sinks into an object of pity; as every man must, in the day when he is called to account, and has no defence to make. "And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf," Verses 22, 23, 24. Alas, alas! What a profusion of words is guilt constrained to employ in order to cover what it cannot extenuate or excuse. What must it be to behold a guilty world stand self-condemned before the Judge of the quick and the dead! How dreadful must it be, to appear in the number of that guilty crowd, without being able to escape unnoticed in the crowd!

The scene that follows is one of those from which we turn away our eyes in anguish, or which we contemplate in silent horror and astonishment-Thousands of criminals falling at once by the hands of their brethren! The sons of Levi, destined to shed the blood of many victims, to make atonement for the guiltycalled to the dreadful ministry of offering up part of the guilty themselves, a sacrifice to justice, to make atonement for the rest! Mark how the courage of one man has roused that of many. A whole tribe has fortitude sufficient to follow in a cause, wherein not one man was found daring enough to profess himself a leader. This is one motive, among many, to aim at being singularly good. Mark the timidity of conscious guilt. Levi was the least numerous of all the tribes; but engaged in the cause of God and truth, the myriads of offending Israelites shrink from their attack, or fall down before them. Mark how dreadful is the brow of justice roused to vengeance. "Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every man

upon his son, and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day," Verse 29. What a night of horror and remorse must have succeeded a day of impiety, madness and slaughter! What an awful to-morrow, the day of reckoning, to follow that dismal night!

But the case, though dangerous, is not desperate, while there is a Moses to intercede. Has my offended Father so much tenderness left, as to upbraid, to reprove, to chastise me? His displeasure, though depressing, is not intolerable; but silent anger, resentment that neglects, that shuns, that leaves me to myself, is a burthen too heavy for me to bear. If God vouchsafe to speak to me, though in thunder; to answer me, though from the whirlwind; there is hope concerning me. But if he say within himself, " Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone," then I am indeed lost and undone.

The intercession of Moses, in behalf of the people, now assumes a tone peculiarly earnest and affecting. "And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin: and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written," Verses 31, 32. It is hardly credible that, on this passage, a system of piety has been built so refined as to issue in absurdity and contradiction. Moses is here supposed, by interpreters of a certain complexion, to express the utmost readiness to renounce his eternal salvation for what he apprehended to be the greater glory of God, and if it could be the condition of procuring salvation to Israel. Resignation to the divine will, according to them, is imperfect, till a man can cheerfully and deliberately prefer his own everlasting damnation to all the joys of heaven, if the higher interests of public good, and the glory of God can be thereby promoted. This, to some visionary minds, may have a specious appearance of

a more sublime piety: but it is both unnatural and unscriptural; and therefore is not piety at all. As it is fallen in my way, and as this text in Moses has been connected with a famous passage in the New Testament of similar import, I will take the liberty to speak at some length, and with much plainness, upon the subject; it being a principal object in the plan of these Lectures, to unfold and recommend the religion of the Bible; that is, the religion of good sense, to the neglect of all human systems, and all useless speculations, which have not an obvious foundation in scripture and reason, and which do not obviously tend to promote human virtue and happiness.

Now, we hesitate not a moment to affirm, that the doctrine attempted to be built on the united texts of Moses and of Paul, has not the foundation of the prophet and of the apostle to rest upon; and that it is not calculated to serve any one purpose of religion, wisdom or virtue. The passage in the New Tastament alluded to, is that of the great apostle of the Gentiles, and runs thus, "For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh," Rom. ix. 3. It is too well known to need any proof, that there are in every language, and among all nations of the world, certain modes of expression in common use, which it were unfair to interpret according to the literal import of the words, and which accordingly, if translated into a foreign language, and applied to the modes of thought and expression used in a different age and country, might convey a meaning very different from the original one, perhaps diametrically opposite to it. Is there a man in his senses, who will pretend to assert that Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, one thousand five hundred and fifty years before Christ, affixed the same idea to these words, "Blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written," Verse 32,

which a dogmatical maker of systems in France or England in the eighteenth century thinks proper to affix to them? Is it a certain point that the apostle Paul and such an one, mean precisely the same thing, when the former writes "anathema," and the latter, in the phraseology of his own language, thinks fit to render it by the word "accursed?" In truth, both expressions evidently are figurative, and can be fully understood only by appealing to the genius of the original languages, the spirit of the men who use them, and the occasion on which they are employed. Moses, in a moment, explains what he understands by "the book which God had written." For what saith the answer of God to this expostulation? "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book," Verse 33. And what saith the history? "All that generation died in the wilderness," without being admitted into the land of promise, according to the original destination of Providence, or as it was " written in God's book." Follow Moses to a similar situation on another occasion, and see how he expresses himself; and let the one passage explain the other. The people became discontented with their food at Tabera, and lusted for the provision of Egypt; God was displeased, and threatened to consume them, Moses, grieved in spirit, thus presumes to expostulate. "And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, (as a nursingfather beareth the suckling child) unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat. I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me,

kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness," Numb. xi. 11-15. The expression, "Kill me out of hand," is plainly equivalent to that used in Exodus, "Blot me out of the book which thou hast written." What then is the fair meaning and construction of the words of Moses? "Lord, grant the pardon of this people to the prayers of thy servant; who would rather submit to everlasting misery than fail to obtain his request?" Horrid, blasphemous, absurd! No, but nature, piety and patriotism unite in saying as he does, "Lord, if thy decree against this people may not be reversed, if justice demand their utter extermination, let my eyes be first closed in peace. Subject me not to the cruel mortification of surviving all my nation, and of enduring the insults and scorn of our enemies. In mercy take me first out of the world, where I should only lead a life of sorrow and regret, heavier than death itself." The word anathema used by the apostle is of the same import with the Hebrew word . They both denote a person or thing devoted, separated by a vow or curse, one excommunicated and separated from society. And his meaning is this, “I most solemnly protest; God and my own conscience are my witnesses, that I speak the truth as it is in my heart; the infidelity of my countrymen after the flesh, is a matter of the deepest concern and regret to me; to such a degree, that if it could be the means of cureing their prejudices, and bringing them to Christ the Redeemer, I care not in what estimation I might be held in the church. Let me cease to be an apostle, let me be as one cut off from the society of the faithful, for some atrocious crime; let me be vile and contemptible in the eyes of the world; let but the Israel of God be gathered to the Redeemer, and brought within the bond of the covenant of grace." Moreover, Paul does not directly form even this wish; but conditionally, "I could wish," were it lawful for me to