"I do APPOINT my bow in the cloud to be a sign or token of the covenant between me and the earth."

OBJ. 3. If all mankind sprang from one white pair (Noah and his wife), it is impossible to account for the origin of the blacks.

ANSWER.-This difference of colour does not invalidate the Mosaic Narrative: for it has been ascertained that the influence of climate, and the local circumstances of air, water, food, customs, &c. are abundantly sufficient to account for the dissimilarity in the appearance of different nations.

ОJв. 4.-The peopling of America and of several islands, in which mischievous terrestrial animals have been found, has also been urged as an objection to the universality of the deluge.

ANSWER. The straits that divide North America from Tartary are so narrow, as to admit of a very easy passage from one continent to the other; and the resemblance found between the inhabitants of the opposite sides of that passage, and their uncivilised state and rude ignorance of the arts, prove them to have had one common origin.

VII. The BUILDING of the TOWER of BABEL

Is circumstantially mentioned by Berosus, a Chaldæan historian : according to Josephus, it is mentioned by Hestiæus and one of the antient Sybils; and, as Eusebius informs us, by Abydenus and Eupolemus. That it was constructed with burnt bricks and bitumen, is attested by Justin, Quintus Curtius, and Vitruvius, and also by the relations of modern travellers.

VIII. The HISTORY of the DESTRUCTION of SODOM and GOMORRAH

Is attested by Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Solinus, Tacitus, Pliny, and Josephus, whose accounts mainly agree with the Mosaic Narrative: and their reports concerning the physical appearance of the Dead Sea are confirmed, in all material points, by the relations of all modern travellers.

IX. Antient historians, cited by Josephus and Eusebius, make mention of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

X. The DEPARTURE of the Children of Israel from Egypt, and their miraculous passage of the Red Sea,

Are attested by Berosus, Artapanus, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Numenius, Justin, and Tacitus.

XI. The HEATHEN WRITERS borrowed images from the accounts communicated in the Scriptures.

Such are the representations of their Deities being veiled in clouds, &c.; together with several religious institutions, and other particulars.

XII. Many other occurrences related in the Old Testament appear to have given rise to various stories among the

antients.

Thus, the story of Iphigenia being sacrificed by her father Agamemnon, was borrowed from the circumstance of Jephthah's devoting his daughter. The story of Scylla having cut off the purple lock of her father, Nisus, and given it to his enemy, Minos, was in all probability taken from the history of Sampson's being shaved. Herodotus relates the departure of the sun from its course four times, which seems to refer to the times of Joshua and Hezekiah. Numerous other instances occur, in which scripture characters and events are mentioned by heathen writers.

XIII. Lastly, the FERTILITY of the Soil of Palestine Is confirmed by the unanimous testimony of antient writers, as well as of most, if not all the travellers who have visited that country and, if Palestine were as well inhabited and as well cultivated as formerly, its produce unquestionably would exceed all calculation.

Besides these attestations from natural and profane history, we may consider the Jews themselves as bearing testimony, to this day, in all countries of the world, to the truth of their ancient history, that is, to the truth of the Old Testament. Allow this, and it will be easy to see, why they still persist in their attachment to that religion, those laws, and those predictions, which so manifestly condemn them, both in past times and in the present. Suppose, however, that any considerable alter

ations have been made in their ancient history, that is, any such alteration as may answer their purposes of infidelity, and their present state will be inexplicable.

$ 2.Testimonies of Profane Writers to the Credibility of the NEW

TESTAMENT.

I. Testimonies of Jewish and Pagan Authors to the ACCOUNTS of PRINCES and GOVERNORS mentioned in the New Testament.

Thus, Josephus, the Jewish historian, and various antient writers, mention Herod, Archelaus, Pontius Pilate, and other persons, whose names occur in the New Testament; and they differ but little from the Evangelical Historians, concerning their offices and characters.

II. The Evangelical Writers agree with Josephus, and with profane Authors respecting the SECTS, MORALS, and CUSTOMS of the Jews.

III. The CHARACTERS and PURSUITS of Heathen Nations, for instance, the Cretans, Athenians, &c. which are occasionally introduced in the New Testament, are corroborated by the testimonies of profane writers.

IV. Testimonies of JEWISH ADVERSARIES to the Name and Faith of Christ.

1. JOSEPHUS bears testimony to the character, miracles, and doctrines of Jesus Christ, in the eighteenth book of his Jewish Antiquities, Chap. iii. Sect. 3., which passage, though rejected by some writers as spurious, has been satisfactorily demonstrated to be genuine.

2. The TALMUDs, or Books containing the Jewish Traditions, the rabbinical constitutions, and explications of the law, though blended with falsehood, refer to the nativity of Jesus Christ; they relate his journey into Egypt; and do not deny that he performed numerous eminent miracles.

V. Testimonies of HEATHEN ADVERSARIES to the Christian Name and Faith.

1. Mention is made of the LIFE and CHARACTER of JESUS CHRIST in the Acta Pilati, (which were an account sent by Pilate to Rome of the transactions that occurred in his province, and to which the Christian writers, Justin and Tertullian, appealed in their apologies), and also in the writings of the heathen historians, Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny, and Ælius Lampridius. And Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian, who were the earliest learned opposers of the Christian Religion, bear evidence to the genuineness of the books received by Christians, and consequently to the truth of the history of the Life and Character of Jesus Christ.

2. To the INNOCENCY of LIFE, and constancy of the first Christians in the profession of their faith, explicit testimony is borne, during the Neronian persecution (A.D. 95), by Tacitus, Suetonius, Martial, and Juvenal; and the celebrated epistle of the Younger Pliny, which was written to the emperor Trajan, A.D. 107, together with that emperor's reply or rescript, are valuable documents, corroborating the truth of the New Testament, inasmuch as they attest

(1.) The great progress made by the Christian Religion in a short space of time.

(2.) The fortitude of the Christians in suffering, and their steady perseverance in the faith of Jesus Christ.

(3.) That they disowned all the Gods of the Heathens, paid divine worship to their God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and devoted themselves to the practice of moral virtue.

(4.) The innocent and virtuous lives of the first Christians, whose religion was their only crime.

Further, Celsus ridicules the Christians for their worship of Christ, and attests the gradual increase of their numbers. He also acknowledges that there were modest, temperate, and intelligent persons among them; and bears witness to their faith in Christ. Lucian also, another bitter enemy of the Christian Faith, has borne testimony to its principal facts and doctrines, as well as to the upright character of the Christians: and their fortitude and constancy under persecution are referred to by the philosopher Epictetus (A.D. 109), the emperor Marcus Antoninus (A. D. 161), and by Galen (A. D. 200). Porphyry also (A. D. 270), and the emperor Julian (A.D. 361), have both attested the truth of many facts and things related in the New Testament.

VI. Refutation of the OBJECTION to the Credibility of

the Scripture History, which has been raised, in consequence of the silence of profane historians to the facts therein recorded.

That silence may be satisfactorily accounted for, by their great ignorance of facts which occurred very long before their own time, and by the peculiar contempt which several of them entertained both for Jews and Christians, arising from the diversity of their customs and institutions. To these considerations we may add

1. That many books of those remote ages are lost, in which it is very possible that some mention might have been made of these facts.

2. Some of the Roman Historians, whose works have come down to our time, are defective.

3. That of the few remaining historians, who wrote about the ages in question, most were engaged upon other subjects. Besides, no profane historians, whether Jews or Gentiles, take notice of all occurrences.

4. That several of the facts relating to Christ and his miracles, coming from Jews, would be slighted as fabulous by the Gentile writers, especially considering, on the one hand, how common prodigies and magical stories were; and, on the other, how superstitious and credulous the Jews were reputed to be; and,

5. That the first appearance of the Christian scheme would shock them, as seeming so improbable, and so contrary to their received maxims, that it cannot excite surprise, that many of them cared but little to inquire into the evidences and facts relating to Christianity. Many, however, who did inquire, doubtless became Christians; their testimony therefore is not to be reckoned in this place.

$3.

Collateral Testimonies to the Truth of the Facts recorded in the Scriptures, from ancient Coins, Medals, and Marbles.

These are confessedly among the most important proofs of antient history in general; and the confirmation which they afford of many particulars recorded in the Scriptures, is not less important and decisive than the series of evi