excellent purposes, the usual laws of nature are depart. ed from, and, in order to make himfelf known, and attended to, miracles are occafionally introduced,

It is evident that without occafional interpofitions of this kind the maker and fovereign difpofer of all things would not be known, or acknowledged, by the great bulk of mankind. They fee the fun rife and fet every day, and all the revolutions of the feafons, fummer and winter, feedtime and harveft, return in their proper time, and they derive unfpeakable advantage from fuch a difpofition of things, without ever reflecting on the hand that directs them, any more than the brutes that are incapable of fuch reflexion.

There are atheists even among thofe who' with par ticular views ftudy the works of creation, and who themselves difcover the most wonderful and beneficial tendencies in the ftructure and arrangement of this immenfe fyftem of which they are a part. But because they do not themselves fee any departure from general laws, they will not believe the evidence of hiftory, that fuch departures ever have been, notwithstanding the excellent and obvious ends to be anfwered by them. What, then, must have been the ftate of mankind in general with refpect to the knowlegde of God, of religion, and confequently of morality too, without thefe interpofitions? They must have lived as without God in the world, intirely thoughtlefs of his being, perfections and pro vidence, and could not poffibly have had any knowledge of a state after this. And without this knowledge, and the views, expectations, and conduct, depending upon it, they must have been in an exceedingly low and de

graded

gräded state, as much beneath that of chriftians, as the animal creation is below them. For, as I have fhewn in a difcourfe on the fubject, the extended views, and glorious expectations, of christians, arising from the knowledge of God, a conftant refpect to his providence, and to a future ftate, raise them as much above the reft of mankind as these are above the brutes. The true and enlightened friend of mankind, therefore, who wishes their advancement in the fcale of intellectual and moral excellence, must be an advocate for revelati on, the belief of which can alone gain his benevolent object.

As an old man, and one whofe increafing infirmities admonish him that he cannot be far from that bourne from which there is no return, I hope I fhall be excufed if I take this opportunity of faying that, in thefe circumstances, the advantage arifing from a firm belief in revelation, and confequently in a future ftate, is inexpreffible; and by perfons wholly immerfed in the bu finefs of this life, and fafcinated with its yain purfuits, and fleeting enjoyments, cannot be conceived, and wil not be believed.

The nearer I am to death, the nearer I am continually thinking I am to the great fcenes that will open to me after it, and, to my apprehenfion, immediately after it; when I shall receive from that Jefus, whofe divine mission it has been one principal object with me to defend, and by whofe precepts, I hope I may fay, it has been my habitual endeavour to regulate all my conduct, (how imperfect foever has been my fuccefs) whatever new ftation I fhall be thought qualified for in the renova

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1

ted

ted world, and which I hope will not be lefs active, ufeful, and happy, than that which has been my lot in this.

There, if I have this happiness, I fhall meet all my pious friends and benefactors, whofe characters and virtues I take pleasure in contemplating; and it has been my happinefs to have had among those whom I call my friends, fome of the firft and faireft of human characters. Their good opinion and encouragement has always been more than a compenfation for all the obloquy, and fome more ferious evils, to which I have ocfionally been expofed. Thefe, however, I now look back upon without any refentment with refpect to men, and with gratitude to the fovereign difpofer of all things, for the falutary difcipline of which they have been a part. Without fuch dif ipline as this, tho' confifting of many things exceedingly unpleasant and diftreffing at the time, what would any man be? The best of us would be nothing more than spoiled children, unhappy in ourselves, and infufferable to others.

I have no idea of any greater happiness than fuch fociety as I have had, and fuch employments and purfuits as I have been occupied in here. Then, in particular, I fhall hope to refume my investigation of the great fyftem of which I am a part, with more advantage than I can at prefent; and feeing more of the creator in his works, feel fuch an increase of admiration and devotion, as our imperfect knowledge does not admit of at present. There all the evils, natural and moral, that are incident to the prefent ftate, having anfwered the excellent purpofe of difcipline, and forming the mind to true excellence, will be done away.

То

To return from this digreffion (for such, tho' infenfibly led into it, I must allow it to be) to the proper arti. cles of a Preface, I fhali obferve that, thefe Notes are adapted to the common English version of the Bible, because it is the only one that is generally read in the pulpit, or in private families; but I have noted fome of the more confiderable improvements that have been made by more modern translators, especially when they are authorised by the more antient verfions. To have -done this univerfally would have been to give a new tranflation of the whole, and have fwelled these Notes to an immoderate fize.

Since, however, there is no probability that a new translation of the fcriptures will be undertaken by the authority of the English government (and in this country it might not be the more refpected on that account) it is to be wished that the most generally approved of the modern versions were printed uniformly together, as a common Bible, to be used by thofe who approved of it. Thefe new tranflations of the feparate books may, indeed be purchased, and ufed by those who prefer them; but the publications are expenfive, and accompanied with numerous critical notes, of no ufe to the common reader.

I wish fome intelligent bookfeller would take this hint, as it could not fail to answer his purpofe, as well as that of the public. In a new edition, of fuch a publication as this advantage may be taken of later and better verfions, if any fuch fhould in the mean time be produced, and by this means it would be a work ʊntinually improving with the increafe of biblical know

ledge

ledge. And no material inconvenience could ever arife from this circumftance; fince in every translation the general fenfe will, no doubt, be the fame, tho' fome will be more critically exact than others.

If any writings can be faid to authenticate themfelves, by internal marks of their being written by the perfons whofe names they bear, and at the time to which their contents refer, they are the books of fcripture. It is not poffible for any person of tolerable judgment in fuch things, to read them with due attention and notacknowledge this; whatever may be his opinion of them in other refpects. There are, however, in all thefe books fuch genuine marks of integrity and piety as muft fatisfy any reasonable person that no impofition, or deception of any kind (if in their circumftances it had been poffible, which it evidently was not) was intended by the writers. They relate nothing but what they knew, or believed to be true, and fituated as they were, they could not have been deceived themselves; fo that without external evidence (which, however, is abundant) all perfons who feel as they felt with refpect to God and man cannot help receiving their testimony to the most wonderful of the facts they relate without hesitation. Writing from the heart, they write to the hearts of all per fons whofe characters refemble their own.

My opinion of the fuperior excellence and importance of the books of fcripture I have expreffed in my Answer to Mr. Paine, who spoke of them with peculiar bhorrence and contempt; and with this quotation from ayself I thall conclude this preface.

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