the Jews were to enjoy after their return, and the wealth and splendor of their renewed kingdom; the Jewish doctors, during these five hundred years, made the people believe, that these prophecies had a future reference -that the great prince, foretold in them, was yet to appear, and the onemies of the nation yet to be put down. I wish here to be distinctly understood. I say, then, that at the restoration, the Jews thought that all the predictions of all their prophets were accomplished-the restoration itself, had been a matter of prophesy--it was now history-a prince and a leader had been predicted--he had appeared in the person of Zorobabel.

Now for the proof. The prophet Haggai, the first in order of the lesser prophets, who wrote after the captivity, was sent, as he says, to Zorobabel, after the latter had come to Jerusalem, and after he had, as appears from Daniel and Ezra, laid the foundation of the temple, to encourage him to go on with the building; telling him, that the Lord would be with him, and "would shake the nations, and that the desire of all nations should come, and that the Lord would fill the house with glory." For; (and I wish the reason to be noted.) "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord." "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts." The nations may have been shaken, but not enough of the desire of all nations, viz. money, was shaken out of them, to build a temple equal in glory to the first. The expression, shake the nations, is certainly a figurative one, and in this place equivalent, (in my opinion) to levying contributions. The glory of the house was its splendor, and the desire of all nations was the silver and gold, with which the house was to be ornamented, or made splendid. Zorobabel obtained a great sum from Darius, the king of all nations, (if you will admit Esdras and Josephus as authority,) by making a very good speech on truth. He had obtained from Cyrus, previously, a heavy sum. Ezra also obtained other large sums from the king and from the Jews, that were among all ngtions. Yet, this desire of all nations has been personified and converted into Jesus Christ. And your doctors, not knowing how to reconcile the declaration of Haggai, that the glory (by which he undoubtedly meant its splendor,) of the second temple, should exceed that of the first, with that of Ezra, who tells us that the second temple was so inferior in point of splendor, to the first, that the old men who had seen the first, wept, because of the inferiority; tell us, that Haggai had allusion to Christ's body, or to the entry of Christ into the second temple, by which it was so greatly glorified.

By showing that the desire of all nations did not mean a man, I have not shown that the great prince and redeemer so much talked about, was Zorobabel. We will, therefore, go to Haggai's second and last chapter,

and give the reader this last communication of God to him, to be made to Zorobabel:

"Speak to Zorobabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them: and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zorobabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts."

Here, then, is the chosen one of the Lord, that was to be a signet, in some great and terrible day that was to follow.

We will now attend to Zechariah, who, with Haggai, went to encourage Zorobabel and Joshua, the two leaders of the Jews; the latter being high priest, (Sce Ezra V. 1 and 2.)

This writer introduces an angel, who talks to Joshua, and in his 3d chapter, 8th verse, this angel says: "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men wondered at, for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch." Now we saw, that in Haggai, God called Zorobabel his servant; therefore he is meant by the word Branch, This reasoning may not be satisfactory; we will, therefore, resort to the fifth chapter, for light on this matter. In this chapter he tells us, the word of the Lord came to him requiring him to take certain men and conduct them to a certain house, and to speak unto Joshua, the high priest, saying "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man, whose name is the branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord."

We all know, that Zorobabel did build the temple of the Lord; there can, therefore, be no doubt, that by the word Branch, he was alluded to.

I may have spoken of the prophets in such a manner as to lead the reader to the opinion that I believed them inspired, and that they actually foretold future events, such as the captivity, ages before it happened, and its exact duration. It was only to prevent circumlocution that such language has been used; and my admissions, as to Deuteronomy and Leviticus, were only for the nonce.

I will now prove, from a comparison of Haggai and Zachariah with the other prophets, that the latter did not even write the books attributed to them, but that some other person must have written a great part of them at or after the restoration. It must be recollected, that Haggai and Zachariah wrote at the very time of the building of the second temple, and that they spoke to, and encouraged the builder, Zorobabel. That this Zorobabel

All

was of the royal line of David, appears from Matthew's first chapter. who speak of him assert that he descended from Judah, through David. For this reason he could have been the Jewish Messiah of the prophecies. That he was governor of Judah, appears from many passages in the writings of those who speak of him, and particularly from Haggai I. 1. hereafter quoted. For this reason he could have been the Messiah. That he was, or was to be, king of the Jews, appears also from various passages, particularly from Zachariah, vi. 13. "Even he (Zerobabel) shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall have the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne." (It appears that the kingly and priestly offices in one person were not incompatible.) For this reason he could have been the Messiah. That he was to be a priest, appears also from the passage last quoted; and for this reason, also, he could have been the Messiah.

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In order to put it beyond controversy, that Zerobabel and Branch were with Zachariah, two names for the same person, let us compare the 8th and 9th verses of his 4th chapter with the 9, 10, 11, and 12th of his sixth The former are: Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerobabel have laid the foundations of this house, (the temple;) his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord hath sent me unto you." The latter are:

9. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

10. Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Judah the son of Zephaniah;

11. Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;

12. And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.

Zerobabel had laid the foundations, and God said he should finish the house. There is no mistake here. Zerobabel is expressly named in the former verses, and, in the latter, the man, whose name was Branch, was also to build the house. Can there be any doubt that Zerobabel and Branch were two names for the same person? If there cannot be any doubt, it follows that Branch, and The desire of all nations, can not be one and the same person; for the prophet Haggai addresses Zerobabel directly, who had already come, and was then at Jerusalem, and tells him, that The desire of all nations SHALL come, and that in a little time.

I have wandered from my point, which is, that some of the prophets, and particularly Isaiah, did not write all that is found in the books bear

ing their names. In the mean time, however, I have established these important positions: first, that Zerobabel must have been the Messiah spoken of by the prophets. Secondly, that Branch and Zerobabel were names for the same person, according to Zachariah. Thirdly, that Branch and The Desire of all nations were not one and the same person.

The other prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, also speak of some person under the title of Branch. Did all these prophets, greater and less, have reference to the same individual? The christians say they did, and that that person was Jesus Christ. I have already proved, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the lesser alluded to Zerobabel. If the greater designated the same person by the same name that the lesser did, then they (Isaiah and Jeremiah) must have designated Zerobabel also.

I will here copy certain portions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zachariah, that their coincidences may be the more manifest, and also for establishing the important position, that a great portion of the books of the former were written as late as the latter. Let the two chapters of Huggai be

read in connexion with these extracts.

ISAIAH-CHAPTER XI.

1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

2. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord,

3. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.

4. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

6. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them..

7. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den.

9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the

earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the

sea.

10. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

12. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

13. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

14. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

15. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod.

16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

CHAPTER XIV.

1. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

2. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

3. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.

CHAPTER XLIV.

24. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;