never had a beginning. Other philosophers have attempted to prove the absolute impossibility of creation; and asserted that it is a plain absurdity to suppose that God could produce something out of nothing, or produce something where nothing existed before. The same sentiment has been imbibed and propagated within less than thirty years past. But the Bible tells us that the world had a beginning, and that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, the sun, moon, and stars; that he separated the waters from the dry land, and formed the earth and the ocean; that he caused the earth to bring forth trees, fruits, plants, and herbs; that he created every beast of the field, every fowl of the air, every fish in the sea, and every monster in the deep; and that last of all, he formed one man and one woman, united them in a family state, and commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth. The Bible tells us that God thus created the whole world in six days; and this account must be true, if all nations are of one blood, and sprang from the same two parents. We cannot account for the existence and similarity of all nations, on any other supposition than this.

The Bible tells us, that after God had placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he gave them an express prohibition not to eat of the tree of life, which was in the midst of the garden, upon pain of death; but a subtile and malignant spirit in the form of a serpent, tempted them to eat of the forbidden tree, by which they forfeited the divine favor, and incurred the penalty of death, the proper wages of sin; and in consequence of the divine constitution, they hereby entailed sin and guilt on all their posterity. This is the scriptural account of the first apostacy of mankind, and the sin and misery which have flowed from it, among all the nations of the earth; and this is the only account of the universal depravity, which carries its own evidence of its truth and certainty. Though men have sought out many inventions to account for the universal depravity of mankind; yet the Bible gives the only rational account of it, that by one man's disobedience all were made sinners. This must be true, if all nations are of one blood, and derive their origin from one man.

The Bible tells us, that after mankind became universally corrupt, and had filled the earth with violence, God swept them all away by the flood, except one single family. The heathen have some dark traditions concerning this awful catastrophe, but they could never give any rational account of it. It cannot be credibly accounted for, but on the supposition, that all nations are of one blood, universally depraved, and universally deserve destruction. For if they were of different

origins, one might be guilty and not another, and it would be unjust to punish the innocent with the guilty. But if they were all of one origin and involved in the same moral corruption, God might justly involve them all in one general ruin.

If all nations are of one blood, this shows the impracticability of palming the Mosaic history upon the world, if it were not true. For all nations being of one family, they were naturally and necessarily connected, and must have had intercourse with one another, and could have contradicted and disproved the whole account of creation, if it had been false; and they would have had strong motives to do it; but they never attempted to refute it; and only exposed their ignorance by their vague and groundless conjectures concerning the primeval state of man.

If all nations are of one blood, then it is out of the power of Deists to disprove the inspiration and authority of the Bible. They have no monuments nor history so old as the Bible. Sanchoniathon is the oldest historian among profane authors, and only a few fragments of his writings have come down to us. But he wrote since Moses: so that the Old Testament is the oldest book in the world. The deists, therefore, have no histories to disprove the Mosaic history. Nor can they produce any ancient monuments, to show that different nations have sprung from different origins. But we have innumerable monuments, and the most ancient and authentic histories, to prove that all nations have sprung from one original source, agreeably to the Mosaic account of the creation, and of the dispersion of mankind after the Deluge. The burden of proof lies on those who deny divine revelation. It belongs to them to show how such a revelation as the Bible contains could come down to us, without divine inspiration. It carries history back to creation, of which there is no other history to be found. There is no profane history that gives any account of the first man, Adam, nor of his state of innocence, nor of his first apostacy. They have no histories more ancient, than those of the Babylonians and Egyptians. How then can they disprove the Mosaic account of the creation, of the state of innocence, of the state of man after the fall, of the Deluge, and of the general dispersion of mankind after the flood? They are all in the dark in respect to those great and interesting events, and must continue in the dark, while they deny the inspiration and authenticity of the Bible. This sacred volume is in our hands, and it is out of the power of infidels to take it out of our hands.

2. If all nations are of one blood, and belong to the same original family, then that notion of patriotism which is gener

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ally imbibed and admired, is false and unscriptural. One nation has no more right to seek its own public interests exclusively, or in opposition to the public interests of other nations, than one member of the same family has to seek his own private interest exclusively, or in opposition to the private interest of the rest of the family. It is, indeed, too common, that one member of the family seeks his own interest, in opposition to the interests of all the other members; but they never fail to complain of it as unkind and unjust; and every impartial person acquainted with the case, always forms, if he does not express, the same opinion. Brethren certainly ought to dwell together in union of affection, and of course, to seek each other's interest as their own. This is the law of love, which is founded in the reason of things, and which is sanctioned by divine authority. What is true, in respect to one branch of the large family of mankind, is equally true in respect to every branch of it, even the largest branches. All nations are morally bound to seek each other's interests so far as they are known, and to refrain from doing any thing which they deem to be injurious to them. To feel and act in this manner is true patriotism. But it is not the patriotism which ancient Greece and Rome practiced and applauded, nor that which modern France, Britain, America, and other nations generally practice and admire. It is a national maxim, to be lovers of their own selves, their own country, and their own interests exclusively, and in opposition to the interests of all other countries and of all other nations. The by-laws (if I may so call them) of every nation, are built on this false, selfish, and sinful principle. No such principle is inculcated, or allowed in the Bible. Nations are under the same moral and divine obligation to exercise a disinterested regard to one another, that brothers are to regard each other in a kind and disinterested manner; for they are all of one blood and brethren of the same family. But who would think in reading the history of nations, that they viewed one another as brethren, and bound to treat each other as such? It is shocking to read the history of the Jews, of the Babylonians, of the Romans, of the Greeks, of the French, of the English, and of the Americans. They have all been engaged in wars and fightings, and shed rivers of blood. Millions and millions have been slain by the sword, within a few years past, by those who call themselves christians. And they have all professed to act as patriots. All selfish, cruel, inhuman patriotism ought to be condemned, as totally contrary to the spirit of the gospel, and the filial relation that all nations bear to one another.

3. If all nations are of one blood and belong to the same

human family, then they have no right to enslave one another. All men have natural and unalienable rights, which never ought to be taken from them by force and violence. But all nations have been guilty of this cruel and inhuman practice of trading in the souls of men. This vile traffic has been carried

on for ages, and is still carried on in the most cruel and barbarous manner. Notwithstanding the extensive diffusion of both civil and religious light, respecting this subject, christians as well as heathen nations persist in making, selling, buying and holding slaves. This is a crying sin among heathen nations, an aggravated sin among christian nations, and still more heinous among Americans, who are so tenacious of their own public and personal freedom. They seem to think, that they originated from a different and nobler stock than the Africans; and insist upon their right to make them slaves. One would think, that no man of sense and honesty would really maintain this absurd and unscriptural opinion. But many, very many men in the nation, who pride themselves for wealth, learning, and patriotism, are strong and powerful advocates for slavery, and carry their opinion into practice, by subjecting thousands and thousands of their African brethren to the meanest and most degrading servitude. This is a lamentation, and ought to be for a lamentation. It is a deep stain upon our national character, and nothing but repentance and reformation can wipe it off.

4. Since all nations are of one blood and brethren of the same large family, God has manifested peculiar care, wisdom, and kindness, in fixing the various places of their residence in various parts of the world, in the best manner, according to their relations to and connections with each other. God has not left the settlement of this world to mere chance or accident, but wisely fixed every nation in its proper place. "As he hath made of one blood all nations of men, so he hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." God divided the earth in the days of Peleg among the three branches of Noah's family, and ordered them to go to the several places of their destination. He fixed his own people in the place he had before appointed for their habitation. "Thus saith the Lord, this is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her." It was not a matter of indifference with God, where he should fix the bounds of the children of Israel, or those of any other nation. He has located every nation that has been, is now, or ever will be in the world, in the wisest and best manner to answer his own purposes. And as he fixed the bounds of their habitations, so he fixed their times. That is, the time when every

nation should rise or fall, or become mixed with any other nation. In a word, he appointed the times, when all the revolutions among the nations of the earth should take place. In these appointments, he has manifested peculiar care, wisdom, and kindness, in disposing of the large family of mankind. It requires great care, wisdom, and kindness in a parent, to dispose of his numerous family, in the wisest and best manner. It requires more care, wisdom, and kindness in a prince to dispose of his numerous subjects in the wisest and best manner. But it required far greater care, wisdom, and kindness in God, to settle the innumerable children of Adam in their proper places in this world. All the nations of the earth are under strong obligations of gratitude to God for determining their times and the bounds of their habitation. Though they cannot see why they are placed as they are, yet God knows why, and they have reason to be satisfied with the divine allotment. They may know that if they are really contented, it will eventually be for the glory of God, and their own good.

5. If God has made of one blood all the nations of the earth, and they are all brethren of the same family, then he has exercised his absolute sovereignty in a very striking manner, in the government of the world. He has made great and innumerable distinctions among the nations and inhabitants of the earth. How differently did he treat the three branches of Noah's family, causing them to separate far and wide from each other, and fixing the bounds of their habitation in very different parts of the earth? How differently did he treat Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau? How differently did he treat his own people, and all other nations? He has placed one nation in a warm and another in a cold country. He has placed one nation in a rich, and another in a poor, barren country. He has raised one nation to great power, opulence, and dignity, and reduced many other people to servitude, poverty and meanness. He has placed families and individuals in ten thousand different circumstances. He has governed the whole world and all the inhabitants of it, in a mysterious and incomprehensible manner. All things have come alike to all; there has been one event to the righteous and to the wicked. The race has not been to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor yet bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but to human view, time and chance has happened to them all. We cannot conceive how God could have made more or greater distinctions among men in this life, than he has made, or how he could have made greater or more visible displays of his sovereignty in governing one and the same large family. But still it is denied by