the multitude; for those who have once believed that God is the inspector of their lives, will not permit themselves in any sin. And this is the character of our legislator, he was no impostor, no deceiver, as his revilers say, though unjustly, but such an one as they brag Minos to have been among the Greeks, and other legislators after him; for some of them suppose that they had their laws from Jupiter, while Minos said, that the revelation of his laws was to be referred to Apollo, and his oracle at Delphi, whether they really thought they were so derived, or supposed however, that they could persuade the people easily that so it was. But which of these it was who made the best laws, and which had the greatest reason to believe that God was their author, it will be easy, upon comparing those laws themselves together, to determine; for it is time that we come to that point [] t. Now there are innumerable differences in the particular customs and laws that are among all mankind, which a man may briefly reduce under the following heads: Some legislators have permitted their governments to be under monarchies, others put them under oligarchies, and others under a republican from; but our legislator had no regard to any of these forms, but he ordained our government to be, what, by a strained expression, may be termed a Theocracy,t by ascribing the authority and the power to God, and by persuading all the people to have a * That is, Moses really was, what the heathen legislators pretended to be, under a divine direction; nor does it yet appear that these pretensions to a supernatural conduct, either in these legislators or oracles, were mere delusions of men, without any demonaical impressions, nor that Josephus took them so to be, as the ancientest aud contemporary authors did still believe them to be supernatural This whole very large passage from [] to ***, is corrected by Dr. Hudfrom Eusebius's citation of it, Præp. Evangel. viii. 8. which is here not a little different from the present MSS. of Josephus. son, † This expression itself, Θεοκρατιαν απέδειξε το πολίτευμα, That Moses ordained the Jewish government to be a Theocracy, may be illustrated by that parallel expression in the antiquities, B. iii. ch. viii. § 9. vol. i. That, "Moses left it to God to be present at his sacrifices when he pleased, "and when he pleased to be absent." Both ways of speaking sound harsh in the ears of Jews and Christians, as do several other which Josephus uses to the heathens; but still they were not very improper in him, when he all along thought fit to accommodate himself, both in his antiquities, and in these his books against Apion, all written for the use of the Greeks and Romans, to their notions and language, and this as far as ever truth would give him leave. Though it be very observable withall, that he never uses such expressions in his books of the War, written originally for the Jews beyond Euphrates, and in their language, in all these cases. However, Josephus directly supposes the Jewish settlement, under Moses, to be a divine settlement, and indeed no other than a real Theocracy. * regard to him, as the author of all the good things that were enjoyed either in common by all mankind, or by each one in particular, and of all that they themselves obtained, by praying to him in their greatest difficulties. He informed them, that it was impossible to escape God's observation, even in any of our outward actions, or in any of our inward thoughts. Moreover, he represented God as unbegotten, and immutable, through all eternity, superior to all mortal conceptions in pulchritude; and, though known to us by his power, yet unknown to us as to his essence. I do not now explain how these notions of God are the sentiments of the wisest among the Grecians, and how they were taught them upon the principals that he afforded them. However, they testify, with great assureance that these notions are just, and agreeable to the nature of God, and to his majesty for Pythagoras, and Anaxagoras, and Plato, and the stoic philosophers that succeeded them, and almost all the rest are of the same sentiments, and had the same notions of the nature of God; yet durst not, these men disclose those true motives to more than a few, because the body of the people were prejudiced with other opinions beforehand. But our legislator, who made his actions agree to his laws, did not only prevail with those that were his contemporaries to agree with these his notions, but so firmly imprinted this faith in God upon all their posterity, that it never could be removed. The reason why the constitution of this legislation was ever better directed to the utility of all, than other legislations were, is this, that Moses did not make religion a part of virtue, but he *These excellent accounts of the divine attributes, and that God is not to be at all known in his essence, as also some other clear expressions about the resurrection of the dead, and the state of departed souls, &c. in this late work of Josephus's looks more like the exalted notions of the Essens, or rather Ebionite Christians, than of a mere Jew or Pharisee. The following large accounts also of the laws of Moses, seem to me to shew a regard to the higher interpretations and improvements of Moses's laws, derived from JeBus Christ, than to the bare letter of them in the Old Testament, whence alone Josephus took them when he wrote his Antiquities: nor, as I think, can some of those laws, though generally excellent in their kind, be properly now found either in the copies of the Jewish Pentateuch, or in Philo, or in Josephus himself, before he became a Nazarene or Ebionite Christian, nor even all of them among the laws of the Catholic Christianity themselves. I desire, therefore, the learned reader to consider, whether some of these im provements or interpretations might not be peculiar to the Essens among the Jews, or rather to the Nazarenes or Ebionites among the Christians: though we have indeed but imperfect accounts if those Nazarenes or Ebionite Chris tians transmitted down to us at this day. saw, and he ordained other virtues to be parts of religion; I mean justice, and fortitude, and temperance, and an universal agreement of the members of the community with one another: for all our actions and studies, and all our words in Moses' settlement,] have a reference to piety towards God: for he hath left none of these in suspence, or undetermined. For there are two ways of coming at any sort of learning, and a moral conduct of life; the one is by instruction in words, the other by practical exercises. Now, other law-givers have separated these two ways in their opinions, and choosing one of those ways of instruction, or that which best pleased every one of them, neglected the other. Thus did the Lacedemonians, and the Grecians teach by practical exercises, but not by words; while the Athenians and almost all the other Grecians, made laws about what was to be done, or left undone, but had no regard to the exercising them thereto in practice. 18. But for our legislator, he very carefully joined these two methods of instruction together; for he neither left these practical exercises to go on without verbal instruction, nor did he permit the hearing of the law to proceed without the exercises for practice; but beginning immediately from the earliest infancy, and the appointment of every one's diet, he left nothing of the very smallest consequence to be done at the pleasure and disposal of the person himself; accordingly, he made a fixed rule of law, what sorts of food they should abstain from, and what sorts they should make use of, as also what communion they should have with others; what great diligence they should use in their occupations, and what times of rest should be interposed; that, by living under that law as under a father and a master, we might be guilty of no sin, neither voluntary nor out of ignorance; for he did not suffer the guilt of ignorance to go on without punishment, but demonstrated the law to be the best and the most necessary instruction of all others, permitting the people to leave off their other employments, and to assemble together for the hearing of the law, and learning it exactly, and this not once or twice, or oftener, but every week, which thing all the other legislators seem to have neglected. 19. And indeed, the greatest part of mankind are so far from living according to their own laws, that they hardly know them; but when they have sinned, they learn from others that they have transgressed the law. Those also who are in the highest and principal posts of the government confess, they are not acquainted with those laws, and are obliged to take such persons for their assessors in public* administrations as profess to have skill in those laws: but, for our people, if any body do but ask any one of them about our laws, he will more readily tell them all than he will tell his own name, and this in consequence of our having learned them immediately as soon as ever we became sensible of any thing, and of our having them as it were engraven on our souls. Our transgressors of them are but few, and it is impossible, when any do offend, to escape punishment. 20. And this very thing it is that principally creates such a wonderfu lagreement of mindst amongst us all; for this entire agreement of ours in all our notions concerning God, and our having no difference in our course of life and manners, procures among us the most excellent concord of these our manners that is any where among mankind: for no other people but we Jews have avoided all discourses about God that any way contradict one another, which yet are frequent among other nations; and this is true not only among ordinary persons, according as every one is affected, but some of the philosophers have been insolent enough to indulge such contradictions, while some of them have undertaken to use such words as entirely take away the nature of God, as others of them have taken away his providence over mankind. Nor can any one perceive amongst us any difference in the conduct of our lives, but all our works are common to us all.-We have one sort of discourse concerning God, which is conformable to our law, and affirms that he sees all things, as also we have but one way of speaking concerning the conduct of onr lives, that all other things ought to have piety for their end; and this any body may hear from our women, and servants themselves. 21. And indeed, hence hath arisen that accusation which some make against us, that we have not produced men that have been the inventors of new operations, or of new ways of speaking; for others think it a fine thing to persevere in nothing that has been delivered down from their forefathers, and these testify it to be an instance of the sharpest wisdom when these men venture to transgress those traditions; whereas we, on the contrary, suppose it to be our only wisdom and virtue to admit no actions nor supposals that are contrary to our original laws; which proeedure of ours is a just and sure sign that our law is admirably constituted; for such laws as are not thus well made, are convicted upon trial to want amendment. 22. But while we are ourselves persuaded, that our law was made agreeably to the will of God, it would be impious for us Lot to observe the same; for what is there in it that any body would change? and what can be invented that is better? or what can we take out of other people's laws that will exceed it? Perhaps some would have the entire settlement of our government altered. And where shall we find a better or more righteous constitution than ours, while this makes us esteem God to be the Governor of the universe, and permits the priests in general to be the administrators of the principal affairs, and withall intrusts the government over the other priests to the chief highpriest himself: which priests our legislator, at their first appointment did not advance to that dignity for their riches, or any abundance of other possessions, or any plenty they had, as the gifts of fortune; but he intrusted the principal management of divine worship to those that exceeded others in an ability to persuade men and in prudence of conduct. These men had the main care of the faw, and of the other parts of the people's conduct committed to them; for they were the priests who were ordained to be the inspectors of all, and the judges in doubtful cases, and the punishers of those that were condemned to suffer punish ment. 23. What form of government than can be more holy than this? What more worthy kind of worship can be paid to God than we pay, where the entire body of the people are prepared for religion, where an extraordinary degree of care is required in the priests, and where the whole polity is so ordered as if it were a certain religious solemnity? For what things foreigners, when they solemnize such festivals, are not able to observe for a few days time, and call them mysteries and sacred ceremonies, we observe with great pleasure and an unshaken resolution during our whole lives. What are the things then that we are commanded or forbidden? They are simply and easily known. The first command is concerning God, and affirms that VOL. VII. Y |