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of the same Christian power. Can it be conceived that such predictions should have been the mere effusions of random conjecture, and such accomplishment the effect of blind chance?

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Next to the universal dispersion of the Jewish race, the prophet foretells the miseries and sufferings which should every where attend them, so emphatically expressed by the declaration, "I will draw out a sword after you;" and in the prophetic Legislator's final address to the people,* "The Lord shall scat"ter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even "unto the other; and among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the "Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind." On almost the slightest glance into the records of history, we find melancholy proofs of the accuracy with which this prediction has been fulfilled. The learned Historian, who has exhibited so accurate a view of the fortunes of the Jews from the destruction of Jerusalem to the beginning of the 18th century, observes, that in former captivities + "God was careful to preserve the nation in a body, by "conveying them to the same place; it was all united together "in the plains of Goshen, preparatory to its departure from Egypt. In the Babylonish captivity, one part inhabited the same cities, and another peopled both the banks of the same river; so that when Cyrus determined to restore them, he re"united them with ease. But at the destruction of Jerusalem, "and afterwards in the war of Adrian, the nation, weakened by "unheard of massacres, was dispersed into all the provinces of "the empire: this dispersion continues to this hour, and has 66 even extended to the ten tribes, of whom it is difficult now to "discover the remains in the East, where they were once 66 numerous and considerable." In the earlier period of their dispersion, they frequently rebelled, and struggled against the oppressions they sustained, which only terminated in rendering them more severe. Thus they were prohibited, by the most rigorous edicts, from appearing at Jerusalem, to which they always turned with unceasing and unabated desire. Wherever we find them recovering any degree of populousness, tranquillity,

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*Deut. xxviii. 64, 65.

+ Basnage, Book vi. ch. i. sect. 2.

Ibid. Book vi. ch. ix. sect. 27 and 28.

and respect, we see the transitory gleam is soon obscured by the darkest shades of sorrow. If in the tenth century they enjoyed in the East a temporary tranquillity, with an establishment of academies and schools, it was speedily destroyed: "When the "house of the Abassides (says their historian) which always fa"vored them, sunk from its authority, the sultan who succeeded "to their power, resolved to exterminate the Jews: he shut up "their academies, which have never since been opened-ban"ished their profession, killed the prince of the captivity with "his family, and raised so severe a persecution as to reduce the "Jews to a handful of men, disperse them into the deserts of "Arabia, and drive them into the western world."* Nor could they in the western world find rest. When a military fanaticism collected the Europeans in thousands to recover the Holy Land, the same spirit led them to persecute with indiscriminate fury the nation which in that land had crucified the Lord of Christians, and still regarded his followers with contempt or aversion. "This persecution (says their historian) was universal—it was "felt alike in Germany and in England, in France and Spain, "and Italy; the public cry was, Come, let us massacre them "in such a manner that the name of Israel shall be no more "remembered. They put to death great numbers, but still "greater numbers, driven to despair by such violence, destroyed "themselves." In other instances, avarice and injustice were as destructive to them as in this instance fanaticism. Universally engaged in commerce, they accumulated wealth, and wealth drew down upon them pillage and extortion. Well may we here adopt the language of their elaborate historian: "We here be"hold the greatest prodigy, in the preservation of the Jewish "nation, in despite of all the calamities it has sustained for 1700 years; we here see a church, which has been hated and per"secuted for 1700 years, still subsisting and numerous: kings "have often employed the severity of edicts, and the hands of "the executioner, to destroy it; the seditious multitude has perpetrated massacres and persecutions infinitely more tragical "than the princes; both kings and people, heathens, Christians, "and Mahometans, however opposite in other points, have

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* Basnage, Book vii. ch. iv. sect. 13.

Ibid. Book vii. ch. vii. sect. 32.

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"united in the design of ruining this nation, and have not effected "it. The bush of Moses, surrounded by flames, has always burnt "without consuming. Dispersed through all parts of the civilized "world; driven from or persecuted wherever they have appeared, they have from age to age endured misery and persecution, “and waded through torrents of their own blood; yet they still "exist in spite of the disgrace, and hatred, and suffering, which "attend them; while there remains nothing of the greatest "monarchies antecedent to the era of their destruction, but the

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It is peculiarly interesting, and must greatly confirm the conclusions for which we have adduced these facts, to observe the exact conformity of the impressions which these events have made on the minds of the Jews themselves, with these conclusions; a conformity most conspicuously shown in a tract, cited in the Transactions of the Sanhedrim of Jews assembled at Paris a few years since, by order of Buonaparte, and entitled, "An Ap"peal to the Justice of Kings and Nations," written by a Jew. The author, after describing, in all the pathos of eloquence, the sufferings of his nation, by persecution, extortion, calumny, the pious rage of the crusaders, the general fury of prejudice and intolerance; after declaring, that it seems as if they were allowed to survive the destruction of their country, only to see the most odious imputations laid to their charge; to stand as the constant object of the grossest and most shocking injustice, as a mark for the insulting finger of scorn, as a sport to the most inveterate hatred: he asks, "What is our guilt? is it that generous con"stancy which we have manifested in defending the laws of our "fathers? But this constancy ought to have entitled us to the "admiration of all nations; and it has only sharpened against us "the daggers of persecution. Braving all kinds of torments, the pangs of death, and the still more terrible pangs of life, we "alone have withstood the impetuous torrents of time, sweeping "indiscriminately in its course nations, religions, and countries. "What is become of those celebrated empires, whose very name "still excites our admiration, by the ideas of splendid greatness "attached to them, and whose power controlled the whole sur"face of the known globe? they are only remembered as monu

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"ments of the vanity of human greatness. Rome and Greece "are no more! their descendants, mixed with other nations, “have lost even the traces of their origin; while a population of "a few millions of men, so often subjugated, stands the test of 3,000 revolving years, and the fiery ordeal of fifteen centuries "of persecution. We still preserve laws, which were given us "in the first days of the world, in the infancy of nature! The "last followers of that heathen religion which had embraced the "universe, have disappeared these fifteen centuries, and our "temples are still standing! We alone have been spared by the "indiscriminating hand of time, like a column left standing "amidst the wreck of worlds and the ruins of nature. The history of our nation connects the present times with the first ages of the world, by the testimony which it gives of the ex“istence of these early periods: it begins at the cradle of mankind, and its remnants are likely to be preserved to the day of "universal destruction."*

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*P. 68 of "Transactions of the Parisian Sanhedrim," translated by F. D. Kirwan, Esq. Lond. 1807.

CONCLUDING LECTURE.

ON THE FUTURE CONVERSION AND RESTORATION
OF THE JEWS.

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Expectations of the Jews on this subject-justified by Prophecy. Prophecy of Mosesof Isaiah-Predicts a second restoration, and different in its circumstances from the Return from Babylon-After a larger period-more permanent. This restoration is to be connected with the extension of the Gospel. Present circumstances of the world consistent with this expectation-As to Palestine-Commercial character of the Jewish nation-The origin and circumstances of the Parisian Sanhedrim—Its tendency to remove Jewish prejudices-Society in England to promote Christianity among the Jews-Other circumstances in the present state of the world, which seem to prepare the way for the accomplishment of the prophecies as to the final triumph of the Gospel. Conclusion.

WHEN We contemplate the singular fortunes of the Jewish people, from its first origin to the present hour; when we compare their unparalleled dispersion and sufferings, with their equally unparalleled preservation as a distinct nation; we cannot but feel a strong curiosity to discover what will probably be their future destiny. We find the expectations they themselves entertain, as extraordinary as their present situation. "No. "where," says a respectable and discerning observer, who had seen them in the most distant regions, "no where do they despair of returning to their country, and beholding their pro"mised Messiah." And again: "I have had many interesting "conferences with the Jews, on the subject of their present "state; and have been much struck with two circumstances, "their constant reference to the desolation of Jerusalem, and "their confident hope that it will be one day rebuilt. The de"solation of the Holy City is ever present to the minds of the "Jews, when the subject is concerning themselves as a nation; for, though without a king, and without a country, they constantly speak of the unity of their nation. Distance of time

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