of suffering to them, that the delusion of fancying them to be divinities might be dissipated.

The next portion of the Divine plan was to lead them into the Arabian desert, and there to reveal himself in tremendous majesty to the whole people at Mount Sinai, and by a personal and awful voice intelligible to them, to proclaim the four great precepts as to their conduct to him, and the six others on the main subjects of the conduct of mankind towards each other which constitute the decalogue. He then made himself their immediate sovereign, established the form of their civil government subordinate to him, appointed all the civil and social laws which were to be their public legislation and private morals, and likewise instituted that mode of worship by which they were to address themselves to him. This he made to consist of two great divisions-supplication and thanksgiving. He formed their public rites of that nature as to cause them to present themselves to him as offending creatures, needing his forgiveness, and petitioning for it, and offering sacrifices of living animals as an atoning medium by which they were to obtain it. He required them to recollect continually that he was their preserver and benefactor, and to express their gratitude to him by their offerings and verbal adoration.

It was also made his grand moral command that they should cherish the feeling of affection to him in its utmost ardour. The principle of their actions and feelings towards each other and all human kind was made to be that habitual benevolence and philanthropy which would resemble and equal their own regard for themselves.* Under this system he established them in the provinces of Palestine or Canaan, displaying in their settlement another example, for their admonition, of the calamities which he brought on nations when they became universally impious and wicked.

He made their own happiness and national prosperity dependant on their obedience to him. This principle of his determined administration of their state, and of every other, was announced in his name by Moses to the Israelitish nation on various occasions, and most emphatically in his last address to them. He had told them that by steadily cherishing and

* The last four books of the Pentateuch have preserved to us the fall detail of all these circumstances.

obeying the counsel and precepts he gave them, they would become, distinguishingly, a wise and intellectual people.*

He likewise had declared to them, that if they would thus conform to the wishes of their God, was the Divine intention to regard them as his peculiar people; to exalt them far above all the other nations of the earth in honour and celebrity; and to make them eminent for their moral sanctity among mankind.t

This splendid destiny he exhorted them not to lose. He repeated his assurance of it, with continual blessings from their Almighty sovereign in every earthly comfort and prosperity, if they would be faithful in their attachment and duty to him. But if they deviated into the contrary conduct; if they would not observe the laws and institutions, nor obey the commands, nor cultivate the true worship of their instructing and legislating God, then national afflictions, foreign conquerors, and a civil dissolution were to befall them on this account and from this cause,ll their capital and other fortified

"I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep, therefore, and do them; for this will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and shall say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."-Deut., c. iv., v. 5, 6.

t "The Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldst keep all his commandments; and to make thee HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayst be a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken."-Ib., c. xxvi., v. 18, 19.

"And it shall come to pass, IF thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God WILL SET THEE ON HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH." And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee."-Ib., xxviii., v. 1, 10.

"And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field! Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle; the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep! Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store! Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out! The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee-in all that thou settest thine band unto."-Ib., e. xxviii., v. 2-8.

The 28th chapter of Deuteronomy details the maledictions that would pursue them if they forsook and disobeyed the gracious Being who called upon them to become his favoured and peculiar people. The moral reason is thus explicitly declared: "All these shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed;

cities were to be besieged and taken,* and they were to be driven from their native land, and extenuated to a small number, and to be dispersed all over the world, but find rest, comfort, peace, and settlement nowhere.‡

Another great principle, also announced by the Deity through Moses to his people, for the instruction of all mankind, was, that the abandonment of the transgression, and the repentant mind and feeling for having committed it, and the sincere return to their sacred duties, should always end the displeasure, procure the forgiveness, and regain the favour of their God. This was emphatically declared to them with impressive kindness, and made, as it were, one of the laws of the connexion between him and them, and intended to be equally so between him and all mankind.

The extension and application of this important principle of the Divine plan and conduct of all the populations of mankind were in an after age explicitly inculcated by the prophet Jeremiah. He was directed to proclaim it in the name of the Deity, as the general rule of his providential administration in continuing or subverting the dynasties or empires on the earth.Il

BECAUSE thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee."—Deut., c. xxviii., v. 45.

"A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favour to the young, shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayst fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD."-lb., v. 50, 52, 58.

"And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldst not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. And ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it."-Ib., v. 62, 63.

"And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life."-lb., v. 64-6.

"But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, IF thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice, for the Lord thy God is a merciful God, he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swear unto them."-Ib., c. iv., v. 29-31.

"Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, O house of Israel;!

The Deity acted upon this principle towards the Jews several times between the death of Joshua and the accession of Saul, as narrated in the book of Judges, and frequently afterward. It was very strikingly illustrated in the case of Ahab. When the last fatal denunciations were uttered by Elijah against him for his persisting in iniquity, the long-resisting king became unexpectedly penitent; then the threatened calamity was immediately postponed to a future generation of his descendants, who renewed the transgression in a more aggravated shape.*

LETTER XL.

The Divine Commands to the Jewish Nation as to their Poor.-Reasoned Principles on the production in Society of all its Necessaries.-The Divine Plan has been that every Producer is a Benefactor, and that all are conferring Benefits on each other. It is the Duty and Interest of Society to provide the Mechanism and the Means, that all who are in want of Employment should be furnished with it."

MY DEAR SYDNEY,

Among the moral precepts which the Deity expressed to the nation he had so specially formed, we find in those which he directed to regulate their conduct towards each other principles as peculiar and superior as those which he inculcated with regard to himself. Instead of confining them to the

cannot I do with you as this potter. Behold! as the clay in the potter's hands, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel!

"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it, IF THAT NATION against whom I have pronounced TURN FROM THEIR EVIL, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them."-Jeremiah, c. xviii., v. 5-10.

*"And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the Word of the Lord came unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humblest himself before me? BECAUSE he humbleth himself before me I will not bring the evil in his days but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house."—1 Kings, c. xxi., v. 27–29.

mere rules of justice on which the ethical codes of antiquity were founded, he extended them to require kindness, affectionate feeling, and mutual aid; sympathy and benevolence in the mind, as well as in the actions of every one, towards those with whom he was living in neighbourhood, or in national society, or had any dealings or intercourse, or who should need his friendly services.

These feelings were solemnly enjoined by the Deity in his laws to the Jews in this emphatic command :

"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord;"* implying, who require this of you. To this was added the injunction, that every seven years all creditors were to release their debtors of what they might owe them, and claim it no more;† and they were to do this act of generosity with a willing heart, and not to be severe as it approached.‡ If they did so, the Divine blessing was largely promised them. They were also at the same period to liberate their Hebrew bondservant, and to give him ample supplies on parting with him. To the poor they were to be always liberal, and to regard them as brethren.

"If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that he wanteth.

"For the poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy in the land."T

Such being the Divine instructions and injunctions on this

*Leviticus, c. xix., v. 18.

Deuteronomy, c. xv., v. 1.

"Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying,, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him naught; and he cry unto. the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee."-Deut., c. xv., v. 9.

"Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shalt not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto." -Ib., v. 10.

|| Ib., v. 12. "And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him."-Ib., v. 13.

Deut., c. xv. v. 7, 8-11.