And yet there are ftill fome out of their proper Place, who imagine they can, with a little of the Matter formed, and of the Powers established, make a Whirligig to imitate this. But fince we are to fhew fome Reason why Mofes medled with Philofophy; if there had not been fome Crimes, which will by and by appear, and fo not an abfolute Neceffity upon that Account: Since thefe Powers and Operations are Things fo defirable to be known, and are fuppofed to be of that Use to Mankind, as Things have been, and now are, that many have fpent their Times in making Guesses about them, and in Searches to find if thofe Gueffes were true; and fince that Knowledge is fo difficult, that none of them have fucceeded fo as that their Works hold or ftand the Teft; and fince it is fcarce poffible for Man, in a fhort Life, to make fufficient Obfervations upon the feveral Manners of the Operations, fo as to trace them up to, or down from the chief Motive, as we cannot now fee any Actions nearly like thofe which were tranfacted in the Formation, so that we might by Comparifon find out the Difference, is there not Occafion enough for Revelation? Could God have done a more pleafing thing to Men of Senfe (except in revealing

revealing the Means of their Reconciliation) than to have fet them right in this Matter, and have freed them from the Conundrums which have been publifh'd about that Affair? And could it ever be fo acceptable as now, when they have feemingly, or at least made an Attempt, to draw or force in and debauch the most certain of any, nay the Mother of the Sciences, and mother'd monftrous Products upon her, and chain'd her to them, fo that till fhe is freed of them, and purified, no prudent Man will be feen in her Company?

There is one of these Imaginers, who makes great Pretenfions to be a primitive Something, who publickly afferts that there was no Occafion for the Persons who wrote the Scriptures to be infpir'd, 'twas enough that they were honeft Men; and pretends that he believes them. We know his Design in that, and hope he is one of the firft of that Sort, and that he will end what he has begun. When we come to confider the historical Account, what other Right, nay, what Pretence had Mofes to expect to be believ'd, when he writ of Things long before his Time, without' fo much as hinting, that there were any Books or Means to convey that Knowledge to him; or if it could have been fuppos'd B 2 that

that there were any fuch Means, without an Account who were his Authors, or of their Means of attaining that Knowledge, their Veracity, &c? And when we come afterwards to diftinct Hiftories of Facts, which were many of them publickly known, 'tis true each of thofe Facts might have been recorded by the Perfon or Perfons who faw them, but not all by one. But as God always, or often, interpos'd immediately in thofe Affairs, we could not have a true Account, with all proper Circumftances, of any of them, without the Perfon who had the immediate Orders from him, or some others to whom he revealed them. Befides, we could have no true Account of many things which were tranfacted at diftance, and in private, nor even of Mens Thoughts, which no one Hiftorian could, as a Man, or any otherwife, know; without which the reft had been of finall Ufe. I hope he will be pleas'd to obferve, that feveral of those Perfons who writ thefe Books, therein tell us, that they fhew'd their Credentials to the Perfons then alive, and that they had more proper Qualifications than being honeft; and if they tell us fo, and had them not, they were not honest Men.

I have

I have often wondered to hear our Imaginers vilify the Jews, and endeavour to make them more contemptuous than the People of any other Nation, without af figning the Caufe, and extolling the People of other Nations. Abraham and his Succeffors, for a few Degrees, appear to have been Men who had a Notion of Futurity; and fome among the other Races of Mankind were fallen from the Worfhip of the true God. After Abraham's Defcendants had been a long Time in Egypt, among fuch as were fallen off, fome of them had more fenfual Thoughts; but it seems the People, as low as the Midwives, feared God, and Oppreffion made them cry to him. Though those who were drawn afide faw Miracles, they were not eafily broke of that Cuftom; and though afterwards they had Revelation, and a fet Worship, they had the continual fresh Examples of all their Neighbours, and of fome amongst them, who they had not, in Pursuance of their Covenant, deftroyed; which are allowed to be ftrong Temptations. As there are Men of different Sentiments in moft Nations, fo there were among them; fome believed, and obeyed, and fome murmured. There were early fome among B 3 them,

them, People after their own Hearts, could difpute whether each Miracle could be performed, defpife Power, rail at Prieftcraft, plead for Freedom, nay, drefs up a falfe God, far bravelier than any of thefe Imaginers would do if they were under the fame Management, to be deftroyed in the most terrible Manner, for the first Offence. After they, by feveral Accidents, had got a little more Strength, were fuffered to live, and encourage one another, they grew fo ftrong that they got Altars and Temples for their Idols; nay, got them into the Temple of God, fet up Altars in each of their Houses, and, if they had not been swept into Captivity, 'tis like they would have made new Worlds: And yet there were many who never went aftray. As Part were of one Side, and Part of another, I thought there could be no national Quarrel against the Whole, especially fuch a vehement one. I, who in Time learned to know the Imaginers perfectly, and to know that they never forgive, though they have lost Knowledge of the Offence, began to fuppofe, that there must be fome old Party-Quarrel against the Jews; and upon Search find they were the firft that withftood the Chaldeans, and feparated from

them;