,,five ,,pebbles  ,from  ,,the ,,brook4 
,a ,reply  ,,to  ,a ,,defence ,,of      
,,christianity  ,,written ,,by  ,,edward
 ,,everett1  ,,greek ,,professor ,,of   
,,harvard ,,university ,,in ,,answer    
,,to ,,the ,,grounds ,,of ,,christianity
 ,,examined ,,by ,,comparing ,,the ,,new
 ,,testament ,,with ,,the ,,old  ,,by   
,,george ,,bethune ,,english4  ,should a
 wise man utter vain knowledge1 and fill
 his belly with the east wind8 ,should  
he reason with unprofitable talk8 or    
with speeches wherewith he can do no    
good8--,thou choosethfn#a the tongue of 
the crafty4 ,thy own mouth condemneth   
thee1 and not ,i3 yea1 thine own lips   
testify against thee4 ,behold ,i will   
make thee a new sharp threshing         
instrument having teeth4                
,,philadelphia3  ,,printed ,,for ,,the  
,,author4  #ahbd4  ,,pg ,editor's ,note3
 ,many  printer's errors in this text   
have been retained as found in the      
original--in particular the will be     
found a large number of mismatched and  

wrongspace quotation marks4             
,,advertisement4  ,,when ,i left        
,america1 ,i had no intention of giving 
,mr4 ,everett's book a formal answer3   
but having learned since my arrival in  
the ,old ,world1 that3 the controversy  
in which ,i had engaged myself had      
attracted some attention1 and had been  
reviewed by a distinguished member of a 
,german university1 my hopes of being   
serviceable to the cause of truth and   
philanthrophy are revived1 and ,i have  
therefore determined to give a reply to 
,mr4 ,everett's publication4  ,in this  
,work1 as in my prior writings1 ,i have 
taken for granted the ,divine ,authority
 of the ,old ,testament1 and ,i have    
argued upon the principle that every    
book1 claiming to be considered as a    
,divine revelation and building itself  
upon the ,old ,testament as upon a      
foundation1 must agree with it1         
otherwise the superstructure cannot     
stand4 ,the ,new ,testament1 the        
,talmud1 and the ,koran are all placed  

by their authors upon the ,law and the  
,prophets1 as an edifice is upon its    
foundation2 and if it be true that any  
or all of them be found to be           
irreconcileable with the primitive      
,revelation to which they all refer     
themselves1 the question as to their    
,divine ,authority is decided against   
them1 most obviously and completely4    
,this work was written in ,egypt and    
forwarded to the ,u4 ,states1 while ,i  
was preparing to accompany ,ismael      
,pacha to the conquest of ,ethiopia2 an 
expedition in which ,i expected to      
perish1 and therefore felt it to be my  
duty to leave behind me1 something from 
which my countrymen might learn what    
were my real sentiments upon a most     
important and interesting subject2 and  
as ,i hoped would learn too1 how grossly
 they had been deluded into building    
their faith and hope upon a demonstrated
 error4  ,on my arrival from ,egypt ,i  
found that the ,,ms4 had not been       
published1 and ,i was advised by        

several1 of my friends to abandon the   
struggle and to imitate their example2  
in submitting to the despotism of       
popular opinion1 which1 they said1 it   
was imprudent to oppose4 ,i was so far  
influenced by these representations--   
extraordinary indeed in a country which 
boasts that here freedom of opinion and 
of speech is established by law--that ,i
 intended to confine myself to sending  
the ,,ms4 to ,mr4 ,everett2 in the      
belief that when he should have the     
weakness of his arguments in behalf of  
what he defended and the injustice of   
his aspersions upon me1 fairly and      
evidently laid before him1 that he would
 make me at least a private apology4 ,he
 chose to preserve a sullen silence1    
probably believing that he is so        
securely seated in the saddle which his 
brethren have girthed upon the back of a
 strong ass that2 there is no danger    
that the animal will give him a fall4   
,not a little moved at this1 ,i         
determined to do my myself justice1 and 

to publish the pages following4  ,this  
book is not the work of an ,infidel4 ,i 
am not an infidel2 what ,i have learned 
and seen in ,europe1 ,asia and ,africa1 
while it has confirmed my reasons for   
rejecting the ,new ,testament1 has      
rooted in my mind the conviction that   
the ancient ,bible does contain a       
revelation from the ,god of ,nature1 as 
firmly as my belief in the first        
proposition of ,euclid4  ,the whole     
analogy of ,nature1 while it is in many 
respects opposed to the characteristics 
ascribed to the ,divinity by the        
metaphysicians1 yet bears witness in my 
opinion1 that this world was made and is
 governed by just such a ,being as the  
,jehovah of the ,old ,testament2 while  
the palpable fulfillment of predictions 
contained in that book1 and which is so 
strikingly manifest in the ,old ,world1 
leaves in my mind no doubt whatever1 of 
the ultimate fulfillment of all that it 
promises1 and all that it threatens4  ,i
 cannot do better than to conclude these

 observations with the manly declaration
 of the celebrated ,christian orator    
,dr4 ,chalmers1 ,we are ready1 7says    
he17 to admit that as the object of the 
inquiry is not the character1 but the   
,truth of ,christianity1 the philosopher
 should be careful to protect his mind  
from the delusions of its charms4  ,he  
should separate the exercises of the    
understanding from the tendencies of the
 fancy or of the heart4 ,he should be   
prepared to follow the light of         
evidence1 though it should lead him to  
conclusions the most painful and        
melancholy4 ,he should train his mind to
 all the hardihood of abstract and      
unfeeling intelligence4 ,he should give 
up every thing to the supremacy of      
argument and he able to renounce without
 a sigh all the tenderest possessionsfn 
#b of infancy1 the moment that ,,truth  
demands of him the sacrifice4 7,dr4     
,chalmers on the ,evidence and          
,authority of the ,christian ,religion4 
,ch4 ,i47  ,finally1 let the ,reader    

remember1 that there is one thing in the
 world more contemptible than the slave 
of a tyrant--it is the dupe of a        
,,sophist4  ,g4 ,b4 ,e4  ,,pebble ,i    
,and ,david chose him five smooth stones
 out of the brook1 and put them in a    
shepherd's bag which he had1 even in a  
scrip3 and his sling was in his hand3   
and he drew near to the ,philistine4    
,mr4 ,everett commences his work with   
the following remarks4 ,was ,jesus      
,christ the person foretold by the      
prophets1 as the ,messiah of the ,jews82
 one method1 and a very obvious one1 of 
examining his claims to this character1 
is to compare his person1 life1 actions1
 and doctrine1 with the supposed        
predictions of them4 ,but if it also    
appear that this ,jesus wrought such    
works1 as evinced that he enjoyed the   
supernatural assistance and cooperation 
of ,god1 this certainly is a fact of    
great importance4 ,for we cannot say1   
that in estimating the validity of our  
,lord's claims to the character of      

,messiah1 it is of no consequence       
whether1 while he advanced those claims1
 he wrought such works as proved his    
intimacy with the ,god of truth4 ,while 
he professed himself the ,messiah1 is it
 indifferent whether he was showing     
himself to be as being beyond delusion1 
and above imposture8--,let us make the  
case our own4 ,suppose that we were     
witnesses of the miraculous works of a  
personage of pretensions like our       
,lord's1 should we think it necessary or
 reasonable to resort to long courses of
 argument1 or indeed to any process of  
the understanding1 except what was      
requisite to establish the fact of the  
miracles8 ,should we1 while he was      
opening the eyes of the blind1 and      
raising the dead from their graves1 feel
 it necessary to be deciphering         
prophecies1 and weighing thesefn #c     
difficulties8 ,now we may transfer this 
case to that of ,christianity4 ,the     
miracles of our ,lord are either true or
 false4 ,the infidel if he maintain the 

latter must prove it2 and if the former 
can be made to appear1 they are beyond  
all comparison the most direct and      
convincing testimony that can be        
devised1 p4 #a1 #b4 of ,mr4 ,everett's  
work4  ,to this statement ,i would      
reply--that ,i do not know what right   
,mr4 ,everett has to call upon his      
opponent1 to prove a negative4 ,it was  
his business to prove the affirmative of
 his question1 and to show that these   
miracles actually were performed1 before
 he proceeded to argue upon the strength
 of them4 ,it is1 ,i conceive1          
impossible to demonstrate that miracles 
said to have been wrought #ahjj years   
ago1 were not performed2 but it is1 ,i  
believe1 quite possible to show that    
there is no sufficient proof that they  
were4 ,one of the reasons given1 in the 
#b;d1 ch4 as ,i think1 of the grounds of
 ,christianity examined1 for throwing   
out of consideration the miracles       
recorded in the ,new ,testament in      
examining the question of the           

,messiahship of ,jesus1 was1 that the   
,new ,testament itself1 was not a       
sufficient proof that these miracles    
were actually wrought2 and this1 with   
the reader's indulgence1 ,i think ,i can
 plainly show4  ,mr4 ,everett allows p4 
#dej of his work1 what indeed he cannot 
deny1 that the four ,gospels do         
sometimes contradict each other in their
 narratives2 and he refers with         
approbation1 in a note to p4 #deh1 to a 
work of ,lessing's1 which he says1 ought
 to be read by every one who is overfond
 of ,harmonies4 ,this work of           
,lessing's1 if ,i recollect right1      
maintains1 that all hopes of harmonizing
 the evangelists1 of reconciling their  
contradictions1 must be given up4 ,see  
,lessings ,sammliche1 ,schriften1 ch4 v4
 ,s4 #aej1 as quoted by ,mr4 ,everett1  
p4 #deh4  ,now these contradictions1 if 
they do exist1 unquestionably argue one 
of two things2 either fraud1 or want of 
accurate information in their authors1  
as no man who wishes to be considered   

compos mentis will deny1 because1       
accurate information excludes the       
possibility of contradiction in authors 
willing to tell the truth1 and much more
 in inspired authors1 who must be       
incapable of writing anything but the   
truth4  ,the ,christian1 therefore1     
must1 it seems to me1 on account of     
these contradictions1 allow one of two  
things2 either1 that the evangelists    
were fraudulent men1 or else that the   
,gospels were not written by the        
,apostles and immediate followers of    
,jesus3 because want of accurate        
information1 cannot be supposed of the  
,apostles and immediate followers of    
,jesus2 as having been constantly with  
him1 from the beginning1 to the end of  
his ministery1 they must have been      
perfectly acquainted with his actions   
and doctrines4 ,neither can lapse of    
memory be urged2 because the ,gospels   
represent ,jesus as saying1 ,john ch4   
xvi4 #bf1 that they should have the aid 
of inspiration1 which should1 bring all 

things1 to remembrance2 and in ,acts ch4
 iv4 #ca1 all the followers of ,jesus   
are represented as having actually      
received the effusion of the ,holy      
,ghost3 of course want of accurate      
information1 and lapse or memory in them
 cannot be supposed4  ,the ,christian1  
therefore1 must allow1 since            
contradictions do exist1 if he would    
avoid accusing the ,apostles and        
disciples of ,jesus of fraud1 that the  
,gospels were not written by the        
,apostles and first followers of ,jesus1
 but that they were written by men1 who 
had no accurate information about the   
events they record4 ,it is therefore    
plain1 that the miracles recorded in the
 ,gospels1 are incapable of proof4 ,for 
what ,christian in his senses can ask   
another man to believe accounts of      
miracles1 which accounts1 he must at the
 same time allow1 were written by       
fraudulent men1 or by men who had no    
accurate information upon the subjects  
about which they write4  ,the edge of   

this1 as ,i think1 smites right through 
the neck of ,mr4 ,everett's argument on 
which his work depends1 and leaves his  
book--a gasping head---a quivering      
trunk4 ,sic transit gloria mundi4  ,but 
in order to make ,mr4 ,everett still    
farther ,sensible how easily his        
argument can be overturned1 overturned  
and overturned1 ,i will suppose a       
reasonable and reasoning man1 desirous  
to verify the claims of the books of the
 ,new ,testament as containing a        
,revelation from ,god1 to set down to   
scrutinize with anxious solicitude every
 argument of internal and external      
evidence1 in favour of their            
authenticity1 and authority1 in the hope
 of becoming satisfied of the truth of  
their claims4 ,but in the course of his 
examination1 such a man will assuredly  
find1 that almost every step in his     
inquiry1 is an occasion of doubt and of 
difficulty4  ,books containing          
,revelations from the ,supreme1 must be 
consistent with themselves4 ,but he will

 observe on a careful perusal of the    
evangelists1 that the contradictions1   
particularly in the narratives of the   
crucifixion and resurrection of ,jesus1 
are numerous2 and that all the ingenuity
 of ,christian writers1 has been        
exhausted in vain in the attempt to     
reconcile them2 for example1 the ,gospel
 called of ,matthew says1 ch4 iii4 #ad1 
that ,john the ,baptist1 knew ,jesus    
when he came to him to be baptised1     
7which was very probable on account of  
the relationship and intimacy subsisting
 between ,mary the mother of ,jesus1    
and3 ,elizabeth the mother of ,john1 as 
mentioned in the ,gospel called of      
,luke1 ch4 i4 #ah1 it could hardly have 
been otherwise7 but the author of the   
,gospel called of ,john says1 ch4 i4    
#ca1 that ,john knew him not1 until he  
was designated by the descent of the    
,holy ,ghost upon him4  ,again1 it is   
said in the ,gospel called of ,john1 ch4
 ii4 #ad4 that ,jesus1 on his first     
visit to ,jerusalem after he had        

commenced his preaching1 cast the buyers
 and sellers out of the ,temple1 whereas
 the ,gospel called of ,matthew1 and    
also those called of ,mark and ,luke1   
represent this to have been done by     
,jesus at his last visit to ,jerusalem4 
,see ,matt4 ch4 xxi4 #ab4 ,mark ch4 xi4 
#ae4 ,luke ch4 xix4 #de4  ,again1 the   
author of the ,gospel called of ,john1  
represents the last supper or ,jesus    
with his ,apostles1 to have taken place 
7,see ch4 xiii4 #a4 and ch4 xviii4 #bh47
 on the eve before the feast of the     
passover1 and that ,jesus was crucified 
on the feast day itself1 while the      
authors of the other ,gospels represent 
the first event to have taken place1 on 
the evening of the passover itself1 and 
that ,jesus was crucified the day after4
 ,see ,matt4 ,ch4 xxvi4 #ah4 ,mark xiv4 
#ab4 ,luke ch4 xxii4 #g4 ,now ,matthew  
and ,john must1 according to the        
,gospels themselves1 have been present  
with ,jesus when he drove the buyers and
 sellers out of the ,temple1 and at his 

last supper1 and when he was seized in  
the garden of ,gethsemane2 they must    
therefore have known perfectly whether  
,jesus drove the buyers2 and sellers out
 of the ,temple1 at his first visit to  
,jerusalem in their company2 or at his  
last1 and whether his last supper1 and  
his seizure in the garden of ,gethsemane
 took place on the eve before this      
passover their great national festival1 
or on the evening of the passover       
itself4 ,they could not forget the time 
and place of events1 so affecting and   
important as the last mentioned1 and    
when we add to these considerations1    
that the ,gospels represent ,jesus as   
saying1 7,john ch4 xiv42#bf47 that they 
should be inspired by the ,holy ,spirit1
 which should bring all things to       
remembrance1 the supposition that the   
real ,matthew and ,john could contradict
 each other in this manner1 becomes     
quite inadmissable4  ,in the account of 
the resurrection of ,jesus1 the most    
important fact of ,christianity1 we also

 find several contradictions2 for       
instance1 the ,gospel called of ,matthew
 says1 that the first appearance of     
,jesus to his disciples after his       
resurrection1 was in ,galillee1 7,see   
,matt4 ch4xxxviii4 #g17 while the other 
evangelists assert1 that his first      
appearance to them after that event was 
at ,jerusalem4 ,see ,mark ch4 xvi41     
,luke ch4 xxiv4 ,john ch4xx4 ,the       
,gospel called of ,john says1 that he   
afterwards appeared to them in ,galilee3
 but according to that of ,luke1 the    
disciples did not go to ,galilee to meet
 ,jesus2 for that ,gospel says1 that    
,jesus expressly ordered his disciples  
to tarry at ,jerusalem1 where they      
should receive the effusion of the ,holy
 ,ghost1 and that after giving that     
order he was taken up to ,heaven4 ,see  
,luke ch4 xxiv4 #di1 #ej1 also1 the     
first ch4 of ,acts4 fn #d  ,this greatly
 invalidates the credibility of these   
accounts2 for as much as that the       
historical testimony in attestation of  

supernatural events1 ought1 because such
 events are out of the common course of 
nature1 to be strong and                
unexceptionable4  ,he will observe too  
that these writers1 supposed to have    
been the inspired followers of ,jesus   
,christ1 have applied many passages of  
the ,old ,testament as prophecies of    
,jesus1 when it is most certain1 7and is
 at the present day allowed by          
,christian ,biblical ,critics of the    
highest standing7 from examining those  
passages in their context in the ,old   
,testament1 that they are not prophecies
 of ,jesus2 and that some of the        
passages cited are in fact no prophecies
 at all1 but are merely historical4 ,nor
 is this all1 these authors have cited  
as prophecies and proof texts1 passages 
which do not exist in the ,old          
,testament4 ,from which it seems to     
follow that they must have forged those 
passages1 or quoted them from some      
,apocryphal book2 which they believed to
 be inspired4 ,if they were capable of  

the first1 they were not the honest and 
inspired followers and disciples of     
,jesus ,christ2 if they were capable of 
the last1 they were not ,jews but       
,gentiles1 ignorant that the ,jews in   
the time of ,jesus1 acknowledged no     
books as inspired scripture but the     
books of the ,old ,testament4 ,see      
,appendix1 ,a4  ,a reasonable and       
reasoning man1 such as ,i have supposed1
 may ask himself if it be possible that 
men filled with the ,holy ,ghost1 and   
whose minds were supernaturally opened  
to understand the scriptures1 could make
 mistakes such as these4  ,lastly1 he   
will recollect1 on discovering what is  
about to be stated1 that the ,apostles  
and followers of ,jesus ,christ were    
,jews1 and consequently could not be    
ignorant of what was notorious to the   
whole nation1 for instance1 that the    
,jewish ,sabbath begins at sunset on    
,friday evening1 and ends at sunset on  
,saturday evening4 ,nevertheless the    
author of the ,gospel called of ,matthew

 makes ch4 xxviii4 #a4 the ,sabbath to  
end at dawn of day on ,sunday morning3  
while the author of that called of ,john
 apparently reckons1 ch4 xx4 #ai4 the   
evening of the first day of the week as 
a part of the first day of the week2    
whereas it is in fact1 according to the 
law and customs of the ,jews1 who then  
and now reckon their days from sunset to
 sunset1 the beginning and a part of the
 second day of the week4 ,such mistakes 
appear to me to indicate that the       
writers of those ,gospels were ,gentiles
 not perfectly acquainted with ,jewish  
customs1 and therefore not ,matthew and 
,john4fn #f  ,there are other traces of 
ignorance of ,jewish customs1 to be     
found in the ,gospel called of ,matthew1
 which betray the ,gentilism of the     
author of it4 ,for instance1 he says ch4
 xxvi4 #bd;fn#g1 that ,jesus told       
,peter1 that before the cock crew he    
should deny him thrice2 the same is also
 found in ,mark ch4 xiv4 #cj4 in ,luke  
ch4 xxii4 #ed;fn#h1 and in ,john ch4    

xiii4 #ch4 ,now it is asserted in the   
,mishna 7i4 e the oral law of the       
,jews47 in the ,bava ,kama according to 
,mr4 ,everett p4 #ddh4 of his work1 that
 cocks were not permitted in ,jerusalem 
where ,peter's denial took place2       
probably because that bird is constantly
 scratching up the ground with his feet1
 and was thereby liable to turn up      
impurities1 by touching which in passing
 by1 a ,jew would be ceremonially       
defiled1 and rendered incapable of      
visiting the ,temple to perform his     
devotions1 till after the evening of the
 day on which the defilement took place1
 therefore all the four ,gospels which  
all contain1 this story1 must have been 
written by ,gentiles ignorant of the    
custom which belies the story4  ,some   
,christian writers have endeavoured to  
get rid of this objection1 by attempting
 to prove that the crowing of the cock  
here mentioned1 does not mean actually  
the crowing of a cock1 but 'the sound of
 a trumpet6' while others1 blushing at  

the hardihood of their brethren1 think  
it more prudent to maintain1 that the   
author of the ,mishna was ignorant of   
,jewish customs1 and that the writers of
 the ,gospels were perfectly acquainted 
with them2 and that therefore every good
 ,christian was bound in conscience not 
to regard the objection4  ,but the      
prohibition of cocks from entering the  
,holy city is so perfectly of a piece   
with many other cautions against        
defilement observed by the ,jews1 and is
 so perfectly in the taste of the times 
of the ,pharisees1 the careful washers  
of plates and platters1--the tithers of 
mint1 anise1 and cummin1 not to mention 
the reason above expressed1 which       
perhaps was1 to say truth1 according to 
the regulations against defilement      
contained in the ,pentateuch a          
sufficient reason for excluding that    
bird from the city1 where stood the     
,temple1 that the reader will probably  
believe that such a custom might have   
existed4  ,again1 it is said ,matt4     

xxvii4 #fb1 that the ,chief ,priests and
 ,pharisees went to ,pilate2 demanded a 
guard2 went to the ,sepulchre of ,jesus1
 sealed the door1 and set watch4 ,now   
,jesus is said to have arisen on the day
 after this1 on the first day of the    
week1 i4e4 ,sunday1 of course the day   
before was ,saturday of the ,jewish     
,sabbath4 ,i maintain that the ,chief   
,priests and ,pharisees1 who objected to
 ,jesus curing the sick and rubbing corn
 from the ear1 in order to satisfy his  
hunger on the ,sabbath day2 ,i maintain 
that it is utterly incredible1 that     
these men should have gone to ,pilate on
 public business1 and transacted all    
this on their ,sabbath4 ,for such an    
action would have come completely within
 the spirit1 and the letter of the ,laws
 against breaking the ,sabbath contained
 in the-,pentateuch1 which makes the    
penalty of such actions as are here     
ascribed to the ,chief ,priests and     
rigorous ,pharisees1 nothing less than  
stoning to death4 ,i infer therefore1   

that the author of the ,gospel of       
,matthew was ignorant of this1 and of   
course not a ,jew1 and consequently not 
,matthew4  ,i would observe further1 in 
connection with this subject1 that      
,jesus is represented1 ,matt4 xxiii4    
#ce1 as saying1 that upon the ,jews of  
this time should come the blood of      
,zecharias the son of ,barachias whom ye
 slew between the ,temple and the altar4
 ,now1 ,i believe that it is recorded in
 ,josephus' history1 that the ,jews slew
 this ,zecharias in the time of the     
,jewish war1 about forty years after    
,jesus is represented as saying1 that   
they had killed him already4 ,of course 
,jesus never could have said this1 nor  
would a ,jew acquainted with the times1 
as ,matthew must have been1 have been   
guilty of such an anachronism4 ,the     
writer of that ,gospel must therefore1  
have been a ,gentile1 and not ,matthew4 
,the same mistake is made by ,luke xi4  
#ea4  ,on turning his attention to the  
external evidence in favour of the      

authenticity of the ,gospels1 the       
difficulties and objections accumulate4 
,he will find1 that they are not        
mentioned by any writer earlier than the
 latter half of the second century1     
after the birth of ,jesus4 ,the first   
writers who name the four ,gospels1 were
 ,irenaeus1 and ,tertullian4fn#i ,the   
competency of the testimony of these    
,fathers of the church1 as to the       
genuineness of these books1 is          
invalidated by the fact1 7,see          
,middleton's ,free ,enquiry7 that they  
admitted the principle of the lawfulness
 of pious frauds1 and from their having 
acted upon this principle1 in having    
asserted in their writings1 as from     
their personal knowledge1 things which  
were certainly false2 7,see the work    
above referred to7 while their          
capability to distinguish the genuine   
writings of the ,apostles1 from the     
numerous forgeries in their names that  
appeared about the same time that the   
four ,gospels begin to be mentioned1 is 

rendered suspicious by the fact1 that   
they also give their sanction as ,divine
 ,scriptures1 to books notoriously      
apocryphal2 for instance the book of    
,enoch and the ,sybilline ,oracles4fn#aa
 ,the testimony of the ,fathers who     
succeeded them is liable to the same    
objections1 with this aggravation that  
its value diminishes more and more1 as  
the distance of the ages in which they  
flourished increases1 from that of      
,jesus ,christ4  ,thirdly1 ,he will find
 that these ,gospels were never received
 by the ,mother ,church of ,jerusalem   
and ,judea1 founded by the ,apostles4   
,the ,jewish ,christians1 the countrymen
 of ,jesus1 who one would think had the 
best means of knowing the real history1 
and real doctrines of ,jesus and his    
,apostles1 uniformly rejected not only  
these ,gospels1 but all the other books 
of the ,new ,testament4fn#ab ,they were 
also rejected1 by several sects of      
,christians who flourished in the early 
ages of ,christianity4  ,fourthly1 he   

will learn too that the ,christians most
 distinguished for their learning on    
this subject1 for instance1 ,michaelis1 
,semler1 ,lessing1 ,eichorn1 and the    
erudite ,bishop ,marsh1 do allow and    
maintain in their works1 that the       
,gospels according to ,matthew1 ,mark   
and ,luke were compiled from accounts of
 the life and doctrines of ,jesus which 
became1 after different additions1      
revisions and translations1 the ,,basis 
of our present ,gospels2 from such      
separate materials1 which had gone      
through different hands1 and had        
acquired a variety of text and context1 
from the different transcripts and      
translations in which they circulated1  
though for the most part they were      
copied verbatim from one another1       
several ,gospels1 among which were our  
three first ,matthew ,mark and ,luke1   
were composed ,,after fn#ac the         
destruction of ,jerusalem1 and          
designated some by the names of the     
readers for whom they were designed1 and

 others by the names of their authors   
and compilers4 7,see the life of ,semler
 in ,eichorn's ,universal ,library1 as  
quoted by ,mr4 ,e4 p4 #dfe4 of his      
work47   ,these ,gospels then1 in the   
opinion of these learned ,christians1   
were originally compiled from anonymous 
writings1 which had gone through        
different hands and been variously      
altered1 and added to in the passage1   
before they became the ,,basis166 of our
 present ,gospels4fn#ad  ,lastly1 he    
will discover1 that since their         
construction from such nameless         
materials1 they have been further       
altered and interpolated4 ,celsus       
accuses the ,christians of his time 7the
 latter part of the #bnd century7 of    
continually altering their ,gospels2 and
 the ancient ,christian sects accuse    
each other of the same fact4 ,that these
 accusations were well founded1 is      
evident from ,griesbach's edition of the
 ,greek ,testament1 where besides the   
notice of some hundred thousands of     

various readings1 we find not only      
single words1 but whole phrases1 and    
verses1 and even entire paragraphs      
rejected as corruptions and             
interpolations4 ,neither have all these 
corruptions been accidental2 for as much
 as the strongest text in the ,new      
,testament1 in support of the doctrine  
of the ,trinity and the ,divinity of    
,jesus ,christ1 which is to be found in 
the first ,epistle1 called of ,john ch4 
v4 #g1 there are three that bear witness
 in ,heaven4 ,the ,father1 the ,word1   
and the ,holy ,ghost and these three are
 one1 has been struck out of the text by
 ,griesbach1 himself a ,trinitarian1 as 
a pious fraud1 and is now ,i believe    
universally acknowledged as such by     
learned ,christians4  ,there are also1  
two other passages which for ages have  
been cited as proofs of the ,divinity of
 ,jesus 7viz4 ,the ,church of ,god which
 he has redeemed with his own blood1    
,acts ch4 xx4 #bh4 and ,god was         
manifested in the flesh1 in the first   

,epistle to ,timothy1 ch4 iii4 #af47    
which the same ,critic has proved to    
have been altered from their original   
reading to favour the same doctrine1 and
 it is impossible to say how many more  
frauds of a similar nature might be     
detected1 if the learned and candid     
,christians before- mentioned were in   
possession of the primitive manuscripts 
of the ,new ,testament4fn#ae  ,all these
 enormities ,mr4 ,everett1 who has a    
light hand in writing upon some         
subjects1 comprizes with great          
tenderness in the following expressions1
 our copies of the ,new ,testament by   
the lapse of time1 have suffered some   
literal alterations1 which may have     
fallen occasionally on the quoted texts 
7he is trying to justify the writers of 
the ,new ,testament1 for quoting the    
,old ,testament otherwise than it is    
written7 and thus made them to differ   
from the reading of the ,old ,testament1
 p4 #bgi4  ,i have supposed that a      
reasonable and reasoning man1 desirous  

to ascertain the truth of the religion  
of the ,christians1 and in the hope of  
finding it well founded1 in the course  
of his examination of the testimony for 
the authenticity and authority of the   
books of the ,new ,testament1 comes to  
the knowledge of all these              
circumstances4 ,if the reader be such a 
man1 ,i would ask him1 if he can        
rationally rest his belief in the moral 
attributes of ,god and his faith in a   
future life1 upon a foundation composed 
of such materials8  ,mr4 ,everett       
observes that as prophecy and miracle   
are equally divine works1 it is         
impossible that they should contradict  
each other4 ,they are equally the works 
of the ,god of truth1 and whatever      
contradiction there appears to be       
between them1 must be but apparent4 ,if 
a person of whatever pretensions        
proposes to work miracles in support of 
those pretensions1 in which nevertheless
 he is contradicted by express prophecy1
 one of these things is certain--that   

the prophecy is a forged one--or that we
 have mistaken the meaning of it--or    
that the miracles are not real1 p4 #c4  
of ,mr4 ,everett's work4  ,granted--upon
 this ground ,i think that ,mr4 ,everett
 can fairly be brought to issue4 ,i     
presume that he will hardly persist in  
maintaining that the ,gospels are a     
sufficient proof of the miracles they   
record1 in the face of the objections to
 their authenticity and authority       
already stated--and as neither he nor   
myself maintain that the prophecies1    
with regard to the ,messiah1 contained  
in the ,old ,testament were forged1 it  
remains only to be considered1 whether  
he or ,i have mistaken the meaning of   
them4 ,so that1 as ,i have repeatedly   
said in my former publications1 the     
prophets1 after all1 are the only       
criterion which can be appealed to      
certainly most important to the great   
interests of humanity1 were it only on  
this account1 that the dispute has      
occasioned the most unparalleled        

degradation1 misery1 and oppression to  
one of the parties to it4fn#af          
,,pebble ,,ii4  ,the ,messiah expected  
by the ,jews1 says ,mr4 ,everett1 at the
 beginning of the second chapter of his 
book1 and which ,mr4 ,english supposes  
to be predicted in the ,old ,testament1 
is 'a temporal prince1 and a conquering 
pacificator4' ,the ,christians on the   
other hand maintain1 that the prophets  
foretold not a political1 but a         
religious institution1 not a temporal   
prince1 but a moral teacher1 and        
spiritual ,saviour4 ,which of these     
opposite views of the predicted         
character of the ,messiah is correct1   
must be decided of course by an appeal  
to particular predictions4 ,but it is   
also a matter of reason1 and we have a  
right to argue upon the question from   
the character of ,god1 and the nature of
 man4 ,which of these views the ,jewish 
or the ,christian doth most commend     
itself to the sincere believer in the   
moral government of ,god1 and the       

rational and accountable nature of man8 
,this statement1 ,i cannot help         
considering as both artful and unfair4  
,that ,i have represented the ,messiah  
as predicted to be a temporal ,prince   
and a conquering pacificator1 is true1  
but it is not the whole truth2 ,mr4     
,everett would have it to be understood1
 that ,i maintained that the ,messiah   
was to be merely a temporal ,prince2    
whereas1 those who will take the trouble
 to refer to the prior chapters of the  
grounds of ,christianity examined1 will 
find that ,i have endeavoured to prove  
that the prophets predict1 that he was  
also to be a just1 beneficient1 wise1   
and mighty monarch1 under whose         
government righteousness was to         
flourish1 and mankind be made happy3 and
 ,i believe that there is not a single  
passage from the prophets quoted in ,mr4
 ,everett's #b;d4 chapter to prove his  
views of the ,messiah1 that ,i have not 
also myself quoted to prove the         
beneficent character of him ,i suppose  

to be predicted4  ,mr4 ,everett unwarily
 betrays his own unfairness in the      
following passage of his work1 p4       
#fc4---,mr4 ,english objects1 that      
whereas the first characteristic of the 
,messiah was1 that he was to be the     
,prince of ,peace1 in whose time        
righteousness was to flourish and       
mankind be made happy1 c4fn#ag  ,how is 
it possible1 ,i might ask ,mr4 ,everett 
that ,i could have maintained that the  
,messiah was to be merely a temporal    
,prince1 and a conquering pacificator1  
when it is also true1 as ,mr4 ,everett  
confesses1 that ,i maintain that the    
first characteristic of the ,messiah was
 that he was to be the ,prince of       
,peace1 in whose time righteousness was 
to flourish and mankind be made happy8  
,i confess1 that ,i feel both contempt  
and indignation at such an artful       
mis-representation of my opinions1 in   
order to attack them with more hopes of 
success1 and as ,i do not profess to be 
a ,christian1 ,i may be excused for     

expressing what in this case ,i         
certainly have a right so feel4fn#ah    
,the prophets1 literally understood     
represent 7as ,mr4 ,everett will not    
deny7 that the ,messiah is to be a      
mighty ,monarch1 enthroned at ,jerusalem
 under whose reign the ,jews should be  
restored to their country and converted 
from their sins and errors1 and         
established in the most perfect and     
endless happiness2 that he will put down
 all opposition to his authority1 and   
exterminate the wicked out of the earth1
 and unite the pious and good of all the
 human race under his government1 making
 them participators of the eternal      
happiness of the favoured descendants of
 ,abraham1 that all sin1 sorrow1 and    
error shall be no more1 and the earth   
become all ,paradise4  ,far more bless'd
 than that of ,eden1 ,and far happier   
days4 fn#ai  ,the difference between    
,mr4 ,everett's and my view of this     
representation is1 that ,i understand   
the prophets to mean that the whole will

 be literally fulfilled2 and ,mr4       
,everett maintains that1 that part which
 accords with the ,christian view of the
 ,messiah is to be literally understood1
 but that that part which is opposed to 
it must be taken figuratively4  ,who is 
so blind as not to perceive the motives 
for such an incoherent system1 of       
interpretation6 ,the passages which     
represent the ,messiah as a ,monarch    
reigning at ,jerusalem1 and whose       
temporal authority should extend over   
all the earth1 ,mr4 ,everett would      
interpret to signify1 7by a figure7 a   
preacher of righteousness1 and a        
spiritual ,saviour of the souls of men2 
because ,jesus had no temporal authority
 whatever1 and therefore to understand  
them literally would exclude the claims 
set up for him4 ,the earth's being      
restored to a ,paradisiacal state1 and  
the extinction of all sin1 violence1 and
 misery throughout its circumference1   
,mr4 ,everett would interpret to        
signify1 7by4 a figure7 the blessed     

events1 which have occurred1 and the    
changes that have taken place1 since the
 promulgation of ,christianity66 fn#bj  
,mr4 ,everett1 in support of his system 
of interpretation1 shows us1 that the   
,supreme ,being is frequently spoken of 
in the ,old ,testament1 as a ,king and  
as a victorious warrior2 and therefore  
infers1 because such passages must be   
understood figuratively1 that the       
passages in the prophets which speak of 
the ,messiah in similar terms1 must be  
also understood figuratively4  ,to this 
it seems to me to be a sufficient answer
 to observe1 that men who speak of the  
,deity1 are obliged to employ human     
language and human ideas2 because3      
,what can we reason but from what we    
know8 and therefore a great part of such
 language will be necessarily           
figurative2 but it by no means follows  
from this1 that the writers who are     
obliged to use this figurative language 
when speaking of the ,deity1 intend to  
be understood in the same sense when    

they apply the same expressions to      
describe men and their actions4 ,on the 
contrary1 as they were writing to men   
and for men1 it is natural to presume1  
that they meant to be understood in the 
way that such expressions are           
universally understood by all men1 when 
they relate to men and their actions4   
,such a system1 of interpretation as    
this of ,mr4 ,everett's1 turns the      
,bible into a ,babel of confusion3 a man
 proceeding upon this system1 might with
 equal plausibility turn all the good   
and prosperous kings of ,israel and     
,judah into ,spiritual ,saviours4fn#ba  
,what1 says ,mr4 ,everett1 p4 #fc4 would
 be thought of one1 who after making a  
collection of passages which ascribe    
these attributes of royalty and conquest
 to ,god1 such as ,mr4 ,english has made
 of those which ascribe such attributes 
to the ,messiah1 should infer as he     
does1 that ,god is a just1 beneficent2  
wise and mighty monarch reigning on a   
throne in ,jerusalem8  ,to this ,i      

answer by asking in my turn1 what should
 we think of one1 who after making a    
collection1 of passages which ascribe   
these attributes of royalty and conquest
 to ,god1 as ,mr4 ,everett has done1    
should therefore think himself          
authorised to infer1 that the history of
 ,david the son of ,jesse1 contained in 
the ,bible1 7which1 as all the world    
knows1 is an oriental book abounding in 
figurative expressions7 was not to be   
understood literally1 but that it was   
very possible that this supposed monarch
 of ,israel1 who is represented as      
having saved it from its enemies on     
every side1 was after all1 probably only
 a spiritual saviour of the souls of the
 ,israelites1 by having distinguished   
himself as a prophet1 a preacher of     
righteousness1 and a composer of        
,psalms66 fn#bb  ,as ,mr4 ,everett says1
 ,i cheerfully leave this part of the   
controversy1 with the answer to this    
question which every rational inquirer  
will give2 p4 #fc4  ,mr4 ,everett1      

however1 in maintaining that the        
,messiah1 was to be merely a preacher of
 righteousness1 a founder of a new      
religion1 and a4 spiritual saviour of   
the souls of men1 not only opposes dicta
 of the prophets of the ,old ,testament1
 but is expressly contradicted by the   
doctrine of the ,new1 which maintains   
the same ideas of the ,messiah that the 
prophets teach and the ,jews believe2   
and this with the indulgence of the     
reader's patience ,i will plainly show4 
,the angel is recorded1 ,luke1 ch4 i4   
#ca1 to have told ,mary1 concerning     
,jesus whom the author of that ,gospel  
supposes to have been the ,messiah1 that
 the ,lord ,god shall give unto him the 
throne of his father ,david3 and he     
shall reign over the house of ,jacob    
forever1 and of his kingdom there shall 
be no end4 ,now this is precisely the   
doctrine1 concerning the ,messiah1      
believed by the ,jews from that time to 
the present2 for we see that ,luke      
represents that the ,messiah was not to 

be merely a spiritual saviour of the    
souls of men1 but was actually to set   
upon the throne of ,david1 and reign    
over the house of ,jacob for ever2 which
 is precisely what the prophets teach   
and the ,jews believe4  ,again1 in the  
same ch4 #fh1 the writer of that ,gospel
 represents ,zecharias1 when filled with
 the ,holy ,ghost1 as predicting        
concerning ,jesus as follows4 ,blessed  
be the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 for he    
hath visited and redeemed his people1   
and hath raised up a horn of salvation  
for us in the house of his servant      
,david3 as he spake by the mouth of his 
holy prophets which have been since the 
world began3 that we should be saved    
from our enemies1 and from the hand of  
all that hate us3 to perform the mercy  
promised to our ,fathers1 and to        
remember his holy covenant3 the oath    
which he swore to our father ,abraham1  
that he would grant unto us1 that we    
being delivered from the hand of our    
enemies1 might serve him without fear in

 holiness and righteousness before him  
all the days of our life4  ,here we see 
again that in ,luke's opinion the       
,messiah was not to be merely a         
spiritual saviour of the souls of men1  
but that he was to save ,israel from    
their enemies and from the hand of all  
that hated them1 and this too is        
precisely what the prophets teach and   
the ,jews believe4  ,again1 from the    
first ch4 of ,acts #f4 it is evident1   
that the primitive ,christians did not  
believe that the ,messiah was to be     
merely a spiritual saviour of the souls 
of men1 but that he would perform for   
,israel what was promised by the        
prophets4 ,for the ,apostles are        
represented there as asking ,jesus1     
previous to his ascension1 saying ,lord 
wilt thou at this time restore again the
 kingdom to ,israel8  ,the way the      
writers of the ,new ,testament1 get over
 the objection to the ,messiahship of   
,jesus1 founded on the nonfulfillment by
 him of the splended visions of the     

prophets relative to the restoration of 
the dispersion1 the punishment of their 
oppressors1 and the diffusion of        
universal happiness to the tribes and of
 the world1 7which they represent as the
 consequence of the coming of the       
,messiah7 is1 not by maintaining that   
the ,messiah was to be merely a         
spiritual ,saviour of the souls of men1 
but by affirming that ,jesus would      
shortly come again into the world to    
fulfill them4 ,the ,lord ,jesus1 says   
the writer of the second ,epistle to the
 ,thessalonians ch4 i4 #g1 shall be     
revealed from ,heaven with his mighty   
angels1 in flaming fire1 taking         
vengeance on them that know not ,god and
 obey not the ,gospel of our ,lord      
,jesus ,christ4 ,who shall be punished  
with everlasting destruction from the   
presence of our ,lord1 and from the     
glory of his power3 when he shall come  
to be glorified in his saints1 and to be
 admired of all them that believe4fn#bc 
,again1 in the xii4 ch4 of the          

,revelations1 ,jesus is apparently      
spoken of as destined to rule all       
nations with a rod of iron4 ,and in the 
ii4 ch4 ,jesus is represented as saying1
 that he that overcometh and keepeth my 
words unto the end1 to him will ,i give 
power over the nations2 and he shall    
rule them with a rod of iron2 as the    
vessels of a potter shall they be broken
 to shivers even as ,i received of my   
,father1 v3 #bf1 and lastly1 not to be  
tedious1 there is a passage in the xix4 
ch4 of ,revelations1 which proves       
decisively against ,mr4 ,everett1 that  
the primitive ,christians had even more 
sanguinary ideas of the vengeance of the
 ,messiah upon the wicked of the earth1 
than are even entertained by the ,jews4 
,jesus is there1 described thus1 ,i saw 
,heaven opened1 and behold a white      
horse2 and he that set upon him was     
called ,faithful and ,true1 and in      
righteousness he doth judge and make    
war1 and out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
sword1 that with it he should smite the 

nations2 and he shall rule them with a  
rod of iron1 and he treadeth the wine   
press of the fierceness of the wrath of 
,almighty ,god1 v4 #aa1 #ae4 ,some idea 
of the slaughter meant by the writer of 
the ,revelations by treading the wine   
press of the fierceness of the wrath of 
,almighty ,god1 may be understood from  
ch4 xiv4 #bj1 where it is represented   
that the blood of men came out of this  
wine press by the space of a thousand   
and six hundred furlongs66  ,i suppose  
that the reader is quite satisfied by   
what has been adduced1 that ,mr4        
,everett's idea of the ,messiah's being 
merely a spiritual saviour of the souls 
of men1 is equally rejected by the ,old 
,testament and the ,new1 and since ,mr4 
,everett does not and cannot pretend1   
that ,jesus during the long space of    
#ahjj years has fulfilled the           
predictions relating to the ,messiah in 
a literal sense1 which is the sense in  
which they must be fulfilled in order to
 be made good1 ,mr4 ,everett is left    

without better proof of the ,messiahship
 of ,jesus than bare opinion only1 which
 attaineth not to any certainty4  ,mr4  
,everett supposes that a mere ,preacher 
of righteousness1 is capable of         
fulfilling all the predictions of the   
,messiah1 which represent him as putting
 an end to all wickedness and misery    
throughout the ,world4 ,how absurd66    
there never was1fn#bd a better or       
greater ,preacher of righteousness1 than
 ,jesus ,christ himself1 and what did he
 effect among the people of his age8 the
 ,gospels say1 that they whipped him1   
and nailed him to a cross4 ,there has   
been since his time1 for eighteen       
hundred years1 ,i know not how many     
millions of preachers of righteousness1 
and what have they effected8 look at the
 history of the decline and fall of the 
,roman ,empire3 look at the histories of
 mankind for the last #djj years4 ,what 
scenes do they for the most part1       
present to the shocked contemplation6   
are they not generally a complication of

 folly1 madness1 and devilism1 worthy of
 being recorded in triumph by the evil  
one himself1 in letters of blood and    
infernal fire8  ,what success have the  
,preachers of righteousness1 of the     
present day8 ,do not these pious and    
good men1 and pious and good they       
generally speaking undoubtedly are1 do  
they not feel themselves obliged to tell
 you1 that such is the depravity of     
human nature1 that teaching and         
preaching are all in vain2 that they are
 wearying themselves in throwing pearls 
before swine1 who receive them with a   
grunt1 and trample them under their     
feet8  ,does not ,mr4 ,everett himself  
tell us p4 #hj1 that it is too true that
 the mighty passions1 which agitate the 
public intercourse of the world1 are    
almost beyond the direct reach of moral 
means1 i4 e4 of the ,preachers of       
righteousness4  ,how then can he expect 
that a mere ,preacher of righteousness1 
is capable of subduing these mighty     
passions1 whose existence is            

incompatible with peace and happiness1  
and fulfilling the predictions relating 
to the ,messiah8 ,no1 all history and   
experience testify that no merely human 
power can put an end to them4 ,it must  
be done by the strong and armed hand of 
,heaven4  ,then1 and not till then1     
shall exiled justice look down from     
,heaven1 and righteousness and peace    
shall kiss each other4 ,then1 and not   
till then1 shall the wicked cease from  
troubling2 and the afflicted enjoy      
happiness4  ,these be the last words of 
,david4 ,david the son of ,jesse said1  
and the man who was raised up on high1  
the ,messiah of the ,god of ,jacob1     
7,see the ,heb47 and the sweet ,psalmist
 of ,israel2 ,the spirit of ,jehovah    
spake by me1 and his word is in my      
tongue4 ,the ,god of ,israel said1 the  
,rock of ,israel spake to me1 he that   
ruleth over mankind 7see the ,heb47     
shall be just1 ruling in the fear of    
,god3 ,and he shall be as the light of  
the morning1 when the sun riseth1 even a

 morning without clouds2 as the tender  
grass springing out of the earth by     
clear shining after rain4  ,but the sons
 of ,belial shall be all of them as     
thorns thrust away1 because they cannot 
be taken with hands4 ,but the man that  
shall touch them must be fenced with    
iron1 and the staff of a spear2 and they
 shall be utterly burned with fire in   
the same place4 #b ,sam4 ch4 xxiii4     
,,pebble ,,iii  ,let us1 however1 follow
 ,mr4 ,everett in the consideration of  
those prophecies1 which he says p4 #hc1 
are really to be regarded as proofs of  
the 7,christian7 religion4  ,it is not  
necessary for me to say any thing       
further1 in defence of the              
interpretation of the prophecy in ,deut4
 xviii4 #ae1 contained in my first      
publication1 where ,i consider it as    
referring to a succession of inspired   
messengers from ,god to the ,israelites2
 because ,mr4 ,everett allows1 that in  
granting that this interpretation is    
correct1 we should only follow the      

example of the most learned and         
judicious ,christian interpreters1 p4   
#hd4  ,i will pass therefore to the     
passage in the ,psalm xvi4 #aj4 ,thou   
wilt not leave my soul in hell1 7i4 e4  
the place of the departed17 nor suffer  
thy ,saints 7or thy pious onesfn#be7 to 
see destruction1 as ,i have translated  
it4 ,mr4 ,everett maintains that the    
word translated by me in this place     
destruction1 sometimes means corruption4
 ,granted1 but ,mr4 ,everett will not   
deny that the original word sometimes   
signifies destruction1 and assuredly    
therefore ,i have as good a right to    
translate it my way1 as he has to       
interpret it to signify corruption4fn#bf
 ,i maintain1 moreover1 that ,i have a  
better right in this place to translate 
it destruction1 than he has to render it
 corruption2 if the whole psalm         
manifestly relates to ,david1 as is ,i  
think evident from the context1 whose   
body underwent the natural decomposition
 occasioned by death2 which therefore   

necessitates the translation ,i have    
given if the psalm relates to ,david    
which ,i think is evident4  ,i have set 
the ,lord always before me1 because he  
is at my right hand ,i shall not be     
moved4 ,therefore my heart is glad1 and 
my glory rejoiceth1 my flesh shall also 
rest in hope3 for thou wilt not leave my
 soul in hell1 nor suffer thy saints 7or
 thy pious one7 to see destruction4     
,thou wilt show me the path of life1 in 
thy presence is fulness of joy1 and at  
thy right hand there are pleasures for  
ever more4 ,since therefore the psalm   
evidently relates to ,david1 ,i do not  
see how it is a prophecy of ,jesus'     
rising from the dead on the third day   
after his crucifixion1 as it is said to 
have been applied to prove1 by ,peter in
 the book of ,acts ch4 ii4  ,i would    
observe also1 that the modern ,german   
,theological scholars1 who as ,mr4      
,everett says 7p4 #bdg4 of his work47   
are supposed to excell in ,critical     
learning1 do allow and maintain1 by the 

confession of ,mr4 ,everett himself p4  
#bdg of his work1 that this passage in  
the psalms is not a prophecy of ,jesus1 
no more than any of the others adduced  
in the ,new ,testament from the ,old1   
but that it is quoted merely by way of  
accommodation or allusion4  ,i presume  
therefore that ,mr4 ,everett will cease 
to regard this passage as one of the    
prophecies1 which are really to be      
regarded as proofs of the ,christian    
religion4  ,the next passage of the ,old
 ,testament1 which ,mr4 ,everett relies 
on as a prophetical proof of the        
,christian religion1 is the #bnd4 psalm2
 why did the nations 7according to the  
,heb47 rage1 and the peoples 7ac4 to the
 ,heb47 imagine a vain thing4 ,the kings
 of the earth stood up1 and the rulers  
were gathered together against ,jehovah1
 and against his ,messiah saving1 let us
 break their bands asunder1 and cast    
away their cords from us1 c4 ,to the    
application of this prophecy to ,jesus1 
,i objected in my first publication1 on 

account of these reasons1 #ast4 ,that   
the nations1 as it is in the original1  
did not assemble to crucify ,jesus1 as  
this was done by a few soldiers4 ,to    
this ,mr4 ,everett replies1 p4 #ij4 of  
his work1 that the ,apostle 7,peter in  
,acts ch4 iv4 #de1;fn#bg7 does not say1 
they assembled to crucify him1 their    
joint opposition was not limited to this
 single act1 they were gathered together
 against him4 ,and it is certainly true1
 that ,jesus was an object of the united
 persecution of the nation of the ,jews1
 by means of their bigotted priests and 
furious multitudes1 and of the ,romans1 
by means of their tributary sovereign1  
,herod1 and their ,proconsul ,pilate4   
,in reply to this ,i would observe1 that
 the words nations1 and peoples1 in the 
original of the passage never signified 
the ,jewish nation1 but are used in the 
,hebrew ,bible to signify all other     
nations but the ,jews1 or what is       
expressed by the word ,gentiles4  ,now  
it is said in the psalm1 that the       

nations and peoples1 7exclusive of the  
,jews for the reason above-mentioned7   
should rage and that the kings of the   
earth should stand up1 and the rulers   
7of the earth17 take counsel against    
,jehovah1 and against his ,messiah4 ,i  
do not see1 therefore1 how this passage 
could have been fulfilled by the        
,romans1 who were but one nation1 by    
means of their ,proconsul ,pilate and   
his soldiers3 who 7the ,romans7 were so 
far too from being enraged against      
,jesus1 that it is certain1 that all the
 ,romans out of ,jerusalem1 did not even
 know what was doing against him1 and   
,pilate himself was so far from being   
enraged1 and taking counsel1 against    
,jesus1 that he befriended him as far as
 he dared1 and made great exertions to  
save his life4  ,moreover1 in the psalm1
 these nations and peoples1 and kings   
and rulers1 are represented as saving   
let us break their bands in sunder1 and 
cast away their cords from us4 ,this    
passage refers to the ,messiah and the  

,jewish nation taken together1 whom the 
,old ,testament represents as to have   
dominion over all peoples1 nations and  
languages1 and that the nation and      
people that will not serve them shall   
perish1 yea those nations shall be      
utterly wasted4 ,is4 lx4 fn#bh          
,therefore1 these refractory nations and
 kings could not1 and actually never    
have said this of ,jesus1 who was but an
 individual1 to whom the expression     
their bands and their cords1 cannot     
apply2 and finally1 since ,mr4 ,everett 
maintains that ,jesus was merely a      
spiritual saviour of the souls of men1  
,i do not see how he can consider him as
 a character pretending to impose bands 
and cords1 upon any body4  #b4 ,i had   
also objected to the application of this
 prophecy to ,jesus1 because ,god has   
not set ,jesus as his king upon the holy
 hill of ,sion1 7as the psalm imports7  
nor given him the nations for his       
inheritance1 nor the uttermost parts of 
the earth for his possession4 ,to this  

,mr4 ,everett1 p4 #ia1 replies in the   
usual way1 i4e4 after interpreting as   
much of the psalm1 as he thinks he can  
make accord with the history of ,jesus1 
in a literal sense1 he interprets this  
passage of the ,messiah's being         
enthroned on ,mount ,sion1 which he     
cannot make accord with it1 in a        
figurative one4 ,the reader must judge  
whether this be fair or reasonable4     
,the latter part of the psalm1 ,mr4     
,everett contends1 was fulfilled by the 
rapid spread of ,christianity1 and he   
quotes1 in proof of this1 some passages 
of the ,fathers4 ,to this ,i would      
reply1 that those passages of the       
,fathers are notorious exaggerations1   
and convicted of falsehood by ,middleton
 in his ,free ,inquiry4  ,and lastly1 ,i
 would observe1 that even those nations 
who have embraced ,christianity1 can by 
no means be called the inheritance or   
subjects of ,jesus1 since they have     
since the days of ,constantine and the  
,counsel of ,nice renounced his         

doctrines1 and perverted his religion   
into a fabulous1 irrational and         
blasphemous superstition1fn#bi for as   
much as all of them1 except a handful of
 ,unitarian ,christians1 are worshippers
 of three ,divine ,beings united by an  
ineffable union2 and by far the greater 
part of them are adorers of idols1      
images1 and pictures4fn#cj ,and if ,i   
may1 without offence1 be allowed to     
express the sincere opinion of my heart 
upon this subject1 ,i would say1 that it
 is my serious belief1 that if ,jesus   
the son of ,mary could return into the  
world1 and learn1 that his professed    
followers had placed him between the    
,cherubim1 at the right hand of the     
,almighty1 worshipping him as ,god equal
 to the ,father1 as1 ,god of ,god1 very 
,god of every ,god3 and that by far the 
greater part had also placed ,mary his  
mother on the other side of the ,deity1 
worshipping her as the mother of        
,god6fn#ca he would in my opinion       
renounce and denounce them as impious   

heathens1 and possibly believe that they
 were possessed with devils4  ,the next 
passage which ,mr4 ,everett quotes as a 
prophecy of ,jesus1 is the #b;d verse of
 the #eth chapter of ,micah1 and thou   
,bethlehem ,ephratah1 it is little to be
 among the thousands of ,judah2 out of  
thee shall come forth unto me1 him who  
is to be ruler in ,israel1 whose goings 
forth have been of old1 from the days of
 ancient years3 according to the        
,hebrew4 ,this ,i interpreted to        
signify1 not that the birth of the      
,messiah should be in ,bethlehem1 but   
the descent of the ,messiah should be   
derived from ,bethlehem1 i4e4 from      
,jesse the father of ,david2 7and that  
therefore a future ,messiah who should  
be derived from this family1 would      
fulfill the prophecy27 and this         
interpretation1 ,i represent as being   
known and acknowledged by ,hebrew       
scholars4 ,but the truth is1 says ,mr4  
,everett p4 #id1 that the original word1
 translated by me shall come forth1 is  

familiarly used of the birth of a man1  
as ,mizraim begat ,pathrusim1 and       
,casluhim out of whom came ,philistim1  
,gen4 x4 #ac1 #ad4  ,this is a very     
awkward quotation on the part of ,mr4   
,everett1 as it says nothing in favour  
of his views1 but directly favours mine3
 for ,philistim is a word in the plural 
number1 and is used in the ,hebrew      
,bible1 to express the ,philistines2 and
 the word translated comefn#cc is also  
in the plural number1 see ,simon's      
,hebrew ,bible4  ,the passage therefore 
in ,genesis x4 #ac4 #ad4 imports that   
the ,philistines were derived or        
descended from ,mizraim4  ,who the      
,hebrew scholars are1 says ,mr4         
,everett1 who acknowledge this turn of  
the passage in ,micah know not1 p4 #id  
of ,mr4 ,everett's work4  ,if ,i were   
writing in ,europe or ,america1 ,i think
 that ,i could point them out2 but if my
 memory does not deceive me1 ,grotius   
interprets the passage of the derivation
 of the ,messiah from ,bethlehem3 and   

,mr4 ,everett will not deny that the    
modern ,christian ,hebrew scholars of   
,germany1 disallow that this passage has
 any reference to ,jesus1 and affirm    
that it is quoted in the ,new           
,testament1 ,matthew ii4 #e41 only by   
way of allusion or accommodation4  ,i   
had however1 in order to show that this 
prophecy could not be insisted on by the
 ,christians1 said by way of argument1  
that allowing that ,bethlehem was to be 
the birth place of the ,messiah1 what   
then8 will a man's being born in        
,bethlehem1 be sufficient to make him   
the ,messiah foretold by the ,hebrew    
prophets6  ,this ,mr4 ,everett seizes   
hold on in the following ,way1 p4 #ie4  
,now if we were willing to be           
consistent1 and cling to our principles 
wherever they carry us1 it would almost 
seem that this concession might decide  
the controversy4  ,the ,messiah is to be
 of ,bethlehem4 ,this reduces to a      
little span1 the number of those among  
whom he can be found4 ,moreover1        

,bethlehem is now in ruins1 to all moral
 purposes its identity is gone4fn#cd    
,it is the habitation of ,turks1 of     
,arabs1 of ,christians1 and if there be 
any ,jews there1 none will pretend that 
the divisions of the tribes are         
preserved among them1 so that the tribe 
of ,david1 from whom the ,messiah is to 
arise1 is known in ,bethlehem1 from the 
rest4 ,neither can it be argued that    
hereafter when the ,jews are restored1  
,bethlehem will be repeopled with ,jews1
 the family of ,david be discriminated1 
and the prophecy admit of fulfillment1  
because ,mr4 ,english himself allows it 
to be the sense of prophecy1 that the   
,messiah shall be born before the       
restoration4 ,it only remains therefore 
to look back1 and to see1 of all that   
have appeared in ,bethlehem1 which has  
the greatest claim to this character4   
,on this reasoning ,i would observe1    
#ast1 that my concession on which it is 
founded is merely gratuitous2 as the    
words shall come forth signify merely   

derivation2 #bnd1 that ,mr4 ,everett is 
mistaken in supposing that ,bethlehem is
 now in ruins4 ,it is at present        
probably nearly as large and populous as
 it ever was4 #c;d1 ,mr4 ,everett is    
mistaken1 in supposing that the family  
of ,david cannot be traced among the    
,jews4 ,there are at this moment in the 
world1 many families allowed by their   
bretheren to be descended from ,david4  
,should any of the ,jews go to          
,bethlehem at any time to come1 and have
 a male child born to him in that place1
 for aught that can be known beforehand1
 that child may be the ,messiah and the 
prophecy be fulfilled in ,mr4 ,everett's
 sense of it2 which ,i repeat cannot be 
insisted on1 as come forth certainly may
 signify1 and in the case unluckily     
quoted by ,mr4 ,everett1 7,gen4 x1 #ac4 
#ad47 certainly does import1            
derivation4fn#ce  ,the next passage1    
adduced by ,mr4 ,everett1 is the #ajth  
v4 of the ix4 ch of ,zechariah1 ,rejoice
 greatly ,o6 daughter of ,zion1 shout   

,o6 daughter of ,jerusalem3 behold thy  
king cometh unto thee3 he is just and   
saved1 lowly1 and riding upon an ass1   
and upon a colt the foal of an ass4     
,mr4 ,everett1 after allowing that the  
,hebrew reads saved or preserved instead
 of having salvation1 as in the ,english
 version1 observes1 that many ancient   
versions read as in the ,english ,bible4
 ,whether the true reading be mine or   
his1 is not of any consequence to the   
question to which this book relates4 ,i 
maintain that a man's riding upon an ass
 into ,jerusalem1 is not sufficient to  
prove him the ,messiah4  ,i also repeat 
that the event predicted1 is spoken of  
by the prophet as contemporaneous with  
the restoration of the division1 fn#cg  
and of course could not have been       
fulfilled eighteen hundred years ago4   
,mr4 ,everett tries to shove out this   
objection1 by taking for granted1 p4 #ih
 of his work1 that the chapter of       
,zechariah in which this prophecy is    
found1 is a series of chronological     

predictions4  ,but ,i must remind ,mr4  
,everett that this pretention is        
inadmissible4 ,none of the predictions  
of the prophets1 except some in ,daniel1
 are arranged in chronological order2   
they were delivered by parcels1 and at  
intervals1 frequently of some years2 and
 these parcels generally have no        
connexion with each other4 ,mr44        
,everett's reasoning upon the assumption
 here contradicted1 is therefore        
inadmissible4  ,finally1 the ,german    
,biblical ,scholars so frequently       
mentioned1 deny that this was a         
prediction of ,jesus1 and affirm that it
 is quoted by the ,evangelists merely by
 way of accommodation4  ,the next       
passage adduced is ,zechariah xii4 #aj41
 ,and ,i will pour upon the house of    
,david1 and upon the inhabitants of     
,jerusalem1 the spirit of grace and     
supplications1 and they shall look upon 
or towards mefn#ch whom they have       
blasphemed1 or pierced1 and they shall  
mourn for him as one mourneth for an    

only son4  ,the meaning of this prophecy
 is obscure4 ,the word translated       
pierced in the ,english version1 may    
also in the opinion of ,grotius1 and ,i 
add of ,rosenmuller too1 as quoted by   
,mr4 ,everett in the #ajd4 p4 of his    
book1 be best rendered blasphemed or    
reproached4 ,it may refer to the time   
when1 according to the ,old ,testament1 
the hearts of the house of ,israel shall
 be cleansed from sin1 and they shall   
turn to ,god with their whole heart and 
with all their souls1 as predicted by   
,moses4  ,i conclude with observing1    
that this passage1 quoted in the ,new   
,testament2 ,john ch4 xix4 has long     
since ceased to be considered as a      
prophecy of ,jesus by the ,german       
,critics1 and is believed by them1 to   
have been adduced in the gospel merely  
by way of allusion4 7,see ,rosenmuller's
 observations in his notes on the       
passage47  ,i am afraid that the reader 
has found these discussions rather      
tedious1 and am therefore happy to be at

 liberty to proceed to the consideration
 of the three famous prophecies of      
,jacob1 ,isaiah1 and ,daniel4  ,the     
sceptre shall not depart from ,judah1   
nor a ,law-giver from between his feet  
for ever2 for ,shilo shall come1 and to 
him shall the obedience of the peoples  
be 4  ,gen4 xlix4 #aj4 ,so ,i maintain  
the passage should be translated4  ,on  
this prediction ,i observed1 7,grounds  
of ,christianity ,examined p4#dj4 as    
quoted by ,mr4 ,everett47 ,that though  
this prophecy is allowed by the ,jews to
 refer to their ,messiah1 yet it does   
not define1 nor limit the time of his   
coming4 ,for that it is perfectly       
evident to all who will look at the     
place in the ,hebrew ,bible1 that it is 
pointed to read1 not the sceptre shall  
not depart from ,judah1 nor a ,lawgiver 
from between his feet until ,shilo come2
 but the sceptre shall not depart from  
,judah1 nor a ,lawgiver from between his
 feet for ever2 for ,shilo shall come1  
and to him shall the gathering of the   

peoples be4 ,so that the prophecy does  
not intimate that the ,messiah should   
come before the sceptre be departed from
 ,judah3 but that it should not depart  
for ever1 but shall be restored when    
,shilo comes4  ,on this ,mr4 ,everett   
remarks1 now the points1 commonly so    
called1 have nothing to do with the     
division of a sentence into its members1
 or with what we call punctuation2 but  
,mr4 ,english intended to intimate1 that
 according to the accents1 the verse    
should be divided as he proposes4 7p4   
#aaj1 of ,mr4 ,everett's work47 ,in     
return for this friendly attempt to set 
me right1 ,i would beg of ,mr4 ,everett 
to peruse the following extract from the
 celebrated ,alting's ,treatise on      
,hebrew punctuation1 which he will      
probably look over with blushing cheeks4
 ,punctorum appellatione venit1 quicquid
 in ,hebraea ,scriptura occurrit praeter
 literas4 ,sunt vero punctorum genera   
tria2 unum eorum quae sonum moderantur2 
alterum illorum1 quae tonum regunt1     

tertium mere criticorum est quae ad     
crisin masoretharum solummodo           
pertinent4' p1 #i4 edit4 ,septima4  ,i  
do not think it necessary1 to enter with
 ,mr4 ,everett into the intricate       
dispute about the ,hebrew accents1 since
 he represents that they are of no      
authority in deciding the question      
between him and me1 and because ,i think
 he will therefore not deny1 that       
disregarding their authority1 the       
passage will bear the rendering ,i have 
given it4  ,i shall therefore proceed to
 establish the interpretation ,i have   
given of the passage in ,genesis1 #ast4 
by endeavouring to show1 that ,mr4      
,everett's interpretation would convict 
the prophecy1 of falsehood2 and #b;dly4 
by showing that the interpretation ,i   
have given1 is confirmed by the express 
declaration of ,god himself4  ,this     
prophecy was delivered by ,jacob before 
there was any king in ,judah4 ,the      
sceptre did depart from ,judah1 and with
 a vengeance too1 at the dethronement   

and captivity of ,zedekiah1 and the     
destruction of ,jerusalem by the        
,chaldeans3 consequently1 if the sceptre
 was not to depart from ,judah till     
,shilo came1 the ,messiah ought to have 
appeared before the dethronement of     
,zedekiah2 as he certainly did not      
appear before that event1 the prophecy1 
according to ,mr4 ,everett's sensible   
interpretation1 would be falsified4  #b4
 ,the sceptre never has been restored to
 ,judah since the dethronement of       
,zedekiah2 because the tribe of ,judah1 
since that period1 have been in         
subjection to the ,babylonians1 the     
,persians1 the ,syrians1 the ,romans1   
and all the world4 ,mr4 ,everett        
maintains that the sceptre of ,judah was
 in the hands of that tribe during the  
time that it was held by the            
,romansfn#db who were of the tribe of   
,levi and the ,herods who were          
,idumaeans4 ,this idea appears to me    
absurd1 but ,i shall not give myself the
 trouble to oppose it by argument1 as it

 can be set aside by the express        
declaration of ,god1 as reported by     
,ezekiel1 ch4 xxi4 #bf4 ,speaking of    
,zedekiah and his dethronement1 the     
prophet represented the ,deity1 as      
saying1 thus saith the ,lord ,god1      
remove the diadem1 take off the crown2  
this shall not be the same3 exalt him   
that is low1 and abase him that is high4
 ,i will overturn1 overturn1 overturn   
it1 7i4 e4 the crown or sceptre of      
,judah17 and it shall be no more until  
he comes whose right it is1 and ,i will 
give it him4  ,here the ,deity expressly
 declares1 that from the dethronement of
 ,zedekiah2 the crown of ,judah should  
be no more till the coming of the       
,messiah to whom he would give it4 ,the 
,asmonaeans and the ,herods cannot      
therefore be considered as having held  
it1 as ,mr4 ,everett supposes4fn#da     
,but this is not all1 the original      
,hebrew of this emphatic declaration has
 a singular force1 the idea it expresses
 is as follows1 ,i will make it 7or     

place it1 the crown of ,judah1 i4 e4 the
 ,messiahship7 an occasion of           
perversion1 of perversion1 of           
perversion1 and it shall be-no more till
 he come whose right it is1 and ,i will 
give it him4 ,viewed in this light1 who 
will deny that this declaration has been
 most strangely fulfilled8 ,the         
,christians reproach the ,jews with     
perverse and mad delusion in having     
successively believed a hundred3        
different impostors to have been the    
,messiah1 while the ,jews in their turn 
say that the ,christians have been as   
mad as themselves1 in believing that    
,jesus of ,nazareth was this personage4 
,i suppose therefore that ,mr4 ,everett1
 after coolly viewing what ,i have      
stated with regard to this prophecy of  
the ,shilo1 will be sensible that he may
 as well discharge the unfortunate      
,rabbies he has seized upon and lugged  
into court as reluctant witnesses of the
 truth of ,christianity1 as their       
further attendance can be no longer     

necessary3 and ,i would leave him to    
consider whether the liberal appellation
 of dogmatical blunderer1 which he has  
bestowed upon me1 p4 #aad of his work1  
relative to my arguments upon this      
prophecy1 may not better apply to       
another than myself4fn#dc  ,let us now  
proceed to the consideration of the     
famous prophecy of ,isaiah1 which ,mr4  
,everett styles1 p4 #add1 the           
carinficina ,rabbinorum4fn#dd  ,in order
 to be enabled to give a fair           
interpretation of it1 it is first of all
 necessary to give a fair translation of
 it from the original ,hebrew1 which is 
what has not been done in the ,english  
version2 forasmuch as there are therein 
not less than thirteen mistranslations4 
,the following1 ,i believe1 will be     
considered as a just representation of  
the original as it stands in the ,hebrew
 ,bible4  ,behold my servant shall deal 
prudently1 he shall be exalted1 and     
extolled1 and be very high4 ,as many as 
were astonished at thee2 his visage was 

so marred more than any other man1 and  
his form more than the sons of man1 7or 
,adam17 so shall he sprinkle many       
nations2 the kings shall shut their     
mouths at him2 for that which had not   
been told them shall they see2 and that 
which they had not heard shall they     
consider4fn#de  ,who hath believed what 
we heard8 7or what was reported to us7  
and to whom was the arm of ,jehovah     
revealed8 ,for he grew up before him as 
a tender plant1 and as a root out of a  
dry ground4 ,he had no form nor         
comeliness2 and when we saw him there   
was no beauty that we should desire him1
 ,he was despised and the outcast of    
men2 a man of sorrows and familiar with 
grief2fn#df and we hid as it were our   
faces from him1 7or1 as one that hid his
 face from us17 he was despised and     
esteemed not4 ,surely he hath borne our 
griefs and carried 7away7 our           
sorrows4fn#dg ,yet did we esteem him    
stricken1 smitten of ,god and afflicted4
 ,but he was wounded through our        

transgression1 he was bruised through   
our iniquities3 the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him1 and withfn#dh his   
stripes we are healed4 7healing is to   
us1 ,hebr47 ,all we like sheep have gone
 astray2 we have turned every one to his
 own way2 and ,jehovah hath caused to   
light 7or meet7 upon him the iniquity of
 us all4 ,he was oppressed1 and he was  
afflicted1 yet he would not open his    
mouth2 he was brought as a lamb to the  
slaughter1 and as a sheep before her    
shearers is dumb1 so he would not open  
his mouth4 ,he was taken from prison and
 from judgment1 and who would meditate  
or consider sufficiently his generation8
 or who shall declare his generation2   
,for he was cut off out of the land of  
the living3 through the transgression of
 my people was he smitten3 smiting was  
to him1 ,hebr4 and he appointed his     
grave with the wicked1 and with the     
richfn#di in his deaths4fn#ej ,although 
he hath done no violence1 neither was   
any deceit in his mouth1 yet it pleased 

,jehovah to bruise him3 he hath put him 
to grief3 when thou shalt make his soul 
an offering for sin1 he shall see his   
seed1 he shall prolong his days1fn#ea   
and the pleasure of ,jehovah shall      
prosper in his hand4 ,he shall see the  
fruit of the travail of his soul1 and   
shall be satisfied3 by his knowledge    
shall my righteous servant make many    
righteous1 for he shall bear away their 
iniquities4fn#eb ,therefore will ,i     
divide him a portion with the great3 and
 he shall divide the spoil with the     
strong1 because he hath made naked his  
life unto death2 and he was numbered    
with the transgressors1 and he bare the 
sin of many1 and made intercession for  
the transgressors4 ,is4 from the #acth4 
v4 of the #eb;d4 ch4 to the end of the  
#ec;d4  ,it is an acknowledged principle
 of sound criticism1 that the same      
expressions in the same author1 are to  
be-understood always1 in the same sense1
 unless the context makes it plainly    
evident that another sense is intended4 

,let us1 therefore1 first of all1       
examine the chapters of ,isaiah         
preceding the extract1 in order to      
understand who he means by ,god's       
servant4  ,in the #dith4 of ,isaiah1 v  
#c4 it is said1 ,thou art my servant1 ,o
 ,israel1 in whom ,i will be glorified4 
,in ch4 xlviii4 #bj4 ,the ,lord hath    
redeemed his servant ,jacob4 ,in ch4    
xlv4 #d4 ,for ,jacob my servant's sake1 
and ,israel mine elect4 ,in ch4 xliv1   
#a4 ,yet hear now1 ,o ,jacob my servant1
 and ,israel whom ,i have chosen3 fear  
not ,o ,jacob1 my servant4 v4 #b4       
,remember these ,o ,jacob and ,israel1  
for thou art my servant4 ,i have formed 
thee1 thou art my servant ,o ,israel1   
thou shalt not be forgotten of me4 v4   
#ba4  ,ye are my witnesses saith the    
,lord1 and my servant whom ,i have      
chosen4 ch4 xliii4 #aj4 ,see also the   
whole of ch4 xlii4 ,thou ,israel art my 
servant1 ,jacob whom ,i have chosen1 the
 seed of ,abraham my friend4 ch4 xli4   
#h4  ,there can be no doubt therefore1  

that by my servant1 mentioned in the    
first part of the prophecy quoted from  
,isaiah1 and by my righteous servant1 in
 the latter part of it1 that ,god's     
servant ,israel must be understood to be
 meant1 provided there be nothing in the
 context to make it necessary to resort 
to some other interpretation4 ,mr4      
,everett says that there is something in
 the context1 which forbids the         
application of this prophecy to ,god's  
servant ,israel4 ,let us then examine   
the reasons on which this assertion is  
founded4  ,he says #ast1 p4 #acf of his 
work1 that the subject of this prophecy 
is spoken of as passive and unresisting1
 and he exclaims1 ,the ,jews passive and
 unresisting6 ,they are the most        
obstinate and unyielding of the tribes  
of the earth1 and have resisted the arm 
of power1 and the lapse of time1 which  
have crushed all other nations into     
oblivion4  ,the prophecy speaks of their
 non-resistance to oppression1 and ,mr4 
,everett tells us1 to contradict this1  

that they have resisted the arm of      
power1 and the lapse of time1 which have
 crushed all other nations into         
oblivion4 ,this seems to me to be       
irrelevant4  ,they afflicted and        
complained not6 their complaints have   
been fiercer than their sufferings have 
been cruel4 ,is this true8 ,does ,mr4   
,everett really believe it to be true8  
,does not all the world know it to be   
false8fn#ec  ,they have done no         
iniquity8 ,when no iniquity8 ,not in the
 days of ,isaiah their own prophet1 who 
cries1 ,ah6 sinful nation1 people laden 
with iniquity1 seed of evil doers4 ,not 
in the days of ,josephus their own      
historian1 who sets forth scenes of     
depravity which turn common wickedness  
into virtue1 and declares that the earth
 would have swallowed them1 if the      
,romans had not swept them from its     
face8 ,no iniquity in the ages since2   
throughout the cities of the dispersion1
 where they are proverbially dishonest1 
and professedly unfaithful4 c44 c4  ,now

 all this eloquent invective can be set 
aside so far as it affects my           
application of this prophecy by this    
simple remark2 that this prophecy       
neither relates to the wicked ,jews of  
the time of ,isaiah1 nor of ,josephus1  
nor the ages since1 but refers to ,god's
 servant ,israel i4 e41 not to the      
rebellious and reprobate of the ,jewish 
nation1 but to those of the house of    
,jacob1 who have1 who do1 and who shall 
adhere to ,god's law1 and obey his      
commandments2 for no others of them will
 ,god acknowledge as his servants4fn#ed 
,i would also observe1 that the stress  
which ,mr4 ,everett lays upon the phrase
 no iniquity1 shows either great        
carelessness1 or great ignorance of the 
idiom of the ,hebrew ,scriptures2       
because every man1 familiar with those  
writings1 knows that this expression is 
one of those called ,hebreisms1 which   
must be understood in a restrained      
sense4 ,in proof of which1 and a        
decisive one too1 ,i would refer him to 

the prophecy of ,balaam1 recorded1 ,num4
 ch4 xxii4 #ba4 where ,balaam exclaims  
in his prophetic enthusiasm1 ,he i4e4   
,god hath not beheld iniquity in ,jacob1
 neither hath he seen perverseness in   
,israel4  ,now ,i suppose that the      
#ecrd4 of ,isaiah1 is a representation  
of what may be the reflections of the   
nations1 who have despised and          
persecuted ,god's servant ,israel1      
through the influence of the prejudices 
of their mistaken religion1 but who had 
become sensible of their error by seeing
 the tremendous interference of ,god    
himself in their behalf1 predicted over 
and over again by the prophets as to    
happen4 ,the natural consequence of this
 conviction in the minds of those       
nations1 would be a revulsion of the    
feelings to the opposite extreme4 ,they 
would exaggerate the merits1 and        
extenuate the demerits of ,god's        
servant4 ,they would reflect with       
astonishment and commiseration on their 
past sufferings4 ,we considered them1   

they might exclaim1 as a ,god- abandoned
 race1 and devoted to wretchedness by   
him for having crucified their king4    
,but instead of being the victims of    
,god's wrath1 they were wounded through 
our cruelty1 they were bruised through  
our iniquitous treatment4 ,it is we who 
have sinned more than they4 ,we having  
gone astray in our ignorance1 being     
without the knowledge of ,god and his   
law4 ,how passive and unresisting were  
they6  ,they were oppressed1 they were  
afflicted1 and complained not3 when     
through false accusations and mistaken  
cruelty1 they were plundered and        
condemned to die1 they went like a lamb 
to the slaughter1 and as a sheep before 
the shearer is dumb1 so they opened not 
their mouth4 ,they were taken from the  
dungeon to be slain2 they were wantonly 
massacred1 and every man was their foe2 
and the cause of the sufferers who      
condescended to examine8 ,they had done 
no iniquity to merit this3 for their    
adherence to their faith1 which we      

charged upon them as a crime1 we now see
 to be approved of by their ,god1 as an 
acceptable instance of unexampled       
perseverance in the cause of truth4fn#ee
  ,mr4 ,everett proceeds1 p4 #ade1 ,if  
any thing needs be added1 the following 
observation is important1 viz4 that     
there is one passage so clearly         
inapplicable to the ,jewish nation1 and 
so totally incongruous with the rest of 
the interpretation1 that ,mr4 ,english  
passes it over without even the attempt 
of an explanation4 ,it is this3 in a    
part of the prophecy which he puts into 
the mouth of the ,gentiles we read1 for 
the ,hebrew ,i must remind ,mr4 ,everett
 reads by or through1 the transgressions
 of ,,my ,,people was he stricken1 ,this
 ,mr4 ,english paraphrases for it should
 have been by or through the thoughtless
 crimes of my people he suffered4 ,but  
what the ,gentiles could mean by ,,my   
,,people he does not say1 and this      
difficulty is fatal to the whole        
interpretation4  ,i will presently show 

,mr4 ,everett1 that this formidable     
objection1 so emphatically announced1 is
 after all a mere man in buckram2 and ,i
 am almost sorry that in doing this1 ,i 
shall be obliged to expose one more     
proof of ,mr4 ,everett's having         
neglected the study of the beggarly     
elements1 in order to devote himself1   
without distraction1 to the             
understanding of the delectable types   
and allegories of the ,new ,testament4  
,mr4 ,everett certainly is a scholar and
 a man of talents1 but he does not      
perfectly know1 nor will fn#ef          
understand1 the contents of the ,old    
,testament2 and the above objection is a
 proof of it4  ,he maintains1 that the  
expression my people1 could not be used 
by a ,gentile1 and that therefore my    
whole interpretation of the prophecy in 
,isaiah1 is fatally affected by his     
objection4  ,i request ,mr4 ,everett to 
have the goodness to turn to the book of
 ,ruth ch i4 #af41 where he will find   
this ,gentile1 this ,moabitish damsel   

saying to her mother in-law thy people  
shall be my people4 ,will ,mr4 ,everett 
look a little farther to the #a ,sam4   
ch4 v4 #aj4 in the ,hebrew1 7not in a   
translation17 where he will find the    
,gentile ,philistines saying1 ,they have
 brought about the ark of the ,god of   
,israel to slay me and my people8 7ac4  
to the ,hebr47 again1 v4 #aa4 ,send away
 the ark of the ,god of ,israel1 and let
 it go to his own place1 that it slay me
 not and my people4 7ac4 to the         
,hebr47fn#eg  ,mr4 ,everett1 therefore1 
may understand from these examples1 why 
,i passed over this phrase without even 
the attempt of an explanation2 because1 
truly1 ,i never dreamed1 that this      
formidable objection1 would have been   
made3 or that any man would write1 upon 
the ,jewish controversy1 who did not    
first inform himself of the contents and
 phraseology of the ,hebrew ,bible4     
,having1 as ,i believe1 shewn that the  
#ec;d4 chapter of ,isiah can be         
understood of ,god's servant ,israel1 ,i

 will now attempt to shew the reasons   
why ,i think that it cannot relate to   
,jesus of ,nazareth4  #ast4  ,of the    
subject of this prophecy it is said v4  
#i4 and he appointed his grave with the 
wicked1 and with the rich in his deaths1
 in the plural4 ,now of ,jesus we read  
in the gospels the direct contrary3 for 
the gospels represent that his death was
 with the wicked1 and his grave with the
 rich4fn#eh  #b4 ,the use of the word   
deaths1 in the plural1 appears to me to 
necessitate the application of the      
prophecy to a people1 not to an         
individual4 ,the same is evident        
distinctly from the ,hebrew of v4 #h4 at
 the end of the verse1 in the word      
lamoo4  #c4 ,the subject of this        
prophecy is said to have been oppressed1
 i4 e4 by pecuniary exactions3 for that 
is the radical idea of the ,hebrew word1
 as is shown and asserted in the        
lexicons of the ,hebrew language4fn#ei  
,this is peculiarly true of the ,jewish 
nation1 but was not true at all with    

regard to ,jesus4  ,and to conclude1    
this prophecy is quoted repeatedly in   
the ,new ,testament4 ,now1 that none of 
the quotations in the ,new ,testament   
from the ,old can be maintained as      
prophecies fulfilled by ,jesus1 is the  
opinion of the learned ,christians      
,michaelis1 ,eichorn2 ,semler1          
,eckerman1 ,lessing1 c4 as is allowed by
 ,mr4 ,everett3 of course the #ec;d ch4 
of ,isaiah in their opinions cannot be  
adduced as a prophetic proof of         
,christianity3 and ,mr4 ,everett1 in    
maintaining the contrary1 has to        
struggle not only against argument1 but 
the strongest ,christian authority that 
can be produced on any question of      
,biblical ,criticism4  ,mr4 ,everett1 in
 several passages of his book1 has      
thought proper to charge me with errors2
 but in the course of his discussion of 
my interpretation of the #ec;d4 of      
,isaiah1 has directly accused me of     
falsehood and of fraud1 p4 #adh4 of his 
work4  ,with regard to many of these    

errors1 the situation and circumstances 
,i am in at present1 put it out of my   
power to defend myself1 because ,i      
cannot get the books he refers to in    
order to test his statements2fn#fj but  
of the latter imputations1 the work of  
,mr4 ,everett itself not only enables me
 to justify myself1 but to fix those    
charges upon him4  ,he says in the #adh 
page of his work1 remarking upon my     
assertion in ,the ,grounds of           
,christianity ,examined4--,in a word the
 literal application of this prophecy   
the #ec;d4 of ,isaiah to ,jesus is now  
given up by the most learned ,hebrew    
scholars1 who allow that the literal    
sense of the original can never be      
understood of him1- ,why does not ,mr4  
,english name these ,hebrew scholars8   
,simply because his assertion is not    
true4 ,indeed6  ,does not ,mr4 ,everett 
himself say in the #bdg p4 of his work1 
that ,eichorn in a view of a work of    
,dr4 ,ekerman says1 that the principle  
of accommodation1 which the better      

interpreters had already applied to many
 violations fn#fb in the ,new           
,testament1 is by this author extended  
to all4 ,though this opinion of ,dr4    
,ekerman1 says ,mr4 ,everett1 must be   
allowed to savour a little of the       
extravagance of theory1 ,eichorn adopts 
it4 ,as the work alluded to1 the        
,theological ,contributions has become a
 classical book with one class of the   
,german divines1 who are thought to     
excel in critical learning1 there is no 
doubt that this doctrine is generally   
received among them4 ,,michaelis we all 
know admits it2 and ,marsh is the only  
famous critic of the present day who    
does not embrace it4  ,now the #ec;d4   
ch4 of ,isaiah is quoted in the ,new    
,testament1fn#fc of course1 therefore1  
according to ,mr4 ,everett's own        
representations of the opinions of these
 learned critics1 they must deny that   
the prophecy of ,isaiah has any         
reference to ,jesus1 and hold that it is
 quoted merely by way of accommodation4 

,and if so how has ,mr4 ,everett dared  
to accuse me of falsehood in            
representing1 that the literal          
application of this prophecy to ,jesus  
is now given up by the most learned     
,hebrew scholars1 who allow that the    
literal sense of the original can never 
be understood of him86 ,there is        
undoubtedly a falsehood told in this    
affair1 and a conscious suppression of  
truth1 but it is not ,i who tell the    
first1 or conceal the latter4  ,mr4     
,everett then proceeds4  ,priestley and 
,grotius are all he claims1 the reader  
may see by the above that ,i might have 
claimed more1 ,priestley was a learned  
man1 but he has no pretentions as a     
,hebrew scholar1 and though ,mr4        
,english quotes ,grotius1 he does it    
incorrectly4 ,he declares that ,grotius 
has applied it to ,jeremiah1 and says1  
that ,jesus ,christ has nothing to do   
with it except in a secondary sense1 but
 that the whole of it from beginning to 
end refers to ,jeremiah4 ,there are but 

few to whom ,i need say continues ,mr4  
,everett1 that the words of ,grotius in 
his commentary are1 ,these marks have   
their first fulfillment in ,jeremiah1   
but a more especial1 sublime1 and often 
indeed more literal fulfillment in      
,christ4 ,mr4 ,everett's work p4 #adh4  
,i do not see how this passage of       
,grotius contradicts my representation  
of his opinion4 ,the passage from       
,grotius quoted by ,mr4 ,everett        
declares1 that these marks i4 e4 the    
#ec;d4 of ,isaiah have their first      
fulfillment in ,jeremiah2 of course they
 could not be fulfilled by any other    
except in a secondary sense1 as ,i have 
asserted4 ,as for the more especial1    
sublime1 and often indeed more literal  
fulfillment in ,christ1 ,i have always  
supposed that this and similar          
expressions in other parts of ,grotius' 
,commentary1 were understood1 by all who
 were acquainted with ,grotius' history 
and the times in which he wrote1 to be  
intended for a mere salvo1 as a tub     

thrown out to that great whale the      
vulgar2 to contradict directly whose    
opinions with regard to the prophecies1 
was in the time of ,grotius very        
dangerous1 as he himself1               
notwithstanding all his precaution and  
truckling1 seriously experienced4fn#fd  
,also1 ,mr4 ,everett goes on to say1 in 
adducing the authority of ,priestley for
 his interpretation without reference or
 qualification1 ,mr4 ,english gives     
cause to think1 that he did not know1 or
 knowing forbore to state1 that         
,priestley pronounces it impossible1 in 
one of his works1 to explain this       
prophecy of any but ,jesus ,christ4     
,what ,hebrew scholars are to be named  
with ,lowth and ,,michaelis1 who both   
assert the literal application to       
,christ1 ,mr4 ,english may one day      
learn1 that asseverations like these    
whatever immediate effect they produce1 
will finally stand in the way of his    
character for veracity4 p4#adi4  ,this  
has been to me the most irritating      

passage in ,mr4 ,everett's book1 because
 it is a tissue of impudent ignorance or
 impudent fraud1 and as such ,i will    
prove it4fn#fe  ,i have always supposed1
 that in quoting the opinion of an      
author as authority1 it is the fairest  
way to quote his last avowed opinions4  
,now the work of ,priestley's which ,i  
refer to as applying the prophecy of    
,isaiah to the ,jewish nation1 as ,i do1
 is entitled ,priestley's ,notes on     
,scripture1 and was published after     
arrival in ,america1 several years      
,,after the work to which ,mr4 ,everett4
 refers1 wherein ,priestley1 maintained 
that it was impossible to explain this  
prophecy of any but ,jesus ,christ4     
,therefore this fact gives cause to     
think1 that ,mr4 ,everett did not know1 
or knowing forbore to state 7which ,i   
believe in my conscience is the truth7  
this circumstance which completely      
acquits me at least of a suppressio     
veri4fn#ff  ,what ,hebrew scholars are  
to be named with ,lowth and ,michaelis6 

,several--among whom ,eichorn stands    
pre-eminent4 ,moreover1 how has it      
happened that the keen detector of      
dissonances has contradicted himself in 
quoting ,michaelis8 ,here1 because he   
chooses to cling to the #ec;d4 of       
,isaiah as favouring his cause1 he      
quotes the name of ,,michaelis as       
asserting its literal application to    
,christ4 ,in another place1 7p4 #bdg47  
where it is necessary to defend the ,new
 ,testament from the charge of false    
application of the prophecies of the    
,old ,testament to ,jesus1 he quotes    
again the great name of ,,michaelis as  
the patron of the system of             
accommodation1 which system maintains   
that the #ec;d4 of ,isaiah has no       
application to ,christ at all6 but is   
quoted by the writers of the ,new       
,testament merely by way of allusion4   
,mr4 ,everett himself may live to learn1
 that such double dealing attempts to   
slander his opponent1 and impose upon   
his readers1 whatever immediate effect  

they may produce1 will finally stand in 
the way of his character for veracity1  
or at least for fairness and candour4   
,these are not the only instances in    
which ,mr4 ,everett has calumniated me1 
and abused the good nature of his       
readers4 ,for example--  ,i had         
maintained in my first work1 that the   
gospel called of ,matthew was a forgery1
 and not a translation from the ancient 
,hebrew gospel of ,matthew1 and had     
supported my opinion by saying1 that    
learned ,christians allowed that it had 
not the air of a translation4 ,this ,mr4
 ,everett contradicts as follows3 ,but  
,mr4 ,english is aware that ,,michaelis1
 the highest authority on these         
subjects1 pronounces that it is a       
translation1 and maintains his          
proposition not less from the unanimous 
testimony of the ancients than from     
internal evidence4 p4 #dgb1 of ,mr4     
,everett's work4  ,i beg the reader     
after reading this to attend carefully  
to what is said by ,mr4 ,everett in p4  

#dfd4 ,semler's opinion of the origin   
and composition of the three first      
gospels1 was the same as that of ,le    
,clerc1 ,,michaelis1 ,lessing1 and      
,eichorn1 and which has been illustrated
 and maintained by professor ,marsh4    
,this opinion is that they were compiled
 from documents not one document or     
gospel1 but several of our ,lord's      
preaching and life1 which had been      
committed to writing during his life1 or
 immediately after1 and which became    
after different additions1 revisions and
 translations1 the ,,basis of our       
present gospels4 ,here the reader sees  
that when it is necessary to oppose my  
statements1 in one place ,mr4 ,everett  
avers that ,michaelis maintained that   
the ,greek gospel according to ,matthew1
 was a translation of ,matthew's        
,hebrew2 in another place1 where it is  
also necessary to oppose me1 he avers   
that ,michaelis believed that the gospel
 according to ,matthew1 ,mark1 and ,luke
 were compiled compositions1 and of     

course none of them were translations   
from any one work4 ,i would1 says ,mr4  
,everett1 answer ,mr4 ,english fairly1  
or not at all4 ,if this and the other   
instances quoted be specimens of ,mr4   
,everett's fairness1 what would be his  
conduct upon the very impossible        
supposition that he could be guilty of  
duplicity8  #b4 ,mr4 ,everett tells his 
readers1 that the ,jewish ,rabbies are  
the most contemptible critics that have 
appeared2 that they are so silly that he
 is almost ashamed to quote them2 that  
they were in short idiots4 ,if so1 of   
what value can their opinions be on     
controverted points1 which must after   
all be settled by reason and scripture1 
and not by any bare human               
authority4fn#fg ,nevertheless ,mr4      
,everett is continually calling upon his
 reader to believe his arguments and    
statements upon the authority of these  
said ,rabbies4 ,if ,i were one of his   
,christian readers1 ,i should consider  
myself insulted by such a procedure4 ,it

 is almost tantamount to saying1 'it is 
true1 my arguments are built upon the   
authority of fools1 but yet they may    
serve to convince you4  #c4 ,i had      
accused the writers of the ,new         
,testament in my first publication1 of  
having blundered in applying passages of
 the ,old ,testament as prophecies of   
,jesus ,christ4 ,mr4 ,everett justifies 
them by maintaining in the #eth4 chapter
 of his work1 that it is true that these
 quotations cannot be supported as      
prophecies1 but that they are excusable 
for the following reasons4 ,the writers 
of the4 ,new ,testament were ,jews2 the 
,jews of their times believed that every
 text of ,scripture had seventy-two     
faces1 and that each one regarded the   
,messiah1 and that the resurrection of  
the dead was also taught in every       
chapter of ,scripture1 though we might  
not be able to perceive it1 and that the
 writers of the ,new ,testament had been
 brought up in these silly prejudices1  
and therefore argued on these           

principles1 i4 e4 that1 notwithstanding 
their being inspired men and full of the
 spirit of the ,almighty1 they continued
 in this respect as silly as ever4  ,now
 if there be a pious and sincere        
,christian in the world1 and should have
 this hypothesis laid before him for his
 acceptance as the best means of        
defending the writers of the ,new       
,testament1 from the charge of fraud or 
blundering in their application of the  
prophecies1 ,i venture to say that that 
pious and sincere ,christian would1     
without hesitation1 believe the proposer
 of such an hypothesis to be ruining the
 cause he professed to defend4 ,what6 he
 might say1 are the quotations in the   
,new ,testament from the ,old1 indeed   
founded on folly1 and alledged through  
stupidity8 ,have the writers of the ,new
 ,testament1 who are allowed to have    
been inspired by the ,most ,high ,god   
with a perfect knowledge and            
understanding of the ,christian         
religion1 who are representing          

continually that ,jesus ,christ was     
foretold by the prophets1 and that their
 own minds were opened by the ,holy     
,ghost to understand the ,scriptures1   
have they indeed though continually     
quoting the ,old ,testament1 after all  
never quoted for us even one of the     
predictions on which they say their     
religion is founded8 and have they spent
 all the time they devoted to writing   
for the salvation of the souls of men1  
in fooling with the ,old ,testament in  
the manner you aver8 ',tis false6 ',tis 
monstrous6 ,either your hypothesis is a 
fable1 or ,christianity1 itself is like 
the dreams of the ,rabbies4fn#fh  ,when 
,i see such principles1 and other like  
principles avowed in ,mr4 ,everett's    
work1 ,i feel myself authorized to      
propose to him the following questions1 
by which ,i hope he will not consider   
himself as put to the torture4  ,what1  
,mr4 ,everett1 were your motives for    
quitting1 so abruptly and unexpectedly1 
the most respectable society who had    

done you the honour to elect you their  
pastor1 believing you to be the only man
 worthy to succeed the learned1 eloquent
 and lamented ,buckminster8 ,this       
abandonment of your station took place  
after you had engaged yourself in the   
examination of the question between me1 
,mr4 ,cary1 and ,mr4 ,channing4 ,if you 
felt doubts of the validity of the      
,christian religion1 and were therefore 
scrupulous about going into your pulpit 
every ,sunday to preach ,christianity in
 the name of the ,god of ,truth1 and    
therefore resigned your post1 your      
conduct thus far does you honour and not
 shame4 ,but if1 after this1 you have   
allowed yourself to be overcome by the  
solicitations of interested friends 7who
 might have been anxious that you should
 publish something1 that would allay the
 suspicions and silence the rumours your
 conduct had occasioned7 to give to the 
world your very singular book1 you have 
acted a part unjust towards me1 and     
injurious to yourself1 for you now see  

the consequence4 ,you are taken in the  
snare you had laid for me1 and your     
violent dealing has come down on your   
own head4  ,i come now to the           
examination of the celebrated prophecy  
of the seventy weeks4 ,this prophecy has
 always run fn#fi the crux ,criticorum4 
,it is unquestionably a very ambiguous  
one1 since ,mr4 ,everett himself informs
 us in a note1 p4 #afg of his work1 that
 ,calovius whose day has passed a       
century ago1 in a dissertation upon the 
mysteries of the seventy weeks1 numbers 
twenty-five different ,christian        
hypotheses1 to which may be added at    
least two more1 those of ,michaelis and 
,blayney4  ,if so1 ,i would ask what    
stress a reasonable man can lay upon a  
simple fn#gj prophecy which is allowedly
 so ambiguous1 as to have led           
,christians1 sincerely disposed to make 
a prophecy of ,jesus ,christ out of this
 passage1 to interpret it at least      
twenty- seven different ways8  ,there   
appears to me to be a mistranslation at 

the root of the prophecy1 which vitiates
 and confounds all the systems of       
interpretation2 applied to it that ,i   
know of4 ,i conceive that the prophecy  
should be translated thus4  ,seventy    
times seven fn#ga are determined upon   
thy people1 and upon thy holy city1 to  
finish transgression and to make an end 
of sins1 and to make reconciliation for 
iniquity1 and to bring in everlasting   
righteoussness1 and to seal up the      
vision and prophecy1 and to anoint the  
most holy things4  ,know therefore1 and 
understand that from the going forth of 
the commandment to restore1 and to build
 ,jerusalem1 unto the anointed ,prince1 
shall be seven weeks2 and in fn#gb      
threescore and two weeks the street     
shall be built again1 and the wall1 even
 in troublous times4 fn#gc  ,and after  
threescore and two weeks shall the      
anointed one be cut off1 and have no    
successor2 and the people of the ,prince
 that shall come1 shall destroy the     
city1 and the sanctuary3 and the end    

thereof shall be with a flood1 and unto 
the end desolations are determined4     
,and he shall confirm a covenant with   
many for one week1 and in the midst of  
the or1 a week he shall cause the       
sacrifice and the oblation to cease2 and
 for the overspreading of abominations  
he shall make it desolate1 even until   
the consummation1 and that determined be
 poured upon the desolate4 ,dan41 ch4   
ix4 #bd1 #bg4  ,whatever may be the true
 sigification of this prophecy1 it is   
not1 ,i conceive1 favourable to the     
purpose to which ,mr4 ,everett applies  
it1 for the following reasons4  #a4     
,that in supposing what is commonly     
translated seventy week's1 to signify   
four hundred and ninety years1 the      
prophecy would be falsified2 for        
certainly the expiration of this period 
did not finish transgression1 nor make  
an end of sins1 nor make reconciliation 
for iniquity1 nor bring in everlasting  
righteous1 nor anoint the most holy     
things1 i4e4 as ,i understand it1 the   

new and eternal temple and its altar1   
predicted by ,ezekiel in the last       
chapters of his prophecies4 ,on the     
contrary1 the ,jews became more wicked  
than ever1 and the temple then standing 
was destroyed to its foundations4  #b4  
,it follows from what is allowed by ,mr4
 ,everett himself1 p4 #aei of his work1 
that from the going forth of the word to
 restore and build ,jerusalem1 to the   
birth of ,jesus ,christ1 was not seven  
weeks and sixty and two weeks1 i4 e4    
sixty-nine weeks1 but ,,eighty-,,four   
weeks1 for he says there1 that the      
duration of the second temple was       
,,ninety-,,four weeks1 i4 e4 six hundred
 and fifty-nine years4 ,now if my memory
 does not deceive me1 ,jerusalem was    
taken and the temple destroyed by ,titus
 about the year seventy after the birth 
of ,christ1 which is equal to the       
prophetic weeks2 therefore take ten     
weeks from the ninety-four weeks1 7the  
time ,mr4 ,everett states to have       
elapsed from the building of the second 

temple1 to its destruction7 and there   
remains ,,eighty-,,four weeks1 and not  
,,sixty-,,nine4 ,which circumstance1    
appears to me to vitiate entirely the   
interpretation of ,mr4 ,everett1 who    
supposes the annointed one1 spoken of as
 to be cut off after the sixty-nine     
weeks1 to be ,jesus ,christ4  ,as to who
 the annointed ones were1 the first ,i  
think entirely refers to ,cyrus1 and the
 last who was to be cut off and have no 
successor1 may either mean the pious and
 good ,onias mentioned in the book of   
,maccabees1 who was the last ,i think of
 the legitimate ,jewish ,high ,priests1 
for after his time ,history testifies   
that several1 who had not the right of  
primogeniture as descendants of ,aaron1 
obtained the priesthood by force1 by    
intrigue1 and by bribery2 or the last   
,jewish ,high ,priest1 ,joshua fn#gd who
 perished during the siege of           
,jerusalem1 according to ,josephus4 ,at 
any rate the anointed one who was to be 
cut off1 cannot mean ,jesus of          

,nazareth2 because this anointed one was
 to be cut off in that same week of     
seven years1 in which the city was      
destroyed1 whereas ,jesus was crucified 
forty years before that event2 a        
circumstance ,i insist which excludes   
any application of this prophecy to     
,jesus4  ,the claims set up for ,jesus  
of ,nazareth are moreover evidently     
rejected by ,daniel's prophecy1 even    
according to ,mr4 ,everett's            
interpretation1 forasmuch as he did not 
appear at the expiration of sixty-nine  
weeks1 but of ,,eighty-,,four4  ,and to 
conclude this discussion1 ,i would      
observe that ,daniel1 ch4 iii1 in his   
account of the image seen in a vision by
 ,nebuchadnezzar whose head was of gold1
 breast and arms of silver1 belly of    
brass1 legs of iron1 and feet and toes  
of iron and clay1 is predicting the     
empires which have most influenced the  
fate of the ,hebrew nation2 i4 e4 the   
,babylonian1 ,persian1 ,grecian1 and    
,roman1 the last represented by the iron

 legs1 which did indeed bestride the    
world2 these iron legs are represented  
as terminating in feet and toes part of 
iron and part of clay1 which have no    
natural coherence2 i4 e4 the ,roman     
empire shall be divided into several    
kingdoms1 partly strong and partly weak3
 a prophecy remarkably fulfilled in the 
history and condition of the kingdoms of
 ,europe4 ,the prophet goes on to say in
 ch4 ii1 that in the latter days of     
those kings or kingdoms1 which are yet  
subsisting the ,god of ,heaven1 would   
set up a kingdom which should never be  
destroyed1 that of the ,messiah4 ,of    
course the kingdom of the ,messiah was  
not to be--not only not till after the  
destruction of the ,roman empire--but   
not till the latter days of the kingdoms
 which grew up out of the ruins2 whereas
 ,jesus ,christ was born in the time of 
,augustus1 i4 e4 when the ,roman empire 
itself was in the height of its         
splendour and vigour4 ,mr4 ,everett in  
p4 #bja1 endeavours to escape the strong

 gripe of the prophet ,daniel1 by       
maintaining that these strong and weak  
parts1 into which the ,roman empire was 
to be divided1 meant that it should be  
divided into strong and weak            
institutions4  ,now to turn this        
sensible interpretation head over heels1
 fn#ge it appears to me to be only      
necessary to observe1 that these strong 
and weak parts into which the ,roman    
empire was to be divided1 were1         
according to the prophet1 ch4 ii4 #d4c4 
of ,daniel1 to mingle themselves with   
the seed of men1 i4 e4 make             
intermarriages2 which1 it appears to me 
to be a thing that strong and weak      
institutions cannot do4 ,this1 however  
has remarkably1 been the case among the 
royal families of ,europe1 who          
intermarry too with the avowed design of
 cementing union and promoting peace and
 harmony4 ,nevertheless1 agreeable to   
the prophet's prediction1 they have not 
cleaved together1 but on the contrary   
have been almost constantly at war with 

each other4   ,,pebble ,,iv4  ,the      
children of ,israel shall abide many    
days without a king1 and without a      
prince1 and without a sacrifice1 and    
without an image1 and without an ephod1 
and without teraphim2 afterwards shall  
the children of ,israel return1 and seek
 the ,lord their ,god1 and ,david their 
king1 and shall fear the ,lord and his  
goodness in the latter days4 ,hos4 iii1 
#d1 #e4  ,i will set up one shepherd    
over them1 even my servant ,david1 he   
shall feed or govern them1 and he shall 
be their shepherd3 and ,i the ,lord will
 be their ,god1 and my servant ,david1 a
 prince among them4 ,ezech1 ch4 xxxiv4  
#bc4  ,david my servant shall be king   
over them1 and there shall be one       
shepherd1------ my servant ,david shall 
be their ,prince for ever4 ,ezek4 ch1   
xxxvii4 #bd1 #be4  ,they shall serve    
,jehovah their ,god1 and ,david their   
king1 whom ,i will raise up unto or for 
them4 ,jer4 xxx4 #i4  ,incline your ear 
and come unto me3 hear and your soul    

shall live2 and ,i will make an         
everlasting covenant with you1 even the 
sure mercies of ,david4 ,behold ,i have 
given him for a witness1 to the peoples1
 a leader and commander to the peoples4 
,is4 ,iv4 #c1 #d4  ,from such passages  
,i inferred1 in my first publication1   
that the name of the true ,messiah1 was 
to be ,,david1 and not ,jesus4 ,to avoid
 the force of these passages ,mr4       
,everett has recourse to allegory and   
analogy4  ,jesus is prophecied of in    
these passages1 says he1 by the name of 
,,david1 because there was an analogy   
between these two distinguished servants
 of ,god4 ,david1 from a low and humble 
estate1 was raised to be the founder of 
the temporal glories of his kingdom2 and
 ,christ1 not less humble in his origin1
 was the author of the spiritual        
distinction of ,israel2 ,david was the  
most illustrious political and ,christ  
the most distinguished moral instrument 
of the ,lord4 ,david was commanded to   
entrust to his successor the election of

 the famous temple1 which was the centre
 of the ,jewish worship2 and ,christ has
 founded through the agency of his      
apostles that ,,church by which his     
religion has been preserved1 and        
diffused in the world4  ,to laugh1 were 
want of dignity1 or grace1 ,and to be   
grave exceeds all power of face4  ,i    
assure ,mr4 ,everett1 that the days of  
,type and ,,figure are gone by1 and have
 been succeeded among ,biblical ,critics
 by a stricter style of reasoning1 and  
are now considered as pious whims4fn#gf 
,in the present advanced state of sacred
 ,criticism even the beautiful allegory 
in ,paul's ,epistle to the ,gal4 ch4 iv4
 which makes ,hagar1 ,abraham's maid1   
nothing less than ,mount ,sinai in      
,arabia2 and ,sarah1 ,abraham's wife1 to
 be the ,jerusalem1 that is above the   
mother of us all6 has come to be        
regarded as rather queer4  ,i had also  
objected that the coming of the true    
,messiah1 was according to the ,old     
,testament1 to be preceded by the       

appearance of ,elijah the prophet on    
earth2 and that he had not appeared     
before the era of ,jesus1 nor ever      
since4  ,in answer to this1 ,mr4        
,everett endeavours to show #agc4  seq41
 that a man named ,john the ,baptist--a 
righteous person1--whose raiment was of 
camels hair1--and whose meat was locusts
 and wild honey1 who lived in the age of
 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 was ,elijah1 and  
had a right to be so considered--by a   
figure4  ,to this ,i answer1 that the   
prophecy of ,malachi does not say       
,behold ,i will send you one like       
,elijah1 or an ,elijah1---but it says   
explicitly1 and expressly1 ,behold1 ,i  
will send you ,elijah the ,prophet1     
before the coming of the great and      
terrible day of the ,lord2 and he shall 
turn the hearts of the fathers to the   
children1 and the hearts of the children
 to their fathers4 ,mal4 iv4 #e1f4  ,now
 who is ,elijah the ,prophet8           
undoubtedly the great prophet of        
,israel1 who called down fire from      

heaven--who raised the dead to life--and
 who ascended alive to heaven in a      
chariot of fire2 ,god by such a         
translation sufficiently intimating that
 he had in reserve for him1 some        
extraordinary commission4 ,moreover the 
coming of this ,elijah the prophet1 was 
to be followed by4 the great and        
terrible day of ,jehovah1 by which name 
the prophets call the personal descent  
of ,jehovah upon the earth1 to take     
vengeance on the wicked1 and to punish  
the oppressors and persecutors of his   
people4fn#gg ,was the appearing of ,john
 the ,baptist followed by this event8 or
 has it yet occurred1 though that man   
lived eighteen hundred years ago8 ,his  
appearance1 instead of being followed by
 the interposition of ,god to avenge    
,israel of its enemies1 was on the      
contrary1 followed by giving ,israel    
into the hand of its enemies1 who1 for  
the overspreading of abominations1 made 
,jerusalem a desolation1 and delivered  
over its sinful population to the chains

 of slavery1 and the bands of ,death4   
,elijah the ,prophet is to turn the     
hearts of the fathers to the children1  
and the hearts of the children to the   
fathers4  ,did ,john the ,baptist do    
this8 ,on the contrary1 the morals of   
his countrymen1 in ,his age1 instead of 
growing from bad to better1 went on from
 bad to worse1 till there was no remedy1
 and the ,sword of ,god did his work4   
,indeed1 and indeed ,mr4 ,everett you   
are wrong2 ,and your superannuated      
allies1 ,,type and ,,figure1 whom ,i    
disdain to combat1 cannot aid you to    
defend what is indefensible4   ,,pebble 
,v4  ,the ,law of the ,pentateuch1 is   
pronounced by the ,old ,testament to be 
intended for a permanent and eternal    
,code for the ,jewish nation4 ,mr4      
,everett denies this4 ,let us see       
nevertheless1 if it cannot be proved4   
,the promulgation of the ordinance      
imposing circumcision on the descendants
 of ,abraham1 is in these words4 ,and   
,god said unto ,abraham1 ,thou shalt    

keep my covenant therefore1 thou and thy
 seed after thee in their generations4  
,this is my covenant which ye shall     
keep1 between me and you1 and thy seed  
after thee2 ,every man child among you  
shall be circumcised4--,he that is born 
in thy house1 and he that is bought with
 thy money1 must needs be circumcised2  
and my covenant shall be in your flesh  
for an everlasting covenant4 ,and the   
uncircumcised man child whose flesh of  
his foreskin is not circumcised1 that   
soul shall be cut off from his people2  
he hath broken my covenant4 ,gen4 ch4   
xvii4 #i4-- #ad4  ,the ordinance of the 
,passover is also declared to be        
everlasting1 and this day i4 e4 the     
feast of the ,passover shall be unto you
 for a memorial2 and ye shall keep it a 
feast unto the ,lord throughout your    
generations2 ye shall keep it a feast by
 an ordinance forever4 ,ex4ch4xii4 #ad4 
see also v4 #ae4--;in v4 #ag4 it is said
 ye shall observe this day in your      
generations by an ordinance for ever4   

,the ordinance of the day of atonement1 
is declared to be a perpetual           
institution1 ,it shall be a statute for 
ever unto you1 ,lev4 ch4 xvi4 #bi4 ,it  
shall be a ,sabbath of rest unto you1   
and ye shall afflict your souls1 by a   
statute for ever4 v4 #ca4 and this shall
 be an everlasting statute unto you4 v4 
#cd4  ,the feast of offering the first  
fruits of the year1 is declared ,lev4   
ch4 xxiii4 #ad4 to be a statute for ever
 throughout your generations1 in all    
your dwellings4  ,the feast of the      
,pentecost1 is also declared in the same
 ch4 of ,lev4 #ba4 to be a statute for  
ever1 in all your dwellings throughout  
your generations4 ,see also v4 #da4     
,the ordinance of the ,sabbath is       
pronounced a perpetual institution1     
,verily my sabbath ye shall keep3 for it
 is a sign between me and you1          
throughout your generations--,wherefore 
the children of ,israel shall keep the  
sabbath1 to observe the sabbath         
throughout their generations for a      

perpetual covenant3 ,it is a sign       
between me and the children of ,israel  
for ever4  ,ex4 xxxi4 #ac--ag4  ,as it  
is clearly evident from such passages as
 the above1 that the law of ,moses was  
intended to be a perpetual rule for the 
,israelites throughout all their        
generations1 as long as they should     
exist1 ,mr4 ,everett1 in order to get   
rid of their force1 has thought proper  
to annihilate the ,jewish nation with a 
stroke of his pen4 ,he maintains p4     
#cej4 of his work1 that no such nation  
exists as the ,jewish nation6 ,this     
unexpected stroke was to me a           
confounding one--not on account of its  
force--but on account of its amazing    
effrontery4  ,the ,jews not a nation6   
ask the histories of mankind2 ask all   
writers who give an account of the      
different nations and peoples into which
 the race of ,adam is divided6 and ,mr4 
,everett will find that they all        
consider the ,jews as a distinct and    
peculiar people4 ,but1 says ,mr4        

,everett1 p4 #cej1 if they are a nation1
 we can be told whereabouts they dwell1 
and what cities they inhabit4           
,undoubtedly ,mr4 ,everett can be told  
all this if he will take the trouble to 
ask their chiefs2 and if he does he will
 be surprised to learn that the ,jews1  
in cities and countries that can be     
named and pointed out1 amount probably  
to ten millions of people1 governed by  
their own law1 so far as relates to     
their religion and intercourse with each
 other1 and yet ,mr4 ,everett maintains 
that the ,jewish nation does not exist4 
fn#gi  ,but ,i have a solemn answer from
 immortal lips to give to ,mr4          
,everett's assertion1 which he may      
possibly1 if he be a religious man1     
hearken to1 and tremble4  ,thus saith   
,jehovah1 which giveth the sun for a    
light by day1 and the ordinances of the 
moon and the stars for a light by night2
 which divideth the sea when the waves  
thereof roar2 ,,jehovah ,,of ,,hosts is 
his name2 if those ordinances depart    

from before me saith ,jehovah1 then the 
seed of ,israel shall cease being ,a    
,,nation before me ,,for ,,ever4  ,thus 
saith ,jehovah1 if heaven above can be  
measured1 and the foundations of the    
earth searched out beneath1 ,i also will
 cast off all the seed of ,israel1 for  
all that they have done saith ,jehovah4 
,jer4 ch4 xxxi4 #ce1 #cf1 #cg4  ,but1   
says ,mr4 ,everett1 p4 #ceb1 above all1 
the ,jews have no national existence in 
respect of their religion2 which is     
really the principal point to be urged4 
,the tribe of ,levi which was separated 
to the service of the temple1 and the   
family of ,aaron1 exonerated fn#hj to   
the priesthood1 and ordained to be a    
perpetual duration have both been long  
extinct1 ,at least have long since      
ceased to be traced4  ,this is          
incorrect4 ,the tribe of ,levi is not   
extinct1 neither has the family of      
,aaron ceased to be traced4 ,hundreds1  
perhaps thousands of ,jews at present   
existing1 are recognized by their       

brethren as of the tribe of ,levi1 and  
the descendants of ,aaron to this day   
have the privilege of blessing the      
people in the ,synagogues on solemn     
days1 in a peculiar form which no other 
,jews are allowed to employ4  ,this     
marvellous fact1 that the descendants of
 ,david and ,aaron should yet be        
discriminated amidst the general        
confusion of the tribes1 is an          
illustrious verification of the         
following promise of ,him whose word    
never fails1 which ,i now oppose to the 
last rash assertion of his creature who 
has denied it4  ,thus saith ,jehovah1   
,david shall never want a man to sit    
upon the throne of the house of ,israel1
 neither shall the priests the ,levites 
want a man before me fn#ha to offer     
burnt offerings1 and to kindle meat     
offerings1 and to do sacrifice          
continually4  ,thus saith ,jehovah3 if  
ye can break my covenant of the day1 and
 my covenant of the night1 and that     
there should not be day and night in    

their season2 then may also my covenant 
be broken with ,david my servant1 that  
he should not have a son to reign upon  
his throne1 and with the ,levites the   
priests my ministers4 ,as the host of   
heaven cannot be numbered neither the   
sand of the sea measured1 so will ,i    
multiply the seed of ,david my servant1 
and the ,levites the priests that       
minister unto me4 ,considerest thou4 not
 what this people have spoken1 saying1  
the two families which ,jehovah hath    
chosen1 he hath even cast them off8     
,thus have they despised my people that 
they should be no more ,a ,,nation      
before them4 ,thus saith ,jehovah1 ,if  
my covenant be not with day and night1  
and ,i have appointed1 the ordinances of
 heaven and earth2 then will ,i cast    
away the seed of ,jacob1 and ,david my  
servant1 so that ,i will not take any of
 his seed to be rulers over the seed of 
,abraham1 ,isaac and ,jacob1 ,,for ,i   
,,will ,,cause ,,their ,,captivity ,,to 
,,return ,,and ,,have ,,mercy ,,upon    

,,them4 ,jer4 xxxiii4 #ag--bf4  ,i      
presume that the ,,christian ,,clergyman
 who has contradicted his ,,bible and   
his ,,god1 is ready to exclaim like     
humbled ,job2 ,i have uttered what ,i   
understood not2 things too wonderful for
 me which ,i knew not2 wherefore ,i     
abhor myself1 and repent in dust and    
ashes4 ,job ch4 xlii4 ,see ,appendix4   
,h4  ,shall ,i proceed to the           
consideration of some little arguments  
of ,mr4 ,everett against the intended   
perpetuity of the ,mosaic law derived   
from some expressions in the ,psalms and
 the ,prophets8 ,is it possible that    
,mr4 ,everett the scholar and the       
clergyman1 is ignorant1 that according  
to the idiom of the ,hebrew language all
 such passages are merely expressive    
that ,god lays no stress upon sacrifice1
 and burnt offering1 if unsanctified by 
righteousness and good works3 ,mr4      
,everett has blindly recommended a      
passage to my serious attention1 p4     
#ceh1 which ought to have made him      

sensible of this4  ,thus saith the ,lord
 of ,hosts1 the ,god of ,israel1 put    
your burnt offerings to your sacrifices1
 and eat the flesh thereof4 ,for ,i     
spake not unto your fathers1 nor        
commanded them in the day ,i brought    
them out of ,egypt concerning burnt     
offerings and sacrifices4 ,but this     
thing commanded ,i them saying1 obey my 
voice4 ,jer4 ch4 vii4 #bc1 #bd4 ,what6  
might a critic of the cast of ,mr4      
,everett exclaim1 did not ,god indeed   
command the children of ,israel1 when he
 brought them out of ,egypt1 concerning 
burnt offerings and sacrifices8 are not 
the books of ,leviticus and ,numbers    
filled with regulations concerning them8
 ,very true1 might a rational scholar   
reply to him1 but this and several other
 expressions in the ,psalms and ,isaiah 
are ,hebraeisms1 i4 e4 peculiar idioms  
of the language1 expressing comparison  
not rejection2 this passage in ,jeremiah
 implying that when ,god brought the    
children of ,israel out of ,egypt1 in   

giving his law to them he laid no stress
 upon burnt offerings and sacrifices1 in
 comparison with moral duties4          
,finally1 ,i would ask ,mr4 ,everett1   
whether he believes it was the intention
 of ,david1 of ,isaiah1 and ,jeremiah1  
to declare to the ,jews of their times  
that ,god would no more accept of burnt 
offerings and sacrifices6 and that the  
ceremonial law was ipso facto abolished2
 because1 if such passages do signify   
the abolishment of the ,mosaic law1 it  
must be considered as having been a dead
 letter ever since ,david1 ,isaiah41 and
 ,jeremiah uttered these expressions4   
,but1 says ,mr4 ,everett1 p4 #ceg1 the  
positive declaration of ,god1 puts the  
matter the repeal of the ,mosaic law    
beyond a doubt4  ,behold the days come1 
saith the ,lord1 that ,i will make a new
 covenant with the house of ,israel2 and
 with the house of ,judah1 not according
 to the covenant that ,i made with their
 fathers1 in the day that ,i took them  
by the hand1 to lead them out of the    

land of ,egypt2 which my covenant they  
brake1 although ,i was a husband unto   
them1 saith the ,lord3 but this shall be
 my covenant that ,i will make with the 
house of ,israel1 after those days1 ,i  
will put my law in their inward parts1  
and write it in their hearts1 and ,i    
will be their ,god1 and they shall be my
 people4 ,jer4 xxxi4 #ca1 c4  ,i would  
observe first1 that ,mr4 ,everett in    
applying this passage to the purpose for
 which he has adduced it1 has against   
him the opinions of all those ,christian
 critics whom he allows to excel in     
critical learning2 viz4 ,michaelis1     
,ekerman1 ,lessing1 ,eichorn1 c4 ,for   
this passage is quoted to the same      
purpose in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1
 ch4 viii4 #h4 and all the critics above
 mentioned maintain1 as ,mr4 ,everett   
allows1 that none of the passages of the
 ,old ,testament quoted in the ,new1 can
 be supported as prophecies of the      
things to which they are applied1 but   
hold that they were quoted merely by way

 of accommodation or allusion4  #b4  ,i 
would observe1 that this passage is one 
out of several more in the prophets1    
which represent that after the general  
restoration of ,israel to their country1
 ,god will put a new spirit in them1 and
 cause them to obey his voice1 7which   
was not done at the giving of the law1  
the ,israelites being left to obey it or
 not2 after being given to understand   
what should be the rewards of obedience 
and the curses of disobedience17' this  
very chapter of ,jeremiah1 from which   
this quotation is taken1 expressly      
representing1 that this new covenant is 
to be made ,,after the ,israelites are  
restored to their own land3 which       
completely excludes the idea that this  
new covenant can relate to a new        
religion1 fabricated seventeen hundred  
years ago2 and renders the solemnity    
with which ,mr4 ,everett has introduced 
it1 somewhat ridiculous4  ,this new     
covenant also1 is not to put the old law
 out of remembrance1 but is to write it 

on their hearts4  ,behold1 ,i will      
gather them out of all countries whither
 ,i have driven them in mine anger1 and 
in my fury1 and in great wrath2 and ,i  
will bring them again into this place1  
and ,i will cause them to dwell safely3 
and they shall be my people1 and ,i will
 be their ,god3 and ,i will give them   
one heart1 and one way1 that they may   
fear me for ever1 for the good of them  
and their children after them4 ,and ,i  
will make an everlasting covenant with  
them1 that ,i will not turn away from   
them1 to do them good2 but ,i will put  
my fear into their hearts1 that they    
shall not depart from me4 ,yea1 ,i will 
rejoice over them to do them good1 and  
,i will plant them in this land with my 
whole heart and with my whole soul4     
,jer4 xxxii4 #cg--da4 fn#hb  ,in order  
to manifest that the prophecy of the new
 covenant1 quoted from ,jeremiah by ,mr4
 ,everett1 had no reference to the      
promulgation of the new fn#hc law1 ,i   
had said in my first publication1 that  

though the prophet speaks of a new      
covenant he says nothing of a new law4  
,on which ,mr4 ,everett labours greatly 
to prove1 ,see p4 #ceg c4 of his book1  
that the expression making a new        
covenant1 must signify making a new law1
 and cannot signify reimposition of the 
old4  ,there is a history in the ,bible 
which convicts this opinion of mistake1 
which ,i propose in my turn to ,mr4     
,everett's serious attention4  ,these   
are the words of the covenant1 which the
 ,lord commanded ,moses to make with the
 children of ,israel in the land of     
,moab1 beside the covenant which he made
 with them in ,horeb4 ,and ,moses called
 unto all ,israel1 and said unto them2  
ye stand this day all of you before the 
,lord your ,god1 your captains of your  
tribes1 your elders1 and your officers1 
with all the men of ,israel2 your little
 ones1 your wives1 and the stranger that
 is in thy camp1 from the hewer of thy  
wood to the drawer of thy water2 that   
thou shouldest enter into covenant with 

the ,lord thy ,god1 c4 ,deut4 ch4 xxix4 
,and what was the covenant8 why1 as the 
reader may find by perusing the rest of 
this piece of history in the            
,pentateuch1 it was the reimposition of 
the ,law of ,moses upon the new         
generation of ,israelites1 who were     
children when their fathers came out of 
,egypt4 ,so that ,mr4 ,everett must see1
 that ,god's making a new covenant1 can 
be accompanied with a reimposition of   
the law1 since in the instance          
considered1 he has actually done it once
 before4  ,i have1 however1 another     
passage in reserve1 which must compel   
,mr4 ,everett to resign his unfounded   
opinions on this subject4  ,moses1 the  
giver of the law1 after predicting most 
exactly what should befall the ,jewish  
nation for disobedience to it1 in the   
#bhth chapter of ,deuteronomy1 proceeds 
in the #cjth ch4 to inform them1 that   
the time would come1 when the ,lord     
their ,god will turn their captivity and
 have compassion upon them1 and will    

return and gather them from all the     
nations whither the ,lord their ,god    
hath scattered them4  ,if thy           
dispersion1fn#hd 7says the lawgiver7    
shall be unto the utmost parts of       
heaven1 from thence will the ,lord thy  
,god gather thee1 and from thence will  
he fetch thee4 ,and the ,lord thy ,god  
will bring thee unto the land which thy 
fathers possessed1 and thou shalt       
possess it2 and he will do thee good and
 multiply thee above thy fathers1 and   
the ,lord thy ,god will circumcise thy  
heart1 and the heart of thy seed1 to    
love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy    
heart1 and with all thy soul1 that thou 
mayest live4 ,and the ,lord thy ,god    
will put all these curses upon thine    
enemies1 and on them that hate thee1 and
 which persecuted thee4 ,and thou shall 
return1 and obey the voice of the ,lord1
  ,,and ,,do ,,all ,,his ,,commandments 
,,which ,i ,,commanded ,,on ,,that      
,,day4  ,deut4 ch4 ,,xxx4 fn#he  ,in    
accordance with this express prediction 

of ,moses1 that when the ,israelites    
should be gathered out of all countries 
into their own land1 ,god would give    
them a heart and disposition to love the
 ,lord their ,god1 and to do all his    
commandments which ,moses was then      
delivering to them are the prophecies of
 ,ezekiel2 who in his last chapters1    
after giving a prophecy of the general  
return of the descendants of ,jacob to  
their own land1 proceeds to predict the 
division of the country1 between the    
,mediterranean and the ,euphrates1 among
 the restored tribes2 and minutely      
describes the plan1 parts1 offices1 and 
ceremonies1 of a new and eternal temple 
to be raised upon the ancient site of   
that of ,solomon1 that is to be         
consecrated by the re-establishment of  
the magnificent ritual of ,moses1 with  
augmented splendour4  ,that the prophecy
 of ,moses1 and those of ,ezekiel1      
referred to1 have never yet been        
fulfilled1 is undeniable2 and that they 
will be fulfilled1 will not be doubted  

by a ,christian2 and can hardly be      
disbelieved by a ,sceptic1 who will take
 the trouble to compare the history of  
the eternal people1fn#hf with the       
predictions concerning it which have    
been fulfilled to the letter4  ,mr4     
,everett1 in the #ddi page of his work1 
speaks rather contemptuously of the law 
of ,moses4 ,it is somewhat unusual to   
see a descendant of savage wanderers of 
the woods1 who painted themselves blue  
in order to look handsome1fn#hg and     
whose posterity1 and among them ,mr4    
,everett himself1 might so far as       
religion and morals is concerned1 but   
for the instruction originally derived  
from the law of ,moses1 be still in the 
same respectable state1 speaking lightly
 of a ,book to which every nation on the
 ,globe1 who have any rational ideas of 
,god or futurity1 are absolutely        
indebted for that invaluable knowledge4 
,the ,jewish1 ,christian1 and           
,mohammedan religions1 by which so many 
of our unfortunate race have been       

brought to a knowledge of ,god1 and made
 candidates for an eternity of bliss1   
are all founded on1 and derived from the
 ,pentateuch4 ,if that ,book had never  
existed1 those religions could not have 
existed4 ,all that part of mankind who  
have any claims to reason in their      
,religion1 are therefore indebted to    
this ,jew ,book for the benefit4  ,nor  
is this all the wonder4  ,the sublime   
and fundamental ,doctrine of the        
,pentateuch--,one ,god--,eternal and    
,supreme---the ,almighty ,creator and   
tremendous ,avenger--can be traced up to
 ,abraham1 that wandering shepherd who  
at the command of ,god left his country 
and his father's house1 to go to a      
foreign land41 where he lived and died a
 stranger and a pilgrim4  ,what ideas   
should we entertain of a man whose tent 
was frequented by angels1 and with whom 
the ,supreme conversed face to face1 as 
a man talketh with his friend6 of a man 
who lived and died a shepherd1 yet to   
whom it was predicted four thousand     

years ago1 by ,him whose word never     
fails that his name should be great1    
that it should be a blessing1 and that  
in his seed should all the nations of   
the earth be blessed4 ,sceptic6 has not 
this prophecy been fulfilled8  ,is not  
the name of ,abraham a theme of blessing
 to the ,jew--the ,christian--the       
,magian--and the ,musselman8  ,is not   
his name pronounced with reverence      
throughout the four continents of the   
,globe4 ,has not the earth been blessed 
in his seed8  ,is there a nation or     
people upon it1 who have any rational   
ideas of ,god or futurity1 who have not 
derived them from ,moses1 ,jesus1 or    
,mohammed8 ,are we not indebted to these
 descendants of this wonderful man1fn#hi
 for the consolations which support the 
soul under the trials of life1 and for  
the faith and hope that smooth the bed  
of death8 assuredly-- assuredly4 ,the   
events of past ages have verified the   
divine origin of the prediction1 and    
ages to come will still farther confirm 

it4  ,mr4 ,everett objects to the law of
 ,moses1 its multiplied forms and       
ceremonies2 but these were mostly not   
obligatory upon the whole nation1 but   
upon one tribe set apart to this duty1  
and who had nothing else to do4fn#ij    
,the influence of these rights fn#ia and
 ceremonies--and no religion can        
perpetually exist without them1 for     
after all the fn#ib man is the slave of 
his senses1 and powerfully affected by  
the impressions made upon them--cannot  
be doubted by one who attentively       
considers their amazing magnificence4   
,a temple blazing with the most precious
 productions of the mine1fn#ic and      
inaccessible to all but the consecrated 
descendants of one man1 standing at the 
extremity of an immense area covered    
with variegated marble1 and surrounded  
by magnificent corridors and porticos2 a
 gorgeous host of nearly forty thousand 
priests1fn#id3 to minister at the ever  
smoking altar1 and to nourish the       
eternal fire2 the golden ewer containing

 the hallowed blood of atonement1 and   
the censer streaming fn#ie clouds of    
fragrance1 in the hands of the trembling
 descendant of ,aaron approaching the   
inner sanctuary of the ,,invisible ,,and
 ,,almighty2 three hundred sons of song1
 accompanied with psaltery and cymbal1  
and the harp with a solemn sound1       
resounding the attributes of ,,him ,,who
 ,,is1 ,,and ,,ever ,,shall ,,be2fn#if  
and hundreds of thousands of worshippers
 prostrating their foreheads on the     
pavement in awe and extacy1 as the      
temple shines forth with the ,shechinah1
 streaming its rainbow glories into the 
heart of heaven1 and covering the earth 
with its effulgence1 plainly showing    
that ,,god ,,is ,,there6 ,this1 all this
 ,mr4 ,everett pronounces1 all          
calculated to occupy the attention of a 
simple and unfeeling fn#ig people4 p4   
#cdd4;fn#ih ,there is1 not however1 a   
philosopher on earth that would fn#ii   
walk barefoot over its whole            
circumference to witness such a sight4  

,with this terminates my reply to ,mr4  
,everett4 ,i leave it to his            
consideration1 whether he has fulfilled 
the magnificent promises held out to the
 public in the splendid table of        
contents prefixed to his book1 from     
which it should seem as if ,i were      
actually crushed into the dust2 and ,i  
leave it to the consideration of my     
abused and deluded countrymen1 whether  
the heavy artillery of the law and the  
prophets1 which ,i have wheeled but from
 the ,old ,testament1 has not fairly    
blown the old board fences behind which 
a crazy superstition is ensconced1 and  
which ,mr4 ,everett has painted up to   
look like real fortifications1 and      
mounted with quaker guns1 to splinters  
and fragments4   ,,the ,,sling4  ,,what 
was the real history and character of   
,jesus ,christ8  ,mr4 ,everett had a    
right to consider my expressions1       
relative to this subject contained in my
 first work1 as far from being explicit2
 for in fact ,i hardly knew what to     

think of the unparalelled son of ,mary4 
,that he was a pious and blameless man1 
,i conceived that no man of good heart  
could doubt1 while the supposition that 
he claimed to be the ,messiah1 ,i       
believed and still believe to be        
incompatible with such a character as   
his4  ,with the reader's permission1 ,i 
will now state what ,i conceive may have
 been the real truth with regard to him4
  ,i believe that ,jesus of ,nazareth   
was certainly a righteous man1 and      
probably one who wished to bring back   
his countrymen1 to a rational observance
 of the law1 and to abandon their       
traditions4  ,he appeared in an age when
 the religious part of the ,jewish      
nation had made the law in many respects
 of none effect by those traditions1 and
 had rendered their religion a stumbling
 block to the ,gentiles1 by reason of   
the puerile superstitions they had added
 to it3 thus counteracting the express  
design1 for which they had been set     
apart from other nations1 viz4 to bring 

them to the knowledge and               
acknowledgement of the unity and        
supremacy of ,god27 and violating the   
command of ,moses1 ye shall not add unto
 the word which ,i command you1 neither 
shall ye diminish ought from it2 for    
this is your wisdom and your            
understanding in the sight of the       
nations1 which shall hear all these     
statutes1 and say1 surely this great    
nation is a wise and understanding      
people4  ,deut4 ch4 iv4-- and when the  
irreligious part of the nation1 had     
become dreadfully corrupt4  ,the ,jewish
 people at that time were oppressed and 
despised2 the prophets of the ,old      
,testament had taught them to believe   
that at a time when their oppressions   
should be at their height1 their        
,messiah should appear4 ,of consequence 
the appearance of such a man as ,jesus  
,christ1 at that time when they         
considered themselves as crushed under  
the ,roman yoke1 possibly led them or   
some of them to believe that he might be

 their expected deliverer4 ,but the     
,jewish nation at that time were        
unworthy of such a deliverance4 ,they   
longed for their ,messiah1 not for      
righteousness1 but for vengeance sake2  
not to hail him as the benefactor of the
 human race1 but as the avenger of their
 wrongs upon all the world who had      
crushed and despised them4  ,such a     
people were not the lawful candidates   
for the happiness of the eternal        
kingdom2 and they afterwards learned1 by
 the event of their struggle with the   
,romans1 that they must not expect      
deliverance till they had become less   
unworthy of it4  ,jesus1 by preaching   
against the traditions of the elders1 by
 not observing the ,sabbath day so      
rigidly as the ,pharisees1 by denouncing
 them as hypocrites1 tithers of mint    
anise and cummin1 washers of plates and 
platters1 and neglecters of the         
weightier matters of the law1 justice1  
judgment1 and mercy1 as serpents1 a     
generation of vipers1 whited sepulchres1

 and what not1 had enraged these        
superstitious fanatics to the last      
degree4 ,but they could not wreak their 
vengeance1 because he was protected1 by 
the people whom the gospels represent as
 expecting with the most anxious        
impatience1 that he would announce      
himself as their deliverer4fn#ajj ,but  
when repeated importunity1 accompanied  
by an attempt to seize upon him and by  
compulsion oblige him to head them1     
terminated only in causing ,jesus to    
escape and withdraw himself from their  
wishes fn#aja the people were disgusted1
 and abandoned him4  ,the ,chief        
,priests and ,pharisees took advantage  
of this abandonment1 to seize him and   
deliver him to the ,roman governor as a 
dangerous man1 who either was willing to
 head the people against the ,romans1 or
 who might be made the pretext of an    
insurrection1 as the people had shown a 
disposition to recognize him as the     
,messiah4 fn#ajb ,such ,i believe to be 
as near an approximation to the true    

history of ,jesus ,christ1 as can be    
made at this day4  ,let us now review   
the points ,i have endeavoured to       
establish in this work4  #a4 ,i have    
endeavoured to show that the miracles1  
supposed by ,mr4 ,everett to have been  
wrought by ,jesus in proof of his       
,messiahship1 cannot be proved2 because 
that the ,new ,testament is not to be   
depended on as competent testimony for  
the real history and real doctrines of  
,jesus of ,nazareth2 and therefore1 that
 the question of his ,messiahship must  
in all events be decided by an appeal to
 the ,old ,testament4  #b4 ,it has been 
shown1 that the prophecies of the       
,messiah contained in the ,old          
,testament1 have not been fulfilled in  
,jesus2 and that those prophecies which 
,mr4 ,everett regards as proofs of the  
,christian religion1 were also not      
fulfilled in ,jesus4  #c4 ,it has been  
shown that the law of ,moses was        
intended for a perpetual law for the    
,jewish nation1 through all their       

generations forever2 and of course that 
it is1 and must be perpetually          
obligatory upon them2 and consequently  
whether ,,jesus ,,be ,,the ,,messiah1   
,,or ,,not1 the ,jews are bound to      
adhere to the law of ,moses4fn#ajd  #d4 
,it has been shown1 that fn#aje it is   
absolutely impossible to know the real  
history of ,jesus with certainty2 the   
,jews and ,christians ought for the     
future to consider his character1 not as
 a subject of dispute1 nor an occasion  
of quarrel1 much less as a cause of     
mutual aversion1 but merely as a matter 
of speculation4  ,should these positions
 ever be recognised by the ,jews and    
,christians as reasonable and true1 let 
us consider what1 may be the            
consequence4  #a4 ,the ,christians      
become sensible1 that the ,new          
,testament is not to be depended on1    
would cease to hate1 to persecute1 and  
to annoy the unfortunate ,jews1 on      
account of their rejecting its          
doctrines4  #b4 ,the ,christians would  

themselves adhere to the ,old           
,testament1 as the rock and rule of     
faith and morals2 and would worship with
 the ,jews the ,one ,jehovah1 without   
equal or companion1 and obey the moral  
law of the ,old ,testament1 leaving the 
observance of its ceremonial            
institutions to the nation for whom they
 were intended3fn#ajf like the devout   
,gentiles in the time of ,josephus and  
,christ4  #c4 ,the ,jews1 seeing the    
,christians ,unitarians as well as      
themselves1 would cease to regard the   
,christians as impious idolaters1 and   
cruel enemies4  #d4 ,both parties would 
worship and serve ,god as brethren1 and 
children of the same father2 and await  
in faith and hope the appearance of the 
,,great ,,personage1 who is to make them
 and all the good part of mankind1      
perfectly happy4  ,should what ,i have  
written have any tendency to promote    
union and friendly feelings1 between the
 parties to a dispute which has for     
nearly eighteen hundred years occasioned

 such cruel oppressions and bloody      
persecutions to the side which is in the
 right1 ,i shall not have lived in vain2
 and though the cause in which ,i have  
exerted myself has occasioned me much   
detriment and distress1fn#ajg and may   
possibly ultimately oblige me to die in 
a foreign land1 without a friend to     
close my eyes2 ,i comfort my heart with 
the hope1 that ,i may have done somewhat
 for the great cause of truth1 justice1 
and humanity1 and for the promotion of  
mutual regard and friendly feelings1    
among a very large portion of the human 
race4  ,,appendix4  ,a  ,for instance1  
it is said in the #b;d4 ch4 of the      
,gospel called of ,mathew1 that ,jesus1 
when brought out of ,egypt by his       
parents1 came and dwelt in the city     
called ,nazereth3 that it might be      
fulfilled which was spoken by the       
prophet4 ,he shall be called a          
,nazerene4  ,now there is no such       
passage as this throughout the ,old     
,testament3 the author of the ,gospel   

called of ,mathew must therefore1 it    
seems to me1 have forged this supposed  
prophecy out of his own head1 or must   
have mistaken the sense of some passage 
in the ,old ,testament3 if he was       
capable of either1 he was not the honest
 and inspired ,mathew1 the ,apostle of  
,jesus ,christ4 ,there is a passage in  
the ,old ,testament1 which might have   
led a ,gentile1 ignorant of the ,jewish 
,scriptures into this mistake1 but could
 not have misled a ,jew4 ,in the history
 of ,sampson ,judges xiii4 #e4 it is    
said1 that he should be a ,nazarite unto
 ,god from the womb4 ,but a ,nazerite   
was one thing and a ,nazarene another3  
the first was a man who had a peculiar  
vow upon him1 described ,numbers4 #g4   
ch41 but a ,nazarene was a man belonging
 the city of ,nazereth in ,palestine4   
,the quotation is a proof with me1 that 
the author of the ,gospel ascribed to   
,matthew was a ,gentile1 of course not  
,matthew who was a ,jew1 and incapable  
of making such a blunder4fn#ajh  ,again1

 in the ,gospel called of ,matthew ch4  
xxvii4 a passage is quoted as a         
prophetic proof text from ,jeremiah1    
says the author4 ,then was fulfilled    
that which was spoken by ,jeremy the    
prophet saying1 and they took the thirty
 pieces of silver1 the price of him that
 was valued1 whom they of the children  
of ,israel did value2 and gave them for 
the ,potters field1 as the ,lord        
appointed me4 ,there is no such passage 
as this in ,jeremy the prophet1 nor in  
any of the ,books of the ,old           
,testament4 ,but ,jerom asserts1 that it
 was taken from an ,apocryphal ,book    
ascribed to ,jeremiah2 he says that he  
saw the apocryphal book from whence this
 is taken4  ,see ,jerom's ,commentary   
upon ,matthew tom4 iv4 p4 #a4 p4 #acd1  
,see also ,marsh's ,michaelis ,vol4 ,i4 
p4 #dij4 as quoted by ,mr4 ,everett4    
,it appears to me1 that an honest man   
would not quote1 as prophetical         
authority1 a forged book ascribed to    
,jeremiah3 and an inspired man as the   

,christians suppose ,matthew to have    
been1 still less4  ,in short the        
quotations in the ,new testament from   
the ,old1 adduced as prophecies of      
,jesus and the ,religion of the ,new    
,testament1 are so very inapplicable to 
that purpose1 that the most celebrated  
of the ,christian4 ,theologians of the  
present day1 have found themselves      
obliged to abandon all attempts to      
support them as prophecies fulfilled in 
the events to which they are applied4   
,they maintain1 as will appear hereafter
 in the course of this work1 that not   
one of the passages1 quoted in the ,new 
,testament from the ,old1 was quoted as 
a prophecy1 but merely by way of        
accommodation or allusion4 ,if so1 it   
may be replied1 that it is very         
extraordinary1 that the authors of the  
books of the ,new ,testament who are    
almost continually representing that    
,jesus was predicted by the prophets1   
should after all never have adduced one 
of those predictions1 although they are 

perpetually quoting the ,old ,testament4
 ,but the truth of the matter probably  
is1 that the writers of the ,new        
,testament1 did firmly believe that the 
passages they have quoted1 were really  
predictions of the events and doctrines 
to which they refer them4 ,this is clear
 from the ,epistle to the ,hebrews for  
instance1 it is a deliberate and formal 
defence of the ,doctrines of            
,christianity1 addressed to the ,jews1  
or ,jewish ,christians1 in which the    
author attempts to show from the ,old   
,testament1 allowed by the ,jews as     
oracular1 that the ,pre- existence1     
,divinity1 ,priesthood1 and ,atonement  
of ,jesus ,christ1 as supposed by the   
,christians1 were predicted in the ,old 
,testament1 and proved by his           
citations4fn#aji  ,who is so blind as   
not to see1 that this system of ,defence
 is merely one of the last resort1      
adopted in circumstances of distress for
 want of a better8  ,sure ,i am1 that   
the believing part of the ,christian    

,laity will never adopt this ,system1   
7though the unbelieving part probably   
gladly will7 but would be extremely     
shocked on being told by their ,clergy1 
that the passages quoted from the ,old  
,testament by the writers of the ,new1  
which they and their predecessors from  
the #bnd century downwards have been    
accustomed to regard as veritable       
predictions of ,jesus1 and introduced   
too by such solemn prefaces as the      
following1 all this was done that it    
might be fulfilled which was spoken by  
the prophet1 saying c1 or1 in this was  
fulfilled that which was spoken by the  
prophet saying c--were not after all    
adduced as prophecies1 but merely by way
 of allusion4fn#aaj   ,,passages ,,from 
,,the ,,old ,,testament ,,referring ,,to
 ,,the ,,messiah ,,and ,,the            
,,circumstances ,,of ,,his ,,kingdom4   
,shiloh shall come1 and to him shall the
 obedience of the peoples be4 ,ac4 to   
the ,hebr4 ,gen4 xlix4 #aj4  ,the       
adversaries of ,jehovah shall be broken 

in pieces2 out of ,heaven shall ,he     
thunder upon them2 ,jehovah shall judge 
the ends of the earth2 and he shall give
 strength unto his king1 and exalt the  
horn of his ,messiah4 ,i ,sam4 ch4 il4  
#aj4  ,these be the last words of       
,david4 ,david the son of ,jesse said1  
and the man who was exalted on high1 the
 ,messiah of the ,god of ,jacob1 ,see   
the ,hebr4 and the sweet ,psalmist of   
,israel4 ,the ,spirit of ,jehovah spake 
by me1 and his word was fn#aaa in my    
tongue4 ,the ,god of ,israel said1 the  
,rock of ,israel spake to me4 ,he that  
ruleth over mankind or the human race4  
,see the ,hebr4 shall be just1 ruling in
 the fear of ,god1 ,and he shall be as  
the light of the morning when the sun   
ariseth1 even a morning without clouds2 
as the tender grass springing out of the
 earth by clear shining after           
rain4--,but the sons of ,belial shall be
 all of them as thorns thrust away1     
because they cannot be taken with hands2
 but the man that shall touch them must 

be fenced with iron1 and the staff of a 
spear2 and they shall be utterly burned 
with fire in the same place4 #b4 ,sam4  
ch4 xxiii1 #a4--g4   ,i have set my king
 upon my holy hill of ,zion1 ,i will    
declare the decree1 ,jehovah hath said  
unto me4 ,thou art my son1 this day have
 ,i begotten thee2 ask of me1 and ,i    
shall give thee the nations for thy     
inheritance1 and the utmost parts of the
 earth for thy possession4 ,thou shalt  
break them with a rod of iron3 thou     
shall dash them in pieces like a        
potter's vessel4 ,ps4 #b4 ,see also ,ps4
 #ba4  ,he shall judge thy people with  
righteousness1 and thy poor with        
judgment4 ,the mountains shall bring    
peace to the people1 and the little     
hills by righteousness4 ,he shall judge 
the poor of the people1 he shall save   
the children of the needy1 and shall    
break in pieces the oppressor4 ,they    
shall fear thee as long as the sun and  
moon endure throughout all generations4 
,he shall come down like rain upon the  

mown grass3 as showers that water the   
earth1 compare #b4 ,sam4 ch4 xxi4 fn#aab
 #c4 #d4 ,in his days shall the         
righteous flourish2 and abundance of    
peace as long as the moon endureth4 ,he 
shall have dominion also from sea to    
sea1 and from the river unto the ends of
 the earth4  his dominions shall be from
 sea even to sea1 and from the river    
even unto the ends of the earth4 ,zech4 
ix3 #aj4 they that dwell in the         
wilderness shall bow before him1 and his
 enemies shall lick the dust1 ,the kings
 of ,tarshish and of the isles i4 e4 of 
,europe and the west1 shall bring       
presents2 the kings of ,sheba and ,seba 
shall offer gifts4 ,all kings shall fall
 down before him3 all nations shall     
serve him4 ,for he shall deliver the    
needy when he crieth2 the poor also1 and
 him that hath no helper4 ,he shall     
spare the poor and needy1 and shall save
 the souls of the needy4 ,he shall      
redeem their soul from deceit and       
violence3 and precious shall their blood

 be in his sight4 ,and he shall live1   
and to him shall be given of the gold of
 ,sheba2 prayer also shall be made for  
him continually2 and daily shall he be  
praised--,his name shall endure for     
ever3 his name shall be continued as    
long as the sun3 and men shall be       
blessed in him3 all nations shall call  
him blessed4 ,blessed be ,jehovah ,god1 
the ,god of ,israel1 who only doeth     
wondrous things4 ,and blessed be his    
glorious name for ever2 and let the     
whole earth be filled with his glory4   
,amen1 and ,amen4fn#aac ,ps4 #gb4  ,thou
 speakest in vision of thy holy or pious
 one1 and saidst1 ,i have laid help upon
 one that is mighty3 ,i have exalted one
 chosen out of the people4 ,i have found
 ,david my servant2 with my holy oil    
have ,i anointed him3 with whom my hand 
shall be established3 mine arm also     
shall strengthen him4 ,the enemy shall  
not exact upon him3 nor the sin of      
wickedness afflict him4 ,and ,i will    
beat down his foes before his face1 and 

plague them that hate him4 ,but my      
faithfulness and my mercy shall be with 
him3 and in my name shall his horn be   
exalted4 ,i will set his hand also in   
the sea1 and his right hand ,in the     
rivers4 ,he shall cry unto me thou art  
my father1 my ,god1 and the rock of my  
salvation4 ,also ,i will make him my    
first born1 higher than the kings of the
 earth1 ,my mercy will ,i keep for him  
for evermore1 and my covenant shall     
stand fast with him4 although my house  
be not so with ,god3 yet he hath made   
with me an everlasting covenant1 ordered
 in all things and sure4 #b4 ,sam4 ch4  
xxiii4 #e4 ,his seed also will ,i make  
to endure forever1 and his throne as the
 days of heaven4--,my covenant will ,i  
not break1-nor alter the thing that is  
gone out of my lips4 ,once have ,i sworn
 by my holiness that ,i will not lie    
unto ,david4 ,his seed shall endure for 
ever1 and ,,his ,,throne ,,as ,,the     
,,sun ,,before ,,me4 ,it shall be       
established for ever as the moon1 and as

 a faithful witness in the heaven4 ,ps4 
#hi4  ,jehovah said unto my ,lord1 sit  
thou on my right hand1 until ,i make thy
 enemies thy footstool4 ,jehovah shall  
send the rod of thy power out of ,zion3 
rule thou in the midst of thine         
enemies4-- ,jehovah at thy right hand   
shall strike through kings in the day of
 his wrath4 ,he shall judge among the   
nations2 he shall fill the places with  
the dead bodies3 he shall wound the     
heads over many countries4 ,ps4 #aaj4   
,it shall come to pass in the last days1
 that the mountain of ,jehovah's house  
shall be established in the tops of the 
mountains1 and shall be exalted above   
the hills2 and all the nations shall    
flow unto it4 ,and many peoples shall go
 and say1 ,come ye1 and let us go up to 
the mountain of ,jehovah1 to the house  
of the ,god of ,jacob2 and he will teach
 us of his ways1 and we will walk in his
 paths3 for out of ,zion shall go forth 
the ,law1 and the word of ,jehovah from 
,jerusalem4 ,and he shall judge among   

the nations1 and shall rebuke many      
peoples3 and they shall beat their      
swords into ploughshares1 and their     
spears into pruning-hooks3 nation shall 
not lift up sword against nation1       
neither shall they learn war any more4  
,is4 ch4 ii4   ,unto us a child is born1
 unto us a son is given2 and the        
,principality shall be upon his         
shoulder2 and the ,wonderful            
,counsellor1 ,the ,mighty ,god1 ,the    
everlasting ,father shall call his name 
the ,prince of ,peace4fn#aad ,see4 the  
,heb4 ,of the increase of his government
 and peace there shall be no end1 upon  
the throne of ,david1 and upon his      
kingdom1 to order it and to establish it
 with judgment and with justice from    
henceforth even for ever4 ,the zeal of  
,jehovah of ,hosts will perform this4'  
,is4 ix3 #f1 #g4  ,there shall come     
forth a rod out of the stem 7or stump1  
i4 e4 the roots of a tree cut down7 of  
,jesse1 and a branch shall grow out of  
his roots1 and the spirit of ,jehovah   

shall rest upon him1 the spirit of      
wisdom and understanding1 the spirit of 
counsel and might1 the spirit of        
knowledge and the fear of ,jehovah1 and 
shall make him of quick understanding in
 the fear of ,jehovah2 and he shall not 
judge after the sight of his eyes1      
neither reprove after the hearing of his
 ears3 but with righteousness shall he  
judge the poor1 and reprove with equity 
for the meek of the earth2 and he shall 
smite the earth with the rod of his     
mouth1 and with the breath of his lips  
shall he slay the wicked4 ,and          
righteousness shall be the girdle of his
 loins1 and faithfulness the girdle of  
his reins4 ,the wolf also shall dwell   
with the lamb1 and the leopard shall lie
 down with the kid3 and the calf and the
 young lion and the fatling together2   
and a little child shall lead them4 ,and
 the cow and the bear shall feed3 their 
young ones shall lie down together2 and 
the lion shall eat straw like the ox4   
fn#aae ,and the sucking child shall play

 on the hole of the asp1 and the weaned 
child shall put his hand on the         
cockatrices den4 ,they shall not hurt   
nor destroy in all my holy mountain3 for
 the earth shall be full of the         
knowledge of ,jehovah1 as the waters    
cover the sea4 ,and in that day there   
shall be a root of ,jesse1 which shall  
stand for an ensign of the peoples2 to  
it shall the ,gentiles seek2 and his    
seat shall be glory4 ,see the ,hebr4    
,is4 ch4 xi4 ,and it shall come to pass 
in that day1 that ,jehovah shall set his
 hand again the second time to recover  
the remnant of his people which shall be
 left1 from ,assyria1 and from ,egypt1  
and from ,pathros1 and from ,cush1 and  
from ,elam1 and from ,shinar1 and from  
the islands of the sea4 ,and he shall   
set up an ensign for the nations1 and   
shall assemble the outcasts of ,israel1 
and gather together the dispersed of    
,judah from the four corners of the     
earth4 ,is4 ch4 xi4  ,and he will       
destroy in this mountain the face of the

 covering cast aver all the peoples1 7i4
 e4 their ignorance of ,god's           
dispensations7 and the vail that is     
spread over all the nations4 ,he will   
swallow up death in victory1 7or to     
eternity71 and ,jehovah ,god will wipe  
away tears from off all faces3 and the  
rebuke of his people shall he take away 
from off all the earth3 for ,jehovah    
hath spoken it1 and it shall be said in 
that day1 ,lo1 this is our ,god2 we have
 waited for him1 and he will save us2   
thus saith fn#aaf ,jehovah2 we have     
waited for him1 we will be glad1 and    
rejoice in his salvation4 ,is4 xxv4     
#g--i4  ,the wilderness and the solitary
 place shall be glad for them2 and the  
desert shall rejoice and blossom as the 
rose4 ,it shall blossom abundantly and  
rejoice even with joy and singing3 the  
glory of ,lebanon shall be given unto   
it1 the excellency of ,carmel and       
,sharon1 they shall see the glory of    
,jehovah1 and the excellency of our     
,god4 ,strengthen ye the weak hands1 and

 confirm the feeble knees1 ,say to them 
that are of a fearful heart4 ,be strong1
 fear not1 behold your ,god will come   
with vengeance1 even ,god with a        
recompense1 he will come and save you4  
,then the eyes of the blind shall be    
opened1 and the ears of the deaf shall  
be unstopped4 ,then shall the lame man  
leap as an hart1 and the tongue of the  
dumb sing3 for in the wilderness shall  
waters break out1 and streams1 in the   
desert4 ,and the parched ground shall   
become a pool1 and the thirsty land     
springs of water3 in the habitation of  
dragons where each lay1 shall be grass1 
with reeds and rushes4 ,and the ransomed
 of ,jehovah shall return and come to   
,zion with songs and everlasting joy    
upon their heads1 and sorrow and sighing
 shall flee away4 ,is4 xxxv4  ,comfort  
ye1 comfort1 ye my people1 saith your   
,god4 ,speak ye comfortably to          
,jerusalem1 and cry unto her1 that her  
warfare is accomplished1 that her       
iniquity is pardoned2 for she hath      

received of ,jehovah's hand1 double for 
all her sins4 ,the voice of him that    
crieth in the wilderness1 ,prepare ye   
the way of ,jehovah1 make straight in   
the desert a highway for our ,god4      
,every valley shall be exalted1 and     
every mountain and hill shall be made   
low3 and the crooked shall be made      
straight1 and the rough places plain4   
,and the glory of ,jehovah shall be     
revealed1 and all flesh shall see it    
together3 for the mouth of ,jehovah hath
 spoken it4 ,the voice said1 ,cry4 ,and 
he said1 ,what shall ,i cry8 ,all flesh 
is grass1 and all the goodliness thereof
 is as the flower of the field4 ,the    
grass withereth1 the flower fadeth2     
because the spirit of ,jehovah bloweth  
upon it3 surely the people is grass4    
,the grass withereth1 the flower fadeth2
 ,,but ,,the ,,word ,,of ,,our ,,god    
,,shall ,,stand ,,for1 ,,ever4 ,is4 xl4 
,my people shall know my name3 therefore
 shall they know in that day1 that ,i am
 ,he that doth speak2 behold it is ,i4  

,how beautiful upon the mountains are   
the feet of him that bringeth good      
tidings1 that publisheth peace2 that    
bringeth good tidings of good1 that     
publisheth salvation1 that saith unto   
,zion1 ,thy ,god reigneth6 ,thy watchmen
 shall lift up the voice1 with the voice
 together shall they sing2 for they     
shall see eye to eye1 when ,jehovah     
shall bring again ,zion4 ,break forth   
into joy1 sing together ye waste places 
of ,jerusalem2 for ,jehovah hath        
comforted his people1 he hath redeemed  
,jerusalem1 ,jehovah hath made bare his 
holy arm in the eyes of all nations2 and
 all the ends of the earth shall see the
 salvation of our ,god4 ,is4 lii4  ,g4  
,g4  ,the good ,christians of the       
,united ,states1 ,i do nut use the term 
in sarcasm1 for they are good1 speak in 
their books and sermons of the          
,christian religion as if it were every 
where the same as in the grand1 free1   
and liberal republic4 ,but the ,fact is 
not so4 ,an ,american who reads the     

poems of ,homer1 or ,ovid's             
,metamorphoses1 laughs at the religion  
of the ancient ,greeks and ,romans as a 
ridiculous folly2 but when he visits    
those countries in ,christendom which   
are not ,protestant1 he will be inclined
 to regard their religion as a blasphemy
 against the ,most ,high4 ,go where you 
will in those countries1 if you look    
into their churches1 you invariably nod 
a molten image1 or picture1 and a       
teacher of lies4 fn#aag  ,the prophets  
of the ,old ,testament reproached the   
idolatrous ,jews1 that according to the 
number of their cities were their gods4 
,but in the countries ,i speak of1 the  
number of gods is according to the      
number of churches1 and even houses2 for
 every house contains an image or       
picture of some saint or other1 who is  
considered as the tutelary guardian of  
the family4  ,h  ,mr4 ,everett observes 
upon this prophecy of ,jeremiah p4 #ge4 
of his work1 as it is near two thousand 
years since ,david has failed of a      

temporal prince up on his throne1 and a 
temporal successor of ,levites1 and     
since it is declared that it shall      
,,never fail of these1 we must suppose  
that a spiritual secession and a        
spiritual service were intended3 or else
 the solemn promise4-of ,god has been   
for two thousand years1 without         
fulfillment4  ,ut semper6------         
,sternhold and ,hopklns had great       
qualms1 ,when they did quaver ,david's  
,psalms2 ,which made their hearts full  
glad4 ,but had the prophet back been    
sent1 ,to hear them ,,sing1--and you    
,,comment1 ,they surely had run mad4  ,i
  ,,passages ,,from ,,the ,,old         
,,testament ,,predicting ,,the          
,,restoration ,,of ,,the ,,dispersion4  
,behold the former things are come to   
pass1 and new things do ,i ,,declare3   
,,before ,,they ,,spring ,,forth ,i     
,,tell you them4  ,i will bring thy seed
 from the east1 and gather thee from the
 west3 ,i will say to the north1 give   
up2 and to the south keep not back3     

bring my sons from far1 and my daughters
 from the ends of the earth4 ,every one 
that is called by my name3 for ,i have  
created him for my glory1 ,i have formed
 him2 yea ,i have made him4 ,is4 xliii3 
#c1 #f1 #g4  ,thus saith the ,lord ,god1
 behold ,i will lift up my hand to the  
,gentiles1 and set up my standard to the
 peoples2 and they shall bring thy sons 
in their arms1 and thy daughters shall  
be carried upon their shoulders4 ,and   
kings shall be thy nursing fathers1 and 
their queens thy nursing mothers2 they  
shall bow down to thee with their face  
toward the earth1 and shall lick up the 
dust of thy feet3 and thou shalt know   
that ,i am ,jehovah1 for they shall not 
be ashamed that wait for me4 ,shall the 
prey be taken from the mighty1 or the   
lawful captive delivered4 ,but thus     
saith ,jehovah4 ,even the captives of   
the mighty shall be taken away1 and the 
prey of the terrible shall be delivered3
 for ,i will contend with him that      
contendeth with thee2 and ,i will save  

thy children4 ,and ,i will feed them    
that oppress thee with their own flesh3 
and they shall be drunken with their own
 blood1 as with sweet wine3 and all     
flesh shall know that ,i ,jehovah am thy
 ,saviour1 and thy ,redeemer1 the       
,mighty ,one of ,jacob4 ,is4 xlix4      
,jehovah shall comfort ,zion1 he will   
comfort all her waste places3 and he    
will make her wilderness like ,eden1 and
 her desert like the garden of ,jehovah2
 joy and gladness shall be found        
therein2 thanksgiving and the voice of  
melody4 ,hearken unto me my people1 and 
give ear unto me ,o1 my nation3 for a   
law shall proceed from me1 and ,i will  
make my judgment to rest for alight of  
the peoples4 ,my righteousness1 is near1
 my salvation is gone forth1 and mine   
arms shall judge the peoples3 the isles 
shall wait upon me1 and on mine arm     
shall they lean4  ,see the ,heb4 ,is4   
li4  ,fear not1 for thou shalt not be   
ashamed2 neither be thou confounded3 for
 thou shalt not be put to shame3 for    

thou shalt forget the shame of thy      
youth1 i4 e4 thy ancient ,idolatry and  
shalt not remember the reproach of thy  
widowhoods i4 e4 thy two dispersions any
 more4 ,for thy ,maker is thy ,husband1 
,jehovah of hosts is his name1 and thy  
,redeemer the ,holy one of ,israel2 the 
,god of the whole earth shall he be     
called4 ,for ,jehovah hath called thee  
as a woman forsaken and grieved in      
spirit1 and a wife of youth1 when thou  
hadst been refused saith thy ,god4 ,for 
a small moment have ,i forsaken thee2   
but with great mercies will ,i gather   
thee4 ,in a little wrath ,i hid my face 
from thee for a moment1 but with        
everlasting kindness will ,i have mercy 
upon thee1 saith ,jehovah thy ,redeemer4
 ,for this is as the waters of ,noah    
unto me3 for as ,i have sworn that the  
waters of ,noah should no more go over  
the earth2 so have ,i sworn that ,i will
 not be wroth with thee1 nor rebuke     
thee4 ,for the mountains shall depart1  
and the hills be removed3 but my        

kindness shall not depart from thee1    
neither shall the covenant of my peace  
be removed1 saith ,jehovah that hath    
mercy on thee4 ,o thou afflicted1 tossed
 with tempest1 and not comforted3 behold
 ,i will lay thy stones with fair       
colours1 and lay thy foundations with   
sapphires1 and ,i will make thy windows 
of agates1 and thy gates of carbuncles1 
and all thy borders of pleasant stones1 
and thy children shall be taught of     
,jehovah1 and great shall be the peace  
of thy children4 ,in righteousness shalt
 thou be established3 thou shalt be far 
from oppression3 for thou shalt not     
fear1 and from terror1 for it shall not 
come near thee4 ,is4 liv4  ,behold thou 
shalt call a nation that thou knowest   
not1 and nations that knew not thee     
shall run unto thee1 because of ,jehovah
 thy ,god3 and for the ,holy one of     
,israel2 for he hath glorified thee1    
,is4 lv4 #e4  ,behold the darkness shall
 cover the earth1 and gross darkness the
 peoples2 but ,jehovah shall arise upon 

thee1 and his glory shall be seen upon  
thee4 ,and the ,gentiles shall come to  
thy light and kings to the brightness of
 thy rising4 ,lift up thine eyes round  
about and see2 all they gather          
themselves together1 they come to thee3 
thy sons shall come from far1 and thy   
daughters shall be nursed at thy side4  
,then thou shalt see and flow together1 
and thine heart shall fear and be       
enlarged2 because the abundance of the  
sea shall be converted unto thee1 the   
forces or wealth of the ,gentiles shall 
come unto thee4 ,the multitude of camels
 shall cover thee2 the dromedaries of   
,midian and ,ephah3 all they from ,sheba
 shall come3 they shall bring gold and  
incense3 and they shall show forth the  
praises of ,jehovah4 ,all the flocks of 
,kedar shall be gathered together unto  
thee1 the rams of ,nebaioth i4 e4 the   
chiefs of the ,arabs ,nebaioth was the  
eldest son of ,ishmael shall minister   
unto thee3 they shall come up with      
acceptance to mine altar1 doubtless1    

because they have been worshippers of   
one sole ,god of ,abraham and the       
prophets since1 the days of ,mohammed   
and ,i will beautify the house of my    
glory4 ,who are these that fly as a     
cloud1 and as the doves to their        
windows8 ,surely the isles shall wait   
for me1 and the ships of ,tarshish      
first1 to bring thy sons from far1 their
 silver1 and their gold with them2 unto 
the name of ,jehovah thy ,god1 and to   
the ,holy ,one of ,israel because ,he   
hath glorified thee4 ,and the sons of   
strangers shall build up thy walls1 and 
their kings shall minister unto thee1   
for in my wrath ,i smote thee1 but in my
 favour have ,i had mercy on thee4      
,therefore thy gates shall be open      
continually2 they shall not be shut day 
nor night3 that men may bring unto thee 
the forces of the ,gentiles1 and that   
their kings may be brought4 ,for the    
nation and kingdom that will not serve  
thee shall perish2 yea those nations    
shall be utterly wasted4 ,the glory of  

,lebanon shall come unto thee1 the      
fir-tree1 the pine-tree1 and the        
box-tree together1 to beautify the place
 of my sanctuary3 and ,i will make the  
place of my feet glorious4 ,the sons    
also of them that afflicted thee shall  
come bending unto thee3 and all they    
that despised thee shall bow themselves 
down at the soles of thy feet2 and they 
shall call thee the city of ,jehovah1   
,the ,zion of the ,holy ,one of ,israel4
 ,whereas thou hast been forsaken1 and  
hated1 that no man went through thee1 ,i
 will make thee an eternal excellency1 a
 joy of endless ac4 to the ,heb4        
generations4 ,thou shalt suck the milk  
of the ,gentiles1 and shalt suck the    
breast of kings3 and thou shalt know    
that ,i ,jehovah am thy ,saviour and thy
 ,redeemer1 the mighty ,one of ,jacob4  
,for brass ,i will bring gold1 and for  
iron ,i will bring silver2 and for wood 
brass1 and for stones iron3 ,i will also
 make thy officers peace1 and thine     
exactors righteousness4 ,violence shall 

no more be heard in thy land1 wasting   
nor destruction within thy borders3 but 
thou shalt call thy walls ,salvation1   
and thy gates ,praise4 ,the sun shall be
 no more thy light by day3 neither for  
brightness shall the moon give light    
unto thee3 but ,jehovah shall be unto   
thee an everlasting light1 and thy ,god 
thy ,glory4 ,thy sun shall no more go   
down2 neither shall thy moon withdraw   
itself2 for ,jehovah shall be thy       
everlasting light1 and the days of thy  
mourning shall be ended4 ,thy people    
also shall be all righteous3 they shall 
inherit the land forever1 the branch of 
my planting1 the work of my hands1 that 
,i may be glorified4' ,is ch4 ,ix4      
,thou shalt be a crown of glory in the  
hand of ,jehovah1 and a royal diadem in 
the hand of thy ,god4 ,thou shalt be no 
more termed forsaken3 neither shall thy 
laud any more be termed desolate--,for  
as a young man marrieth a virgin1 so    
shall thy sons marry thee3 and1 as the  
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride so  

shall thy ,god rejoice over thee4 ,is4  
ch4 ,ixii4  ,rejoice ye with ,jerusalem1
 and be glad with her all ye that love  
her3 rejoice for joy with her all ye    
that mourn for her3 that ye may suck1   
and be satisfied with the breasts of her
 consolations3 that ye may milk and be  
delighted with the abundance of her     
glory4 ,for thus saith ,jehovah4 ,behold
 ,i will extend ,peace to her like a    
river1 and the glory of the ,gentiles   
like an overflowing stream3 then shall  
ye suck1 ye shall be borne upon her     
sides1 and be dandled upon her knees4   
,as one whom his mother comforted so    
will ,i comfort you2 and ye shall be    
comforted in ,jerusalem4 ,is4 ,ixvi4    
,thus saith ,jehovah1 keep ye judgment1 
and do justice3 for my salvation is near
 to come1 and my righteousness to be    
revealed4 ,blessed is the man that doeth
 this1 and the son of man that layeth   
hold of it1 that keepeth the sabbath    
from polluting it1 and keepeth his hand 
from doing any evil4 ,neither let the   

son of the stranger who hath joined     
himself unto ,jehovah1 speak1 saying1   
,jehovah hath utterly separated me from 
his people--the sons of the stranger    
that join themselves to ,jehovah1 to    
serve him1 and to love the name of      
,jehovah1 to be his servants1 every one 
that keepeth the ,sabbath from polluting
 it1 and taketh hold of my covenant3    
even them will ,i bring to my holy      
mountain1 and make them joyful in my    
house of prayer3 their burnt offerings  
and their sacrifices shall be accepted  
on mine altar2 for mine house shall be  
called a house of prayer for all        
peoples4 ,jehovah ,god which gathereth  
the outcasts of ,israel saith1 yet will 
,i gather others to him beside those    
that are gathered to him4 ,is4 ch4 ,ivi4
  ,tell ye and bring them near2 yea1 let
 them take counsel together3 who hath   
declared this from ancient time8 who    
hath told it from that time3 ,have not  
,i ,jehovah8 and there is no ,god else  
beside me2 a just ,god and a ,saviour1  

there is none beside me4 ,look unto me1 
and be ye saved1 all the ends of the    
,earth3 for ,i am ,god and1 there is    
none else4 ,i have sworn by myself1 the 
word is gone out of my mouth in         
righteousness1 and shall not return1    
that unto me3 every knee shall bow1     
every tongue shall swear4 ,surely1 shall
 one say1 in ,jehovah have ,i           
righteousness and strength3 even to     
,him1 shall men come3 and all that are  
incensed against ,him shall be ashamed4 
,in ,jehovah shall all the seed of      
,israel be justified1 and shall glory4  
fn#aai ,is4 xlv4 #ba4 c4   ,,errata4    
7,the manuscript of this book was       
written in little more than three weeks 
at ,cairo1 amidst the hurry and bustle  
of my preparations to accompany ,ismael 
,pasha to the ,upper ,nile4 ,it has been
 printed without my having had it in my 
power to correct any of the proofs4 ,in 
consequence of one or both of these     
circumstances the following4 ,errata    
almost entirely literal have been       

committed4 ,i believe however that the  
,scholar will not find any misstatement 
of facts1 nor the ,logician any flaw in 
the arguments2 the book lays before the 
,public4 ,on these two points ,i feel   
quite secure in this respect3 ,i calmly 
and firmly lay my gage at the feet of   
all ,christendom4 ,let him who dares to 
take it up1 do it47    fn#a  for        
chooseth1 read chusest4  fn#b for       
possessions1 read prepossessions  fn#c  
for these1 read their  fn #d4  ,mr4     
,everett appears willing to allow1 as   
said before1 the existence of these     
contradictions in the narratives of the 
,evangelists1 particularly in their     
accounts of the resurrection of ,jesus1 
,see p4#def4 of his work4 but maintains 
their credibility nevertheless1 and in  
justification of this opinion1 he quotes
 p4 #deg1 the contradictions of the     
historians of the execution of the      
,marquis of ,argyle2 a fact nevertheless
 not doubted4 ,but the cases are by no  
means parallel2 that a rebel should be  

decapitated is a fact of notorious      
frequency in ,british history and very  
probable in itself1 and as it is a fact 
without consequence1 no man will be     
inclined to doubt it1 if it be affirmed 
by history1 notwithstanding some        
contradictions in the accounts of the   
circumstances of his execution4  ,but ,i
 would ask ,mr4 ,everett--if the same   
historians who report the execution of  
the ,marquis of ,argyle2 had also       
affirmed that three days after he had   
his head cut off1 he appeared again     
alive to his particular friends with his
 head on1 talking and dining with them2 
and that one of these historians        
represent this to have taken place at   
,london--another at ,edinburgh--and a   
third at ,stirling1 would ,mr4 ,everett1
 or any man in his senses1 hesitate to  
consider these contradictions in the    
accounts of such a supernatural event as
 of no weight8 ,let us add to this      
another consideration4--,suppose that   
the ,marquis of ,argyle was a man of    

irreproachable and admirable character1 
and enthusiastically beloved by his     
friends1 and that these friends believed
 in certain ancient prophecies which    
predicted that a ,scotchman should      
arise1 who should make ,scotland supreme
 over all the earth1 and live himself   
for ever2 and that these friends        
believed the ,marquis of ,argyle to be  
the man3 but that disappointed in their 
expectations by seeing him suffer his   
head to be cut off1 they had their hopes
 revived by the appearance of this story
 of his having been seen alive by twelve
 of his most intimate friends1 who were 
the heads of the party who had believed 
that the ,marquis of ,argyle would      
fulfill the prophecies aforesaid1 and   
not content with receiving this         
contradictory story with avidity        
themselves1 7which after all might have 
been invented as a salvo for his        
non-fulfillment or postponing the       
fulfillment of these prophecies1 by     
submitting to be decapitated7 insisted  

that every body else should believe it  
too1 on pain of eternal                 
damnation6--,would not ,mr4 ,everett be 
inclined to suspect that these friends  
of the ,marquis of ,argyle were deluded 
men1 and possibly noncompos mentis2 and 
suppose that these friends of the       
,marquis of ,argyle had told their party
 that he had been taken up to ,heaven1  
for a time1 but would return again into 
the ,world1 before that generation had  
passed away1 and would then fulfill the 
prophecies aforesaid2 and that this     
party1 notwithstanding1 that the        
,marquis of ,argyle did not come again  
before that generation had passed away  
nor for eighteen hundred years          
afterwards1 still retained their belief 
in the aforesaid circumstances1 and     
still insisted that everybody else      
should believe them too on pain of      
eternal damnation2 would not ,mr4       
,everett consider these men as certainly
 distracted8 ,mulatafn#e nomine de te   
fabula narratur1 ,mr4 ,everett4  fn#e   

for mulata read mulatto  fn#f ,dr4      
,campbell in his notes to his           
translation of the ,evangelists in loco4
 tries to prove that the ,greek words in
 the ,gospel of ,matthew1 which         
undoubtedly strictly and literally      
,signify in the evening of the ,sabbath1
 or at the end of the ,sabbath1 may mean
 the ,sabbath being ended12 which1 if it
 could be established1 would set aside  
the objection ,i have mentioned4  fn#g  
for #bd read #cf  fn#h for #ed read #cd 
fn#i ,of lrenaeus and4 ,tertullian ,mr4 
,everett remarks1 that ,tertullian was a
 very shrewd writer1 yes indeed1 and of 
his fraudulent shrewdness ,middleton    
gives some notable instances in his true
 inquiry and ,irenaeus less fool than   
knave1 p4 #dga4 of ,mr4 ,everett's work4
 ,i would observe to ,mr4 ,everett1 that
 this ,irenaeus is the first writer who 
mentions the four ,gospels1 and that the
 ,fathers of the ,church who came after 
him in affirming the genuineness of the 
four ,gospels appeal to this ,irenaeus  

this half fool1 half knave1 as the      
authority and voucher for their         
authenticity2 the evidence for their    
authenticity stops short with him4      
,justin ,martyr who flourished about the
 year #adj of the ,christian ,era1 in   
his apology quotes1 indeed1 ,memoirs of 
,jesus ,christ which he says1 were      
written by ,apostles and ,apostolick    
men4 ,but it is1 acknowledged by ,bishop
 ,marsh in his notes to ,michaelis      
,introduction1 to the ,new ,testament1  
that the quotations of ,justin ,martyr  
are so unlike the expressions in the    
received ,evangelists to which they     
appear to refer1 that one of two things 
must be true2 either that ,justin does  
not quote our present ,gospels2 or else1
 that they were in his time in a very   
different state1 than what they now are4
  ,papias who wrote about #aaf of the   
,christian ,era says1 that ,matthew     
wrote a ,gospel in ,hebrew which every  
one interpreted as he was able1 but says
 nothing of a ,gospel of ,matthew in    

,greek2 and that the present ,greek     
,gospel called of ,matthew could not be 
a translation from ,matthew's ,hebrew1  
appears from ,bishops ,marsh's          
,dissertation on the origin of          
thesefn#aj first ,gospels2 where he     
proves that it is not a translation of  
one work1 but a compilation from        
several4 ,the same is maintained by the 
,german ,theologians to be presently    
mentioned4  fn#aj for these1 the three  
fn#aa ,these ,sybiline oracles so often1
 and so confidently appealed to by the  
,fathers of the ,church1 are now        
universally allowed to have been forged 
by the ,christians themselves3 of them  
,scaliger speaks as follows4  ,quid     
pseudo--,sybilina oracula quae          
,christiani gentibus objiciebant1 quum  
tamen e ,christianorum officina         
prodiissent in ,gentium autem           
,bibliothecis non reperirentur8 ,adeo   
verbum ,dei inefficax esse censuerunt1  
ut regnum ,christi sine mendaciis       
promoveri posse diffiderent8 atque      

utinam illi firimi mentiri coepissent1  
apud ,la ,roche ,mem4 ,lit4 #g4 #cca4 as
 quoted by ,mr4 ,everett1 p4 #bbh4 of   
his work4  ,if the reader will consult  
,toland's ,amyntor1 he will find        
appended to that work1 a list of the    
names of ,i think about a hundred       
,gospels1 ,epistles1 and ,revelations1  
forged by the ,gentile ,christians in   
the first centuries of the ,christian   
,era4 ,the ,celebrated ,semler1 so      
distinguished for his knowledge in      
,biblical criticism and ecclesiastical  
antiquities1 has said1 as ,mr4 ,everett 
allows1 p4 #dfd of his work1 that the   
general ,epistles of ,james1 ,peter1 and
 ,john and ,jude1 and the book of       
,revelations1 contained in the ,new     
,testament at present1 must be also     
placed upon the long list of pious      
frauds1 fabricated in the first ages of 
,christianity4  fn#ab ,it is an allowed 
principle of liberal criticism1 that    
when the expressions of an author are   
capable of two senses1 one of which     

would make him contradict himself1 and  
the other would leave him consistent1 it
 is but fair to suppose that he meant to
 be consistent1 and therefore should be 
interpreted in the sense which would    
exclude self contradiction4 ,how has the
 liberal ,mr4 ,everett acted on an      
occasion of this kind8 ,i had said in my
 first work the ,jewish ,christians1 the
 disciples of the twelve ,apostles1     
,,never received1 but rejected every    
individual book of the present ,new     
,testament4  ,i had also maintained1    
that the ,gospels were forged after the 
middle of the second century4 ,now any  
reasonable man would ,i believe         
understand me as using the expressions1 
,jewish ,christians1 the disciples of   
the twelve ,apostles1 in the same sense 
as when we speak of the followers of    
,plato1 ,whitfield1 or ,wesley1 by the  
name of ,disciples of ,plato1           
,whitfield1 or ,wesley1 without         
confining the expression to signify     
their immediate disciples2 the insertion

 of the words1 never received1 also     
suggests that this must have been my    
meaning4 ,nevertheless ,mr4 ,everett1 in
 order to bring me in contradiction with
 myself in order to serve a turn of his 
own1 remarks upon my words1 without     
presuming to decide upon the opinions of
 a writer1 so keen in detecting         
dissonances as ,mr4 ,english1 ,i do     
presume to think1 that if every         
individual book1 of the present ,new    
,testament1 was rejected1 by the        
disciples of the twelve ,apostles1 that 
they must have been in being at the time
 they were rejected1 and therefore could
 not have been forged1 a century after  
that period4 ,i am not conscious of any 
wish to weaken the force of ,mr4        
,english's arguments1 by affecting to   
speak of them in contemptuous terms1 ,i 
would1 as ,i have1 answered them fairly1
 or not at all4 p4#dde4  fn#ac ,if so1  
what becomes of all ,mr4 ,everett's     
laboured argument upon ,jesus' prophecy 
of the destruction of ,jerusalem        

contained in p4 #dja et seq4 of his     
work2 if it be true that the prophecy   
was written1 after the events predicted 
took place6  fn#ad ,if this opinion be  
true1 and ,bishop ,marsh may be         
considered as having almost demonstrated
 it to be so in his dissertation upon   
the origin of the three first ,gospels1 
it follows1 that these ,gospels could   
not have been written by the ,apostles1 
and immediate followers of ,jesus       
,christ2 for certainly1 men personally  
and intimately acquainted with all his  
actions1 and all his doctrines1 7as were
 his ,apostles and all his immediate    
followers1 and influenced too by the    
,holy ,ghost1 as they are all           
represented to have been in the book of 
,acts1 ch4 iv4 #ca17 in setting about   
writing ,memoirs of ,jesus1 would write 
from their own complete1 inspired and   
personal knowledge2 and would not       
compile from books which had gone       
through various hands1 and been         
variously altered and added to in the   

passage4 ,no6 such a procedure would be 
that of men who had no personal         
knowledge of the events they undertook  
to record2 and who were therefore       
obliged to consult books for            
information4  ,in order to place in a   
fair light the absurdity of supposing   
the four ,gospels to have been written  
by the ,apostles and first followers of 
,jesus1 ,i will suppose1 a case4        
,suppose there should appear in the     
world1 four different ,lives of         
,napoleon pretending to have been       
written by four of his aids de camp1 who
 had constantly been near his person1   
from the time that he commanded the     
troops in ,paris till his dethronement2 
and that one of them represented that   
the expedition to ,egypt took place when
 he was ,general of the troops in       
,paris1 another that it took place when 
he was first ,consul1 and the others    
that it took place when he was ,emperor4
 ,would any man believe1 that ,,all     
these books were written by aids de-camp

 of ,napoleon1 who had been constantly  
near his person from the time that he   
commanded the troops of ,paris till his 
dethronement8  fn#ae  ,the ,new         
,testament1 is ,i believe unparalleled  
among all the ancient books that have   
come down to us for the number1 and     
importance of the corruptions1 and      
alterations1 it has undergone4 ,what6   
can learned ,christians tell us of      
several hundred thousands of various    
readings1 in copies of a small book like
 the ,new ,testament--that almost every1
 perhaps every verse has been altered1  
interpolated1 or retrenched in some copy
 or other--and then add in the same     
breath that the book is nevertheless to 
be received1 as containing the          
uncorrupted doctrines of the founders of
 ,christianity8 ,if we did not know the 
inconsistency1 and blindness of         
prejudice1 one might be tempted to      
suspect that these learned men were     
hardly sincere4  ,what6 is it to be     
insisted on that a book which           

,providence has evidently abandoned to  
carelessness1 or to roguery1 or to both1
 was nevertheless intended by the       
,supreme1 as a credible record of an    
ultimate1 permanent and universal       
religion for all mankind66-- ,the insane
 effrontery of such a supposition       
deserves to be hooted out of            
countenance4  ,mr4 ,everett says1 p4    
#bdc4 of his work that not one of the   
books of the ,new ,testament1 nor all of
 them together1 were intended to be a   
forensic defence of ,christianity4 ,on  
the contrary1 the historical books are  
brief1 and imperfect memoirs1 which were
 not designed1 nor supposed to contain  
all the faces1 and which do not set     
forth1 nor profess to set forth the     
evidences of the religion4 ,the         
,epistolary parts are the counsels1     
instructions and affectionate sentiments
 which the occasions of the infant      
churches1 drew from their founders4 ,now
 from these we expect1 to collect the   
whole of ,christianity1 of its          

doctrines1 its precepts1 and its        
sanctions4 ,can ,mr4 ,everett           
confidently believe1 that ,god          
,almighty1 who descended to the earth1  
to deliver a ,code to one nation would  
have left the world to collect as they  
could a complete1 universal1 and        
permanent code of religion and1 morals  
from brief and imperfect1 interpolated  
and corrupted memoirs1 and a few        
occasional letters8  fn#af  ,mr4        
,everett recommends to me to adopt as an
 appropriate motto for the second       
edition of my first work1 a passage from
 ,celsus which speaks of the dispute1   
between the ,jews and ,christians as a  
quarrel about the shadow of an ass4 p4  
#cbg4 of ,mr4 ,everett's work4  ,is it  
so indeed6 ,how then has it happened    
that ,mr4 ,everett's ,coreligionists    
have for fifteen hundred years          
persecuted1 despised1 oppressed1        
trampled underfoot millions1 plundered  
and massacred hundreds of thousands1    
tortured1 racked1 and roasted alive     

thousands of the ,jewish nation2 and all
 in a quarrel about the shadow of an    
ass6 ,o shame1 where is thy blush4 ,o   
meek eye'd humanity1 how hast thou been 
outraged and trampled on6  ,for my own  
part ,i do not consider it as a quarrel 
about the shadow of an ass1 ,i rather   
think it has a much greater resemblance 
to a quarrel about an ass in the ,lion's
 skin2 in which quarrel the ,christians 
have shown themselves to be every thing 
but the ,fox in the ,fable upon that    
subject4  fn#ag  ,mr4 ,everett1 also    
quotes my words in another place into   
the #baa page of his work4 ,the ,jews   
had certainly good reason from their    
prophecies1 to expect no ,messiah but   
one who should set on the ,throne of    
,david1 and confer ,liberty and         
happiness on them1 and spread peace and 
happiness throughout the earth1 and     
communicate the knowledge of ,god and   
virtue1 and the love of their fellow men
 to every people4  ,is this a character 
whose laurel is to be watered by tears1 

the leaves of which is to grow green in 
an atmosphere filled with sighs and     
groans8 ,i would ask ,mr4 ,everett4     
fn#ah ,mr4 ,everett says page1 #ajg4    
with great gravity1 to hear the         
,evangelists charged in vulgar terms    
with misquoting and changing words1 by  
one1 who could himself fall into the    
errors and the misrepresentations we    
have just exposed1 has moved me to a    
warmth of language1 which ,i did not    
think to have used4 ,but1 ,i beg pardon3
 it is the ,new ,testament which teaches
 us1 that we beware lest we condemn     
ourselves1 in what we judge another4    
,and ,mr4 ,english has let us know that 
the ,new ,testament morality is         
pernicious to society4 ,justly1 most    
,justly1 does ,dr4 ,leland observe1 that
 it would be hard to produce any persons
 whatever1 who are chargeable with more 
unfair1 and fraudulent management in    
their quotations1 in curtailing1 adding 
to1 and altering the passages they cite1
 or taking them out of their connexion1 

and making them speak directly contrary 
to the sentiments of their authors than 
the ,deistical ,writers66 ,they are     
indeed sad dogs1 it must be allowed1    
,mr4 ,everett4  fn#ai ,see ,appendix ,b 
fn#bj ,mr4 ,everett considers the happy 
reign of the ,messiah as having actually
 commenced with the era of ,jesus       
,christ1 and that we are actually       
enjoying its blessings4 ,of course he   
must consider his being whipped1 and    
gibbetted by his own subjects1 and      
leaving the world in the hands of those 
holy men1 ,tiberius1 ,nero1 ,caligula1  
,domitian1 and ,heliogabalus1 kingdom   
rising against kingdom1 and nation      
against nation2 7though the prophets    
declare that in the reign of the        
,messiah nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation1 neither shall they learn
 war any more17 famines1 earthquakes1   
and pestilences in divers places1       
7though the prophets declare that in the
 reign of the ,messiah1 the earth shall 
become a ,paradise1 and that ,god shall 

wipe all tears from off all faces1 and  
sorrow and sighing shall flee away17    
that horrid ,jewish war in which        
perished more than eleven hundred       
thousand of the ,jewish nation1 while   
the rest were dispersed and enslaved1   
7though the prophets say1 that in the   
reign of the ,messiah the ,jews should  
enjoy the most perfect and endless      
happiness17 the theological quarrels1   
frauds1 forgeries4 ,councils1 and       
,excommunications1 and an endless detail
 of ,battle and ,murder1 the irruptions 
and devastations of the ,goths ,huns and
 ,vandals1 the rise and establishment of
 these venerable institutions1 the      
,popedom and the ,inquisition1 the      
persecutions and wars excited by ,st4   
,dominic1 the wars of ,charlemagne1 and 
the ,teutonic ,knights upon the         
,germans1 giving them no alternative but
 the ,gospel or the ,sword1 the         
,crusades1 the pious exploits of ,cortez
 and ,pizarro in ,america1 the          
comfortable state of things during the  

dark ages1 the ,massacre of ,st4        
,bartholomew1 and the wars carried on by
 the ,catholicks against the            
,protestants1 and the wars since carried
 on by the ,protestants and ,catholicks1
 indiscriminately with each other1 as   
among those blessed events1 and happy   
changes1 ,i use ,mr4 ,everett's words1  
intended by the highly figurative       
language1 of the ,old ,testament        
prophets predictive of the reign of the 
,messiah6 ,if the reader will pursue    
those predictions contained in          
,appendix1 ,b1 or that beautiful compend
 of them in ,pope's ,messiah he will ,i 
believe allow1 that if it were possible 
for such things as the above mentioned1 
to be really intended by those          
prophecies1 they would be the greatest  
hoax1 and the most flagrant and enormous
 verification of the old proverb        
parturiunt montes nascitur ridiculus    
mus1 on record4  fn#ba  ,it is worth    
notice that when the term ,saviour1 is  
applied in the ,old ,testament to men1  

it invariably signifies a temporal      
deliverer1 for instance1 ,judges iii4   
#i4ae1 in the ,hebrew4  fn#bb  ,the     
writers of the ,old ,testament          
frequently speak of the head1 hands1    
ears1 eyes1 and even nostrils of the    
,deity4 ,will ,mr4 ,everett infer that  
because these expressions must be       
understood1 figuratively1 that whenever 
the sacred writers speak of heads1      
hands1 ears1 eyes1 and noses of men1    
that said heads1 hands1 ears1 eyes1 and 
noses had no physical existence1 but    
must be interpreted figuratively8 ,if   
so1 ,i do not despair of seeing ,mr4    
,everett publish a dissertation1 crowded
 by numerous quotations from the        
,rabbies1 in order to prove1 that the   
history of ,david's cutting off the head
 of ,goliath1 was in all probability    
merely a figurative account1 in the     
oriental style1 of the success of the   
prophet ,david in a controversy he had  
with a certain ,philistine ,heathen     
,priest of the ,god ,dagon1 7strange sea

 monster1 upward man1 and downward      
fish37 who had written a book in order  
to prove against the ,israelites7 that  
their law was a dead letter1 and they   
themselves no nation4  fn#bc  ,paul in  
the first ,epistle to the ,thessalonians
 appears to say1 as he affirms by the   
word of the ,lord1 that the second      
coming of ,jesus to do all this1 should 
take place during the life time of the  
generation to whom he was writing1 for  
he says #a ,thess4 ch4 iv1 #ae1 speaking
 of the ,christians who had died before 
he wrote1 this we say unto you by the   
word of the ,lord1 that we which are    
alive and remain unto the coming of the 
,lord1 shall not prevent them which are 
asleep4 ,for the ,lord himself shall    
descend from ,heaven with a shout1 with 
the voice of the archangel1 and the     
trump of ,god2 and the dead in ,christ  
should rise first4 ,then we which are   
alive and remain1 shall be caught up    
together with them in the clouds1 to    
meet the ,lord in the air1 and so shall 

we ever be with the ,lord4  ,the        
,gospels represent ,jesus as saying1    
that there were some of that generation 
who should not taste of death till they 
saw him come in the manner that ,paul   
describes4 ,for ,mark1 in the xiii4 ch4 
of his ,gospel1 after representing      
,jesus as prophecying the destruction of
 ,jerusalem1 says that his discourse at 
that time went on as follows4  ,but in  
those days after that tribulation1 7i4  
e4 after the siege and destruction of   
,jerusalem7 the sun shall be darkened1  
and the moon shall not give her light4  
,and1 the stars of ,heaven shall fall1  
and the powers that are in ,heaven shall
 be shaken4 ,and then shall they see the
 son of man coming in the clouds with   
great power and glory1 and then shall he
 send his angels1 and shall gather      
together his elect from the four winds1 
from the uttermost part the earth to the
 uttermost part of ,heaven4 ,verily ,i  
say unto you1 that this generation shall
 not pass till all these things be done4

 ,heaven and earth shall pass away1 but 
my words shall not pass away4 ,mark1    
xiii4 #bd1 c4  fn#bd  after was insert  
according to ,mr4 ,everett1  fn#be  ,mr4
 ,everett has produced some authorities 
which make it doubtful whether the      
genuine reading in this place was thy   
saints or thy pious ones1 in the plural1
 or thy saint1 or thy pious one2 in the 
singular4 ,the matter is not worth      
disputing about1 if it be made evident  
that the ,psalm refers to ,david4  fn#bf
  ,mr4 ,everett p4 #hg4 of his work3 in 
trying to prove that the original word  
signifies corruption1 has unhappily     
produced a passage which not only proves
 nothing in his favour1 but a great deal
 in mine4  ,therefore1 says ,daniel1 ,i 
was left alone1 and saw this great      
vision1 and there remained no strength  
in me1 for my comeliness was turned in  
me into corruption 7the word here in the
 original is from the same root as that1
 in the #af ,psalm translated by me     
destruction87 and ,i retained no        

strength4 ,dan4 x4 #h4 ,most            
commentators on this passage1 ,i        
believe1 suppose that ,daniel meant to  
signify that he was petrified at the    
sight of the angel2 and that his        
physical faculties were suspended       
through terror4 ,does ,mr4 ,everett     
suppose1 that the prophet meant to2     
signify that he was actually putrified  
at the sight of ,gabriel8  fn#bg  for   
,acts #d4 #de read ,acts #d3be  fn#bh   
,let the high praises of ,god be in     
their mouth1 and a two edged sword in   
their hand4 ,to execute vengeance upon  
the nations1 and punishments upon the   
peoples3 ,to bind their kings with      
chains1 and their nobles with fetters of
 iron2 to execute upon them the judgment
 written2 this honour have all his      
saints4 ,praise ye ,jehovah4 ,ps4 cxlix4
 ,this passage alludes to the same      
doctrine3 there are many in the psalms  
and prophets of the same import4 ,it is 
but justice however to the ,hebrew      
prophets to add1 that they hold the     

balance of justice between ,jew and     
,gentile very fairly1 in representing   
that on account of the superior light   
vouchsafed to the former1 ,god would    
punish them double for all their sins2  
and that before they shall be advanced  
to the eternal supremacy promised them1 
the most terrible trials and severities 
shall exterminate the wicked and        
worthless from the nation4  fn#bi       
,which is of the same family as the     
religion of ,thibet4 ,the ,christians   
believe that ,god became incarnate in   
the infant ,jesus4 ,the ,thibetians and 
,chinese believe that ,god is incarnate 
in the person of the ,grand ,lama4 ,and 
each of them considers the other as     
ignorant and deluded idolaters4  fn#cj  
,all the ,christians throughout the     
world1 except the ,protestants who do   
not constitute more than a fifth of the 
,christian world1 kneel and pray before 
the crucifix1 images1 and pictures of   
,christ1 the ,virgin ,mary1 and the     
,saints4 ,their churches are crowded    

with images and pictures1 before which  
they burn lamps1 tapers1 and incense4   
,the great toe of the right foot of an  
ancient bronze statue of ,jupiter1      
christened ,st4 ,peter1 in the          
magnificent ,church of ,st4 ,peter at   
,rome1 is nearly worn off by the devout 
kisses and rubbings of the worshippers  
of that ,saint1 ,if the spirit of the   
,unitarian ,jew ,peter1 could animate   
that statue1 ,i believe that the foot of
 it would have long since kicked the    
teeth down the throat of some of his    
worshippers4 ,see ,appendix1 ,g4 ,g4    
fn#ca  ,that ,mary is the ,mother of    
,god6 is the creed of all the ,christian
 sects except the ,protestants1 and     
,nestorians4  ,the ,european and        
,asiatic ,christian churches1 except a  
precious handful of ,unitarians1 appear 
to act upon the principles of the old   
,samaritans4 ,so these nations feared   
,jehovah1 and served their graven       
images1 both their children1 and their  
children's children2 as did their       

,fathers1 so do they unto this day4 #b  
,kings xvii #da4  ,their religion is as 
inconsistent and inconsequent as the    
conduct of ,nebuchadnezzar2 who answered
 unto ,daniel1 and said1 of a truth it  
is that your ,god is a ,god of ,gods1   
and a ,lord of ,lords1 ,dan4 ch4 ii4    
#dg4 ,and who1 notwithstanding1 set up  
an idol of gold1 and commanded all      
peoples1 nations1 and languages to fall 
down and worship the golden image that  
,nebuchadnezzar the king had set up3 and
 threatened that whoso falleth not down2
 and worshippeth should be cast into a  
burning fiery furnace4 ch4 iii1 and who 
on another occasion acknowledged and    
blessed the most high1 and praised and  
honoured him that liveth forever and    
ever1 whose dominion is an everlasting  
dominion1 and his kingdom from          
generation to generation3 ch4 iv4 and   
who notwithstanding destroyed his       
,temple1 and lodged its sacred vessels  
in the treasure house of his idol4 ,the 
service of the ,christian churches not  

,protestant resembles ,bellshazzar's    
feast4 ,they drink out of the golden1   
and silver vessels1 which they have     
taken out of the ,temple of the house of
 ,god which was in ,jerusalem1 and      
praise the ,gods of gold1 of silver1 of 
brass1 of wood1 and of stone1fn#cb which
 see not1 nor hear1 nor know4 ,and the  
result of the business1 if the ,old     
,testament predict the truth1 will be1  
that the mysterious menaces written by  
the figures of ,god1 will be fulfilled  
in confusion1 wo1 and destruction  fn#cb
  ,i allude to the crucifixes1 images1  
and pictures of ,christ1 the ,virgin    
,mary and the ,saints1 with which all   
,christian churches1 not protestant are 
filled4  fn#cc  for come read came      
fn#cd  ,this is incorrect1 ,bethlehem is
 at present one of most populous cities 
in ,palestine4  fn#ce  ,i request the   
reader to look at the ,hebrew of ,gen4 x
 #ad4 which ,mr4 ,everett must have     
neglected to do3 as otherwise ,i cannot 
account for his having referred to a    

passage which directly establishes my   
interpretation of the passage in ,micah 
against his own4  ,i trust that this    
little circumstance will induce ,mr4    
,everett to have a fellow feeling for   
some errors which he says exists fn#cf  
in my first publication4  ,he will find 
some further proofs adduced from his    
book in the course of this work1 of the 
truth of the old adage1 humanium est    
errare4  fn#cf  for exists read exist   
fn#cg  v4 #aj4 of the ix4 ,ch4 ,of      
,zechariah1 and ,i will cut off the     
chariot from ,ephraim1 and the horse    
from ,jerusalem1 and the battlebow shall
 be cut off2 i4e4 there shall be war no 
more2 and he i4e4 the ,messiah1 shall   
speak peace unto the nations3 and his   
dominion shall be from sea even to sea1 
and from the river even to the ends of  
the earth4  ,has this been yet fulfilled
 or have the nations called ,christians1
 for the last #ahj years1 been more     
peaceable than others8 on the contrary1 
is it not they who have perfectionated  

the arts of war and destruction6  fn#ch 
,i render me1 says ,mr4 ,everett1       
because ,i cheerfully allow with        
,eichorn and ,de ,rossi in loco1 that it
 is supported by most authorities4 ,why 
then does ,mr4 ,everett abuse and insult
 me1 p4 #ajc1 #ajd41 for neglecting to  
notice the other reading he mentions1   
which he considers not to be the true   
one6 ,if it be erroneous1 what is it    
good for and if it be false1 how has the
 inspired ,evangelist quoted a false    
reading1 7,gospel according to ,john ch4
 xix4 #cd4 c417 in order to make out a  
prophecy8  ,i had objected in my first  
publication that the assertion of       
,stephen1 when filled with the ,holy    
,ghost1 that ,when ,abraham went out of 
the land of the ,chaldees1 he dwelt in  
,haran1 from thence1 after his father   
was dead1 ,god led him unto this land in
 which ye dwell4 ,acts vii4 #d41        
directly contradicts the chapter in     
,genesis1 where the ,story of ,abraham's
 leaving ,haran is related1 for it is   

certain from thence1 that ,abraham left 
his father ,zerahfn#ci in ,haran alive  
when he departed1 and that he did not   
die till many ' years afterwards4  ,on  
this ,mr4 ,everett observes1 ,the       
difficulty is this1 that ,zerah is said 
in ,genesis ch4 #aa4 to have been       
seventy years old when ,abraham was     
born1 and to have lived two hundred and 
five years4 ,but ,abraham is also said  
to have left ,haran when he was aged    
seventy-five years ,genesis xii4 #ad42  
at which time of course2 his ,father was
 one hundred and forty-five years old1  
and therefore must have lived sixty     
years after his son ,abraham left       
,haran4 ,but ,stephen in the passage in 
question says1 that ,abraham left ,haran
 after his ,father was dead4 ,now this  
direct contradiction is quite cleared up
 by the ,samaritan copies of the        
,pentateuch1 which give the whole age of
 ,zerah exactly #ade years3 and confirm 
the account of ,stephen1 that ,abraham  
waited till the decease of his father1  

and then immediately left ,haran4  ,had 
,mr4 ,english no light upon this        
subject1 but what he derived from his   
unlettered ,rabbi1 or even from the     
,commentators whose troubles he finds or
 feigns1 one could not blame him for    
passing over this fact in silence4  ,but
 ,i remember well the time1 when ,mr4   
,english collectedfn#dj the text of the 
,samaritan copy as it stands in         
,kennicott's ,bible1 for the express    
purpose of ascertaining the diversity of
 the ,hebrew and ,samaritan texts4 ,to  
suppress now a reading from this copy1  
which entirely removes his objection1   
argues a deplorable forgetfulness1 or a 
willful fraud2 and it would be a piece  
of affectation in me to speak of it in  
milder terms1 p4 #cdj4 of ,mr4          
,everett's work4  ,to put this courteous
 language to the blush1 it is only      
necessary to observe1 that the most     
distinguished ,hebrew ,critics ,i think1
 if my memory does not deceive me1 ,i   
may name ,de ,rossi1 for instance1      

adhere to the reading of the ,hebrew    
bible as the true one1 and have not     
suffered themselves to be swayed by the 
strong ,christian motives which have    
biassed ,mr4 ,everett in this instance4 
,stephen1 who was a ,jew1 would also    
never have given the preference to a    
reading-of the ,pentateuch of the       
,samaritan's1 which also abounds with   
blunders4 ,the ,gentile author of the   
,book of ,acts probably fabricated the  
speech4  fn#ci  for ,zerah read ,terah  
fn#dj  for collected read collated      
fn#da ,mr4 ,everett1 in4 a note to p4   
#aid of his work1 speaks of ,salathiel  
and ,zorobabel as succeeding to the     
throne of ,judah after the ,babylonish  
captivity4 ,any one who will read the   
books of ,ezra and ,nehemiah with       
attention1 will be satisfied that this  
language is quite ridiculous3 forasmuch 
as that ,salathiel was a captive slave  
at ,babylon1 and ,zorobabel was but at  
best the ,governor of ,judea for the    
,king of ,persia1 and all the ,jews     

under his command were subject to the   
orders of ,tabnaifn#db and ,shether     
,boznia4 ,governors beyond the river for
 the ,persian ,king4 ,see ,ezra ch4 ix4 
#h1 #i4 ,neh4 ch4 vi4 #f1 #g4 and ch4   
ix4 #cg4 ,in this and in many other     
instances1 ,mr4 ,everett in order to    
gain his cause1 has been obliged to     
forget the command recorded in the      
beggarly elements1 to have been given   
from ,mount ,sinai1 thou shalt not speak
 in a cause to decline after many to    
wrest judgment4 ,exod4 xxiii1 #b4 ,there
 are1 however1 cases in which lawyers   
allow that this precept may be dispensed
 with1 particularly if the cause be of  
great importance3 and more particularly 
still when the client pays well4  fn#db 
for ,romans read ,asmonaeans  for       
,tabnai read ,tatnai  fn#dc ,the ,jewish
 ,rabbies have been treated1 by the     
,christian controversial writers1 in the
 same manner as the foolish ,king of    
,israel was treated1 by the messengers  
of the defeated ,benhadad4 ,now the men 

the messengers of ,benhadad did         
diligently observe whether any thing    
would come from him1 and did hastily    
catch at it4 #a ,kings1 ch4 xx #cc4 ,the
 famous work of ,dr4 ,allix1 exposed by 
,nye1 where ,allix tries to show by     
quotations from ,jewish writings1 that  
the ancient ,jews were ,trinitarians1 is
 a notable instance of this4 ,mr4       
,everett's work itself1 enables me to   
lay before the reader one at least1     
which will verify my observation4  ,mr4 
,cary in his refutation of my first     
work1 quoted with great solemnity1 one  
,rabbi ,alshek as maintaining that the  
#ec;d4 of ,isaiah referred to the       
,messiah4 ,every one of ,mr4 ,cary's lay
 readers1 undoubtedly have supposed that
 this was the truth1 the whole truth1   
and nothing but the truth4 ,but it was  
not4 ,the whole truth leaks out in ,mr4 
,everett's work1 in a note to p4 #adc1  
where ,mr4 ,everett says1 that this     
famous ,rabbi having acknowledged that  
the prophet had the ,messiah in view in 

the #ec;d4 of ,isaiah11 he afterwards   
applied the oracle to some other person1
 and finally to ,moses6 ,now in the name
 of common sense ,i would1 ask1 of what 
value can the testimony and authority of
 a man be1 who could be capable of such 
contradictory nonsense as this4  ,the   
,jewish ,rabbies1 in general1 have      
verified completely the prediction of   
the prophet4 ,jehovah said1 ,forasmuch  
as this people draw near to me with     
their mouth1 and with their lips do     
honour me1 but have removed their heart 
far from me1 and their fear toward me is
 taught by the precepts of men1 possibly
 alluding to the traditions of the      
elders1 therefore1 behold ,i will       
proceed to do a marvellous work among   
this people1 even a marvellous work and 
a wonder2 for the wisdom of their wise  
men shall perish1 and the understanding 
of their prudent men shall be hid1 ,is4 
ch4 ,xxix4 #ac1 #ad4  ,mr4 ,everett     
says1 that it is notorious that the     
,rabbies the most contemptible critics  

on the sacred writings that have        
appeared1 p4 #di4 and in another part of
 his work1 says that they are so silly  
that he is almost ashamed to quote them1
 #bbi4 ,notwithstanding all this1 he is 
continually justifying his own follies  
by appealing to theirs3 such is ,mr4    
,everett's respect for the              
understandings of his readers1 that he  
is continually hauling the poor ,rabbies
 to the bar of the public2 he makes them
 hold up their culprit paws1 and pinches
 their ears to make them say what he    
pleases4 ,his pages are crowded with    
their names2 unutterable names2 names   
which reduce arms6 and ,george6 and     
,brunswick6 into tameness and           
insignificance4 ,if such means of       
defending ,christianity are successful1 
,i shall no longer doubt that it was    
possible for the ,devil ,asmodus to have
 been corked up in a bottle by the hard 
words of a conjurer4  fn#dd  for        
carinficina1 read carnificina  fn#de    
,or soliloquize upon the original word  

in the ,hebrew is used in this sense in 
,is4 ch4 xiv4 #af  fn#df  ,thou hast    
made us the offscouring and refuse in   
the midst of the peoples1 says ,jer4    
,lam4 ch4 iii4 #de4  fn#dg  ,the prophet
 here compares ,israel to the scape     
goat1 who had the sins of the           
people-laid upon him1 and was banished  
into the wilderness4  fn#dh  for with   
read through  fn#di ,or fierce          
oppressor4 ,see ,eichorn's ,lex4 ,in    
loc4  fn#ej  ,in deaths often says      
,paul1 meaning terrible dangers or      
sufferings4  fn#ea  ,mr4 ,everett in his
 zeal to catch me at a fault with regard
 to this prophecy of ,isaiah1 has       
himself stumbled and fallen4 ,i had     
maintained in my first work1 in         
reference to this passage1 that of the  
subject of this prophecy it is2 said1   
,he shall see his seed and shall prolong
 his days1 and that therefore it could  
not relate to ,jesus who had no         
posterity4 ,mr4 ,everett in his remarks 
upon this p4 #adg of his work1          

spiritualises the word seed1 and says it
 relates to the church1 and he exclaims 
against me as follows1 p4 #adg4 ,what   
indolent carelessness it is to say that 
the word seed shall not be spiritualized
 here1 when the very next verse says1 he
 shall see the travail of his soul4     
,what poor mortals we are1 says ,sir    
,hugh6  ,if ,mr4 ,everett will look at  
the ,hebrew1 he will find that the      
indolent carelessness he speaks of1 was 
not mine but his2 for the ,hebrew word  
translated travail1 has no reference    
whatever to childbearing1 but signifies 
fearful toil1 or painful distress4 ,the 
,english word travail1 in the time of   
the translators of the ,bible had this  
signification4 ,they have employed it in
 this signification in the passages     
following3 ,and ,moses told his         
father-in-law all that the ,lord had    
done unto ,pharoah and to the ,egyptians
 for ,israel's sake1 and all the travail
 that had come upon them by the way4    
,ex4 ch4 xviii4 #h4 ,again1 this sore   

travail hath ,god given to the sons of  
men to be exercised therewith4 ,eccles4 
i4 #ac4  ,as ,mr4 ,everett says1 p4#aad 
of his work1 ,it is good to be positive 
but better to be correct2 and the reader
 ,i doubt not will agree with me1 that  
such dogmatical blundering as this is   
prevent-4 ed from being offensive only  
as it is ludicrous4  fn#eb ,the prophet 
represents here1 that ,israel should be 
to the nations what ,aaron was to the   
,jews4 ,aaron was considered as bearing 
away the sins of the ,jews on the day of
 atonement4 ,ye shall be named the      
priests of ,jehovah1 and in men shall   
call you the ministers of our ,god4 ,is4
 ch4 lxi4 #f4  fn#ec  ,have their       
complaints been fiercer than the flames 
of the piles of ,madrid1 ,lisbon1       
,paris1 ,italy1 ,germany1 and ,england1 
in which thousands of them have been    
burnt to ashes8 ,for shame6 ,mr4        
,everett4 ,the recording angel may drop 
a tear upon what you have written1 not  
to blot it out1 but in compassion for   

the miseries for which you seem to think
 words of complaint are an equivalent4  
fn#ed  ,mr4 ,everett1 after having      
poured forth what is quoted above1 very 
consistently adds in a note to p4 #acg1 
,i cheerfully agree with one of the most
 active benefactors of the ,jewish      
nation1 who while he acknowledges these 
facts1 changes the blame of them to the 
,christians4 ,very true1 and truly ,i do
 not know1 what right one man has to    
trample another into the mire1 and then 
abuse him for being dirty4 ,mr4 ,everett
 remarks upon the same subject1 p4 #baj1
 ,bowed down with universal scorn1 they 
have been called secret and sullen2 cut 
off from pity and charity1 they have    
been thought selfish and unfeeling1 and 
are summoned to believe on the ,prince  
of ,peace by ministers clothed with     
terror and death4  ,what an unconscious 
comment from the pen of a ,christian on 
the words of the prophet4  ,he was      
despised and the outcast of men1 a man  
of sorrows1 and familiar with suffering1

 and we hid as it were our faces from   
him2 he was despised and we esteemed him
 not4  fn#ee ,i have had the            
satisfaction to find1 since my return to
 ,america1 that the distinguished       
,christian ,hebraeist1 ,rosenmuller1 in 
his notes on the ,old ,testament1       
maintains as ,i do1 that the #ec;d4 of  
,isaiah1 refers not to ,christ1 but to  
the ,hebrew nation1 of which the        
following extract from the work referred
 to may serve as proof1 ,in tot4 ,v4 ,t4
 locis ,messias tam variis modis        
describatur1 tamen ne unicum quidem     
vestigium deprehenditur unde collegere  
jure posset existimasse veteres         
,haebreos ,messiam quem expectabant     
talia esse perpessurum quae ministrum   
divinum hac pericopa1 ,is4 #ec4         
descriptum perpessum esse legimus4      
,ubicunque vel in ,psalmis vel in       
prophaetarum libris de ,messia agitur   
semper nobis proponitur imago           
potentissimi regis1 felicissimi herois1 
gloriossissimi reipublicae statoris1    

coloribus ab imperii ,davidici aut      
,salomonei flore1 regumque orientalium  
pompa sumptis depicta4 ,rosenmuller's   
notes on the #ec;d4 of ,isaiah4  fn#ef  
for will read well  fn#eg  ,thou hast   
put forth a riddle unto the children of 
my people4 says ,sampson's ,philistine  
wife to him1 ,judges ch4 xiv4 #af4      
fn#eh  ,i had made the same objection in
 my first publication4 ,mr4 ,everett1 in
 his elaborate view of my arguments upon
 the #ec;d4 of ,isaiah1 has not thought 
proper to notice this objection3        
possibly he thought it a trivial one4   
fn#ei  ,buxtorf's remark upon the very  
word in ,is4 #ec4 ch4 is arctatus1      
coarctatus1 oppressus1 oppressus tuit1  
propria exactiquibus4 ,buxtorf's ,heb4  
,lex4  ,mr4 ,everett p4 #adf of his work
 says1 that ,robertson declares that the
 radical idea of the word which ,mr4    
,english insists upon rendering he was  
oppressed by pecuniary exactions1 to be 
fearful distress4 ,to this ,i answer1   
that ,robertson was a ,christian and had

 a reason for saying so4  fn#fj  ,the   
only works ,i have had to aid me in the 
composition of this book1 are ,mr4      
,everett's work1 a ,hebrew ,bible1 fn#fa
 and ,lexicon1 and the ,english ,bible4 
,i have not been able to procure any    
thing beyond this in ,egypt1 and think  
myself fortunate in having so much4     
fn#fa  before and insert ,grammar  fn#fb
  for violations read quotations  fn#fc 
,gospel ac4 to ,john4 xii1 #ch4 ,rom4 x4
 #af4 ,acts viii41#cb1 #cc4  fn#fd      
,that ,grotius would sometimes          
prevaricate to serve a turn is certain4 
,there is an anecdote on record1        
contained in the notes to ,gibbon's     
account of ,mohammed in his ,roman      
,history1 which proves this4 ,in        
,grotius' famous book on the truth of   
the ,christian ,religion1 there is a    
story that ,mohammed had a tame pidgeon 
which he taught to come and peck in his 
ear1 in order to make his followers     
believe that the bird was the organ by  
whom he received revelations from ,god4 

,this story is not believed1 nor was    
ever heard of among the ,musselmen4 ,on 
the publication of ,grotius' book1 a    
friend learned in ,oriental ,literature1
 came to him and asked him for his      
authority for this story1 ,grotius      
frankly owned that he had none1 in other
 words that the story was a pious fraud 
in order to stigmatize ,mohammedanism4  
,this story ,gibbon says1 was           
accordingly left out of the ,arabic     
version of ,grotius' ,book1 intended to 
circulate among the-,musselmen1 for fear
 that they should laugh at such a piece 
of ignorance or effrontery3 but it still
 maintains an edifying place in those   
copies printed for the perusal of       
,christians46 ,i quote from memory4  ,it
 is really a pity that the ,protestant  
,church1 which like a ,magdalen         
professes to repent other errors        
committed during her former connection  
with the mother of abominations1 should 
yet retain so many of the bad habits    
contracted during their past intimacy4  

,some folks have even pretended to have 
observed1 that notwithstanding their old
 quarrel1 they seem to have recommenced 
a nodding acquaintance4 ,i hope the     
report is untrue4  fn#fe ,mr4 ,everett  
will probably say1 that he made these   
deadly stabs at my character upon the   
same principle that the ,new ,england   
,cobbler killed the ,indian ,hogan      
,mogan4 ,not out of malice1 but mere    
zeal ,because he was an infidel4  fn#ff 
,i have a right to believe so1 for ,mr4 
,everett quotes ,priestley's notes1 p4  
#cci of his work4 ,dr4 ,priestley united
 in his character1 the rare concurrence 
of a keen controversial writer1 with    
great fairness and candour4 ,he seems   
always to have been willingly disposed  
to resign an untenable opinion1 when    
convinced by the arguments of his       
opponent4 ,his conduct in regard to the 
question between the ,jews and          
,christians1 may be considered as a     
proof of this4 ,he wrote letters to the 
,jews in defence of ,christianity1 which

 were replied to by ,levi4 ,in this     
controversy ,levi had evidently the     
better of ,priestley4  ,priestley seems 
to have been sensible of this1 which    
occasioned him to examine the question  
more minutely4 ,the result of his       
examination led him to avow1 in a       
,dissertation in the ,theological       
,repository published in ,england1 ,i   
believe in the very one which ,mr4      
,everett refers to ,theol4 ,rep4 vol4   
#e4 that the prophets clearly justify   
the ,jews for expecting as their        
,messiah1 a glorious monarch of the     
house and name of ,david1 who should    
reign over them and all the human race2 
but he also maintained as ,i think in   
the same ,dissertation1 that ,jesus     
,christ is nevertheless predicted by the
 #ec;d4 of ,isaiah4 ,several years      
afterwards1 when ,priestley resided in  
,america1 he published his notes on     
,scripture1 wherein he abandons the     
,christian interpretation1 of the #ec;d4
 of ,isaiah1 and applies it as ,i do to 

the ,jewish nation4  fn#fg  ,if all that
 ,mr4 ,everett has said upon this       
subject were true1 it would amount after
 all only to an argument ad prejudicium1
 for the ,jews of past times1 who       
believed the dreams of the ,rabbies1 but
 is of no weight whatever with those who
 reject them1 as do all the ,biblical   
critics of the present day4  fn#fh      
,there occurs to me an instance of      
carelessness or something worse on the  
part of ,mr4 ,everett in p4 #cdb of his 
work4 ,i had said in my first           
publication1 that there is in the speech
 of ,james1 ,arts xv4 a quotation from  
,amos in which1 to make it fit the      
subject1 7which after all it does not   
fit7 is the substitution of the words   
the remnant of men1 for the remnant of  
,edom1 as it is in the original4 ,on    
this ,mr4 ,everett remarks with         
astonishing' composure1 ,there are few  
of my readers to whom ,i need say1 that 
the same ,hebrew word means 'men1' and  
',edom1' according' as it is pronounced1

 and ,st4 ,james has as fair a right to 
pronounce it men1' as ,mr4 ,english has 
to pronounce it ',edom4' ,the only way  
by which ,mr4 ,everett can escape the   
charge of fraud in this affair1 is by   
allowing that he did not take the       
trouble to look at the passage quoted   
from ,amos1 ix4 #ab4 in the ,hebrew     
,bible1 from which it will appear that  
neither ,st4 ,james1 nor any other      
,saint1 has a right to read the passage 
the remnant of men 7or ,adam27 because  
the ,hebrew word contains a letter      
7vau17 which the word ,adam does not    
contain1 and which limits its           
signification to ,edom4  ,i would       
observe by the4 way1 that the passage in
 ,amos that they1 7i4 e4 ,israel17 may  
possess the remnant of ,edom1 and of all
 the heathen 7or nations7 which are     
called by my name1 appears to contain an
 allusion to the ,christians and        
,mohammedans1 who are the only nations  
besides the ,jews who invoke1 the name  
of ,jehovah1 and profess faith in his   

prophets4 ,there are not a few passages 
in the prophets1 which have a           
significance at present1 which they     
could not have had at the time the      
predictions were uttered4  fn#fi  for   
sun read been  fn#gj  for simple read   
single  fn#ga  ,in the beginning of the 
#ith4 ch4 of ,daniel1 the prophet says2 
,i ,daniel1 understood by books the     
number of years whereof the word of the 
,lord came to ,jeremiah the prophet1    
that he would accomplish seventy years  
in the desolations of ,jerusalem4 ,and  
,i set my face unto the ,lord ,god1 to  
seek by prayer and supplications with   
fasting1 sackcloth and ashes4 ,it       
appears from his prayer1 that he        
supposed the ,babylonish captivity of   
seventy years1 would terminate the      
chastisement of his nation4 ,upon which 
the angel ,gabriel was sent to give him 
skill and understanding1 and to inform  
him1 that their chastisement would not  
be terminated by the captivity of       
seventy years1 but by one of seventy    

times seven1 i4 e4 a long and undefined 
period4 ,the words seven1 and seventy1  
were frequently used by the ,hebrews to 
signify an indefinite number1 and       
seventy times seven is a ,hebreism used 
to signify a great and indefinite       
number4 ,thus one of the disciples of   
,jesus is represented as asking him1    
,lord1 how oft shall my brother sin     
against me1 and ,i forgive him2 until   
seven times8 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,i  
say not unto thee1 until seven times1   
but until seventy times seven4 ,mat4 ch4
 xviii4 #ba1 #bb4  fn#gb  ,in my first  
work ,i had alleged this prophecy of    
,daniel1 and had inserted this word in  
enclosed in a parenthesis1 in order to  
signify1 that it was not in the         
original1 but was suggested by it as    
necessary to the sense of the original4 
,this in1 in a parenthesis1 the zealous 
,mr4 ,everett1 who loves to find fault1 
pronounces to be an absolute            
interpolation1 and a shameless one too4 
p4 #aeg of his work4  fn#gc  ,the reader

 will see that ,i suppose the original  
to make one period of seven weeks1 and  
one of sixty-two4 ,the ,english         
translation renders it seven weeks and  
threescore and two weeks1 making one    
period of the two4 ,this appears to me  
to be inadmissible3 because if the      
prophet meant to signify but one period1
 he would1 as ,i think1 have said1      
according to the analogy of the ,hebrew 
language1 not seven weeks1 and          
threescore and two weeks1 but nine weeks
 and threescore1 weeks1 ,in the ,hebrew 
the clauses of the seven weeks1 and     
sixty and two weeks1 are separated by a 
character which frequently1 in the      
,hebrew ,bible1 performs the function of
 a full stop4  fn#gd  delete ,joshua    
fn#ge  read heels over head  fn#gf  ,mr4
 ,everett appear2 himself to have been  
somewhat embarrassed by the gravity he  
is obliged to maintain in holding forth 
this antithetical analogy4 ,for he says1
 that he forbears to pursue analogies   
like these1 which though they abound in 

the writings of the ,old ,testament1 ,i 
challenge him to point out a single such
 instance and are familiar to all the   
nations of the ,east1 have long been    
succeeded among us by a stricter style  
of reasoning p4 #agh4 ,they have indeed 
been long since exploded by the ,modern 
,biblical ,critics3 and ,i doubt not    
that if this curious analogy should ever
 be subject to the notice of ,eichorn or
 ,lessing1 they would in their closets  
peruse it with a smile or a sigh4  fn#gg
  ,who is this that cometh from ,edom1  
with dyed garments from ,bozrah8 this   
that is glorious in his apparel1        
travelling in the greatness of his      
strength8--,i that speak in             
righteousness mighty to save4 ,wherefore
 art thou red in thine apparel1 and thy 
garments like him that treadeth in the  
winefat--,i have trodden the wine press 
alone2 and of the peoples there vas none
 with me3 for ,i trode them in mine     
anger1 and trampled them in my fury1 and
 ,their blood sprinkled upon my         

garments1 and ,i have stained all my    
raiment4 ,for the day of vengeance is in
 mine heart1 and the year of my redeemed
 is come4 ,and ,i looked1 and there was 
none to help3 and ,i wondered there was 
none to uphold1 therefore mine own arm  
brought salvation unto me2 and my fury  
it upheld me1 and ,i trode down the     
peoples in mine anger1 and made them    
drunk in my fury1 and ,i brought down   
their strength to the earth4 ,see ,is4  
ch4 lxiii4 in the ,hebrew4 ,this passage
 relates to the ,great and ,terrible    
,day of ,jehovah4 mentioned in ,malachi4
 ,the ,psalms of the ,prophets abound   
with descriptions of fn#gh it both      
terrible and magnificent4 ,see for      
example ,ezekiel xxxviii3  xv-xix       
chapters4 ,joel ch4 iii4 and ,zech4 ch4 
xiv4  fn#gh  for of read and  fn#gi     
,the enumerations given by the ,jews    
themselves are always below the truth4  
,they conceal the real amount for       
particular reasons4 ,in ,spain and      
,portugal1 where it is dangerous for a  

man to be known to be a ,jew1 there are 
notwithstanding1 many thousands2        
probably one third of the population of 
,portugal is of ,jewish descent4 ,i have
 seen a ,jew at ,paris1 who had resided 
several years in ,spain1 who has told   
me1 that the number of his nation in    
,spain is great and unsuspected4 ,i     
believe him1 for ,orobio and ,acosta1   
both ,jews of the ,peninsula1 affirm    
that ,jews disguised as ,christians1    
were to be found not only among the     
populace of the ,peninsula1 but among   
the nobles and bishops4 ,in those       
countries 7,spain and ,portugal17 where 
the ,inquisition obliged every body to  
be educated as ,christians1 the fathers 
who were secretly ,jews1 were           
accustomed1 when their children came to 
the years of discretion1 to inform them 
of their descent1 and to engage them    
secretly to conform to the religion of  
their fathers4 ,if they found their     
conversion impracticable1 these wretched
 parents were accustomed to poison such 

children1 to prevent their communicating
 the dangerous secret to the            
,inquisition1 which would occasion the  
whole family to be burned alive4 ,see   
the ,biography of ,orobio and ,acosta   
for some interesting information upon   
this subject4  fn#hj  for exonerated    
read consecrated  fn#ha  ,david shall   
never want a man to sit upon the throne 
of the house of ,israel1 neither shall  
the priests the ,levites want a man     
before me1 i4 e4 the house of ,david and
 the tribe of ,levi shall never be      
extinct1 when called upon to fulfil the 
prophecies of the kingdom of the        
,messiah1 and the re-establishment of   
the ritual of the temple1 ,david will   
not want a man to sit upon the throne of
 the house of ,israel1 neither will the 
priests the ,levites want a man to do   
sacrifice4 ,and how was this to be      
secured1 because says ,god1 as the host 
of heaven cannot be numbered1 neither   
the sand of the sea measured1 so will ,i
 multiply the seed of ,david my servant1

 and the ,levites the priests that      
minister unto me4 ,that this is the     
sense of the phrase shall not want a4   
man1 is evident from the employment of  
the same expression by ,jeremiah in     
xxxv4 of his ,prophecies3 ,thus saith   
,jehovah of ,hosts1 the ,god of ,israel3
 ,jonadab the son of ,rechab shall not  
want a man to stand before me for ever1 
ch4 xxxv4 #ai4 i4 e4 not that a         
particular descendant of ,jonadab the   
son of ,rechab should always be standing
 in the presence of the ,lord for ever3 
but that he should never want a         
representative1 his posterity should    
never be cut off4 ,it is a singular fact
 that the descendants of ,jonadab the   
son of ,rechab still exist in ,arabia1  
preserving' the customs of their        
fathers2 they are called ,beni al       
,khaib1 i4 e4 descendants of ,heber4    
,see ,jud4 ch4 iv4 #aa4  ,to these      
considerations it may be added1 that    
,jeremiah himself predicts the          
dethronement of the house of ,david1 the

 destruction of the temple1 and the     
captivity of the priests1 and the whole 
,jewish nation1 and as it is an allowed 
principle of sound criticism that if the
 expressions of a writer are capable of 
two significations1 one of which would  
make him contradict himself2 and the    
other would leave him consistent3 it is 
but fair to suppose that he meant to be 
consistent1 and should be interpreted in
 the sense which excludes self          
contradiction4  fn#hb  ,ezekiel gives a4
 prophecy of the same events spoken of  
by ,jeremiah1 and in these words4 ,thus 
saith ,jehovah ,god2 ,i will even gather
 you from the peoples1 and assemble you 
out of the countries where ye have been 
scattered2 and ,i will give you the land
 of ,israel4 ,and ,i will give them one 
heart1 and ,i will put a new spirit     
within you2 and ,i will take the stony  
heart out of their flesh1 and will give 
them a heart of flesh1 that they may    
walk in my statutes1 and keep mine      
ordinances1 and do them2 and they shall 

be my people1 and ,i will be their ,god4
 ,ezek4 x4 xi4 #ag1 #ah1 #ai1 #bj4 ,now 
what is meant in the ,old ,testament by 
,god's statutes1 and ,god's ordinances1 
is not the ,mosaic law always signified 
by these expressions8 ,again1 ,ezek4    
says1 ch4 xxxvi4 #bc1 c4 ,i will        
sanctify my great name1 which was       
profaned among the nations1 which ye    
have profaned in the midst of them2 and 
the nations shall know that ,i am       
,jehovah1 saith the ,lord ,god1 when ,i 
shall be sanctified in you before their 
eyes4 ,for ,i will take you from among  
the nations1 and gather you out of all  
countries1 and will bring you into your 
own land2 then will ,i sprinkle clean   
water upon you1 and ye shall be clean2  
from all your filthiness and from all   
your idols will ,i release you4 ,a new  
heart also will ,i give you1 and a new  
spirit will ,i put within you2 and ,i   
will take away the stony heart out of   
your flesh1 and will give you a heart of
 flesh1 and ,i will put my spirit within

 you1 and cause you to walk in my       
statutes1 and ye shall keep my judgments
 and do them4 ,see also ,ezekiel1 ch4   
xxxvii4 from verse #bj to the end4      
fn#hc  for the read a  fn#hd  ,ac4 to   
the ,hebrew4  fn#he  ,in my first       
publication ,i had maintained1 that     
,jesus ,christ had not taught the       
abolishment of the ,law1 and alleged in 
proof the passages following4 ,think not
 ,i am come to destroy the law or the   
,prophets2 ,i am not come to destroy but
 to fulfil4 ,for verily ,i say unto you4
 ,till heaven and earth pass1 one jot i4
 e4 the smallest letter of it or one    
tittle shall in no wise pass from the   
law till all be fulfilled4 7or          
consummated7 ,mat4 v4 #ag4 #ah4 ,it is  
easier for heaven and earth to pass1    
than one tittle of the law to fail4     
,luke4 xvi4 #ag4 ,mr4 ,everett has a    
device by which he thinks he can evade  
the gripe of these passages3 perhaps the
 following may satisfy him that there is
 no way of escape4 ,luke reports1 ,acts 

xxi4 #bj4 that ,james the bishop of the 
mother church of ,jerusalem1 said to    
,paul1 ,thou seest brother1 how many    
thousands of ,jews there are which      
believe3 i4 e4 are ,christians and they 
are all zealous of the ,law4 ,now if    
,jesus ,christ had taught the           
abolishment of the ,law1 it appears to  
me that1 his followers would not have   
been zealous in adhering to it3 as to do
 so would be giving the lie to their    
master's doctrine4  fn#hf  ,so called1  
in ,is4 ,ch4 lxvi4 #bb4  fn#hg ,the     
ancient ,britons were savages and       
painted themselves blue when wishing to 
appear in full dress4 ,in truth it is   
hardly three hundred years since the    
bears of ,europe have learned to walk up
 on their hinder legs1 and had a man's  
heart given unto them4 ,and it is only  
about two hundred years since the wild  
boar out of the forest fn#hh has become 
a learned pig4 ,it is not much more than
 a hundred years since the people of    
,boston1 have left off hanging their    

fellow creatures for being witches and  
,quakers4  fn#hh  after forest insert of
 the ,north  fn#hi  ,mohammed was       
descended from ,abraham through         
,ishmael4  fn#ij  ,the numerous         
regulations concerning defilement1 and  
the ritual of purification1 contained in
 the ,pentateuch1 were very proper in   
reference to the immediate and personal 
presence of the ,divinity among the     
,israelites1 which therefore rendered   
the most perfect cleanliness a duty4    
,these regulations were also adopted to 
the peculiar circumstance of the ,jewish
 nation1 which1 was separated from all  
the rest of mankind and not obliged to  
go over their frontier to mingle with   
other people4 ,but it is very true that 
such regulations are not calculated for 
us ,gentiles2 because men who are       
obliged constantly to mingle with other 
men1 cannot observe them4  fn#ia  for   
rights read rites  fn#ib delete the     
fn#ic  ,according to #a ,chron4 ch4     
xxix1 #c1 c4 the gold employed in       

adorning the ,temple1 amounted to at    
least #hjjj talents1 and the silver to  
#agjjj talents4 ,this vast mass of      
treasure was given by ,david and his    
princes3 how much was added to it by    
,solomon is not said4  fn#id ,the number
 of the males of the tribe of ,levi in  
the time of ,moses1 is said1 ,numbers1  
ch4 xxvi4 #fb4 to have been twenty three
 thousand4 ,but in the reign of ,solomon
 the number of males of the tribe of    
,levi from thirty years and upwards1 was
 thirtyeight thousand4 ,see #a ,chron4  
ch4 xxiii1 #c4  fn#ie  for streaming    
read steaming  fn#if  ,the name of the  
,deity ,,jehovah1 is a compound of two  
,hebrew words1 the first of which       
signifies ,,he ,,is1 and the second ,,he
 ,,shall ,,be4 ,the word ,,jehovah      
expresses these two sublime ideas in    
three syllables4  fn#ig  for unfeeling  
read unreflecting  fn#ih  ,mr4 ,everett 
represents me as supposing 7because ,i  
maintain that it is the sense of the    
prophets that the temple of ,jerusalem  

will oneday be the house of prayer for  
all mankind7 that all nations must come 
and worship at the temple three times a 
year as the ,jews were required to do4  
,see ,mr4 ,everett's work1 p4 #bjg4     
,but if ,mr4 ,everett were more familiar
 with the ,bible1 he would learn that   
the prophets represent that this visit  
to the future temple1 from other nations
 than the ,jews1 will be required only  
once a year4 ,and it shall come to pass1
 that every one that is left of all the 
nations which came against ,jerusalem1  
shall even go up from year to year to   
worship the ,king ,jehovah of ,hosts1   
and to keep the feast of ,tabernacles4  
,zech4 ch4 xiv4 #af4  ,now supposing    
that the ,old ,testament predicts the   
truth in affirming that the earth is to 
be restored to its primitive state1 as  
it was at the beginning1 when ,god      
viewed every thing that he had made1 and
 behold it was very good4  ,if the earth
 is spontaneously to produce the        
delicious nourishment which we may      

suppose that ,adam enjoyed1 a journey   
once a year through an ever varied      
paradise to the temple of ,jehovah1 can 
surely be no toil4 ,if a person will    
look at the situation of ,jerusalem on a
 map of the world1 he will be sensible1 
that no spot on earth is as eligible to 
be chosen for a common centre of worship
 for mankind as that city4 ,it stands   
about sixty miles from the              
,mediterranean1 which communicates with 
the ,atlantic1 and not many days        
,journey from the ,red ,sea1 which      
communicates with the ,indian ,ocean4   
,and when the winds and waves shall     
cease to be dangerous1 who would not    
desire to visit as often as possible1   
the land which is said to be the glory  
of all lands1 and illuminated by the    
ineffable symbol of the immediate       
presence of the ,lord of the ,universe1 
at whose effulgence the sun shall be    
ashamed1 and the moon confounded4       
,neither is it necessary to suppose1    
that ,i know of1 that every man of the  

human race should be annually present2  
if some come from all nations1 all      
nations may be said to come4 ,see       
,appendix1 ,i4  fn#ii  after would      
insert not  fn#ajj  ,and ,jesus walked  
in the temple in ,solomon's porch4 ,then
 came the ,jews round about him1 and    
said unto him1 how long dost thou draw  
our souls asunder8 ,if thou be the      
,messiah1 tell us plainly4 ,john x1 #bc1
 #bd4 ,see the original ,greek4  fn#aja 
,when ,jesus therefore perceived that   
they would come1 and take him by force1 
to make him a king1 he departed again   
into a mountain1 himself alone4 ,john   
vi4 #ae4  fn#ajb  ,it is remarkable that
 the gospels represent ,jesus as        
refusing to acknowledge himself to the  
,jews as the ,messiah4 ,the gospels say1
 that ,jesus confided his ,messiahship  
to the disciples as a secret1 with      
express injunctions not to betray it4   
,then charged he his disciples that they
 should tell no man that he was the     
,messiah4 ,mat4 xvi4 #bj4 ,see also     

,mark viii4 #bi4 and ,luke ix4 #ba4     
,this makes it possible that he never   
did claim that character1 and that the  
glory fn#ajc in the gospels that he had 
told it as a secret to his disciples1   
was invented in order to furnish a reply
 to the ,jews1 who might have told the  
first ,christians1 that ,jesus had never
 told them so1 and of course never      
pretended to be considered as such1 and 
that the ,christians could not justly   
blame them for rejecting pretensions    
which ,jesus never made to them1 to whom
 especially he ought to have plainly    
declared them if he wished them to be   
received4 ,the truth of the matter      
appears to be1 that the notion of the   
,messiahship of ,jesus1 had originally  
no better foundation than the mistaken  
enthusiasm of his followers4  fn#ajc    
for glory read story  fn#ajd  ,the case 
of the ,jews and ,christians is parallel
 to that of the prophet of ,judah1 and  
the prophet of ,bethel4 ,the ,christians
 allow that ,god himself gave the law to

 the ,jews1 but they say to the ,jews   
that ,jesus was ordered by ,god to      
repeal it4  ,it was said unto me 7says  
the prophet of ,judah7 by the word of   
,jehovah1 ,thou shalt eat no bread1 nor 
drink water there1 7at ,bethel the      
chapel of the golden calf17 nor turn to 
go by the way that thou camest4 ,he 7i4 
e4 the prophet of ,bethel7 said unto    
him1 ,i am a4 prophet also as thou art2 
and an angel spake unto me by the word  
of ,jehovah1 saying2 ,bring him back    
with thee into thine house1 that he may 
eat bread1 and drink water4 ,but he lied
 unto him4 ,so he went back with him1   
and did eat bread in his house1 and     
drink water4  ,and4 it came to pass1 as 
they sat at the table1 that the word of 
,jehovah came unto the prophet that     
brought him back3 and he cried unto the 
man of ,god that came from ,judah1      
saying1 ,thus saith4 ,jehovah1 forasmuch
 as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of    
,jehovah1 and hast not kept the         
commandment which ,jehovah thy ,god     

commanded thee1 but camest back1 and    
hast eaten bread and drunk water in the 
place1 of the which ,jehovah did say    
unto thee1 eat no bread1 and drink no   
water1 thy carcase shall not come unto  
the sepulchre of thy fathers4 #a ,kings1
 ch4 xiii4  fn#aje  after that insert as
  fn#ajf  #a4 ,if the ,christians should
 do this1 the fundamental articles of   
their creed1 would be1 to love the ,lord
 their ,god with all their heart1 and   
with all their mind1 and soul1 and      
strength1 and to love their neighbours  
as themselves3 for on these two         
commandments hang all the law and the   
prophets4  #b4 ,if the ,christians      
should do this1 they would have         
precisely the same ,scriptures which the
 apostles and first ,christians had1 and
 which they considered as sufficient4   
,even ,paul himself pronounces1 that the
 ,old ,testament was given by           
inspiration of ,god1 and is profitable  
for doctrine1 for reproof1 for          
correction1 for instruction in          

righteousness1 that the man of ,god may 
be perfect1 thoroughly furnished unto   
all good works4 #b ,tim4 ch4 iii4 #af4  
#c4 ,if the ,christians should do this1 
all the endless and rancourous disputes 
about the trinity1 incarnation1         
atonement1 transubstantiation1 worship  
of the ,virgin ,mary1 the saints1 their 
images and relics1 the supremacy of the 
,pope1 et id genus omne1 would be       
quietly laid upon the shelf1 and torment
 mankind no more4  #d4 ,the hundred     
sects into which ,christians are        
divided1 would coalesce2 for it is the  
,new ,testament which keeps them        
asunder4 ,so long as that book is       
believed to contain a ,revelation from  
,god1 there can be no peace4 ,for pious 
and good men who believe that it is of  
divine authority1 and who are zealously 
disposed to discover from its contents  
what is the mind of the spirit1 must    
necessarily be divided in their         
opinions2 ,,because the ,new ,testament 
is not only inconsistent with the ,old1 

but is also inconsistent with itself    
too2 and must therefore necessarily     
create a diversity of opinions in those 
who reverence it as the word of ,god4   
,this is the grand secret1 and          
everacting cause1 which has made scisms 
in the church4  fn#ajg  ,mr4 ,everett1  
p4 #dbg of his work1 alluding to my     
anticipations in one of my publications1
 in which ,i expressed myself as aware  
of what ,i should have to encounter1 in 
consequence of my undertaking on behalf 
of the oppressed1 and slandered ,jews2  
says with something like the charity of 
a monk1 and the meekness of an          
inquisitor1 that the affecting allusion 
he 7,mr4 ,english17 has made to his     
prospects in the world1 has many a time 
restrained me1 when ,i ought to have    
used the language of indignation4  ,if a
 man had told me1 that in consequence of
 my enterprise ,i should encounter great
 misfortunes1 ,i should have answered1  
,i expected1 and was prepared to meet   
them4 ,but if he had told me1 a native  

of the ,new ,world discovered a few     
centuries ago1 that the time would come 
when ,i should write upon this subject1 
in the very land1 and almost on the very
 spot that gave birth to ,moses and the 
,pharoahs1 ,i should have thought him   
amusing himself with a jest2            
nevertheless such is the fact4 ,i write 
this book2 on the banks of old ,nile1   
and in sight of the pyramids4  fn#ajh   
,i have read in a ,magazine1 of an      
itinerant ,methodist preacher1 not      
perfectly acquainted with the sublime   
arts of reading and writing1 who1 in a  
sermon of his in praise of ,industry1   
alledged as a proof of ,god's aversion  
to idleness1 that ,god commanded ,moses1
 when he built the ,tabernacle in the   
wilderness1 to cover it with ,,beggar',s
 ,,skins4 ,the ,english ,translation    
says ,ex4 ch4 xxvi #ad4 with ,,badger',s
 ,,skins4  ,now ,i suppose that if such 
a quotation from the ,old4 ,testament   
was found in a work whose title page    
represented it to have been written by  

,bishop ,marsh1 that there is not a     
scholar1 in4 ,christendom1 who would not
 pronounce the book to be a forgery4    
fn#aji  ,mr4 ,everett says p4 #bdc1 of  
his work that not one of the books of   
the ,new ,testament1 nor all of them    
together1 were intended to be a forensic
 defence of ,christianity4 ,the-,epistle
 to the ,hebrews1 at least1 convicts    
this opinion of mistake4  ,he says also 
p4 #bgc41 ,as to what ,mr4 ,english1    
after ,collins1 proceeds to say1 that   
the authors of the books of the ,new    
,testament always argue absolutely from 
the quotations they cite as prophecies  
out of the books of the old ,testament1 
it is so far from being correct1 that it
 is highly notorious1 that they do not  
argue from them at all4 ,mr4 ,everett   
must have felt very desperate to venture
 upon such an assertion in the face of  
the ,epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,mr4      
,everett may succeed with some in facing
 down argument1 but he is mistaken if he
 thinks1 that  ,stubborn facts must     

still give place ,to his unpenetrable   
face1 ,which-makes its way through all  
affairs1 c4 c4'  fn#aaj  ,bishop ,marsh 
does honour to his ,english honesty and 
common sense1 in refusing to allow that 
such strong expressions can signify a   
mere accommodation of a passage in the  
,old ,testament4 ,see his ,notes to     
,michaelis' ,introduction to the ,new   
,testament4  fn#aaa  ,for was read is   
fn#aab  ,for #ba read #bc  fn#aac       
,this ,psalm is entitled in the ,english
 version a prayer for ,solomon1 ,it     
should have been translated a ,psalm of 
,solomon4  fn#aad  ,mr4 ,everett says p4
 #ea4 that the ,septuagint              
discountenances this rendering4 ,what is
 that to me8 ,i chose to abide by the   
original ,hebrew1 and not to follow a   
blundering1 garbled1 and interpolated   
version1 which frequently imposes a     
false sense upon the original1 and not  
unfrequently no sense at all4 more      
,christiano4  fn#aae  ,mr4 ,everett1 p4 
#eb4 considers this expression as a     

decisive proof that the prophecies of   
the ,messiah's kingdom1 must be         
understood figuratively4 ,is ,mr4       
,everett so ignorant of his ,bible as   
not to know1 that it represents that at 
the beginning animals did not prey upon 
each other1 and if it was so once1 which
 ,mr4 ,everett will not deny1 it may be 
so again4 ,see ,gen4 ch4 i4 #cj4  fn#aaf
  for thus saith read this is  fn#aag   
,the ,greeks1 ,russians1 and ,copts will
 not worship images1 for that they say  
is flagrant idolatry2 but they say there
 is no harm in praying before a picture4
 ,their churches and houses are full of 
them4 ,i have heard of a ,greek bishop  
who employed a famous ,italian painter  
to make a picture of the bishop's       
patron1 ,isaiah fn#aah3 when it was     
finished he refused to take it1 and     
expressed himself much shocked1 by its  
appearance4 ,the painter asked why8     
your picture1 said the bishop is        
scandalous1 the figure stands out from  
the canvass absolutely as if it were a  

statue2 it would be idolatry in me to   
pray before such a picture4  fn#aah  for
 patron ,isaiah read patron saint       
fn#aai   ,in the mountain of the height 
of ,israel will ,i plant it3 and it     
shall bring forth boughs and bear fruit1
 and be a glorious cedar and under it   
shall dwell all fowl of every wing2 in  
the shadow 7if the branches thereof     
shall they dwell4 ,and all the trees of 
the field shall know1 that ,i ,jehovah  
have brought down the high tree1 have   
exalted the low tree1 have dried up the 
green tree1 and made the dry tree to    
flourish1 ,i ,jehovah have spoken it and
 ,i will do it4 ,ezech4 xvii4 #bc4