THE LAW OF RETRIBUTION.

THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE has been publicly ſupported and encouraged by the Legiſlature of this King⯑dom 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 unre⯑penting Inhabitants of this Iſland! And, with reſpect to the Britiſh Colonies, the [2]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 prodi⯑gious 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 Op⯑preſſion; which, I hope, will ſufficiently prove that Slavery was ever deteſtable in [3]the ſight of God, and conſequently that a ſpeedy Reformation is abſolutely ne⯑ceſſary (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 flat⯑ter 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 [4]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 Atlan⯑tic, 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 Ser⯑vants; that the Servitude could not law⯑fully be extended beyond ſeven years ⁽²⁾ [5]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 [6]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 our⯑ſelves as Citizens of the World; that every Man whatever, without any partial diſ⯑tinction of Nation, Diſtance, or Com⯑plexion, 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 benevo⯑lent, at leaſt, as that which was required of the Jews, under the Law, towards their national Brethren; and, conſe⯑quently, 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 burthen⯑ſome Service than that to which the Jews were limited with reſpect to their [7] 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 JUDGE⯑MENTS which the Jews brought upon themſelves principally by exceeding theſe very limitations which I have here ſpeci⯑fied: 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 Na⯑tional 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 benevo⯑lence which is required of all Men under the Goſpel Diſpenſation: and I have [8]clearly proved (I truſt) that the permiſ⯑ſion to the Iſraelites, to keep Bondmen of the Heathen (or more properly the Na⯑tions, [...]) 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 [...], ren⯑dered 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 [9]with them⁽⁵⁾: and I hope I have alſo proved that the remainder of theſe parti⯑cular 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 parti⯑cular Nations which were expreſsly, by name, condemned to deſtruction by the hands of the Iſraelites, in other parts of [10]the Law, for their abominable wicked⯑neſs) ‘nor taketh Reward: he doth ex⯑ecute the Judgement of the Father⯑leſs and Widow, and loveth the Stran⯑ger, in giving him food and raiment. LOVE YE THEREFORE the Stranger’ (and the Almighty incul⯑cates a ſympathetic concern for the wel⯑fare and happineſs of Strangers, by re⯑minding the Iſraelites of their own un⯑happy 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 be⯑ginning of the World, has generally been viſited with National Puniſhments: and ſurely no National Wickedneſs can be more heinous in the ſight of God, [11]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 Hiſ⯑tory is ſo proper to illuſtrate this ſub⯑ject (which now ſo nearly concerns us) as that of the Jews: for as the Know⯑ledge 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 [12]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 ad⯑monition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.’

One of the firſt and moſt ſignal in⯑ſtances 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 [13]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. Jeho⯑vah) ‘God of Iſrael: I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the Houſe of Bondage;’ ( [...], more literally ‘from the Houſe [14] 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 re⯑moved 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.

[15]It was ſurely for the moral purpoſe of ſtirring up in the Iſraelites a ſympa⯑thetic concern for the Sufferings of the Oppreſſed, and more particularly of Op⯑preſſed Strangers, that they were ſo fre⯑quently 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’ ( [...], properly THE SOUL) ‘OF A STRANGER, ſeeing ye were Stran⯑gers in the Land of Egypt.’ Exod. xxiii. 9.

God alſo gave the Iſraelites due warn⯑ing of the Danger of Oppreſſion, by de⯑claring that he would SURELY re⯑venge the Cauſe of the injured Stranger: [16] ‘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 [17]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 mul⯑titude 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 Mo⯑narchs 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 Op⯑preſſion, and (it is to be feared) Par⯑takers 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 inter⯑poſition [18]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 vouch⯑ſafed to ſet his own Divine Example before the eyes of his redeemed People, to excite Benevolence and Thankful⯑neſs; and the like Remembrance of that glorious Redemption from Sla⯑very was very frequently repeated from time to time; which the Scriptures ſufficiently teſtify: but alas! the Iſra⯑elites profited ſo little by theſe whole⯑ſome leſſons, that it became neceſſary, no leſs frequently, to remind them of the dreadful Vengeance which would in⯑evitably overtake them for their noto⯑rious Oppreſſions of the Poor; for their unjuſt Exactions of involuntary and un⯑rewarded Service; and for exceeding the [19] 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. [20]And again, — ‘Is it ſuch a Faſt that I have choſen? a day for a Man to af⯑flict 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, [...] 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 [...] ſeems more properly to ſignify in this place) "to thy Houſe?" &c. Compare this [21]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 Judge⯑ment 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 [22] 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 ſpeak⯑ing, at a moſt contemptible price! whereby we may preſume that Slave-markets were not ſo notoriouſly eſtab⯑liſhed 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 Ja⯑cob, [23] 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 Co⯑lonies 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 [24]of the Jews (whereby they reduced the Poor to Slavery) when he made a ſo⯑lemn 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 Father⯑leſs, 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 Al⯑mighty plainly appeals to the Human. [25]Underſtanding concerning the Propri⯑ety, or rather the Neceſſity, of exert⯑ing the Divine Vengeance againſt ſuch an Oppreſſive Nation!

And yet how inconſiderable was the crime of the Jewiſh Nation in this re⯑ſpect, if compared with the numerous Bondage and with the unbounded Op⯑preſſion of the poor Negroes in the Bri⯑tiſh 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 Na⯑tion as this?’

The ſame Prophet, in the next chap⯑ter, declares the Divine Vengeance to be at hand: — ‘For thus hath the Lord of Hoſts ſaid,—Hew ye down Trees, [26]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 Wick⯑edneſs: 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 them⯑ſelves began to appear in all the horrors of a hopeleſs War, which began in the ninth year⁽¹¹⁾ of King Zedekiah's [27]reign, notwithſtanding that the Mo⯑narch had previouſly rendered himſelf ſecure (as he thought) by his military preparations (in ſending for Horſes and Men from Egypt, to complete his ſtand⯑ing 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 Do⯑minion, 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 Cap⯑tivity, [28]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 irreſiſti⯑ble inſtrument in the hand of God, by [29]which the Jews had ſo often been ſub⯑dued, the King's ſtubborn heart began to relent, and his military confidence to forſake him, which had before encou⯑raged 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 Mo⯑narch; for the Prophet confirmed all the heavy Judgements⁽¹²⁾ which had [30]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 [31]thee according to thy ways, and will RECOMPENSE upon thee all thine abo⯑minations,’ &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:—"Vio⯑lence" (ſaid the Prophet) ‘is riſen up into a Rod of Wickedneſs: none of them ſhall remain, nor of their mul⯑titude, 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 [32]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 Care⯑fulneſs; and drink their Water with Aſtoniſhment, that her Land may be deſolate from all that is therein, be⯑cauſe of THE VIOLENCE of them that dwell therein.’ Ezek. xii. 19. The nature of this baneful Violence, which oc⯑caſioned their deſtruction, is more parti⯑cularly [33]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 de⯑ſpiſed mine holy things, and haſt pro⯑faned 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 com⯑mitted abomination with his Neigh⯑bour'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 Extor⯑tion, and haſt forgotten me, ſaith the Lord God. Behold, therefore, I have [34]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 no⯑torious Adulteries, and other acts of Lewdneſs, which many amongſt us (from the frequency of ſuch crimes) commit, even without ſhame or re⯑morſe, 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 [35] "riſen up into" ſo deſtructive ‘a Rod of Wickedneſs’—as the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, now carried on chiefly by our Liverpool and Briſtol Mer⯑chants? What "bloody crime" among the Jews was more notorious, and more wickedly premeditated, than the late In⯑vaſion and Conqueſt of the poor innocent CARRIBEES at ST. VINCENT's? And what Nation hath ‘dealt by Oppreſ⯑ſion with the Stranger’ ſo generally, ſo inhumanly, and in ſo great a degree, as our BRITISH AMERICAN SLAVE-HOLDERS!—Have we not ample rea⯑ſon to expect that the ſame tremendous decree will, in God's Juſtice, be ful⯑filled upon theſe Kingdoms?— ‘De⯑ſtruction cometh: and they ſhall ſeek Peace, and there ſhall be none. Miſ⯑chief ſhall come upon miſchief, and rumour upon rumour,’ &c. &c. &c.— ‘I will do unto them after their (own) way, and according to their [36](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 neg⯑lect 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 Deſtruc⯑tion!—"And unto this People" (ſaid God to the Prophet Jeremiah) ‘thou ſhalt ſay, Thus ſaith the Lord; Be⯑hold, 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.

[37]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’ (con⯑tinued the Prophet) ‘ſay,—Hear ye the Word of the Lord, O Houſe of David—thus ſaith the Lord; Exe⯑cute 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 [38]of your doings.’ Jer. xxi. 12. This is a manifeſt declaration that the Neglect of JUSTICE and RIGHT, and the Tolera⯑tion of OPPRESSION, were the principal cauſes of God's heavy Vengeance againſt that Royal Houſe!

The ſame advice was, by God's Com⯑mand, 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 Ser⯑vants, and thy People that enter in by theſe Gates" (that is, all Perſons what⯑ever that enter in by’ the Palace-gates, plainly including the whole Court, be⯑fore whom the Prophet was to deliver his meſſage): ‘Thus ſaith the Lord; Execute ye JUDGEMENT and RIGH⯑TEOUSNESS, [39]and deliver the Spoiled out of the hand of THE OPPRES⯑SOR; and do no wrong, DO NO VIOLENCE TO THE STRAN⯑GER ⁽¹³⁾’, &c. — ‘For if ye do this thing indeed’ (that is, if ye will execute Judgement and Righteouſneſs, deli⯑ver 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 my⯑ſelf, ſaith the Lord’ (i. e. Jehovah) [40]"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, con⯑ſequently, that the Judgements de⯑nounced 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 deſtruc⯑tion) a continuance of the Monarchy (viz. ‘Kings ſitting upon the Throne of David’) if they would but reſolve to ‘execute JUDGEMENT and RIGHTE⯑OUSNESS;’ 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 [41]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 imme⯑diate Predeceſſors in the Kingdom; two of whom were his own Brothers, the [42]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 Remon⯑ſtrance, 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 inte⯑reſting 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 [43]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 ne⯑ceſſary for me to prove, that the whole 22d Chapter of Jeremiah is included in that Meſſage, or Remonſtrance, which [44]the Prophet was then to deliver in the preſence of the whole Court of Zede⯑kiah. 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 tre⯑mendous predictions of GOD's Vengeance againſt theſe wicked Princes.

Zedekiah was the Son of that excel⯑lent 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, Jo⯑hanan (or John); the ſecond, Je⯑hoiakim; the third, Zedekiah; and the fourth, Shallum.’ 1 Chron. iii. 15.—What became of the eldeſt Son [45]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) re⯑gard [46]to ſeniority) ‘made him King in his Father's ſtead in Jeruſalem.’ 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1.⁽¹⁶⁾.

[47]The reign of Shallum (alias Jehoa⯑haz ⁽¹⁷⁾ was only three months; for he regarded not the eternal Laws of God, and thereby drew down the Di⯑vine Vengeance upon himſelf, by the hand of Pharaoh-Neco, who depoſed [48]him at Jeruſalem ⁽¹⁸⁾ (2 Chron. xxxvi. 3.) and afterwards ‘PUT HIM IN BANDS at Riblah ⁽¹⁹⁾ in the Land of Hamath, [49]that he might not reign in Jeruſalem’ (2 Kings xxiii. 33)⁽²⁰⁾ there being, pro⯑bably, 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 Da⯑vid;’ and therefore, to ſecure the [50]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 ap⯑parent in the Revolution) from Eliakim ( [...], ſignifying God will eſtabliſh) to Je-hoiakim, ſignifying (as I have be⯑fore remarked) "Jehovah will eſtabliſh;" whereby it is manifeſt that even a Hea⯑then Monarch took pains to remind the new King of Judah of his dependence on Jehovah the God of Iſrael, whoſe Laws [51]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 Mo⯑narch to have changed the Name of his Royal Vaſſal to another Name more par⯑ticularly teſtifying a Belief in Jehovah, the true God of Iſrael, if he did not mean thereby to keep the Jewiſh King in con⯑ſtant remembrance of the National Pro⯑feſſion 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 Hea⯑then 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 pur⯑ſue [52]exactly the ſame method in reſtoring "the Sceptre of Judah" to ‘the Houſe of David,’ and in declaring the Eſtab⯑liſhment of the National Law and Re⯑ligion, 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 Pro⯑phet Jeremiah, in his 27th chapter⁽²²⁾ [53]foretold the univerſal Empire of ‘Nebu⯑chadnezzar King of Babylon,’ even [54]before that great Warrior was King of Babylon⁽²³⁾ his Father Nabopollaſar [55](who was alſo called Nebuchodonoſor ⁽²⁴⁾ being ſtill alive. The Prophet was di⯑rected [56]to make Bonds and Yokes, and put them upon his own neck, and to ſend [57]them afterwards to the Kings of ſeveral neighbouring Nations, with a moſt aw⯑ful 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 Ba⯑bylon, my Servant;’ &c.— ‘and all Nations’ (many of whom are ex⯑preſsly 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 [58] 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 op⯑preſſed other Nations: rendering Slavery for Slavery!

[59]In the ſame chapter ZEDEKIAH is alſo mentioned by name as King of Ju⯑dah ⁽²⁶⁾ ſeveral years before he received the name of ZEDEKIAH; ſo that nei⯑ther he himſelf (whoſe proper name was Mattaniah) nor any other perſon could poſſibly know, in the beginning of Je⯑hoiakim's reign, what particular perſon was then ſignified by the name of Ze⯑dekiah; for even Nebuchadnezzar him⯑ſelf, who afterwards gave him that [60]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 circum⯑ſtance would add unqueſtionable autho⯑rity to the truth of Jeremiah's miſſion, and would render Zedekiah and his Cour⯑tiers inexcuſable (as they really were) for rejecting the earneſt and repeated Re⯑monſtrances of that Prophet⁽²⁷⁾.

This timely Prediction, therefore, in the reign of Jehoiakim, with the inter⯑nal Proofs which it contained, concern⯑ing the neceſſity of Zedekiah's Submiſſion [61]to the Babylonian Yoke, ſeems to have been abſolutely neceſſary to enable the Prophet to confute the many falſe Pro⯑phets, Diviners, Dreamers, &c. (ſee 9th verſe) who were (afterward, in Zede⯑kiah's reign) publickly employed to ex⯑cite the People to ſhake off the Babylo⯑nian 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 ‘Ze⯑dekiah King of Judah;’ all which Kings (as Grotius remarks)⁽²⁸⁾ were ſubdued by Nebuchadnezzar; and there⯑fore it is not improbable that the ſaid Meſſengers or Ambaſſadors were ſent to Zedekiah for the purpoſe of forming [62]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 ſup⯑poſition about the buſineſs of the Meſ⯑ſengers 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, to⯑gether with GOD's awful Meſſage (that he would puniſh that Nation which will not ſerve Nebuchadnezzar, and put their [63]Neck under his Yoke, ſee ver. 8.⁽³⁰⁾, muſt needs ſtrike theſe Heathen Mo⯑narchs (if they were not entirely aban⯑doned in their principles) with Fear and Reverence; eſpecially as their Am⯑baſſadors 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 Je⯑hoiakim'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 circum⯑ſtances of that extraordinary Revelation were now already fulfilled: the Pro⯑phet [64]having not only foretold the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and the reign of Zedekiah (a name not applicable to Ze⯑dekiah himſelf till the Babylonian Con⯑queror thought proper to give it him, ſo that no worldly prudence could fore⯑ſee 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 ap⯑pear; but as the Yokes were, firſt of all, to be put upon the Prophet's own neck, be⯑fore 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 [65]from his neck, and broke it, and there⯑by occaſioned a further command re⯑ſpecting 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, con⯑ſequently, that the Meſſengers of thoſe Kings had not as yet arrived at Jeruſa⯑lem (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 Ba⯑bylon in the ſame year (ſee Jer. li. 59.) it is likely the Meſſengers did not ar⯑rive, nor he rebel, till the year follow⯑ing. Nevertheleſs, in that year (the fourth of Zedekiah) the Prophet de⯑clared the Meſſage to Zedekiah him⯑ſelf, which he had before been charged [66]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, ‘accord⯑ing 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 Pa⯑leſtine 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 [67]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 Ven⯑geance: — and the GOD OF ARMIES [...] 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 ac⯑count 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 [68]are now ſitting under the IRON YOKES of unnatural, arbitrary Governments, ſub⯑jected 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 be⯑lieve, be found that any of them were ever reduced to ſuch a deplorable ſtate of national Miſery, till by national Wick⯑edneſs, and public Contempt of GOD's eternal Laws, they had rendered a na⯑tional RETRIBUTION ſtrictly neceſſary, according to the unerring Rules of eter⯑nal 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 na⯑tional or general endeavours to obtain Reconciliation and Forgiveneſs from THE KING OF KINGS; as nothing but a ſtrict Obedience to HIS LAWS can render [69]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, ſay⯑ing, Thus ſaith the LORD: Hearken not to the words of your Prophets that propheſy unto you, ſaying, Be⯑hold, 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 Baby⯑lon, and live. Wherefore ſhould this City be laid waſte?’ Jer. xxvii. 16, 17.

[70]The wicked Prophets, who thus miſ⯑led the People with Lyes, preſumed nevertheleſs to uſe the ſacred Name of JEHOVAH⁽³³⁾, as if they had really de⯑clared the Will of GOD; ſo that the true Prophet had need (not only of all thoſe unqueſtionable Proofs of his Di⯑vine Miſſion, which I have already men⯑tioned, 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 Pro⯑phets, ‘Hananiah, the Son of Azur the Prophet, which was of Gibeon, ⁽³⁴⁾’ [71]— ‘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 Nebuchad⯑nezzar 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 Hana⯑niah 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 [72]broken, as I before remarked, but he alſo pointed out the lying Prophet him⯑ſelf to the public obſervation, as a no⯑table 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 ex⯑actly two months after the Prediction, which was made in the fifth month of [73]the fourth year of Zedekiah. Such Evidence, added to the former clear Tokens of Authenticity which this Pro⯑phecy of the Yokes carried with it, muſt render Zedekiah and his Courtiers to⯑tally inexcuſable for neglecting the Di⯑vine Warning, and relying upon falſe Prophets.

Thus the propriety of conſidering the former part of the 27th chapter as a Re⯑velation in the time of Jehoiakim (agree⯑able to the teſtimony of the Hebrew Text) is rendered apparent by the par⯑ticular 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 Pro⯑phet mentions his perſonal Addreſs to Zedekiah, muſt neceſſarily be attributed [74]to a future time ⁽³⁶⁾, which in the fol⯑lowing 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 [75]and tryed for it, as for a CAPITAL OF⯑FENCE, before ‘the Princes and all the [76]Congregation.’—Upon the Trial the Prophet perſiſted in his former declara⯑tion; 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 condi⯑tional Aſſurance of Peace) ‘and the LORD’ (ſaid the Prophet) ‘will re⯑pent him of THE EVIL that he hath [77]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 your⯑ſelves, 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 pro⯑pheſied [78] ‘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 Reli⯑gion 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 [79]ſight of the Lord’ (i. e. Jehovah) ‘his God.’ (And the account of God's Vengeance immediately follows the de⯑claration 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 Jehoi⯑akim ⁽⁴¹⁾; and, among the reſt, that [80]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 Jeruſa⯑lem, 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 twen⯑tieth 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.— [81] ‘Therefore thus ſaith the Lord of Hoſts’ (Jehovah of Hoſts); ‘Be⯑cauſe 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⁾ De⯑ſolations.’ [82]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 RETRI⯑BUTION OF VENGEANCE againſt ‘the King of Babylon, and that Nation,’ the [83]Inſtruments of God's Vengeance⁽⁴⁴⁾; as alſo againſt many neighbouring Na⯑tions, who were made to drink of ‘the Wine-cup of this Fury’ (i.e. the Sword and Captivity); which remarkable cir⯑cumſtance, 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 Retribu⯑tion upon the Jewiſh NATION; becauſe the Prophet was directed to aſſure the other Nations, that if God ſpared not his own [84]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 Ne⯑buchadnezzar, 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 [85]"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 Je⯑remiah [86]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 him⯑ſelf, ‘when he had written theſe words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of JEHOIAKIM,’ &c. [87](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 Reſtau⯑ration, are to be referred to the time of delivering the 45th chapter⁽⁴⁹⁾: but [88]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 chap⯑ter, concerning the Rechabites ⁽⁵⁰⁾; for, with good reaſon, he ſuppoſes that the circumſtances therein related (con⯑cerning 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 Nebu⯑chadnezzar, for fear of whom the Recha⯑bites had taken ſhelter in the City.

In the ninth month⁽⁵¹⁾ of the ſame year (two months after Baruch had read [89]the Roll of Prophecy in the Temple, which was in the ſeventh month) Jeru⯑ſalem was taken⁽⁵²⁾ by Nebuchadnez⯑zar, [90]who bound Jehoiakim ‘in ſetters, to carry him to Babylon ⁽⁵³⁾’ (as I [91]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 Mo⯑narch, 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 [92]from taking more⁽⁵⁶⁾ or rather, per⯑haps, 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 [93] Kingdom ſhould be eſtabliſhed. See 2 Sam. vii. 11—29.

In the fifth year of Jehoiakim (tho' the firſt year of his Vaſſalage to Baby⯑lon), in the ninth month, a Faſt was proclaimed, in remembrance of God's Judgements in the preceding year⁽⁵⁷⁾ [94]upon the Jewiſh Nation; and on the Faſt-day Baruch read the Words of Je⯑remiah "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 tremen⯑dous additions againſt the Nation ⁽⁵⁸⁾, as well as, perſonally, againſt the King himſelf ⁽⁵⁹⁾. The particulars of theſe [95]circumſtances in the fifth of Jehoiakim are related in the 36th chapter of Jere⯑miah, from the 9th verſe to the end.

After Jehoiakim had ſerved Nebu⯑chadnezzar 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 ſeve⯑ral [96]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 notori⯑ouſly 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 remind⯑ing [97]them!—We have no further infor⯑mation from the ſacred Text concerning the four remaining years of Jehoiakim's reign⁽⁶¹⁾; only that he ‘ſlept with his Fathers ⁽⁶²⁾, and that JEHOIA⯑CHIN [98] his Son reigned in his ſtead.’ 2 Kings xxiv. 6. But Joſephus⁽⁶³⁾ re⯑lates [99]that Jehoiakim RECEIVED the King of the Babylonians, who fought againſt him: for, being terrified by the predic⯑tions 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 Je⯑hoiakim, whom he commanded to be caſt unburied without the walls ( [...]); 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 [100]him priſoner in ſome ſally⁽⁶⁴⁾’ (be⯑ſides 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 Jeru⯑ſalem’ ſeem to imply that Jehoiakim's death ſhould be in Jeruſalem (as Joſe⯑phus 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 [101]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 not⯑withſtanding theſe examples both of God's Vengeance and of his Mercy to⯑wards "the Houſe of David," the young King Jehoiachin ⁽⁶⁵⁾ (alias Jeconiah, or [102] 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 [103]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.

[104]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 [105]the City (as I have already related from the ſecond book of Kings)⁽⁶⁸⁾: but he [106]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 Baby⯑lon 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 [107]King of Iſrael had made in the Tem⯑ple 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 circum⯑ſtances ſufficiently prove, that Nebu⯑chadnezzar was now a THIRD time Maſ⯑ter 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 CAPTI⯑VITY [108] from Jeruſalem to Babylon ⁽⁷⁰⁾,’ and thereby afforded to all future Admi⯑niſtrations of national Government an awful example of the Divine Vengeance againſt Kings and Rulers that neglect the eternal Laws of GOD! But though Nebuchad⯑nezzar thought it neceſſary to depoſe Jehoiachin, as well as his Father Jehoi⯑akim before him, yet he ſtill perſiſted in maintaining "the Houſe of David ⁽⁷¹⁾" upon "the Throne of David," and accord⯑ingly ‘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 [109]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, Pha⯑raoh-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 ob⯑ligation to maintain the Laws and Reli⯑gion 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 Nebu⯑chadnezzar not only obliged his new Vaſſal to "ſwear by GOD⁽⁷⁴⁾ that he [110]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⁾ ( [...] Tſadok-Jehov) ſignifying ‘the Righte⯑ouſneſs 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 Con⯑ſent of the Heathen Conqueror himſelf, which ſurely denotes, that he was guided, in this matter, by a very particu⯑lar PROVIDENCE; for, at the ſame time that he afforded the Jews an opportunity of retrieving their paſt conduct by ob⯑ſerving more ſtrictly the Laws of God, [111]and the forms of their own National Re⯑ligion, he ſet before them (in the Sur⯑name 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 [112]and effectually "eſtabliſhed for ever!" This, ſurely, was far above the know⯑ledge 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 RIGH⯑TEOUSNESS OF JEHOVAH.’ There was no other method of averting the [113]dreadful Retribution at that time fully due to the Jewiſh Nation! — that impend⯑ing 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 Je⯑remiah, was very ſoon afterwards, com⯑manded 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 NEBU⯑CHADREZZAR [114] 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 Jeru⯑ſalem’ (chap. xxiv. 8.) we may pre⯑ſume, that this 24th chapter was not revealed till Zedekiah had ſo far ſettled himſelf in the Kingdom as to have ap⯑pointed PRINCES⁽⁷⁷⁾ and other Officers [115]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 chap⯑ter 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 [116]Prophet repeats a part of the 24th chap⯑ter, relating to the Type of Evil Figs; which (as well as the preamble of each) proves that theſe two chapters were de⯑livered 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 Zede⯑kiah's reign the Prophet Jeremiah de⯑nounced God's Vengeance againſt Elam (or Perſia); but promiſed, at the ſame time, a future Reſtoration. See the 49th chapter of Jeremiah, from the [117]34th verſe⁽⁸¹⁾. Whether the Judge⯑ments againſt Ammon, Edom, Damaſ⯑cus, &c. contained in the former part of this chapter were delivered alſo at the ſame time does not appear: it is ra⯑ther more probable that they were deli⯑vered 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 Ven⯑geance in the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign. The Prophecy of this Vengeance (contained in the 27th chapter of Jere⯑miah) was to be afterwards communi⯑cated to them, by their own Ambaſſa⯑dors, [118]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 Jere⯑miah ſeem to come next in order of time. They contain dreadful denunci⯑ations 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). [119]In the 51ſt chapter (ver. 60.) we read, that ‘JEREMIAH wrote in a book all the evil that ſhould come upon BABY⯑LON, 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) in⯑forms us, that the Prince Seraiah was directed to read the ſaid Prophecies at Babylon, when he went there with ZE⯑DEKIAH 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 Ambaſ⯑ſadors into Egypt, that they might give [120]him Horſes and much People;’ ſo that he ſeems to have entertained a fooliſh and wicked deſire to render himſelf ab⯑ſolute 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 poli⯑tical 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 [121]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 [122]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. See⯑ing he deſpiſed THE OATH, by break⯑ing 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 recom⯑penſe upon his own head. And I will ſpread my Net upon him, and he ſhall be taken in my Snare: and I [123]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 Mili⯑tary 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 Revela⯑tion 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, [124]alſo in the reign of Joſiah. Compare Jer. i. 15. with xxv. 9. In the former, God declares,— ‘I will call all the Fa⯑milies 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 Nebuchad⯑nezzar had ſtrengthened his Empire, by reducing to his obedience all the King⯑doms 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 [125]ſervile ſubjection under his own arbitrary Will, without perceiving that he and they, collectively, were but a mere in⯑ſtrument of Vengeance ⁽⁸⁶⁾ in the hands of the Lord of Hoſts, or God of Armies! for we read in the 34th chapter of Je⯑remiah, that Nebuchadnezzar literally fulfilled the former Prophecies by com⯑ing to fight againſt Jeruſalem, with [126] ‘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 di⯑rected 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 ſe⯑veral Prophecies againſt them by Jere⯑miah 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 [127]my digreſſion that may tend to illuſ⯑trate, and render more familiar to the generality of Readers, that excellent Book, the Collection of Jeremiah's Pro⯑phecies, in which all Mankind are ma⯑terially concerned and intereſted: for the Certainty of God's Vengeance upon wicked Nations is unqueſtionably demon⯑ſtrated 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 con⯑ceived, that the Divine Meſſage, re⯑corded in the 22d chapter (from the be⯑ginning to the 19th verſe at leaſt), was not delivered to Zedekiah, but to Jehoi⯑akim, [128]becauſe a Prophecy againſt the latter is recorded in the 18th verſe, viz. "Therefore" (ſaid the Prophet, refer⯑ring back to the Offences before-men⯑tioned) ‘thus ſaith the Lord, CONCERN⯑ING 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 conti⯑nued Addreſs to Zedekiah, reminding him of the Judgements denounced (and then, indeed, fulfilled) againſt his im⯑mediate Predeceſſors, exactly according to the order of their reigns, and ex⯑preſsly for the ſame Offences (viz. OP⯑PRESSION, [129]and the Neglect of JUSTICE and RIGHT) for which he himſelf, by name, is condemned in the 21ſt chap⯑ter. The only difficulty which attends this conſtruction is occaſioned by the Engliſh Tranſlators having uſed the pre⯑ſent 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 concern⯑ing, Jehoiakim,’ &c. which latter is the literal conſtruction of the original, and is always ſo expreſſed in the inter⯑lineary Latin Verſion of the London Polyglot, viz. "Sic dixit Dominus:" for though in many other places it is indif⯑ferent to the ſenſe, whether the preſent or praeter tenſe is uſed, yet in theſe above-mentioned it makes a very material dif⯑ference; becauſe the Prophet is only re⯑minding Zedekiah of the Prophecies which he had before denounced (or, at [130]leaſt, to the ſame effect) againſt his diſ⯑obedient Predeceſſors; as that, for in⯑ſtance, againſt Jehoiakim was firſt deli⯑vered 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 [131]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 Ze⯑dekiah? It could not be Shallum (tho' he is the firſt mentioned therein), be⯑cauſe the Text deſcribes him expreſsly as one ‘which went ſorth out of this place,’ being already carried into cap⯑tivity [132]by Pharaoh-Necho; and the Bur⯑then of the Prophecy againſt him was, that "he ſhall return no more," &c. See the endings of all the three verſes where⯑in 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 conti⯑nuance of the fame Declaration, in a much more conſpicuous light than Je⯑hoiakim 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 [133]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, men⯑tioned in the 22d chapter; becauſe the Prophet, after a moſt ſolemn and alarm⯑ing 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 cer⯑tainly was not childleſs; for, beſides his Son Jehoiachin, or Coniah, it is not im⯑probable but that ‘Daniel and his fel⯑lows’ (or, at leaſt, ſome of them) were alſo the Children of JEHOIAKIM; for they were ‘OF THE KING'S SEED, [134]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 re⯑moving the difficulty, has ventured to aſſert⁽⁸⁹⁾ for he was ſo far from [135]LOSING his Children during his Capti⯑vity, 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 MAT⯑THEW, 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 [136]Man childleſs,’ could not relate to Coniah, nor to any other Prince of the Houſe of David, cotemporary with Je⯑remiah, 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, [137]as it is manifeſt, that the laſt verſe of the 22d chapter of Jeremiah was ad⯑dreſſed [138]to Zedekiah, it is equally mani⯑feſt that the beginning of it was alſo [139]to him⁽⁹¹⁾; for the firſt part of the Divine Meſſage, in the 22d [140]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 Zede⯑kiah, [141]as mentioned in the preceding chapter, which will clearly appear by the following collation:

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⁾ [143]for the promiſed Deſolation of Jeru⯑ſalem.

[144]In the 10th verſe the Prophet begins to recite ſeveral Predictions with which [145]he had formerly been charged againſt [146]Zedekiah's Brothers and Predeceſſors, [147]who had been ſucceſſively deprived of [148]their Royal Dignity, and were carried [149]away in chains before him into a ſlayiſh [150]Captivity, as I have before remarked. [151]But the hopeleſs SLAVERY of his [152]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⁾: [153](but) weep ſore for him that GOETH AWAY; for HE SHALL RETURN NO MORE, NOR SEE HIS NATIVE COUN⯑TRY. For thus ſaith the Lord touch⯑ing 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 Pro⯑phet immediately refers us to the prin⯑cipal Cauſes of God's Severity againſt the Royal Houſe: "Wo unto him" [154](ſays he) ‘that buildeth his Houſe by UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, and his Cham⯑bers 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 Ce⯑dar, and painted with Vermilion.’ For the Monarch [but whether SHALLUM or JEHOIAKIM is not clearly declared ⁽⁹⁵⁾] was more careful, it ſeems, to diſplay [155]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 JUDGE⯑MENT 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) [156] not this to know me? ſaith the Lord, But thine Eyes and thine Heart are not [157]but for Covetouſneſs, and for to ſhed in⯑nocent Blood, and for OPPRESSION, and for VIOLENCE to do (it). There⯑fore’ (that is, for all theſe aggra⯑vating 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 [158]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 Jeruſa⯑lem ⁽⁹⁷⁾,’ &c. Next in order (after a ſhort perſonal Addreſs to the Nation, concerning the Certainty of God's Ven⯑geance, and the Deſtruction of her Paſ⯑tors 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 reign⯑ing Monarch, when this Remonſtrance was made:—"As I live, SAID" (and not ſaith) ‘the Lord, though CONIAH the Son of JEHOIAKIM King of Ju⯑dah 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 [159]hand (of them) whoſe face thou feareſt, even into the hand of NEBUCHADREZ⯑ZAR 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 repeat⯑ing: —"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 [160]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 con⯑ſider the queſtion as being put to ZEDE⯑KIAH, the then reigning Monarch, it contains great ſeverity: for if ZEDE⯑KIAH 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 CHILD⯑LESS, 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.’

[161]Had Zedekiah been much more aban⯑doned than he really was, yet theſe dreadful Judgements, ſo ſolemnly pro⯑nounced 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 ZEDE⯑KIAH and his whole Court, and was, probably, a part of the Remonſtrance ⁽⁹⁹⁾: for after declaring "Wo" to the wicked "PASTORS⁽¹⁰⁰⁾" (probably meaning [162]the WRETCHED KINGS⁽¹⁰¹⁾ before⯑mentioned [163]of the Houſe of David, who had neglected to EXECUTE JUDGEMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, and to RELIEVE THE OPPRESSED) Jeremiah takes occa⯑ſion 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 Da⯑vid), to ‘EXECUTE JUDGEMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS in the Land’ (com⯑pare 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 de⯑ſtruction, that a contraſted alluſion [164]ſeems very clearly to have been in⯑tended.

‘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 PRO⯑SPER;’ (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 EXE⯑CUTE JUDGEMENT AND JUSTICE in the Earth’ (which was the conſtant Leſſon⁽¹⁰⁴⁾, indeed, to ZEDEKIAH [165]and his Brothers, &c. and was as con⯑ſtantly by them neglected). In his days" (continues the Prophet) ‘Judah ſhall be ſaved, and Iſrael ſhall dwell ſafely’ (whereas under Zedekiah their Deſola⯑tion was compleated); ‘and this is his [166]Name whereby he ſhall be called, The Lord our Righteouſneſs,’ i. e. [...] Jehovah Tſadek-nȣ, which is the Name of Zedekiah, or Tſadek-Jehov tranſpoſed, with the ſmall addition of the Pronomi⯑nal Termination nȣ for OUR, viz. Jeho⯑vah-Tſadeknȣ, inſtead of Tſadek-Jehov; the latter ſignifying ‘Jehovah is righ⯑teous;’ 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 de⯑clare the ſolemn Meſſage, or Remon⯑ſtrance, contained in the 22d chap⯑ter [167] ⁽¹⁰⁵⁾. It was, probably, on the firſt approach of the Babylonian Army [168](viz. in the ninth year of Zedekiah) that the Monarch ſent Meſſengers to [169]conſult the Prophet, and thereby occa⯑ſioned this public Remonſtrance.

The War was immediately carried on with Vigour, it ſeems, in every part of the Kingdom (ſee the 34th chap⯑ter⁽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. JEHO⯑VAH) ‘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 [170]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 Judge⯑ment upon him), ‘and thou ſhalt go to Babylon,’ &c. ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾

[171]Theſe repeated Denunciations of Ven⯑geance, with the HORRORS of the grow⯑ing dangers from the ſucceſsful Enemy before their eyes every way round Jeru⯑ſalem, at length ſo far ſhook the firm⯑neſs 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 AL⯑MIGHTY for caſting off his People, and ſending them into CAPTIVITY (puniſh⯑ing TYRANNY with SLAVERY), ſo even this wicked Monarch ZEDEKIAH, who never thought of LAW or JUSTICE in his Proſperity, was now, it ſeems, be⯑come ſenſible, that a public act of JUS⯑TICE and MERCY towards the oppreſſed Poor, that were then detained, by his opulent Subjects, in a miſerable INVO⯑LUNTARY SERVITUDE, would be the moſt grateful act of Reformation, and [172]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 actu⯑ally prevailed⁽¹⁰⁸⁾ upon his Princes and People to PROCLAIM LIBERTY to [173]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 aſ⯑ſerted concerning the principal cauſes of God's Anger againſt the Jews, my Readers are earneſtly requeſted to re⯑mark, that this material Reformation was [174]ACCEPTED BY THE ALMIGHTY, who even condeſcended to ſignify by his Prophet, that the People ‘HAD DONE RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT IN PROCLAIM⯑ING 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 de⯑nounced 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 ap⯑proaching Vengeance withdrawn (by the ſudden retreat of the Chaldaeans from [175]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 Op⯑preſſions, yet) ſpeedily repented of their temporary Benevolence; and being them⯑ſelves entangled in a much more dan⯑gerous Bondage (through their abomi⯑nable 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 re⯑turn: [176]and brought them INTO SUB⯑JECTION for Servants and for Hand⯑maids.’ Jer. xxxiv. 11. Perhaps they thought to excuſe themſelves, like our modern African Merchants and Ame⯑rican Planters, by pleading THE NECES⯑SITY of tolerating Slavery, and the ex⯑action 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 whe⯑ther ſuch reaſons as theſe, or others of greater weight, were then alledged, is not material; it is ſufficient for the pre⯑ſent argument to be certain, that, what⯑ever 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 [177]of their Enemies, the Babylonian Ty⯑rants, under whom their Countrymen, that had been carried away in the for⯑mer Captivities, experienced, IN THEIR OWN PROPER PERSONS, the deplorable condition of SLAVES, being a moſt juſt puniſhment for that TYRANNY and un⯑reaſonable VASSALAGE with which they ſo unlawfully oppreſſed their POOR BRE⯑THREN! 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 reta⯑liated Puniſhment, which was inflicted expreſsly on that account.—"THERE⯑FORE" (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; [178]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 circum⯑ſtance which they were frequently commanded never to forget, as I have before remarked, but ſympathetically to learn MERCY thereby⁽¹¹³⁾, ‘ſay⯑ing; 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 LI⯑BERTY EVERY MAN TO HIS NEIGH⯑BOUR [179] ⁽¹¹⁴⁾; and ye had made a Co⯑venant 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 Hand⯑maids. THEREFORE’ (now mark the Puniſhment, ye wretched Slave-holders and Advocates for private Pro⯑perty in the Perſons of Men) ‘thus ſaith the LORD’ (JEHOVAH); ‘Ye have not hearkened unto me IN PROCLAIM⯑ING LIBERTY every one to his Brother, and every man to his Neighbour: be⯑hold, [180]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 there⯑fore God himſelf PROCLAIMED a dif⯑ferent kind of LIBERTY—LIBERTY) ‘to the Sword, to the Peſtilence, and to the Famine:’ (here is a PROCLAMA⯑TION 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: SLA⯑VERY being a very juſt as well as com⯑mon puniſhment for TYRANTS). ‘And I will give the men that have tranſ⯑greſſed my Covenant, which have not performed the Words of the Covenant [181]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, [182]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 [183]into the hand’ (continued the Pro⯑phet) ‘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 in⯑gratitude of thoſe who ſo immediately [184]broke the ſolemn Covenant of PRO⯑CLAIMING LIBERTY; but GOD's VEN⯑GEANCE kept pace with the Oppreſſion of the unrepenting Tyrants!). ‘Be⯑hold, I WILL COMMAND, SAITH THE LORD, and CAUSE THEM TO RETURN TO THIS CITY’ (a remark⯑able inſtance of God's over-ruling Pro⯑vidence 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 Prophe⯑cies, as I have already remarked; for the two next chapters (viz. the 35th and 36th) contain Prophecies which [185]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 Meſ⯑ſengers to the Prophet (who was then at liberty, as the 4th verſe expreſsly de⯑clares) to deſire his Prayers:— ‘Pray now unto the Lord our God for us;’ but the Prophet's Anſwer on that occa⯑ſion 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 [186]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 de⯑part 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.

[187]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 Jere⯑miah 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 opportu⯑nity of remonſtrating to the King con⯑cerning his own caſe:—"Moreover Je⯑remiah ſaid unto King Zedekiah, WHAT ‘HAVE I OFFENDED AGAINST THEE, or againſt thy Servants, or againſt this [188]People, that ye have put me in Pri⯑ſon⁽¹¹⁹⁾? Where (are) now your Pro⯑phets, which propheſied unto you, ſay⯑ing, 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 ac⯑cepted 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 per⯑ſonal pique againſt the Prophet, but was [189]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 Zede⯑kiah to put Jeremiah to death, becauſe he publicly exhorted all the People to go over to the Enemy⁽¹²²⁾, it appears, [190]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 in⯑formed of the dangerous ſituation of Jeremiah from the malice and injuſtice of the Princes⁽¹²⁴⁾, than he gave ex⯑preſs orders to the generous and con⯑ſcientious Ethiopian (who had repreſent⯑ed the caſe) to take a Guard of thirty Men, and draw him up from the Dun⯑geon, and he was placed in the Court of the Priſon⁽¹²⁵⁾. The King after⯑wards [191]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 Jere⯑miah ſtill perſevered in denouncing the moſt tremendous Judgements againſt him and the whole Kingdom, it is manifeſt, that the king had no perſonal reſent⯑ment againſt the Prophet; being ſenſi⯑ble, probably by that time, of Jere⯑miah'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 alterna⯑tive 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.

[192]Theſe circumſtances, and ſeveral others, will be found in the 38th chap⯑ter⁽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 [193]the Priſon. In the 3d, 4th, and 5th verſes we find a repetition of ſome cir⯑cumſtances 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 Con⯑finement. From the 6th to the 16th verſe is related—the remarkable Pro⯑phecy concerning the Repoſſeſſion of Houſes, Fields, and Vineyards after the Captivity; in token of which the Pro⯑phet's Kinſman, Hanameel, was pro⯑videntially 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 de⯑ſcribes the Mercy, as well as the Ven⯑geance, of GOD, then dreadfully ap⯑proaching! — ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, thou haſt made the Heaven and the [194]Earth by thy great Power and ſtretched⯑out 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 COUN⯑CIL, 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 Mer⯑chants!) ‘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 [195]were God's ſevere Judgements againſt the great Egyptian SLAVE-HOLDER and his Kingdom, who refuſed to ‘PRO⯑CLAIM LIBERTY’ to his Bond Ser⯑vants) "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 [196]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⁾ [197] 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, nei⯑ther WALKED IN THY LAW: they [198]have done nothing of all that thou com⯑mandeſt 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 Peo⯑ple (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 fol⯑lowing chapter (xxxiii), with the additi⯑onal Promiſe of the BRANCH OF RIGH⯑TEOUSNESS to grow up unto David, that ſhould ‘execute JUDGEMENT and RIGH⯑TEOUSNESS’ —which Zedekiah had ſo notoriouſly neglected; for on theſe Terms alone could the Jews be permit⯑ted to remain in poſſeſſion of their own [199]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 wi⯑dow, 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 FA⯑THERS, 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 [200]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 de⯑ſolate 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) ‘wo⯑men have SODDEN’ (that is, BOILED, for want of other food) ‘their own Chil⯑dren, THEY WERE THEIR MEAT in [201]the Deſtruction of the Daughter of my People.’ Ibid. ver. 9, 10.

A more deplorable ſtate of wretched⯑neſs cannot be deſcribed! Theſe miſe⯑ries increaſed till the 11th year of Ze⯑dekiah, when (as we read in the 39th chapter) "the City was broken up ⁽¹³²⁾; and then was the DREADFUL VEN⯑GEANCE, ſo repeatedly denounced by the Prophet againſt Zedekiah, ready to burſt on the Head of that wicked Prince, [202]who, in addition to all his other Crimes, had ſo lately violated the ſolemn Cove⯑nant of PROCLAIMING LIBERTY TO THE BOND SERVANTS, by neglecting to enforce the Laws of God, and of his Country, in behalf of the poor OP⯑PRESSED PEOPLE, that had been com⯑pelled 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 BRI⯑TISH EMPIRE), that GOD'S VEN⯑GEANCE, before denounced, was inevi⯑tably confirmed, and the KING was, ſoon afterwards, delivered up, with ALL HIS NOBLES AND MEN OF WAR that remained, into the hands of their en⯑raged Enemies, agreeable to the juſt decree of GOD (before recited from the 34th chapter); his Sons were ſlain BE⯑FORE [203]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 im⯑placable CONQUEROR⁽¹³⁵⁾, who there⯑by fulfilled another not leſs remarkable Prophecy of Ezekiel to the Captives at [204]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 Judge⯑ment 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 OP⯑PRESSION 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 [205]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 [206]Captain of the Guard leſt of the POOR OF THE PEOPLE, WHICH HAD NO⯑THING 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 imagi⯑nary PROPERTY in Negro Slaves, for which they ſo ſtrenuouſly contend, is as juſtly acquired, as the PROPERTY in Hebrew Captives, which the Babylo⯑nians acquired by their providential ſuc⯑ceſs 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 con⯑dition, [207]which they (like our modern Slave-holders) thought they had an un⯑doubted right to impoſe on their imagi⯑nary 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 Em⯑pire, 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⁾, [208]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 [209]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 Ba⯑bylonians⁽¹⁴⁰⁾ were, in a very extra⯑ordinary manner, preordained and au⯑thorized by Almighty God to puniſh the crying wickedneſs of the Iſraelites and Jews; which ſurely may be alledg⯑ed as a further juſtification of the con⯑queſt, [210]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 re⯑markable circumſtances (which render⯑ed the claims of theſe Eaſtern Nations to the Jewiſh Captives, infinitely more equitable than any claims that our mo⯑dern 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 pre⯑ſumptuouſly enſlaving and oppreſſing each other; for, though they were in⯑ſtruments in God's hand for the mutual puniſhment of each other, and acted expreſsly by his permiſſion for that pur⯑poſe, [211]yet the Cauſes of Action, which they themſelves were capable of perceiv⯑ing, 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 VEN⯑GEANCE; — ‘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 Je⯑ruſalem, 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’ [212](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 [213]he ſhall kindle a burning like the burn⯑ing of a fire,’ 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 pro⯑miſe ‘THAT THE CONSUMPTION DE⯑CREED ⁽¹⁴¹⁾ ſhall OVERFLOW with [214]RIGHTEOUSNES;’ (for the promiſes of bleſſings and forgiveneſs are generally blended with the denunciations of God's Judgements, in order to encourage Re⯑pentance 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 [215]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) ‘accord⯑ing 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 an⯑ointing.’ &c. Again, in the 14th chapter, a ſimilar Prophecy is delivered againſt Aſſyria: — ‘I will break the [216]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 Aſ⯑ſyrian: — "Then," ſaid the Prophet, ‘ſhall his YOKE depart from off them, and his BURTHEN depart from off their Shoulders ⁽¹⁴⁴⁾ This (is) the purpoſe [217](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 Pre⯑cedent for the Judgement of all other Nations, but more eſpecially of the Na⯑tions bordering on Judea, becauſe there [218]are ſeveral other Prophecies concerning the neighbouring Nations, which ſuffi⯑ciently correſpond with this example of VENGEANCE againſt Aſſyria (both as to the mode, and principal, cauſe), ſuffi⯑ciently, I ſay, to prove, that a ſimilar fate to that of Aſſyria was the ‘PUR⯑POSE 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 JU⯑DAH AND JERUSALEM, I will alſo gather ALL NATIONS, and will bring them down into the Valley of JEHOSHA⯑PHAT’ (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 [219]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 [220]RECOMPENCE can ye make for ſuch an abominable affront to the Cre⯑ator of Mankind as your deteſtable Traffic in Slaves! Cannot you be con⯑tent 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 RE⯑COMPENCE 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 [221]HEAD;’ &c. And in the next verſe but one, the Prophet marks the SLAVE⯑TRADE 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 re⯑move them FAR FROM THEIR BOR⯑DER:’ (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 RECOM⯑PENCE 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 chil⯑dren of JUDAH, and they ſhall ſell them ⁽¹⁴⁸⁾ to the SABEANS, to a [222]people FAR OFF;’ (an exact retaliation) ‘for the Lord hath ſpoken (it). Proclaim [223]ye this among the Gentiles:’ (or more properly, according to the ſtrict ſenſe of the original word [...], among the NATIONS, for the example ought in⯑deed to inſtruct ALL NATIONS) ‘pre⯑pare 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 [224]mark of GOD'S VENGEAVANCE againſt oppreſſive Nations, viz. THE INFATU⯑ATION OF THEIR COUNCILS.) ‘Aſ⯑ſemble 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 Na⯑tions 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 WICKED⯑NESS IS GREAT! MULTITUDES, MULTITUDES IN THE VALLEY OF DECISION!’ &c. After which the Prophet denounces Judgement againſt [225]two of theſe oppreſſive Nations expreſsly by name — ‘EGYPT ſhall be a deſolation, and EDOM ſhall be a deſolate wilder⯑neſs;’ (and the principal reaſon of theſe judgments is alſo as expreſsly aſſigned) ‘for their VIOLENCE¹⁵⁰ [226] againſt the Children of JUDAH, be⯑cauſe they have SHED INNOCENT BLOOD in their Land. But JUDAH ſhall dwell for ever, and JERUSALEM [227] 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 manifeſt⯑ed alſo in the Judgements denounced againſt THE EDOMITES by the Prophet OBEDIAH,— ‘Thy mighty men, O Te⯑man, 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 ſtran⯑gers 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 [228]them.) ‘But thou ſhouldeſt not have looked on the day of thy Brother, in the Day that he became a Stran⯑ger;’ (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 crimi⯑nal; 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 en⯑tered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou ſhouldeſt not have LOOKED ON their AFFLIC⯑TION in the day of their calamity; nor have laid hands on their ſubſtance in the [229]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 [...] or CONFINED as in Slavery or Foreign Captivity, which by the Reſtoration promiſed to the Cap⯑tives, 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 [230] for three Tranſgreſſions of DAMASCUS and for four, I will not turn away (the puniſhment) thereof:’ (nevertheleſs their unmerciful Tyranny over the Inha⯑bitants of GILEAD, is the only Tranſ⯑greſſion mentioned,—"becauſe" (ſaid the Prophet) ‘they have threſhed GI⯑LEAD 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 TIG⯑LATH-PILESER King of Aſſyria to help him againſt the SYRIANS, for we read [231]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 RE⯑ZIN.’ REZIN was that turbu⯑bulent and oppreſſive King of SYRIA, who, in another prophecy, is compared to "a ſinoaking Firebrand." Iſaiah vii. 4. The ſame "PURPOSE" of RETRI⯑BUTION was alſo declared by AMOS againſt the PHILISTINES— ‘For three Tranſgreſſions of GAZA, and for four, I will not turn away’ (the puniſh⯑ment) "thereof:"—and yet only one of the four Tranſgreſſions is mentioned, which we may, therefore, reaſonably conclude to be the principal Tranſgreſ⯑ſion, viz.—"becauſe" (ſays the Text) ‘they CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE THE WHOLE CAPTIVITY to diliver [232](them) up to EDOM:’ ⁽¹⁵²⁾ or rather (as the word [...] more properly [233]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 propor⯑tion to the ſize of the place), do at pre⯑ſent with America! But they were al⯑lowed but a ſhort ſpace for the enjoy⯑ment [234]of their unlawful gains! The de⯑nunciations of VENGEANCE follows cloſely upon the very mention of that UNNATURAL OPPRESSION! ‘But I will ſend a FIRE’ (ſaid the AL⯑MIGHTY) ‘on the Wall of GAZA⁽¹⁵³⁾, [235] 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 opu⯑lent City of TYRE, and expreſsly for the ſame offence; for the Tyrians were, probably, Confederates with the Phi⯑liſtines of Gaza, and other Cities of the Phoenician Coaſt, when they aſſiſted the Arabians to OPPRESS and ENSLAVE the Inhabitants of JUDEA. — ‘Thus ſaith [236]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 EN⯑SLAVING 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) "be⯑cauſe" (ſaid the Prophet) ‘they deli⯑vered 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 [237]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 Man⯑kind will not ſee his creature Man op⯑preſſed and vilified without revenging the affront!— ‘Thus ſaith the Lord; for [238]three Tranſgreſſions of EDOM, and for four, I will not turn away (the pu⯑niſhment) thereof; becauſe he did pur⯑ſue his Brother with the Sword, and did CAST OFF ALL PITY’ (as our modern American Slave-holders CAST OFF ALL PITY towards their poor RUN⯑AWAY SLAVES! for I have ſeen re⯑wards publicly offered for the Heads of thoſe poor oppreſſed People⁽¹⁵⁶⁾ and [239]the ſhooting of run-away Negroes has even been encouraged by ſome of the Plantation Laws! which is wilful pre⯑meditated Murder, ſuch as God will never leave unpuniſhed); ‘and his Anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his Wrath for ever. But I’ (ſaid Jeho⯑vah) ‘WILL SEND A FIRE UPON TE⯑MAN’ (the Carolina of thoſe times), ‘which ſhall devour the Palaces of Boz⯑rah.’ Amos, chap. i. II, 12.

The Prophet in the next verſe de⯑nounces GOD'S VENGEANCE againſt the [240]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 bor⯑der [241] ⁽¹⁵⁸⁾: but I will kindle a Fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it ſhall devour the Palaces thereof, with ſhouting in the [242]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 tranſ⯑greſſions [243]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, [...], and plaſtered them like Chalk (or lime) in the Houſe. This ſeems to have been done in extreme contempt, to vi⯑lify the Edomites; and does not agree with the account of the particular hu⯑man 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 [244]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 vi⯑lify their living Brethren, by contemp⯑touſly 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.

[245]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 pu⯑niſhment) 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; [246]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 PUR⯑POSE 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; be⯑cauſe 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 di⯑rected to call upon their old enemies the Philiſtines and Egyptians to bear [247]witneſs to the cauſe of God's vengeance on his own people: ‘Publiſh in the Palaces of ASHDOD, and in the Pa⯑laces 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; [248]who ſtore up Violence and Robbery in their Palaces. Therefore thus ſaith [249]the Lord God; and Adverſary (there ſhall be) even round about the Land: [250]and he ſhall bring down they Strength from thee, and thy Palaces ſhall be ſpoil⯑ed.’ &c. Amos iii. 9, 10, 11.

Thus it appears, that God was not leſs ſevere againſt his, own peculiar Peo⯑ple, when guilty of Oppreſſion and In⯑juſtice, than he was againſt the neigh⯑bouring 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 Man⯑kind, 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 BRI⯑TAIN and HER COLONIES for ſimilar Offences!

Long before the preſent unhappy CIVIL WAR broke out between the Mo⯑ther [251]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 ini⯑quitous SLAVE-TRADE, and the Tole⯑ration of involuntary Bondage, were con⯑tinued; and that ſuch ‘monſtrous OP⯑PRESSION [252]and NATIONAL WICKED⯑NESS⁽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.’

[253]This Doctrine is unqueſtionably de⯑monſtrated (I truſt) by the ſeveral Ex⯑tracts from the Holy Scriptures, which I have inſerted in the preceding pages: and the proof of it (I thank God) af⯑fords 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⁾.

[254]Can we claim a better RIGHT to the en⯑ſlaved Negroes in the Britiſh Colonies [255]than the ſeveral antient Nations, above⯑mentioned, had to their Captive Ene⯑mies, [256]whom God had delivered into their hands? And yet, we find, they were made mutual Inſtruments of De⯑ſtruction to each other, on that very ac⯑count!

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⁾; [257]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 con⯑ſumed one of another’ (Gal. v. 15.): which is a ſtriking repreſentation of the EXTREME DANGER of Oppreſſion [258]and the Want of Brotherly Lover; for ſurely no Oppreſſion can be more noto⯑rious 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 IN⯑SURRECTIONS which have ever been the unavoidable conſequences of Slave⯑ry!⁽¹⁶⁶⁾ Can we reaſonably expect, that the only exception to God's general rule of National Vengeance and Retribu⯑tion upon the Authors of Slavery and Oppreſſion ſhall be in favour of GREAT BRITAIN, which hath ſo notoriouſly exceeded all other Nations in the mul⯑tiplicity and largeneſs of her dealings in the MAN-TRADE⁽¹⁶⁷⁾; that ini⯑quitous [259]and oppreſſive buſineſs of pur⯑chaſing our poor unhappy African Bro⯑thers, [260]and Siſters (‘Men, Women, and Children’), and then forcibly tranſ⯑porting 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 Re⯑tribution of the ALMIGHTY was poured on the heads of the ancient Tyrian Merchants, above-mentioned. They [261]SOLD the Captive Jews to the Grecians, a neighbouring People; but YE HAVE SOLD the poor Africans (who never of⯑fended you) to the very diſtant Inhabitants of America and the Weſt Indies, ‘THAT YE MIGHT REMOVE THEM FAR’ (far indeed!) "FROM THEIR BOR⯑DER." 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 WHI⯑THER 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 mag⯑nitude of our guilt in Slave-dealing) a tremendous Example of RETRIBUTION, to deter other Nations from offending his Eternal JUSTICE, if a ſincere and [262]ſpeedy national Repentance does not avert the Evil?—"THE LORD" (JE⯑HOVAH) ‘IS HIS NAME: that ſtrength⯑ened 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 RETRI⯑BUTION (as well as the firſt) was de⯑nounced, indeed, againſt the Oppreſſors of the ISRAELITES; but yet the Juſtice of it is equally applicable to the unpro⯑voked 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 recom⯑penſe 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 Afri⯑cans themſelves unhappily fell into very [263]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 la⯑mentable Fall of Africa ⁽¹⁶⁸⁾ was the very example by which my own Grand⯑father, near a Century ago (wanting only [264]three years), warned the Houſe of Com⯑mons concerning our national Danger.

But there is ſtill one more great ex⯑ample 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 Baby⯑lonians in the ſtrongeſt terms, as well in return for the cruel Slaughters they [265]were guilty of, as for the heavy Yoke of Bondage with which they oppreſſed the Captive Iſraelites. See chap. L.— ‘De⯑clare ye among the Nations’ (ſaid the Prophet), ‘and publiſh, and ſet up a ſtandard; publiſh, (and) conceal not: ſay, BABYLON is taken, BEL is con⯑founded,’ &c. ‘For out of the North there cometh up a Nation againſt her, which ſhall MAKE HER LAND DESO⯑LATE;’ (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 [266]of Iſrael ſhall come, they and the Chil⯑dren 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 Peo⯑ple have been loſt Sheep: their Shep⯑herds’ (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 [267]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 ex⯑ample [268]before quoted.) ‘And I will BRING ISRAEL AGAIN TO HIS HA⯑BITATION,’ &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 [269]LORD OF HOSTS’ (Jehovah of Ar⯑mies) (is) his Name; ‘he ſhall THO⯑ROUGHLY PLEAD THEIR CAUSE, that he may give reſt to the Land, and diſquiet THE INHABITANTS OF BA⯑BYLON — 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, de⯑claring, 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 [270]THEIR GOD⁽¹⁷⁰⁾, and DAVID their King, whom I will raiſe up unto them ⁽¹⁷¹⁾.’ (See verſes 8 and 9.) [271]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 whi⯑ther I have ſcattered thee, yet will I not MAKE A FULL END OF THEE’ (ſhewing that Iſrael was ſtill the pecu⯑liar People of God): ‘but I will cor⯑rect thee in meaſure, and will not leave thee altogether unpuniſhed.’ (ver 11.) And alſo after ſome further expoſtula⯑tion 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 DE⯑VOURED; and all thine Adverſaries, every one of them, ſhall GO INTO CAPTIVITY; and they that SPOIL [272]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.

[273]In the 25th chapter alſo a ſevere Re⯑tribution is denounced expreſsly againſt [274] "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 Jere⯑miah hath propheſied againſt all the Na⯑tions. 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 [275]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 de⯑nounced a RETRIBUTION IN KIND againſt BABYLON, in as plain and intel⯑ligible 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 re⯑moved from it;) ‘and the Strangers ſhall be joined with them;’ (this was the caſe, particularly, of the Edomites, [276]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 BON⯑DAGE wherein thou waſt made to SERVE, that thou ſhalt take up this proverb againſt the KING OF BABY⯑LON, and ſay, How hath THE OP⯑PRESSOR 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 [277]thee ſhall narrowly look upon thee, (and) conſider thee, (ſaying, is) this the Man that made the Earth to trem⯑ble, 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 exe⯑cuted expreſsly on account of the heavy Yoke of Bondage with which they op⯑preſſed their Captives. The Judge⯑ment, [278]and the Denunciation of it, was the more exemplary, as it was a JUDGEMENT IN KIND—a manifeſt RE⯑TRIBUTION OF SLAVERY? The Lan⯑guage 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 Judge⯑ment 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 [279]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 un⯑covered; 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 tem⯑poral [280]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 abun⯑dance of thine Enchantments. For thou haſt truſted in thy Wickedneſs: thou haſt ſaid, None ſeeth me. Thy Wiſdom and [281]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⁾, [282](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 [283]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 Inſtru⯑ments of GOD'S VENGEANCE⁽¹⁷⁶⁾; [284]and the horrors of that fatal night were plainly foretold: — ‘The night of my [285]pleaſure’ (ſays the Prophet, mani⯑feſtly referring to the impious midnight [286]carouſal mentioned by Daniel, by He⯑rodotus, and Xenophon) ‘hath he [287]turned into FEAR unto me’ (the ex⯑ceſs 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 an⯑oint the ſhield,’ &c. Iſaiah xxi. 4, 5.

[288]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 ſuc⯑ceſs 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 [289]them down LIKE LAMBS to the ſlaugh⯑ter’ (that is, without oppoſition or re⯑ſiſtance 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 unex⯑pected 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 VENGE⯑ANCE, as well as the REASON of it, is further deſcribed in the ſame chapter: — ‘For the Lord God of RECOM⯑PENCES’ (ſaid the Prophet, ver. 56.) ‘ſhall ſurely REQUITE. And I will [290]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. Jeho⯑vah 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 ap⯑pointed to this ſervice ‘about two hun⯑dred 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 [291]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 re⯑deemed thee’ (that is, from the Baby⯑loniſh Slavery, as the remainder of the chapter will ſhew). ‘Sing, O ye Hea⯑vens; 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⁾, [292] 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 fruſ⯑trateth 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 Meſ⯑ſengers; [293]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 ſucceſſ⯑ful ſtratagem of Cyrus to dry up the Rivers by altering their Courſe, where⯑by he gained an unſuſpected paſſage into the City through the emptied Channels⁽¹⁸³⁾ ‘that ſaith of CYRUS, [294](he is) my SHEPHERD, and ſhall PER⯑FORM 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 Re⯑ſtorer of temporal Liberty is further re⯑vealed: — ‘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 [295]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,’ (al⯑luding probably to the immenſe quan⯑tities 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) [296]BY THY NAME, (am) the God of Iſ⯑rael.’ And in the next verſe the Prophet aſſigns the reaſon why the Al⯑mighty thus called upon CYRUS, viz.— ‘for Jacob my Servant's ſake, and Iſ⯑rael 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 RIGHTE⯑OUSNESS, and I will DIRECT ALL HIS WAYS: he ſhall BUILD MY CITY, and HE SHALL LET GO MY CAP⯑TIVES,’ (mark this ye wretched Slave-holders) ‘NOT FOR PRICE, NOR REWARD, ſaith the Lord of Hoſts;’ and accordingly the Proclamation of Free⯑dom [297]to the Jews and the Decree for re⯑building the Temple were made in the firſt year of Cyrus. See Ezra i. 1.

Now let my Readers ſeriouſly com⯑pare theſe accounts of God's peculiar favour to CYRUS, THE RESTORER OF LIBERTY, with the accounts (which I have already recited) of GOD'S oppo⯑ſite treatment of that man who ‘OPEN⯑ED NOT THE HOUSE OF HIS PRI⯑SONERS.’ 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 [...], literally ‘to his Meſſiah ⁽¹⁸⁵⁾, to Cyrus,’ &c. for [298]Cyrus, by freely reſtoring a great Na⯑tion 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⁾

[299]This ſpiritual Freedom is, indeed, clearly tendered to all men: but how [300]many are they who, for the ſake of a little worldly profit, are again entan⯑gled in the ſnares and temptations of their ſpiritual Enemy, and ſubmit them⯑ſelves to his Bondage! How can we ſuppoſe, that thoſe men are FREE from THE MAMMON OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, who are led by the temptations of pri⯑vate [301]intereſt to infringe the NATURAL RIGHTS OF MANKIND, by uncharita⯑bly 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 Bre⯑thren in a hard involuntary ſervice, with⯑out WAGES or REWARD! thereby con⯑tinually robbing them of the Fruit of their Labours! Have I not ſhewn, by un⯑queſtionable examples from Scripture, that this is a crying ſin, and that the Almighty hath denounced Wo⁽¹⁸⁷⁾ againſt all ſuch Offenders? Do we not [302]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, ne⯑vertheleſs, excuſe the Inhabitants of Great Britain and her Colonies, when they are wilfully guilty of the ſame of⯑fence!

The whole tenour of the Scriptures teaches us, that SLAVERY was ever de⯑teſtable in the ſight of God, inſomuch that it has generally been denounced (and, of courſe, inflicted) as the puniſh⯑ment 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 Scrip⯑tures [303]hold forth, not only to this Na⯑tion, 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) ex⯑preſsly 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 de⯑nounced particularly againſt the Chal⯑deans (and the cauſe of it, alſo, was de⯑clared) 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 [304]were then doomed to the Babylonian Yoke, and thereby laid the foundation for the future retaliated CAPTIVITY of their haughty CONQUERORS the Chal⯑deans!

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 Colo⯑nies 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 Bon⯑dage, when compared with the deplo⯑rable Servitude of the wretched NEGRO SLAVES, as well as of the white Ser⯑vants, in our Colonies?

What muſt be the conſequence of ſuch abominable wickedneſs?

[305]By as much as we exceed the Aſſy⯑rians and Babylonians in religious know⯑ledge, by ſo much more ſeverely may we expect the hand of God upon us for our monſtrous abuſe of ſuch advan⯑tages!

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 Bon⯑dage! GREAT BRITAIN, indeed, keeps no Slaves, but publicly encourages the Slave-trade, and contemptuouſly neg⯑lects or rejects every petition or attempt of the Coloniſts againſt that notorious wickedneſs!

[306]The Houſe of Burgeſſes in Virginia, tranſmitted a very ſenſible and reſpect⯑ful Petition to the King⁽¹⁸⁸⁾, dated the 1ſt of April, concerning the Iniquity, [307]Inhumanity, and deſtructive Influence of the AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE, to which [308]not the leaſt Anſwer hath yet been re⯑turned!

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⁾. [309]Another Petition upon the like benevo⯑lent principles was preſented to the ſame Aſſembly by ‘divers Inhabitants of the County of ESSEX in the ſaid Province,’ wherein they alſo ſignified their diſ⯑ſatisfaction concerning ‘an Act of Aſ⯑ſembly in force for preventing the manu⯑mitting [310]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 [311]of the Inhabitants of the City and County of Philadelphia bore the like teſtimony [312]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 Aſ⯑ſembly, [313]being deſirous firſt to know what reception the abovementioned neg⯑lected Virginian Petition had met with at Court, poſtponed their addreſs to the Throne; and inſtead of it tranſmitted [314]an Act of Aſſembly for the King's Aſ⯑ſent, whereby they laid a heavy duty on the head of every Slave that ſhould be imported, amounting almoſt to a pro⯑hibition 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 At⯑lantic, and the Bill was abſolutely re⯑jected; ſo that the horrid Guilt of per⯑ſiſting in that monſtrous Wickedneſs muſt reſt on this ſide of the Atlantic! Is this—to ‘execute Judgement and righteouſ⯑neſs?’ 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 [315]to us ‘for doctrine, for reproof, for cor⯑rection, 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 ad⯑vantages, 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 prac⯑tices? Is this the return we make to God for the Bleſſing of a Chriſtian Edu⯑cation! [316]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 impoſſi⯑ble that this nation ſhould eſcape his juſt retribution, and ſtill perſiſt in violat⯑ing the natural Rights of mankind!

Reflect, my Countrymen, for a mo⯑ment, upon the preſent ſtate of thoſe enor⯑mous national Tranſgreſſions, the Afri⯑can 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 [317]that Righteous Judge, who is no re⯑ſpecter 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 OP⯑PRESSION? ‘The Lord hath ſworn by the excellency of Jacob, SURELY I will never forget any of their works,’ or rather "all their works," [...]; 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 re⯑marked, to human Judgement concern⯑ing the propriety, or rather the ne⯑ceſſity and certainty, of the Divine Vengeance for ſuch National Wicked⯑neſs! — ‘Shall not the Land tremble for this? and every one mourn that dwelleth therein?’ Amos viii. 6—8. And in [318]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 Judge⯑ments, indeed, were denounced againſt the Jews; but ſurely common ſenſe muſt teach us that they are equally ap⯑plicable 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 un⯑queſtionable Examples of GOD's Retri⯑bution and Vengeance which I have al⯑ready given, let me add, before I con⯑clude, on very remarkable Example of GOD's Vengeance for National Op⯑preſſion being actually averted by the ſeaſonable interpoſition of a few indivi⯑duals, who procured the diſmiſſion and enfranchiſement of a large body of poor [319] 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 Ido⯑latry and Wickedneſs of Ahaz King of Judah, ‘who (even) burned his Chil⯑dren in the Fire,’ and by that ſuper⯑lative degree of Uncharitableneſs and In⯑humanity demonſtrated a voluntary ſub⯑miſſion to that heavy Yoke of Bondage under the Grand Spiritual Enemy of Man⯑kind, from which the Almighty Protector of the Creation had ſo gloriouſly deli⯑vered his Anceſtors, ‘after the abomi⯑nations’ (ſays the Text) ‘of the Hea⯑then, whom the Lord had caſt out be⯑fore the Children of Iſrael. He ſacri⯑ficed alſo and burned incenſe in the high places, and on the hills, and under every [320]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 RE⯑MALIAH 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 MAA⯑SEIAH THE KING'S SON, and AZ⯑RIKAM THE GOVERNOR OF THE HOUSE, and ELKANAH (that was) NEXT TO THE KING. And the Chil⯑dren of ISRAEL carried away captive of their Brethren TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND WOMEN, SONS AND [321]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) REACH⯑ETH UP UNTO HEAVEN. And now’ (ſaid the Prophet) ‘ye purpoſe to KEEP UNDER the Children of Judah and Je⯑ruſalem 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 [322]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 pre⯑ſumptuouſly ‘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 [323]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 PRO⯑TEST—"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.

[324]This reaſon, as well as the undaunt⯑ed Reſolution of thoſe who gave it, had the proper effect upon the Iſraelitiſh Soldiers, who, notwithſtanding the ge⯑neral depravity of their countrymen, ſtill deſerved the name of MEN, by de⯑monſtrating, that they were not inſen⯑ſible to REASON, and that they thought themſelves entitled (though SOLDIERS) to that common Right of HUMAN NA⯑TURE, the Right of judging for them⯑ſelves in matters of conſcience, without which no man can be truely honourable: for as ſoon as they heard the juſt remon⯑ſtrance of the four Noblemen, they quitted the Prey and the Plunder (a hard thing for Soldiers to ſubmit to) with⯑out 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 CON⯑GREGATION.’ Ver. 14.

[325]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 CON⯑GREGATION.’

What were their Deliberations on this occaſion does not appear, nor their RESOLUTIONS, or rather, they ſeem to have been totally IRRESOLUTE, waver⯑ing 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 [326]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 oppo⯑ſition of FOUR individuals againſt a whole Nation! But Great Britain and her Colonies, which forcibly detain more than FOUR times the number⁽¹⁹²⁾ of [327]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, Op⯑preſſion, and Injuſtice, by an annual ſup⯑ply of more than fifty thouſand poor ⁽¹⁹³⁾ African STRANGERS (againſt whom [328]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 VEN⯑GEANCE, 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 Pro⯑phet from God) ‘have they DEALT BY OPPRESSION WITH THE STRAN⯑GER: [329] 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 WRONG⯑FULLY. And I ſought for A MAN among them that ſhould make up the hedge, and STAND IN THE GAP be⯑fore me for the Land, that I ſhould not deſtroy it: but I ſound none! THERE⯑FORE have I poured out mine indigna⯑tion 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 ex⯑pect a ſimilar VENGEANCE for the like OP⯑PRESSIONS? Do they flatter themſelves, that the ſame God will permit them to go [] [310]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 pe⯑culiar 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 pre⯑ſence 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" [331]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 Reve⯑rend Fathers of our Church, who ſit with the PRINCES of the Realm to con⯑ſult the welfare of the State! Think not that I am inclined, through any miſguided prejudice⁽¹⁹⁴⁾, to charge [332] your Order, in particular, with the omiſſion. The crying Sin has hitherto [333]been far diſtant from your ſight, and perhaps was never fully repreſented to [334]you, or, like faithful Watchmen of Iſrael, you would long ago have warned our [335]Nation of the Danger: but I now call upon you, IN THE NAME OF GOD, [336]for aſſiſtance! Ye know the Scriptures, and therefore to you, my Lords, in [337]particular I appeal! If I have miſrepre⯑ſented the Word of God, on which my [338] 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 [339]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 wrong⯑fully.’ Ye know that the Teſtimo⯑nies I have quoted are of God! Warn [340]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 main⯑tain the CAUSE of the Afflicted, and the RIGHT of the Poor.’ Pſa. cxl. 12.

SOLI DEO GLORIA ET GRATIA.