behold, in this erection of the serpent of brass, upon which all the wounded Israelites were to look and be healed, a type of the lifting up, or crucifixion, of our blessed Lord, by whom was to be the healing of all nations. To this type, he himself alluded in those words to his disciples: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me*."

Thus we shall find, if we examine it with attention, that the religion of Moses, in all its ceremonies and institutions, puts us constantly in mind, that they were no more than shadows of better things to come, of those realities contained in the Gospel of Christ.

Let us for a moment put ourselves in the place of Moses. If we had written an account of any given people, and had felt and known that our relations were no other than fables, and romances, we surely should not have wished, that they might be examined time after time: we should have been afraid of that fiery ordeal, which truth alone can stand: but, on the contrary, we find Moses continually exhorting the Jewish people to study, to examine, and to teach his writings to their children. Whenever he gave them a new command from God, he reminded them of the wonders in Egypt to excite them to obedience and love.

* John xii. 32.

"I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt," we know to be the preface to the Decalogue. When Moses ordained the sanctification of the Sabbath, they were told it was also a memorial of their release from Egypt. When the tribe of Levi were set apart for the service of the tabernacle, it was because the angel of the Lord, in slaying the first-born of Egypt, had spared the Israelites. When Moses instituted the passover, it was that they might. teach their children, saying, "This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me, when I came out of Egypt +." Thus Moses exposed himself openly to the eyes of all the world, in his relations, his laws, and his ceremonies; and if they had been impostures every Israelite must have partaken of the fraud, and could not have escaped the detection and consequent contempt of the rest of mankind.

The more we reflect on this history, the more we consider every circumstance belonging to it, the more we discover it to be impossible that there is any deception in it; the more certain we feel that it is true, and not only simply true, but that it carries with it, in every line, the weight of Divine truth.

In our next chapter we shall proceed to the consideration of the memorials, or monuments, with which the further history of the Jews furnishes us; for we are resolved to leave the opposer of Revelation not a single argument to rest upon though I feel, I confess, that the truth of the five Books of Moses having been satisfactorily established, the point is completely gained, as far as the Old Testament is concerned. For, if one part of the history is proved to be real, and that the most ancient, and the most remarkable, who shall gainsay the rest of that volume, which has been so many ages, and still is received, by the whole Jewish nation, as the inspired word of God?

CHAPTER XV.

SEQUEL TO THE ARGUMENT CONTAINED IN THE PRECEDING CHAPTER.

ALTHOUGH, as we have assured our readers before, we wish as much as possible to avoid extending this volume to a great length; we think it necessary, for the reasons given in the last chapter, to make a few observations on those monuments or memorials, with which the other historical parts of the Old Testament abound. The Book of Joshua, which first calls our attention, ought rather perhaps to have been joined to, and considered with, the Books of Moses, since in it are contained the relations of the conquest of Canaan, and consequently the accomplishment of promises of God respecting that land.

the

Joshua gives us such innumerable proofs, that the Law of Moses was not only written, but promulgated before the people passed the river Jordan ; that in reading this book with attention, it is impossible to do other than feel this truth deeply impressed on the mind. And thus we find it with every part of Scripture, from the beginning

of Genesis to the conclusion of Revelation; each portion adding weight, durability, and brightness to the other, and the whole resting on Christ, the "chief corner-stone." To him all the types and prophecies were directly pointed, and from him proceed the WISDOM, LIGHT, and GLORY, which teach us that in the sacred volume we have ETERNAL LIFE. Without Christ, the Bible would be

NOTHING; with him, it is ALL IN ALL.

If the Bible were the work of an impostor, it appears to me, that the art of the inventor of such a composition would have led him to relate, that the Laws of Moses were not given to the people until after their entrance into Canaan. Then if he had chosen to tell us of some wonderful acts of the Almighty in favour of the Israelites on leaving Egypt, and while they sojourned in the desert; he would have been better guarded against detection, by speaking lightly of them as events long gone by, which it would be sufficient to relate superficially besides, the introduction to the Law would have appeared more complete, if to those words, "I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage," had been added, and who has given thee possession of the land of Canaan.' Now, the clear and certain reason, why we do not find this

* Exodus xx. 2.