The law of retribution: or, a serious warning to Great Britain and her colonies, founded on unquestionable examples of God's temporal vengeance against tyrants, slave-holders, and oppressors. ... By Granville Sharp.

Table of contents

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- TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE QUOTED OR ILLUSTRATED IN THE FOREGOING TRACT.

- INDEX.

- By the same AUTHOR.

- TRACTS, by the same AUTHOR, Now in the Press for Publication, by B. WHITE in Fleet-Street, and E. and C. DILLY in the Poultry.

THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION.

THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE has been publicly supported and encouraged by the Legislature of this Kingdom for near a century last past; so that the monstrous destruction of the Human Species, which is annually occasioned thereby, may certainly be esteemed a National Crime of the most aggravating kind, which (according to the usual course of God's Providence in the World) will probably draw down some exemplary vengeance upon the unrepenting Inhabitants of this Island! And, with respect to the British Colonies, the uncharitable practice of Slave-holding, especially in the West-India Islands and the more Southern Colonies, is grown up into a more enormous and destructive Oppression (whether we view the prodigious multitudes of the Oppressed, or the unconscionable severity of the Oppressors) than perhaps ever disgraced any other Nation at any one period of time!

The several attempts that have lately been made to justify these two branches of abominable National Iniquity by the Holy Scriptures, and especially by the permission therein granted to the Israelites to purchase and retain Slaves among them, have induced me to collect, from the History of the Jews in the several Books of Holy Scripture, some plain examples of God's Vengeance upon that particular Nation, expressly for this kind of Oppression; which, I hope, will sufficiently prove that Slavery was ever detestable in the sight of God, and consequently that a speedy Reformation is absolutely necessary (as well with respect to the African Slave-trade, encouraged in this Kingdom, as the Toleration of Slavery in the British American Dominions) if we mean to entertain the least hope of escaping a severe National Retribution, which (if we may judge by our present Civil Dissentions and horrid mutual Slaughters of National Brethren) seem ready to burst upon us!

I am well aware, indeed, how very unfashionable it is, now-a-days, to quote Scripture, when matters of Law, Politics, or Trade are called in question; yet I flatter myself that the following examples, drawn from thence, are perfectly suitable to my present point, and consequently must have weight to convince all persons, who sincerely acknowledge the Truth of the Scriptures, that we have the greatest reason to apprehend the infliction of some heavy Judgement from Almighty God upon these Kingdoms, on account of the monstrous load of Guilt which the British Subjects, on each side of the Atlantic, have incurred by the Oppressions above-mentioned.

In some former Tracts I have already shewn that the Servitude which the Jews, by the Mosaic Law, were permitted to exact of their Brethren (even when the latter were sold to them) was very much limited; that they were not to be treated as Bond Servants (1) but as Hired Servants; that the Servitude could not lawfully be extended beyond seven years (2) unless the Servant loved his Master and Condition, and voluntarily demanded(3) of him to continued in his Service; and that, in every other case, it was absolutely unlawful to hold a Brother Hebrew in Slavery.

I have likewise shewn, that, under the glorious Dispensation of the Gospel, we are absolutely bound to consider ourselves as Citizens of the World; that every Man whatever, without any partial distinction of Nation, Distance, or Complexion, must necessarily be esteemed our Neighbour, and our Brother; and that we are absolutely bound in Christian Duty to entertain a Disposition towards all Mankind as charitable and benevolent, at least, as that which was required of the Jews, under the Law, towards their national Brethren; and, consequently, that it is absolutely unlawful for those, who call themselves Christians, to exact of their Brethren (I mean their Brethren of the Universe) a more burthensome Service than that to which the Jews were limited with respect to their Brethren of the House of Israel; and the Slavery, or involuntary Bondage, of a Brother Israelite was absolutely forbid.

These premises naturally lead us to consider the severe NATIONAL JUDGEMENTS which the Jews brought upon themselves principally by exceeding these very limitations which I have here specified: and the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from these examples is, that we are absolutely in danger of THE LIKE JUDGEMENTS, if we do not immediately put a stop to all similar Oppression by National Authority: because an uncharitable extension of the said limits, by those who call themselves Christians, will certainly be, at least, as heinous in the sight of God as the OPPRESSION OF BRETHREN under the Law; and probably much more so, if we consider the purity and benevolence which is required of all Men under the Gospel Dispensation: and I have clearly proved (I trust) that the permission to the Israelites, to keep Bondmen of the Heathen (or more properly the Nations, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) that were round about them, and of ‘the Children of the Strangers that dwelt among them,’ cannot be extended to any other People whatever except the Israelites themselves; and that even to them it was only temporary, during the Dispensation of the Mosaic Law, whilst they possessed the Land of Canaan, the former Inhabitants of which (viz. the seven abominable Nations of Palestine, expressly mentioned by name in the seventh Chapter of Deuteronomy, where the same Heb. Noun 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, rendered Heathen in the former Text, is properly expressed by the English word Nations) the Israelites were expressly directed to drive out, kill, and destroy, without pity (4), and to make no Covenant with them(5): and I hope I have also proved that the remainder of these particular wicked Nations, thus expressly doomed to destruction, were undoubtedly "the Heathen" (or Nations) ‘ that dwelt round about ’ the Israelites, and ‘ the Children of the Strangers, ’ whom (and whom alone) it was lawful to hold in perpetual Bondage; for otherwise that permission cannot be reconciled to God's positive Commands, given in the same Law, to love the Stranger. ‘The Lord your God is God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not Persons ’ (so that this was apparently a general Law, or Rule of Conduct, towards all Persons, except the People of those particular Nations which were expressly, by name, condemned to destruction by the hands of the Israelites, in other parts of the Law, for their abominable wickedness) ‘nor taketh Reward: he doth execute the Judgement of the Fatherless and Widow, and loveth the Stranger, in giving him food and raiment. LOVE YE THEREFORE the Stranger ’ (and the Almighty inculcates a sympathetic concern for the welfare and happiness of Strangers, by reminding the Israelites of their own unhappy situation formerly in a strange country) "for ye" (says the Text) ‘were Strangers in the Land of Egypt.’ Deut. x. 17 to 19. See also Levit. xix. 33, 34. "Thou shalt love him" (that is, the Stranger) ‘ as thyself; for ye were Strangers in the Land of Egypt.’

National Wickedness, from the beginning of the World, has generally been visited with National Punishments: and surely no National Wickedness can be more heinous in the sight of God, than a public toleration of Slavery and Oppression! for Tyranny (in whatsoever shape it appears) must necessarily be esteemed a presumptuous breach of that Divine Command, in which ‘ all Law is fulfilled ’ (Gal. v. 14.) viz. ‘Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself.’ Levit. xix. 18.

The Histories of all Nations, indeed, afford tremendous examples of God's Vengeance against Tyrants; but no History is so proper to illustrate this subject (which now so nearly concerns us) as that of the Jews: for as the Knowledge of the Divine Law was revealed in a more particular manner to that People, and to others only through them, so the effect even of their Disobedience was an exemplary demonstration, from time to time, of God's Vengeance, as well as of his Mercy, for the instruction of all other Nations, amongst whom they are now dispersed, as living monuments of the same to this very day: and we have the authority of an Apostle(6) to assert, that ‘all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written’ (says he) ‘for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’

One of the first and most signal instances of Mercy which the Almighty was pleased to shew that People, after they became a Nation, was, the restoring them to their Natural Freedom from the deplorable Slavery in which they were detained by a tyrannical Egyptian Monarch(7): and the tremendous Judgements whereby this deliverance was effected (viz. the Plagues of Egypt) are so many signal examples of God's severe Vengeance against Slave-holders, which ought to be had in everlasting remembrance, to warn all Nations of the World against the unnatural and baneful practice of keeping Slaves.

This deliverance from Bondage was frequently mentioned, even in the words of God himself, by his Prophets, from time to time (as I have before remarked) —"Thus saith the Lord" (i. e. Jehovah) ‘God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the House of Bondage; ’ (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, more literally ‘from the House of Slaves") and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, ’ &c. Judges vi. 8. —
I removed his Shoulder from the Burden; his Hands were delivered from the Pats (8): thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee.
Psal. lxxxi. 6, 7.

The Israelites themselves were also particularly directed to remember this signal exertion of Divine Mercy and Power in the cause of Popular Freedom: "Remember that thou wast a Servant" (viz. a Slave) ‘in the Land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm,’ &c. Deut. v. 15.

It was surely for the moral purpose of stirring up in the Israelites a sympathetic concern for the Sufferings of the Oppressed, and more particularly of Oppressed Strangers, that they were so frequently reminded of their own former deplorable condition in Slavery, and of their miraculous Deliverance from thence; being expressly referred to their own Feelings and Remembrance of the cruel foreign Tyranny, which they themselves had so lately experienced in Egypt: — ‘thou shalt not oppress a Stranger: for ye KNOW THE HEART’ (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, properly THE SOUL) ‘OF A STRANGER, seeing ye were Strangers in the Land of Egypt.’ Exod. xxiii. 9.

God also gave the Israelites due warning of the Danger of Oppression, by declaring that he would SURELY revenge the Cause of the injured Stranger: ‘Thou shalt neither vex a Stranger, nor oppress him; for ye were Strangers in the Land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any Widow or fatherless Child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will SURELY hear their cry ’ (mark this, ye African Traders of this Island, and ye West-India and British American Slave-holders! for ye are all guilty of the like abominable Oppressions, and God will SURELY avenge the Cause of the Oppressed) ‘and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your Wives shall be Widows, and your Children fatherless.’ Exod. xxii. 21 to 24.

And have not the careless Inhabitants of Great Britain and her Colonies too much reason also to apprehend that the same God (who professes to hear the cry of oppressed Strangers, if they cry at all unto him) will, sooner or later, visit these Kingdoms with some signal mark of his Displeasure, for the notorious Oppression of an almost innumerable multitude of poor African Strangers, that are harrassed, and continually wearing out, with a most shameful involuntary Servitude in the British Colonies! nay, and that by a public Toleration, under the sanction of Laws to which the Monarchs of England, from time to time, by the advice of their Privy Counsellors, have given the Royal Assent, and thereby rendered themselves Parties in the Oppression, and (it is to be feared) Partakers of the Guilt!

Let us not forget, before it is too late, that the Almighty has not only declared, himself ready to "HEAR THE CRY" of the oppressed Stranger, but hath deigned to add to his glorious Name, Jehovah, a brief Remembrance of his merciful interposition in behalf of an enslaved Nation: "I am the Lord your God" (or Jehovah your God, said the Almighty to the Israelites) ‘which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the House of Bondage, ’ Exod. xx. 1. Thus the Almighty Deliverer from Slavery vouchsafed to set his own Divine Example before the eyes of his redeemed People, to excite Benevolence and Thankfulness; and the like Remembrance of that glorious Redemption from Slavery was very frequently repeated from time to time; which the Scriptures sufficiently testify: but alas! the Israelites profited so little by these wholesome lessons, that it became necessary, no less frequently, to remind them of the dreadful Vengeance which would inevitably overtake them for their notorious Oppressions of the Poor; for their unjust Exactions of involuntary and unrewarded Service; and for exceeding the limitations of Bondage (already recited) which the Law expressly enjoined!

‘For the Oppression of the Poor, for the Sighing of the Needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; and will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him,’ or ‘that would ensnare him.’ Psal. xii. 5.

The Princely Prophet Isaiah plainly declared to them, that their public Fasts and outward Humiliations were not only vain, but even offensive to God, while such notorious Oppressions continued among them. "Behold" (said he) ‘in the day of your Fast, you find Pleasure, and exact all your Labours. ’ (9) lviii. 3. And again, — ‘Is it such a Fast that I have chosen? a day for a Man to afflict his Soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush?’ &c. ‘Is not this the Fast that I have chosen?— to loose the Bands of Wickedness, to undo the heavy Burthens ’ (or rather the Bundles of the Yoke, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 plainly referring to the severe and unjust Bondage of the Poor) ‘and TO LET THE OPPRESSED GO FREE, and that YE BREAK EVERY YOKE?’ — ‘Is it not to deal thy Bread to the Hungry, and to bring the Poor that are cast out ’ (or rather to bring the Poor that are reduced, or depressed, viz. as it were by Tyrants; for so the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 seems more properly to signify in this place) "to thy House?" &c. Compare this with Deut. xxiii. 15, 16.(9) And he warned them of the Divine Justice that would pursue them for their Oppression and tyrannical Treatment of the Poor.

‘The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the People! The Lord will enter into Judgement with the Ancients (or Senators) of his People, and the Princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the Vineyard; the Spoil of the Poor is in your Houses! What mean ye that ye beat my People to pieces, and grind the Faces of the Poor?’ saith the Lord of Hosts! Isa. iii. 13 to 15.

The wicked practices whereby the Israelites reduced their poor Brethren to Slavery are described by the Prophet Amos:
Hear this, O ye that swallow up the Needy, even to make the Poor of the Land to fail, saying, When will the New Moon be gone, that we may sell Corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth Wheat, making the Ephah small, and the Shekel great, and falsifying the Ballances by Deceit? That we may buy the Poor for Silver (10) and the Needy for a Pair of Shoes
(that is, comparatively speaking, at a most contemptible price! whereby we may presume that Slave-markets were not so notoriously established at that time as at present; and that the Bidders were few, though the Oppressed were many) ‘yea, and sell the Refuse of the Wheat? The Lord hath sworn by the Excellency of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of these works. Shall not the Land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? ’ &c. Amos viii. 4 to 8.

Here is a solemn Appeal from God to the Human Understanding: ‘Shall not the Land tremble for this! ’ that is, for this same abominable Oppression of the Poor (the buying them for Slaves) in which Great Britain and her Colonies are infinitely more guilty than the People to whom this appeal was made! and "shall not the Land" (therefore) ‘ even our Land, tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? ’ &c. Surely ‘ God will never forget any of these Works, ’ my Countrymen!

The Prophet Jeremiah manifestly alluded to the like deceitful practices of the Jews (whereby they reduced the Poor to Slavery) when he made a solemn protest against them in the Name of God:—"Your sins" (said he) ‘have withholden good things from you. For among my People are found wicked (men): they lay wait as he that setteth Snares; THEY SET A TRAP, THEY CATCH MEN. As a Cage (or Coup) is full of Birds, so are their Houses full of Deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the Wicked; they judge not the cause, the cause of the Fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the Needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord! Shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? ’ &c. Jer. v. 26 to 29. Here again the Almighty plainly appeals to the Human. Understanding concerning the Propriety, or rather the Necessity, of exerting the Divine Vengeance against such an Oppressive Nation!

And yet how inconsiderable was the crime of the Jewish Nation in this respect, if compared with the numerous Bondage and with the unbounded Oppression of the poor Negroes in the British Colonies? Have we not therefore just reason to fear that God will ‘ visit for these things? ’ Does not the Word of God, which cannot change, appeal to us, my Countrymen, as well as to the Jews?—"Shall not my Soul" (saith the Lord!) ‘ be avenged on such a Nation as this? ’

The same Prophet, in the next chapter, declares the Divine Vengeance to be at hand: — ‘For thus hath the Lord of Hosts said,—Hew ye down Trees, and cast a Mount against Jerusalem. This (is) the City to be visited! she is wholly Oppression in the midst of her. As a Fountain casteth out her Waters, so she casteth out her Wickedness: Violence and Spoil is heard in her; before me continually is Grief and Wounds! Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem! lest my Soul depart from thee: lest I make thee desolate, a Land not inhabited!’ Jer. vi. 6 to 8.

But in vain were the Warnings of the Prophet, till the Judgements themselves began to appear in all the horrors of a hopeless War, which began in the ninth year(11) of King Zedekiah's reign, notwithstanding that the Monarch had previously rendered himself secure (as he thought) by his military preparations (in sending for Horses and Men from Egypt, to complete his standing Army) and had also made Pharaoh (another presumptuous military Tyrant) his Ally, which encouraged him to break his Oath and Covenant with the King of Babylon.

But ‘when Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, and all his Army, and all the Kingdoms of the Earth, of his Dominion, and all the People, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the Cities thereof ’ —then God ordered his Prophet to remind Zedekiah of that dreadful Vengeance, Defeat and Captivity, which had so often before been denounced as the necessary consequences of Oppression and Injustice! — ‘Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel’ (viz. to Jeremiah): ‘Go, and speak to Zedekiah King of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the Lord; behold, I will give this City into the hand of the King of Babylon; and he shall burn it with fire. And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the King of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon,’ &c. Jer. xxxiv. 1 to 3.

The impending Vengeance being then become visible, and consequently more tremendous, by the near approach of the Babylonian Army, that irresistible instrument in the hand of God, by which the Jews had so often been subdued, the King's stubborn heart began to relent, and his military confidence to forsake him, which had before encouraged his Injustice; his firmness in Worldly Politics was shaken, and yielded to a sense of Guilt! It was upon this return of Conscience and right Reason that Zedekiah sent two Messengers, Passur and Zephaniah, to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Enquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us; for Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us,’ &c. See chap. xxi. ver. 1 and 2. But a very unwelcome answer was given to the Messengers, to be returned to their Monarch; for the Prophet confirmed all the heavy Judgements(12) which had before been denounced, as well against the King, expressly by name, as against the City and its iniquitous Inhabitants, whose notorious Oppressions were now to be RECOMPENSED upon their own heads, MEASURE FOR MEASURE: — ‘Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will RECOMPENSE upon thee all thine abominations, ’ &c. Ezek. vii. 3. See also the 4th, 8th, and 9th verses, to the same effect. And afterwards, in the 11th verse, one of the principal causes of GOD's Vengeance is mentioned:—"Violence" (said the Prophet) ‘is risen up into a Rod of Wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of their's; neither shall there be wailing for them. The time is come, the day draweth near.’ &c.—And again, in the 23d verse:— "Make a Chain" (said the Prophet); ‘for the Land is full of bloody Crimes, and the City is full of Violence. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the Heathen, and they shall possess their houses,’ &c. — ‘Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour,’ &c.— ‘The King shall mourn, and the Prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the Hands of the People of the Land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their (own) way, and according to their deserts’ (or rather their own judgements) ‘will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’ —Again, in the 12th chapter, the same reason is clearly assigned for the pouring out of God's Vengeance:— ‘Say unto the People of the Land, Thus saith the Lord God of the Inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the Land of Israel; They shall eat their Bread with Carefulness; and drink their Water with Astonishment, that her Land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of THE VIOLENCE of them that dwell therein. ’ Ezek. xii. 19. The nature of this baneful Violence, which occasioned their destruction, is more particularly described by the same Prophet, in chap. xxii. ver. 7.— ‘ in the midst of thee ’ (still speaking of Jerusalem) ‘have they dealt by Oppression with the Stranger ’ (mark this, ye British Slave-dealers and Slave-holders); ‘in thee have they vexed the Fatherless and the Widow. Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my Sabbaths. In thee are men that carry tales to shed Blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness,’ &c.— ‘One hath committed abomination with his Neighbour's Wife: and another hath lewdly defiled his Daughter-in-law,’ &c.— ‘In thee have they taken gifts to shed Blood: thou hast taken Usury and Increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy Neighbours by Extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. Behold, therefore, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy Blood which hath been in the midst of thee,’ &c. Ezek. xxii. 7, &c.

Oh that the Subjects of the British Empire would seriously compare these crimes with their own practices! they would then, surely, be sensible of their danger; and that they have reason to expect the like, or rather much heavier, Judgements, than those denounced against the Jews! For, besides the notorious Adulteries, and other acts of Lewdness, which many amongst us (from the frequency of such crimes) commit, even without shame or remorse, we have far exceeded the guilt of the Jews, I fear, in many of the other points also which provoked the Vengeance of the Almighty against them! What "Violence" amongst the Jews, before their Captivity, was ever "risen up into" so destructive ‘ a Rod of Wickedness ’—as the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, now carried on chiefly by our Liverpool and Bristol Merchants? What "bloody crime" among the Jews was more notorious, and more wickedly premeditated, than the late Invasion and Conquest of the poor innocent CARRIBEES at ST. VINCENT's? And what Nation hath ‘ dealt by Oppression with the Stranger ’ so generally, so inhumanly, and in so great a degree, as our BRITISH AMERICAN SLAVE-HOLDERS!—Have we not ample reason to expect that the same tremendous decree will, in God's Justice, be fulfilled upon these Kingdoms?— ‘ Destruction cometh: and they shall seek Peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour upon rumour,’ &c. &c. &c.— ‘I will do unto them after their (own) way, and according to their (own) Judgements will I judge them!’ &c.

Nevertheless, God was pleased to offer the Jews a Choice in their Fate,—either to forsake their wicked King (who had forfeited all right to govern, by his neglect of Justice and Natural Right) and to fall away to the King's Enemies, the Chaldeans; or else to perish miserably in the City, and partake of it's Destruction!—"And unto this People" (said God to the Prophet Jeremiah) ‘thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of Life, and the way of Death. He that abideth in this City shall die by the Sword, and by the Famine, and by the Pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his Life shall be unto him for a Prey, ’ &c. Jer. xxi. 8, 9.

The Prophet, however, was directed to add to his message a word of advice to the King and Court, which shews that a seasonable repentance might, even then, have saved the State, and turned away the impending Vengeance.

It was such advice, too, as every other Monarch, who tolerates any unnatural Bondage or Oppression in his Dominions, ought seriously to consider, because the event proved it to be the best means of averting God's Anger, if the King had but persevered in it.— ‘And touching the House of the King of Judah ’ (continued the Prophet) ‘say,—Hear ye the Word of the Lord, O House of David—thus saith the Lord; Execute Judgement in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the Oppressor, lest my Fury go out like Fire, and burn that none can quench (it), because of the evil of your doings.’ Jer. xxi. 12. This is a manifest declaration that the Neglect of JUSTICE and RIGHT, and the Toleration of OPPRESSION, were the principal causes of God's heavy Vengeance against that Royal House!

The same advice was, by God's Command, repeated by the Prophet to the King himself IN HIS PALACE (see the next chapter):— ‘Thus saith the Lord; Go down to THE HOUSE of the King of Judah, and speak THERE this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O King of Judah, that fittest upon the Throne of David, thou, and thy Servants, and thy People that enter in by these Gates" (that is, all Persons whatever that enter in by ’ the Palace-gates, plainly including the whole Court, before whom the Prophet was to deliver his message):
Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye JUDGEMENT and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and deliver the Spoiled out of the hand of THE OPPRESSOR; and do no wrong, DO NO VIOLENCE TO THE STRANGER (13)
, &c. — ‘For if ye do this thing indeed’ (that is, if ye will execute Judgement and Righteousness, deliver the Oppressed, &c.) ‘then shall there enter in by the Gates of this House Kings sitting upon the Throne of David’ (or rather "that sit," i. e. reign, "for David upon his Throne") ‘riding in Chariots and on Horses, he and his Servants, and his People’ (that is, the Court should continue and prosper). ‘But if ye will not hear THESE WORDS, I swear by myself, saith the Lord ’ (i. e. Jehovah) "that THIS HOUSE" (i. e. the Palace) "shall become a desolation." Jer. xxii. 1 to 5. So that the whole Court were as much interested to promote a speedy Reformation, as the King himself. Thus it is plain that the King and Court had also a Choice given them of Life and Death, as well as the People; and, consequently, that the Judgements denounced were only conditional, in case the warning was neglected; for it is manifest that God mercifully tendered to them (even at the eve of their destruction) a continuance of the Monarchy (viz. ‘Kings sitting upon the Throne of David’) if they would but resolve to ‘ execute JUDGEMENT and RIGHTEOUSNESS;’ to ‘ deliver the Spoiled out of the hand of the OPPRESSOR;’ and to ‘ do no Wrong, NO VIOLENCE, to THE STRANGER,’ &c. But the Prophet also added much more advice to the King and his Court, though he was not "made of the King's Council (14);" for he boldly warned the Monarch by the tremendous examples of God's Judgements upon three of his immediate Predecessors in the Kingdom; two of whom were his own Brothers, the Sons of King Josiah; and the third his own Nephew, whom he immediately succeeded. They were all particularly mentioned by him in the proper order of their respective reigns, as we find by the copy of his Message or Remonstrance, preserved in the Collection of his Prophecies; and, throughout the said Remonstrance, frequent allusions are made to the principal causes of the failure and destruction of each of them, which afford a most striking and interesting Lesson to Kings and Governors in general; but it must have been more particularly affecting to Zedekiah, if we consider his critical situation at the time the Message was delivered to him, and that the Examples of Vengeance, to which the Prophet referred him, were actually accomplished in the Persons of his nearest Relations and Predecessors, who were successively deprived of their Royal Dignity, and carried away IN CHAINS into a slavish Captivity; the very fate which, the Prophet assured him, was to be his own!

But before I recite the remainder of God's Message to the Court of Zedekiah, it will be necessary for me to give some general account of that Monarch and of his immediate Predecessors, in order that the Remonstrance, in which they are all distinctly mentioned, may be more easily understood by the generality of Readers. It will likewise be necessary for me to prove, that the whole 22d Chapter of Jeremiah is included in that Message, or Remonstrance, which the Prophet was then to deliver in the presence of the whole Court of Zedekiah. And I propose to insert also some remarks, as they occur, concerning the Prophet himself, and the order of time, in which he delivered the several tremendous predictions of GOD's Vengeance against these wicked Princes.

Zedekiah was the Son of that excellent Prince Josiah King of Judah, on whose account, expressly, the dreadful Vengeance, due to that wicked Nation, was postponed for several years, viz. till after his death.

The Scriptures mention four Sons of King Josiah, viz. ‘the first-born, Johanan (or John); the second, Jehoiakim; the third, Zedekiah; and the fourth, Shallum.’ 1 Chron. iii. 15.—What became of the eldest Son Johanan, or John, is not recorded(15), but all the others ascended the Throne of David; and first of all, the youngest Son Shallum, whom, on the death of King Josiah, ‘ the People of the Land took, and’ (as it seems, without) regard to seniority) ‘made him King in his Father's stead in Jerusalem.’ 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1.(16).

The reign of Shallum (alias Jehoahaz (17) was only three months; for he regarded not the eternal Laws of God, and thereby drew down the Divine Vengeance upon himself, by the hand of Pharaoh-Neco, who deposed him at Jerusalem (18) (2 Chron. xxxvi. 3.) and afterwards
PUT HIM IN BANDS at Riblah (19) in the Land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem
(2 Kings xxiii. 33)(20) there being, probably, some reason to apprehend, that he would attempt to supplant his elder brother Eliakim, whom the Egyptian Conqueror had thought proper to set up in his stead upon ‘ the Throne of David; ’ and therefore, to secure the new-established Monarch, he not only put Shallum IN BANDS, but also carried him away with him into Captivity in Egypt, where he died (21).

Thus Eliakim (through the Mercy of God to "the House of David") was raised to the Throne and Kingdom of his Ancestors, even by a foreign Enemy! who also changed his Name (that the Providence of God might be more apparent in the Revolution) from Eliakim (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, signifying God will establish) to Je-hoiakim, signifying (as I have before remarked) "Jehovah will establish;" whereby it is manifest that even a Heathen Monarch took pains to remind the new King of Judah of his dependence on Jehovah the God of Israel, whose Laws and Religion of course, we may presume, were likewise re-established in Judea by the same foreign Authority; for it would have been absurd in the Egyptian Monarch to have changed the Name of his Royal Vassal to another Name more particularly testifying a Belief in Jehovah, the true God of Israel, if he did not mean thereby to keep the Jewish King in constant remembrance of the National Profession of Law and Religion by the sacred Name of the great Author of them!

The same remarkable change in the Name of a future King of Judah was made also by another foreign and Heathen Conqueror afterwards, in honour of the eternal JEHOVAH; so that it was manifestly the Providence of God which inclined these two great Enemies of the Jewish State, though they were also mortal Enemies to each other, (I mean Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar) to pursue exactly the same method in restoring "the Sceptre of Judah" to ‘ the House of David, ’ and in declaring the Establishment of the National Law and Religion, by putting a respectful memorial of the sacred Name of Jehovah upon the new-raised Monarchs!

In the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, though Judea and all Syria were then under the Egyptian Empire, the Prophet Jeremiah, in his 27th chapter(22) foretold the universal Empire of ‘Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon,’ even before that great Warrior was King of Babylon(23) his Father Nabopollasar (who was also called Nebuchodonosor (24) being still alive. The Prophet was directed to make Bonds and Yokes, and put them upon his own neck, and to send them afterwards to the Kings of several neighbouring Nations, with a most awful message from God concerning the rising power of the Babylonian Monarch: —"And now" (said the Prophet, in the Name of the Lord, or Jehovah, of Hosts, the God of Israel, see ver. 4.) ‘have I given all these Lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, my Servant; ’ &c.— ‘and all Nations’ (many of whom are expressly mentioned in the third verse) ‘shall serve HIM, and his SON, and his SON'S SON, until the very time of his Land come’ (for the Empire continued for three lives or successions, until the Babylonian measure of iniquity and oppression was fulfilled in the reign of Belthazar(25), when the Medes and Persians were to RETALIATE upon them THE HARD SLAVERY of Israel); ‘and then’ (continues the Prophet) ‘many Nations and great Kings shall SERVE themselves OF HIM,’ &c. Jer. xxvii. 6, 7. that is, they shall ENSLAVE his People, in the same manner that he and his two Successors enslaved and oppressed other Nations: rendering Slavery for Slavery!

In the same chapter ZEDEKIAH is also mentioned by name as King of Judah (26) several years before he received the name of ZEDEKIAH; so that neither he himself (whose proper name was Mattaniah) nor any other person could possibly know, in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, what particular person was then signified by the name of Zedekiah; for even Nebuchadnezzar himself, who afterwards gave him that name, was not King of Babylon when the Prophecy was delivered, as I have already remarked. But after this foreign Conqueror had really appointed a King of Judah, and given him the name of ZEDEKIAH (the very name foretold by the Prophet), such an extraordinary circumstance would add unquestionable authority to the truth of Jeremiah's mission, and would render Zedekiah and his Courtiers inexcusable (as they really were) for rejecting the earnest and repeated Remonstrances of that Prophet(27).

This timely Prediction, therefore, in the reign of Jehoiakim, with the internal Proofs which it contained, concerning the necessity of Zedekiah's Submission to the Babylonian Yoke, seems to have been absolutely necessary to enable the Prophet to confute the many false Prophets, Diviners, Dreamers, &c. (see 9th verse) who were (afterward, in Zedekiah's reign) publickly employed to excite the People to shake off the Babylonian Yoke.

The Prophet was also forewarned in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign (as the same chapter testifies) that the Kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Zidon would send Messengers to a ‘ Zedekiah King of Judah;’ all which Kings (as Grotius remarks)(28) were subdued by Nebuchadnezzar; and therefore it is not improbable that the said Messengers or Ambassadors were sent to Zedekiah for the purpose of forming a league against the Babylonian(29) Power: the public declarations of the false Prophets above-mentioned, and the actual REBELLION soon afterwards of Zedekiah himself, renders the said supposition about the business of the Messengers very probable; so that, if this singular state of affairs be considered, the sending, at such a seasonable time, to the several neighbouring Kings, by the return of their Ambassadors, the Yokes which had been worn by Jeremiah, together with GOD's awful Message (that he would punish that Nation which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, and put their Neck under his Yoke, see ver. 8.(30), must needs strike these Heathen Monarchs (if they were not entirely abandoned in their principles) with Fear and Reverence; especially as their Ambassadors would hear at Jerusalem, that the Divine Message concerning the Yokes, then sent, had been revealed to the Prophet long before (thirteen or fourteen years) in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, in token of which the Prophet had worn Yokes upon his own neck (see chap. xxviii. ver. 10, 12, 13); and that no less than three circumstances of that extraordinary Revelation were now already fulfilled: the Prophet having not only foretold the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and the reign of Zedekiah (a name not applicable to Zedekiah himself till the Babylonian Conqueror thought proper to give it him, so that no worldly prudence could foresee such an event), but had also foretold the very circumstance in which they themselves were concerned, viz. that Messengers should be sent to this Zedekiah by such and such Kings!

In what year these Messengers or Ambassadors really arrived at Jerusalem, or returned from thence, does not appear; but as the Yokes were, first of all, to be put upon the Prophet's own neck, before he was to send them to the Kings (compare the 2d and 3d verses), and as it appears that he really wore such a wooden Yoke, as a sign against them, in the Temple, so late as the 4th year of Zedekiah, when a false Prophet took it from his neck, and broke it, and thereby occasioned a further command respecting those Kings, viz. that the Prophet should
make for them Yokes of Iron (31),
it seems most probable that the wooden Yokes first ordered had not then been sent to them; and, consequently, that the Messengers of those Kings had not as yet arrived at Jerusalem (for, undoubtedly, the Prophet would obey the Divine Command as soon as he had the proper opportunity of doing so); and as Zedekiah went to Babylon in the same year (see Jer. li. 59.) it is likely the Messengers did not arrive, nor he rebel, till the year following. Nevertheless, in that year (the fourth of Zedekiah) the Prophet declared the Message to Zedekiah himself, which he had before been charged to send to the other Kings:— ‘I spake also’ (says he in ch. xxvii. ver. 12.) ‘to Zedekiah King of Judah according to all these words’ (that is, ‘according to all these words’ which precede in the same chapter respecting the Yokes, and which had been revealed in the reign of Jehoiakim) ‘saying, Bring your necks under THE YOKE of the King of Babylon, and serve him, and his people, and LIVE. Why will ye die, thou, and thy people, by the Sword, by the Famine, and by the Pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken against the NATION that will not SERVE the King of Babylon? ’ &c. See ver. 12 and 13. The Almighty had laid upon all the other Nations of Palestine and Syria THE SAME FATAL NECESSITY, either to submit to a foreign Yoke, or DIE! So that we have here a very remarkable example of GOD's VENGEANCE AND RETRIBUTION upon several wicked and corrupt Nations which regarded not the eternal Laws of God! —They must either serve the King of Babylon, or be destroyed; — there was no alternative! — BE DESTROYED ‘ by the Sword, by the Famine, and by the Pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken’ (compare the 13th verse with the 8th) ‘ until I have consumed them BY HIS HAND,’ that is, by the hand of the Babylonian Conqueror, the appointed Instrument of God's temporal Vengeance: — and the GOD OF ARMIES 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 hath in all ages raised up some powerful Scourges of this kind to punish wicked and ungrateful Nations with Fire and Sword, and to reduce them to an unnatural Bondage, on account of National Iniquities! — Even the present state of Mankind affords some melancholy proofs of this. How many Nations, now subsisting in the world, have forfeited their natural Liberty, and are now sitting under the IRON YOKES of unnatural, arbitrary Governments, subjected to the WILL AND PLEASURE of their respective Sovereigns, instead of LAW! And if the particular History of any, or perhaps all, of these Nations be carefully examined, it will not, I believe, be found that any of them were ever reduced to such a deplorable state of national Misery, till by national Wickedness, and public Contempt of GOD's eternal Laws, they had rendered a national RETRIBUTION strictly necessary, according to the unerring Rules of eternal Justice! All hopes, therefore, of REDRESS to these enslaved Nations must be vain, without a sincere reformation of manners in each Nation respectively, and without public and most earnest national or general endeavours to obtain Reconciliation and Forgiveness from THE KING OF KINGS; as nothing but a strict Obedience to HIS LAWS can render any Nation truly FREE. Jeremiah made the same declaration also to the Priests and People that he had made to the King:—"Also I spake" (says he)
to the Priests, and to all the People, saying, Thus saith the LORD: Hearken not to the words of your Prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the Vessels of the Lord's House shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a Lye (32) unto you. Hearken not unto them: serve the King of Babylon, and live. Wherefore should this City be laid waste?
Jer. xxvii. 16, 17.

The wicked Prophets, who thus misled the People with Lyes, presumed nevertheless to use the sacred Name of JEHOVAH(33), as if they had really declared the Will of GOD; so that the true Prophet had need (not only of all those unquestionable Proofs of his Divine Mission, which I have already mentioned, but even) of other Proofs also, to enable him to oppose the lying Prophets, who pretended to speak in the Name of JEHOVAH, as well as himself; for ‘ in the same year ’ (that is, in the fourth of Zedekiah) one of these wicked Prophets,
Hananiah, the Son of Azur the Prophet, which was of Gibeon, (34)
— ‘took the Yoke from off the Prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah spake’ (in the Temple) ‘in the presence of all the People, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon from the neck of all Nations within the space of two full years.’ Jer. xxviii. 1, 10, 11. Upon which, it seems, the Prophet Jeremiah was directed by God to reprove Hananiah with a severe sentence; for he not only declared that "Yokes of Iron" should be substituted instead of the
Yokes of Wood (35),
which Hananiah had broken, as I before remarked, but he also pointed out the lying Prophet himself to the public observation, as a notable and undeniable token, that the Prophecies of Jeremiah were of Divine Authority!—"Hear now, Hananiah," (said the true Prophet): "the Lord" (i. e. Jehovah) ‘hath not sent thee; but thou makest this People to trust in a Lye. Therefore thus saith the Lord;—Behold, I will cast thee forth from the face of the earth: This Year thou shalt DIE, because thou hast taught Rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the Prophet DIED the same year, in the seventh month. ’ Jer. xxviii. 15—17. That is, he died exactly two months after the Prediction, which was made in the fifth month of the fourth year of Zedekiah. Such Evidence, added to the former clear Tokens of Authenticity which this Prophecy of the Yokes carried with it, must render Zedekiah and his Courtiers totally inexcusable for neglecting the Divine Warning, and relying upon false Prophets.

Thus the propriety of considering the former part of the 27th chapter as a Revelation in the time of Jehoiakim (agreeable to the testimony of the Hebrew Text) is rendered apparent by the particular advantages which such a prior Revelation would afterwards give to the true Prophet, when he had to oppose the pretended Prophecies delivered in the fourth year of Zedekiah: and the remaining part of the 27th chapter, from the 12th verse, wherein the Prophet mentions his personal Address to Zedekiah, must necessarily be attributed to a future time (36), which in the following chapter (the 28th) is expressly declared to have been in the fourth year of Zedekiah (37).

In the beginning also of Jehoiakim's reign the Prophet Jeremiah was seized by the Priests and the People in the Temple, for denouncing God's Vengeance against the Nation, the Temple also (on account of the national Wickedness), and the City (38), and was arraigned and tryed for it, as for a CAPITAL OFFENCE, before ‘ the Princes and all the Congregation. ’—Upon the Trial the Prophet persisted in his former declaration; but at the same time assured them of Mercy and Reconciliation, in case they would but repent and reform: so that it was absolutely in their own power (through the Mercy of God) to have averted the impending Vengeance. "Therefore NOW" (said the Prophet) ‘ amend your ways and your doings, and obey the Voice of the LORD your GOD;’ (and then he adds the conditional Assurance of Peace) ‘and the LORD’ (said the Prophet) ‘ will repent him of THE EVIL that he hath pronounced against you. ’ To this the Prophet added a short Remonstrance respecting his own case: — ‘As for me’ (says he) ‘I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this City, and upon the Inhabitants thereof; for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you, to speak all these words in your ears.’ Jer. xxvi. 8—15. Whereupon he was acquitted and dismissed; for some of the Elders cited clear precedents, from the history of former times, concerning the legality of declaring God's Vengeance against National Wickedness: but though this prudent judgement of the Court of Justice saved Jeremiah for that time, yet it did not prevent the wicked Monarch Jehoiakim from murdering the Prophet's Colleague, Urijah, who likewise prophesied
against the City, and against the Land, according to all the words of Jeremiah (39):
but his blood was severely avenged, some years afterwards, in the fatal catastrophe of the Tyrant!

Thus it appears that Jehoiakim was as little mindful of the Laws and Religion of JEHOVAH (notwithstanding the memorial of that sacred Name which Pharaoh had placed upon him) as his Predecessor Shallum; for we read also in the 2d book of Chronicles (xxxvi. 5, 6.) that ‘he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord ’ (i. e. Jehovah) ‘ his God. ’ (And the account of God's Vengeance immediately follows the declaration of the Monarch's Ingratitude! for) — "Against him" (continues the Text) ‘came up Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon.’

In the book of Daniel we find that the siege of Jerusalem began in the third year of Jehoiakim (40); but, it seems, the Babylonians did not immediately succeed in their enterprize; for we read, in the book of Jeremiah, an account of several transactions in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (41); and, among the rest, that the Prophet Jeremiah, in that very year, denounced the Judgement of God upon Jerusalem and Judea, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; which proves, that the City was not, as yet, taken by him; for in the fourth year of Jehoiakim he acquainted all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, that — ‘from the thirteenth year of Josiah the Son of Amon, King of Judah, even to this day ’ (said the Prophet), ‘that is, the three and twentieth year, the Word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened,’ &c.— ‘Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts’ (Jehovah of Hosts);
Because ye have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the Families of the North, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon my Servant, and will bring them against this Land, and against the Inhabitants thereof, and against all these Nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an Astonishment, and an Hissing, and perpetual(42) Desolations.
Jer. xxv. 1—9. And as the Denunciations of GOD's Vengeance were generally accompanied with Promises of future Reconciliation and Comfort, in case of Amendment, so the Servitude to Babylon was here expressly limited to the term of serventy years (43); and as a further sign of God's Providence and Care of his People, the Prophet, at the same time, denounced a heavy RETRIBUTION OF VENGEANCE against ‘ the King of Babylon, and that Nation, ’ the Instruments of God's Vengeance(44); as also against many neighbouring Nations, who were made to drink of ‘ the Wine-cup of this Fury ’ (i.e. the Sword and Captivity); which remarkable circumstance, as here foretold, should teach ALL NATIONS, to the end of the World, the Necessity which God has laid on them to take warning by the several Examples of his Vengeance and Retribution upon the Jewish NATION; because the Prophet was directed to assure the other Nations, that if God spared not his own peculiar People, he surely would not spare them(45)!

The 36th chapter of Jeremiah, from the beginning to the 8th verse, is next in order of date, because it relates to transactions of the same year (viz. the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which must be during the Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, who came up in the third year of Jehoiakim). The Prophet was then directed to write in the Roll of a Book all his former Prophecies, from "the days of Josiah" to that time(46). See Jer. xxxvi. 1. The Book was wrote, however, by Baruch the Scribe, from the mouth of Jeremiah, who was then in prison (Jer. xxxvi. 5.(47); and Jeremiah directed Baruch to read the Book to the People in the Temple upon a public Fast-day. See ver. 5—8.

The 45th chapter of Jeremiah seems to be the next in order of time, and contains the Prophet's Rebuke(48) of Baruch, for expressing his fears for himself, ‘when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of JEHOIAKIM,’ &c. (see ver. 1.); which plainly refers us to the time and circumstances mentioned in the 36th chapter. Archbishop Usher informs us, that perhaps the 30th and 31st chapters of Jeremiah, containing comfortable Promises of future Restauration, are to be referred to the time of delivering the 45th chapter(49): but he afterwards assigns them another date with more certainty. And to the same year (the fourth of Jehoiakim) that learned Prelate also places the 35th chapter, concerning the Rechabites (50); for, with good reason, he supposes that the circumstances therein related (concerning their refusal to drink the Wine which the Prophet had set before them by God's command) were transacted during the time of the Siege by Nebuchadnezzar, for fear of whom the Rechabites had taken shelter in the City.

In the ninth month(51) of the same year (two months after Baruch had read the Roll of Prophecy in the Temple, which was in the seventh month) Jerusalem was taken(52) by Nebuchadnezzar, who bound Jehoiakim
in setters, to carry him to Babylon (53)
(as I before remarked): but he did not then carry him away(54); for it appears that he was afterwards continued upon the Throne of David as a tributary Monarch, and served the King of Babylon three years(55) for the Babylonian Monarch contented himself with taking away the most promising Children of the Royal Family, and of the Nobility (from whence the first commencement of the seventy years Captivity is to be dated), and also some of the Instruments of the Temple; God having withheld him from taking more(56) or rather, perhaps, inclined him to leave the rest, that the Service of the Temple might be still continued, which it certainly was, as well as the National Laws and Customs, and also a National Prince of the House of David "upon the Throne of David," notwithstanding that the Government was then held under the authority of a foreign Heathen Monarch; which was the fifth (if not the sixth) time(56) that the like extraordinary circumstances were fulfilled since the promise was made to King David that his House and Kingdom should be established. See 2 Sam. vii. 11—29.

In the fifth year of Jehoiakim (tho' the first year of his Vassalage to Babylon), in the ninth month, a Fast was proclaimed, in remembrance of God's Judgements in the preceding year(57) upon the Jewish Nation; and on the Fast-day Baruch read the Words of Jeremiah "in the ears of all the People" who were assembled, on this solemn occasion, in the Temple: and the Roll, which contained the Prophecies, being afterwards read also in the presence of King Jehoiakim, was, by his order, cut to pieces and burnt; after which ‘all the former words that were in the first Roll ’ were again wrote by Baruch in another Roll, with several tremendous additions against the Nation (58), as well as, personally, against the King himself (59). The particulars of these circumstances in the fifth of Jehoiakim are related in the 36th chapter of Jeremiah, from the 9th verse to the end.

After Jehoiakim had served Nebuchadnezzar three years, ‘ then he turned and rebelled against him ’ (2 Kings xxiv. 1.); which must have been in the seventh year of his reign: and from that time to the end of his reign the Jewish Nation was miserably harassed by Bands of Foreign Troops from several different Nations(60), then subject to the Dominion of Nebuchadnezzar, which, under the Providence of God, were to execute the Divine Vengeance upon the Jewish Nation (agreeable to the express terms of God's Covenant) for having neglected the Divine Law (the People being at that time notoriously corrupt and wicked), but more particularly for having neglected those parts of the Law which are eternal, viz. the eternal Laws of JUDGEMENT (or Justice) and RIGHTEOUSNESS, of which the Prophets were continually reminding them!—We have no further information from the sacred Text concerning the four remaining years of Jehoiakim's reign(61); only that he
slept with his Fathers (62), and that JEHOIACHIN his Son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings xxiv. 6. But Josephus(63) relates that Jehoiakim RECEIVED the King of the Babylonians, who fought against him: for, being terrified by the predictions of the Prophet, he neither shut him out, nor fought against him: so that the Babylonian Conqueror, entering the City, slew all the flower of the Youth of Jerusalem, together with King Jehoiakim, whom he commanded to be cast unburied without the walls (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉); and that he also appointed Jehoachim his Son (i. e. the Son of Jehoiakim) King of the Country and of the City.

This is certainly the most probable account of Jehoiakim's death; for Dean Prideaux's account, that
they took him prisoner in some sally(64)
(besides that it is a mere supposition), does not afford so literal an accomplishment of Jeremiah's Prophecy as the account of Josephus, because the words ‘ drawn and cast forth beyond the Gates of Jerusalem ’ seem to imply that Jehoiakim's death should be in Jerusalem (as Josephus has represented it); otherwise it could not well be said that he was ‘ drawn and cast forth BEYOND THE GATES,’ if he did not die WITHIN THE GATES.

This second conquest of Jehoiakim by Nebuchadnezzar was the sixth (if not the seventh) time that Jerusalem was taken by foreign Enemies since the conditional promise was made to David concerning the Establishment of his Throne; and the Exaltation of Jehoiachin, by the Authority of the Babylonian Conqueror, was the seventh Restoration of ‘ the House of David ’ to the "Throne of David," after being as often delivered into the hands of their Enemies for neglecting God's Laws; whereby the immediate interposition of DIVINE PROVIDENCE in the direction of Human Affairs is unquestionably demonstrated. But notwithstanding these examples both of God's Vengeance and of his Mercy towards "the House of David," the young King Jehoiachin (65) (alias Jeconiah, or Coniah) very soon afterwards fell into all the wickedness of his Fathers, and, consequently, was rejected by the GOD of Israel; for the Monarch was speedily informed by the Prophet Jeremiah, that God had determined to deliver him up into the hands of his Enemies, and into the hands of Bebuchadnezzar, whose face he feared (66), though, it seems, he feared not GOD! for the Text informs us that ‘ he did EVIL in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his Father had done. ’ (2 Kings xxiv. 9.) And then immediately follows the account of God's Vengeance against him!— ‘At that time’ (says the Text)
the Servants of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the City was besieged,(67).
2 Kings xxiv. 10.

This Vengeance must have followed very close upon the footsteps of this King's Iniquity; for, it seems, ‘ he reigned in Jerusalem ’ (only) ‘three months’—"and ten days." Compare 2 Kings xxiv. 8. with 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9.

‘And when the year was expired King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon.’ 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. That is, Nebuchadnezzar, first of all, sent his Servants (viz. his Army) against Jerusalem, who besieged the City (as I have already related from the second book of Kings)(68): but he did not bring Jehoiachin to Babylon until he himself went also "against the City" (see 2 Kings xxiv. 11.); and then, the Text informs us,
Jehoiachin the King of Judah went out to the King of Babylon, he, and his Mother, and his Servants, and his Princes, and his Officers: and the King of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign(69). And he carried out thence all the Treasures of the House of the Lord, and the Treasures of the King's House, and cut in pieces all the Vessels of Gold which Solomon King of Israel had made in the Temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away all Jerasalem, and all the Princes, and all the mighty Men of Valour, even ten thousand Captives, and all the Craftsmen and Smiths: none remained save the poorest sort of the People of the Land:
&c. 2 Kings xxiv. 12—14, &c. All these circumstances sufficiently prove, that Nebuchadnezzar was now a THIRD time Master of Jerusalem, this being the seventh (if not the eighth) time that the City of Jerusalem fell into the hands of foreign Enemies, since the conditional promise was made to King David of an established Throne: but as JEHOIACHIN forsook the ways of GOD, he was, of course, forsaken of GOD in his temporal Government; and was given up to his Enemies, with his Mother, his Wives, his Officers, and the Mighty of the Land, who were all carried away together
INTO CAPTIVITY from Jerusalem to Babylon (70),
and thereby afforded to all future Administrations of national Government an awful example of the Divine Vengeance against Kings and Rulers that neglect the eternal Laws of GOD! But though Nebuchadnezzar thought it necessary to depose Jehoiachin, as well as his Father Jehoiakim before him, yet he still persisted in maintaining "the House of David (71)" upon "the Throne of David," and accordingly
made Mattaniah his Father's Brother King in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah (72).
This Monarch was the third of King Josiah's Sons(73) that succeeded him upon the Throne of David, notwithstanding that the Nation had been four times conquered by foreign Enemies since Josiah's death! But it is still more remarkable, that both these foreign Conquerors, Pharaoh-Neco and Nebuchadnezzar, should not only persist in setting up the Princes of "the House of David" upon ‘ the Throne of David, ’ but should also remind them of their indispensible obligation to maintain the Laws and Religion of the GOD of Israel by putting upon them, respectively, a Memorial of the Sacred Name of JEHOVAH; for I have already shewn, that Pharaoh-Neco gave the name of Jehoi-akim (signifying "JEHOVAH will establish") when he set up a Monarch over the peculiar People of JEHOVAH; and now again Nebuchadnezzar not only obliged his new Vassal to "swear by GOD(74) that he would observe the Covenant which was then made between them, but he also put upon him a signal Memorial of the Name and peculiar Principle of the only true GOD, JEHOVAH, by giving him the Surname of Zedekiah (75) (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Tsadok-Jehov) signifying ‘ the Righteousness of JEHOVAH,’ or JEHOVAH is "righteous;" whereby it is manifest (as I have before remarked) that the Laws and Religion of JEHOVAH were tolerated or continued among the Jews, even by the Authority and avowed Consent of the Heathen Conqueror himself, which surely denotes, that he was guided, in this matter, by a very particular PROVIDENCE; for, at the same time that he afforded the Jews an opportunity of retrieving their past conduct by observing more strictly the Laws of God, and the forms of their own National Religion, he set before them (in the Surname of their new Monarch) the Sum, Essence, and ultimate Purpose of all true Religion, ‘THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JEHOVAH!’ This was a Name, therefore, of such actual importance to the Jewish State (though, perhaps, a common name, even before that time, among the Jews) that it could not have occurred, by the mere light of Nature, to the Babylonian Stranger on the solemn occasion of confirming and establishing a King of Judah, to which it was most particularly adapted! for it was really the name (as shall be more particularly shewn hereafter) of that future "KING OF THE JEWS" in whom alone
the Throne of David (76)
could be truly and effectually "established for ever!" This, surely, was far above the knowledge and comprehension of a Heathen Stranger, unacquainted with the revealed Laws of God!

It was also the name which, of all others, could best point out to the Jews the only certain method of ‘ establishing the Throne of David, ’ then newly restored (and, indeed, of establishing every other Throne to the end of the World); I mean a strict conformity to the eternal Law of Righteousness,— ‘THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JEHOVAH.’ There was no other method of averting the dreadful Retribution at that time fully due to the Jewish Nation! — that impending Vengeance and Desolation, of which the Conqueror and present Restorer of the Kingdom was, himself, the appointed Executioner in case of Disobedience! See how the same means of averting God's Vengeance has been since set before us, even by THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD HIMSELF, as the first principle of sound policy:— ‘ Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of Gód and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things ’ (temporal necessaries) "shall be added unto you." Mat. vi. 33. But Zedekiah paid so little regard to "the Righteousness of Jehovah," and proved so notoriously unworthy to bear that glorious name, that the Prophet Jeremiah, was very soon afterwards, commanded to denounce God's Vengeance against him, even in the beginning, as it seems, of his reign, that is (as the Text informs us) ‘ after that NEBUCHADREZZAR King of Babylon had carried away captive JECONIAH the Son of JEHOIAKIM King of Judah, and THE PRINCES of Judah, ’ &c. The Revelation was made under the Type of a Basket of Evil Figs (see the 24th chapter): but as the Judgements, therein contained, are denounced not only against THE KING, but also against ‘HIS PRINCES and the Residue of Jerusalem ’ (chap. xxiv. 8.) we may presume, that this 24th chapter was not revealed till Zedekiah had so far settled himself in the Kingdom as to have appointed PRINCES(77) and other Officers under him; because "ALL THE PRINCES," and all Persons of any Distinction (78) in the former reign, were carried into Captivity with their King Jehoiachin (2 Kings xxiv. 14.): and therefore, though the severe sentence in the 24th chapter was denounced in the beginning of Zedekiah's reign, yet, undoubtedly, he had already given sufficient proofs that his trust was in Man, and not in GOD; so that his condemnation was just! About this time likewise the Prophecies contained in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah were sent in a letter from the Prophet to the Captives at Babylon, by the hands of the Ambassadors whom Zedekiah sent to the King of Babylon. In the 17th verse of this chapter the Prophet repeats a part of the 24th chapter, relating to the Type of Evil Figs; which (as well as the preamble of each) proves that these two chapters were delivered about the same time. The two next chapters (viz. xxx. and xxxi.) seem also to follow very properly(79).

In the beginning(80) also of Zedekiah's reign the Prophet Jeremiah denounced God's Vengeance against Elam (or Persia); but promised, at the same time, a future Restoration. See the 49th chapter of Jeremiah, from the 34th verse(81). Whether the Judgements against Ammon, Edom, Damascus, &c. contained in the former part of this chapter were delivered also at the same time does not appear: it is rather more probable that they were delivered about the same time with the 46th and 48th chapters, viz. in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; for which opinion I have already quoted the authority of the learned Lightfoot. Some of these Nations were doomed to temporal Vengeance in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. The Prophecy of this Vengeance (contained in the 27th chapter of Jeremiah) was to be afterwards communicated to them, by their own Ambassadors, in the reign of Zedekiah, which could not be done till the latter end, at least, of his fourth year; though the learned Archbishop of Armagh places that Revelation in the beginning of Zedekiah's reign. See ad A. M. 3405, p. 126.(82)

The 50th and 51st chapters of Jeremiah seem to come next in order of time. They contain dreadful denunciations of God's Vengeance and Retribution against Babylon, the mighty Instrument of God's Vengeance (of which I shall have occasion to say more hereafter). In the 51st chapter (ver. 60.) we read, that ‘JEREMIAH wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon BABYLON, even all these words that are written against Babylon; ’ which, of course, must include both chapters: and we are enabled to ascertain the date of them by the preceding verse; which (together with the following verses) informs us, that the Prince Seraiah was directed to read the said Prophecies at Babylon, when he went there with ZEDEKIAH in the fourth year of his reign, and was afterwards to cast the Book into the midst of the River Euphrates. Jer. li. 59—64.

There is no particular mention in Scripture of any transactions of Zedekiah between the fourth and ninth years of his reign; only that ‘ he rebelled against the King of Babylon in sending Ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him Horses and much People; ’ so that he seems to have entertained a foolish and wicked desire to render himself absolute and independent by means of a Standing Army of foreign Mercenaries; for he not only endeavoured to procure Horses from Egypt, but also
much People (83).
Ezek. xvii. 15. And as he vainly put his whole trust in a military Force, the solemn Oath, which he had so lately taken, was made to yield to his political views, though he had called GOD to witness! So that the perjured Monarch's WILL AND PLEASURE was preferred to that RIGHTEOUSNESS in the execution of Covenants and Laws which alone can establish the Thrones of Kings (84), and of which his new name (Zedekiah, or Righteousness of Jehovah) was certainly intended to remind him. This wicked policy was censured in the severest terms by the Prophet Ezekiel: — ‘ Shall he prosper? ’ (said the Prophet)
shall he escape that doth such (things)? or shall he break the Covenant, and be delivered? As I live, saith the LORD GOD, surely in the place (where) the King (dwelleth) that made him King, whose Oath he despised, and whose Covenant he brake, (even) with him, in the midst of Babylon, he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh(85), with (his) mighty Army and great Company, make for him in the War, by casting up Mounts, and building Forts, to cut off many persons. Seeing he despised THE OATH, by breaking the Covenant (when lo, he had given his hand), and hath done all these (things), he shall not escape. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine Oath that he hath despised, and my Covenant that he hath broken, even it I will recompense upon his own head. And I will spread my Net upon him, and he shall be taken in my Snare: and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me. And all his Fugitives, with all his Bands
(viz. his Regiments or Military Forces, in which he trusted), ‘shall fall by the Sword; and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it. ’ Ezek. xvii. 15—21. Thus Zedekiah's Fate was appointed to be one of the many proofs which God vouchsafed to the Jews, to demonstrate the Truth of his Revelation by the Prophets.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah the impending Vengeance became visible by the near approach of the Babylonian Army, as I have before remarked in page 28: for then began to be fulfilled what had been foretold not only in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, but, probably, also in the reign of Josiah. Compare Jer. i. 15. with xxv. 9. In the former, God declares,— ‘ I will call all the Families of the Kingdoms of the North, ’ &c. and in the latter, ‘Behold, I will send and take all the Families of the North, saith the Lord’ (thereby marking his absolute direction of them), ‘and Nebuchadrezzar the King of Babylon MY SERVANT, and will bring them against this Land, ’ &c.

And accordingly, after Nebuchadnezzar had strengthened his Empire, by reducing to his obedience all the Kingdoms of the Assyrian as well as the Syrian Dominion (which latter lay to the North of Judaea, and extended quite up to Armenia, the Armenians themselves being no other than Syrians; for Aram is the proper name in Scripture for Syria), he compelled the conquered Nations to assist him in reducing others to a like servile subjection under his own arbitrary Will, without perceiving that he and they, collectively, were but a mere instrument of Vengeance (86) in the hands of the Lord of Hosts, or God of Armies! for we read in the 34th chapter of Jeremiah, that Nebuchadnezzar literally fulfilled the former Prophecies by coming to fight against Jerusalem, with ‘ all his Army, and all the Kingdoms of the Earth of his Dominion, ’ &c. I have already related the Message which Zedekiah sent to the Prophet Jeremiah on this occasion, with the Prophet's Answer, which is the subject of the 21st chapter; and that the Prophet was directed also to repeat the Subject of that Answer in the presence of Zedekiah and his whole Court; which leads me once more to the consideration of the 22d chapter, the difficulty of which had obliged me to go back, and investigate the Histories of the preceding Princes of Judah, and of the Times when the several Prophecies against them by Jeremiah were revealed: and though this necessary digression has, I fear, been extended to a much greater length than is consistent with due order and method, yet, I trust, my candid Readers will excuse this defect in mere matter of form, if they should find any thing in my digression that may tend to illustrate, and render more familiar to the generality of Readers, that excellent Book, the Collection of Jeremiah's Prophecies, in which all Mankind are materially concerned and interested: for the Certainty of God's Vengeance upon wicked Nations is unquestionably demonstrated in the Prophecies of Jeremiah; so that the Tenour of that whole Book, indeed, relates, in some degree, to my present subject, though I had at first intended to confine myself, in this Tract, to the examination only of the 21st, 22d, and 34th chapters, as being more particularly levelled against Oppressors, Tyrants, and Slave-holders!

Commentators have generally conceived, that the Divine Message, recorded in the 22d chapter (from the beginning to the 19th verse at least), was not delivered to Zedekiah, but to Jehoiakim, because a Prophecy against the latter is recorded in the 18th verse, viz. "Therefore" (said the Prophet, referring back to the Offences before-mentioned) ‘ thus saith the Lord, CONCERNING JEHOIAKIM, the Son of Josiah, King of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my Brother! ’ &c. ‘ He shall be buried with the burial of an Ass, ’ &c.

But if we carefully examine the whole chapter, with reference to the chapter which precedes, as well as that which follows, it will be found much more intelligible, coherent, and striking, when the whole is considered as one continued Address to Zedekiah, reminding him of the Judgements denounced (and then, indeed, fulfilled) against his immediate Predecessors, exactly according to the order of their reigns, and expressly for the same Offences (viz. OPPRESSION, and the Neglect of JUSTICE and RIGHT) for which he himself, by name, is condemned in the 21st chapter. The only difficulty which attends this construction is occasioned by the English Translators having used the present tense, in the 11th, 18th, and 24th verses (where the praeter tense would certainly have been much more proper); viz. "Thus saith the Lord," instead of ‘Thus said the Lord to, or concerning, Jehoiakim, ’ &c. which latter is the literal construction of the original, and is always so expressed in the interlineary Latin Version of the London Polyglot, viz. "Sic dixit Dominus:" for though in many other places it is indifferent to the sense, whether the present or praeter tense is used, yet in these above-mentioned it makes a very material difference; because the Prophet is only reminding Zedekiah of the Prophecies which he had before denounced (or, at least, to the same effect) against his disobedient Predecessors; as that, for instance, against Jehoiakim was first delivered by Baruch the Scribe (though not exactly in the same words, yet surely to the same purport) in the presence of Jehoiakim himself, after he had burnt the Roll of Jeremiah's Prophecies, viz. ‘ His dead Body shall be cast out in the Day to the Heat, and in the Night to the Frost; ’ (Jer. xxxvi. 30.) which is the same thing, in effect, as to
be buried with the burial of an Ass, drawn and cast forth (87),
&c. according to the repetition of the Prophecy before Zedekiah, as related in chap. xxii. 18, 19.

The Prophet, in the beginning of the chapter, is directed to ‘ go down to the House of the King of Judah, and speak THERE this Word, and say, Hear the Word of the Lord, O King of Judah, THAT SITTEST UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID,’ &c. Now the question is, who was the Prince who then sat upon the Throne of David, to whom the Divine Message was directed? whether Shallum, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, or Zedekiah? It could not be Shallum (tho' he is the first mentioned therein), because the Text describes him expressly as one ‘which went sorth out of this place, ’ being already carried into captivity by Pharaoh-Necho; and the Burthen of the Prophecy against him was, that "he shall return no more," &c. See the endings of all the three verses wherein he is mentioned, viz. 10, 11, and 12, which all end with that Burthen. Again, it is not likely that Jehoiakim (who is mentioned next in order) was then the reigning Prince, because his Son and Successor Jehoiachin (alias Coniah, or Jeconiah) is mentioned in the continuance of the fame Declaration, in a much more conspicuous light than Jehoiakim himself, being addressed in the second person, as if present at the time of the Denunciation, viz. ‘ I will give THEE into the hand of them that seek THY Life, ’ &c. ‘ And I will cast THEE out, ’ &c.

And though Jehoiachin, probably, was the reigning Prince upon the Throne, when this severe Prophecy against him was first of all denounced; and also though he is expressly spoken of, in the 28th verse, as present, viz. "This Man CONIAH;" yet he was not the Prince that sat ‘ upon the Throne of David, ’ when Jeremiah repeated (as I conceive) these several Prophecies, mentioned in the 22d chapter; because the Prophet, after a most solemn and alarming exclamation (‘O EARTH, EARTH, EARTH, hear the Word of the Lord! ’) concludes his Message with a dreadful Sentence against a Prince whom he also calls "this Man," as if present (viz. "Write ye THIS MAN childless"), which by no means agrees with the case either of Jehoiakim or Coniah. The former certainly was not childless; for, besides his Son Jehoiachin, or Coniah, it is not improbable but that ‘ Daniel and his fellows ’ (or, at least, some of them) were also the Children of JEHOIAKIM; for they were ‘OF THE KING'S SEED, AND OF THE PRINCES’ (Dan. i. 3.) that were carried to Babylon in the third year (or rather the fourth year) of Jehoiakim, when that Monarch was twenty-eight or twenty-nine years of age. And it is as certain that Coniah, or Jehoiachin, was not childless, because express mention is made of his Seed (or Children) in the 28th verse of this 22d chapter, viz. that ‘ he and his SEED are cast into a Land that they know not; ’ and no less than eight Sons of his are expressly mentioned in 1 Chron. iii. 17, 18.(88). Neither did Coniah LOSE his Children during the Captivity (as the learned Mr. Goadby, in hopes of removing the difficulty, has ventured to assert(89) for he was so far from LOSING his Children during his Captivity, that it is probable they were most of them born during the Captivity; for he was but ‘eighteen years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem’ (ONLY) "three months" (2 Kings xxiv. 8.) "and ten days" (2 Chron. xxxvi. 9.): so that it is not easy to conceive, that he could have so many as eight Children before he was carried to Babylon. But the matter is put out of dispute by the Apostle MATTHEW, who informs us expressly, that ‘AFTER they were brought to Babylon, JECHONIAS BEGAT Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; ’ &c. Mat. i. 12. from whence a regular succession is continued for more than five hundred years, down to Joseph the Hushand of the Blessed Virgin. The Prophecy, therefore, of Jeremiah, ‘ Write ye this Man childless, ’ could not relate to Coniah, nor to any other Prince of the House of David, cotemporary with Jeremiah, except ZEDEKIAH ALONE, and in him it was, indeed, literally fulfilled; for ‘ the King of Babylon slew the SONS of ZEDEKIAH in RIBLAH before his Eyes ’ (Jer. xxxix. 6.): which clearly answers to the Prophecy,
Write ye this Man CHILDLESS(90).
Now, as it is manifest, that the last verse of the 22d chapter of Jeremiah was addressed to Zedekiah, it is equally manifest that the beginning of it was also to him(91); for the first part of the Divine Message, in the 22d chapter, is nearly a Repetition of the Answer which the Prophet had before returned by Pashur and Zephaniah, the Messengers sent to him by King Zedekiah, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, which will clearly appear by the following collation:

Part of the Answer of the Prophet Jeremiah, sent to King Zedekiah by Passur and Zephaniah, as recorded in the 21st chapter.

‘ And touching THE HOUSE OF THE KING OF JUDAH, (say) HEAR YE THE WORD OF THE LORD; O HOUSE OF DAVID’ (the Address to (the whole Gourt, inserted in the Remonstrance, is here omitted, because this was a Message only to ‘ the House of David ’), ‘thus saith the Lord; EXECUTE JUDGEMENT in the Morning, and DELIVER (him that is) SPOILED OUT OF THE HAND OF THE OPPRESSOR’ (this general term, ‘ the hand of the Oppressor, ’ necessarily includes ‘ Violence to the Stranger, the Fatherless, ’ &c.) ‘ lest my Fury go out like Fire, and burn that none can quench (it), because of the evil of your doings.’ Jer. xxi. 11, 12.

The first part of the Prophet Jeremiah's personal Address to King Zedekiah, recorded in the 22d chapter.

‘HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD, O KING OF JUDAH, THAT SITTEST UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, thou, and thy Servants, and thy People that enter in by these gates; Thus saith the Lord; EXECUTE ye JUDGEMENT and Righteousness, AND DELIVER THE SPOILED OUT OF THE HAND OF THE OPPRESSOR; and do no Wrong, do no Violence to the Stranger, the Fatherless, and the Widow, ’ &c.— ‘ But if ye will not hear these Words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD’ (Jehovah), "that this House" (the Palace) ‘ shall become a Desolation, ’ &c. Jer. xxii. 1, 2, 3, 5.

The Prophet afterwards proceeds (in the 5th, 6th, and 7th verses of his Remonstrance to the King and Court) to declare the certainty of Desolation and Vengeance, if they would not hear his words; and in the 8th and 9th verses he assigns a general Reason(92) for the promised Desolation of Jerusalem.

In the 10th verse the Prophet begins to recite several Predictions with which he had formerly been charged against Zedekiah's Brothers and Predecessors, who had been successively deprived of their Royal Dignity, and were carried away in chains before him into a slayish Captivity, as I have before remarked. But the hopeless SLAVERY of his Brother SHALLUM(93) in particular, as well as the principal cause of it, the Prophet represented to him in very striking terms: — ‘ Weep ye not for the Dead ’ (says he, meaning JOSIAH),
neither bemoan him (94): (but) weep sore for him that GOETH AWAY; for HE SHALL RETURN NO MORE, NOR SEE HIS NATIVE COUNTRY. For thus saith the Lord touching SHALLUM the Son of JOSIAH King of Judah, which reigned instead of JOSIAH his Father, which went forth out of this place; HE SHALL NOT RETURN THITHER any more: but he shall DIE in the place whither they have LED HIM CAPTIVE,and shall see this Land no more!
And then the Prophet immediately refers us to the principal Causes of God's Severity against the Royal House: "Wo unto him" (says he) ‘ that buildeth his House by UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, and his Chambers by WRONG; (that) USETH HIS NEIGHBOUR'S SERVICE WITHOUT WAGES, AND GIVETH HIM NOT FOR HIS WORK’ (a clear description of the abominable wickedness of Slavery); ‘ that saith, I will build me a wide House and large Chambers, and cutteth him out Windows; and (it is) cieled with Cedar, and painted with Vermilion. ’ For the Monarch [but whether SHALLUM or JEHOIAKIM is not clearly declared (95)] was more careful, it seems, to display all the Elegances and Ornaments of Architecture and the other polite Arts in sumptuous Buildings, &c. than he was to maintain the Laws of Equity and Natural Right! but the Prophet adds
—SHALT THOU REIGN, because thou closest (thyself) in Cedar? Did not thy Father eat and drink, and DO JUDGEMENT and JUSTICE, (and) THEN (it was) well with him (96)? He judged the Cause of the Poor and Needy: then (it was) well (with him: was) not this to know me? saith the Lord, But thine Eyes and thine Heart are not but for Covetousness, and for to shed innocent Blood, and for OPPRESSION, and for VIOLENCE to do (it). Therefore
(that is, for all these aggravating circumstances of Tyranny) ‘ thus SAID the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah ’ (and not thus saith; for the present tense is not proper in this place); ‘ they shall NOT LAMENT for him, saying, Ah, my Brother? or Ah, Sister! they shall not lament for him, (saying,) Ah, Lord! or Ah, HIS Glory! ’ (according to the general Lamentations that had been made for his Father JOSIAH; but, on the contrary,)
he shall be buried with the burial of an Ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the Gates of Jerusalem (97),
&c. Next in order (after a short personal Address to the Nation, concerning the Certainty of God's Vengeance, and the Destruction of her Pastors and Lovers) the Prophet repeats the Judgement that had before been denounced against CONIAH the Son of JEHOIAKIM, and Nephew, as well as Predecessor, to ZEDEKIAH, the reigning Monarch, when this Remonstrance was made:—"As I live, SAID" (and not saith) ‘ the Lord, though CONIAH the Son of JEHOIAKIM King of Judah were the Signet upon my Right Hand, yet would I pluck thee thence: and I will give thee into the hand of them that seck thy life, and into the hand (of them) whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of NEBUCHADREZZAR King of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldaeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy Mother that bare thee, into another Country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. But the Land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. ’ The Prophet then, probably, appealed to ZEDEKIAH, concerning the unhappy fate of the person whose Sentence of Condemnation he had just been repeating: —"Is this Man CONIAH" (says he)
a despised broken Idol? (Is he) a Vessel wherein (is) no Pleasure? WHEREFORE ARE THEY CAST OUT, HE and HIS SEED, and ARE CAST(98) into a Land which they know not?
(for he plainly speaks of their being cast out as an event already past; ‘wherefore are they cast out?’ &c.) And if we consider the question as being put to ZEDEKIAH, the then reigning Monarch, it contains great severity: for if ZEDEKIAH had consideration enough left to reflect ‘ wherefore CONIAH and his Seed were cast out, ’ he must necessarily be struck with the Justice of his own Condemnation, which the Prophet was about to pronounce, with a most awful and alarming introduction: — ‘ O Earth! Earth! Earth! Hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord; WRITE YE THIS MAN CHILDLESS, a Man (that) shall not prosper in his days: for no Man of his Seed shall prosper, SITTING UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, and ruling any more in JUDAH.’

Had Zedekiah been much more abandoned than he really was, yet these dreadful Judgements, so solemnly pronounced in his own House, or Palace, and even before the whole Court, could not well have failed to affect him for the present. The following chapter seems likewise to have been delivered at the same time, in the presence of ZEDEKIAH and his whole Court, and was, probably, a part of the Remonstrance (99): for after declaring "Wo" to the wicked "PASTORS(100)" (probably meaning the WRETCHED KINGS(101) beforementioned of the House of David, who had neglected to EXECUTE JUDGEMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, and to RELIEVE THE OPPRESSED) Jeremiah takes occasion prophetically to draw the character of the GOOD PASTOR(102), the true SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL(103), whom God would afterwards raise up, even from the same Stock (the House of David), to ‘EXECUTE JUDGEMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS in the Land ’ (compare Jer. xxxiii. 15, 16. with ch. xxiii.): and this is expressed in such opposite terms to the character of the reigning Prince ZEDEKIAH, then doomed to destruction, that a contrasted allusion seems very clearly to have been intended.

‘ Behold, the days come, saith the LORD’ (JEHOVAH) ‘ that I will raise unto David A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH’ (whereas the Royal Branch, that had just been condemned in the preceding chapter, was most UNRIGHTEOUS); ‘ and a KING shall REIGN and PROSPER;’ (whereas the former wretched Kings were pulled down from their Thrones, and carried into Captivity, for the Neglect of Justice and Right; but the promised King) ‘ shall EXECUTE JUDGEMENT AND JUSTICE in the Earth ’ (which was the constant Lesson(104), indeed, to ZEDEKIAH and his Brothers, &c. and was as constantly by them neglected). In his days" (continues the Prophet) ‘ Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely ’ (whereas under Zedekiah their Desolation was compleated); ‘and this is his Name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness,’ i. e. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Jehovah Tsadek-n{ou}, which is the Name of Zedekiah, or Tsadek-Jehov transposed, with the small addition of the Pronominal Termination n{ou} for OUR, viz. Jehovah-Tsadekn{ou}, instead of Tsadek-Jehov; the latter signifying ‘ Jehovah is righteous; ’ for this name was put upon Zedekiah by the Babylonian Conqueror, to remind him of the solemn Oath he had taken in the Name of God.

This manifest contrasted allusion to Zedekiah makes it seem very probable, that the Prophecies of this 23d chapter were also pronounced in the presence of ZEDEKIAH and his Court, at the same time that Jeremiah went ‘ down to the House of the King of Judah,’ to declare the solemn Message, or Remonstrance, contained in the 22d chapter (105). It was, probably, on the first approach of the Babylonian Army (viz. in the ninth year of Zedekiah) that the Monarch sent Messengers to consult the Prophet, and thereby occasioned this public Remonstrance.

The War was immediately carried on with Vigour, it seems, in every part of the Kingdom (see the 34th chapter(106) and after some considerable progress had been made in it, ALL THE FENCED CITIES BEING TAKEN except THREE (see the 7th verse), the Prophet received a further Command from God relating to King ZEDEKIAH, ‘saying, Thus saith the LORD’ (i. e. JEHOVAH) ‘THE GOD OF ISRAEL; Go, and speak to ZEDEKIAH King of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this City into the hand of the KING OF BABYLON; and he shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt SURELY BE TAKEN and delivered into his hand; and THINE EYES SHALL BEHOLD THE EYES OF THE KING OF BABYLON, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth ’ (that is, when the King of Babylon was to sit in Judgement upon him), ‘ and thou shalt go to Babylon, ’ &c. (107)

These repeated Denunciations of Vengeance, with the HORRORS of the growing dangers from the successful Enemy before their eyes every way round Jerusalem, at length so far shook the firmness of that stubborn Monarch, that he began to shew some signs of Remorse; and as I have already shewn, that THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR was one of the principal causes (though there were many others also) assigned by the ALMIGHTY for casting off his People, and sending them into CAPTIVITY (punishing TYRANNY with SLAVERY), so even this wicked Monarch ZEDEKIAH, who never thought of LAW or JUSTICE in his Prosperity, was now, it seems, become sensible, that a public act of JUSTICE and MERCY towards the oppressed Poor, that were then detained, by his opulent Subjects, in a miserable INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE, would be the most grateful act of Reformation, and the most acceptable Sacrifice in the sight of a merciful God, and, consequently, the most effectual means to avert the NATIONAL DESTRUCTION, which was then advancing with dreadful strides! And accordingly we find, that he actually prevailed(108) upon his Princes and People to PROCLAIM LIBERTY to their POOR BRETHREN IN BONDAGE; and this Proclamation of LIBERTY was a public Act of the State(109); for not only the King, but all the Princes, and all the People, bound themselves, in a most solemn covenant, to comply with the terms of the Proclamation(110), which was also agreeable to an ancient Ordinance of their Law(111). Now, to confirm all that I have hitherto asserted concerning the principal causes of God's Anger against the Jews, my Readers are earnestly requested to remark, that this material Reformation was ACCEPTED BY THE ALMIGHTY, who even condescended to signify by his Prophet, that the People ‘HAD DONE RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT IN PROCLAIMING LIBERTY EVERY MAN TO HIS NEIGHBOUR’ (ver. 15.). And had the Jewish Government at that time persevered in this NECESSARY ACT OF JUSTICE AND BROTHERLY LOVE, they might probably (as ‘ Charity covers a multitude of Sins ’) have received Grace for a further Amendment, and might have obtained a mitigation, or at least a respite or postponing, of those dreadful Judgements which had long been denounced by the Prophets against that devoted Nation: but alas! the just Decrees were confirmed, on account of the want of sincerity and the deplorable impenitence on their part; for no sooner was the appearance of God's approaching Vengeance withdrawn (by the sudden retreat of the Chaldaeans from the Siege on the approach of Pharaoh's Army(112), see chap. xxxvii.) than the wretched tyrannical Masters (who could not repent of their enormous Oppressions, yet) speedily repented of their temporary Benevolence; and being themselves entangled in a much more dangerous Bondage (through their abominable Avarice) under that old Slave-holder and hard Task-master the Devil, they wickedly renewed their former iniquitous claims of private Property in the Persons of their poor Brethren, and ‘ caused the Servants and the Handmaids, whom they had LET GO FREE, to return: and brought them INTO SUBJECTION for Servants and for Handmaids. ’ Jer. xxxiv. 11. Perhaps they thought to excuse themselves, like our modern African Merchants and American Planters, by pleading THE NECESSITY of tolerating Slavery, and the exaction of involuntary Service; viz. that the Profit arising therefrom was necessary for their support; and that Husbandry and other laborious business could not be performed at so cheap a rate by free hired Servants as by Slaves: but whether such reasons as these, or others of greater weight, were then alledged, is not material; it is sufficient for the present argument to be certain, that, whatever were their Pretences or Excuses for enslaving their Brethren, they did only deceive themselves, and hasten the Vengeance of Almighty God upon their own heads; for they were, very soon afterwards, delivered up into the hands of their Enemies, the Babylonian Tyrants, under whom their Countrymen, that had been carried away in the former Captivities, experienced, IN THEIR OWN PROPER PERSONS, the deplorable condition of SLAVES, being a most just punishment for that TYRANNY and unreasonable VASSALAGE with which they so unlawfully oppressed their POOR BRETHREN! Such was their Crime (I mean their principal Crime, or at least one of those Crimes which was most abominable in the sight of a merciful GOD; for they were, indeed, notoriously guilty of Idolatry, and many other detestable Crimes besides this) and such their retaliated Punishment, which was inflicted expressly on that account.—"THEREFORE" (says the Text; so that the reason of God's interposition is manifest) ‘ the Word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD (JEHOVAH), the GOD of Israel; I made a Covenant with your Fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the Land of Egypt, OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDMEN’ (a circumstance which they were frequently commanded never to forget, as I have before remarked, but sympathetically to learn MERCY thereby(113),
saying; At the end of seven years let ye go every man his Brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt LET HIM GO FREE from thee: but your Fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had DONE RIGHT IN MY SIGHT, IN PROCLAIMING LIBERTY EVERY MAN TO HIS NEIGHBOUR (114); and ye had made a Covenant before me in the House which is called by my Name: But ye turned and polluted my Name, and caused every man his Servant, and every man his Handmaid, whom he had SET AT LIBERTY AT THEIR PLEASURE
(or to their mind or will), ‘ to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for Servants, and for Handmaids. THEREFORE’ (now mark the Punishment, ye wretched Slave-holders and Advocates for private Property in the Persons of Men) ‘ thus saith the LORD’ (JEHOVAH); ‘ Ye have not hearkened unto me IN PROCLAIMING LIBERTY every one to his Brother, and every man to his Neighbour: behold, I PROCLAIM A LIBERTY for you, saith the LORD’ (significantly marking his detestation of Slave-holding by an ironical repetition of that opposite measure (the proclaiming of LIBERTY) which they had neglected; and therefore God himself PROCLAIMED a different kind of LIBERTY—LIBERTY) ‘ to the Sword, to the Pestilence, and to the Famine: ’ (here is a PROCLAMATION OF LIBERTY with a vengeance! But alas! the hardened Jewish Slave-holders, like Englishmen now-a-days, were too wicked to take warning.) ‘ And I will make you ’ (saith the Lord) ‘ to be removed into all the Kingdoms of the Earth ’ (that is, to be led away into Captivity by their Enemies: SLAVERY being a very just as well as common punishment for TYRANTS).
And I will give the men that have transgressed my Covenant, which have not performed the Words of the Covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the Calf in twain, and passed between the Parts thereof (115), the Princes of Judah, and the Prince of Jerusalem, the Eunuchs, and the Priests, and all the People of the Land, which passed between the parts of the Calf; I will even GIVE THEM INTO THE HAND OF THEIR ENEMIES, and into the hand of them that SEEK THEIR LIFE: and their dead Bodies shall be for Meat unto the Fowls of the Heaven, and to the Beasts of the Earth (116). And ZEDEKIAH KING OF JUDAH, and the PRINCES, will I give into the hand of their Enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their Life (117), and into the hand
(continued the Prophet) ‘ of the King of Babylon's Army, which are gone up from you ’ (for the withdrawing of the Babylonian Army was a very recent instance of God's Mercy, which rendered more notorious the ingratitude of those who so immediately broke the solemn Covenant of PROCLAIMING LIBERTY; but GOD's VENGEANCE kept pace with the Oppression of the unrepenting Tyrants!). ‘ Behold, I WILL COMMAND, SAITH THE LORD, and CAUSE THEM TO RETURN TO THIS CITY’ (a remarkable instance of God's over-ruling Providence in the World! The haughty, self-willed, Babylonian Monarch and his Men of War perceived not that they were mere instruments in the hands of God!), ‘ and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I WILL MAKE the Cities of Judah a Desolation without an Inhabitant. ’ Jer. xxxiv.

There is no order of time preserved in the Collection of Jeremiah's Prophecies, as I have already remarked; for the two next chapters (viz. the 35th and 36th) contain Prophecies which were delivered several years before, in the reign of Jehoiakim; but the 37th chapter relates to the same time exactly as the 34th chapter last quoted, viz. the times when ‘Pharaoh's Army was come forth out of Egypt’ (xxxvii. 5.), which occasioned the departure (for the present) of the Chaldeans. And it was, probably, in the interval between these two circumstances (viz. after Pharaoh was come forth from Egypt, and was advancing, but before the Chaldeans left the Siege on that account) that Zedekiah sent two Messengers to the Prophet (who was then at liberty, as the 4th verse expressly declares) to desire his Prayers:— ‘ Pray now unto the Lord our God for us; ’ but the Prophet's Answer on that occasion was not returned till the Chaldeans departed from Jerusalem, as mentioned in the 5th verse (and probably also not till after the Covenant about Liberty was broken):— ‘ Then came the Wor• of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the GOD OF ISRAEL; Thus shall ye say to the King of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, PHARAOH's Army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own Land. And the CHALDEANS SHALL COME AGAIN, and fight against this City, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the Lord; DECEIVE NOT YOURSELVES, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole Army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but WOUNDED MEN among them, ’ (now mark how impossible it is for Slave-holders to stand before their Enemies!) "yet should they" (that is, the wounded men) ‘ rise up every Man in his Tent, and burn this City with Fire. ’ Ch. xxxvii. to ver. 10.

It was also during this recess of the Babylonian Army, that the Prophet was put into prison by the Princes, for taking that opportunity to attempt his escape from Jerusalem. See ch. xxxvii. 11—16.

Afterwards(118) ‘ Zedekiah the King sent and took him out: and the King asked him secretly in his House, and said, Is there (any) Word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the King of Babylon, ’ &c. Ch. xxxvii. 17.

The Prophet also took this opportunity of remonstrating to the King concerning his own case:—"Moreover Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, WHAT
HAVE I OFFENDED AGAINST THEE, or against thy Servants, or against this People, that ye have put me in Prison(119)? Where (are) now your Prophets, which prophesied unto you, saying, The King of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this Land (120)? Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my Lord the King: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the House of Jonathan the Scribe, lest I die there.
And it appears that Zedekiah (notwithstanding his general wickedness) yet had no personal pique against the Prophet, but was well inclined to grant his Petition, as also a daily allowance of Bread, as long as any could be procured(121).

And when the Princes advised Zedekiah to put Jeremiah to death, because he publicly exhorted all the People to go over to the Enemy(122), it appears, that though the King thought he had not sufficient authority to oppose their Council, yet he would not concern himself against the Prophet to condemn him, but only left him in their hands(123); and no sooner was the King informed of the dangerous situation of Jeremiah from the malice and injustice of the Princes(124), than he gave express orders to the generous and conscientious Ethiopian (who had represented the case) to take a Guard of thirty Men, and draw him up from the Dungeon, and he was placed in the Court of the Prison(125). The King afterwards sent for the Prophet, and had a private conference with him; he also bound himself under a solemn Oath, that he would neither kill him nor give him up to his Enemies; and as he kept his promise, notwithstanding that Jeremiah still persevered in denouncing the most tremendous Judgements against him and the whole Kingdom, it is manifest, that the king had no personal resentment against the Prophet; being sensible, probably by that time, of Jeremiah's sincerity and innocence, as well as of the truth of his Warnings, tho' he had not grace and humility enough to submit himself to the only alternative from destruction, which God was now pleased to offer him, (perhaps in consideration of his favour to Jeremiah) and which the Prophet as affectionately pressed him to accept, but in vain.

These circumstances, and several others, will be found in the 38th chapter(126); but we must go back to the 32d chapter for the continuation of the History, which we there find advanced to the tenth year of Zedekiah's reign, the Siege being still carried on, and Jeremiah still shut up in the Court of the Prison. In the 3d, 4th, and 5th verses we find a repetition of some circumstances of the dreadful Vengeance before denounced against Zedekiah; but they are not mentioned in that place as being then repeated by the Prophet, but only as having been the cause of his Confinement. From the 6th to the 16th verse is related—the remarkable Prophecy concerning the Repossession of Houses, Fields, and Vineyards after the Captivity; in token of which the Prophet's Kinsman, Hanameel, was providentially sent to tender to him the purchase of a Field in Anathoth, to which he was next Heir. From the 17th to the 25th verse of this chapter is contained—the Prophet's Prayer on that occasion, wherein he most solemnly describes the Mercy, as well as the Vengeance, of GOD, then dreadfully approaching! — ‘ Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the Heaven and the Earth by thy great Power and stretchedout Arm, ’ (and) ‘ there is nothing too hard for thee: Thou shewest loving kindness unto thousands, and RECOMPENSEST THE INIQUITY of the Fathers into the bosom of their Children after them: THE GREAT, THE MIGHTY GOD! THE LORD (or Jehovah) OF HOSTS’ (is) ‘HIS NAME! GREAT IN COUNCIL, and MIGHTY IN WORK? For thine Eyes ’ (are) ‘ open upon all the ways of Men, to GIVE EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS,’ (mark this, ye Slave-holders and African Merchants!)
AND ACCORDING TO THE FRUIT OF HIS DOINGS! Which hast set (127) Signs and Wonders in the Land of Egypt
(even) "unto this day (128)" (amongst which the most remarkable were God's severe Judgements against the great Egyptian SLAVE-HOLDER and his Kingdom, who refused to ‘PROCLAIM LIBERTY’ to his Bond Servants) "and in Israel (129), and among" (other)
Men (130); and hast made thee a Name as at this day
(viz. the day or time that GOD recompensed the Jews "according to their ways;" the dreadful Storm of GOD's VENGEANCE against Jerusalem being then begun, which was not to cease till the whole was laid desolate!),
and hast brought thy People Israel out of the Land of Egypt with Signs and with Wonders, and with a strong Hand, and with a stretched-out Arm, and with great Terror (131) and hast given them this Land, which thou didst swear to their Fathers to give them, a Land flowing with Milk and Honey; and they came in and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy Voice, neither WALKED IN THY LAW: they have done nothing of all that thou commandest them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them.
The Prophet then proceeds to describe the Terrors of the Siege, which were at that time present before his eyes:— "BEHOLD THE MOUNTS!" (said he) "They are come unto the City to take it," &c. And after reciting some other Causes of God's Anger against his People (as Disobedience, Idolatry, &c.), and declaring the certainty of the Desolation that would follow, he once more promises a happy Return to their own Land; which is also again repeated in the following chapter (xxxiii), with the additional Promise of the BRANCH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS to grow up unto David, that should ‘ execute JUDGEMENT and RIGHTEOUSNESS’ —which Zedekiah had so notoriously neglected; for on these Terms alone could the Jews be permitted to remain in possession of their own Land!— ‘ If ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings: if ye thoroughly EXEOUTE JUDGEMENT between a MAN and his NEIGHBOUR;’ (if) ‘YE OPPRESS NOT THE STRANGER,’ (mark this ye transporters of the poor AFRICAN!) ‘ the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk AFTER OTHER GODS’ (see note in pages 142 to 152) ‘ to your hurt; then will I CAUSE YOU TO DWELL IN THIS PLACE, in THE LAND THAT I GAVE TO YOUR FATHERS, FOR EVER AND EVER.’ Jer. vii. 5, 1. A plain declaration this that they might for ever have enjoyed that National Establishment which God had given them! no foreign armaments could have had power to DEPRIVE them of God's Gift, had not their own iniquities deprived them of God's protection! It was the NEGLECT OF JUSTICE and NATURAL RIGHT, or (according to the scripture phrase) of JUDGEMENT and RIGHTEOUSNESS, which drew down GOD'S VENGEANCE upon them! This was apparently THE PRINCIPAL CAUSE (let Britain therefore tremble for her notorious national corruption and oppressions) OF THAT HORRID MISERY WHICH REIGNED IN JERUSALEM DURING THE BABYLONIAN SIEGE. ‘— They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets! they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills! ’ Lam. iv. 5. and again, ‘ They that be slain with the sword are better than ’ (they that be) ‘SLAIN WITH HUNGER; for these pine away STRICKEN THROUGH for ’ (want of) ‘ the fruits of the field. The hands of the pitiful ’ (or rather of the affectionate or tender hearted) ‘ women have SODDEN’ (that is, BOILED, for want of other food) ‘ their own Children, THEY WERE THEIR MEAT in the Destruction of the Daughter of my People. ’ Ibid. ver. 9, 10.

A more deplorable state of wretchedness cannot be described! These miseries increased till the 11th year of Zedekiah, when (as we read in the 39th chapter) "the City was broken up (132); and then was the DREADFUL VENGEANCE, so repeatedly denounced by the Prophet against Zedekiah, ready to burst on the Head of that wicked Prince, who, in addition to all his other Crimes, had so lately violated the solemn Covenant of PROCLAIMING LIBERTY TO THE BOND SERVANTS, by neglecting to enforce the Laws of God, and of his Country, in behalf of the poor OPPRESSED PEOPLE, that had been compelled by their petty Tyrants to return into BONDAGE!

This was so notorious a contempt of JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS (like the Toleration of SLAVERY in the BRITISH EMPIRE), that GOD'S VENGEANCE, before denounced, was inevitably confirmed, and the KING was, soon afterwards, delivered up, with ALL HIS NOBLES AND MEN OF WAR that remained, into the hands of their enraged Enemies, agreeable to the just decree of GOD (before recited from the 34th chapter); his Sons were slain BEFORE HIS EYES(133)! and HIS EYES beheld THE EYES of the stern Tyrant of Babylon, as the Prophet Jeremiah had very circumstantially foretold(134): but he never SAW more; for HIS EYES were PUT OUT by the order of the implacable CONQUEROR(135), who thereby fulfilled another not less remarkable Prophecy of Ezekiel to the Captives at Babylon, telling them from God, ‘ I will BRING HIM TO BABYLON, the Land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he NOT SEE IT, though be shall die there! ’ Ezek. xii. 13. Now to complete this tremendous Example of God's Judgement against the Toleration of Slavery, I must add, that the King of Babylon SLEW ALL THE NOBLES OF JUDAH, that is, ALL that were taken at that time; and having put out Zedekiah's Eyes, as before-mentioned, he bound him (Slave-like) with Chains, to carry him to Babylon, where he and the remainder of the Jewish Captives (the former SLAVE-HOLDERS, whose OPPRESSION he had unjustly tolerated) became (according to the phrase of our modern Slave-holders) the PRIVATE PROPERTY of the Babylonian Tyrant and his Soldiers!
They took the young Men to grind, and the Children fell under the Wood (136)
—under the heavy burthens of their BABYLONIAN SLAVE-HOLDERS. But, what is still more remarkable, the Poor of the People (who were, probably, the Bondmen and Bondwomen, whose Cause God had avenged by these heavy Judgements) were left at home to possess the Lands and Vineyards of their former tyrannical Masters; for ‘NEBUZARADAN the Captain of the Guard lest of the POOR OF THE PEOPLE, WHICH HAD NOTHING in the Land of Judah, and gave them Vineyards and Fields AT THE SAME TIME.’ Jer. xxxix. 10.

Now if the African Traders, West India Merchants, and American Planters could make it appear, that their imaginary PROPERTY in Negro Slaves, for which they so strenuously contend, is as justly acquired, as the PROPERTY in Hebrew Captives, which the Babylonians acquired by their providential success in the Jewish War: yet this would not afford them any just excuse, or comfort, for their wounded Consciences, if they should ever have grace to feel remorse; because it appears, that this VERY BONDAGE of the JEWS (though apparently according to their deserts) brought upon the CHALDEANS, in their turn, the same deplorable slavish condition, which they (like our modern Slave-holders) thought they had an undoubted right to impose on their imaginary Property, the Jewish Captives!

And yet Nebuehadnezzar did not burn and depopulate the Cities of Judaea merely for the sake of procuring Slaves, like the black Accomplices of the Royal African Company. His War was just and honourable: he came to punish a rebellious and wicked tributary Nation, which had, without any just reason (and contrary to the express Commands of GOD by the Prophets), attempted to shake off their Allegiance to the Babylonian Empire, to which they had long been subject; for the wicked Jewish King Manasseh, the Son of King Hezekiah, had, long before, been conquered, and carried into Captivity to Babylon(137), by the King of Assyria(138); and the Assyrian Power afterwards devolved to Nebuchadnezzar in the Commencement of the Babylonian Empire, who had also himself, thrice before this last War, conquered Judea; and Zedekiah, the last Monarch before the Captivity, reigned expressly by his APPOINTMENT, so that his wilful rebellion clearly justified the Babylonian Invasion; and add to this, that the Assyrians(139) and Babylonians(140) were, in a very extraordinary manner, preordained and authorized by Almighty God to punish the crying wickedness of the Israelites and Jews; which surely may be alledged as a further justification of the conquest, and subsequent Right of Service, (if it may be esteemed a Right) which both Assyrians and Babylonians seemed to have acquired thereby.

But notwithstanding all these remarkable circumstances (which rendered the claims of these Eastern Nations to the Jewish Captives, infinitely more equitable than any claims that our modern slave-holders can produce in favour of their unnatural oppression of the poor wretched Captives of Africa) yet both Assyrians and Babylonians, as well as ALL the other neighbouring nations that were guilty of the like oppressions, drew down upon themselves a severe national RETRIBUTION of Vengeance for presumptuously enslaving and oppressing each other; for, though they were instruments in God's hand for the mutual punishment of each other, and acted expressly by his permission for that purpose, yet the Causes of Action, which they themselves were capable of perceiving, and by which they were apparently moved, were very different:—Avarice, Pride, Lust of Power, the unjust Dictates of Wicked and Corrupt Hearts were the only personal Motives! but the Almighty can turn even these Evils to his own Glory, for the execution of his eternal Justice; and in due time will excute VENGEANCE even on the Instruments of his VENGEANCE; — ‘ Wherefore it shall come to pass, ’ (says Isaiah in the 10th chapter) ‘ that when the Lord hath performed his whole Work upon Mount Zion, and on Jerusalem, I will punish the Fruit of the stout heart of the KING OF ASSYRIA, and the Glory of his high looks. For he saith,—By the strength of MY HAND I have DONE (it), and by MY WISDOM; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their Treasures, and have PUT DOWN’ (or enslaved) ‘THE INHABITANTS like a valiant (man). And my hand hath found as a nest the RICHES OF THE PEOPLE: and as one gathereth Eggs (that are) left, have I gathered all the Earth, and there was none that MOVED THE WING, or opened the mouth, or peeped.—Shall the Ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? (or) shall the SAW magnify itself against him that shaketh it? ’ (Thus God asserts the actual guidance of his Providence in human Transactions, by representing the haughty unbelieving Monarchs of Assyria as mere WORK TOOLS in his hands), ‘ as if the rod should shake (itself) against them that lift it up, (or) as if the staff should lift up (itself as if it were) no wood. Therefore shall the Lord, the LORD OF HOSTS’ (or ARMIES, Jehovah Tsabaouth) ‘ send among his sat ones leanness, and under his Glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire, ’ &c; Chap. x. 12—16.

And after encouraging the remnant of Israel to ‘ stay upon the Lord, the Holy one of Israel, in truth, ’ by a promise
THAT THE CONSUMPTION DECREED (141) shall OVERFLOW with RIGHTEOUSNES;
(for the promises of blessings and forgiveness are generally blended with the denunciations of God's Judgements, in order to encourage Repentance and Reliance on God) the Prophet comforts the Sufferers under the present Affliction with an assurance that it shall not be of long continuance. ‘ Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Hosts, O my People, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a Rod, and shall lift up his Staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt ’ (that is, by holding them in A SEVERE BONDAGE, as the Egyptians had formerly done(142): "for yet a very little while" (said the Prophet) ‘ and THE INDIGNATION shall cease, and MINE ANGER IN THEIR DESTRUCTION. And the Lord of Hosts shall stir up A SCOURGE for him ’ (viz. the Assyrian) ‘ according to the Slaughter of Midian at the Rock of Oreb ’ (viz. by the Militia of Israel under Gideon):
and (as) his Rod (was) upon the Sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt (143). And it shall come to pass in that day, (that) his BURDEN shall be taken away FROM OFF THY SHOULDER, and his YOKE from off thy Neck, and the YOKE shall be DESTROYED because of the anointing.
&c. Again, in the 14th chapter, a similar Prophecy is delivered against Assyria: — ‘ I will break the Assyrian in my Land, and upon my Mountains tread him under foot. ’ And then he immediately alludes to the cruel Bondage and Oppression which drew down the VENGEANCE OF GOD upon the Assyrian: — "Then," said the Prophet,
shall his YOKE depart from off them, and his BURTHEN depart from off their Shoulders (144) This (is) the purpose (that is) purposed upon the whole Earth; and this (is) the hand (that is) stretched out upon all the Nations.
&c. Chap. xiv. 25, 26.

This seems to be a declaration, that GOD'S VENGEANCE against ASSYRIA for TYRANNY and OPPRESSION(145) should be a standing Example and Precedent for the Judgement of all other Nations, but more especially of the Nations bordering on Judea, because there are several other Prophecies concerning the neighbouring Nations, which sufficiently correspond with this example of VENGEANCE against Assyria (both as to the mode, and principal, cause), sufficiently, I say, to prove, that a similar fate to that of Assyria was the ‘PURPOSE that was PURPOSED UPON THE WHOLE EARTH.’ — "For behold" (says the Prophet Joel, chap. iii.) ‘ in those days and in that time when I shall bring again THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM, I will also gather ALL NATIONS, and will bring them down into the Valley of JEHOSHAPHAT’ (signifying JEHOVAH IS JUDGE, or HATH JUDGED), ‘ and will plead with them there for MY PEOPLE, and (for) MY HERITAGE ISRAEL, whom they have SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS, and parted my Land. ’ (And now the Prophet proceeds to mark the Scandal of Trading in Slaves in strong ironical terms)
And they have CAST LOTS(146)
(says he) ‘ for my People; and have given a BOY for a HARLOT, and sold a GIRL for WINE, that they might drink. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O TYRE and ZIDON?’ (the Liverpool and Bristol (147) of Palestine, that were then become infamous by harbouring the most eminent Merchants in the SLAVE-TRADE of those days)—"Will ye render me a RECOMPENCE?" (mark this, ye opulent African Merchants—What RECOMPENCE can ye make for such an abominable affront to the Creator of Mankind as your detestable Traffic in Slaves! Cannot you be content with a lawful and fair Trade in Gold-dust, Ivory, Gums, Wax, &c. &c. which the African Coast will afford in abundance, but you must traffic in the BODIES of the poor wretched Inhabitants, to support your Luxuries, like those who gave a BOY for a HARLOT, and a GIRL for WINE! Are you a jot more righteous, who barter MEN, WOMEN, and CHILDREN, by hundreds together, for SUGAR and RUM! Is this your RECOMPENCE to God for all his Mercies? Repent in time, lest God should return your RECOMPENCE upon your own heads; for he has declared in this same Text)—"If ye RECOMPENSE me" (that is, in such an unmerciful manner), ‘ swistly (and) speedily will I return YOUR RECOMPENCE UPON YOUR OWN HEAD;’ &c. And in the next verse but one, the Prophet marks the SLAVETRADE of Tyre and Zidon as one of the principal causes of his VENGEANCE:— ‘ The Children also of Judah and the Children of Jerusalem have YE SOLD unto the GRECIANS, that ye might remove them FAR FROM THEIR BORDER:’ (but how much farther do the ENGLISH REMOVE THE POOR AFRICANS FROM THEIR BORDER!) ‘ Behold, I will raise them out of the place wither ye have SOLD THEM, and will RETURN YOUR RECOMPENCE UPON YOUR OWN HEAD:’ (Observe how clearly THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION is here laid down),
and I WILL SELL your SONS and your DAUGHTERS into the hands of the children of JUDAH, and they shall sell them (148) to the SABEANS, to a people FAR OFF;
(an exact retaliation) ‘ for the Lord hath spoken (it). Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: ’ (or more properly, according to the strict sense of the original word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, among the NATIONS, for the example ought indeed to instruct ALL NATIONS) ‘ prepare WAR, wake up the mighty men, let ALL THE MEN OF WAR DRAW NEAR, let them come up. Beat your PLOW SHARES into SWORDS,’ (thus the blessings of the Gospel of peace are manifestly reversed to these nations which TRADE IN SLAVES; and indeed it has long been a proverb with the poor Africians, that wherever the Christian Faith is spread, there goes with it a SWORD and a GUN!) ‘ and your pruning hooks ’ (continues the Prophet) ‘ into spears: let the WEAK say I am STRONG!’ (Here again is another mark of GOD'S VENGEAVANCE against oppressive Nations, viz. THE INFATUATION OF THEIR COUNCILS.) ‘ Assemble yourselves! ’ (says the Prophet)
and come all ye NATIONS(149) and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause THY MIGHTY ONES to come down, O Lord. Let the Nations be wakened, and come up to the valley of JEHOSHAPHAT,
(i. e. the valley of JEHOVAH THE JUDGE) ‘ for there will I sit to JUDGE ALL THE NATIONS round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the Harvest is ripe: come, get ye down, for the press is full, the fats overflow; FOR THEIR WICKEDNESS IS GREAT! MULTITUDES, MULTITUDES IN THE VALLEY OF DECISION!’ &c. After which the Prophet denounces Judgement against two of these oppressive Nations expressly by name — ‘EGYPT shall be a desolation, and EDOM shall be a desolate wilderness; ’ (and the principal reason of these judgments is also as expressly assigned)
for their VIOLENCE[150] against the Children of JUDAH, because they have SHED INNOCENT BLOOD in their Land. But JUDAH shall dwell for ever, and JERUSALEM from generation to generation, for I will cleanse their Blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Joel iii. "The PURPOSE" (before-mentioned) ‘ that is PURPOSED upon the whole earth, ’—was manifested also in the Judgements denounced against THE EDOMITES by the Prophet OBEDIAH,— ‘ Thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed; to the end that every one of the mount of ESAU may be cut off by slaughter, ’ (and then the Prophet assigns the usual causes of such VENGEANCE.) ‘ For (thy) VIOLENCE against thy Brother JACOB, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE his forces, and Foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, EVEN THOU (wast) AS ONE OF THEM:’ (that is one that assisted to ENSLAVE them.) ‘ But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy Brother, in the Day that he became a Stranger; ’ (viz. in the day that their Brethren the Israelites were carried away Captives into a strange land; for it seems, that even to be neuter, or merely look on," like idle spectators, when the LIBERTY of their Brethren was at stake, would have been criminal; but the EDOMITES added to this Crime, by REJOICING at the Calamity, and joining the triumphant Tyrants;) ‘ neither shouldest thou have REJOICED OVER the Children of JUDAH in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken PROUDLY in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have LOOKED ON their AFFLICTION in the day of their calamity; nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of calamity. Neither shouldest thou have stood in the Cross-way, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have DELIVERED UP’ (or rather SHUT UP 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 or CONFINED as in Slavery or Foreign Captivity, which by the Restoration promised to the Captives, in the 20th and 21st verses, seems to have been the case) ‘ those of his that DID REMAIN in the day of distress. For the Day of the LORD is near upon all the Heathen ’ (that is ‘ALL THE NATIONS;’ and then follows ‘THE PURPOSE’ of RETRIBUTION that is PURPOSED upon the whole earth) ‘As THOU HAST DONE, it shall be DONE unto thee: thy REWARD shall return UPON THINE OWN HEAD,’ &c.

The like PURPOSE of RETRIBUTION was denounced against several Nations by the Prophet AMOS, and first against the SYRIANS— ‘ Thus saith THE LORD for three Transgressions of DAMASCUS and for four, I will not turn away (the punishment) thereof: ’ (nevertheless their unmerciful Tyranny over the Inhabitants of GILEAD, is the only Transgression mentioned,—"because" (said the Prophet) ‘ they have threshed GILEAD with Threshing Instruments of Iron. But I will send FIRE into the House of HAZAEL,’ (the King of Syria anointed by Elijah) ‘ which shall devour the Palaces of BENHADAD: I will break also the Bar of Damascus, ’ &c. And then at last he denounces the ordinary punishment for Tyrants and Oppressors— ‘ And the people of SYRIA shall GO INTO CAPTIVITY unto KIR, saith the LORD.’ (Amos i. 1 to 5.) This Prophecy was punctually fulfilled when AHAZ King of Judah hired TIGLATH-PILESER King of Assyria to help him against the SYRIANS, for we read in the 2 Kings xvi. 9.—That ‘ the King of Assyria hearkened unto him ’ (viz. AHAZ): ‘ for the King of Assyria went up against DAMASCUS, and took it, and CARRIED’ (the people of) ‘ it CAPTIVE to KIR, and slew REZIN.’ REZIN was that turbubulent and oppressive King of SYRIA, who, in another prophecy, is compared to "a sinoaking Firebrand." Isaiah vii. 4. The same "PURPOSE" of RETRIBUTION was also declared by AMOS against the PHILISTINES— ‘ For three Transgressions of GAZA, and for four, I will not turn away ’ (the punishment) "thereof:"—and yet only one of the four Transgressions is mentioned, which we may, therefore, reasonably conclude to be the principal Transgression, viz.—"because" (says the Text) ‘ they CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY to diliver (them) up to EDOM:’ (152) or rather (as the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 more properly signifies] to cause (them) to be shut up (that is, in Bondage) to Edom: in short, it appears from thence, that they carried on the SLAVE-TRADE with EDOM, as our Liverpool and Bristol Merchants, and some at London (but few in proportion to the size of the place), do at present with America! But they were allowed but a short space for the enjoyment of their unlawful gains! The denunciations of VENGEANCE follows closely upon the very mention of that UNNATURAL OPPRESSION! ‘But I will send a FIRE ’ (said the ALMIGHTY)
on the Wall of GAZA(153), which shall devour the Palaces thereof; and I will cut off the Inhabitants from ASHDOD, and him that holdeth the Sceptre from ASHKELON; and I will turn mine hand against EKRON, and the Remnant of the PHILISTINES SHALL PERISH, saith the LORD GOD!
Amos i. 6, 7, 8.

The Prophet then proceeds with a Denunciation of the like "PURPOSE" of GOD'S VENGEANCE against the opulent City of TYRE, and expressly for the same offence; for the Tyrians were, probably, Confederates with the Philistines of Gaza, and other Cities of the Phoenician Coast, when they assisted the Arabians to OPPRESS and ENSLAVE the Inhabitants of JUDEA. — ‘ Thus saith the LORD; for three Transgressions of TYRUS, and for four, I will not turn away (the punishment) thereof; ’ (now be pleased to remark, that though the Tyrians were notorious Idolaters, and very wicked in many other respects, yet, here again, the OPPRESSION of ENSLAVING THEIR BRETHREN (even of a different Nation) was the only Crime that God was pleased, more particularly, to impute and point out to them, as being most heinous in his sight) "because" (said the Prophet) ‘ they delivered up the WHOLE CAPTIVITY TO EDOM’ (for TYRE was the Philistine LIVERPOOL, it seems, which supplied Edom with SLAVES),
and remembered not the BROTHERLY COVENANT(154): but I will send a FIRE on the Wall of TYRUS, which shall devour the Palaces thereof.
Amos i. 9, 10.(155) The like purpose of God's Vengeance is next denounced against Edom, on account of her notorious violations also of Brotherly Love; for the Almighty Father of Mankind will not see his creature Man oppressed and vilified without revenging the affront!— ‘ Thus saith the Lord; for three Transgressions of EDOM, and for four, I will not turn away (the punishment) thereof; because he did pursue his Brother with the Sword, and did CAST OFF ALL PITY’ (as our modern American Slave-holders CAST OFF ALL PITY towards their poor RUNAWAY SLAVES! for I have seen rewards publicly offered for the Heads of those poor oppressed People(156) and the shooting of run-away Negroes has even been encouraged by some of the Plantation Laws! which is wilful premeditated Murder, such as God will never leave unpunished); ‘ and his Anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his Wrath for ever. But I ’ (said Jehovah) ‘WILL SEND A FIRE UPON TEMAN’ (the Carolina of those times), ‘ which shall devour the Palaces of Bozrah. ’ Amos, chap. i. II, 12.

The Prophet in the next verse denounces GOD'S VENGEANCE against the bloody-minded Ammonites, for their horrid barbarity in murdering the Wives and Children of their Enemies, MURDER being a crime still more heinous in the sight of GOD than SLAVERY; because the robbing a man of his Life is a higher Act of Oppression and unnatural Violence than Bondage, it being, indeed, the last degree of Oppression that a Tyrant has in his power!—
Thus saith the Lord; for three Transgressions of the Children of AMMON, and for four, will I not turn away (the punishment) thereof; because they have RIPPED UP THE WOMEN WITH CHILD OF GILEAD,(157) that they might enlarge their border (158): but I will kindle a Fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the Palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a Tempest in the day of the Whirlwind: and their King shall GO INTO CAPTIVITY,
(mark the proper punishment of Tyrants) ‘HE AND HIS PRINCES TOGETHER, saith the LORD.’ Amos i. 13—15.

Next in order the Prophet declares God's Purpose of Vengeance against Moab (see the following chapter):— ‘ Thus saith the Lord: for three transgressions of MOAB, and for four, I will not turn away (the punishment) thereof; because he burned the bones of the King of EDOM into lime, ’ (the Chaldee Interpreter adds, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and plastered them like Chalk (or lime) in the House. This seems to have been done in extreme contempt, to vilify the Edomites; and does not agree with the account of the particular human Sacrifice made by the King of Moab upon the Wall, mentioned in 2 Kings iii. 27. to which the margin of our English Bibles commonly refers us; for that seems to have been a Sacrifice by the King of Moab of his own Son (159), rather than a burning of the bones of the King of Edom. We may, however, learn from this example, that God is offended with any contemptuous vilifying of the Human Body, even when dead; and how much more then will he be offended with those who vilify their living Brethren, by contemptously holding them in a despicable Bondage!)—
But I will send a Fire upon Moab (160), and it shall devour the Palaces of Kirioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, (and) with the sound of the trumpet: and I will cut off THE JUDGE FROM THE MIDST THEREOF, and will slay ALL THE PRINCES THEREOF WITH HIM, saith the LORD.
Amos ii. 1—3.

To these Judgements of the several Nations the Prophet now adds the Condemnation of Judah, left the Jews should imagine that GOD'S VENGEANCE was only to be denounced against the Heathen Nations.— ‘ Thus saith the Lord; for three Transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away (the punishment) thereof; because they have DESPISED THE LAW OF THE LORD,’ [now the Apostle Paul informs us, that ‘ all the Law is fulfilled in one word, (even) in this; Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself. ’ Galat. v. 14. and, consequently, the OPPRESSION OF THE POOR (of which the Jews were notoriously guilty, as I have shewn) was (next to Idolatry) one of the most heinous Transgressions of the Law, which principally drew down God's Vengeance upon them, though it is not particularly mentioned in this place]— ‘ and have not kept his Commandments; and their lyes caused them to err, after the which their Fathers have walked. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the Palaces of Jerusalem. ’ Amos ii. 4, 5.

And last of all is declared the PURPOSE of Retribution and Vengeance, that was PURPOSED upon the People of Israel, to whom the Prophet Amos was more particularly sent, to warn them of their approaching CAPTIVITY, on account of their notorious oppressions, and for the SLAVE-TRADE in particular.— ‘ Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away (the punishment) thereof; because they SOLD THE RIGHTEOUS FOR SILVER, and the POOR FOR A PAIR OF SHOES.’ Amos ii. 6. And in the next chapter the prophet is directed to call upon their old enemies the Philistines and Egyptians to bear witness to the cause of God's vengeance on his own people:
Publish in the Palaces of ASHDOD, and in the Palaces of the Land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of SAMARIA, and behold the great TUMULTS in the midst thereof, and the OPPRESSED IN THE MIDST THEREOF. For they KNOW NOT TO DO RIGHT(161) saith the Lord; who store up Violence and Robbery in their Palaces. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; and Adversary (there shall be) even round about the Land: and he shall bring down they Strength from thee, and thy Palaces shall be spoiled.
&c. Amos iii. 9, 10, 11.

Thus it appears, that God was not less severe against his, own peculiar People, when guilty of Oppression and Injustice, than he was against the neighbouring Nations for the like Offences! And I hope the many examples which I have given of God's Vengeance against these Crimes, and more especially against the Crime of enslaving and vilifying Mankind, will awaken the attention of my Countrymen in general, that they may seriously consider whether we have not just reason to fear the effects of GOD'S VENGEANCE also upon GREAT BRITAIN and HER COLONIES for similar Offences!

Long before the present unhappy CIVIL WAR broke out between the Mother Country and her Colonies, I thought it my duty to give fair warning to his Majesty's Ministers(162) that some heavy VENGEANCE, must inevitably overtake us (according to the usual course of GOD'S Providence) if the iniquitous SLAVE-TRADE, and the Toleration of involuntary Bondage, were continued; and that such
monstrous OPPRESSION and NATIONAL WICKEDNESS(163) cannot escape a NATIONAL PUNISHMENT, according to the usual course of GOD's PROVIDENCE in the World, unless a hearty Repentance and Amendment should avert the impending Vengeance.

This Doctrine is unquestionably demonstrated (I trust) by the several Extracts from the Holy Scriptures, which I have inserted in the preceding pages: and the proof of it (I thank God) affords me a double recompence for my labours in collecting them; for it not only vindicates my previous assertions to the Ministers of his present Majesty, but it confirms the similar assertions of my own Grandfather, declared, near a Century ago, to the great National Assembly of this Kingdom(164).

Can we claim a better RIGHT to the enslaved Negroes in the British Colonies than the several antient Nations, abovementioned, had to their Captive Enemies, whom God had delivered into their hands? And yet, we find, they were made mutual Instruments of Destruction to each other, on that very account!

Israel (I mean the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes) was the Scourge of Judah, Judah of Israel: Syria was the Scourge of both; as also were Edom, Moab, and Ammon: and Assyria was the Scourge of them all. Egypt, again, was the Scourge of Assyria; and Assyria (under a Babylonish King) became afterwards the severe Scourge and Retaliator of Evils upon Egypt!

The opulent Tyre, with her princely Merchants, suffered among the rest for her iniquitous Traffic in Slaves(165); and the lesser Philistine States, Ashdod, Gath, Gaza, &c. did not partake of the uncharitable Crime, without an equal share of Retribution!

These examples clearly demonstrate the necessity of observing the Apostle's Advice:— ‘ If ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye are not consumed one of another ’ (Gal. v. 15.): which is a striking representation of the EXTREME DANGER of Oppression and the Want of Brotherly Lover; for surely no Oppression can be more notorious and biting than that of enslaving others; nor can the DANGER of being "consumed one of another" (according to the Apostle's express words) be more apparent, than in the FREQUENT INSURRECTIONS which have ever been the unavoidable consequences of Slavery!(166) Can we reasonably expect, that the only exception to God's general rule of National Vengeance and Retribution upon the Authors of Slavery and Oppression shall be in favour of GREAT BRITAIN, which hath so notoriously exceeded all other Nations in the multiplicity and largeness of her dealings in the MAN-TRADE(167); that iniquitous and oppressive business of purchasing our poor unhappy African Brothers, and Sisters (‘Men, Women, and Children’), and then forcibly transporting them "far from their border," even to the opposite side (almost) of this terrestrial Globe!

What is this, my Countrymen, but a notorious aggravation of that very crime for which the Vengeance and Retribution of the ALMIGHTY was poured on the heads of the ancient Tyrian Merchants, above-mentioned. They SOLD the Captive Jews to the Grecians, a neighbouring People; but YE HAVE SOLD the poor Africans (who never offended you) to the very distant Inhabitants of America and the West Indies, ‘THAT YE MIGHT REMOVE THEM FAR’ (far indeed!) "FROM THEIR BORDER." Have we not reason to expect the same awful Decree of the Divine Justice which immediately follows these words— "Behold, I will raise them" (i. e. the Slaves) ‘ out of the place WHITHER YE HAVE SOLD THEM, and will return your Recompence upon your own head. AND I WILL SELL YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS,’ &c. Joel iii. 7, 8. Have we not ample reason to fear, that God will make of this Nation (in proportion to the magnitude of our guilt in Slave-dealing) a tremendous Example of RETRIBUTION, to deter other Nations from offending his Eternal JUSTICE, if a sincere and speedy national Repentance does not avert the Evil?—"THE LORD" (JEHOVAH) ‘IS HIS NAME: that strengthened the SPOILED against the STRONG: so that the SPOILED shall come against the FORTRESS.’ (Amos v. 8, 9.) That saith — ‘ They shall SPOIL those that SPOILED them. ’ (Ezek. xxxix. 10.) This latter Sentence of RETRIBUTION (as well as the first) was denounced, indeed, against the Oppressors of the ISRAELITES; but yet the Justice of it is equally applicable to the unprovoked Oppressors of the poor Africans!—We know not how soon a just national Retribution may overtake us! how soon the Almighty may think fit to recompense the British Nation ‘ according to the work of their own hands! ’ or how soon he may withdraw his light from us, and leave us involved in the same deplorable ignorance that the Africans themselves unhappily fell into very soon, after they perverted (the Truth and Intention of the Gospel, which was once planted (and that very early) even in the internal parts of their vast Continent, as I have elsewhere shewn! (See my Tract on the just Limitation of Slavery, pages 21 to 26.) This lamentable Fall of Africa (168) was the very example by which my own Grandfather, near a Century ago (wanting only three years), warned the House of Commons concerning our national Danger.

But there is still one more great example against Tyranny and Oppression, which must not be omitted: I mean the example of God's Vengeance against Babylon, that great and terrible Scourge of all the other ancient Nations, already mentioned in this Tract; for as her OPPRESSIONS were more general and extensive, so her Punishment is more frequently and more fully declared in Scripture.

The Prophet Jeremiah denounced the Law of Retribution against the Babylonians in the strongest terms, as well in return for the cruel Slaughters they were guilty of, as for the heavy Yoke of Bondage with which they oppressed the Captive Israelites. See chap. L.— ‘ Declare ye among the Nations ’ (said the Prophet), ‘ and publish, and set up a standard; publish, (and) conceal not: say, BABYLON is taken, BEL is confounded, ’ &c. ‘ For out of the North there cometh up a Nation against her, which shall MAKE HER LAND DESOLATE;’ (manifestly in return for the cruel DESOLATION of Judea;) ‘ and none shall dwell therein ’ (that is, in Babylon): ‘ they shall remove, they shall depart, both Man and Beast, ’ (Jer. L. 2, 3.) And to mark the Indignation, as well as the Cause of it, in the strongest terms by the severity of Contrast, the Promise of a happy Restauration to the Captives, whom they oppressed, is blended with the Sentence of their own Condemnation:— ‘ In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the Children of Israel shall come, they and the Children of Judah, together, going and weeping: they shall go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, (saying,) Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant (that) shall not be forgotten. My People have been lost Sheep: their Shepherds ’ (that is, their wicked Kings, see Jer. xxiii.) ‘ have caused them to go astray, ’ &c.
All that found them HAVE DEVOURED THEM: and their ADVERSARIES said, We offend not, because they have SINNED AGAINST THE LORD(169), the Habitation of Justice; even the Lord, the Hope of their Fathers.
The Prophet then immediately refumes the Burthen of Babylon:— ‘ Remove out of the midst of Babylon, ’ &c.— ‘ Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her Foundations are fallen, her Walls are thrown down: for it (is) THE VENGEANCE OF THE LORD: take VENGEANCE upon her; AS SHE HATH DONE, DO UNTO HER.’ (Jer. L. 4—15.) Here the Law of Retribution is strongly marked! And again in the 17th verse: ‘—Israel (is) a scattered Sheep; the Lions have driven (him) away: first the KING OF ASSYRIA hath devoured him; and last this NEBUCHADREZZAR KING OF BABYLON hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the KING OF BABYLON and his Land, as I have punished the KING OF ASSYRIA.’ (See the example before quoted.) ‘ And I will BRING ISRAEL AGAIN TO HIS HABITATION,’ &c.— ‘ Call together the Archers against BABYLON: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: RECOMPENSE HER ACCORDING TO HER WORK; ACCORDING TO ALL THAT SHE HATH DONE, DO UNTO HER; for she hath been PROUD against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall, in the streets. ’ &c. And a little further the principal cause of God's (Anger is more particularly expressed: — ‘ Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; The Children of Israel and the Children of Judah (were) OPPRESSED TOGETHER: and all that TOOK THEM CAPTIVES HELD THEM FAST; they REFUSED TO LET THEM GO.’ But mark, ye Slave-holders, what immediately follows! — ‘ Their REDEEMER (is) STRONG; THE LORD OF HOSTS’ (Jehovah of Armies) (is) his Name; ‘ he shall THOROUGHLY PLEAD THEIR CAUSE, that he may give rest to the Land, and disquiet THE INHABITANTS OF BABYLON — A SWORD IS UPON THE CHALDEANS,’ &c. See the whole 50th chapter.

The Law of Retribution is also strongly marked in the 30th chapter, where the Prophet promises that Jehovah ‘ will BRING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL AND JUDAH;’ (ver. 2.) and that JACOB shall be saved OUT OF HIS TROUBLE, (ver. 7.) and more especially from SLAVERY, declaring, as the Word of the Lord of Hosts,
I will break his YOKE FROM OFF THY NECK, AND WILL BURST THY BONDS; and STRANGERS shall no more SERVE THEMSELVES OF HIM. But they SHALL SERVE THE LORD THEIR GOD(170), and DAVID their King, whom I will raise up unto them (171).
(See verses 8 and 9.) And he represents God as speaking to the whole Nation under the personal figure of their Ancestor, the Patriarch JACOB, saying, ‘ 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’ (shewing that Israel was still the peculiar People of God): ‘ but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. ’ (ver 11.) And also after some further expostulation concerning the grievous affliction of that peculiar People, and the cause of it, the Prophet proceeds, in the 16th verse, to declare the Divine Judgement of a severe RETRIBUTION against the Enemies of JACOB: —
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: for I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee AN OUTCAST(172), (saying,) This (is) Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
&c.

In the 25th chapter also a severe Retribution is denounced expressly against "the King of Babylon" and ‘ the Land of the Chaldeans, ’ to confirm all. that had been foretold by Jeremiah:— ‘ I will make it ’ (viz. Babylon, or the Land of the Chaldeans) ‘ perpetual Desolations. And I will bring upon that Land all my Words which I have pronounced against it, (even) all (that is) written in this Book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the Nations. For many Nations and great Kings shall serve themselves of them also ’ (that is, by reducing ‘ them also ’ to Slavery and Bondage): ‘ and I will recompense them ’ (now mark God's Law of Retribution) ‘ according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. ’ Jer. xxv. 12—14.

And even the Prophet Isaiah, who lived long before Jeremiah, also denounced a RETRIBUTION IN KIND against BABYLON, in as plain and intelligible a stile, as if he had been relating the history of things past, though the time of delivering the Prophecy was long before the CAPTIVITY of JUDAH, and, consequently, long before even the OFFENCE was committed, for which the RETRIBUTION was denounced. See chap. 14. "For the Lord" (said Isaiah) ‘ will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet CHOOSE ISRAEL, and set them in their own Land; ’ (this, observe, was foretold long before they were removed from it;) ‘ and the Strangers shall be joined with them; ’ (this was the case, particularly, of the Edomites, after the return from the Babylonish Captivity;) ‘ and they shall cleave to the House of JACOB.’ &c.— ‘ And they shall take them CAPTIVES WHOSE CAPTIVES THEY WERE; and they shall rule over THEIR OPPRESSORS.’ (This is a manifest RETRIBUTION IN KIND.) ‘ And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee ’ (Israel) ‘ rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the HARD BONDAGE wherein thou wast made to SERVE, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the KING OF BABYLON, and say, How hath THE OPPRESSOR CEASED! The Lord hath broken the Staff of the Wicked, (and) the Sceptre of the Rulers. He who SMOTE THE PEOPLE in wrath with A CONTINUAL STROKE; he that RULED THE NATIONS IN ANGER, is persecuted, and none hindereth. ’ &c. Isaiah xiv. 1—6. — ‘ They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, (and) consider thee, (saying, is) this the Man that made the Earth to tremble, that did shake Kingdoms? (that) made the World as a Wilderness, and destroyed the Cities thereof? (that) OPENED NOT THE HOUSE OF HIS PRISONERS?’ &c. Ver. 16, 17. Mark this, ye hardened Slave-holders, who are so tenacious of that usurped and pretended property which ye claim in the Persons of your Fellow Men! Will ye also refuse to OPEN THE HOUSE OF YOUR PRISONERS? Remember that the same God still reigns, and never changes. If he spared not the first and most glorious Monarchy upon Earth, he surely will not spare you, unless ye sincerely repent and reform! God's Vengeance against Babylon was executed expressly on account of the heavy Yoke of Bondage with which they oppressed their Captives. The Judgement, and the Denunciation of it, was the more exemplary, as it was a JUDGEMENT IN KIND—a manifest RETRIBUTION OF SLAVERY? The Language is awful and majestic, as well as truly poetical; for the condemned Nation is figuratively represented under the similitude of a delicate young Woman, or Virgin, whereby the national Judgement is rendered (as it were) personal; and, consequently, much more striking and affecting than it could have been in any other way. "Come down" (said the Prophet Isaiah, chap. xlvii.), ‘ and sit in the dust, O VIRGIN DAUGHTER OF BABYLON! SIT ON THE GROUND:’ (that is, to denote her future abject state, when deprived of Royalty:) ‘(there is) no Throne, O DAUGHTER OF THE CHALDEANS: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate! ’ The Prophet then proceeds to describe the deplorable state of the most ABJECT SLAVES, which was now to be transferred from the Sufferers to the Slave-holders themselves! He still addresses himself to the Imperial City under the simile of a Woman, and gives that "Lady of Kingdoms" (173) a humiliating information of her future employment and condition in SLAVERY: — ‘ Take the mill-stones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, PASS OVER THE RIVERS. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered; yea, thy shame shall be seen: I WILL TAKE VENGEANCE, I will not meet (thee as) a man. ’ &c. The Prophet, after giving assurance to Israel, that Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, would be their REDEEMER (that is, a REDEEMER from SLAVERY, both temporal and spiritual), proceeds to declare the reason of God's severe Vengeance against BABYLON in the 6th verse:— ‘ I was wroth with my People, I have polluted mine Inheritance, and given them into THINE HAND: thou didst shew them NO MERCY: upon the Ancient hast thou VERY HEAVILY LAID THY YOKE. And thou saidst, I shall be a Lady for ever: (so) that thou didst not lay these (things) to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou (that art) given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, ’ &c.— ‘ These two things shall come to thee, IN A MOMENT, IN ONE DAY; the loss of Children and Widowhood; they shall come upon thee in their perfection, for the multitude of thy Sorceries, (and) for the great abundance of thine Enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy Wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy Wisdom and thy Knowledge it hath perverted thee. ’ (Mark this, ye little Philosophers and sophistical Deists, who even make it a question whether there be such a thing as Providence in the World.)
And thou hast said in thine heart, I (am), and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and DESOLATION shall come upon thee SUDDENLY(174), (which) thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine Inchantments, and with the multitude of thy Sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied with the multitude of thy Councils. Let now the Astrologers, the Star-gazers
(for Babylon was famous for her very ancient Royal Observatory), ‘ the monthly Prognosticators stand up, and save thee from (these things) that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the FIRE shall BURN THEM; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the FLAME:’ &c. Isaiah xlvii. 1—14.

The Babylonians were Worshippers of Fire; so that the above-mentioned Denunciation of Fiery Vengeance seems to be peculiarly applicable: and it is remarkable, that the King of Babylon had recourse to his Astrologers(175) (agreeable to this Prophecy) in the dreadful night when the Medes and Persians were to enter his Capital City; for these Nations were expressly called upon by name as the appointed Instruments of GOD'S VENGEANCE(176); and the horrors of that fatal night were plainly foretold: — ‘ The night of my pleasure ’ (says the Prophet, manifestly referring to the impious midnight carousal mentioned by Daniel, by Herodotus, and Xenophon) ‘ hath he turned into FEAR unto me ’ (the excess of which is described in the former verses, quoted in the preceding Note).
PREPARE THE TABLE, watch in the WATCH-TOWER(177), EAT, DRINK. ARISE, YE PRINCES(178) and anoint the shield,
&c. Isaiah xxi. 4, 5.

The Prophet Jeremiah also alludes to the same fatal Babylonian supper, which seems to have been intended as a Festivity to the honour of their False Deities(179), in order to insure success against the Besiegers: — ‘ In their heat ’ (or in their anger, that is, against their Enemies in the War) ‘ I will make their FEASTS, and I will make them DRUNKEN, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord. I will bring them down LIKE LAMBS to the slaughter ’ (that is, without opposition or resistance on their part(180), ‘ like Rams with He-goats. How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole Earth surprized! ’ (alluding to the unexpected entry of the Enemy;) ‘ How is Babylon become an astonishment among the Nations! ’ &c. Jer. li. to ver. 42. And the manner of bringing about this VENGEANCE, as well as the REASON of it, is further described in the same chapter: — ‘ For the Lord God of RECOMPENCES’ (said the Prophet, ver. 56.) ‘ shall surely REQUITE. And I will MAKE DRUNK her PRINCES and her WISE MEN, her CAPTAINS and her RULERS, and her mighty men: and they shall SLEEP A PERPETUAL SLEEP, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts ’ (viz. Jehovah of Armies). ‘ Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire, and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. ’ Jer. li. 56—58.

The Armies of God's Wrath upon Babylon were led by Cyrus, who was expressly called upon by name, and appointed to this service
about two hundred years before he was born(181);
and Deliverance also by his hand from Bondage was promised, at the same time, to the Jews, even many years before they were carried into Captivity:— ‘ Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou (art) my Servant: I have formed thee; thou (art) my Servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed thee ’ (that is, from the Babylonish Slavery, as the remainder of the chapter will shew).
Sing, O ye Heavens; for the Lord hath done (it): shout, ye lower parts of the Earth: break forth into singing, ye Mountains, O Forest, and every Tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob (182), and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the Lord THY REDEEMER, and he that formed thee from the Womb; I (am) the LORD
(Jehovah), ‘ that maketh all (things); that stretcheth forth the Heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the Earth by myself: that frustrateth the Tokens of the Lyars, and maketh Diviners mad; that turneth Wise (Men) backward, and maketh their Knowledge foolish; ’ (referring, probably, to the unprofitable Sciences and vain Politics of the Chaldeans;) ‘ that confirmeth the Word of his Servant, and performeth the Counsel of his Messengers; that saith to JERUSALEM, THOU SHALT BE INHABITED’ (that is, after the appointed Desolation), ‘ and to the Cities of JUDAH, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: that saith to the Deep ’ (whereby, according to the Targum, BABEL is meant), ‘ Be DRY; and I will DRY UP thy Rivers: ’ (most probably alluding to the successful stratagem of Cyrus to dry up the Rivers by altering their Course, whereby he gained an unsuspected passage into the City through the emptied Channels(183) ‘ that saith of CYRUS, (he is) my SHEPHERD, and shall PERFORM ALL MY PLEASURE; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the Temple, Thy Foundation shall be laid. ’ Isaiah xliv. 21—28. And in the 45th chapter the great Restorer of temporal Liberty is further revealed: — ‘ Thus saith the Lord to his Anointed, to CYRUS, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue Nations before him; and I will loose the loins of Kings; ’ (see the former account concerning the extreme fear of the King of Babylon and his Princes;) ‘ to OPEN before him THE TWO-LEAVED GATES; and THE GATES SHALL NOT BE SHUT.’ (Compare this with Zenophon's Account of the Palace Gates being OPENED on the first Alarm.) ‘ I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the Gates of Brass, and cut in sunder the Bars of Iron: and I will give thee the Treasures of Darkness, and hidden riches of Secret places, ’ (alluding probably to the immense quantities of Gold in the secret Chapels of the Babylonish Idols within the great ancient(184) Tower.) ‘ that thou mayest know that I the Lord, which call (thee) BY THY NAME, (am) the God of Israel. ’ And in the next verse the Prophet assigns the reason why the Almighty thus called upon CYRUS, viz.— ‘ for Jacob my Servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee BY THY NAME: I have SURNAMED THEE, though thou hast not known me. I (am) the Lord, ’ (or rather I (am) JEHOVAH) ‘ and (there is) none else, (there is) no God beside me: I girded thee, ’ (or strengthened thee) ‘ though thou hast not known me, ’ &c. and God's PURPOSE in raising up CYRUS is still more clearly declared in the 13th verse,— ‘ I have raised him up in RIGHTEOUSNESS, and I will DIRECT ALL HIS WAYS: he shall BUILD MY CITY, and HE SHALL LET GO MY CAPTIVES,’ (mark this ye wretched Slave-holders) ‘NOT FOR PRICE, NOR REWARD, saith the Lord of Hosts; ’ and accordingly the Proclamation of Freedom to the Jews and the Decree for rebuilding the Temple were made in the first year of Cyrus. See Ezra i. 1.

Now let my Readers seriously compare these accounts of God's peculiar favour to CYRUS, THE RESTORER OF LIBERTY, with the accounts (which I have already recited) of GOD'S opposite treatment of that man who ‘OPENED NOT THE HOUSE OF HIS PRISONERS.’ Isaiah xiv. 17.

Cyrus by the Almighty was expressly called, in the 45th chapter of Isaiah, "HIS ANOINTED:"— ‘ Thus saith the Lord to HIS ANOINTED, to CYRUS;’ and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, literally
to his Messiah (185), to Cyrus,
&c. for Cyrus, by freely restoring a great Nation to their natural liberty from a heavy Bondage under the Babylonian Tyrant, might justly be esteemed a Type of that future great Restorer to universal Liberty, foretold by the same Prophet, who was afterwards to enfranchise all Mankind from a much worse Bondage under the Empire of Satan (186)

This spiritual Freedom is, indeed, clearly tendered to all men: but how many are they who, for the sake of a little worldly profit, are again entangled in the snares and temptations of their spiritual Enemy, and submit themselves to his Bondage! How can we suppose, that those men are FREE from THE MAMMON OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, who are led by the temptations of private interest to infringe the NATURAL RIGHTS OF MANKIND, by uncharitably retaining their Fellow Men in an involuntary SERVITUDE!

Can any injury, except that of taking away a man's LIFE, exceed that of taking away a man's LIBERTY, who has never offended us! Can any robbery or injustice whatsoever be more atrocious than that of wearing out our poor Brethren in a hard involuntary service, without WAGES or REWARD! thereby continually robbing them of the Fruit of their Labours! Have I not shewn, by unquestionable examples from Scripture, that this is a crying sin, and that the Almighty hath denounced Wo(187) against all such Offenders? Do we not profess to serve THE SAME GOD who so severely punished the Jews for this very crime? And is there any just ground to hope, that GOD, who spared not his own peculiar People, will, nevertheless, excuse the Inhabitants of Great Britain and her Colonies, when they are wilfully guilty of the same offence!

The whole tenour of the Scriptures teaches us, that SLAVERY was ever detestable in the sight of God, insomuch that it has generally been denounced (and, of course, inflicted) as the punishment of the most abandoned Sinners; of which I have already given a great variety of instances.

Let us therefore, before it is too late, take warning by these tremendous examples of GOD'S VENGEANCE against this kind of Oppression, which the Scriptures hold forth, not only to this Nation, but to all the World besides! The examples which I have quoted of God's Vengeance, denounced against the Israelites and Jews for TYRANNY, are not more striking than the examples of VENGEANCE denounced against the very Instruments of that VENGEANCE (the Assyrians and Babylonians) expressly on the same account; for though the latter were mere Instruments in God's hand, to punish the Jews in kind, yet they were themselves subjected to the like RETRIBUTION!

Nay, THE VENGEANCE was denounced particularly against the Chaldeans (and the cause of it, also, was declared) long before they were guilty of the offence, as I have before remarked, even while the Jews, the Nation vindicated by this punishment, were exercising that Tyranny at home for which they were then doomed to the Babylonian Yoke, and thereby laid the foundation for the future retaliated CAPTIVITY of their haughty CONQUERORS the Chaldeans!

And have not we just reason to dread the severe VENGEANCE OF ALMIGHTY GOD, when it is notorious, that the Tyranny exercised in the British Colonies is infinitely more unmerciful than that which was formerly exercised by the Chaldeans, insomuch that the state of the Jews in their Captivity might be esteemed rather as Freedom than Bondage, when compared with the deplorable Servitude of the wretched NEGRO SLAVES, as well as of the white Servants, in our Colonies?

What must be the consequence of such abominable wickedness?

By as much as we exceed the Assyrians and Babylonians in religious knowledge, by so much more severely may we expect the hand of God upon us for our monstrous abuse of such advantages!

The Inhabitants of Great Britain and the Inhabitants of the Colonies seem to be almost equally guilty of Oppression!

THE COLONIES protest against the Iniquity of the SLAVE-TRADE; but, nevertheless, continue to hold the poor wretched Slaves in a most detestable Bondage! GREAT BRITAIN, indeed, keeps no Slaves, but publicly encourages the Slave-trade, and contemptuously neglects or rejects every petition or attempt of the Colonists against that notorious wickedness!

The House of Burgesses in Virginia, transmitted a very sensible and respectful Petition to the King(188), dated the 1st of April, concerning the Iniquity, Inhumanity, and destructive Influence of the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, to which not the least Answer hath yet been returned!

The Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Somerset, in New Jersey, also, through their ‘ regard to the civil and RELIGIOUS Interest of the Country, and the established Rights of Mankind, ’ presented to the Governor, Council, and Representatives of that Province a very seasonable Testimony against that wicked ‘ Traffic which has Slavery for it's object, ’ praying them to ‘ provide against the future Importation of Slaves into that Colony ’ and ‘ to enable such persons as shall chuse it to manumit their SLAVES upon equitable Principles to the Owners and the Public, ’ &c. (189). Another Petition upon the like benevolent principles was presented to the same Assembly by ‘ divers Inhabitants of the County of ESSEX in the said Province, ’ wherein they also signified their dissatisfaction concerning ‘ an Act of Assembly in force for preventing the manumitting and setting free any Negro Slave, ’ &c. whereby many ‘are obliged to keep their Fellow Men in a Slavery to them unlawful, and contrary to their Christian Principles,’ &c. And they exhort the Assembly ‘to obtain an alteration of his Majesty's Instruction to the Governor relating to the African Trade,’ &c. (190) A number also of the Inhabitants of the City and County of Philadelphia bore the like testimony against the African Trade in a pathetic and earnest Petition to their Provincial Assembly; wherein they take notice of the example set them by the Province of Virginia in petitioning the King, ‘ from a deep sensibility of the danger and pernicious consequences which will be attendant on a Continuation of this most iniquitous Traffic ’ (191). But the Assembly, being desirous first to know what reception the abovementioned neglected Virginian Petition had met with at Court, postponed their address to the Throne; and instead of it transmitted an Act of Assembly for the King's Assent, whereby they laid a heavy duty on the head of every Slave that should be imported, amounting almost to a prohibition of the iniquitous Traffic; but this seasonable attempt to discourage the crying national sin, met with a very cold reception it seems on this side of the Atlantic, and the Bill was absolutely rejected; so that the horrid Guilt of persisting in that monstrous Wickedness must rest on this side of the Atlantic! Is this—to ‘ execute Judgement and righteousness? ’ Is this to ‘ deliver the SPOILED out of the hand of the OPPRESSOR?’ Is this to "do no wrong," to ‘ do no violence to the STRANGER?’

Does not the same God, who warned the impolitic Zedekiah by the mouth of his Prophet, also equally warn us by the written word which he hath given to us ‘ for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness? ’ 2 Tim. iii. 16.

Does he not equally warn us by these everlasting Records of his tremendous Judgements and dreadful VENGEANCE even against his own peculiar people? FOR— ‘ all these Things happened unto them for ensamples: ’ (as I have before observed) ‘ and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the Ends of the World are come. ’ 1 Cor. x. 11.

And yet with all these spiritual advantages, I fear we far exceed the Jews in the enormity and multitude of our National Oppressions: how then shall we escape the just Vengeance of God, if we persevere in these inhuman practices? Is this the return we make to God for the Blessing of a Christian Education! Surely he hath expected better thing of us! Have we not just reason to fear that he will condemn this nation as he did the Jews of old? saying— ‘ he looked for JUDGEMENT, but behold OPPRESSION; for RIGHTEOUSNESS, but behold a CRY!’ Isaiah v. 7.

As God never changes, it is impossible that this nation should escape his just retribution, and still persist in violating the natural Rights of mankind!

Reflect, my Countrymen, for a moment, upon the present state of those enormous national Transgressions, the African Slave Trade encouraged in GREAT BRITAIN, and the toleration of Slavery in THE BRITISH COLONIES, and you will readily perceive that we must stand condemned even if we judge ourselves! and how then shall we appear before that Righteous Judge, who is no respecter of persons? How can we hope to escape the DIVINE VENGEANCE when we know that the Almighty hath even bound himself with a most solemn oath never to forget any such, acts of OPPRESSION? ‘ The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, SURELY I will never forget any of their works, ’ or rather "all their works," 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; amongst which the SLAVE-TRADE, in particular, is expressly mentioned in the preceding verse, viz. ‘ buying the Poor for Silver, ’ &c. And then he condescends to appeal, as I before remarked, to human Judgement concerning the propriety, or rather the necessity and certainty, of the Divine Vengeance for such National Wickedness! — ‘ Shall not the Land tremble for this? and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? ’ Amos viii. 6—8. And in like manner by the Prophet Jermiah:— ‘ Shall I not visit for these things? Shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this? ’ Chap. v. 9. These Judgements, indeed, were denounced against the Jews; but surely common sense must teach us that they are equally applicable at home, that is, ‘ on such a Nation AS THIS,’ my Countrymen!

But there is still a way to escape, if my Countrymen have but grace to take warning! And therefore to the unquestionable Examples of GOD's Retribution and Vengeance which I have already given, let me add, before I conclude, on very remarkable Example of GOD's Vengeance for National Oppression being actually averted by the seasonable interposition of a few individuals, who procured the dismission and enfranchisement of a large body of poor enslaved people, and thereby appeased the denounced Wrath of our merciful God!

In the beginning of the 28th chapter of the second Book of Chronicles, an account is given of the abominable Idolatry and Wickedness of Ahaz King of Judah, ‘ who (even) burned his Children in the Fire, ’ and by that superlative degree of Uncharitableness and Inhumanity demonstrated a voluntary submission to that heavy Yoke of Bondage under the Grand Spiritual Enemy of Mankind, from which the Almighty Protector of the Creation had so gloriously delivered his Ancestors, ‘ after the abominations ’ (says the Text) ‘ of the Heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the Children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burned incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the King of SYRIA; and they smote him, and CARRIED AWAY A GREAT MULTITUDE OF THEM CAPTIVES, and brought (them) to DAMASCUS. And he was also delivered into the hand of the King of ISRAEL, who smote him with a great slaughter: for PEKAH’ (the King of Israel) ‘ the Son of REMALIAH slew in Judah AN HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND IN ONE DAY, all valiant men; because THEY HAD FORSAKEN THE LORD GOD OF THEIR FATHERS. And ZICHRI, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew MAASEIAH THE KING'S SON, and AZRIKAM THE GOVERNOR OF THE HOUSE, and ELKANAH (that was) NEXT TO THE KING. And the Children of ISRAEL carried away captive of their Brethren TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND WOMEN, SONS AND DAUGHTERS, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a Prophet of the Lord was there whose name (was) ODED: and he went out before the Host that came to Samaria, ’ (tha tis, as they returned from the War to Samaria with their Captives and Booty,) ‘ and said unto them, "Behold, because the LORD GOD of your Fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have SLAIN THEM IN A RAGE (that) REACHETH UP UNTO HEAVEN. And now ’ (said the Prophet) ‘ ye purpose to KEEP UNDER the Children of Judah and Jerusalem for BOND-MEN and BOND-WOMEN unto you: (but are there) NOT WITH YOU, EVEN WITH YOU, SINS against the LORD your GOD? Now hear me therefore, and DELIVER THE CAPTIVES AGAIN, which ye have TAKEN CAPTIVE OF YOUR BRETHREN: FOR THE FIERCE WRATH OF THE LORD (is) UPON YOU.’ 2 Chron. xxviii. 9—11. And may it not be said in these latter days, with equal Truth, to the Inhabitants of GREAT BRITAIN and HER COLONIES, ‘ Are there not with you, even with you, Sins against the LORD your GOD?’ that is, are there not with you already a sufficient number of SINS (for which, unless you repent, you will certainly be accountable) but that you must presumptuously ‘ add to your Sins and to your Trespass ’ the horrid guilt of SLAVERY and OPPRESSION, to hasten GOD'S VENGEANCE upon you? but that you must suddenly heap up the measure of your iniquity by tolerating in your Colonies a much more grievous Slavery, a much more numerous Bondage, than the Israelites were ever guilty of? Yet in Israel, there were found four Chiefs or Noblemen— ‘ Heads of the Children of Ephraim, ’ who were zealous to avert God's Wrath, and save their Country by a speedy restoration of the JEWISH CAPTIVES to their natural freedom. They valiantly ‘STOOD UP against them that came from the War, ’—(which were, probably, not only PEKAH, their King, and his Princes, but also the principal Warriours of their Country; see the 6th, 7th, and 14th verses)— ‘ and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in THE CAPTIVES hither. ’—These were peremptory Terms, which shewed, that they were ready to risk their Lives in so good a cause; and, at the same time, they assigned the reason of their opposition in a SOLEMN PROTEST—"for whereas" (said they) ‘ we have offended against the Lord (already), ye INTEND TO ADD (more) TO OUR SINS and to OUR TRESPASS:—for our Trespass is great, and (thereis) fierce wrath against Israel. ’ Ver. 12, 13.

This reason, as well as the undaunted Resolution of those who gave it, had the proper effect upon the Israelitish Soldiers, who, notwithstanding the general depravity of their countrymen, still deserved the name of MEN, by demonstrating, that they were not insensible to REASON, and that they thought themselves entitled (though SOLDIERS) to that common Right of HUMAN NATURE, the Right of judging for themselves in matters of conscience, without which no man can be truely honourable: for as soon as they heard the just remonstrance of the four Noblemen, they quitted the Prey and the Plunder (a hard thing for Soldiers to submit to) without waiting, it seems, for the word of command from the King or his Princes!—"So the armed men" (says the Text) ‘ lest the Captives and the Spoil before THE PRINCES and ALL THE CONGREGATION.’ Ver. 14.

Here (be pleased to observe) is a National Council at once assembled in the field; the whole Power of the People— ‘THE PRINCES AND ALL THE CONGREGATION.’

What were their Deliberations on this occasion does not appear, nor their RESOLUTIONS, or rather, they seem to have been totally IRRESOLUTE, wavering between what was a RIGHT TO BE DONE and PRIVATE INTEREST; as if each man was unwilling to give up his share of the booty, and yet ashamed openly to resist the active Resolution of the four Chiefs on so charitable a cause; for these four Noblemen, it seems, at last boldly took upon themselves the whole business;—"and the men" (says the Text) "which were expressed by name," (viz. the four Noblemen mentioned in the 12th verse) ‘ROSE UP, and TOOK THE CAPTIVES, and WITH THE SPOIL CLOTHED all that were naked among them, and arrayed them and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho the City of Palm-Trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria. ’ Thus an immediate Judgement from God upon Israel was averted by the spirited opposition of FOUR individuals against a whole Nation! But Great Britain and her Colonies, which forcibly detain more than FOUR times the number(192) of wretched Captives in an involuntary servitude, much more intolerable than any that the Israelites were ever guilty of exacting!—GREAT BRITAIN which recruits the ravages of her Cruelty, Oppression, and Injustice, by an annual supply of more than fifty thousand poor (193) African STRANGERS (against whom they have not the least pretence of war or quarrel)— ‘MEN AND WOMEN, SONS AND DAUGHTERS’— ‘FOR BONDMEN AND FOR BONDWOMEN’ to be worn out with unremitted labour; like those poor injured creatures whose places they supplied!—Great Britain, I say, with all this accumulated load of guilt has not yet produced four Chiefs or Noblemen to PROTEST against this most abominable Tyranny, and ‘to stand in the Gap, ’ with reverential fear of God, to avert the DIVINE VENGEANCE, though Religion, Humanity, and even Common Sense ought to have prompted them to it!—May we not too aptly compare the principal crimes of the Jews, (for which they lost their liberty), to the present crying Sins of GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES!—"In the midst of thee" (said a Prophet from God) ‘ have they DEALT BY OPPRESSION WITH THE STRANGER: in thee have they vexed the Fatherless and the Widow. ’ Ezek. xxii. 7. And again, ‘ The People of the Land have used OPPRESSION and exercised ROBBERY, and have vexed the Poor and Needy: yea, they have OPPRESSED THE STRANGER WRONGFULLY. And I sought for A MAN among them that should make up the hedge, and STAND IN THE GAP before me for the Land, that I should not destroy it: but I sound none! THEREFORE have I poured out mine indignation upon them, I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: THEIR OWN WAY have I RECOMPENSED UPON THEIR HEADS, saith the Lord God. ’ Ezek. xxii. 29—31. And have not the Inhabitants of Great Britain and her Colonies, therefore, just reason to expect a similar VENGEANCE for the like OPPRESSIONS? Do they flatter themselves, that the same God will permit them to go on without recompensing their ‘OWN WAY’ upon their HEADS! Slavery for Slavery? Or have they forgot, that the God of Israel, who thus reproved his peculiar People for holding their Brethren in BONDAGE, is the SAME "LORD GOD" with whom we have to do? and that he is UNCHANGEABLE? How would our Rulers and Chief Men bear a repetition of this unchangeable word in the presence of God, when the Books are opened for Judgement:— ‘ I sought for a Man among them that should make up the hedge, and STAND IN THE GAP before me for the Land, that I should not destroy it; but I FOUND NONE!’ May I not say, that even ‘ backsliding Israel ’ shall ‘ rise up in Judgement with this Generation, and shall condemn it? ’ As ‘ the backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah, ’ (Jer. iii. 11.) so she hath surely "justified herself more than" BRITAIN! for when the measure of her iniquity seemed to be filled by that notorious act of Oppression in the reign of Pekah before-mentioned, there were yet found in her FOUR worthy Advocates ‘ to STAND IN THE GAP before GOD for the Land; ’ even four "Chiefs" (or Nobles) "of the Children of Ephraim," who boldly protested against the horrid crime of domestic Slavery. But Great Britain, though staggering under a much heavier load of the same kind of Guilt, has not produced, out of her numerous Peerage, ONE SINGLE CHIEF to stand up "for the Land," and remove her burthen! Mark this, ye Right Reverend Fathers of our Church, who sit with the PRINCES of the Realm to consult the welfare of the State! Think not that I am inclined, through any misguided prejudice(194), to charge your Order, in particular, with the omission. The crying Sin has hitherto been far distant from your sight, and perhaps was never fully represented to you, or, like faithful Watchmen of Israel, you would long ago have warned our Nation of the Danger: but I now call upon you, IN THE NAME OF GOD, for assistance! Ye know the Scriptures, and therefore to you, my Lords, in particular I appeal! If I have misrepresented the Word of God, on which my Opposition to SLAVERY is founded, point out my errors, and I submit: but if, on the other hand, you should perceive that the Texts here quoted are really applicable to the question before us, that my conclusions from thence are fairly drawn, and that the Examples of GOD'S VENGEANCE against TYRANTS and SLAVE-HOLDERS ought strictly to warn us against similar Oppressions and similar Vengeance, you will not then, I trust, be backward in this Cause of GOD and MAN. Stand up (let me intreat you) ‘ for the Land; MAKE UP THE HEDGE,’ to save your Country; perhaps it is not yet too late! Enter a solemn protest, my Lords, against those who ‘ have oppressed the Stranger wrongfully. ’ Ye know that the Testimonies I have quoted are of God! Warn therefore the Nobles and Senators of these Kingdoms, that they incur not a double load of Guilt! as the burthen, not only of the much-injured African Strangers, but also of our Country's Ruin, must rest on the heads of those who withhold their Testimony against the CRYING SIN Of TOLERATED SLAVERY! For ‘I KNOW that the LORD will maintain the CAUSE of the Afflicted, and the RIGHT of the Poor. ’ Psa. cxl. 12.

GRANVILLE SHARP.

SOLI DEO GLORIA ET GRATIA.

Notes

(1).

If thy Brother (that dwelleth) by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a Bond Servant: but as an Hired Servant, and as a Sojourner, he shall be with thee,
&c. Levit. xxv. 39, 40.

↵

(2).
‘If thou buy an Hebrew Servant, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.’ Exod. xxi. 2.
↵

(3).

‘And if the Servant shall plainly say, I love my Master, my Wife, and my Children; I will not go out free: ’ &c. Exod. xxi. 5. Thus it is evident that the Jews could not acquire any right to the perpetual Service of their Brethren, John or Thomas, except by virtue of a voluntary Contract, which is something similar to that Clause in the Habeas Corpus Act concerning a Contract, which I thought myself obliged to acknowledge in my former Tract as an exception to the idea of Universal Freedom in this Kingdom. But in neither case can the Contract for Service be implied; for in the latter the Contract must be in writing, and the signing be clearly proved to be a voluntary act, without the least suspicion of Duress; and in the former case it was necessary that the Servant should acknowledge, in a Court of Record, that he was willing to enter into such a Contract; for the Hebrew Servant could not be made a Slave, unless he would ‘ plainly say, I love my Master,’ &c. ‘I WILL NOT GO OUT FREE: Then’ (says the Text) ‘his Master shall bring him unto the JUDGES’ (which answers to the public Acknowledgement necessary in the other case to be made in a Court of Record) for without this the Hebrew Master had no authority to bore the Servant's Ear in token of Bondage. Exod. xxi. 5, 6.

↵

(4).
"Thine eye shall have no pity upon them." Deut. vii. 16.
↵

(5).

Thou shalt make no Covenant with them, nor shew Mercy unto them,
&c. Deut. vii. 2.

↵

(6).
1 Cor. x. 11.
↵

(7).

— ‘the Children of Israel sighed by reason of the Bondage, and they cried; and their cry came up unto God by reason of the Bondage: and God heard their groaning, ’ &c. Exod. ii. 23, 24.

‘And the Lord said, I have surely seen the Affliction of my People which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters: for I know their Sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.’ Exod. iii. 7, 8.

↵

(8).

In like manner there are multitudes of poor people retained in a deplorable Bondage, even to this day, in the Potteries of China.

↵

(9).

Sunt inter quos Belgae, qui hic intelligunt Opera Servilia, quae a Servis & Ancillis hoc ipso di• rigide exigebantur, ut aliis diebus. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 "〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉," Omnes Subjectos vobis affligitis: quae lectio (says Vitringa) absque emendatione facile subsistit. — And a little afterwards he adds, Prior interpretatio de Operibus Servorum aut molestis exactionibus Subditerum, magna se commendat specie, estque mihi in eam pronior animus.

↵

(9).

Thou shalt not deliver unto his Master the Servant which is escaped from his Master unto thee: he shall dwell with thee (even) among you, in that place which he shall choose, in one of thy gates where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him. Deut. xxiii. 15, 16.

↵

(10).

Ideo ut ubi solvere non poterunt, dent se nobis in Servitutem, ut mos erat illarum Gentium.
Grotius in locum.

↵

(11).

‘And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it: and they built forts against it round about.’ 2 Kings xxv. 1.— ‘In the ninth year of Zedekiah King of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they besieged it,’ &c. Jer. xxxix. 1. See also chap. lii. ver. 9.

↵

(12).

‘Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the King of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the walls; and I will bring them into the midst of this City. And I myself will fight against you, with an outstretched arm, and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the Inhabitants of this City, both Man and Beast: they shall die of a great Pestilence. And afterwards, saith the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah King of Judah, and his Servants, and the People, and such as are left in this City, from the Pestilence, from the Sword, and from the Famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, and into the hand of their Enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their Life; and he shall smite them with the Edge of the Sword; he shall not spare them, neither have Pity, nor have Mercy!’ Jer. xxi. 3 to 7.

↵

(13).

And what "Wrong" or ‘ Violence to the Stranger ’ can be more oppressive than that of detaining him in an involuntary Servitude, WITHOUT WAGES, in a miserable, wretched Bondage, worse than that of brute Beasts!

↵

(14).

When a similar warning was given by a former Prophet to a wicked and inconsiderate Predecessor of Zedekiah, concerning God's impending Vengeance for his misconduct, the haughty Monarch, puffed up with vain notions of his Royal Importance, arrogantly imposed silence on the Prophet, because he had undertaken the office of an Adviser or Counsellor to the King without the etiquette or formality of a Court Appointment: —"Art thou made of the King's Council?" (said the Monarch:) ‘forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? ’ —Upon which the Prophet forbore indeed to reason with him; but immediately pronounced upon him the severe sentence of God's Condemnation, saying, ‘I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my Counsel: ’ and it is remarkable, that, after rejecting the Counsel of God, the very next Counsel which this imperious Monarch was pleased to adopt was attended with the most dangerous and humiliating consequences, both to King and Kingdom, that could possibly have happened! nothing less than the delivery of both into the absolute power of their Enemies! for after he had silenced the Prophet, "then" (says the Text) ‘Amaziah King of Judah TOOK ADVICE, and sent to Joash, the Son of Jehoahaz, the Son of Jehu, King of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.’—The war was unjust and unreasonable; and, providentially, the King and his wicked Advisers were punished by the effects of their own unprincipled Counsel. See 2 Chron. xxv. 16—24.

↵

(15).

—"this Johanan" (says Bishop Patrick) ‘is thought by many to be the same with Jehoahaz, who succeeded Josiah in the Throne. But he’ (meaning Jehoahaz) ‘was not his first-born, being but twenty-three years old when the People made him King; and after three months time his Brother, being put in his place, is said to be twenty-five years old. 2 Kings xxiii. 31, 36. Petavius’ (continues the Bishop) ‘hath said a great deal about this, in his Annotations upon Epiphanius ad Haeres. Epicur. p. 18. But after all’ (says the learned Bishop) ‘ I take the truth to be, that JOHANAN WAS HIS ELDEST SON, but died before his Father: and therefore is not mentioned in the Book of Kings; as’ (continues he) ‘ Jehoahaz is not mentioned here, being made King by the People of the Land, and presently dethroned.’—In the latter part of this remark, however, the worthy Bishop is apparently mistaken; for the same King, who was sometimes called Jehoahaz, is certainly mentioned in that very Text (1 Chron. iii. 15.) on which the Bishop made this remark, though mentioned, indeed, under a different name, viz. Shallum.

↵

(16).

In this Text Shallum is called Jehoahaz, which, perhaps, was his original or proper name, and the other name, Shallum, only a surname (signifying Peace), given him, probably, by the People at his Coronation, and in remembrance of the peace and general tranquillity during the greatest part of his Father's reign: but the great and learned Archbishop Usher just reversed this supposition; for he was of opinion, that Shallum [*] was the proper name, and Jehoahaz only the surname.

Nevertheless, in defence of what I have ventured to mention as my own opinion, I must remark, that in the list of King Josiah's Sons, where Shallum is mentioned with the rest of his Brothers (viz. 1 Chron. iii. 15.) no less than two of his Brothers out of three are mentioned only by THE SURNAMES which were given them when they began to reign; and the third Brother there mentioned (or rather the first of them, Johanan) never reigned; and therefore, probably, had no surname to distinguish him, like the rest: but the other two, who actually ascended the Throne of David, were mentioned by their surnames only, viz. JEHOIAKIM (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Jehov-ikim, signifying Jehovah will establish) and ZEDEKIAH (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Tsadok-Jehov, signifying the Righteousness of Jehovah); for their proper names were Eliakim (2 Kings xxiii. 34.) and Mattaniah (2 Kings xxiv. 17.): and therefore it is very natural to conclude, that the name of the only remaining Brother, who actually reigned, and is mentioned in the same Text (viz. Shallum, signifying Peace) is likewise a surname, as well as the other two mentioned before him, who received the names, by which they are distinguished in that Text, when they were first appointed to the Throne of Judah.

↵

*

— ‘Eum enim 23 annos natum, senioribus Fratribus posthabitis, Populus Regem Patris loco constituit. (2 Reg. xxiii. 30, 31.) Shallumi nomine, ut videtur, melioris ominis causâ in aliud mutato: quòd commune illud ei fuisset cum Shallumo Jabeshi filio; qui unico tantùm mense regno potitus a Manahemo est occisus,’ &c. ad A. M. 3371. p. 113.

↵

(17).

Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his Mother's name was Hamutal, the Daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did (that which was) evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his Fathers had done.
2 Kings xxiii. 31, 32.

↵

(18).

And the King of Egypt put him down at Jerusalem, and condemned the Land in an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
2 Chron. xxxvi. 3.

↵

(19).

RIBLAH was the fatal place where King Zedekiah was afterwards judged and condemned by the King of Babylon, and where his Sons were slain before his eyes. Jer. lii. 9. The Text also informs us, that "he" (the King of Babylon) ‘ slew also all the Princes of Judah in RIBLAH.’ Jer. lii. 10. There is something very remarkable in the meaning of these names, Riblah and Hamath, when compared with the dreadful Vengeance executed therein. Riblah (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) was capable of being interpreted (though it likewise has a different meaning) as follows, viz. "Rixa"— ‘aut jurgium inveteratum vel conturbatum, sive jurgium, defluens;’ (see the Interpretation of Scripture Names annexed to the London Polyglot, Vol. VI.) and HAMATH (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) "Ira vel indignatio, aut calor," &c. (ibid.); that is, the City of Strife, or severe Chiding, in the Land of Wrath, or fiery Indignation. Now it must appear very remarkable, I say, if we consider the interpretation of which these names are capable, that God should incline two foreign Conquerors (who had no connection with each other, but, on the contrary, were mortal Enemies) to execute his Vengeance upon different Kings of Judah exactly at the same place, viz. the City of Strife, in the Land of Wrath: insomuch that one would suppose these names to be given afterwards, in remembrance of God's severe Vengeance already executed therein! And yet, we find, they were the ancient names of those places, mentioned in Moses' account of the Israelitish boundary, Numb. xxxiv. 8, 11. And though the names are really capable of bearing a different and more favourable interpretation, yet, to the Jews, who were nice observers concerning the real meaning of names, the possibility of interpreting the names of these fatal places, in the awful sense which I have mentioned, must render the accomplishment of God's Vengeance therein much more striking and remarkable!

↵

(20).

And Pharaoh-Nechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the Land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem,
&c. 2 Kings xxiii. 33.

↵

(21).

And Pharaoh-Nechoh made Eliakim the Son of Josiah King in the room of Josiah his Father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away; and he came to Egypt, and he died there.
2 Kings xxiii. 34.

↵

(22).

— ‘In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the LORD (or the LORD said) to me; make ye Bonds and Yokes, and put them upon thy Neck, and send them to the King of Edom,’ &c. The learned Dr. Lowth (Prebendary of Winchester in 1718) in his Commentary on this place, supposes that the Name of "Jehoiakim has crept into the Text," &c. instead of Zedekiah. "This emendation" (says he) ‘is confirmed by comparing this verse with the 3d, 12th, and 20th verses of this chapter, and with the beginning of the next.’—But these verses, however, are far from confirming the proposed emendation: all that can properly be said of them in this respect is, that they have occasioned, in some Writers, the supposition of an Error in the Text, which has been very well answered by others. But there is a better evidence in favour of the Doctor's supposition than what he has mentioned, because the latter really contains no difficulty, if the 3d and 6th verses be considered as prophecies [*] of the future reigns of Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar: but the evidence, which he has not mentioned, leaves much more room for the supposition of a various reading in the Text; for the Syriac Version has really the reading which that learned Gentleman supposes to be the true one, viz. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ‘in the beginning of the reign of Tsedekia, ’ instead of ‘in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. ’ This evidence certainly proves, either that the Hebrew Copy, from which the version was made, had really the reading supposed by Dr. Lowth, or else that the Translator himself thought (like Dr. Lowth) that the word ‘JEHOIAKIM had crept into the Text instead of ZEDEKIAH,’ and therefore was willing to correct the supposed error in his new version: and as the latter is neither impossible nor improbable, the evidence of the Syriac Version must by no means be admitted to invalidate the present Hebrew Reading, especially as the latter is confirmed, not only by all the ancient Hebrew Manuscripts that have hitherto been collated, but also by the Targum of Jonathan, who flourished 100 years before the destruction of the second Temple, as Bishop Walton relates[*]; so that his Translation is older than the oldest Syriac Version, which is sufficiently proved in the Prolegomena to the Polyglott Bible by the same learned Bishop. The whole verse is wanting in the Greek Version, so that no evidence can be drawn from thence.

↵

*

"These things" (says the learned Lightfoot) ‘are to be understood to be spoken prophetically concerning Zedekiah, as well as concerning Nebuchad-nezzar's Sonnes; for the Lord by the Prophet foretells that Nebuchadnezzar should reigne, and his Sonne and Grandchilde after him; and therefore must the Prophet presently make Yokes and Bonds, and put them of his own neck in token of Judah's subjection, which indeed begun in the very next yeare. And he foretells us withall that Zedekiah should reigne, and that divers Kings should send Messengers to him, and by them should Jeremy send those Yokes to those Kings,’ &c. Harmony of the Old Testament, p. 149 and 150.

↵

*

Floruit hic centum annis ante Templi secundi vastationem, ut habetur in Talm. Fract. de Sabbato, c. 1.
—In Biblia Polyglotta Prolegom. p. 84.

↵

(23).

Which was not till the latter end of the third year of Jehoiakim, for part of the third and part of the fourth years of Jehoiakim were included in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. Compare Dan. i. 1. with Jer. xxv. 1. This was the earliest computation (there being two) of Nebuchadnezzar's reign; for Dean Prideaux remarks, that ‘ Daniel begins his computation from the time that Nebuchadnezzar was sent from Babylon by his Father on this expedition’ (for he is speaking of Nebuchadnezzar's success in recovering Syria and Palestine from Pharaoh-Nechoh) "which" (says he) ‘was in the latter end of the third year of Jehoiakim,’ &c. (See Connections, part I. p. 63.) ‘But, according to the Babylonians, his reign is not reckoned to begin till after his Father's death, which happened two years afterwards; and both computations being found in Scripture, it is necessary to say so much here for the reconciling of them.’ Ibid. p. 60.

↵

(24).

The learned Archbishop Usher shews, that Nabuchadonosor was a name given to Saosduchinus, the Successor of Esarhaddon in the Assyrian and Babylonian Empire; and that he was the Nabuchadonosor mentioned in the Book of Judith (See his Annals under the years of the world 3336 and 3347.) That Chynaladan (called also Sarac) succeeded this Nabuchadonosor in the Empire A. M. 3336: that Nabopollasar (the Father of Nebuchadnezzar), who was Commander in Chief of his Forces, rebelled against his Master Sarac, and jointly with Asstyages (called also Assuerus), King of the Medes, conquered Sarac, and took Nineveh. And it seems that Nabopollasar at that time had assumed the name of Nabuchadonosor, the great Ancestor of his Master; for, according to Archbishop Usher, Nabopollasar is mentioned under that name in the Book of Tobit (A. M. 3378), viz. ‘Nabopollasarus Babylonius, à Saraco (sive Chynaladano) Assyriorum & Chaldaeorum Rege praefectus exercitui, ’ (the example should warn Monarchs against the keeping of great Standing Armies) ‘& Astyages à Patre Cyaxare Mediae Satrapa constitutus, affinitatem ineuntes (Amyiti Astyagis Filiâ Nebucadnesari Filio Nabopollasari desponsatâ) junctis vitibus Niniven, & in eâ Saracum Regem, expugnant: quemadmodum ex Alexandri Polyhistoris fragmento (à Cedreno, qui illud citat, minimè intellecto) colligimus. Quomodo & in fine Graeci Tobiti legimus; coepisse Niniven NABUCHODONOSORUM (sive Nabopollasarum) & ASSUERUM (sive Astyagen, Assueri quoque nomine, Danielis ix. 1. appellatum:) Superstite adhuc Tobiâ juniore qui, capta Samariâ à Salmanasare, in Assyriam cum Patre deportatus, annis 127 (vel 99, ut habet Latina, ex Chaldaico expressa editio) vixisse dicitur,’ &c.—So that Tobit had the satisfaction to see God's Vengeance executed upon that mighty Instrument of God's Wrath the Assyrian Empire, which had enslaved and carried away his Countrymen the Israelites from their an cient Inheritance.

↵

(25).

The several Histories cited by the learned Grotius, in the 16th Sect. of his 3d Book de Veritate Religionis Christianae concerning the Chaldean Monarchs, are by no means well chosen for the laudable purpose he intended: and he refers the Reader also to Scaliger, whose Hypothesis concerning those Monarchs is clogged with insurmountable difficulties. See Universal History, Vol. IV. p. 425. But Dean Prideaux has clearly proved, that ‘Nabonadius the last King of Babylon’ (called Labynetus by Herodotus) ‘was the same with him that in Scripture is called Belshazzar, and that he was the Son of Evilmerodach by Nitocris his Queen, and so SON'S SON to Nebuchadnezzar: and that whereas he is called the Son of Nebuchadnezzar in the 5th chapter of Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar is there called his Father, this is to be understood in the large sense, wherein any Ancestor upward is often called Father, and any Descendant down ward Son, according to the usual stile of Scripture.’ Connection of the Old and New Testaments, Part I. p. 115. See also Dr-Lowth's Comment on Jeremiah.

↵

(26).

‘In the beginning of the reign of JEHOIAKIM the Son of Josiah King of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord to me; make ye Bonds and Yokes, and put them upon thy neck, and send them to the King of Edom, and to the King of Moab, &c.—by the hand of the Messengers which come to Jerusalem unto ZEDEKIAH King of Judah, ’ &c. Jer. xxvii. 1 to 3. The learned Archbishop of Armagh has taken notice of this chapter as a Prophecy:— ‘In principio etiam regni Jehoiakimi, Jeremias praedixisse dicitur, SEDEKIAM Regem Judae futurum, & Nebucadnesarem Regem Babyloniae, eúmque Gentes finitimas dominatui suo subjecturum:’ for which he refers to this 27th chapter of Jeremiah, from the 1st to the 11th verse, A. M. 3395.

↵

(27).

If this probable confirmation of the word of Prophecy be duly considered, it will add much to the weight of the Observations which I have made in a preceding Note concerning the Truth of the Hebrew Text in the 1st verse of this chapter.

↵

(28).

Omnes enim hi Reges subjugati a Nebuchadonosoro. Vide infra xlviii.xlix. Comment on the 3d verse. Annot. ad Vet. Test. p. 221.

↵

(29).

"Nempe, ut eum sollicitarent" (says Grotius) ‘ad defectionem à Chaldaeo. De qua vide 2 Paral. xxxvi. 13.’ Ibid. p. 221.

"Their business" (says the learned Dr. Lowth) ‘was either to congratulate Zedekiah upon his accession to the Throne, or else to engage him IN A LEAGUE against the King of Babylon. ’ Comment on Jerem. p. 231.

↵

(30).

And it shall come to pass, that the Nation and Kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, and that will not put their nick UNDER THE YOKE of the King of Babylon, that Nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the Sword, with the Famine, and with the Pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
Jer. xxvii. 8.

↵

(31).

"Thus saith the Lord; Thou" (Hananiah) "hast broken the Yokes of Wood, but thou" (Jeremiah) "shalt make for them Yokes of Iron." Jer. xxviii. 13.

↵

(32).

These lying Prophets were probably bribed to favour the proposed league against Babylon, as some other wicked Prophets had been on former occasions, according to the testimony of the Prophet Micah:— "And the Prophets thereof" (speaking of Jerusalem) "divine sor money." Micah iii. 11. And Nehemiah also mentions a Prophet (one Shemaiah) who was hired to prophesy against him;— ‘for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.’ Nehem. vi. 10 to 12.

↵

(33).

— ‘They prophesy a Lye unto you. For I have not sent them, saith the Lord’ (JEHOVAH), "yet they prophesy a Lye in my Name," &c. Jer. xxvii. 14, 15.

↵

(34).

Gibeon was the place where the Tabernacle formerly stood for many years (1 Chron. xxi. 29. 1 Kings iii. 5.), and was therefore an ancient seat of the true Prophets—such as Azur, the Father of this Hananiah, probably was; so that as Hananiah and the other false Prophets also pretended to prophesy in the sacred Name of Jehevah, they would be very liable to gain credit with the People, especially as they told them such things as most flattered the national inclination of those times, viz. to be free from the Babylonian Yoke.

↵

(35).

‘Then the Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah (the Prophet), after that Hananiah the Prophet had broken the Yoke from off the neck of the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the Yokes of Wood, but thou shalt make for them Yokes of Iron. ’ Jer. xxviii. 12, 13.

↵

(36).

Alia est sectio (says Grotius upon this verse) ‘& ad aliud tempus pertinens, sed argumento conjuncta cum superiori.’ Grot. Annot. ad Vet. Test.

↵

(37).

Chap. xxviii. ‘And it came to pass THE SAME YEAR, in the beginning of the reign of ZEDEKIAH King of Judah, in the FOURTH YEAR, (and) in the fifth month, that Hananiah,’ &c.

↵

(38).

‘In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah, came this word from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Stand in the Court of the LORD's House, and speak unto all the Cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's House, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word. If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from HIS EVIL WAY, that I may repent me OF THE EVIL which I purpose to do unto them because of THE EVIL of their doings. ’ (This is God's Law of Retribution, Evil for Evil, Measure for Measure, which nothing but Repentance and Conformity to God's Laws could avert.)
And thou shalt say unto them, Thus faith the LORD; if ye will not hearken to me, TO WALK IN MY LAW, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my Servants the Prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending (them), but ye have not hearkened. Then will I make THIS HOUSE like SHILOH[*], and will make THIS CITY a curse to all the Nations of the Earth. So the Priests, and the Prophets, and all the People heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the House of the LORD.
Jer. xxvi. 1—7. Thus it is manifest that the public exercise of the National Religion, agreeable to the National Law, was continued even in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, though he was set up, and ruled under the authority of a foreign Heathen Monarch (Pharaoh-Neco); for the 2d verse testifies, that the People out of all the Cities of Judah came to worship in the Lord's House.

↵

*
Shiloh was, probably, desolate from the time of Eli's death, when the Ark was taken by the Philistines; for the old Tabernacle, made by Moses, was afterwards pitched on the High Place at Gibeon (1 Chron. xxi. 29.), and continued there till the time of Solomon, when the Temple was built (2 Chron. i. 3.). The removal was, probably, made by Samuel, whose House was at Rama, as also the Altat which he built (1 Sam. vii. 17); and Rama was in the neighbourhood of Gibeon, Gibeah, or Geba, which, if not the same place with Rama (which also signifies a high place) was at least adjoining to it, as they are frequently mentioned together in Scripture. See 1 Sam. xxii. 6. Ezra ii. 26. Nehem. vii. 30. Isa. x. 29. Hosea v. 8.
↵

(39).

This would include all that Jeremiah had prophesied in the reign of King Josiah, as well as in the times above mentioned under Shallum and Jehoiakim. The Prophecies delivered in the reign of Josiah (according to the learned Lightfoot) are contained in the twelve first chapters: but ‘ the thirteenth chapter, and all that follow to the one and twentieth, I conceive’ (says the same judicious Writer) ‘to have been delivered in the time of Jehoiakim, and not in the time of Josiah,’ &c. See his Reasons at length, Harmony of the Old Testament, p. 141, 142.

↵

(40).

‘ In THE THIRD YEAR of the reign of Jehoiakim King of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.’ Dan. i. 1.

↵

(41).

—vel (ut noster Joseph observat), says L'Empereur in his Annotations on Joseph Ichiia's Paraphrase on Daniel, — ‘annum NEBUCADNEZARIS primum statuamus incidisse in annum Jehoiakimi tertium desinentem & imprimis quartum incipientem; ita ut NEBUCADNEZAR venisse dicatur JEHOJAKIMI anno tertio desinente vel exacto, suo autem primo currente, qui respondebat partim anno illius tertio (Dan. cap. i. 1.), partim vero ejusdem quarto (Jer. xxv. 1.), propter diversa annorum initia, cum annus tertius JEHOIAKIMI & primus NEBUCADNEZARIS idem principium non haberent,’ &c. p. 11.

↵

(42).

The word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, here construed perpetual, does not necessarily bear that signification; for it sometimes denotes a shorter period: so that Buxtorf interprets it in his Lexicon as follows:—"Seculum," (says he) ‘tempus homini absconditum tam infinitum & aeternum quàm finitum, ut Gen. xvii. 8. Exod. xxi. 6. 1 Sam. i. 22. and xiii. 13. 2 Sam. xii. 10. &c. ’ So that the words 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 may rather signify some limited term of Desolations—Desolations of (or for) an age, or a certain period, as it is rendered in the interlineary version of the London Polyglot Bible— "In Solitudines Seculi." Buxtorf in his Lexicon remarks, that Raschi and Aben Ezra interpret the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to signify a space of fifty years. The Desolations spoken of in the above Text certainly were not perpetual: and though the particular duration of them is not there declared, yet the several Histories which mention the return from Captivity sufficiently prove that they were limited to some such term of years as Raschi and Aben-Ezra have attributed to the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 for the Servitude to Babylon (on which the Desolations depended) were expressly limited to seventy years (see ver. 11, 12.), and the total Desolation did not continue so long as the Captivity by about twenty years.

↵

(43).

— ‘And these Nations shall SERVE the King of Babylon SEVENTY YEARS.’ Jer. xxv. 11.

↵

(44).

‘And it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished, (that) I will punish the King of Babylon and that Nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the Land of the Chaldeans; and will make it perpetual Desolations,’ &c. ‘For many Nations and great Kings shall SERVE THEMSELVES OF THEM ALSO: and I will RECOMPENSE THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS’(mark this, ye Slave-holders and Tyrants of the Earth!) ‘and ACCORDING TO THE WORK OF THEIR OWN HANDS.’ Jer. xxv. 12—14. Here is a just Retaliation for Tyranny;—Slavery for Slavery!

↵

(45).

"And it shall be" (said God to the Prophet) ‘if they refuse to take the Cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith THE LORD OF HOSTS" (Jehovah of Hosts); Ye shall certainly drink. For lo! I begin to bring evil on the City, which is called by my Name, and should ye be utterly unpunished?—Ye shall not be unpunished: FOR I WILL CALL FOR A SWORD UPON ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS.’ Jer. xxv. 28, 29. This Declaration hath been fulfilled upon all Nations of the World at different times; and the Sword of God's Wrath is still as active as ever!

↵

(46).

‘And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the Son of Josiah King of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah, from the LORD, saying, Take thee a Roll of a Book, and write therein all the Words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the Nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. ’ Jer. xxxvi. 1—3. So that Repentance might still have prevented "all the evil."

↵

(47).

‘Then Jeremiah called Baruch the Son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a Roll of a Book. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the House of the Lord: therefore go thou, and read in the Roll which thou hast written from my mouth, the Words of the LORD, in the ears of the People in the LORD's House, upon the Fasting Day: ’ &c. Jer. xxvii. 4—6.

This Fasting Day, as Archbishop Usher remarks, was that solemn Annual Fast ordained in the Law to be kept on the 10th day of the seventh month for ever, five days before the Feast of Tabernacles: — ‘Solennis videlicèt illius, mensis septimi die decimo, quotannis celebrati: (Levit. xvi. 29. xxiii. 27. Num. xxix. 7.) quinque diebus ante Festum Tabernaculorum, in quo omnes mares ex omnibus civitatibus Judae comparebant Hierosolymis.’ Ad A. M. 3398. p. 119.

↵

(48).

— ‘And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for behold! I will bring evil upon all Flesh, saith the Lord.’ He nevertheless added a promise of life to Baruch, by way of comfort, saying, — ‘but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.’ Jer. xlv. 5.

↵

(49).

"Jer. xlv. 1, 5. Quò fortasse" (says the Archbishop) ‘referenda fuerint & capita illa duo consolatoria, Jer. xxx. & xxxi. Promissiones de instaurandâ Ecclesiâ continentia’ (ad A. M. 3398): but afterwards he seems, with more certainty, to date them in the year 3406. See p. 126. The 46th chapter of Jeremiah was fulfilled about this time (that is, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as the 2d verse declares), and the Prophecies against Egypt (therein contained) were probably declared about the same time with those against Jehoiakim, to shew that Monarch his folly in trusting to the armies of Pharaoh. ‘Of the same date with the 46th chapter we may well suppose the 48th and 49th chapters to be also, because the 2d verse of chap. xlvi. doth use a comprehensive expression, The Word of the LORD against the Gentiles, as concluding all these Sermons and Prophecies against these several Nations under one date and head; only chap. xlvii. and ver. 34. of chap. xlix. are of several specified dates.’ Lightfoot's Harmony, p. 153.

↵

(50).

‘—ingressi sunt Hierosolyma, Jer. xxxv. 11. Ubi, quum de tempore praesente dicant; ita cousidemus Hierosolymis: colligimus capitis hujus historiam de vino a Rechabitis recusato, eo tempore fuisse gestam, quo Urbs à Nebuchadnesare fuit obsessa.’ (Dan. i. 1.) Ibid. ad A. M. 3398. p. 120.

↵

(51).

‘In manum Nebuchadnesaris tradidit Dominus Jehoiakimum Regem Judae, cum parte Instrumentorum Domûs Dei [Dan. i. 2.], mense videlicèt nono sive Cisleu: ut colligitur ex aniversario jejunio, quod in memoriam, ut videtur, hujus calamitatis (more apud Judaeos receptor; Zachar. vii. 3, 5. & viii. 19.) eo mense observatum est [Jerem. xxxvi. 9.].’ Ad A. M. 3398, p. 120.

↵

(52).

Josephus seems to have been desirous to conceal this fact from his Gentile Readers (notwithstanding that the Jews held a solemn Fast in the ninth month, in commemoration of this National Calamity, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim); for he mentions nothing of the Capture of Jerusalem, but only informs us, that in the fourth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and the eighth of Jehoiakim (in which he makes a mistake of four years), the Babylonian made war with great power, demanding tribute of Jehoiakim, or threatening to fight him; and that the other, fearing the threats of the Babylonian, and purchasing peace with money, paid him the tributes which he had demanded for three years. ‘ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ’ Ant. Jud. Lib. x. c 7. p. 336. But it plainly appears, by the circumstances which attended that subjection of Jehoiakim to the Babylonians, that Jerusalem was then taken; for the Sacred Writings expressly testify that Nebuchadnezzar ‘ bound JEHOIAKIM in chains, to carry him to Babylon ’ (though he did not then carry him away), and that he ‘ carried of the Vessels ’ (i. e. part of the Vessels) ‘ of the House of the LORD to Babylon ’ (compare Dan. i. 2. with 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6, 7.): so that the Temple (and consequently the City) was certainly at that time in the Conqueror's power.

And as a further token of absolute conquest, the King of Babylon directed the Master of his Eunuchs to ‘ bring of the Children of Israel, and OF THE KING'S SEED, and OF THE PRINCES; Children in whom (was) no blemish, but well favoured, ’ Dan. i. 3. (whereby it is manifest that the Eunuch was to CHUSE[*] out the most promising Children that could be found of the Seed Royal, and of the Nobility, amongst whom were Daniel and his Companions), and send them to Babylon; which could not have been done, if Jerusalem had not then been absolutely in the hands of the Babylonian Conqueror.

↵

*

He ‘—gave order to Ashpenaz, the Master of his Eunuchs, that he should MAKE CHOICE out of the Children of the Royal Family, and of the Nobility of the Land. ’ Prideaux's Connect. Part I. p. 62.

↵

(53).
2 Chron. xxxvi. 6.
↵

(54).

‘Jehoiakimum catenis vincivit Nebuchadnesar, ut abduceret eum Babyloniam (2 Chron. xxxvi. 6.): sed pactis posteà conditionibus servitutis, domi eum reliquit; ubi Servus illi permansit tribus annis. (2 Reg. xxiv. 1.). A quâ primâ omnium Regis & Populi Judaici sub Nebuchadnesare factâ servitute, numerandi sunt anni septuaginta Captivitis Babylonicae, à Jeremiâ Prophetâ praedicti (Jer. xxv. 11. & xxix. 10.).’ Ad A. M. 3398. p. 120.

↵

(55).

In his days Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his Servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
2 Kings xxiv. 1.

↵

(56).

The reason of my speaking dubiously, whether this was the fifth or sixth time that Jerusalem was taken since the promise to David, is, because I cannot produce sufficient authorities to prove that it was taken when King Manasseh was carried away captive by the King of Assyria, though it is very probable that the City was then also really taken, because Manasseh, after his restoration, thought it necessary to build walls, and add new fortifications to different parts of the City. See 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.

↵

(56).

The reason of my speaking dubiously, whether this was the fifth or sixth time that Jerusalem was taken since the promise to David, is, because I cannot produce sufficient authorities to prove that it was taken when King Manasseh was carried away captive by the King of Assyria, though it is very probable that the City was then also really taken, because Manasseh, after his restoration, thought it necessary to build walls, and add new fortifications to different parts of the City. See 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14.

↵

(57).

— ‘in memoriam, ut videtur, Urbis eodem superioris anni mense a caldaeis captae. ’ Archbishop Usher, ad A. M. 3399. Dean Prideaux says that the Fast was held on the eighteenth day of the ninth month, and is still kept by the Jews. He also supposed (as well as Archbishop Usher) that the City was then taken by the Chaldaeans: but see his words at length— ‘The great Fast of the Expiation, wherein Baruch read the Roll, as is above related, was annually kept by the Jews on the tenth day of the month Tizri, which answers to our September. Immediately after that. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judaea; and having laid siege to Jerusalem, made himself master of it in the ninth month, called Cisleu (which answers to our November), on the eighteenth day of that month (for on that day is still kept by the Jews an annual Fast in commemoration of it even to this day); and having then taken Jehoiakim prisoner, he put him in chains to carry him to Babylon. But he having humbled himself to King Nebuchadnezzar, and submitted to become his Tributary, and thereon sworn fealty to him, he was again restored to his Kingdom:’ &c. Connect. Part I. p. 61, 62.

↵

(58).

The King of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this Land, and shall cause to cease from thence Man and Beast.
Jer. xxxvi. 29.

↵

(59).

‘ Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim King of Judah; He shall have NONE TO SIT UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID; and his DEAD BODY shall be CAST OUT in the Day to the Heat, and in the Night to the Frost. ’ Jer. xxxvi. 30. The former part of this Vengeance was fulfilled in the Captivity of Jehoiachin the Son of Jehoiakim, who, with all his Family, was soon afterwards carried to Babylon, and a younger Brother (Zedekiah) was set up instead of the Descendants of Jehoiakim: and the latter part of this Prophecy, concerning the DEAD BODY of Jehoiakim, is to the same effect with that Prophecy repeated in the 22d chapter, where it is said,— ‘ He shall be buried WITH THE BURIAL OF AN ASS, drawn and CAST FORTH beyond the Gates of Jerusalem: ’ for this also, it seems, was literally fulfilled in due time, which shall hereafter be shewn.

↵

(60).

And the Lord sent against him" (Jehoiakim) "Bands" (or Troops) ‘of the Chaldees, and Bands of the Syrians, and Bands of the Moabites, and Bands of the Children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah, to destroy it, according to the Word of the Lord, which he spake by his Servants the Prophets. Surely at the Commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he shed:’ &c. 2 Kings xxiv. 2.

↵

(61).

For "he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem." 2 Kings xxiii. 36.

↵

(62).

"It appears by this" (says the learned Bishop Patrick) ‘that to sleep with one's Fathers signifies no more than to DIE, as they did. For Jehoiachim was NOT buried with them, NOR died in his bed: but being taken by the Chaldaeans, he died as they led him out of JERUSALEM; and, according to the Prophecy of Jeremiah (xxii. 18, 19.), they cast him out of the Gates, and he had burial of an Ass; that is, lay upon the ground unburied. Abarbinel thinks’ (continues the Bishop) ‘he died in the way to Babylon; and his Body was left in the Highway, without any care taken to inter it: but it lay exposed to the Sun by day, and to the Frost by Night. xxxvi. Jerem. 30.’ See on 2 Kings xxiv. 6.

The worthy Prelate is certainly right concerning the expression "to sleep with one's Fathers;" for that is always mentioned as a distinct thing from the burial of any one: as for instance— ‘AHAZ SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS, and they BURIED him in the City, (even) in Jerusalem; but they BROUGHT HIM NOT into the Sepulchres of THE KINGS OF ISRAEL:’ &c. (2 Chron. xxviii. 27.) whereby the distinction abovementioned is rendered manifest. It was the common method, it seems, of expressing the death (not the burial) of Princes among the Eastern Nations; and even in Morocco, where many Eastern Customs prevail, it is necessary, even to this day, to use some circumlocution in expressing the death of any one, as it would be esteemed a capital offence to say in the Emperor's presence, in direct terms, that any man was dead. This I have been informed by a worthy friend of mine, who has frequently conversed with the present Emperor of Morocco.

But with respect to the manner of JEHOIAKIM'S death I must remark, that neither the opinion of the learned Bishop Patrick, quoted above, nor what he has cited from Abarbinel (viz. that "he died in the way") seem to agree with the most probable account of God's Vengeance upon that wicked Monarch.

↵

(63).

In the eighth chapter of the tenth book of Jewish Antiquities, speaking of Jehoiakim, he says, ‘ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ’ P. 337. Orleans Edition, 1611.

↵

(64).
Connections. Part I. p. 67.
↵

(65).

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is a name compounded of two words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Jehoi-achin, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, signifying Jehovah will prepare; or, according to some, ‘ Domini Praeparatio, five Domini Firmitas. ’ (See the Interpretation of Names in the end of the sixth Volume of Bishop Walton's Polyglot Bible, p. 30.) A transposition of these two words (placing the last first) forms a name of the same import, though of a very different sound— 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Ichin-Jehov, or JeXin-Jehov: and that such a transposition of the name was frequently used is apparent, because from thence is derived, by abbreviation, another name of this Monarch, by which he is sometimes mentioned, viz. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (1 Chron. iii. 16.) "Jeconiah" (or Icon-Jah), having the same meaning with both the forementioned names, though the learned Pasor, in his Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, renders it "praeparatus a Domino," which is more properly the meaning of Coniah (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) or Con-Jehov (the name by which the Prophet Jeremiah has distinguished the same Monarch, in his 22d and 37th chapters), as, the characteristical letter of the future tense, is omitted in the last-mentioned name.

↵

(66).

‘As I live, faith the Lord, though Coniah the Son of Jehoiakim King of Judah were the Signet upon my Right Hand, yet would I pluck thee thence: and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand (of them) whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar King of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans:’ &c. Jer. xxii. 24—28. This chapter contains also several other Prophecies against the Sons and Successors of King Josiah, in the exact order of their respective reigns, just as the Prophet repeated them (after they were fulfilled) in his Remonstrance to King Zedekiah and his wicked Court; though, undoubtedly, the Prophet had before declared them in due time, whilst each of the said Monarchs remained upon "the Throne of David:" but no other account remains of these particular Prophecies, except in this 22d chapter, which shall hereafter be proved (I hope) to be only an occasional repetition of them in the presence of Zedekiah.

↵

(67).

The Siege, here mentioned, is erroneously cited by Dean Prideaux in his Connections, Part I. p. 67. as a transaction during the life of Jehoiakim; whereas nothing can be more plain than the narrative of the Sacred Text, wherein, after the Historian has mentioned the commencement of Jehoiachin's (alias Coniah's) reign, and his evil conduct, he proceeds next in course to this account of the Divine Vengeance in the 10th verse (which Dr. Prideaux has applied to the reign of Jehoiakim); and the Sacred Historian, still continuing the account of that Siege in the following verses, informs us, in the 12th verse, that JEHOIACHIN (expressly by name) King of Judah went out to the King of Babylon, he and his Mother, &c. so that there is not the least ground for placing the Siege in the reign of Jehoiakim.

↵

(68).

Dean Prideaux hoped to have solved the difficulty occasioned by his own error (mentioned in the preceding Note) by asserting that the Siege in the reign of Jehoiachin was only a continuation of the former Siege in the reign of Jehoiakim: for he says— ‘After Jehoiakim's death the Servants of Nebuchadnezzar (that is’ (says he), ‘his Lieutenants and Governors of the Provinces that were under his subjection in those parts) still continued ’ (says he) ‘to block up Jerusalem, ’ &c. Connect. Part I. p. 68. And he once more cites for his Authority the very same Text which he had before applied to the reign of Jehoiakim; and though he adds, also, the verse which follows it as a further Authority (viz. 2 Kings xxiv. 10, 11.), yet neither of these verses mention a word about the supposed continuance of the Siege from the reign of Jehoiakim to the end of Jehoiachin's reign; neither can any such continuance be reasonably implied therein, to authorize such an assertion: in short, the whole error seems to have been occasioned by his adhering to his own supposition before-mentioned, viz. that Jehoiakim was "taken Prisoner in some Sally (IT MAY BE SUPPOSED)," says he, "which he made upon them," &c. (Connect. Part I. p. 67.) for which he has not the least Authority, the supposition being, on the contrary, directly opposite to the testimony of Josephus before recited; and contrary also to the necessary accomplishment of Jeremiah's Prophecy against Jehoiakim; which, I hope, has already been sufficiently demonstrated. The Dean nevertheless persists in the same hypothesis also in page 69 of the first part.

↵

(69).

"That is" (says Bishop Patrick), ‘in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign; for he began to reign in the fourth year of Jehoiakim:’ (he should rather have said in the latter end of the third year of Jehoiakim, though the first year of Nebuchadnezzar includes also the greatest part of the fourth year of Jehoiakim) ‘who reigned seven more after that, which was’ (or until) "the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar."

↵

(70).
2 Kings xxiv. 15, &c.
↵

(71).
Ezek. xvii. 13.
↵

(72).
2 Kings xxiv. 17.
↵

(73).

By ‘Hamutal the Daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.’ 2 Kings xxiv. 18. She was also the Mother of Jehoahaz (or Shallum, as he is called in 1 Chron. iii. 15. and in Jer. xxii. 11.) the immediate Successor of Josiah, who was deposed and carried away by Pharaoh-Nechoh. Ibid. xxiii. 31.

↵

(74).

Compare 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13. (viz. — ‘Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God’) with Ezek. xvii. 12, 13. (viz. — ‘and made a Covenant with him, and hath taken an Oath of him. ’)

↵

(75).
2 Kings xxiv. 17.
↵

(76).

‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Brauch, and a KING shall reign and prosper, and shall execute JUDGEMENT AND JUSTICE in the Earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6.) i. e. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Jehovah-Tsadecns, which is the same name (only transposed) with Zedekiah 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Tsadek-Jehov, except that the former has the small addition of the possessive particle 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, signifying OUR, viz. JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, instead of THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JEHOVAH.

↵

(77).

‘And as the evil Figs which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD; 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 of Egypt ’ (for many of the Jews had fled to Egypt for an Assylum): ‘and I will deliver them to be removed into all the Kingdoms of the Earth for (their) hurt, (to be) a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them,’ &c. Chap. xxiv. 8, 9.

↵

(78).

"And he" (Nebuchadnezzar) ‘carried away all Jerusalem, and ALL THE PRINCES, and all the mighty Men of Valour, even ten thousand Captives, and all the Craftsmen and Smiths: none remained save the poorest sort of the People of the Land.’ 2 King xxiv. 14.

↵

(79).

I have before quoted the opinion of Archbishop Usher, where he supposes these two chapters might perhaps be referred to the date of the 45th chapter; but he afterwards, with more certainty, refers them to the time of the 29th chapter (ad A. M. 3406), which is agreeable also to the opinion of Dr. Lightfoot (Harmony of the Old Test. p. 159.)

↵

(80).

‘In principio regni Sedekiae, Prophetia de Elamitis tùm subigendis tùm restaurandis à Jeremiâ prolata est (Jer. xlix. 34, 39.)’ &c. Ad A. M. 3405, p. 125.

↵

(81).

‘The Word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the Prophet against ELAM in the beginning of the reign of ZEDEKIAH King of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of Hosts’ Jehovah of Armiss); "Behold, I will break the Bow of Elam," &c. The Persians were always famous Archers, as well as excellent Horsemen.

↵

(82).

‘Regum Edomaeorum, Moabitarum, Ammonitarum, Tyri, & Sidonis Legatis Hierosolyma ad visitandum novum Regem Sedekiam venientibus, DEUS Jeremiam Vincula & Lora tradere jubet, ad Dominos fuos perferenda,’ &c.

But the Hebrew Text declares, that God gave this charge to Jeremiah in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, which (I hope) I have already proved where I speak of that reign. See also Dr. Lightfoot on the 27th chapter of Jeremiah, in his Harmony of the Old Testament, p. 158.

↵

(83).

‘Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doth such (things)? ’ Ezek. xvii. 15.

↵

(84).

‘ Take away the WICKED from before the King, and his Throne shall be ESTABLISHED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ Prov. xxv. 5. — ‘ For the Throne is established by RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ Chap. xvi. 12.

"IN RIGHTEOUSNESS shalt thou be ESTABLISHED." Isaiah liv. 14.

‘And IN MERCY SHALL THE THRONE BE ESTABLISHED, and he shall sit upon it IN TRUTH, in the Tabernacle of David, judging and seeking Judgement ’ (or Justice), "and hasting RIGHTEOUSNESS." Isaiah xvi. 5. The constant lesson of the Prophet Jeremiah to Zedekiah and the House of David was— ‘Execute ye JUDGEMENT and RIGHTEOUSNESS, and deliver the Spoiled out of the hand of the Oppressor—Do NO WRONG, do NO VIOLENCE TO THE STRANGER,’ &c.

↵

(85).

For Pharaoh was also one of those mistaken Monarchs who placed his whole trust in Military Power, and was censured also by the same Prophet for his folly and presumption. ‘Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I (am) against thee, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great Dragon that lieth in the midst of his Rivers, which hath said, my River (is) mine own, and I have made (it) for myself. But I will put my Hooks in thy Jaws, ’ &c. Ezek. xxix. 3, 4.

↵

(86).

‘ And thus was NEBUCHADNEZZAR raised up by God, to be a SCOURGE’ (compare this with what I have already remarked concerning that Monarch in pages 67, 68, 83, and 84) ‘TO ALL THE NATIONS ABOUT HIM, for the Punishment of their Sins. NEBUCHADNEZZAR had, indeed, OTHER THINGS IN HIS HEAD. That which he designed, was the gratifying his own Ambition, and enlarging his Dominions: but these were not the ends which God had to serve by him. God made use of him as HIS INSTRUMENT, as HIS SERVANT (for so he calls him), for the rendering to the NATIONS that just RECOMPENCE OF VENGEANCE which their Sins called for. I mention th•se things the rather because they are instances of God's dealing with Heathen Nations, who were under no particular Covenant with God. ’ Archbishop Sharp's Sermons, Vol. I. Serm. 8. intituled, ‘Virtue and Religion the ONLY means to make a NATION prosperous,’ p. 209, 9th Edition.

↵

(87).

‘ Jehoiakimus, à Chaldaeis captus, abjectus fuit insepultus: nempè sepulturâ Asini sepultus, tractus & projectus ultra portas Hierosolymorum; juxta Prophetiam Jerem. xxii. 18, 19. & xxxvi. 30. licèt, ad communem Naturae Legem respectu habito, dormivisse dicatur ille cum Patribus suis. 2 Reg. xxiv. 6.’ Ad A. M. 3405. Though the learned Archbishop, in the above sentence, supposes, indeed, that the quotation he there makes from the 22d chapter is really a Prophecy, and not merely (as I suppose) the Repetition of a Prophecy, yet it is plain that he esteemed it of the same import with the original Prophecy in the 36th chapter, by his quoting them together, in order to explain the one by the other.

↵

(88).

"The Sons of JECONIAH" (the same with Coniah) ‘ Assir, Salathiel his Son, Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ’ 1 Chron. iii. 17, 18.

↵

(89).

"Write ye this Man childless."] ‘That he had Children’ (says Mr. Goadby) ‘appears from the 28th verse; and therefore this is a Prophecy that he should lose them during his Captivity. ’

↵

(90).

I have taken the more pains to explain this necessary application of the Prophecy, because, amongst the Commentators that have erroneously applied it to Coniah, I have to oppose the weighty authority of the very learned and worthy Archbishop of Armagh, for whose testimony, in general, I have the highest esteem, though here I am obliged to dissent from him, on account of the superior authority of the Text. He says.—"Contra hunc" (speaking of JEHOIACHIN) ‘ severissimum Dei Judicium denunciatum extat in fine capitis xxii. Jeremiae, sententiâ hac, quasi in acta referendâ, domum conclusum. SCRIBITE VIRUM HUNC LIBERIS CARENTEM, VIRUM NON PROSPERATURUM IN DIEBUS SUIS: NAM NON PROSPERABITUR DE SEMINE EJUS QUISQUAM SESSURUS IN SOLIO DAVIDIS, ET DOMINATURUS AMPLIUS IN JUDA. Jer. xxii. 30.’ Vide ad A. M. 3405, p. 123. This by no means agrees with the case of Jehoiachin, but is perfectly answerable to that of Zedeliah, who was not only rendered childless by the Sword, but was also "a man that" did ‘ not prosper in his days; ’ for he afterwards lingered out a miserable life, BLIND and IN CHAINS, at Babylon [*]! whereas Jehoiachin, who was carried into Captivity before him, did, after that time, really ‘PROSPER IN HIS DAYS;’ for though he had done evil in the sight of the Lord, for which he was removed, as I have before remarked, yet the great Searcher of Hearts perceived something in him worthy of the Divine Mercy, as also in several others that were carried into Captivity at the same time, which was declared very soon after the commencement of their punishment, and a mitigation was then promised by the Prophet Jeremiah, under the type of "a Basket of Good Figs" (see the 24th chapter): whereas Zedekiah and those who remained with him were likened to a Basket of Evil Figs, to which a heavy curse was annexed, perfectly agreeable to the severe sentence in chap. xxii. 30. which I have applied to Zedekiah, and as perfectly unapplicable to Jehoiachin. The latter, and those that were carried away with him, had an absolute promise of Grace, Peace, and Prosperity [*]; that, like the GOOD FIGS, God would acknowledge them, and set his eyes upon them FOR GOOD, and would bring them again to their own Land (that is, some of them, and their Descendants); that he would build them, and not pull them down, &c. that he would give them an heart to know him; &c. upon the whole, that they were in the Land of the Chaldaeans FOR THEIR GOOD. And accordingly the Scriptures hear a remarkable testimony concerning ‘THE GOOD’ which God reserved for Jehoiachin ‘IN THE LAND OF THE CHALDAEANS.’ So that he must necessarily be said to have "prospered in his days;" for we read expressly, that ‘EVIL-MERODACH King of Babylon, in the (first) year of his reign, lifted up the head of JEHOIACHIN King of Judah, and brought him out of prison, and spake kindly unto him, and SET HIS THRONE ABOVE THE THRONE OF THE KINGS THAT (were) WITH HIM IN BABYLON’ (so that of him, who was thus set up, as in the highest place of favour, upon a Throne, in the presence of the most powerful King at that time upon earth, it could not he said, that "he did not prosper in his days," especially as this extraordinary favour and prosperity lasted all his days; for we read in the Text, that) ‘ he did CONTINUALLY eat bread before him ’ (the Babylonian Monarch) ‘ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE. And (for) his diet, there was a CONTINUAL DIET given him of the King of Babylon, every day a portion, UNTIL THE DAY OF HIS DEATH, ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE.’ Jer. lii. 31—34.

Surely, therefore, it would be as improper to say of this Man JEHOIACHIN (who had so great a share of PROSPERITY), that ‘ he did not prosper in his days, ’ as to "write him CHILDLESS," who had so many CHILDREN, and so long and compleat a succession of Descendants, some of whom, as Salathiel and Zorobabel, were RULERS IN JUDAH, though they did not "SIT UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID!" The Prophecy, therefore, of these unhappy circumstances, the Deprivation of Children, and Want of Prosperity, in the 22d chapter, could not by any means relate to Jehoiachin or his Descendants; and there was no other Monarch after him "upon the Throne of David" to whom it could be applied, except ZEDEKIAH alone.

↵

*

"Moreover" (says the Text) "be" (the King of Babylon) ‘PUT OUT ZEDEKIAH'S EYES, and bound him with CHAINS, to carry him to BABYLON.’ Jer. xxxix. 7.

↵

*

Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel; Like these GOOD FIGS, so will I acknowledge them that are carrted away Captive of Judah
(viz. Jeconiah and the Princes of Judah, with the Carpenters and Smiths that were carried with them; see the first verse),

whom I have sent out of this place into the Land of the Chaldaeans FOR (their) GOOD. For I will set mine eyes upon them FOR. GOOD, and I will bring them again to this Land; and I will build them, and not pull (them) down; and I will plant them, and not pluck (them) up. And I will GIVE them AN HEART TO KNOW ME that I (am) THE LORD: and they shall be my People, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Jer. xxiv. 5—7.
↵

(91).

I have had the satisfaction to find (since I wrote the above) that the learned Grotius was also of the same opinion, and that he also comfirms what I have suggested above, concerning the Repetition of former Prophecies in the presence of King Zedekiah; for in his Commentary on the beginning of the 22d chapter — "Haec dicit Dominus" — he thus expresses himself: — "Haec DIXIT" (says he preferring the praeter to the present tense) ‘JEREMIAS enim Sedeciae loquens SIMUL REPETIT QUAE REGIBUS ANTECEDETIBUS, fratriscilicet ipsius SEDECUAEM, fratrisque filio PRAEDIXERAT, ne quid haberent quod de tam gravi Dei ultione conquererentur. ’ Annotata ad Vet. Test. Tom. II. p. 207 See also Crituci Sacri, Tom. IV. P. 5579. I find also, that the Learned and Reverend Authors of the Commentary, commonly called Assembly's Annotation, have objected to this interpretation of Grotius (for I suppose, by their recital of his Hypothesis, that they mean him, though they' have not mentioned his name); but yet they have not advanced any sufficient arguments to confute his doctrine; neither have they removed the obvious difficulties which (if I may judge of Grotius by myself) occasioned that Hypothesis; and therefore I conclude, that these difficulties cannot, in any other way, be so easily explained.

↵

(92).

‘ And many Nations shall pass by this City, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great City? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the Covenant of the LORD their GOD, and worshipped other Gods, and served them. ’ Jer. xxii. 8, 9. Now, probably, the British Slave-dealer and British American Slave-holder will be apt to argue from thence, that the several examples of God's Vengeance upon the Jews, which I have cited in this Tract, have no relation to the subject of difference between them and me. We have not "worshipped other Gods, and served them" (perhaps they will say); so that the account of God's Vengeance against Jerusalem, which Granville Sharp has cited as a warning against Slave-dealing and Slave-holding, is not at all applicable to us!—But let me (as a Friend and Countryman) warn all such persons, that they have really ‘ worshipped other Gods, and served them, ’ and have broken the Christian Covenant in as notorious and impious a manner as ever the ancient Jews did the Covenant of Sinai! Respecting the Breach of Covenant I have wrote at large in another Tract now in the Press; and shall therefore only offer, at present, a few hints respecting the horrid crime of serving other Gods.

Christ himself has taught us, that ‘NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other: ’ and then he immediately adds, "Ye cannot serve GOD and Mammon." Mat. vi. 24. and Luke xvi. 13. Here the Service of Mammon is placed in as direct opposition to the Service of GOD, as ever was the Service of Baal, Moloch, or Chemosh; though the first means not any particular Idol, but only the baneful influence of Riches, or the undue prevalence of private interest over all sense of Religion, Justice, and Virtue! In like manner Covetousness (which includes all that I have said of Mammon) is frequently mentioned in Scripture as downright Idolatry: ‘ For this ye know ’ (said the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, chap. v. 5.), ‘ that no Whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor COVETOUS MAN, WHO IS AN IDOLATER, hath any Inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. ’ And in the Epistle to the Colossians the same Apostle warns us against some of the common Vices which draw down the Wrath of God, viz. ‘ Fornication, Uncleanness, inordinate Affection, evil Concupiscence, and COVETOUSNESS, which is IDOLATRY.’ Col. iii. 5.

Neither is Covetousness the only Vice that is deemed Idolatry—all the other Lusts and carnal Indulgences are equally ranked with Idolatry: so that those inconsiderate persons, who yield to any of them, may as aptly be said to "serve other Gods," as those backsliding Professors of Christianity at Philippi, whom the Apostle Paul expressly charged with this kind of Idolatry, viz. "whose God is their Belly:"— ‘ For many walk ’ (says he) ‘ of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, (that they are) the ENEMIES of the Cross of CHRIST: whose end (is) Destruction, WHOSE GOD (is their) BELLY, and (whose) Glory (is) in their Shame, who mind earthly things. ’ Philip. iii. 18, 19. And the Service of the Belly [*], is placed in as direct opposition to the Service of Christ, as the Service of the Pantheon, or all the Heathen Deities could be, for it is as effectually the Service of Devils, as the latter!—"Whosoever commiteth SIN is the SERVANT of SIN;" (John viii. 34.) and if "the Servant of Sin," then also the Servant of the Devil; for—"He that committeth SIN (said the same Apostle) IS OF THE DEVIL." (1 John iii.8.)—And though Men are not so lost to Common Sense in these more enlightened Days of Christianity, as personally to worship at the Shrines of Demons or Devils, yet they serve the Devil as effectually as ever to the Destruction of their own Souls, by yielding to his temptations, whether through Mammon or Carnal Lust!—For— ‘ Know ye not that the UNRIGHTEOUS shall NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD?be not deceived; neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor Effeminate, nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind, nor Thieves, nor Covetous, nor Drunkards, nor Revilers, nor Extortioners, shall INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD’ I Cor. vi. 9 and 10.

Thus it is clearly demonstrable (I trust) that Mankind may be guilty of Idolatry, and of serving Devils, without paying any personal Adoration to their Idols; and on this I found my warning not only to Slave-dealers and Slave-holders, but also to my Countrymen in general. The dangerous prevalency of the Devil's Empire in these kingdoms, through the service of Mammon and of Carnal Lust, may be known by the following general Marks. 1st. By the shameful Spirit of Time-serving, Venality, and Private Interest, which is every where predominant, to the destruction of true Loyalty and National Independence. 2dly, By the increased number of notorious Gaming Houses, which are frequented by the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom for Days and Nights together! 3dly, By the multitudes of poor female Prostitutes which swarm in the publick Streets; and also by the frequency of Masquerades and Midnight Balls, which apparently afford, to the idle and vicious part of Mankind, the most dangerous opportunities of triumphing over unwary virtue, and of spreading the baneful taint of Prostitution amongst females of superior Rank, whereby many persons of Rank and figure in the gay World are become almost as notoriously dedicated (as it were) to Venus, or the Assyrian Goddess Mylitta (See Herodotus, Lib. i. p. 83.) as ever the Heathens were of old! But the greatest mark of National Infamy, and of Satan's Empire amongst us, (and that, indeed, which at present I am engaged more particularly to oppose) is the shameful public encouragement given to the African Slave Trade; wherein the Service of Mammon and of the Devil is rendered apparent by the horrible destruction of the human Species which it annually occasions! A particular State of that Trade lies now before me, whereby it appears, that the ‘ number of Negro Slaves bartered for in one year, (viz. 1768.) on the Coast of AFRICA from Cape BLANCO to RIO CONGO,’ amounted to 104,100 Souls; whereof more than half (viz. 53,100) were shipped on the account of British Merchants, and 6,300 on the account of British Americans.

By another State of this Trade in 1771, it appears that ships were sent from

Liverpool for

29,250

Bristol for

8,810

London for

8,136

Lancaster for

950

In all for

47,146 Souls

exclusive of those imported by British American and West Indian Traders[*], which in that year were probably very considerable, because in the following year (1772) several of the North American Provinces began to be alarmed for the dangerous consequences of tolerating such an unchristian like practice, which Sentiment was fully expressed in some of their public Assemblies, especially in those of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Jersies, which shall be shewn hereafter; and I hope they have put a stop to this detestable practice time enough to avert God's Vengeance from those Regions, though they must take notice that their reformation is but half compleat, and consequently that they are still in danger, whilst they permit individuals to hold in perpetual Bondage [*] the poor African Captives already imported. Now if we consider what ‘ multitudes of men must have been killed merely in the attempt to take so many wretched Captives for sale; and again what multitudes, out of so large a number, would die, as usual, in their passage to the West Indies and America either of Grief and Despair, or by being inhumanly stifled in the Holds of Ships; besides the large proportion (nearly one half) that would die of the seasoning, (as it is called) after their arrival in the plantations; and lastly that all the remainder of this vast multitude of 104,100 miserable human beings will probably be worn out by hard service and oppression in the space of about 16 years, or less, according to the average rate of some calculations that have been published. These considerations, I say, must needs inspire us with indignation and horror even though the evil, at present, is at a considerable distance from us.’ See the Appendix to my ‘Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery, &c.’

Add to this Destruction the number of brave Seamen that are annually cut off, either by the Rising of the Negroes[*] in the Slave Ships, or by pestilential distempers caught from the poor Negroes confined in the holds of the said ships; add also the number of free Negroes occasionally blown up[†], and otherwise murdered and destroyed by the inhuman Commanders of these Slave-Ships, as well as by the arbitrary Governors on the Slave-Coasts [‡]; and likewise the number of poor wretches annually sent out by the African Company as Soldiers, who miserably perish in their settlements[*]; and to compleat this list of Diabolical [†] Wickedness add the horrid carnage and bloodshed that has frequently been occasioned by the Insurrections of Slaves, and the more horrible punishments that have been inflicted on the poor wretched Slaves to deter them from such attempt[*] In short, if the destruction of the Human Species which is annually occasioned by this Cursed Trade was to be fully and fairly estimated, it would appear enormous and shocking! it would appear that many more unfortunate human beings are annually SACRIFICED to MAMMON, in the consequences of that iniquitous trade, than were ever offered up by the Philistines and other deluded votaries of Baal, Moloch, Hercules, &c.! So that the HUMAN SACRIFICES offered up to MAMMON by the BRITISH NATION are undoubtedly more grateful to SATAN than those of the ancient Heathens, because they are more numerous—more banefully destructive to the Human Species! How then (if all these points be considered) shall our wretched Slave-dealers and Slave-holders persuade the world and themselves, that ‘ they have not broken the Covenant and served other Gods! ’

↵

*

Even the Schismatical Teachers of Novel Doctrines are ranked with those Idolaters who ‘ serve their own Belly, and serve not God.’— ‘ For they that are such SERVE NOT our Lord JESUS CHRIST, but THEIR OWN BELLY; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. ’ Rom. xvi. 18.

↵

*

In some former years the Subjects of Great Britain seem to have had still a much greater proportion of this cursed Trade to answer for! My worthy friend Mr. Anthony Benezet, in his Historical Account of Guinea, (c. xiii. p. 130.) cites Anderson's History of Trade and Commerce, to the following Effect, viz. ‘ That England supplies her American Colonies with Negro Slaves, amounting in Number to above ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND EVERY YEAR.’

↵

*

See the Vengeance of God denounced by the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah against the mighty Babylonian Empire and it's Monarch, "which opened not the House of his Prisoners" (Isa. xiv. 17.) but oppressed the Captives they had taken, and ‘ held them fast; THEY REFUSED TO LET THEM GO.’ Jer. l. 33.

↵

*

— ‘ A French Slaving Ship having been surprized by an insurrection of the Negroes, who MURDERED MOST PART OF THE CREW, the Mate, finding no possibility to escape the like fate, had set fire to the Powder-room, and blew up the Vessel, with upwards of two hundred Slaves on board.’ Gazetteer, April 16, 1773. I have heard of many instances of the like disasters happening to Crews of English Slaving Ships: and even one of my own Relations perished in the same unlawful Trade, with the whole Ship's Crew.

↵

†

— ‘The Polly, Captain Walsh, a Ship belonging to Mr. Adams, struck on the Bar of Bonny this last year’ (the Book was printed in 1772), ‘and was soon after attacked by the Negroes. The Captain, finding he could not save his Ship, sent his Boat's Crew off, shut himself up in his Cabin, and when the King of Bonny and all his People were got on board, to the amount of fifteen hundred and upwards, set fire to the Powder; and, Sampson like, at his death punished the treachery of his Assailants.’ Treatise upon the Trade from Great Britain to Africa, by an African Merchant, Appendix F, p. 34. A deplorable Hardness of Heart seems to have possessed this African Merchant; for it appears, by his manner of relating the above Story, that he approved of Captain Walsh's diabolical deed, and esteemed it rather as an act of Heroism!

↵

‡

In the year 1767, Mr. Grosile ‘burned the Town of Annamaboe, and killed three or four of the Townspeople.’ Ibid. p. 100.

↵

*

— ‘The POOR WRETCHES sent out by the Committee have nothing on earth to support or comfort them, in sickness or health, but a rasher of salt beef, stinking New-England rum, and Portuguese Tobacco; by which means FORTY SOLDIERS have perished at Cape Coast, out of FORTY-EIGHT, from March the 1st to the 28th of May, all of whom came out in the Jamaica Storeship, about the middle of last February.’ African Merchant, Appendix, p. 78.

↵

†

‘ Admitting the AFRICAN TRADE to be ever so DIABOLICAL’ says a Writer under the Signature of "A Planter," quoted by the said African Merchant, Appendix C, p. 27.), ‘ or the means by which the Negro's Body was first obtained ever so UNFAIR, no blame can deservedly rest on the Planter, who is ignorant of the means, and innocent ’ (says he) ‘ of the Guilt. ’—But now, even supposing the Body of the Negro to have been obtained in whatever manner the Planter may esteem the most fair; which the Planter will probably alledge to be, that the Negro was a convicted Criminal in his native country; yet this Criminal never offended the Planter, nor the Laws of the Planter's Nation, nor the "King, Lords, and Commons," who "have shared" (as he says) "in the Profits" of the Slave Trade: so that neither the Planter nor any of his Abettors can have any just right to continue the punishment of an offence committed in another country, especially as neither he nor they can possibly know whether or not the Negro was really guilty: and therefore, ‘ admitting the African Trade to be ever so DIABOLICAL, or the means by which the Negro's Body was first obtained ever so UNFAIR,’ the Planter, though he only buys and retains the Slave, must share the heavy load of Guilt with the diabolical Kidnnapper, because he has encouraged the Oppression by his Purchase, and continues it by his Slave-holding!

↵

*

From the Wokingham Journal of the 29th of April, 1771.

‘The following is an extract of a letter of the 30th of November, from one of the Hon.’ Council Board of Tobago. ‘A conspiracy of 40 Coromantees has kept us in continual alarm these 17 days past. Thank God, it is now quite over, as most of them are either KILLED, HANGED, BURNT, or TAKEN. I had four out, who lay down near Rockley-bay, CUT ONE ANOTHER'S THROATS, and DIED MUTUALLY IN EACH OTHER'S ARMS.’

The following paragraph was also taken from one of the public news-papers about the same time.

Extract of a letter from Jamaica, Jan. 14.

‘The only thing that has occurred liere worth writing to you, since my last, is a plot that has been for some time formed among the Negroes, to poison every white person in the country: this hellish plot was luckily discovered, before put into execution; and for which we ought to be thankful to God. We are now daily taking up the principal negroes of the different gangs; some of the are HANGED, some BURNT, and others BEHEADED, after being first STRANGLED. Their HEADS ARE FIXED ON POLES ALONG THE HIGH ROADS, as a warning to the rest.’

A Friend of mine assured me that he was present some years ago at one of these horrid executions; when a poor negro man was absolutely BURNT ALIVE! The unfortunate man was fastened down to the ground with forked sticks drove into the earth, and sire was placed at his feet, and was gradually removed nearer to the vital parts as the limbs were consumed! The poor fellow bore the exquisite Torture without the least complaint, looking great part of the time on those who stood near him with a sullen contempt.

↵

(93).

SHALLUM, alias JEHOAHAZ, (See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1.) who was deposed, put in bonds, and carried away Captive by PHARAOH NECHO into Egypt. (Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 31, &c.)

↵

(94).

The Prophet here refers to the long mourning and lamentations which were continued for many years in remembrance of the death of the great and good King JOSIAH, the Father of SHALLUM as well as of ZEDEKIAH himself.—See 2 Chron. xxxv. 25. ‘ And all Judah and Jerusalem MOURNED for Josiah, and Jeremiah LAMENTED for JOSIAH: and all the singing-men and the singing-women ’ (the minstrells of those ancient days) ‘ spake of JOSIAH in their LAMENTATIONS TO THIS DAY, and made them AN ORDINANCE IN ISRAEL: and behold they are written in the LAMENTATIONS.’

↵

(95).

Commentators in general have supposed that the Oppression and Injustice of JEHOIAKIM is here referred to by the Prophet; but as SHALLUM, also, "did Evil in the fight of the Lord," (2 Kings xxiii. 32.) it is not improbable that both these monarchs might have been guilty of similar Oppression, and that the Crime of Shallum might have been thus represented to Jehoiakim, as a warning to himself, when this prophecy was first of all delivered, soon after Shallum was carried into captivity: nevertheless it is only introduced in this 22d Chapter as a reproach made in the presence of Zedekiah, which, I hope, I have already proved.

↵

(96).

But no longer! for as soon as Josiah had undertaken an unjust war against Pharaoh Necho (who previously warned him of the folly and injustice of it) God gave him and his people (who were wicked enough to concur with him in his unlawful enterprize) into the hands of their enemies upon the very first encounter. —See the text at large, ‘Necho, King of Egypt, came up to fight against Charchemish by Euphrates’ (then, probably, belonging to the Assyrian empire): "and Josiah went out against him. But he" (Necho) ‘sent Ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou King of Judah?—I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from (meddling with) God, who (is) with me, that he destroy thee not. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at King Josiah: and the King said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him into the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers.’ 2 Chron. xxxv. 20 to 24. See also Esdras i. 25, &c. This judgement against Josiah for undertaking an unjust war is the more remarkable, because God had promised him (by Huldah the Prophetess) that he ‘ should be gathered to his grave in peace, ’ &c. (2 Chron. xxxiv. 28.) but the promise was plainly conditional— God does not deprive men of their free will—Josiah had it absolutely in his own power, to have availed himself of the promise by persisting in Righteousness; God did not bring the evil upon him; nothing but his own Royal will and pleasure in commencing an unjust war, against which he was even expressly warned! The promise, however, through the mercy of God, may nevertheless be said to have been fulfilled. For when Josiah was worsted before Necho, the conqueror did not pursue his advantage over the wounded monarch to prevent his escape from the field of battle, as might naturally have been expected on such an occasion, nor continued the war till more than three months afterwards; which circumstance may certainly be esteemed providential; so that Josiah was carried to Jerusalem, and may truly be said to have died in peace, surrounded by his friends, and was buried with the most solemn Royal Pomp in the sepulchre of his fathers.

↵

(97).

Concerning the completion of this prophecy, see pages 95, 97—100.

↵

(98).

The Prophet speaks of CONIAH as already "cast out—wherefore are they cast out"—so that, it is manifest, he could not be upon the Throne of David when this remonstrance was made, and consequently none but Zedekiah could then be the reigning monarch.

↵

(99).

Though the learned Archbishop Usher attributes to the 22d Chapter a different date from that which I suppose to be the true one, and applies the severe sentence at the latter end of it (viz. Write ye this Man childish) to JEHOIACHIN (which I hope I have already proved to be applicable to none but ZEDEKIAH), yet he was convinced that the following Chapter was delivered at the same time with the 22d. Hoc tempore sequentis quoque capitis xxiii. JEREMIAE prophetia edita fuisse videtur. Ad A. M. 3045. p. 123.

↵

(100).

‘Wo be unto the PASTORS that destroy and scatter the sheep of my Pasture, saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD GOD OF ISRAEL against the Pastors that feed my people; ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I will VISIT upon you THE EVIL OF YOUR DOINGS, saith the Lord. ’ &c. Jer. xxiii. 1, 2. This should teach Princes the extreme danger of arbitrary modes of Government; and that when they presume to rule by the indirect means of Bribery and Corruption, or by open Military Force and Standing armies, instead of LAW and NATIONAL RIGHT, or, (agreeable to the scripture phrase) instead of JUDGEMENT and RIGHTEOUSNESS, they may too truly be said to ‘destroy and scatter the sheep of God's pasture;’ and consequently may expect the same condemnation, viz. that the LORD ‘ will VISIT upon them THE EVIL of THEIR DOINGS.’

↵

(101).

"PASTORS" (says the learned Dr. Lowth, in his commentary on this text) ‘ comprehend both CIVIL and ECCLESIASTICAL GOVERNORS:— Aut potius (says the learned Michaelis) set. Sehm. (qui priorem hujus cap. partem a v. 1—9. praecedenti vaticinio contra Reges Judae advectit) REGIBUS, Coll. c. xxii. 22. Ita quoque KIMCHI aliique. Et boc pacto evidentior fit oppositio de Christo REGE,’ &c. and in his preface to the Book of Jeremiah, after speaking of the 22d Chapter (to which, indeed, he attributes a different date to that which I suppose to be the true one) he adds — ‘ Ei vero connexum est sequens, c. xxiii. quippe quod itidem directum est contra malos pastores SEU REGES, V. 1. contra quos c. xxii.’

↵

(102).

ECO SUM PASTOR BONUS, &c. ‘ I am the GOOD SHEPHERD. The GOOD SHEPHERD giveth his life for the sheep. ’ &c. John x. 11.

↵

(103).

"He shall feed his flock like a SHEPHERD." &c. (Isaiah xl. 11.) The Shepherd here mentioned is THE LORD GOD, or the LORD JEHOVAH (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) spoken of in the preceding verse, whose reward was with him and his work before him, that is, when he came into the world in a visible form.

↵

(104).

The necessity of maintaining JUSTICE and RICHTEOUSNESS in political Government, as well as in private life, is so clearly laid down in the Holy Scriptures, that one would think it impossible that so many people, who profess to believe the revealed word of God, should nevertheless suffer themselves to be deluded by the sophistical arguments of those unbelievers, who assert, that Vices are necessary to render a state great and flourishing; and that political Government cannot well be carried on without sometimes doing EVIL that GOOD may come. But these notions are so far from being true, that the contrary is clearly demonstrable —"Name any nation" (says an accurate and careful observer of the several histories of mankind) ‘ that was ever remarkable for JUSTICE; for TEMPERANCE, and SEVERITY of MANNERS; for PIETY and RELIGION (though it was in a wrang way) that did not always thrive and grow great in the world; and that did not always enjoy a plentiful portion of all those things, which are accounted to make a nation happy and flourishing. And, on the other side, when that nation has declined from its former virtue, and grown impious and dissolute in manners, we appeal to experience whether it has not likewise ALWAYS proportionably sunk in its success and good fortunes. ’ Archbishop Sharp's Sermons, 1 Vol. 8th Serm. (intitled— ‘ Virtue and Religion the only Means to make a Nation prosperous, ’ which was preached before the House of Commons, 21 May, 1690.) p. 209:—9th Ed.

↵

(105).

The learned Grotius, indeed, conceived that the message may be extended, even to the 28th Chapter [*]; but I am thoroughly convinced that it cannot with propriety be extended beyond this 23d Chapter, because the prophecies in the following Chapter (the 24th) under the type of two Baskets of Figs, were delivered, as the Prophet himself informs us, ‘AFTER that NEBUCHADREZZAR King of Babylon, had carried away Captive JECONIAH the son of JEHOIAKIM King of Judah, with the Carpenters, ’ &c.— ‘ and had brought them to Babylon, ’ that is—SOON AFTER the said remarkable period, or else the mentioning that public calamity as a chronological circumstance, to mark the time, (for that is the apparent purpose of it) would have been nugatory; and consequently we may be assured that the prophecies in the 24th Chapter were declared in the very beginning of ZEDEKIAH'S Reign; whereas the 21st and 22d Chapters, and probably the 23d also were not revealed 'till the siege was begun, (as I have already shewn) that is— not 'till the 9th year of that Monarch. The dates likewise of the Prophecies in several of the following Chapters are also exactly noted in the text to be different from the time supposed by Gratius: as for instance —A prior date is expressly assigned to the 25th Chapter—it being intituled. ‘ The word that came to Jenemiah concerning all the people of Judah in the 4th YEAR of JEHOIAKIM the son of Josiah King of Judah, that was THE FIRST YEAR OF NEBUCHADREZZAR King of Babylon. ’ And again, the two next Chapters (viz. the 26th and part of the 27th) though posterior with refpect to the order of the Book, have exact dates assigned them, which are prior even to the 24th and 25th Chapters, for they are expressly declared to have been revealed ‘ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, ’ &c. The remainder of the 27th Chapter from the 12th Verse, which the Prophet addressed to Zedekiah, is as clearly to be attributed to the beginning of ZEDEKIAH 's reign,—because the circumstances related in the following Chapter (the 28th) are expressly said to have come ‘ to pass THE SAME YEAR in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah: ’ and the Letter of Jeremiah to the Captives at Babylon contained in the 29th Chapter is as clearly declared to have been wrote ‘ after that JECONIAH the King, &c. were departed from Jerusalem, ’ which was also "the beginning of the reign of ZEDEKIAH;" for the Letters were sent by ZEDEKIAH's Messengers: See the 3d Verse. So that the last mentioned supposition of the learned Grotius cannot be true.

↵

*

"Haec Omnia" (says he, speaking of the Prophecies of Jeremiah, from the words VAE PASTORIBUS in the 23d Chapter to the 28th Chapter inclusive) ‘USQUE AD CAPUT 28 commemorationem continent ab Jeremia factam apud Sedeciam de sermonil us ANTE SEDECIAE tempora diversis locis ac temporibus a se habitis, ac congruentibus cum iis qua nunc SEDECIAE dicere coeperal; ut Dei in decretis suis et AEQUITAS et Constantia magis apparent ut jam aliquoties diximus. ’ Crit. Sacr. Tom. 4, p. 5588.

↵

(106).

‘ The word which came unto JEREMIAH from the LORD, when NEBUCHADNEZZAR King of Babylon, and ALL his army, and ALL the Kingdoms of the Earth of his Dominion, and ALL the people FOUGHT against Ferusalem, and against ALL the Cities thereof. ’ (Jer. xxiv. i.)—So that a general Attack seems to have been made at once in every part!

↵

(107).

The Prophet however added a few words of comfort— ‘yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah King of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of thee; thou shalt not die by the sword: (but) thou shalt die in peace:’ (that is a natural death) ‘and with the burnings of thy Fathers, the former Kings which were before thee, so shall they burn’ (odours) ‘for thee; and they will lament thee,’ i. e. (the Jewish nation in Captivity will lament thee) ‘saying. Ah Lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD. Then JEREMIAH the Prophet spake all these words unto ZEDEKIAH King of Judah in Ferusalem, when the King of Babylon's Army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the Cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azokah: for these defenced Cities remained of the Cities of Judah.’ Verses 4 to 7.

↵

(108).

The Text informs us, ‘ that the King ZEDEKIAH had made a covenant with all the People which were at Jerusalem to PROCLAIM LIBERTY unto them; that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, being an Hebrew or Hebrewess, GO FREE; that none should SERVE himself of them, ’ (to wit) "of a Jew his Brother." And it is probable that this was the King's own proposal, (though perhaps at the suggestion of the PROPHET, to fulfil the Law), because in the following verse it is said, that ALL THE PRINCES and ALL THE PEOPLE HEARD that they should let their man-servant, &c. GO FREE—they OBEYED—and these terms hearing and obeying seem to imply that neither the Princes nor the People were the proposers of the equitable mensure,— "Now" (says the Text) ‘ when ALL the Princes and ALL the People which had entered into the Covenant HEARD that every one should let his man-servant and every one his maid-servant GO FREE, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then THEY OBEYED, and LET THEM GO.’ Chap. xxxiv. 8 to 10.

↵

(109).

"COMMUNI DECRETO" (says Grotius upon the place) ‘ statuerat impleri quod lex jubebat, sed Judaei, non observaverant. ’ Vide Exod. xxi. 2. Deut. xv. 12.

↵

(110).

Viz. ‘That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maid-servant, being an Hebrew or Hebrewess, go free, ’ &c. 9th verse.

↵

(111).

‘And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and PROCLAIM LIBERTY throughout’ (all) ‘the Land unto ALL THE INHABITANTS thereof; it shall be a Jubilee unto you,’ &c. Levit. xxv. 10.

↵

(112).

‘Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard Tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.’ Chap. xxxvii. 5. See also 11th verse, at which time (says Grotius) the King and the Princes repealed the Popular Decree concerning Liberty, mentioned in the 34th chap.—Quo tempore (says he) Rex et Principes resciderunt decretum de popularium libertate ut habuimus, c. 34.— ‘When the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army.’

↵

(113).

‘But thou shalt remember that thou wast a Bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy GOD redeemed thee thence: THEREFORE I command thee to do this Thing.’ Deut. xxiv. 18, 22. also c. xv. 15. and xvi. 12, &c. &c.

↵

(114).

Mark this ye sordid Tyrants of the Earth! the ALMIGHTY LORD OF THE UNIVERSE hath condescended to inform you, that the PROCLAIMING LIBERTY every man to his neighbour, (and all Men without distinction are at this day to be esteemed your Neighbours and Brethren,) IS RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT!

↵

(115).

For in making the Covenant before God in the Temple to proclaim Liberty, as mentioned in the 15th verse, they divided the victim in two parts, and passed between the parts in imitation of the solemn Covenant which God made with Abraham, when a smoaking furnace, and a lamp of fire, passed between the pieces of the divided Heifer, She Goat, &c. as mentioned in Gen. xv. 9 to 17, signifying, says Vatablus, — ‘ that they wish to be put to death as this Calf was cut asunder, if they break the Covenant. ’—In federe pangendo dividebant vitulum, et per medium transibant, significantes se optare emori ut ille vitulus erat caesus si fedus frangerent. Crit. Sac. Tom. 4.5640. —"Nam significabat" (says Munster) ‘ritus ille ut, si quis dolo malo discessisset a pollicitis, illum quoque secaret Dominus et occideret horrendé.’ Crit. Sac. 5639.—And Clarius gives a part of the words used on those occasions, "Ordo orationis" (says he) ‘est, Dabo viros qui praevaricantur fedus meum, sicut vitulum quem conciderunt, ’ &c. In Templo enim immolarant ritu celeberrimo diviso vitulo per cujus partes utrinque oppositas incedebant, simulque jurabant et se devovabant ut eveniret ipsis sicut vitulo si fedus rumperent. Dicit ergo—Dabo vos sicut vitulum illum, &c.

↵

(116).

Manifestly alluding to the heavy curse to which, with their own consent, they had rendered themselves liable by their breach of the Solemn Covenant, viz. that they should be slain, as the Calf was when they made the Covenant, and their dead bodies be left like the divided parts of the Calf, to the fowls of the air, &c. for in the description of that solemn rite in Genesis we read that—"the Fowls came down upon the Carcases," and—"Abram drove them away." Gen. xv. 11.

↵

(117).

Here is a distinct repetition of a part of the same Judgment against the King and Princes, though it does not appear that the King himself was actually guilty of slave-holding: however, it seems, he neglected to enforce the Laws of the Land in behalf of the injured poor, and by suffering others with impunity to hold their Brethren in an unnatural Bondage, he become a party in the oppression, and of course a sharer of the punishment. O that modern Kings, who in any degree consent to the toleration of slavery in their dominions, would think of this tremendous example, and exert every Royal Prerogative (that they are legally invested with) in restraining their Princes and People from oppressing their poor Brethren; in maintaining the natural Rights of Mankind; and in defending the Poor from the Rich, the Weak from the Strong, by ballancing the Power of the Nobles (or rich Landholders) by the Official Power of the Crown in behalf of the just Rights of the Common People. These are the most essential purposes of Regal Government and Royal Prerogative, which, surely, can never be exerted either so profitably, or so safely, on any other occasions whatsoever, for it is by strict Justice or Righteousness alone that a King's Throne can be truly and safely established, and not by refined sophistical Politicks, Mercenary Armies, or Parliamentary Corruption!

↵

(118).

For he remained in Prison many days, as we read in the 16th verse.

↵

(119).

This shews that speaking Truth, be it ever so severe, (provided it is not spoken for the sake of mere abuse, but for the purposes of warning and amendment) ought not to be esteemed an Offence, for surely no truths can ever be more harsh or severe than those uttered by Jeremiah against the Court of Zedekiah!

↵

(120).

For these Evil Counsellors, it seems, like true implements of the Devil, attempted by their false intelligence from time to time to make the King firm in his bad measures and wicked policy.

↵

(121).

"Then" (says the Text) ‘ Zedekiah the King commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the Court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the Bakers Street, until all the Bread in the City were spent. ’

↵

(122).

Which would have been treason to the state, and a high crime, had not the Kingdom been actually condemned by the word of God, viz. ‘ Thus saith the Lord; He that remaineth in this City shall die by the Sword, by the Famine, and by the Pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. Thus saith the Lord; This City shall surely be given into the hand of the King of Babylon's army, which shall take it. Therefore the Princes said unto the King, We beseech thee let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this City, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt,’ &c. Chap. xxxviii. 2 to 4.

↵

(123).

‘Then Zedekiah the King said, Behold, he (is) in your hand; for the King (is) not (he that) can do (any) thing against you. ’ Chap. xxxviii. ver. 5.

↵

(124).

‘My Lord the King, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the Prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for (there is) no more bread in the City.’ Chap. xxxviii. ver. 9.

↵

(125).
Chap. xxxviii. 10—13.
↵

(126).

— ‘If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the King of Babylon's Princes, then thy soul shall live, and this City shall be burned with fire; and thou shalt live and thine house. But if thou wilt not go forth to the King of Babylon's Princes, then shall this City be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the King said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, left they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said. They shall not deliver (thee). Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live,’ &c. Chap. xxxviii. ver. 17 to 20. The remainder of the chapter contains a further description of the judgements that were to take place in case ho refused to accept of the alternative above mentioned; as also an account of Zedekiah's expedient for concealing what had passed between him and Jeremiah from the Princes.

↵

(127).

Pofuisti 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ‘ Ponere pro facere, more Hebreorum.’ Vatablus. Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 5628.

↵

(128).

"Usque ad diem hunc."— ‘ Celebrata scilicet, ’ says Grotius. Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 5632.

↵

(129).

—In Israel also, even in that very nation which the Almighty (by the abovementioned Signs and Wonders) delivered from the HOUSE OF BONDAGE, and restored to their natural Rights; which, nevertheless, was since become notorious, for the same kind of oppression that God had punished in Egypt,— for a Crime, which of all others, must be most intolerable in the Sight of the GREAT REDEEMER FROM SLAVERY; it being not only a proof of the most shameful ingratitude, but also a notorious breach of God's express Command, viz. to remember that they themselves had been BONDMEN IN EGYPT! See Deut. xv. 15. xvi. 12. xxiv. 18 and 22.

↵

(130).

Amongst other Nations also GOD's VENGEANCE against Tyrants and Oppressors hath been manifested, some examples of which shall hereafter be inserted.

↵

(131).

For that wonderful example of GOD's VENGEANCE against TYRANNY, and of his MERCY IN REDEEMING a Nation from SLAVERY, was of all others the most eminent, and, confequently, the oftenest repeated in Scripture (as in this place), 'till the accomplishment of the much more glorious redemption from SPIRITUAL SLAVERY, the BONDAGE of the Devil [*], (of which the former was only a Type;) when the Son of God invited all mankind to the FREEDOM of the GOSPEL,—to the True Knowledge of the LAW of LIBERTY for the regulation of their behaviour towards each other; giving them power
to become the sons of God [†];
and to partake even of the Divine Nature [‡] by the Gift of the Holy Ghost[§], which is absolutely promised to all that sincerely ask‖ it in Christ's name[*].

↵

*

‘Forasmuch then as the Children are Partakers of flesh and blood, he,’ (that is, Christ) ‘also himself, likewise took part of the same; that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of death,’ (that is, the Devil,) ‘and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to Bondage. ’ Heb. ii. 14, 15.— ‘I beheld Satan as Lightning fall from Heaven.’ Luke x. 18.

↵

†
John i. 1
•
.

↵

‡

— ‘Through the knowledge of him that hath called us to Glory and Virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be PARTAKERS of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the Corruption that is in the world through Lust.’ 2 Peter i. 3, 4.

↵

§

‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God. For ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry—Abba—Father,’ &c. Rom. viii. 14, 15. ‘Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the Temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the Temple of God is Holy, which’ (Temple) "ye are." 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17.

↵

‖

"Ask and it shall be given you," &c. Matt. vii. 7. Mark xi. 24. Luke xi. 9. John xv. 7.

↵

*

‘Whatsoever ye shall ask IN MY NAME’ (said our Lord JESUS) ‘in my Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing IN MY NAME, I will do it,’ &c. John xiv. 13, &c.— ‘How much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.’ Luke xi. 13.

↵

(132).

And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the "King of Judah saw them" (that is, Princes of Babylon, who sat in the Middle Gate, after the CITY WAS BROKEN UP. See ch. xxxix. 2, 3.) ‘and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the King's Garden, by the gate between the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain. But the Chaldeans army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon to RIBLAH in the Land of HAMATH, where he gave Judgement upon him.’ Ch. xxxix. 4, 5. Compare this with the Note in page 48.

↵

(133).

‘Then the King of Babylon flew the Sons of Zedekiah in RIBLAH before his eyes: also the King of Babylon slew ALL THE NOBLES of JUDAH.’ Chap. xxxix. 6. See also Chap. lii. 10.

↵

(134).

‘Thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken and delivered into his hand; and THINE EYES shall behold the EYES of the King of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee MOUTH to MOUTH, and thou shalt go to Babylon,’ &c. Chap. xxxiv. 3.

↵

(135).

‘ Moreover he put out Zedekiah's Eyes, and bound him with Chains, to carry him to Babylon.’ Chap. xxxix. 7. And in the 52d chapter, where these circumstances are repeated, we find the following addition, viz. that the King of BABYLON ‘carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison to the day of his death.’ Chap. lii. 11.

↵

(136).

Lam. v. 13. In the same chapter the miseries of a foreign Jurisdiction are strongly delineated, — ‘ Our Inheritance is turned TO STRANGERS, our Houses to Aliens. We are Orphans and Fatherless, our Mothers are as Widows. We have drunken our Water for Money; our Wood is sold unto us. OUR NECKS ARE UNDER PERSECUTION; WE LABOUR AND HAVE NO REST,’ &c. A just recompence for SLAVEHOLDERS! and again,—"SERVANTS" (or Slaves) "have ruled over us," &c.mdash; ‘ They ravished the Women in Sion, and the Maids in the cities of Judah! PRINCES are hanged by their hand: the faces of Elders were not honoured. THEY TOOK THE YOUNG MEN TO GRIND, AND THE CHILDREN FELL UNDER THE WOOD,’ &c. Such a Retaliation of Tyranny must every nation expect that promotes and tolerates Slavery and Oppression! Nothing but severe Repentance and Amendment can prevent it! O that my countrymen would consider this!

↵

(137).

‘And the Lord spake to Mauasseh and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the Captains of the Host of the King of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the Thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.’ 2 Chron. xxxiii. 10, 11.

↵

(138).

According to Bishop Usher this King of Assyria was Esarhaddon, who (as he relates) annexed the dominion of Judaea to the Imperial Crown of Assyria, and carried King Manasseh to Babylon; but, upon his repentance, mercifully restored him to his Royal Dignity, though he was still to remain subject to the Imperial Jurisdiction of Assyria: and afterwards, when the whole Assyrian Power devolved to Nebuchadnezzar, in the commencement of the Babylonian Empire, Jehoiakim King of Judah, became his servant three years, and then turned and rebelled against him[*]; but the kingdom being again conquered a few years after, in the reign of his Son Jehoiachin, the King of Babylon carried the latter into captivity, and made Zedekiah King in his room, who also rebelled both against God and the King of Babylon, and thereby wilfully drew down those heavy judgements upon himself and the kingdom!

↵

*
2 Kings xxiv. 1.
↵

(139).

‘O Assyria! the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical Nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit, he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, but (it is) in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations not a few,’ &c. Isaiah x. 6, 7.

↵

(140).

‘And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, my servant, &c.—and ALL NATIONS shall SERVE him, and his Son's Son, until the very time of his Land come: and then many nations and great kings shall SERVE THEMSELVES of him,’ &c. Jer. xxvii. 6, 7.—Here is a manifest instance of National Retribution in kind!

↵

(141).

That is—DECREED on account of the National Injustice and Tyranny described in the 1st verse of the same chapter, viz. ‘ Wo unto them that DECREE UNRIGHTEOUS DECREES,’ (i. e. make Laws that are contrary to Natural Right and Justice)[*] ‘and THAT WRITE GRIEVOUSNESS, WHICH THEY HAVE PRESCRIBED: to turn aside the needy from Judgement, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that Widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do IN THE DAY OF VISITATION, AND IN THE DESOLATION (which) SHALL come FROM far?’ &c.—which was manifestly, ‘THE CONSUMPTION DECREED.’ &c.

↵

*

Laws like those whereby the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE is promoted and encouraged, or like those whereby MARRIAGE is restrained; like those also which tolerate the Oppression of the poor Colliers, Salters, and Miners in Scotland; or like those diabolical DECREES of UNRIGHTEOUSNESS and GRIEVOUSNESS, which some of our American assemblies have wickedly PRESCRIBED against their poor Negro Slaves, many of which I have particularly pointed out in my Representation against Slavery. pages 49 to 73.

↵

(142).

In via Aegypti 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ‘Hebraismus, pro more, ritu Aegyptiorum. Eo modo quo afflixerunt te Aegyptii, sic te affligent Assyrii.’—Vatablus. [‘Caedet ille quidem te baculo, suâque virgâ petet Aegyptiaco more]—ut olim Pharao.’ Castalio.— ‘Sicut olim in Aegypto servierunt, et abea tandem servitute liberati.’ Clarius. Crit. Sac.

↵

(143).

Sicut, inquit, olim aquis Rubri Maris Aegyptios prostravi sola baculi elevatione per Mosen, &c. Clarius. Crit. Sac.

↵

(144).

This VENGEANCE came upon the Assyrians, not all at once, but at several different periods, that they might have warning and opportunity to repent! One remarkable instance of it is fully recorded in scripture, I mean that supernatural destruction of the greatest part of their army in one night after Sennacherib had blasphemed God by his Captains, and presumptuously proposed to carry away the Inhabitants of jerusalem INTO CAPTIVITY: for that was expressly his purpose as signified by Rabshakah— ‘MAKE AN AGREEMENT WITH ME BY A PRESENT, and come out to me and eat, &c. until I come and TAKE YOU AWAY to a Land like your own Land, ’ &c. at another time Pharaoh Necho was charged with the execution of GOD's VENGEANCE against them. (Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 29. with 2 Chron. xxxv. 21, &c.) After which time we hear no more of the ASSYRIAN OPPRESSOR, (that Monarchy being soon after swallowed up in the BABYLONIAN TYRANNY) so that his YOKE of course departed FROM OFF the Nations he had ENSLAVED, ‘ and his BURTHEN from off their shoulders, ’ agreeable to the prophesy above

↵

(145).

‘We to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee: when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; (and) when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee!’ Isaiah xxxiii. 1. Here the Law of Retribution is clearly laid down. Commentators have generally understood this to be denounced against Assyria.

↵

(146).

A poor Negroe whom I was so happy as to assist in procuring his freedom, was won (I am informed) by his last master in Virginia, at a Game of Cards, or some other such mode of casting LOTS.

↵

(147).

The Slave-Trade carried on at these two places so far exceeds that which is chargeable to the Great Metropolis, (I mean more especially in proportion to the immense general commerce of the latter) that the guilt of London, in that particular at least, is very inconsiderable when compared with the accumulated iniguity and bloodshed, for which the inhabitants of the other two places must inevitably be accountable if they do not repent! See the comparative state of the Slave-Trade in page 147.

↵

(148).

This is not to be considered as a permission to the Jews to deal in Slaves, but only as a prophecy of GOD'S retaliation upon Tyre and Zidon, which Grotius says was fulfilled when Gaza, Sidon, and Tyre were afterwards taken by Alexander, ‘Nempe cum Gaza, Sidon, et Tyrus captae ab Alexandro.’ Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 645 z. for the Jews were undoubtedly guilty of sin when they fulfilled the prophecy, and probably added thereby to their succeeding national affictions under Antiochus, and other succeeding Tyrants; for the same may be said of the Jews in this Case, that the learned Ferrerius observed on the case of the Assyrians, who were pre-ordained by God to punish the Israelitos and many other neighbouring Nations for their Oppressions and other wickedness, For though the Assyrians executed GOD'S wrath expressly by GOD'S permission, or even as it were by the Divine Command, in prophecy, yet the Assyrians themselves (as also the Jews after them) did not consider their actions in any such light; for the only motives they were sensible of, were the dictates of their own wicked hearts, and the love of unlawful gain! Ferrerius in speaking of Isaiah's prophecy concerning the Assyrians, chap. x. 26. remarks—Versus 24 (says he) ‘ dixerat quod Assyrius percussurus sit Israelitas, sicutAegyptius; hic ’ (viz. in the 26th verse) ‘ autem quod Dominus parcussurus sit Assyrios, sicut Aegyptum. Justum cnim est, ut inquit Paulus, QUOD REDDAT DOMINUS VICEM IMPIIS QUI FILIOS DEI DIVEXANT, sive Aegyptii sive Assyrii sint, ETIAMSI •••MIT•ENTE VEL ETIAM JUBENTE DOMINO illud faciant: nam et quod INIQUO ANIMO ID FACIANT, et propter alia quoque scelera, IRA DEI DIGNI sunt, ’ &c. Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 4780. See also note, in page 125, concerning Nebuchadnezzar quoted from Abp. Sharp.

↵

(149).

In the common Translation it is rendered, "Come all ye Heathens;" but the original word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 more properly signifies the Nations, than the Heathens.

↵

150.

And the Egyptians "for their VIOLENCE," received from God A RETRIBUTION IN KIND, which is still more awfully expressed by the prophet Isaiah,— ‘ So shall the King of Assyria lead away the EGYPTIANS Prisoners, and the ETHIOPIANS Captives, young and old, naked and bare-foot, even with (their) buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt! ’ Isaiah xx. 4.—A lively description this, of the extreme misery and contempt with which the poor wretched Ethiopian Captives, even to this day, are oppressed and vilified!—But by whom?—Not now, surely, by their old enemies, the Assyrians, for they, long ago, received a just recompence for their Tyranny and uncharitableness, and are wiped off from the face of the earth! and may we not expect that the Almighty will also visit the modern Oppressors of the Ethiopians, whose barbarous and unfeeling behaviour towards the poor naked Ethiopian Captives is equally notorious?—May we not expect that the Assyrians, or ‘ men of Nineveh. shall rise in Judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it! ’ Matt. xii. 41. for they were previously engaged in a just war against the Egyptians and Ethiopians: they were proveked to revenge by real Injuries—by the lawless incursions of those unhappy Sons of of Ham, and therefore they may seen to have some excuse for their severities. But the Europeans (and more notoriously the British Nation) are now guilty of the same horrid barbarity and uncharitableness towards the Ethiopians, WITHOUT ANY PROVOCATION WHATSOEVER, except the most detestable Lust for unlawful Gain and Power! — Let my deluded countrymen receive from me AN UNDENIABLE TOKEN of the apporaching DESTRUCTION AND MISERY which must inevitably overtake them if they do not repent! — The Token, alas! is already upon them.—Let them compare our present national condition, with the several alarming circumstances, which preceded the horrible debasement of the Egyptioans and Ethiopians above mentioned! even the best Histories of those nations cannot furnish a more exact and lively description of those Symptoms of approaching nations destruction, than that which was declared by Isaiah in the spirit of prophecy!—"I" (the Lord, or Jehovah) ‘will set THE EGYPTIANS against THE EGYPTIANS: and they shall fight every one against his Brother, and every one against his Neighbour; City against City, (and) Kingdom against Kingdom. And the Spirit of Egypty shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the council thereof! ’ Isaiah xix. 2, 3.

↵

(152).

Grotius thinks that this Transgression was committed when Sennacherib invaded Judaea, and that many Jews upon his first approach fled to the neighbouring Regions, and that the Philistines, instead of protecting the poor fugitives, who had done them no injury, SOLD THEM to the EDUMAEANS, as if they had been taken in open war. ‘Cum Sennacheribus Judaeam invasit, multi ad primum ejus adventum in vieinas regiones se recepere, ut apparuit. Esa. xvi. 4. Philistini hos Judaeos, qui nihil ipfis nocuerant, non ut supplices protexerunt, sed quasi bello captos VENDIDERUNT Idumaeis.’ Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 6473. Many other commentators besides Grotius have supposed this Transgression to have been committed during the troubles occasioned by Sennacherib's Expediton; but it is not probable (though indeed it is possible) that this was the time to which the prophecy referred; because, if it really was, the Prophecy foretold the Transgression itself. as well as the punishment of it; for we find that the Prophecy was delivered "in the days of Uzziah," whereas the Event to which they refer, did not happen till many years afterwards in the reign of Ahaz: there are some instances indeed of God's vengeance being really denounced against particular crimes even before the crimes themselves were committed, which I shall shew when I come to speak of Babylon; but in the case before us there is no necessity for supposing any such anticipation, it being much more probable that the offence, referred to by the Prophecy, was previously committed by the Inhabitants of GAZA after the combined army of the Philistines and Arabians had, by God's permission, subdued and plundered the inhabitants of Judea in the reign of Jehoram, as related in the 2d Chron. xxi. 16, 17, &c. to which it is referred in Clarke's Annotations. The cruelty of delivering up the CAPTIVES to EDOM at the time abovementioned, would be much aggravated in the circumstances of these times; for then the Edomites were become inveterate enemies to the Jews, having lately revolted from Judah, and during that very reign had been beaten, and many of them slain, in a pitched battle with the Jews, which rendered them the more implacable; and therefore the unnatural cruelty OF DELIVERING UP the Jewish Captives to Edom at such a time, must necessarily be esteemed a most heinous offence in the sight of a merciful God!

↵

(153).

This Prophecy was probably fulfilled in the reign of Hezekiah; for we read in the 2 Kings xviii. 8. that ‘ he smote the PHILISTINES, even unto GAZA, and the Borders thereof, from the tower of the Watchmen to the fenced City. ’ But the Philistines of Ashdod, &c. (if not Gaza also) began to feel the weight of GOD's VENGEANCE much sooner, even by the hands of the King in whose reign the Prophecy was delivered;—for "as long as he" (viz. UZZIAH) ‘ sought THE LORD, GOD made him to prosper. And he went forth, and warred against the PHILISTINES, and BRAKE DOWN THE WALL OF GATH, and the wall of JABNEH, and the wall of ASHDOD, and built Cities about ASHDOD, and among the PHILISTINES. And GOD helped him against the PHILISTINES and against the ARABIANS that dwelt in GURBAAL, and the MEHURIMS,’ &c. 2 Chron. xxvi. 5, 6, 7. And ASHDOD was afterwards taken by the troops of SARGON King of Assyria (Isaiah xx. 1.), under TARTAN, one of his Generals, who is mentioned likewise in 2 Kings xviii. 17. so that this was probably when the Assyrians went up against Jerusalem in the Reign of Hezekiah. A very severe VENGEANCE against the PHILIPSTINES was afterwards executed by the Chaldeans; and, long after that, again by the Macedonians under Alexander.

↵

(154).

Probably alluding to the league that was made between SOLOMON and HIRAM King of TYRE, (mentioned in the first book of Kings v. 12.) ‘ and there was PEACE BETWEEN HIRAM and SOLOMON; and they two MADE A LEAGUE together. ’

↵

(155).

By another cotemporary Prophet (Isaiah) a RETRIBUTION IN KIND was denounced against TYRE— ‘ Is this your joyous City, whose antiquity was of antient days? HER OWN FEET SHALL CARRY HER AFAR OFF to sojourn. ’— ‘(Ire pedibus suis in Captivitatem,’ says Clarius, Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p 4905. that is, just as the poor slaves are now-a-days brought down on foot from the inland parts of Africa to the slave markets on the coasts!) ‘ who hath taken THIS COUNCIL against TYRE the crowning (City), whose Merchants are Princes, whose Traffickers are the Honourable of the Earth? THE LORD OF HOSTS HATH PURPOSED IT,’ (plainly referring to the PURPOSE which he had before declared in the xiv. chap. 26. to be ‘PURPOSED UPON THE WHOLE EARTH,’—which I have shewn to be for the most part a RETRIBUTION IN KIND) to strain (or pollute) ‘ the pride of all Glory, and to bring into contempt all the Honourable of the Earth. ’ Isai. xxiii. 7, 8, 9.

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(156).

From the Carolina Gazette (by Robert Wells) dated 30 Dec. 1774.

A HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD.

Run away upwards of twelve months ago, a Negro Man, named SALISBURY, a squat, well-set fellow, about five feet five inches high, branded on the right breast —S," (N. B. Branded like a beast) "He formerly belonged to Richard Beresford, Esq and is supposed to be harboured about the plantation of Mr. John Wigfall, in St. Thomas's Parish, where he has a brother. I will give a reward of Twenty Pounds currency to whoever will apprehend the said Negro, and deliver him at the Work-House in Charles-Town, or any of the Gaols in this province, or to me at my Plantation in St. Bartholomew's Parish. I WILL GIVE THE SAME REWARD FOR HIS HEAD" (N. B. The subscriber is absolutely guilty of Felony for offering a price for blood.) ‘And a further reward of One Hundred Pounds currency for the discovery of his being harboured by a white person, and Fifty Pounds currency if by a Negro,’ (though it is a moral Law of the Old Testament, a Command even FROM GOD HIMSELF, not to deliver up to his Master the Servant that is escaped from his Master. Deut. xxiii. 15.) ‘to be paid on conviction of the Offender or Offenders.’

October 7, 1774.
Signed, THOMAS SMITH.

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(157).

This example shews that God will severely avenge himself of all such abandoned soldiers as those who kill Women and Children, for we may be assured that no pretended Rules of War can justify such detestable outrages in his sight, unless they can produce an express Commission from the Almighty for that purpose, like that which was given to the Israelites against the wicked Canaanites, &c.

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(158).

Probably the Ammonites (like some of our Settlers and Planters at St. Vincents) coveted— ‘ that fine CREAM PART of the Country ’—about Gilead, then in the possession of their neighbours; and might perhaps stir up their public Financiers to settle an arrangement for the disposal of the said Lands, without the knowledge and consent of the antient and lawful possessors, as if the supposed political necessity to ‘ enlarge their border ’ could justify ROBBERY and MURDER, by authority of Government!—Against similar crimes in Israel, the Prophet thus denounced God's vengeance! ‘ Wo to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet Fields, and take (them) by viclence: and Houses, and take (them) away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore thus saith the LORD’ (JEHOVAH);— ‘ Behold, against this family ’ (apparently meaning the Family or stock of that whole nation) ‘ do I devise AN EVIL from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: FOR THIS TIME IS EVIL.’ Mic. ii. 1 to 3. ‘ For your hands are defiled with BLOOD, and your fingers with INIQUITY:—none calleth for JUSTICE, nor (any) pleadeth for TRUTH: they trust in vanity and speak lies; THEY CONCEIVE MISCHIEF, and BRING FORTH INIQUITY!’ &c. ‘—and the act of Violence (is) in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction ’ or breaking ‘(are) in their paths. THE WAY OF PEACE THEY KNOW NOT; and (there is) NO JUDGEMENT’ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 i. e. right or justice) ‘ in their goings! they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. THEREFORE IS JUDGEMENT’ (i. e. right or equity) ‘ far from us, neither doth JUSTICE’ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 properly RIGHTEOUSNESS) "overtake us:" &c.— "According to (their) deeds," (or more properly) ‘ according to RECOMPENCES’ (i. e. God's eternal laws of RETRIBUTION) "accordingly he" (i. e. Jehovah) ‘ will REPAY, fury to his Adversaries, RECOMPENCE to his Enemies, to the ISLANDS he will REPAY RECOMPENCE!’ Isaiah lix. to the 18th verse.

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(159).

"Suum" (viz. Filium) "inquam" (says Grotius) ‘non Idumaeae Praefecti, ut quidam colligunt ex Amoso ii. 1. ubi alia respicitur Historia.’ Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 2579.

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(160).

MOAB was condemned also by another Prophet (Isaiah) for her want of Charity to the poor fugitives of Israel and Judah in a time that God had delivered them into the hands of their enemies,— "Hide the Outcasts" (said Isaiah in his denunciation of Judgement against MOAB) ‘ bewray not him that wandereth; Let mine OUT-CASTS dwell with thee MOAB; Be thou a Covert to them from the face of the SPOILER: for the EXTORTIONER is at an end, the SPOILER ceaseth, the OPPRESSORS are consumed out of the Land. ’ Isaiah xvi. 4.

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(161).

The Prophet Amos charges them still further with their shameful perversion of JUSTICE and NATURAL RIGHT, in the 5 th chapter and 7th verse, — ‘ Ye who TURN JUDGEMENT TO WORMWOOD, and LEAVE OFF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE EARTH.’ And a little afterwards he charges them with notorious corruption— ‘ For I know your manifold transgressions, and your mighty sins: they AFFLICT THE JUST, they TAKE A BRIBE, and they TURN ASIDE THE POOR IN THE GATE (from their RIGHT). Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time: for it is an evil time. ’ He then warns them to make use of that Natural Knowledge of Good and Evil, which all mankind inherit from our first parents— ‘ Seek GOOD, and not EVIL’ (says the Prophet): ‘ that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of Hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the EVIL, and love the GOOD, and establish JUDGEMENT in the Gate, it may that the Lord God of Hosts will be gracious unto the Remnant of Joseph. ’—Thus the ISRAELITES might have saved themselves from God's Vengeance by a timely repentance, but they were too corrupt and wicked, it seems, to take warning: for the Judgement is, immediately after, denounced on account of the said NATIONAL CORRUPTION AND INJUSTICE. — ‘ Therefore, the Lord, the God of Hosts, the Lord saith thus; WAILING shall be in all thy streets; and they shall say in all the highways, ALAS! ALAS! and they shall call the Husbandman to mourning; and such as are skilful of lamentation, to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I WILL PASS THROUGH THEE, SAITH THE LORD!’

Now let the inhabitants of Great Britain examine themselves, and enquire, whether there are not CORRUPTIONS and INJUSTICE among them also, which may be equally liable to draw down God's VENGEANCE? Whether their Representatives in the great National Assembly, or "Congregation of the People," do not annually encourage and promote the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, which includes infinitely more OPPRESSION and INJUSTICE than the Israelites were ever guilty of! and whether the poor Miners, Colliers, and Saliers of Scotland, who lately applied to them for relief from the monstrous OPPRESSION and INJUSTICE of the unreasonable Landholders (an oppression at least equal to, if not far exceeding the Israelitish Bondage of the Poor) have yet received redress for the Injuries done them? or whether, on the contrary, the Injustice (which never had any other foundation but that of unjust Force and Usurpation) is not now confirmed for a certain number of years longer by act of Parliament! But, O my countrymen! let us call to mind (before it is too late) the dreadful consequences of turning ‘JUDGEMENT INTO WORMWOOD,’ and of ‘ leaving off Righteousness in the Earth! ’ Let us remember the heavy Judgements that are denounced against the Oppressions of the poor, and that there is ONE who will surely avenge their cause,— ‘THE LORD (JEHOVAH) is HIS NAME that strengtheneth the SPOILED against the STRONG, so that the SPOILED shall come AGAINST THE FORTRESS. THEY HATE HIM THAT REBUKETH IN THE GATE, AND THEY ABHOR HIM THAT SPEAKETH UPRIGHTLY. Forasmuch therefore ’ (continues the Prophet) ‘ as your TREADING IS UPON THE POOR, and ye take from him burthens of wheat, ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant Vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I KNOW YOUR MANIFOLD TRANSGRESSIONS, and your mighty sins: they afflict the Just, they TAKE A BRIBE, and they turn aside THE POOR in the Gate from their right, ’ &c. Amos v. 8 to 12.

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(162).
Extract of a Letter from the Author to Lord —, dated the 18th of February, 1772.
— ‘His Majesty has been pleased, lately, to recommend to Parliament the providing new Laws,’ for ‘ supplying Defects or REMEDYING ABUSES in such instances where it shall be requisite; ’ ‘and, I apprehend, my Lord, that there is no instance whatever, which requires more immediate redress than the present miserable and deplorable SLAVERY of Negroes and Indians, as well as of white English servants in our Colonies. I say immediate redress, because to be in power, and to neglect (as life is very uncertain) even a day, in endeavouring to put a stop to such monstrous injustice and abandoned wickedness, must necessarily endanger a man's eternal welfare, be he ever so great in temporal dignity or office,’ &c.

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(163).

Extract of a letter from the Author to Lord —, dated the 4th of December, 1774.

— If the seasonable warning against the crying national wickedness of promoting the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, and tolerating SLAVERY in America, which I seht about three years ago, in a private letter to Lord —, had been duly regarded, I sincerely believe that the present misunderstanding, &c. and the alarming consequences which now threaten us, would not have happened!—Great Britain and her Colonies seem to be preparing themselves for MUTUAL[*] DESTRUCTION, which, alas! is too apparently merited on both sides: for such monstrous OPPRESSION and NATIONAL WICKEDNESS cannot escape a NATIONAL PUNISHMENT according to the usual course of God's providence in the World, unless a hearty repentance and amendment should avert the impending vengeance!
&c.

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*

‘For all the Law is fulfilled in ONE WORD (even) in this; Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself. But if we bite and devour one another, take heed that YE BE NOT CONSUMED ONE OF ANOTHER. ’ Gal. v. 14, 15. See my Tract on "The Law of Liberty, or Royal Law."

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(164).

— "Wicked men" (said he) ‘may be happy and prosperous here, and good men may suffer many afflictions and tribulations, without any the least reflection on the justice or goodness of the great Governor of the World: because there is a farther day reserved for the adjusting all men's rewards, according to their works. But now the consideration of PUBLIC SOCIETIES and NATIONS is QUITE DIFFERENT. NATIONS are not made to be IMMORTAL, but end with the world. No SOCIETY, AS A SOCIETY, SHALL BE CALLED TO A FUTURE ACCOUNT; but all the rewards and punishments they are capable of AS SOCIETIES, MUST BE ADJUDGED AND DISTRIBUTED TO THEM IN THIS PRESENT LIFE. And therefore if we suppose GOD to be the Judge and Governor of the World, and of all the Nations in it; as well as he is the Judge and Governor of particular persons; we must likewise suppose, that he administers all affairs so, that righteous and religious NATIONS have IN THIS WORLD the reward of their virtue in the blessings of peace and plenty, and all manner of temporal prosperity: and on the other side, impious and incorrigible NATIONS are likewise punished IN THIS WORLD for their wickedness; either by severe JUDGEMENTS, OR BY A TOTAL DESTRUCTION; as GOD in his infinite wisdom sees cause. ’— ‘The word of God doth all along bear testimony to the truth of this.’— ‘There is no Judgement threatened to any nation in the Holy Scripture (and abundance of nations are there threatened) but it is upon the account of the Sins and Wickedness they were guilty of. Which Sins if they repented of, so repented as to forsake them, they might find mercy. And accordingly we find in fact, that GOD ALWAYS DEALT WITH PEOPLE AND NATIONS ACCORDING TO THESE MEASURES,’ &c.—And after citing the examples of the Ninevites, Canaanites, and Babylonians, and after referring us to the Greek, Roman, and even to the Turkish history for more examples, he remarks concerning the Jews in particular, that— ‘every degree of PUBLIC VICE, and departure from GOD's Laws, was always punished with PUBLIC Judgement. And on the other side, every degree of PUBLIC Repentance and Reformation was always rewarded with PUBLIC Happiness and prosperity: so that any one that could make a right estimate of that nation, and how it stood as to VIRTUE and VICE, might constantly make a Judgement likewise how it would fare with them, as to their outward temporal affairs. I must confess’ (says he) ‘that generally speaking, there is little force in those arguments that are drawn from examples; but in the case I am now upon, I think there is great weight in them. For though we can not angue from GOD's dealing with one person, that he will just deal in the same manner with another; yet as to NATIONS and KINGDOMS THE CASE IS OTHERWISE, as I before said. For GOD's Dispensations and Providences to them, seem all to proceed upon ONE IMMUTABLE FOUNDATION (which will be THE SAME IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES) namely, the expression and vindication of his justice and goodness in this world.’ Archb. Sharp's Sermons, vol. 1. serm. 8. intitled, ‘ Virtue and Religion the only Means to make a Nation prosperous. ’ The whole sermon is indeed a compleat and unanswerable argument against those sophists who contend for the necessity of Political Evil, and of permitting and encouraging Vice in certain degrees (as they shall think fit) for state occasions.

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(165).

‘ These enterprising Traders, the first great Navigators of the World ’ says the sensible and benevolent Author of Britannia Libera), ‘ having, in the course of their success and their grandeur, imported for their own use a great number of SLAVES, they conspired, slew their Masters, and all the Free-men ’ (two only excepted, old STRATO and his Son, who were saved through the GENEROSITY OF THEIR OWN SLAVE)
took to themselves their wives and daughters, with the whole city, and raised a new commonwealth; A DREADFUL EXAMPLE, saith Justin, to all the world, [*] who nevertheless went on in their former course of ENSLAVING one another.
Britannia Libera, or a Defence of the Free State of Man in England against the Claim of any Man there as a slave." p. 3.

↵

*

‘CELEBRE HOC SERVORUM FACINUS, METUENDUMQUE EXEMPLUM TOTO ORBE TERRARUM FUIT.’ Just. Hist. lib. xviii.

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(166).

See an Extract from Mr. Morgan's Book, intitled, "A Plan for the Abolition of Slavery," &c. printed at the end of this Tract.

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(167).

Long before this additional load of national guilt had arrived at any considerable height, the nation was supposed to be under a very dangerous burthen of Sin, which my Grandfather testified before the House of Commons, ‘we are not that innocent, virtuous, pious people’ (said he) ‘that may certainly reckon upon God's favour, and think ourselves in all cases sure of his protection. For if the Doctrine I have now been insisting on to you, be true Doctrine; then we of this nation can but entertain very small hopes of being HAPPY and PROSPEROUS. Nay we cannot but apprchend MISERY and RUIN, and desolation to ourselves; unless God be abundantly more merciful to us than we deserve. And there can be no way to prevail with him to be so, but an UNIVERSAL HUMILIATION and REPENTANCE! and this is the application I desire to make of the point I have been now treating of. ’—(With the same view and desire exactly is the present address laid before the public, though the author was not aware when the tract was sent to the press, that his ancestor had borne (such ample public testimony to the truth of the same doctrine concerning the Law of National Retribution, as he has since cited from his works,)— ‘ If the measure of God's dealing with NATIONS be always according to the moral state of them; if their good fortunes be dealt out to them according to their virtues; and Judgements be inflicted upon them, according to their provoking God by their Sins; as we have said; good Lord! what a lamentable prospect have WE OF THIS KINGDOM of what may come upon us? and what infinite reason have we thereupon, immediately to try all the ways that are possible of making our peace with God, that so INIQUITY MAY NOT BE OUR RUIN!’ Archbp. Sharp's Sermons, Vol. 1. Serm. 8. p. 215, 216. 9th edit. But the horrible abomination of the Slave-Trade was only in its infancy when my Grandfather made this declaration, and the baneful tendency of it perhaps was hardly known to him, or he would certainly have entered a zealous and particular protest against it! With such an accumulated load of national Guilt, the necessity of a public humiliation and repentance is become more and more obvious, especially as the long foreseen Vengeance of the Almighty seems now ready to burst upon our heads! let us therefore earnestly join in the necessary reformation "that so iniquity may not be our Ruin."

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(168).

'That AFRICA' (said he) ‘which is not now more fruitful of Monsters than it was once of excellently wise and learned men; that AFRICA, which formerly afforded us our Clemens, our Origen, our Tertullian, our Cyprian, our Augustine, and many other extraordinary lights in the Church of God; that FAMOUS AFRICA, in whose soil CHRISTIANITY did thrive so prodigiously, and could boast of so many flourishing Churches, alas! ISNOW A WILDERNESS.’ ‘ The wild Boars have broken into the Vineyard and eaten it up, and it brings forth nothing but Bryars and Thorns: ’ ‘to use the words of the Prophet. And who knows but GOD MAY SUDDENLY MAKE THIS CHURCH AND NATION, THIS OUR ENGLAND; which, Jeshurun like, is waxed fat and grown proud, and has kicked against God, SUCH ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE VENGEANCE OF THIS KIND.’ Archbp. Sharp's Sermons, Vol. 2. Serm. 1. intitled, Repentance the Means for averting God's Judgement, 5th edit. p. 22. Preached before the House of Commons, April 11, 1679.

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(169).

In like manner, an Advocate for the African Trade, who distinguished himself by the signature of Mercator, hoped to remove the odium of oppressing the poor Africans, by falsely asserting, that they were descended from Canaan, who was cursed by his Father Noah:— ‘Cursed be Canaan; a Servant of Servants shall he be unto his Brethren.’ Treatise upon the Trade from Great Britain to Africa, by an African Merchant, Appendix 5. See also my Tract on the Just Limitation of Slavery, &c. p. 46—49. wherein this Assertion of Mercator is answered.

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(170).

Compare this with Levit. xxv. 42. ‘For they are MY SERVANTS ’ (said the Almighty), ‘which I brought out of the Land of Egypt; they shall not be SOLD as BONDMEN. ’

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This is allowed, even by the Jews, to be a Prophecy of the Messiah; for in the Targum of Jonathan it is rendered 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ‘ & obedient Meschiae filie David Regi suo. ’ The Messiah is reprented under the name of David (signifying a Friend) in three other places—twice in Ezekiel, and once in Hosea—being the true Friend of Mankind, whose principal Doctrine was universal Love and ‘ Good-will towards Men. ’ And Christ himself, after explaining the necessary Doctrine of Love (John xv. 9 to 13.), condescended to honour his followers with the reciprocal appellation of FRIENDS:—"Ye are my FRIENDS," (said he) ‘ if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not SERVANTS; for the SERVANT knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you FRIENDS; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made know unto you. ’ &c. Here is a clear ENFRANCHISEMENT of Christ's Household: whereby we learn, that TRUE CHRISTIAN LIBERTY is acquired by the Knowledge of GOD'S WILL, revealed to us by Christ; if we sincerely ask the assistance of the HOLY SPIRIT, that we may act accordingly, then shall we be Friends indeed!

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(172).

As it was manifestly an offence in the sight of God to call Israel an OUT-CAST during the former DESOLATION; it, certanily, is not less so now, tho' that devoted People is at present dispersed over the face of all the Earth, without a single Acre of National Territory in any one place! for the scriptures gives us ample assurance of a much more glorious Return of the Jews, than that from Babylon; and the Apostle to the Gentiles has expressly declared, that ‘ God hath not CAST AWAY his people which he fore knew. ’ Rom. xi. 2. And in the 11th verse he says, ‘ through THEIR FALL Salvation is come unto the Gentiles for to provoke them to Jealousy. Now ’ (says he) ‘ if the FALL OF THEM be the RICHES OF THE WORLD, and THE DIMINISHING of THEM the RICHES OF THE GENTILES; HOW MUCH MORE THEIR FULNESS?’ &c. and again in the 15th verse— ‘IF THE CASTING AWAY of them be the reconciling of the World, what shall the RECEIVING OF THEM BE, BUT LIFE FROM THE DEAD?’ And the apostle also warns us NOT to boast against the Branches of that Mystical Olive Tree on which the Wild Olive Tree of the Gentiles is grafted, "for" (says he) ‘ if God spared not the NATURAL BRANCHES’ (the Israelites) take heed lest he ALSO "SPARE NOT THEE."—(and indeed we have the greatest reason to acknowledge the great mercy of God in sparing this nation hitherto, if we consider the many bloody persecutions of the Jews in this Kingdom during the dark days of POPISH IGNORANCE, (many particulars of which may be seen in Tovey's Anglia Judaica) or perhaps we may say, that many of the bloody Civil Wars and other National Calamities, that have already distressed this Nation, may have been inflicted on our ancestors for their unmerciful Treatment of these wandering STRANGERS in persecuting, banishing, and even MURDERING them in multitudes for the sake of plundering and robbing them of their wealth! Let us remember the confident hope of the Apostle, that the Israelites shall be again grafted into their own Olive Tree—"for" (says he) ‘ God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the OLIVE-TREE which is WILD BY NATURE, and wert GRAFFED contrary to nature into a GOOD OLIVE TREE; how much more shall these, which be THE NATURAL BRANCHES, be GRAFFED INTO THEIR OWN OLIVE TREE?’ and he adds, ‘ for I wou'd not, Brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that BLINDNESS IN PART is happened to ISRAEL until the FULNESS OF THE GENTILES BE COME IN. And so shall ALL ISRAEL be saved: as it is written—There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from JACOB. For this is my Covenant with them when I shall take away their Sins, ’ &c. See the whole chapter.

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(173).

See ver. 5. — ‘Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O DAUGHTER of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called THE LADY OF KINGDOMS! ’

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Compare this with the above-recited passage in the 9th verse: — ‘ These two things shall come to thee, IN A MOMENT, IN ONE DAY,’ &c. The same SUDDEN and UNEXPECTED VENGEANCE is also strongly described by Jeremiah: — "Babylon" (said he, in the spirit of Prophecy) ‘ is SUDDENLY FALLEN AND DESTROYED: HOWL FOR HER,’ &c. Chap. li. 8. This exemplary VENGEANCE was denounced expressly on account of the Babylonian TYRANNY over the Jewish CAPTIVES; for in a preceding verse the latter are comforted, and informed of the RETRIBUTION determined against babylon:— "For Israel hath not been forsaken" (said the Prophet) ‘ nor Judah, of his God, of the Lord of Hosts, though their Land was filled with Sin against the Holy One of Israel. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is THE TIME of the LORD'S VENGEANCE; he will render unto her A RECOMPENCE.’ Also in the 24th verse of the same chapter the RETRIBUTION is clearly declared:— ‘ I will render unto Babylon, and to all the Inhabitants of Chaldea, all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord. ’ &c. And in the 49th verse also: — ‘ As Babylon (hath caused) the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the Earth. ’ &c.

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(175).

‘ The King cried aloud to bring in the Astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the Soothsayers, ’ &c. viz. to interpret the hand-writing on the wall, mentioned in the Book of Daniel, chap. v. But they were ignorant of their approaching destruction!

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(176).

"Make bright the ARROWS" (for the Medes and Persians were famous Archers); ‘ gather the shields; the Lord hath raised up the Spirit of the Kings OF THE MEDES: for his device (is) against BABYLON to destroy it; because it (is) the VENGEANCE OF THE LORD, THE VENGEANCE OF HIS TEMPLE.’ Jer. li. 11. And in the 27th verse the Prophet expressly names the Kingdoms from whence the several Armies that came with the MEDES and PERSIANS were raised: — ‘ Set ye up a standard in the Land, blow the trumpet among the Nations, prepare the Nations against her, call together against her the Kingdoms of ARARAT.’ (viz. in the neighbourhood of Armenia), "MINNI" (or Aram-Minni, the Armenians themselves), "and ASHKENAZ" (viz. the Nations descended from the eldest Son of Gomer; who were nearly allied in blood to the Medes, Madai their Ancestor being a Brother of Gomer, as also of Magog, from whom the Turks have since descended, and all of them from the same neighbourhood). "Appoint a Captain against her" (who is afterwards declared to be CYRUS); ‘ cause the HORSES to come up as the rough Caterpillars ’ (the Persians, as also the Parthians, and after them the Turks, likewise were ever famous for their Cavalry); ‘ prepare against her the Nations, with the Kings of the MEDES, the Captains thereof, and all the Rulers thereof, and all the Land of his Dominion. ’ &c. And in ver. 48 he says, ‘ For the Spoilers, SHALL COME UNTO HER FROM THE NORTH.’ The Prophet Isaiah also distinctly pointed out the same Instruments of GOD'S VENGEANCE against Babylon: — ‘ Lift ye up the Banner upon THE HIGH MOUNTAIN; exalt the voice unto them: ’ &c. describing the first mustering of the confederate Nations against the overgrown tyrannical power of Babylon:— ‘ The noise of a multitude IN THE MOUNTAINS’ (probably meaning the Mountains of Ararat, &c. mentioned by Jeremiah) ‘ like as of a great People; a tumultuous noise of the Kingdoms of Nations gathered together: THE LORD OF HOSTS’ (viz. Jehovah of Armies) ‘ mustereth the Host of the Battle. ’ (Here we see the proper meaning of the Lord of Hosts.) ‘ They come from a far Country, from the end of Heaven, (even) the Lord and the Weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land, &c. Behold I will stir up the MEDES against them, which shall not regard Silver; and (as for) Gold they shall not delight in it (Their) Bows also ’ (for the Medes were eminent Archers) ‘ shall dash the young men to pieces: and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their Eye shall not spare the Children. And BABYLON the Glory of Kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ’ &c. Chap. xiii. 2—19. Again in 21st chapter the same Prophet distinctly names the Medes and Persians to be the instruments of God's retribution against BABYLON. ‘ A grievous Vision is declared unto me. The Treacherous Dealer dealeth treacherously, and the Spoiler spoileth. Go up, O ELAM!’ (for the Persians were descended from the Patriarch Elam, the Son of Shem, mentioned in Genesis x. 22. as Josephus observes in his Antiq. Lib. i. c. 7. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. ‘ Besiege O MEDIA: all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. Therefore are my loins filled with pain: ’ (the Prophet seems to describe the consternation of the King of Babylon just before his destruction) ‘ Pangs have taken hold upon me, as the Pangs of a Woman that travaileth: I WAS BOWED DOWN AT THE HEARING (of it),’ viz. of Daniel's interpretation of the hand-writing upon the wall of the Banquetting House. "I was dismayed at the seeing (of it)" (probably meaning the miraculous appearance of the hand which wrote) ‘ My heart PANTED, fearfulness affrighted me! ’ Isaiah xxi. 2—4. The extreme fear which really possessed the King of Babylon in that dreadful time of retribution, is strongly described by Daniel who was an eye-witness of it. (Chap. v. 6.) viz. ‘ That the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. ’

The Medes and Persians and their associates are also described by Jeremiah, as well as the extreme fear and anguish of the King of Babylon, on hearing the report of them— "Behold" (said the Prophet) ‘ a people shall come FROM THE NORTH’ (Armenia, Media, &c. being to the north of Mesopotamia or Babylonia) ‘ and a great nation, and many Kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea, AND THEY SHALL RIDE UPON HORSES.’ (See the remark above concerning the Pensian Cavalry, the Persians having obtained that very name on account of their character as horsemen, for Perse, or Pheresh, signifies a Horseman, as well as Parth or Phereth) ‘ every one put in array like a man to the battle, against thee, O Daughter of Babylon. The King of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: Anguish took hold of him, and Pangs as of a Woman in Travail, ’ &c. Chap. l. 41—43.

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For the Babylonians trusted in their Walls and Towers, as appears also by Jeremiah's prophecy on the same occasion, ‘ Set up the Standard upon the Walls of Babylon—make the watch strong, set up the Watchmen, prepare the ambushes, ’ &c. Jer. li. 12.

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(178).

It appears by the account of Xenophon, that when Gobryas and his men first entered the Palace in that fatal night, they found the King and his Princes assembled, and the King standing with a drawn scymitar in his hand, ready to oppose them (notwithstanding his extreme consternation just before, on hearing the miraculous prediction of his fate), that he might endeavour to persuade his Princes to stand by him, and resist the Enemy; though, indeed, the learned Vitringa supposes. that the words ‘ arise, ye Princes, and anoint the shield ’ refer to the Speech of Cyrus just before the assault, recorded likewise by Xenophon—A 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c.

↵

(179).

We read in Daniel v. 4. that ‘ they DRANK WINE, and PRAISED THE GODS OF GOLD, and OF SILVER, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. ’

↵

(180).

Which is described also in the 40th verse of "the same chapter:— ‘ The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their holds; THEIR MIGHT HATH FAILED, they BECAME AS WOMEN: they ’ (that is, the Enemy) ‘ have burned her dwelling places; her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, TO SHEW THE KING OF BABYLON that his City is taken at one end, and that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with FIRE, and the men of war are affrighted. ’ &c.

↵

(181).
Clank's Annotations.
↵

(182).

If the Redemption of the Jews even from Temporal Slavery was esteemed a subject of Joy and Triumph to the Universe (Heaven and Earth), how much more will the world have cause to rejoice when the Lord shall redeem them also from that spiritual Slavery and hardness of heart, in which they remain at present; how much more interesting to all the world will be their last great and glorious return to their Redeemer! "If the fall of them" (said the Apostle Paul) ‘be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the Riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? ’ Romans xi. 12. and he tells us again in the 25th verse, ‘ That Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and so shall ALL ISRAEL be saved; ’ &c. and again in the 32d verse—that ‘ God hath included them ALL IN UNBELIEF that he might have mercy upon ALL.’

↵

(183).

"In the language of the Prophets" (says Mr. Cruden in his Concordance) ‘ Waters often denote a great multitude of people; ’—and this prophecy perhaps might allude to the vast conflux of people at Babylon; that God would dry them up by making the place desolate; but yet the literal sense is certainly to be preferred, because it seems to have had a literal accomplishment in the successful stratagem of Cyrus abovementioned.— ‘Certè de Babylone est sermo,’ (says the learned Forerius) ‘per quam fluebant flumina Tigris & Euphrates; quorum cursum avertit Cyrus, ut exsiccato alveo subintrarent Milites Civitatem,’ &c. Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 5186. And Grotius upon the same Text says, ‘Hoc pertinet ad id quod Cyrus fecit ut Babylonem caperet: amnem cnim Euphratem diffidit & parte ejus in lacus abducta per alveum veterem in urbem ingressus est. Historia est apud Jeremiam li. 32. & apud Herodotum.’

↵

(184).

Herodotus, who was at Babylon before the Persian Conquest, gives some account of this, according to the intelligence he had received from the Babylonish Priests (for strangers were not permitted to see them), whereby they might with great propriety be called—The "hidden riches of secret places;" and they were also very properly called ‘ Treasures of Darkness, ’ being dedicated to Demons; for the greatest part of the gold was worked up into the various imaginary forms of the false Deities. There was one Golden Idol of Jupiter of an immense size.

↵

(185).

In the Septuagint the passage is rendered 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and literally from thence in the Latin Vulgate "Christo meo Cyro," to Cyrus my Christ. By Munster it is rendered ‘ MESCHIAE SUO; hoc est’ (says he) ‘Regi suo. Vocatur autem CORESCH seu CYRUS MESCHIAS & Rex Domini, quod ille ordinaverit eum in Regem per quem disposuerat devastare Regnum Babylonicum, quodque CHRISTI: VERI MESCHIAE Typum gereret.’ Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 5190. And the learned Forerius, upon the same Text, remarks as follows: ‘Nomine 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Reges propter UNCTIONEM dicebantur. CYRUM autem SUUM REGEM vocat Dominus quòd ab eo electus fuisset, & quòd ad implendam voluntatem suam eum destinasset. Illi etenim Reges qui servis Dei favent, qui eos IN LIBERTATEM ASSERUNT, qui hostes eorum oppugnant, digni sunt qui DEI REGES dicantur. Verùm enimvero quia de reductione captivitatis instituebat sermonem, de Cyro, per quem eos reducturus erat, plura dicendi cepit occasionem, quòd is esset CHRISTI DOMINI Typus & Figura.’ Crit. Sac. Tom. 4. p. 5194.

↵

(186).

‘ The Spirit of the Lord God (is) upon me; because the Lord ’ (viz. Jehovah) ‘HATH ANOINTED ME to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, and the OPENING OF THE PRISON TO (them that are) BOUND; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD,’ &c. Isaiah lxi. 1, 2. And also in a former chapter:— ‘ To open the blind eyes, to BRING OUT THE PRISONERS FROM THE PRISON, (and) them that sit in darkness out of the PRISON-HOUSE.’ &c. Chap. xlii. 7. This Prophecy of Isaiah, that Christ should PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, was acknowledged and read, even by CHRIST himself, in the Synagogue of Nazareth on the Sabbathday[*], and declared to be then fulfilled: — ‘ This day ’ (said our Lord) ‘ is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. ’ But alas! the greatest part of the Nation obstinately and wickedly rejected that GLORIOUS FREEDOM which was then proclaimed; whereby they drew down God's severe Vengeance upon themselves, being soon after deprived even of that temporal Inheritance, (which they seemed to value above all other things) after suffering the most extraordinary slaughters and calamities of an unsuccessful and destructive war in defence of it, and of their TEMPORAL LIBERTIES! And they remain in exile to this day, a living Testimony to the Truth of Prophecy[*], and an Example to all the Nations, wherever they are difpersed, of GOD'S VENGEANCE against the Rejecters of his divine Revelation!

↵

*

The Evangelist Luke gives an account of this remarkable event chap. iv. and seems to have blended together the two Prophecies which I have recited above, as neither of them singly will answer exactly the quotation he has given from Isaiah, though, taken together, they amount very nearly to the same thing.

↵

*

"And when he" (Jesus) "was come near" (that is, to Jerusalem) ‘he beheld the City, and WEPT OVER IT, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things (which belong) unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee that thine Enemies shall cast a Trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,’ (and it is very remarkable, that the Romans, after trying all the usual means in vain, should at length be obliged to have recourse to this method before they could succeed,) ‘and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy Children within thee: and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.’ Luke xix. 41—44. Thus Christ proclaimed ‘ THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD, ’—agrecable to Isaiah's prophecy, already recited in this note, p. 299.

↵

(187).

‘ Wo unto him that buildeth his House by Unrighteousness, and his Chambers by Wrong; (that) USETH HIS NEIGHBOUR'S SERVICE WITHOUT WAGES, AND GIVETH HIM NOT FOR HIS WORK;’ &c. Jer. xxii. 13.

↵

(188).

Extracts from the minutes of the House of Burgesses in Virginia.

Wednesday, April 1st, 1772.
Most Gracious Sovereign,

WE your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects the Burgesses of Virginia, now met in general assembly, beg leave with all humility to approach your Royal Presence.

The many instances of your Majesty's benevolent intentions and most gracious disposition to promote the prosperity and happiness of your subjects in the colonies, encouraged us to look up to the Throne, and implore your Majesty's paternal assistance, in averting a Calamity of a most alarming nature.

The importation of slaves into the colonies from the coast of Africa hath long been considered as a trade of great Inhumanity, and under its present encouragement, we have too much reason to fear will endanger the very existence of your Majesty's American dominions.

We are sensible that some of your Majesty's subjects in Great Britain may reap emolument from this sort of Traffic; but when we consider that it greatly retards the settlement of the colonies with more white inhabitants, and may in time have the most destructive influence, we presume to hope, that the interest of a few will be disregarded, when placed in competition with the security and happiness of such numbers of your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects.

Deeply imprest with these sentiments, we most hum•ly beseech your Majesty to remove all those restraints on your Majesty's Governors of this colony, which inhibit their assenting to such laws as might check so very pernicious a commerce.

Your Majesty's antient colony and dominion of Virginia hath at all times, and upon every occasion, been entirely devoted to your Majesty's facred person and government; and we cannot forego this opportunity of renewing those assurances of the truest loyalty and warmest affection, which we have so often, with the greatest sineerity, given to the best of Kings, whose wisdom and goodness we esteem the surest pledge of the happiness of all his people.

Resolved, nemine contradicente, That the House doth agree with the Committee in the said address to be presented to his Majesty.

Resolved, That an address be presented to his Excellency the Governor, to desire that he will be pleased to transmit the address to his Majesty, and to support it in such manner as he shall think most likely to promote the desirable end proposed.

(COPY.)

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(189).

To the Governor, Council, and Representatives of the Province of New Jersey, in General Assembly met.

The Petition of sundry Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County of Somerset,

Respectfully sheweth,

THAT your Petitioners, influenced with an equal regard to the civil and religious interests of this Province and the established Rights of Mankind, have with concern often viewed that Traffic, which has Slavery for it's object, in a light very unfriendly to both; and it has afforded pleasure to observe the liberal advances which of late have been made among all ranks of people towards the discountenance of that Trade, and promotion of Justice to those who have thereby been deprived of their Liberty. Hence your Petitioners are induced to address the Legislature, and to request, that a subject so important may receive that attention which it deserves. Your Petitioners also beg, that you will not only provide against the future importation of Slaves into this Colony, by such ways as you may think best, but to enable such persons as shall chuse it to manumit them by making them useful and happy upon equitable principles to the Owners and the Public, as in your wisdom may appear most conducive to those good ends. And your Petitioners shall pray, &c.

↵

(190).

To the Honourable House of Representatives, now sitting at Burlington in the Province of New Jersey.

The humble Petition of divers Inhabitants of the County of Essex in the said Province, sheweth,

THAT many of his Majesty's loyal subjects in this Province observe, with uneasiness, the great increase of negro slaves from the coast of Africa, which is considered, not only as preventative of the importation and increase of white servants and labourers, by which the present extravagant price of labour would be proportionably lessened, but also as laying a foundation of that which may hereafter prove dangerous to Government, and subversive of the liberties of the people, it being justly observed, ‘That slaves are the natural enemies of society, and their numbers must always be dangerous.’ It is also with dissatisfaction that some of the inhabitants of this province observe an Act of Assembly in force, for preventing the manumitting and setting free any negro slave, however healthy and able to earn his or her living, without such terms as many are wholly unable to, and others cannot without great difficulty comply with, whereby they are obliged to keep their fellow men in a slavery (to them unlawful and contrary to their Christian principles). In order therefore to remedy these growing evils, your petitioners humbly pray this Honourable House, that they would take such measures as to them in their wisdom may seem meet, to obtain an alteration of his Majesty's Instruction to his Excellency the Governor, relating to the African trade, so that his Excellency may be at liberty to consent to such laws for the preventing the future importation of negro slaves into this province, as to the Legislature may appear just and reasonable. And also that the Act of Assembly relating to the manumitting of negro slaves may be repealed, and the inhabitants of this province allowed by law to set free any of their negro slaves, who shall appear to some proper judicature to be able of body and sound in mind, and under a certain age to be fixed by this Honourable House, or under such other reasonable restrictions, as to the Legislature may seem just and reasonable.—And your petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray.

↵

(191).

To the Representatives of the Freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania in Assembly met.

The Petition of a number of the Inhabitants of the City and County of Philadelphia,

Respectfully sheweth,

THAT the importation of the natives of Guinea, to be sold and used as slaves in the provinces and islands of the British dominions in America, has long been an occasion of deep concern to a great number of the Inhabitants of this province, as well on account of its inconsistency with the whole tenor of the Christian religion, as because of the evil influence it has on the religious and moral conduct of the people, and the dreadful consequence which, it is to be feared, will one day attend in those parts where it prevails.

We are the more encouraged to lay this important object before you, as we understand some of the colonies have been led into serious consideration, as well of the iniquity of the practice, as of the dangerous situation some of them are in, particularly the province of Virginia, whose House of Burgesses has lately petitioned the King, from a deep sensibility of the danger, and pernicious consequences which will be attendant on a continuation of this MOST INIQUITOUS TRAFFICK.

We your petitioners, therefore, most earnestly beseech you, to take this matter, which we apprehend to be of the utmost consequence to the welfare and safety of the British colonies, under your most serious consideration, and to use your utmost endeavours with the other colonies, in making such representations to the King as to you may appear most effectual towards putting a stop to this mighty evil."

Signed by about two hundred persons, amongst whom were, the provost of the academy, and three other clergymen of the church of England, being all that are in this city, sive Presbyterian Clergymen, and four other Ministers, the rest respectable Inhabitants.

↵

(192).

By an account of the European settlements in America, printed in 1770, we are informed that ‘ there are allowed to be in OUR WEST INDIES at least two hundred and thirty thousand NEGRO SLAVES.’ Vol. 2, p. 117. "In VIRGINIA" (says the same author) ‘much the larger part of the inhabitants are the NEGRO SLAVES, who cannot be much fewer than AN HUNDRED THOUSAND SOULS; they annually import ’ (says he) ‘ into the two tobacco colonies between THREE AND FOUR THOUSAND OF THESE SLAVES:’ p. 216, 217; and in Maryland, (as the same author informs us in p. 233.) ‘ the Negroes (are) upwards of SIXTY THOUSAND.’

The number of slaves-already mentioned (without reckoning the multitudes since transported to the new increasing settlements in the Grenada Islands, and in the islands of Tobago, Dominica, and St. Vincents; as also exclusive of the multitudes in the two Carolinas, the two Floridas, Georgia, the two Jerseys, New York, &c.) amount to THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY THOUSAND SOULS, at the least computation: so that if the multitudes actually omitted in this account, were truely added, the oppression would appear enormous! The total amount of the oppressed multitude, perhaps would not fall far short of the numerous Bondage of oppressed Israelites which first drew down the exemplary and ever memorable VENGEANCE of the ALMIGHTY, upon the hardened Egyptian Tyrant and his kingdom!

↵

(193).
See note in page 147.
↵

(194).

If I am prejudiced at all, I am sure it is in favour of Episcopacy, for I not only entertain a most sincere personal respect and esteem for several truly worthy and learned Individuals of that order, now living, but I am even descended from one of the same holy function, who in his correspondence with foreign Protestant churches, very ably defended and promoted the Establishment of Episcopacy; and, above all, I am thoroughly convinced by the Holy Scriptures that the institution of THAT ORDER in the Christian Church IS OF GOD; and that the only defect in the English Establishment of it, is the want of a FREE ELECTION[*] to the Office. For as it may clearly be proved that the Churches of Britain and Ireland have a just and ancient Right to elect their own Bishops, and did actually exercise that right for many ages, till the antichristian Usurpations of Monks and Popes over the secular (or parochial) Clergy occasioned the interference of Kings, so it may as clearly be demonstrated, that the present mode of Election by Writ of Congé D' Eslire, sent to the several Cathedral Chapters, together ‘ with a Letter Missive, containing the name of the person which they shall Elect and Chase? ’ (agreeable to the Act of 25 Hen. VIII. cli. xx. sec. 4.) is a total perversion of that just and ancient Right [†] abovementioned, and is entirely destructive of all the desirable purposes of a free Election. This practice, however, cannot be censured in stronger terms than those in which it is expressly condemned by a subsequent Act of Parliament, (1 Edw. VI. chap. ii.) though the former Act is supposed to be still in force, viz. ‘ The said ELECTIONS be in very deed NO ELECTIONS but only by a Writ of CONGE D'ESLIRE, have colours, shadows, and pretences of Elections, serving nevertheless to no purpose, ’ &c.

If it had not been for this notorious defect in point of Election, and the general idea of its consequences, I am persuaded that the late worthy Primate of England, would not have found such opposition in hi• endeavours some few years ago to promote the establishment of EPISCOPACY in America!

↵

*

The learned Judge Blackstone, in his Commentaries, book I. c. 11. p. 377. informs us, that ‘ELECTION was, in VERY EARLY TIMES, the usual mode of Elevation to the EPISCOPAL CHAIR throughout all Christendom; and this (says he) was promiscuously performed by the LAITY, as well as by the CLERGY,’ ("per CLERUM & POPULUM:") for which he cites very ample authorities. But afterwards a complaint of tumultuous Elections, together with the supposed Royal Prerogative of granting the Investiture of Temporalities (though the Temporalities, being originally granted to support the Dignity of the Office, cannot reasonably be so far drawn from the first intention, as to deprive the Office of that real Dignity which arises from a free Election) served the designs of Emperors and Kings as a pretence to invade the Freedom of Election; and the same pretence of TUMULT proved equally favourable to the opposite designs of Popes; so that these jarring interests seemed united, however, in their endeavours (as it were by one Spirit of Antichrist) to deprive the Church of her ancient Right, which (had it been maintained) would probably have prevented most of the future usurpations of the Papal Antichrist; and therefore ‘ the Policy of the Court of Rome at the same time began by degrees to EXCLUDE THE LAITY from any share in these ELECTIONS,’ (says the learned Judge Blackstone,) ‘ and to confine them wholly to the CLERGY, which at length was completely effected. ’ 1 Blackstone, c. 11. p. 378. The original ground for the complaint of tumult in these Elections was probably occasioned by the neglect of that unexceptionable Apostolic mode of Election described in Acts i. 15 to 26; for when Christianity began to be corrupted by Vows of Celibacy, and other Popish and Diabolical Doctrines, the Clergy and Laity began to have opposite interests to serve (which ought never to be) in the Choice of their Bishop, and, of course, the two contending parties would reciprocally depend upon their own activity, zeal, or address for success in the Election; so that Tumult (the old complaint) must be the necessary consequence; whereas had it been an indispensible form to nominate TWO qualified persons (viz. either two by the promiscuous suffrages of both parties, or one by each party), and afterwards, in solemn prayer, to submit the final decision to the Providence of God by a Lot (as in the Apostolic Election), there could be no room for contention: the undue influence and partiality of Individuals would be effectually checked; and, above all, the joint prayers of both parties, in an appeal to God's decision, would certainly add Solemnity (instead of Tumult) to the Election, if not also much additional Dignity to the Elected. ‘ Dum secum habebant APOSTOLI Dominum, non usi sunt SORTE: neque post adventum Paracloti ea sunt usi, c. x. 19. xvi. 6 ss. sed in uno hoc intermedio tempore, & in uno hoc negotio usi sunt, CONVENIENTISSIME.’ Bengelii Gnomon Nov. Test. p. 460. This remark opens to us a very satisfactory reason why the Apostles discontinued the primitive mode of Election, and took upon themselves the appointment of Bishops: for while they were endowed with manifest supernatural power in working Miracles, their authority to appoint Bishops, without the formulary precautions of the first precedent, could not be questioned, because their appointment of Bishops was clearly the appointment of the Holy Ghost: but when these extraordinary gifts ceased in the Church, the primitive mode of Election became once more desirable, as being best suited to the ordinary state of the Church in all succeeding ages. This is not a singular opinion of my own: the learned Bengelius (p. 459) refers us not only to those who have thought as I do, but also to examples of it's having been really practised in Episcopal Elections:— ‘ Hodie quoque in ELEGEND IS EPISCOPIS SORTI LOCUM ESSE POSSE censet justus Jonas ad hunc locum, & memorabile exemplum resert Comenius in Hist-Ecoles. Slav. §. 60. habet etiam b. Riegerus Böhm. Br. vol. iii. p. 36.’ The primitive Election, mentioned in the Acts, was the Election of a Bishop, as well as of an Apostle, the Office or Charge of a Bishop being apparently included in the Apostolic Dignity; for though Matthias, on whom the lot fell, was immediately ‘ numbered among the eleven APOSTLES,’ yet the vacant Charge to which he was elected was un questionably an Episcopal Charge. The expression of the Holy Ghost, in the Prophecy of the Psalmist (Psalm cix. 8. "let another take HIS OFFICE"), proves that the said Office was of that nature; for the Hebrew word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, commonly rendered "his office," properly signifies a VISITATORIAL office, which expression, by the ancient Authors of the Septuagint Version, as well as the Apostle Peter, was conceived to be of the same general import as an Office of SUPERINTENDENCY; and therefore they all called it an Episcopate, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, literally, ‘ let another take his Episcopate, ’ or "Bishoprick." Matthias, therefore, and the other Apostles were properly 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Bishops; and the Right of Nomination to the vacant Charge was not then confined to the Apostles alone (as Dr. Hammond, without authority of Scripture, has asserted), but an appeal was made to the sense of the whole Congregation, the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or Crowd of 120 Persons then present, by the Apostle Peter, and they accordingly appointed two, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and afterwards joining in solemn prayer, submitted the decision or final Election by lot to the Providence of God!—"Thou, Lord," (said they, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) ‘ which knowest the hearts of all men, shew of these TWO the ONE whom thou hast chosen. ’— ‘ 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.’ The person on whom the lot fell might from the 10T (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) be truly denominated CLERICUS, as he was thereby authorized to take upon himself the LOT of service, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 TON KAHPON 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The very learned and judicious Erasmus was of the same opinion respecting the appointment of two persons by the Congregation or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉:— ‘ Haec oratio ’ (says he, speaking of Peter's Address to the People) "quum placuisset MULTITUDINI statuerunt DUOS," &c. And a little afterwards he gives the following commendation of that primitive example:— ‘ Tametsi SORTES periculosae non sunt, quae utricunque faverint, probum & idoneum designant. Nec torum negotium creditum est SORTIBUS. SUFFRAGIIS sunt electi DUO probatissimi. Inter hos ambiguitatem Electionis finiit SORS, quae nec ipsa temeritatem habere potuit, cujus eventum moderatur precatio. SORS igitur haec, quae nihil aliud-suit quàm DECLARATIO DIVINAE VOLUNTATIS, designavit MATTHIAM, quanquam JOSEPH praeter cognominis ’ (viz. Justus) ‘ commendationem, etiam JESU propinquitate commendebatur. Et tamen huic praelatus est Matthias, quo nos doceremur IN DELIGENDIS EPIS COPIS, quibus credenda sit Evangelicae Doctrinae dispensatio, adeo nihil esse tribuendum humanis affectibus, ’ &c.

↵

†

In a little Tract (by John Barnes, an English Benedictine) intituled, Sententia de Ecclesiae Britannicae Privilegiis, which was printed together with some little Tracts of Archbishop Usher in 1687, we find still a more ample testimony of the ancient Right of chusing Bishops:— ‘ Cùm ANTIQUI MORES Ecclesiae suae ’ (speaking of the ancient BRITISH, SCOTCH, and IRISH) ‘ postularènt ut OMMIA inter se SYNODICE agerent, tum pro EPISCOPORUM ORDINATIONIBUS, tum pro aliis negotiis Ecclesiasticis. ’ Verba corum ex BEDA, lib. ii. 6.2. Eceles. Hist. sunt, QUOD NON POSSUNT ABSQUE SUORUM CONSENSU ET LICENTIA PRISCIS ABDICARE MORIBUS." P. 154. And after citing an example from Bede, concerning the Election of a Bishop (viz. Aidan) by a Scotch Synod, at the request of the Saxon King Oswald, to instruct and preside over the Ministry of the newly converted Saxon or English Church (see p. 154. and 155), he further remarks:— ‘ Et ex HUNGTING-DONIENSI’ (says he) ‘ lib. iii. Hist. & BED. lib. ii. constat ET SCOTOS ET BRITANNOS OMNIA SUA COMMUNI CONSENSU EGISSE.’

It appears also, that the Saxon or English Church, though much less ancient than the British, Irish, and Scotch Churches, did yet enjoy the same inestimable privilege of electing Bishops. The Monk Matthew Paris has transmitted to us a memorable example of this, in his Account of the Election, A. D. 1095, of the celebrated Ulstan to be Bishop of Worcester:— ‘ Processu autemtemporis ULSTANUS (ELECTO ad Archiepiscopatum Eboracensem ALDREDO) unanimi consensu, tam CLERI quam TOTIUS PLEBIS, Rege insuper ut quem vellent sibi eligerent praesulem & animarum Pastorem annuente, IN EPISCOPUM ejusdem loci ELIGITUR.’ P. 20. And even in later times, when the Romish Corruptions had so far prevailed as to exclude the LAITY from Elections, yet the Clergy still enjoyed ‘ the free right of electing their Prelates, whether Abbots or Bishops; ’ for the learned Judge Blackstone informs us, that this right was granted in a charter ‘ to all the Monasteries and Cathedrals in the Kingdom ’ by King John, see vol. i. p. 379; and also that ‘ this grant was expressly recognized and confirmed in King John's MAGNA CARTA, and was again established by STATUTE 25 Edward III. St. 6. § 3.’ Ibid. This Statute first gave parliamentary authority, indeed, to the King's Congé D' Eslire (though it was in use long before), and acknowledges the King's Right of Assent or Approbation "after the Election;" yet it contains nothing which can remove the prudent and reasonable limitation to which that Assent or Approbation was formerly subject, viz. that it ‘WAS NOT TO BE DENIED WITHOUT A REASONABLE AND LAWFUL CAUSE.’ Judge Blackstone, b. i. c. 11. p. 379. And this very Act (which was manifestly ordained to restrain the simoniacal practices and shameful usurpations of the Bishops of Rome) expressly acknowledges the Right of FREE ELECTIONS in the Church, viz. ‘that the FREE ELECTIONS of the Archbishops, Bishops, and all other Dignities and Benefices ELECTIVE in England, shall hold,’ &c. The Right was also fully established by preceding Statutes, still in force, though (unhappily for this Kingdom) not in use; as —"There shall be FREE ELECTION of Dignities of the Church." 9 Edward II. c. 14. Title. And again, ‘ELECTIONS OUGHT TO BE FREE.’ 3 Edward I. c. 5. Mr. Ruffhead, in his useful Index to the Statutes, very properly refers us, under the head of "ELECTION of BISHOPS," to this last-mentioned Statute; for Episcopal Elections ought certainly to be included in the meaning of the said Statute, as well as all other Elections; for an ELECTION without a CHOICE is a manifest contradiction in term•, and NO ELECTION.

↵

THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION.

THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION; OR, A SERIOUS WARNING TO GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES, Founded on unquestionable EXAMPLES of GOD's TEMPORAL VENGEANCE AGAINST Tyrants, Slave-holders, and Oppressors.

The Examples are selected from Predictions in the Old Testament, of NATIONAL JUDGEMENTS, which (being compared with their actual Accomplishment) demonstrate "the sure Word of Prophecy," as well as the immediate Interposition of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, to recompence impenitent NATIONS according to their Works.

By GRANVILLE SHARP.

‘The People of the Land have used Oppression, and exercised Robbery, and have vexed the Poor and Needy: yea, they have OPPRESSED THE STRANGER WRONGFULLY,’ &c. ‘Therefore have I poured out mine Indignation upon them,’ &c. ‘Their OWN WAY have I recompensed upon their Heads, saith the Lord God.’ Ezek. xxii. 29—31.

LONDON: Printed by W. RICHARDSON, For B. WHITE, at Horace's Head, in Fleet Street; and E. and C. DILLY, in the Poultry.

MDCCLXXVI.

‘If thou seest the Oppression of the Poor, and violent perverting of Judgement and Justice in a Province, marvel not at the matter (or will) FOR HE THAT IS HIGHER THAN THE HIGHEST REGARDETH,’ &c. Eccles. v. 8.— ‘ The Lord SAW (it) and it displeased him that there was NO JUDGEMENT, and he SAW that there was NO MAN, and wondered that (there was) NO INTERCESSOR:’ &c.—‘And he put on the Garments of VENGEANCE for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS, ACCORDINGLY HE WILL REPAY, fury to his Adversaries, RECOMPENCE (or Retribution) TO HIS ENEMIES, TO THE ISLAND'S HE WILL REPAY RECOMPENCE,’ &c. Isa. lix.— ‘How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the Persons of the Wicked? Defend the Poor and Fatherless: do Justice to the Afflicted and Needy. DELIVER THE POOR AND NEEDY: RID THEM OUT OF THE HAND OF THE WICKED.’ Ps. lxxxii. 2—4.— ‘Remove Violence and Spoil, and execute Judgement and Justice, TAKE AWAY YOUR EXACTIONS FROM MY PEOPLE, SAITH THE LORD GOD!’ Ezek. xlv. 9.

TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE QUOTED OR ILLUSTRATED IN THE FOREGOING TRACT.

GENESIS.

Chapter.

Verse.

Page.

XV.

11.

182

XVII.

8.

81

EXODUS.

II.

23, 24.

12

III.

7, 8.

13

XXI.

2, 5, 6.

4, 5, 81, 173

XXII.

21—24.

16

XXIII.

9.

15

LEVITICUS.

XIX.

18, 33, 34.

10, 11

XXV.

10, 39, 40.

4, 173

DEUTERONOMY.

V.

15.

14

VII.

2, 16.

8, 9

X.

17—19.

10

XV.

12, 15.

173, 178, 195

XVI.

12.

178, 195

XXIII.

15, 16.

21

XXIV.

18, 22.

178—195

JUDGES.

VI.

8.

14

I SAMUEL.

Chapter.

Verse.

Page.

I.

22.

81

VII.

17.

75

XIII.

13.

81

XXII.

6.

75

II SAMUEL.

VII.

11—29.

93

XII.

10.

81

I KINGS.

III.

5.

70

V.

12.

236

II KINGS.

XVI.

9.

231

XVIII.

17.

234

XXIII.

29, 31—34, 36.

45, 47—50, 97, 216

XXIV.

1, 2, 6, 8, 11—15, 17, 18.

91, 95—98, 104, 106, 107, 108, 115, 135

XXV.

1.

26

I CHRONICLES.

III.

15—18.

44, 108, 134

XXI.

29.

70, 75

II CHRONICLES.

I.

3.

75

XXV.

16—24.

42

XXVI.

5—7.

234

XXVIII.

9—11, 27.

98, 322

XXXIII.

14.

92

XXXV.

21.

216

XXXVI.

1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13.

46, 48, 90, 104, 109, 135

EZRA.

I.

1.

297

II.

26.

75

NEHEMIAH.

Chapter.

Verse.

Page.

VI.

10—12.

69

VII.

30.

75

PSALMS.

XII.

5.

19

LXXXI.

6, 7.

14

CXL.

12.

340

PROVERBS.

XVI.

12.

120

XXV.

5.

ibid.

ISAIAH.

III.

13—15.

21

V.

7.

316

VII.

4.

231

X.

6, 7, 12—16, 29.

75, 209, 213

XIII.

2—19.

285

XIV.

17, 25, 26.

217—297

XVI.

4.

244

XIX.

2, 3.

226

XXI.

2—5.

286, 287

XXIII.

7—9.

237

XXXIII.

1.

217

XL.

11.

163

XLII.

7.

299

XLIV.

21—28.

294

XLV.

1—5, 13.

294—296

XLVII.

1—14.

283

L.

41—43.

287

LIV.

14.

121

LVIII.

3.

19

LXL.

1, 2.

299

JEREMIAH.

I.

15.

124

III.

11.

330

V.

26—29.

24

VI.

6—8.

26.

Chapter.

Verse.

Page.

VII.

5—7

199

XXI.

1, 2, 3—9, 11, 12.

29, 30, 36, 142

XXII.

1—3, 5—9, 13, 18, 19, 24—28, 30.

97, 103, 137, 142, 301.

XXIII.

1, 2, 5, 6.

112, 162

XXIV.

1, 5, 7—9.

114, 138, 169

XXV.

1—9, 11—14.

81, 82, 124, 275

XXVI.

1—15.

76, 77

XXVII.

4—7.

85, 209.

XXX.

2, 7—9, 11, 16.

269—272.

XXXIII.

15, 16.

163

XXXIV.

1—3, 11.

28, 176

XXXV.

11.

88

XXXVI.

1—3, 5, 9, 29, 30.

85, 89, 94, 95, 97

XXXVII.

4—17.

185—187

XXXVIII.

2—5, 9—13.

189, 190

XXXIX.

1—7, 10.

27, 136, 137, 201, 206

XLV.

1, 5.

87

XLIX.

34, 39.

116, 117

L.

2—15, 33, 41—43.

148, 265—269, 287

LI.

1—42, 59—64.

119, 287—290

LII.

9—11, 31—34.

27, 48, 139, 203

LAMENTATIONS.

IV.

5, 9, 10.

200, 201

V.

13.

205

EZEKIEL.

VII.

3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 23.

31

XII.

19.

32

XVII.

15—21.

120—123

XXII.

7.

33, 34

XXIX.

3, 4.

122

XXXIX.

10.

262

DANIEL.

I.

1—3.

79, 90, 134

V.

4, 6.

286, 288

HOSEA.

V.

8.

75

JOEL.

III.

7, 8.

227, 261

AMOS.

Chapter.

Verse.

Page.

I.

1—15.

230—242

II.

1—6.

242, 246

III.

9—11.

246—250

V.

7—12.

247—249

VIII.

4—8.

23

OBADIAH.

I.

9—15.

227—229

MICAH.

III.

11.

69

ZECHARIAH.

VII.

3, 5.

89

VIII.

19.

Ibid.

MATTHEW.

I.

12.

135

VI.

24, 33.

113, 143

VII.

7.

197

MARK.

XI.

24.

197.

LUKE.

IV.

17—21.

299

X.

18.

196

XI.

9, 13.

197

XVI.

13.

197—143

JOHN.

I.

12.

196

X.

11.

163

VIII.

34.

145

XIV.

13.

197

XV.

7.

197

ROMANS.

VIII.

14, 15.

197

XI.

12, 25, 32.

292

XVI.

18.

145

I CORINTHIANS.

Chapter.

Verse.

Page.

III.

16, 17.

197

VI.

9, 10.

145

X.

11.

12

GALATIANS.

V.

14, 15.

11, 257

EPHESIANS.

V.

5.

144

PHILIPPIANS.

III.

18, 19.

144

COLOSSIANS.

III.

5.

144

HEBREWS.

II.

14, 15.

196

II PETER.

I.

3, 4.

197

I JOHN.

III.

8.

145

INDEX.

A.

- AFRICA, number of slaves annually bartered for on the coast of, page 147, note. Abp. Sharp's reflections on the decline of, to the present barbarous state, 263, note.

- African Company, the property they acquire in negroslaves unjust, 206. The means of procuring them detestable, 207.

- — Merchants of Liverpool and Bristol, remonstrance to them, on their traffic for men's bodies, 219. See Slave-trade.

- Ahaz king of Judah, the judgements inflicted on him for his inhuman idolatry, 319.

- Amaziah king of Judah, his haughty rejection of prophetical advice, and subsequent humiliation, 41, note.

- America, the cause of the opposition to the establishment of episcopacy there, assigned, 339, note.

- Ammonites, denunciation of God's vengeance against them for their barbarities, 240.

- Amos, his description of the practices by which the Jews reduced their poor brethren to slavery, 21. The Retribution denounced by him against the Syrians for their oppressions, 229. Against the Philistines, 231. Against Tyre, 235. Against Edom, 237. Against the bloody-minded Ammonites, 240. Against Moab, 242. Against Judah, 245. And, lastly, against Israel, 246.

- Armies, standing, a warning example against the keeping of, 56, note.

- Assyrians and Babylonians, instruments in the hand of God for the mutual punishment of each other, 210. Remarkable instance of divine vengeance against the former, 216, note.

B.

- Babylon, the Prophet Jeremiah's denunciation of retribution against, 264. A prior denunciation against, by Isaiah, 275. The bondage with which her captives were oppressed, the cause of God's vengeance against, 277. The stratagem by which Cyrus entered the City, 293. Great treasures found in the chapels of the idols, 295.

- Barnes, his account of the ancient mode of choosing Bishops, 334, note.

- Bengelius, his account of the primitive mode of electing Bishops, 334, note.

- Bishops, appeal to, and call upon them to exert their influence against negro-slavery, 331. The order of, a divine institution, 332, note. Defect in the English establishment of, ibid. The present mode of electing, a total perversion of the primitive one, 334, note. This present mode expressly condemned by Act of Parliament, 337, note.

- Blackstone, Judge, his account of the ancient mode of electing Bishops, 332, note. This right how usurped from the Laity, 333, note.

- Britain, warnings to the inhabitants of, for tolerating, by National Authority, the oppression of African Strangers in the Colonies, 16, 34. Indications of the Devil's empire over, 146, note. Unjust laws pointed out, 213, note. Symptoms of national destruction, 226, note. Inquiry whether the corruptions and injustice which have destroyed other nations, may not draw down God's vengeance on them, 248, note. Cannot expect to be the only exception to God's general rule of national retribution, 258, 302.

C.

- Christian Dispensation, Charity and Benevolence duties of indispensable obligation under, 6. Will not justify holding men in slavish bondage, ibid.

- Churches of Britain and Ireland, how deprived of the just and ancient right of electing their own Bishops, 333, note.

- Colonies, British, the oppressive treatment of negroes in, far exceeding those practices for which the Jews were reproached by their Prophets, 25. Number of negro slaves annually purchased there, 147. More tyranny exercised over the negroes there than formerly by the Chaldcans over the Jews, 304. And have reason therefore to expect more severe punishment, 305. Protest against the slave trade, yet at the same time continue to hold slaves in bondage, ibid.

- Covetousness, a species of idolatry, 144, note.

- Cyrus, the instrument of God's wrath against Babylon, and of deliverance to the Jews, predicted to this service two hundred years before his birth, 290. Called by Isaiah the Anointed of God, 297. In what respect a type of the Messiah, 298.

D.

- Dispensations of Providence to public societies, extract from Abp. Sharp's sermon on, 253, note.

E.

- Edomites, the judgements denounced against them by the Prophet Obadiah, with the reason, 227.

- Eliakim. See Jehoiakim.

- Episcopacy, how prevented from being established in America, 339, note.

- Ezekiel, his severe prophetical censure of King Zedekiah's breach of faith, 121.

F.

- Father, a term often used in a loose sense in holy scripture for any direct ancestor, 58, note.

- Ferrerius, his remarks on Isaiah's prophecy concerning the Assyrians, 222, note.

- Freedom, spiritual, clearly tendered to all mankind by Jesus Christ, 299. The rejection of this offer by the Jews the cause of the loss of their temporal inheritance, ibid. note.

G.

- Government, political, the necessity of administering it on just and righteous principles to produce national prosperity, 164, note. The woes denounced against national injustice and tyranny, 213, note.

- Grotius, his commentary on Jeremiah, ch. xxii. defended, 140, note. A mistake of his, respecting the extent of the prophet's message to king Zedekiah, rectified, 167, note. His opinion of the transgression for which the Philistines incurred the censure of the Prophet Amos, examined, 232, note.

H.

- Hananiah, a false prophet, rebuked by Jeremiah, 72.

- Heathen, who are to be understood as comprehended under this term in the Mosaic law, 8.

- Herodotus, his authority quoted for the great treasures in Babylon, when taken by Cyrus, 295, note.

I.

- Idolatry, a specification of vices that participate in the guilt of, 143, note.

- Je-hoiakim, how he attained the crown of Judah, 49, 50. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made the instrument of God's vengeance against him for his evil deeds, 79, 90. Rebels against Nebuchadnezzar, 95.

- Jeremiah, his account of the practices by which the Jews reduced the poor to slavery, 23. His prediction of the future empire of Nebuchadnezzar, 52, 57. His prophetical message to Zedekiah particularly considered, 131. Collation of passages in ch. xxi. and ch. xxii. 141. Sec Zedekiah.

- Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah's denunciations against that city for oppression, 26. Is taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 89. Is taken a second time, 99. Is taken a third time, 106.

- Jewish servitude, the nature of under the Mosaic law, explained, 4.

- Jews, the permission granted them of keeping bondsmen, cannot be claimed by any other nation, 8. The strongest instances of God's vengeance against tyrants, to be found in their history, 11. Their restoration to natural freedom from Egyptian slavery, the first national mercy they experienced, 12. This deliverance frequently mentioned by the prophets, 13. And particularly recommended to their remembrance, 14. That they might be moved to sympathize with oppressed strangers, 15. Warnings given them of the danger of oppression, 16. Their oppressions trivial in comparison with the treatment of negroes in the British Colonies, 25. The judgements of God executed against king Zedekiah, his family, and the nobles of Judah, 202. Under their present dispersion, have scriptural assurances of a glorious re-establishment, 272, note. Their final conversion will be a true object of general joy, 291, note.

- Josephus, his disingenuous attempt to conceal the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, 89, note. His account of the death of Jehoiakim, 98.

- Josiah king of Judah, account of his sons, 44. The judgement he drew on himself by undertaking an unjust war against Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, 155, note.

- Isaiah, his reproof to the Jews for the inconsistency of their outward humiliations with their oppressive conduct to the poor, 19. His denunciation against the city of Tyre, 237, note.

- Judah, remarkable deliverance of, from the bondage of Pekah king of Israel, by four chiefs of the children of Ephraim, 322.

L.

- Liberty, the deprivation of, the greatest of all injuries, except the loss of life, 301.

- Lives, a general view of the melancholy destruction of, in the prosecution of the slave trade, 148, note.

- Lowth, Dr. examination of his opinion concerning the successor of Josiah king of Judah, as mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah, 52, note. His interpretation of the word pastor, 162, note.

M.

- Masquerades, the baneful tendency of, 146, note.

- Micah, his denunciation of God's vengeance against the Ammonites for their covetous violence, 241, note.

N.

- Nations, not like individuals, to be called to a future account for their crimes, but receive their punishments in their collective capacity in this world, 253, note. Are, by divine wisdom, made mutual scourges to each other, 256.

- National wickedness, has generally been visited by national punishments, 10, 253, note, 259, note.

- Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the nations commanded to submit to his yoke, 63, note, 66. Kills Jeholakim, 99. His extensive conquests, 124. Executes the decree of God against king Zedekiah, 202. His conduct considered, 207.

- Negroes, inhuman treatment of them for resistance to tyranny, 151, note. One played for and won, at cards, 219, note. Advertisement for the head of one, 238, note. Computation of the number of, in our American islands and settlements, 326, note.

- New Jersey, proceedings of the inhabitants and freeholders, in disapprobation of the importation of negro slaves, 308.

P.

- Paris, Matthew, the ancient mode of electing bishops, collected from his account of the election of Ulstan to the see of Worcester, 337.

- Pastor, a term used both in a civil and ecclesiastical sense, 162, note.

- Patrick, Bishop, his mistake concerning the eldest son of Josiah king of Judah, corrected, 45, note. His account of the death of Je-hoiakim, 97, note.

- Philadelphia, petition of the inhabitants of, to the provincial Assembly, against the importation of negro slaves, 312. A provincial act imposing a heavy duty on them, rejected by the crown, 314.

- Philistines, the retribution prophecied against them by Amos, 231. For carrying on a slave trade with Edom, 233. When probably fulfilled, 234, note.

- Plagues of Egypt, signal instances of God's vengeance against slave-holder, 13.

- Planters, not to be exculpated from sharing the load of guilt with the kidnappers in the slave-trade, 150, note.

- Prideaux, Dean, determines who Belshazzar was in prophane history, 58, note. His account of the great fast of expiation, 93, note. His account of the death of Jehoiakim king of Judah corrected by Josephus, 99.

- Prophets, lying, hired for money, 69, note.

R.

- Retribution, the divine law of, explained, 75, note, 253, note, 259, note.

- Riblah in the land of Hamath, critical exposition of the names of those places, 48, note. The judgements of God against king Zedekiah, his Family, and the nobles of Judah, executed there, 201.

S.

- Seamen, the great hazard they run in the African slave trade, 149, note.

- Secker, Abp. the cause of the opposition to his endeavours at promoting episcopacy in America, traced, 339, note.

- Shallum king of Judah, critical opinions concerning his proper name, 46, note. His fate, 47.

- Sharp, Abp. his account of the use God made of king Nebuchadnezzar, 125, note. Extract from his sermon on the means of national prosperity, 253, note. His sentiments on national retribution, 259, note. His reflections on the present barbarous state of Africa, 263, note.

- Slave trade to Africa, rendered a national crime by its legislative support, 1. Indications of a national retribution for the guilt of it, 3. The judgements of God against the Jews, brought home to the reflection of African traders and American planters, 206. We have reason to fear the like divine vengeance for the guilt of this criminal traffic, 260.

- Slavery and oppression, the public toleration of, a most heinous national crime in the sight of God, 10. Strong prophetical description of, 154 Warning hints for the stopping of, communicated by the Author to the British Ministry, 251, 252, notes.

- Soldiers, African, their deplorable situation in the company's settlements, 150, note.

- Syrians, the denunciations of the prophet Amos against them for their oppressions, how fulfilled, 230.

T.

- Tyrants, tremendous examples of God's vengeance against, to be found in all histories, particularly that of the Jews, 11.

- Tyre and Zidon, the ports for the ancient slave trade, of Palestine, 219. How this wicked traffic was retaliated upon them, 222, note. The government of Tyre subverted by the slaves, 256, note.

V.

- Vices, destructive of national prosperity, 165, note. Public, how punished, 253, note.

- Virginia, petition of the house of burgesses to the king on the inhumanity and dangerous tendency of the African slave-trade, 306.

- Urijah the prophet murdered by Jehoiakim king of Judah, 77.

- Usher, Abp. his account of Nabuchadonosor king of Babylon, 55, note. His opinion as to the king addressed by the prophet Jeremiah, ch.xxii. corrected, 136, note.

W.

- War, barbarity in, will incur the vengeance of God, 240, note.

X.

- Xenophon, his account of the destruction of Babylon, 287, 288, 295.

Y.

- Yokes, prophetically used as emblems of slavery, 52, note, 56, 64.

Z.

- Zedekiah king of Judah, prophetic denunciations against him for injustice and oppression, 26. Exhortations to him, 37. Historical account of that prince, 44, 59. Is raised to the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, 108. Exposition of his regal name, 110, 166. Rebels against the king of Babylon, 119. The prophet Jeremiah's message to him particularly considered, 131. Proclaims liberty to bondsmen, 172. Denunciations upon his relapse, 177. Judgement executed on him, by the hand of his conqueror Nebuchadnezzar, 202.

This Tract having been unavoidably extended to a much greater length than was at first intended, the Extract from Mr. Morgan's Book, mentioned in p. 258, is inserted in the Appendix of another Tract, intituled, ‘The just Limitation of Slavery in the Laws of God compared with the unbounded Claims of the African Traders and British American Slave-holders.’

FINIS.

By the same AUTHOR.

- I. A Short Treatise on the English Tongue. Being an Attempt to render the Reading and Pronunciation of the same more easy to Foreigners. 1767.

- II. Remarks on several very important Prophecies. 1768.

- III. A Representation of the Injustice and dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery; or of admitting the least Claim of Private Property in the Persons of Men in England. Being in Answer to an Opinion given in the Year 1729, by the (then) Attorney General and Solicitor General concerning the Case of Slaves in Great Britain. 1769.

- IV. Remarks concerning the Encroachments on the River Thames near Durham Yard. 1771.

- V. Remarks on the Opinions of some of the most celebrated Writers on CROWN LAW, respecting the due Distinction between Manslaughter and Murder. 1773.

- VI. In two Parts. 1. A Declaration of the Peoples Natural Right to a Share in the Legislature; which is the fundamental Principle of the British Constitution of State. 2. A Declaration, or Defence of the same Doctrine, when applied particularly to THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND. 1774.

Printed ser B. WHITE, at Horace's Head, in Fleet-Street.

TRACTS, by the same AUTHOR, Now in the Press for Publication, by B. WHITE in Fleet-Street, and E. and C. DILLY in the Poultry.

- I. A Tract on the Law of Nature, and Principles of Action in Man.

- II. THE CASE OF SAUL; being an Appendage to the former Tract, wherein the compound Nature and various Principles of Action in MAN (with the Reality of supernatural, spiritual Influence, both good and bad) are proved by unquestionable Examples from the History of that unfortunate Monarch, and also from many other parts of Scripture.

- III. The just Limitation of Slavery in the Laws of God compared with the unbounded Claims of the African Traders and British American Slave-holders.

- IV. The Law of passive Obedience: or, Christian Submission to personal Injuries.—Wherein is shewn that the several Texts of Scripture which command the entire Submission of Servants or Slaves to their Masters, cannot authorize the latter to exact an involuntary Servitude, nor in the least degree justify the unbounded Claims of modern Slave-holders.

- V. "The Law of Liberty;" or (as it is called in Scripture by way of eminence) "the Royal Law,," by which all Mankind will certainly be judged!

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The law of retribution: or, a serious warning to Great Britain and her colonies, founded on unquestionable examples of God's temporal vengeance against tyrants, slave-holders, and oppressors. ... By Granville Sharp.

Sharp, Granville, 1735-1813.

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1106022114

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— The law of retribution: or, a serious warning to Great Britain and her colonies, founded on unquestionable examples of God's temporal vengeance against tyrants, slave-holders, and oppressors. ... By Granville Sharp., Sharp, Granville, 1735-1813.. [4],357,[3]p. ; 8⁰. London :: printed by W. Richardson, for B. White; and E. and C. Dilly,. 1776.. [With a half-title and a final advertisement leaf.] [A variant has a 4-page advertisement which begins: "Tracts by the same author. Printed for B. White, ..".] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [Sabin, 79826] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT137101.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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