ist a celebrated chieftain of the name of Abraham, in some part of Asia, but I cannot believe that the Jews have descended from him, although they have fabricated a genealogy to that effect. Almost all the celebrated tribes that have inhabited Asia, have claimed their descent from this Abraham. Josephus says, that Abraham was skilled in arithmetic, astronomy, religion, and the arts, and that he was the teacher of those sciences to the Egyptians, and the nations round about Canaan and Chaldea: he mentions three authors who have written of Abraham. The first is Berosus, who says, "Af"ter the deluge, and during the tenth generation, there dwelt "amongst the Chaldeans, a most just, excellent, and upright man, and exercised in the knowledge of the celestial bodies.' The next is Hecateus, "who," he says, "wrote a volume of the history of Abraham, but has not transcribed any part of "it." The third is Nicholas Damascenus, from whose writings ઠંડ we have the following transcript:-" Abraham reigned in Damasco, where he was a stranger, whither he arrived with his armie, from a country situate above Babylon, called Chal"dæa, who a little while after, departing out of that region, "went and dwelt with his people, in a countrey, at that time, "called Chanaan, and at this day, Judæa, and his posteritie "multiplied therein." Nicholas Damascenus seems to know nothing of the Jews entering and coming out of Egypt. Josephus adds "The name of Abraham, even at this day, is "honourable in the country of Damasco, and there is a vil

lage to be seen which bears his name, and is called Abra"ham's House." I should observe that I have to put my trust in the translator of Josephus, who stands convicted of an interpolation respecting Jesus, whom the Christians call Christ, which means anointed. The edition I have before me is an old one, purporting to be translated from the Latin and French, and published in 1646, in London. I rather think I have seen in that edition, which bears the title of "Whiston's Josephus,' further interpolations respecting the Christians, a sect which are but once mentioned in this old edition before me, and that in the celebrated paragraph which the learned Christians of the present day have been obliged to confess to be an interpolation. Oh, Christianity! what impositions and subterfuges thy advocates proceed to, to protect thee! The emphatic expression of Gibbon strikes me at this moment, "PUT NOT THY TRUST IN TRANSLATORS." The remarks I have made will strike those who are acquainted with the early history of Asia, as probable. We can reach nothing but probabilities, and

those only by pointing out the improbabilities. The reader must judge for himself, and contrast my improbabilities and doubts with Mr. Horne's probabilities, possibilities, and credibilities.

I proceed with the book of books :-" And Abram said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo! one born "in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the “Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir;' "but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels, shail "be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, "Look now toward Heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be "able to number them: And he said unto him, So shall thy

seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it "to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the "Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give "thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it." In this last question, however, Abram does not readily believe the promise of the Lord to him. "And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of "three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram "of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. "And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the "midst, and laid each piece one against another; but the "birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon "the carcases, Abram drove them away." What are we to infer from this, but that the person with whom Abraham conferred, was some earthly chieftain, who was superior to him. The division of an animal was an Oriental form of a covenant, and the parties treating had to walk between the halves of the animal killed-it was a part of their superstition. But the Jewish or Christian priest will perhaps tell me, that there is a sequel in the same chapter to the foregoing: let us examine it, "And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon

Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him, "And he said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed "shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall "serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

and also that nation whom they serve, will I judge; and "afterward shall they come out with great substance. And "thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried "in a good old age. But in the fourth generation, they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went "down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a

"burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the "same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of "Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Ke"nites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the "Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the "Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the "Jebusites." We have now got through the fifteenth chapter, and was it not for the "smoking furnace," and "burning lamp," I can perceive no connection with the division of the animals. What had Abraham's "deep sleep" and "horror of great darkness," (if any one understands the latter phrase) to do with the former covenant? On what ground of justice, or what benefit, or satisfaction, could it be to Abraham, to be told that his descendants should be afflicted for four hundred years, or that four whole generations of them should see nothing but servitude and misery? The case is this: this tale was written after the Jews had been subject to the bondage of the Egyptians, and is here offered as a prophecy and a palliative of the disgrace, I can only add a sentence of my litany to these observations. "From such a friend as the Jewish Deity, good Lord deliver me and my descendants." The whole book of Genesis we find composed of tales very similar to the style of the Koran, and no reasonable man would deny it to be a bad compilation of traditionary tales without connection or object, to which the Jewish priest has added much fiction, to enable him to trace his genealogy to Abraham. The fifteenth chapter is composed of the fragments of half a dozen different stories, all jumbled together without the least affinity.

I proceed with the sixteenth chapter, which we shall find a rare subject for a sacred book. So close was the intimacy between Abraham and his Lord, that the latter condescends to superintend and direct all his amours. Such tales might have suited the taste and disposition of Mahomet, but how the Jew or Christian can conscientiously hold them as sacred, I am at a loss to conceive. I have prepared the reader for the chapter as I shall be very brief in commenting on such subjects, lest I should find my deistical readers more chaste than the Jew or Christian, and incur their displeasure.

Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she "had an handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. And "Sarai said unto Abram, behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee go in unto my maid; it may be

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that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to "the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her "maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the "land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband to be his wife. "And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when "she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in "her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, my wrong be upon "thee; I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she "saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes; the "Lord judge between me and thee. But Abram said unto "Sarai, behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it પર pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she "fled from her face. And the Angel of the Lord found her "by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in "the way to Sheer. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, "whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she "said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. And the "Angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, behold, thou art "with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name "Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. "he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, "and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the 66 présence of all his brethren. And she called the name of "the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, have I also here looked after him that seeth me? "Wherefore the well was called Beerlahai-roi; behold, it is "between Kadeth and Bered. And Hagar bare Abram a re son; and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, "Ishmael. And Abram was fourscore and six years old, "when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram." I cannot trust myself with any comment on this chapter of the Holy Book. It needs none. There can be no excuse for the peevishness of Sarai. I shall very soon have to make some general observations on those ærial messengers called angels in the sacred scriptures. I now proceed with the seventeenth chapter.

And

"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the "Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I "will make my covenant between me and thee, and will (6 multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: "and God talked with him, saying, as for me, behold, my "covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many

And

nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, "but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many "nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant "between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their genc"rations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee "and thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to "thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all "the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I "will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, thou "shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after "thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye "shall keep, between me and you, and thy seed after thee; "Every man child among you shall be circumcised. "ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall "be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he "that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy "seed. He that is born in the house, and he that is bought "with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my "covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. "And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin " is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; "he hath broken my covenant. And God said unto Abraham, "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, "but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and "give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she "shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of "her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and "said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is an "hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years "old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael "might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife "shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name "Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an "everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as " for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold, I have blessed him, " and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceed"ingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a "great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, "which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next 66 year. And he left off talking with him, and God went up