the study of antiquity, is relieved by an unceasing variety, and diminished by the charms of perpetual novelty. The lure of present pleasure is added to the anticipation of distant advantage; and, while every faculty experiences the powerful stimulus of unsated curiosity, the pursuit is dignified by a consciousness that its object is not devoid of utility to the interests of literature.

Nor is this desire of contemplating the deeds of other times merely an acquired taste, confined to some particular age or country: it is a disposition of the mind, which equally characterises a period of rudeness and an age of civilization. The romantic fables indeed of a barbarous people are gradually rejected by progressive science, and the wild uncertainty of tradition is succeeded by the laborious accuracy of patient investigation but the ruling principle of curiosity still remains unaltered, though the faculties of the human mind are directed to an end more worthy of reason. As learning increases, legendary absurdities vanish; and the religious opinions, the customs, the origin, and the architecture, of our predecessors in various parts of the globe, all serve in their turns to arrest the attention and to exercise the ingenuity of the antiquary. Even those, who have no inclination to submit to the fatigue of accurate scrutiny, will readily avail themselves of the labours of others; and will peruse with pleasure the minute historical detail, or examine with eagerness the well supported hypothesis. Let it however be remembered, that the life and the abilities of man were never designed by Provi

dence to be solely employed in prosecuting conjectures, which can serve no other purpose than that of gratifying a vain curiosity. The Christian scholar will endeavour, to make every literary pur suit, in which he is engaged, tend, if possible, to promote the glory of his Creator, and the best, the religious, interests of mankind. In the solemn very far distant

hour of retribution, an hour not from any of us, every pursuit, and every action, which has not, either mediately or immediately, had a reference to the one thing alone absolutely needful, will then appear lighter than vanity itself.

The study of antiquity, if properly directed, may justly claim no contemptible rank in the service even of Religion.

Every historical fact is entitled to a greater or a less degree of our belief, according as it is more or less supported by concurrent testimony, and more or less stamped with the marks of internal veracity. For we are not accustomed to judge, how far a transaction is probable or improbable, by the circumstance of its being more or less remote from our own times: but we take into consideration the credit due to its historian, the coincidence of his narrative with that of other authors, and the evidence which arises from its internal credibility. Hence we perpetually admit or reject the works of different writers, without being in the least degree influenced by the mere antiquity or the mere lateness of the period in which they flourished: and hence the valuable remains of classical history are received as authentic, while the fabulous legends

of the middle ages are justly consigned to obscurity and contempt.

I. The most ancient records now extant are those of the Jewish nation; and the series of events detailed in them extends even to the creation itself.

Of those early and singular transactions the account is given with an unexampled brevity and an unaffected simplicity. The historian appears to be equally free from the love of praise and the desire of exaggeration. Instead of labouring to extend his subject, he seems studiously to contract it; and, instead of adopting the luxuriant language of allegory, he is remarkable for the majestic plainness of his expressions. The undoubted antiquity of the Pentateuch, and the high veneration in which it has ever been held by the posterity of Israel, cannot fail of exciting the attention of every serious inquirer. Unlike the gaudy fables of Paganism, the narrative, which it comprehends, is short, simple, and unadorned. Supernatural interpositions indeed frequently occur; but they are invariably ascribed to one supreme and exalted Being, the Lord of heaven and earth. No mention is made of the real existence of any inferior deities; nor is there even a hint given respecting the propriety of that canonization of mortals, which prevailed so universally in the mythology of the heathens. On the contrary, the religious worship of the gentile world, though repeatedly mentioned by the author of the Pentateuch, is mentioned only in terms of the severest reprobation and the most indignant

contempt. The accommodating spirit of Paganism readily permitted an universal toleration, and encouraged the frequency of religious communion; but, in the Jewish records, every species of worship, except that of the one true God, is pronounced to be vain and abominable. Like some detached and prominent mountain in the neighbourhood of a vast and uniform plain, the code of the Hebrew legislator forms, in this respect, a striking contrast to the mythological fables of every other nation; and, with a solitary majesty, stands totally apart from the various systems of ancient idolatry. The grand characteristic of heathen devotion, however diversified by caprice or modified by imposture, is uniformly Polytheism. In number, titles, and attributes, the objects of adoration may indeed occasionally differ: but a multiplicity of deities still constitutes the general creed of Paganism; and a dereliction of the pure worship of the Unity is equally chargeable upon the refinements of Europe and Asia, the degraded worship of the western hemisphere, and the base superstition of Africa. The wisdom of Egypt, the learning of Greece, the masculine energy of Rome, and the diversified knowledge of Hindostan, were alike unable to preserve them from the universal contagion. Israel alone was exempt, though far inferior to the literary part of the ancients in mere human philosophy; and the exclusive characteristic of the Pentateuch is the doctrine of the unity of the Godhead.

Such is the wonderful volume, to which the Jews

pay implicit obedience, and upon which the whole fabric of Christianity is erected.

Here however an important question naturally arises from so interesting a subject; and a dispassionate inquirer after truth is led almost involuntarily to ask, whether this ancient narrative can stand the test of that scrutiny, which is usually deemed sufficient to establish a claim to historical authenticity.

II. The degree of credit due to the author of the Pentateuch depends upon the coincidence of his narrative with the records and traditions preserved by other nations, and upon the internal evidence of truth which may be discovered in his writings.

With regard to the second of these particulars, it shall be considered in a subsequent portion of this Work. It only remains therefore at present to examine, whether the transactions, detailed by Moses, rest upon his unsupported testimony alone, or whether they are not corroborated by the concurrent voice of all nations in all quarters of the globe.

Various are the pagan traditions, which minutely coincide with the Mosaical account of the early ages of the world but let it be observed, that this similarity affords no just ground of concluding that they were derived from the Pentateuch. Such a circumstance is, in most cases, rendered utterly impossible by the remoteness of the nations in which those traditions were prevalent, and by their total want of connection with the posterity of Israel.