church, and the feveral churches of the "Heathen nations, which, under the gospel, "were all defigned to make but one church or one spouse; therefore, under the gospel, po"lygamy ceafes, and but one wife is allowed." If this author will examine his Bible a little more closely, he will find himself mistaken both in his premises, and in his conclufon. In the first place, it cannot be true that " polygamy was partly indulged, only upon fome typical occafions, and then only among the patriarchs and some of the kings."-This appears from the law, Deut. xxi. 15. which was enacted after the patriarchal age had ceased, and many ages before there was a king in Ifrael. That law is framed in general terms, fo as to include any and every man-that has two wives :—it does not fay, if a patriarch or king hath two wives-but literally-* f כי תהיין לאיש שתי נשים if "there be to a man"-or-as we tranflate it "if a man have—two wives" See Taylor Concor. fub voc. п, N° 82. It is apparent, then, that the law being general, it was meant to regulate a general practice. It is also untrue in point of fact, that " polygamy "was partly indulged only to patriarchs and "fome of the kings;" witnefs Elkanah, who was neither patriarch nor king, but a Le * * So it is faid of Gideon-He had feventy fons of his body begotten, for he had many wives. Judg. viii. 30. Of fair, he had thirty fons. Judg. ix. 4. Ibzan of Bethlehem had thirty fons and thirty daughters. Judg. xii. 9. Abdon had forty fons, ver. 14. Thefe were neither patriarchs nor kings, but all judges of Ifrael, and muft, by the numbers of their children, be concluded to have been polygamists as well as Gideon, vite, defcended from Kohath, the son of Levi, 1 Chron. vi. 27, 28; and yet we find, by his history, 1 Sam. i. 1, &c. that polygamy was indulged to him as evidently as to any patriarch or king that ever lived. From all which it appears, that our author's conclufion"therefore, under the gospel, polygamy ceafes, "and but one wife is allowed"-falls to the ground. But let us look back again to Deut. xxi. 15.-That law was evidently made to regulate the disposal of a man's inheritance who had two wives, and to prevent the difherifon of the first-born through favour and affection towards the child who was not fo, because born of the favourite wife. This could not concern the patriarchs, who had all been long dead-nor (immediately at least) the kings, who did not exist till near four bundred years afterwards-nor the priests and Levites, who could have no inheritance to dispofe of. Numb. xviii. 20, 21. Deut. x. 9. xii. 12. latter part. Deut. xviii. 1, 2.—If then it did not concern the people at large, it was nugatory, for it concerned nobody at all. This is furely a very fufficient proof that polygamy was an allowed practice of the Jews * in ge neral. * The modern Jews forbid polygamy among the people, and this from the authority of fome paffage in the Talmud; but the reafons affigned to me, on difcourfing with a learned few on this fubject, were of the prudential kind; fuch as the people in general being too poor to maintain more than one wife, the quarrels it occafioned, and the like.-I asked him if he looked upon it as forbidden by the law of God?" No, GOD forbid," replied he earnestly; " what then must be the cafe of Abraham, 66 Часов, neral. The all-wife GOD cannot be fuppofed to enact fo pofitive a law, if there were no perfons who could be objects of it; and this law to regulate certain circumstances which did not exist; nor is it easy to imagine, that if thofe circumftances were finful, they would not have been as explicitly condemned, as they are here plainly allowed and regulated. What has been obferved above, concerning the law of Deut. xxi. 15. holds equally true of Exod. xxi. 10. which had as little to do with patriarchs and kings as the other had. I cannot conclude this part of my fubject without mentioning a cafe, which those would do well to confider, who confound polygamy, with adultery, and plead the authority of the great and infallible interpreter of GOD's mind and will for fo doing; I mean the cafe of Abimelech, King of Gerar; who, having already a wife of his own, fent and took Sarah the wife of Abraham, Gen. xx. 2. But GoD came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and faid to him-Be 66 Jacob, David, &c. ?" He likewife told me, that this prohibition was "not univerfal, for that in fome coun 66 tries polygamy was ftill practifed among the Jews." He added, that even here, if a Few married a woman, and "had no children by her, after ten years he might marry "another wife." So, where a man defiles a virgin, "The fhall be his wife, agreeable to Exod. xxii. 16. and Deut. xxii. 28, 29." I take the truth to be, that the Jews, as to the business of polygamy, ufually conform to the cuftom of the country where they live. "As for the "modern Jews," fays Leo Mutinenfis, "thofe of them who live in the Eaft, ftill keep up their antient practice of polygamy; whereas in Germany they are not "allowed this privilege, and in Italy very rarely, and "only in cafe a man hath lived ten years with his wife without iffue." See Puffend. book vi. ch. 1. $ 16. bold, bold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou haft taken-for fhe is a man's wife. Here GOD plainly fet forth His thoughts of adultery, or taking a man's wife; that it is a fin to be punished with death. However, Abimelech had not actually defiled her, and fhews that, if he had not been deceived by Abraham's faying that Sarah was his fifter, he would not have taken her at all.-Said be not unto me, She is my fifter? and fhe, even she herSelf faid, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart, and innocency of my hands, have I done this. And GOD faid unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst it in the integrity of thine heart, for I also witheld thee from finning against Me, therefore fuffered I thee not to touch her. The fin of adultery is certainly marked very strongly, but here was a fair opportunity to have as ftrongly marked polygamy, if that was a fin alfo. How could Abimeleck, having a wife, ver. 17, take any other woman innocently? and yet GOD allows this to have been done, in his answer to the plea of Abimelech. Though he was innocent as to an intentional adultery, being ignorant that Sarah was Abraham's wife, yet Abimelech must know that he had a wife of his own, and therefore could not innocently, and in the integrity of his heart, take any other woman of any kind, if polygamy was a fin. But fuppofing this poor heathen was ignorant, and * * "It appears by this whole hiftory of Abimelech, "that he was a man of great virtue in those days; not "an idolater, but a worshipper of the true God, as Mel"chizedeck, the high-priest of that country, was. trick on Gen. xx. 7. Pa therefore therefore said this knowing no better, yet GOD could not be ignorant of His own mind and will, when he faid--Yea, I know that thou didft this in the integrity of thine heart, for I alfo witheld thee from finning against Me. ther, why did he not fay-" Thou wicked "wretch, how canft thou dare to talk of the Ra innocency of thine hands, and of the integrity of thine heart?-fuppofing thou didst not "know Sarah to be another man's wife, yet "the taking any woman, as thou haft already a wife of thine own, is against the law of "marriage, and therefore a mortal fin." Instead of this, GoD allows his plea, and the moment Abimelech restored Sarah to her bufband, GOD graciously removes every mark of his displeasure, ver. 17, 18. So ABRAHAM + prayed Who was himself at that hour a polygamist. See Gen. xvi. 3, 4. It is likewife to be obferved, that Abraham was a Chriftian believer, as much fo as Paul was, who tells us, the gospel was preached to Abraham-that he believed it was juftified by faith-and that they which be of faith, are bleffed with faithful Abraham, who is (fpiritually) the father of all believers in CHRIST. Comp. Rom. iv. 16, &c. with Gal. iii. 9, 14. and John viii. 56. Abraham would have been exceedingly puzzled, to have found out what the gospel which was preached to him (and in which he believed and rejoiced) had to do with polygamy, or to have accounted for the poffibility of the children of his faith, in future ages, finding out that it was the fame thing with adultery; when Abraham's own eyes and ears were witnesses of there being put as great a difference between polygamy and adultery, as could poffibly exift between any two things in creation; and this, by the determination of that GOD, who afterwards gave the law to Mofes at Mount Sinai-and who bore teftimony concerning Abraham--that he had obeyed His voice-kept His CHARGE-His COMMANDMENTS-HiS STATUTESand His LAWS. See Gen. xxvi. 5.-But how is this confiftent |