Testament which bears his name, and is, upon good grounds, supposed to be the author of two more ; that is, of the two books of Chronicles, as probably also he was of the book of Esther. And if these books, written by him, be of divine authority, why may not every thing else be so which he hath added to any of the rest, since there is all reason for us to suppose that he was as much directed by the Holy Spirit of God in the one, as he was in the other? For as it was necessary for the church of God that this work should be done, so also was it necessary for the work, that the person called thereto should be assisted in the completing of it.

"4. He changed the old names of several places that were grown obsolete, putting instead of them the new names by which they were at that time called, that the people might the better understand what was written. Thus, (Gen. xiv. 14.) Abraham is said to have pursued the kings who carried Lot away captive, as far as Dan, whereas the name of that place was Laish, till the Danites, long after the death of Moses, possessed themselves of it, and called it Dan, after the name of their father. And therefore it could not be called Dan in the original copy of Moses, but that name must have been put in afterwards instead of that of Laish. And so of several other places in Genesis; as also in Numbers we find mention made of Hebron, whereas the name of that city was Kirjath Arba, till Caleb, having obtained possession of it, called it Hebron, after the name of one of his sons; and therefore that name could not be in the text, till placed there, long after the death of Moses, by way of ex

change for Kirjath Arba; which, it is not to be doubted, was done at the time of this review by Ezra. And many other like examples might be given, whereby it appears that the study of those who governed the church of God in those times was, to render the Scriptures as plain and intelligible to the people as they could, and not to hide or conceal any of it from them.

"5. He wrote out the whole in the Chaldee character: for that having now grown wholly into use among the people after the Babylonish captivity, he changed the old Hebrew character for it; which hath since that time been retained only by the Samaritans, among whom it is preserved even to this day."

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH.

"This book contains an account of Nehemiah's sorrow, fasting and prayer, on hearing of the affliction of his brethren in Jerusalem. At this time he was cup-bearer to the king of Persia, who, on observing his grief, and inquiring into the cause thereof, gave him permission to visit Jerusalem. Having succeeded in his design, he arrived at Jerusalem, vested with full power and authority to complete the great work, which had been in part accomplished by his predecessor, Ezra. After having governed Judea twelve years, he returned to Persia, and after continuing there some time, obtained permission to return to Jerusalem, where, it is probable, he died. Beside these statements, the Book of Nehemiah contains, a register of the persons who returned from Babylon; an account of the building and dedi

cation of the walls of Jerusalem; the reading of the Law, with the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles; a solemn fast, with the renewal of the Covenant, &c."-Clarke.

THE BOOK OF ESTHER.

"This book derives its name from the principal person who appears therein; a virtuous Jewess, who obtained the favor of Ahasuerus, a Persian monarch, and thus preserved her people from a furious persecution. Such is the estimation in which this book is held by the Jews, that they believe, whatever may be the fate of the other canonical books, this will ever be preserved. From the circumstance of no mention being made in this book, of the name of God, some of the Christian Fathers have felt disposed to expunge it from the Bible. This, however, can afford no reason for such an act, while the history it relates is such as to confirm the doctrine of an overruling Providence, in the moral government of the world, and to show that the Lord careth for the righteous.'

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Of the authenticity of this book there can be no doubt. The feast of Purim was instituted, and is still kept up among the Jews, in memory of their deliverance from their evil machinations of Haman. "The day before the feast they observe as a fast, because on that day the fathers fasted, when they were threatened with utter destruction. The two following days are days of high feasting and mirth; for on these days they hold it lawful to drink to exThe chassan reads the whole book of Esther,

cess.

While the

not out of a printed copy, but from a roll kept on purpose. Every one who is able is required to come to this feast to join in the reading, for the better preservation of this important fact. chassan is reading, as often as the name occurs, the whole auditory cry out, be blotted out,' or 'Let his memory perish.' The children at the same time hissing, and striking loudly on the forms with little wooden hammers made for the

of Haman Let his name

purpose. When the reading is finished, all cry aloud, Cursed be Haman! Blessed be Mordecai! Cursed be Zeresh! Blessed be Esther! Cursed be all idolaters! Blessed be all the Israelites; And blessed be Harbonah,' at whose instance Haman was hanged!"-(Clarke.)

The historical part of the Old Testament closes here; but it may be proper to add a few reflections. We have before us the most ancient and the most authentic history in the world. Beginning with the birth of time, and the creation of the first human pair; the sacred historian brings down his deeply interesting narrative through many generations, to the time when God "formed for himself a people who should show forth his praise." The history of this people is also traced with an unerring hand, from the call of Abraham their father, to the destruction of their famous temple, and their dispersion in part, among the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, and the Persians. Would we know any thing of the true history of a people to whom we are indebted for that part of the Bible which is called the Old Testament? in the books which constitute that part of the sacred volume, their history is fully and faith

fully delineated. Here we tread on "rich historic ground"—all beyond is conjecture, uncertainty, or fable! Would we know the true origin of those mutilated and disfigured accounts, which constitute an important part of "classic lore," such as the Chaos of Sanconiatho, Hesiod, Aristophanes, Diodorus Siculus, Ovid, and others their fabled Prometheus, Deucalion, Hermes Trismegistus, Iphigenia, Nisus, Phæton, &c. &c., we have only to turn to our Bibles, and there we can read the undisguised and simple truth.

And now, if any one should be found so far beneath the standard of reason and common sense, as to say, that these authentic records are the offspring of priestcraft, let him know that it is evident that the Protestant priests had no hand in writing them, for they were written long before their time, for Luther and Wiclif only translated them. It is equally certain that the Catholic priests are exempt, for they were completed long before their time. And as to Ezra the priest, who probably arranged them, it is certain that many of them were in existence long before his time. But though some of them had existed from the time of Aaron the priest, there is no evidence that he wrote them. And it is certain that the Egyptian priests, for the credit of their craft, would not write them. As well might we suppose that Elias Hicks wrote Barclay's Apology, as to suppose that the historical books of the Old Testament are the offspring of priestcraft.

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