SECT. I. A view of hiftory of Mofes. The narrative contained in the Pentateuch naturally divides itself into four diftinct periods: the account of the creationthe ancient the hiftory of the time which elapfed between the creation and the deluge-the description of the deluge-and the annals of certain remarkable postdiluvian events. Upon inquiry, it will be found, that the remembrance of these circumftances has been preserved, in a very remarkable manner, by almost every nation upon the face of the earth. The fame facts are related both in the eaft and in the weft, with a fingular degree of accuracy; and the variations, which occur in the feveral narratives, ferve only to fhew, that the knowledge, which was originally poffeffed by all the immediate defcendants of Noah, has in process of time been gradually corrupted. We are informed by the facred hiftorian, that the heavens and the earth were created in fix days, by the agency of an allwife and an all-powerful Being, who revealed himself to mankind by his incommunicable name of Jehovah. A fixth part of the time employed in the whole cosmogony was appropriated to the formation of man alone. The fpiritual image of God was I. was impreffed upon him, his foul was free CHAP. even from the flightest taint of evil, and all his inclinations were in perfect unifon with the will of his heavenly Father. Thus holy, and thus upright, he was placed by the Deity in the garden of Paradise, and entered upon a life of immaculate purity, and unmixed happiness. This blifsful ftate of innocence however was foon forfeited; man yielded to the temptation of a malignant fpirit lurking under the disguise of a ferpent, and violated the express commandment of God. The fentence of death was pronounced upon him in confequence of his disobedience, though its bitterness was alleviated by the promise of a mighty Conqueror, who was deftined to bruife the head of that reptile, which had feduced him from the paths of holiness. The baleful workings of fin appeared with their full horror in the next generation, and human blood was fhed for the first time by the hand of a brother. As mankind multiplied, wickedness likewise increased, and the advanced age, to which they attained at that period, ferved only to augment the I. SECT. the general corruption. At length the avenues to divine mercy were clofed, and thofe wretched victims of fin were fealed up in final impenitence. The elements waited to receive their commands from God, and the whole world trembled upon the verge of unexpected deftruction. Suddenly the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. A tremendous flood deluged the furface of the globe, and every foul perifhed, except the household of one pious Patriarch. Inclosed within a capacious ark, this favoured family remained secure amidft the wreck of universal nature, perfectly free from the leaft danger, because under the immediate protection of Omnipotence. The waters at length abated, and Noah along with his offspring prepared to quit the ark, in which they had been preserved., The cultivation of the earth, and the planting of vineyards, first engaged their attention; but the harmony of the new world was foon disturbed by the wickedness of Ham. His unworthy treatment of his aged father called down a curfe upon the head of Canaan, while the piety of Shem and and Japhet procured a prophetic bleffing CHAP. for their posterity. In a fhort time, the defcendants of Ham, unmindful of the late judgments of God, corrupted themselves under the conduct of Nimrod the fon of Cufh. With a view of laying the foundation of an univerfal tyranny, and of preventing themselves from being scattered over the earth, like the children of Shem and Japhet, they prepared to build a city and a tower; but their impious defign was fruftrated by a miraculous interference of heaven, and they were doomed to the very condition, against which they had attempted to guard. The natural tendency to evil, fo deeply I have here followed the hypothefis of Mr. Bryant, which supposes that the children of Shem and Japhet were not engaged in this rebellion against heaven, but that it was confined to the defcendants of Ham. See Analysis, vol. iii. p. 19, 26. Some perfons have maintained, that the words, I. fhould not be rendered, “ Whofe top may וראשן בשמים will "reach unto the heavens," but fimply," Whose top was to rooted SECT. rooted in the human breast, foon produced I. a general diffusion of wickedness and ido latry. The glorious orb of day withdrew the devotion of mankind, from him who created it, and the worship of the host of heaven became almost universally prevalent. In thefe circumstances, God was pleased to take Abraham under his peculiar guidance, and to prove his faith by a variety of trials. A fignal 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 fulphureous fire defcended from heaven, and utterly confumed them; while the tract of country, in which they were fituated, was converted into a noisome and stagnant lake. From Abraham was defcended, in a direct line, the patriarch Jofeph. A number of providential events confpired together to throw him into the high fituation 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 fuch a degree, as to excite the jealousy of the reigning monarch. A most |