe 1ooo Years paft univerfally receiv'd and own'd, and none other. I wou'd ask any Deift, whether he thinks it poffible, that fuch a Cheat cou'd pafs, or fuch a Legend be receiv'd as the Gospel of Chriftians; and that they could be made believe, that they never had any other Gofpel? The fame Reafon is as to the Books of Mofes, and muft be, as to every Matter of Fa&t, which has all the four Marks before-mention'd; 'and thefe Marks fecure any fuch Matter of Fact as much from being Invented and impos'd in any after Ages, as at the Time when fuch Matters of Fact were faid to be done.

LET me give one very familiar Example more in this Cafe. There is the Stonhenge in SalisburyPlain, every body knows it; and yet none knows the Reafon why thofe Great Stones were fet there, or by whom or in Memory of what.

Now fuppofe I fhou'd write a Book to Morrow, and tell there, That thefe Stones were fet up by Hercules, Polyphemus, or Garagantua, in Memory of fuch and fuch of their Actions. And for a further Confirmation of this, fhou'd fay, in this Book, That it was wrote at the Time when fuch Actions were done, and by the very Actors themfelves, or EyeWitneffes. And that this Book had been receiv'd as Truth, and quoted by Authors of the greateft Reputation in all Ages fince. Moreover, that this Book was well known in England, and enjoyn'd by At of Parliament to be taught our Children, and that we did teach it to our Children, and had been taught it our felves when we were Children. I ask any Deift, Whether he thinks this could pass upon Eng

land?..

land? And whether, if I, or any other fhould infift upon it, we fhould not, inftead of being believ'd, be fent to Bedlam?

Now let us compare this with the Stonhenge, as .I may call it, or Twelve great Stones fet up at Gilgal, which is told in the iv. Chap. of Joshua. There it is faid, Ver. 6. that the Reafon why they were fet up, was, that when their Children, in after Ages, fhould ask the Meaning of it,it fhould be told them.

AND the thing in Memory of which they were fet up, was fuch as cou'd not poffibly be impos'd upon that Nation, at that Time, when it was faid to be done, it was as wonderful and miraculous as their Paffage thro' the Red-Sea.

AND withal, free from a very poor Objection, which the Deifts have advanc'd against that Miracle of the Red-Sea: Thinking to folve it by a SpringTide, with the Concurrence of a strong Wind, happening at the fame Time, which left the Sand fo dry, as that the Ifraelites being all Foot, might pafs thro' the Owfey Places and Holes, which it must be fuppos'd the Sea left behind it: But that the Egyptians being all Horfe and Chariots, ftuck in thofe Holes and were entangl'd, fo as that they cou'd not March fo faft as the Ifraelites: And that this was all the Meaning of its being faid, That God took off their (the Egyptians) Chariot-Wheels, that they drove them heavily, So that they wou'd make no thing extraordinary, at leaft, not Miraculous in all this Action.

THIS is advanc'd in Le Clerk's Differtations upon Genefis, lately Printed in Holland, and that Part with others of the like Tendency, endeavouring to refolve other Miracles,as that of Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. into the mere Natural Caufes, are put into English by the well known T. Brown, for the Edification of the Deifts in England.

BUT these Gentlemen have forgot, that the Ifraelites had great Herds of many Thousand Cattle,

with

with them; which wou'd be apter to ftray, and fall into those Holes, and Owfey Places in the Sand, than Horfes with Riders, who might direct them.

BUT fuch precarious, and filly Supposes are not worth the Anfwering. If there had been no more in this Paffage thro' the Red Sea, than that of a Spring-Tide, &c. It had been impoffible for Mofes to have made the Ifraelites believe that Relation given of it in Exodus, with fo many Particulars, which themselves faw, to be true.

AND all thofe Scriptures which magnifie this Action, and appeal to it as a full Demonftration of the miraculous Power of God; must be reputed as Romance or Legend.

I SAY this for the fake of fome Chriftians, who think it no Prejudice to the Truth of the Holy Bible, but rather an Advantage, as rendering it more eafy to be believ'd, if they can folve whatever feems Miraculous in it, by the Power of fecond Caufes: And fo to make all, as they fpeak, Natural and Eafie. Wherein, if they cou'd prevail, the natural and eafie Refult wou'd be, not to believe one Word in all thofe Sacred Oracles. For if things be not, as they are told in any Relation, that Relation muft be falfe. And if falfe in Part, we cannot Truft to it, either in Whole, or in Part.

HERE are to be excepted, Mif-Tranflations, and Errors, either in Copy, or in Prefs. But where there is no Room for fuppofing of thefe, as where all Copies do agree; there we muft either Receive all, or Reject all. I mean in any Book that pretends to be written from the Mouth of God. For in other common Hiftories, we may believe Part and reject Part, as we fee Caufe.

BUT to return. The Paffage of the Ifraelites 0ver Jordan, in Memory of which thofe Stones at Gilgal were fet up, is free from all thofe little Carpings before-mentioned, that are made as to the Paffage thro' the Red-Sea, For Notice was given to the

Ifraelites

Ifraelites the Day before, of this great Miracle to be done. Joh. iii. 5. It was done at Noon-day, before the whole Nation. And when the Waters of Fordan were divided, it was not at any Low-Ebb, but at the Time when that River overflowed all his Banks. ver. 15. And it was done, not by Winds, or in length of Time, which Winds must take to do it: But all on the fuddain, as foon as the Feet of the Priefts that bare the Ark were dipped in the Brim of the Water, Then the Waters which came down from above, food and rofe up upon an Heap, very far from the City Adam, that is bejide Zaretan: And those that came down toward the Sea of the Plain, even the SaltSea, fail'd, and were cut off: And the People passed over, right against Jericho. The Priefts ftood in the midft of Jordan, till all the Armies of Ifrael had passed over. And it came to pass, when the Priefs that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, were come up, out of the Midft of Jordan, and the Soles of the Priefs Feet were lift up upon the Dry Land, that the Waters of Jordan returned unto their Place, and flowed over all his Banks as they did before. And the People came up out of Jordan, on the Tenth Day of the firft Month, and encamped in Gilgal on the Eaft Border of Jericho. And thofe Twelve which they took out of Jordan, did Jofhua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the Children of Ifrael, faying, When your Children fhall ask their Fathers in Time to come, faying, what mean these Stones? Then

tones

Shall ye let your Children know, faying, Ifrael came over this Jordan on dry Land. For the Lord your God dryed up the Waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were paffed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which be dryed up, from before us, until we were gone over. That all the People of the Earth might know the Hand of the Lord, that it is Mighty: That ye might fear the Lord your God for ever. Chap. iv. from ver. 18.

If the Paffage over the Red Sea, had been only taking Advantage of a Spring-Tide, or the like, How wou'd this teach all the People of the Earth, that the Hand of the Lord was Mighty! How wou'd a Thing, no more Remarkable, have been taken Notice of thro' all the World! How wou'd it have taught Ifrael to fear the Lord, when they muft know, that notwithstanding, of all thefe Big Words, there was fo Little in it! How cou'd they have be liev'd, or receiv'd a Book, as Truth, which they knew, told the Matter fo far otherwife from what it was!

BUT, as I faid, this Paffage over Jordan, which is here compar'd to that of the Red-Sea, is free from thofe Cavils that are made as to that of the RedSea, and is a further Atteftation to it,being faid to be done in the fame Manner as was that of the Red Sea, Now, to form our Argument, let Us fuppofe, that there never was any fuch Thing as that Paffage over Jordan. That thefe Stones at Gilgal were fet up, upon fome other Occafion, in fome after Age. And then, that fome defigning Man invented this Book of Fofbua, and faid, that it was wrote by Folhua, at that Time. And gave this Stonage at Gilgal, for a Teftimony of the Truth of it. Wou'd not every Body fay to him, We know the Stonage at Gilgal: But we never heard before of this Reafon for it? Nor of this Book of Jabua? Where has it been all this while? And Where, and How came you, after fo many Ages to find it? Befides, this Book tells Us, that this Paffage over Fordan was ordain'd to be taught our Children, from Age to Age: And therefore, that they were always to be Inftructed in the Meaning of that Stonage at Gilgal as a Memorial of it. But we were never taught it when we were Children; nor did ever teach our Children any fuch Thing. And it is not likely, That cou'd have been forgotten, while fo remarkable a Stonage did continue, which was fet up for that, and no other End!

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