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truths are partly inferred and partly experimentally obtained; and the proofs resulting from them will perhaps appear to many as cogent and certain as a direct demonstration. By some they may be esteemed more satisfactory and intimately affecting, as they afford more copious and redundant conviction from the various concurring articles upon which they are founded. Such evidence is best adapted to the general apprehension of mankind, and is certainly very conclusive,

Conclusion.

Such are the arguments which I have produced in proof of the divine mission of Moses. It is an article which deserves our most serious consideration. For if the law, which was only preparatory, can be shewn to be of divine original, that which succeeded and was completed in Christ must have an equal sanction. The proofs for the one operate as strongly for the other, and point out the power of God, the interposition of divine wisdom. And as the latter dispensation is attended with a greater efficacy, and is the very ultimate to

T

which the former was directed, there can be no doubt of its superiority, as well as certainty. In short, if the Jewish lawgiver had his mission from heaven, and his laws were of divine inspiration, we must allow the same preroga tive to the evangelists and apostles, and the same sanction to their writings. We may therefore abide by the declaration of St Paul: πασα γραφη θεοπνευτος---all scripture is of divine inspiration.

OF THE

PLACE OF RESIDENCE

Given to the CHILDREN of ISRAEL in EGYPT,

AND

Of their DEPARTURE from it.

To determine these articles it will be necessary to consider, first, what the sacred historian has said upon the subject; and, in the next place, to illustrate and support his evidence by every article of intelligence, which profane authors have transmitted to this purpose, And though the events to which we must refer are of very high antiquity, yet we shall find a wonderful concurrence of circumstances towards their illustration and proof; such as few histories can pretend to, though of far later date. All our intelligence concerning past facts must be either from oral tradition or written evidence. And the more distant the fact, the more uncertain we might expect it to be. But this is by no means the The histories of Moses, however re

case.

mote, are much better authenticated than many of Greece or Rome; not only than those which approach nearer to the same æra, buț even than many which are far posterior in time.

In order therefore to illustrate the history with which I am engaged, I shall begin first with those passages in scripture, which principally relate to the descent of the Israelites into Egypt. And I shall then proceed to those which describe their departure. After this I shall consider the various evidences in profane writers, which can at all elucidate the points in question. These we shall find to be not a few; and they will afford considerable weight to those internal proofs with which this history is attended.

Genesis, ch. xlv. ver. 9.

up to my father, and say unto

Haste

Haste ye, and go him, Thus saith thy

son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

V. 10. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast.

Ch. xlvi. ver. 28. And he (Jacob) sent Ju

dah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. V. 29. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father.

Ch. xlvii. ver. 1. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren are come out of the land of Canaan; and be hold they are in the land of Goshen, St.

V. 5. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, &c. V. 6. The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell: in the land of Goshen let them dwell.

V. 11. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

The Situation of some of the Places determined, upon which the History depends.

Though it may not be in our power to ascertain precisely the limits of the land of Goshen, as it was in the time of Moses, on account of the alterations made by the overflowing of the Nile, yet we may shew determinately where it lay, from its situation in respect

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