pious design was frustrated by a miraculous interference of heaven; and they were doomed to the very condition, against which they had attempted to guard.'

6. The natural tendency to evil, so deeply rooted in the human breast, seems to have produced at this period that remarkable system of gentile idolatry, which from Babel was carried to every quarter of the globe. Under such circumstances, God was pleased, in due time, to take Abrahan under his peculiar guidance, and to prove his faith by a variety of trials.

2

A signal example of divine vengeance is recorded to have taken place in his days. Certain cities of Canaan having filled up the measure of their abominations, a torrent of sulphureous fire descended from heaven, and utterly consumed them; while the tract of country, in which they were situated, was converted into a noisome and stagnant lake.

7. From Abraham was descended, in a direct line, the patriarch Joseph. A number of providential events conspired together to throw him into the high situation of prime minister to the king of Egypt, and a dreadful famine of seven years produced the migration of his whole family into that country. Here, in process of time, they multiplied. to such a degree, as to excite the jealousy of the

* See this matter fully discussed in my Origin of Pagan Idolatry. b. vi. c. 1.

2. See my Origin of Pagan Idolatry. b. i. c. 1. § Iv, v. and. passim.

reigning dynasty.' A most iniquitous scene of tyranny ensued: but Moses was raised up by God to be the deliverer of his brethren; and a series of miraculous plagues, inflicted by the hand of the prophet, at length forced the prince who then occupied the throne to consent to the departure of the Israelites. Soon however repenting of his constrained permission, he pursued them as far as the waters of the Red Sea: which, in obedience to the divine command, opened a passage through its waves for Moses and his followers; but, returning immediately to its accustomed channel, overwhelmed Pharaoh and his Egyptians.

IV. These are some of the principal circumstances recorded in the Pentateuch; and they are said to have happened in the earliest ages of the world: but the singularity of the events, and the remote period to which they are ascribed, seem to give us, as reasonable beings, an undoubted right to examine their claim to veracity. A blind acquiescence in received opinions is required as a duty only by superstition and imposture: genuine, Christianity disdains the lurking artifices of deceit ; and founds her empire no less upon the allegiance of the understanding than upon the subjugation of the passions.

The argument, which I mean to prosecute in the first part of my inquiry, may be briefly stated in the following manner.

Namely that of the Indo-Scythic shepherds during their second occupation of Egypt. See my Origin of Pagan Idol. b. vi, ca 5.

If the early history contained in the Pentateuch be authentic, it is only natural to expect, that some traces of it at least will be found in pagan records. Thus, supposing the flood for instance to have ever really occurred, it is incredible that all knowledge of so awful a catastrophè should have been entirely lost among the Gentiles. The impression, which it would make on the minds of men, would be far too deep to be easily obliterated and I scruple not to say, that, if its occurrence had been asserted by Moses alone, while not a single heathen nation had preserved any recollection of it; that one circumstance would, in my mind, have cast an indelible blot on the veracity of the Hebrew historian. Respecting the transactions of Joshua or Gideon' or Sampson, the world at large might well be ignorant: but, if the earth were ever inundated by an universal deluge, some tradition of it more or less vivid must inevitably have been preserved in every ancient nation. It was a matter of such a nature as utterly to preclude the possibility of total oblivion.

Let us then, for the purpose of ascertaining the authenticity of the books of Moses, bring together into one point of view the various traditions of Paganism and compare them with the history contained in the Pentateuch.

IN examining the records of ancient pagan nations, we must prepare ourselves to expect a variety of difficulties and to encounter a multitude of dark and incoherent traditions.

The adulteration of truth with mythological fables, and the mutilated state of many primeval narratives, severally contribute, though in a manner diametrically opposite, to diffuse a great degree of obscurity over the remains of heathen antiquity. In the first of these cases, the fair face of truth is hid like the sun behind a cloud; in the second, she is shorn of her rays, and shines with only half her native lustre. The traditions of the pagan world, when viewed from a distance, present to the imagination a wild and fantastic group of distorted images; which resemble rather the unrestrained effusions of romance, than the sober detail of authentic history. A perpetual love of the marvellous; an unwillingness to relate even the most simple circumstance, without some degree of

VOL. I.

B

exaggeration; and a national vanity, ever desirous of appropriating to a particular country facts which equally concerned all mankind: form the most striking characteristics of ancient mythology. No truth was captivating, unless arrayed in the gaudy dress of allegory; nor was any allegory interesting, unless immediately connected with the history of each separate nation. Hence, though we meet with nearly the same traditions diffused over the face of the whole earth; yet we find the principal actors in them, and the particular district in which the events are said to have taken place, immediately adapted to the imaginary annals of every different people. If we consider these several mythological narratives detached from each other, they will convey to us only the idea of exclusive locality. We may indeed be occasionally struck with some partial resemblance between them and the Mosaical history; yet the impression will soon be obliterated, when we find, to all appearance, that the facts took place in two totally different countries. But, if we combine them together so as to behold at one glance their singular mutual resemblance, and then compare the whole with the records contained in the Pentateuch; this momentary illusion will speedily vanish: and we shall be convinced, that, however each nation may have appropriated a circumstance to their own peculiar gods and their own peculiar country, it is impossible for all to concur in relating the same facts, unless those facts had really happened in some remote period, when all mankind formed, as it were,