the fame, mutatis mutandis: And whoever teacheth us to study, what they call the Wisdom of the Heathens, or any other Sort of Apoftates, and fo mix it with this, or make us neglect this, is Antichrift, and an Inftrument to deprive Men of Salvation.

We cannot conceive how Jehovah in Justice could have put Men upon a better Foot to be happy, to enjoy his Prefence, than in the State he created, formed and placed him; and when he had forfeited, if the Aleim had given Man a Chart Blanch, confiftent with their Honour ; Man, nay all the Men fince, could not have found out a Method to have been reftored upon more eafy, more honourable Terms.

The Clergy had fo mangled the Terms of Salvation, and for Want of proper Qualifications, were fo unable to prove them from Scripture, that Men of great Parts and able to reafon, found no fufficient confiftent Evidence, fo made a Jeft not of the Terms, but of what the Clergy afferted and could not explain and prove: Now the Scales are turned, and those who are able to reafon, are infallibly Christians.

The Plea by which thofe Fools [the loofe Thinkers] have impofed upon the Vulgar, is contained in the unftated, undetermined Words of Liberty, Freedom, &c. State the Cafe and thofe Words are for us. Man has the Power, of Things within his Reach, to do what he will; if God have laid down Terms

of

of Salvation, and è contra, (he has the Power) to fave or destroy himself; but he has not the Power, if he choose to destroy himself, to have the State of those who choose to be faved ; this would be to be ftronger than Jehovah.

The firft Queftion is, what State Man is in, and whether this is to be refolved out of each Man's Head, or by his Judge: If he is innocent, and has Power to take Heaven after his own Imagination, all is well: If he is fubject to the Laws of his Judge, and a Slave to Satan, to Sin, and even to his Appetites, and cannot free himself, where is his Liberty, his Freedom? He is at Liberty to continue fo, but cannot free himself of this Slavery, fo has no Choice; Christianity gives him Choice, Liberty to continue fo or free himself: Surely he is still at Liberty; and if he chooses to be free, he has Freedom; and as he is at Liberty any Time to choose Freedom, fo is he at Liberty any Time, if he diflike his Freedom to return to Slavery *.

The

Thefe Fools pretend they give a better Proof of their Liberty of Choofing, by preferring Slavery, than they do who prefer Liberty. When Liberty and Slavery or Life and Death are fet before Man, and he has Power to take either, what a Grimace is it to affert with a grave Face, that he only fhews his Liberty who makes the worst Choice? The Chriftian has it in his Power to return to Slavery, or continue in Liberty; and the Unbeliever has it in his Power to continue in Slavery or return to Liberty; doth he give a stronger Proof of his Freedom of Choofing by continuing a Slave, than he does who continues in the Liberty wherewith Chrift has

E

fet

The Times of keeping the Jewish Feafts.

W

HERE the Construction of two Parts in Scripture seem to contradict, and any one writes in Favour of that Construction which contradicts the received Opinion; to preserve the Authority of the Text, he ought to fhew, that the Words, which were conftrued fo as to gain the received Opinion, are capable of another Conftruction, fo as to be confiftent with the Part which contradicted them, as well as any other Evidence from Times or Things which induced him to oppose the received Opinion; I have in the Introduction to M -fine Principio fuppofed that the Feast of Tabernacles which the Jews make the 15th of September was the 15th of June, because it was 7 Days after the Feast of Ingathering. We have no authentick Account how the Jews kept their annual calendar before they went to Egypt, nor between their

fet us free? Who gives the wifeft Proof, let them confider ? But fuppofe the Condition of the Believer and Unbeliever were the fame; furely, he who accepts the Terms is as much at Liberty, enjoys his Freedom as a free Agent, as much as he who rejects them, because he was not forced to accept, nor is he forcibly refrained from rejecting; but may reject when he pleafes: And if the Unbeliever may accept, when he pleases, (which is very much to be doubted, after he has once rejeced) they are then but upon a Foot of Equality, as to Freedom of Choice or the Ufe they make of it.

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coming out and the Babylonish Captivity; much lefs after their Return. All All agree what a Year is, but the Queftions are, where it begun, how they compofed Months to make up the Circle, fox when their Feafts were kept. They tell us the Jews had two Beginnings, the First and ancient was civil, and begun with the World, in the Autumnal Equinox, which they make the first of, or some Day in Tifri, the seventh Month, the fame as our September; because they fay Fruit was then ripe: Their Authority, as Schindler tells us, is taken from Ezek. xl. 1. In the five and twentieth Year of our Captivity, in the Beginning of the Year, in the tenth of the Month, in the fourteenth Year after the City was fmitten. It does not appear whether this was the Jewish Account, or the Chaldee Account, or the Account of the Captivity; nor even what Month it was; nor that the Beginning of the Year had any Relation to the Creation. The Second they fay was instituted at their coming out of Egypt, in the Middle of a Month called Abib, which was in the vernal Equinox. They tell us that the Hebrews had no Names for their Months before they went into Egypt, but in order of Firft, Second, &c. If this be true, 'tis likely they had learned to count after the Egyptian Manner, and 'tis likely that it was the Name of an Egyptian Month, but not of their firft Month, and naturally expreffed what Month it was, viz. that in which Things were ripe. E 2 But

But they fay, it was to be either the first or chief in the ecclefiaftical Account of the Jews. They tell us that the first Sort of Months was of such a Number of Days, as that twelve should make up a folar or fimple Year; (we will fuppofe they mean the Fraction of Hours to be inferted as we do now.) The fecond Sort were Lunar and one Intercalary, that is, the Days beyond 12 Moons, or 354 Days, were afcertained, and added by those who had the ecclefiaftical Authority, and the last or broken Month was called by the fame Name as their Twelfth with the Addition of the Second. And they tell us that after they came out of Egypt into Canaan, they ufed no Names for their Months but numerical Names. But it appears that befides the Month Abib, which had an Epithet used for it, they had Names 1 Reg. vi. 1. Zif second Month. v. 38. Bull the eighth Month. Ib. viii. 2. Ethanim the feventh Month. So it appears they had a Set of Names for their Months between Egypt and the Captivity: But it appears not whether they were fuch as they ufed before they went, or they were Egyptian. It does not It does not appear which was firft, or in what Order they stood, or whether ever Abib took place, or that they had two Sorts, or that they stood in two Orders. If they had when they counted 1, 2, 3, how must we determine which? "Tis certain they used Numbers for Months, which related to ecclefiaftical as well as civil Affairs, &c. n and wn for each; therefore the fecond Month