sent dispersed state and degraded condition of the Jews. I will remark, in the first place, that this prophecy had allusion but to a part of the Jews; and these doctors must prove, that all the Jews of the present day descended from this part, viz: those who were left behind at Jerusalem, under Zedekiah, before they can apply it to these modern Jews.

Secondly. Any man of good common sense and observation, who had the least pretensions to political sagacity, could have foretold, under the circumstances, the fate that awaited these very Jews of whom Jeremiah was speaking. Their previous king, Jehoiakin, or Jechoniah, had been taken captive, with all the officers of his court, and the best part of the population, in consequence of his refusal to bear true allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah, the then king, had been made to swear to be true and loyal to the Babylonian monarch; but, in spite of all the warnings of Jeremiah, (who appears to have been in the interests of Nebuchadnezzar,) he also was violating his solemn pledges, by refusing to acknowledge fealty to him. It was under these circumstances that Jeremiah wrote this letter. And can you say that he was inspired, because he wrote, or predicted, what you could, and no doubt would have done, under the same circumstances. Still you wish to make us believe that this prediction is yet to be fulfilled.

Thirdly. It will be remarked, that he predicts no greater judgments to these remaining Jews than had befallen those to whom he wrote; for he speaks in this same letter of them as being already scattered among all the nations, and of those who were yet with him at Jerusalem, as being about to be scattered or removed to all the kingdoms of the earth. There is no pretence that those Jews, whose captivity he was here predicting, were more widely scattered, or more cruelly treated when taken, than those who were already in Babylon. In fine, the circumstance that there were two sieges, is never alluded to by any of the after prophets, when speaking of this captivity. They uniformly speak of it as one captivity, notwithstanding a portion of the Jews were led off a few years before the other. But you lay great stress upon the words a curse and hissing, an astonishment and a reproach, and tell the people (who are deterred from reading the book because of its bulk,) that the Jews are, at this day, all these, and therefore this prophecy, and all others of a similar phraseology, must apply to the modern Jews. I have already proved from Daniel, that all the judgments denounced by Moses were brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, and that they, while in captivity in Babylon, were 66 a reproach to all that were about them." From this letter of Jeremiah I prove that they were then said to be removed to, or dispersed among, "all the nations." I intend to be distinctly understood, at the hazard of being thought tedious.

Your argument is this: "Moses and other prophets predicted that the Jews would be led captive and scattered among all nations, and become a hissing and a reproach and a curse. They are, at this day, and have been since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, scattered over the world, and are, and have been, a reproach, a hissing, and a curse; therefore the prophets had reference to that siege, and their consequent dispersion and degradation." I reply, that Moses (for I agreed to admit, for the present, that he was a true prophet, and wrote Leviticus and Deuteronomy,) prophesied as you say, and that this prophecy was fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and the consequent captivity and dispersion of the Jews among all nations, when and where they were a curse, a hissing, and a reproach. I have established the truth of my assertion, except as to the words hissing, an astonishment, and curse. The word reproach, I have proved from Daniel. Now, if I can't prove the others, as I have reproach—I suppose I must yield the argument. To be serious, and put this whole matter to rest, I will quote some passages from Jeremiah. The prophecy in the 25th chapter is prefaced with these words: "The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that was in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon." Then, after giving an account of the warnings that God had given to Judah, through the prophets, and of his desolation, he tells us, in the 8th verse, that the Lord of hosts had told him what follows in the 9th verse, which is in these words: "Behold, I will take all the families of the north, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, MY SERVANT, and will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all those nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment and a hissing, and perpetual desolation.". And, in the 11th verse, it is continued: "And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment."

There can be no doubt of what captivity he was speaking in this chapter. It was of the Babylonian captivity, brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar. And he plainly tells us that they should, in this captivity, be an astonishment and a hissing. It will be remarked, that he says the people who were to come against Judah would be sent, or would come from the North; that he calls Nebuchadnezzar God's servant; and thirdly, that in this.chapter he was prophesying against, or concerning, all Judah. But I have not proved the word curse yet. The reader will go back with me to the next preceding chapter, where we will find it. In this chapter Jeremiah prophesies against those Jews that were left behind at Jerusalem, after the capture of Jehoiakin. The preface (1st verse) to this prophecy is in these words: "The Lord shewed me, and behold, two baskets

of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah (called Jehoiakin in Chronicles and Kings,) the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon." Then, after comparing the Jews already carried into captivity to a basket of good figs, and those that remained behin with him, under Zedekiah, to a basket of vile figs, he makes the Lord to say: “So will I give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land; and I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, for their hurt, to be a reproach, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them." Now I have proved all the words, beside proverb, taunt, and desolation. There can be no mistake here either, as to what captivity the writer was alluding, as he tells us, expressly, it was the captivity of that part of the Jews that were left behind, after the captivity of Jehoiakin*—the same portion of which he speaks in his lettter already quoted. What was, or rather what has been attempted to be made vague and uncertain in the letter, is made certain by this chapterthe one explains the other. Í am disposed to be charitable, but I cannot bring myself to believe him honest, who, being familiar with this book of Jeremiah, will publicly declare, and write, and publish, that the prophet in the letter (17th verse) had allusion to any other captivity than the Babylonian. Your champions select the vague and indefinite passages of the prophets, and apply them to suit their purposes, notwithstanding they must be aware that these same passages are explained and rendered certain by other definite passages, and have an application wholly different from the one they insist upon. I will give another instance of their disingenuousYour doctors tell us the prophet must have alluded to the Romans, when he speaks of a people coming from the North to oppress and destroy Judah; and they quote such indefinite passages as these: "For I will call the families of the kingdoms of the earth from the North," &c. 1, 15 Jer. "Ts saith the Lord, behold a people cometh from the North country," &c. ee vi. 22, 23, 24, Jer.) "Behold, the noise of the biuit is come, obe

ness.

and

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uild great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Juplate, and a den of dragons." x. 22 Jer. Yes, from such passages your 19 tors infer, or rather aver, that the Romans were certainly meant, wher ey must know, that these passages are made certain and definite by or passages, such as the following: "Therefore, behold, the days come saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, 'the Lord liveth which

at

* Jehoiakin's father was Jehoiakim, their names differing in one letter only.

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brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' but that the Lord liveth which brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I have driven them, and they shail dwell in their own land." That is, "the Jewish people have heretofore spoken of me as the Lord that brought them out of Egypt; but hereafter, when I shall have restored them from the Babylonian captivity, they shall speak of me as the Lord that brought them from the North country, whither I had driven them." And again: "For thus saith the Lord God, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses," &c. Ez. xxvi. 7, and Jer. xxv. 8, which I have already quoted, In some of these passages it is expressly stated, that Nebuchadnezzar was the king from the North; and from the others it is plainly to be inferred, that the Babylonians were the people that were to come from the North. The propriety of speaking of Nebuchadnezzar as a king from the North, I shall not attempt to defend; for Babylon is nearly an east course from Jerusalem; but the same objection lies as to Rome, as that is nearly a west course.

I shall not fear the charge of repetition. I have then proved, that the judgments, sieges, and captivity spoken of by Moses and Jeremiah, were all brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar; that the sieges were his sieges, and the captivity, that which he led them into. It is not denied that the Jews were restored from this captivity. It now remains for me to prove, from the prophecies, that after their restoration the ywere never more to be dispersed or taken captive, and the temple never more to be destroyed, and Jerusalem never again to be captured. The first chapters I shall call your attention to, for proof of this position, are the 30 and 31st of Jeremiah.

CHAP. XXX.

1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2. Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

3. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will ivise them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they sh sayossess it. uld 4. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Isrnd t'and concerning Judah.

Fall 5. For thus saith the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, gfear, and not of peace.

6. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

7. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

8. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

9. But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

10. Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of the captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

11. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

12. For thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

13. There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14. All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were in-creased.

15. Why criest thou for thine affiiction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

16. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

17. For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

18. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded on her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof:

19. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving, and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

20. Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.