the Jews. The proofs to be found of this in the Psalms, and throughout the Old Testament, are as abundant as those of his Unity: and this doctrine seems no less obvious to right reason; so that here again we must, to give this consideration its due weight, (as a presumptive proof of the Inspiration of the Psalms,) refer to the sentiments of the Heathen World on this subject: We shall first quote two or three passages, out of hundreds that offer, to shew the Psalmist's ideas on this head.

Psalm xcix. ver. 5.

"O magnify the LORD our GOD, and fall down before his footstool, for He is holy."

Psalm iv. ver. 3-5.

"Know this also, that the LORD hath chosen to himself the man that is godly: when I call upon the LORD, He will hear me.

"Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still.

"Offer the sacrifice of righteousness: and put your trust in the LORD."

Psalm xv.

1 Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle : or who shall rest upon thy holy hill ? —

2 Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth the thing which is right, and speak. eth the truth from his heart.

3 He that hath used no deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour; and hath not slandered his neighbour.

4 He that setteth not by himself, but is lowly in his own eyes, and maketh much of them that fear the LORD.

5 He that sweareth unto his neighbour, and disappointeth him not, though it were to his own hindrance.

6 He that hath not given his money upon usury, nor taken reward against the innocent. 7 Whoso doeth these things, shall never fall.

Psalm xxiv. ver. 3-6.

"Who shall ascend into the Hill of the LORD or who shall rise up in his holy place?

"Even he that hath clean hands and a pure heart, and that hath not lift up his mind

unto vanity, nor sworn to deceive his neighbour.

"He shall receive the blessing from the LORD: and righteousness from the GoD of his salvation.

"This is the generation of them that seek him; even of them that seek thy face, O Jacob.” Psalm xxxiv. ver. 15 & 16.

"The eyes of the LORD are over the righte ous, and His ears are open unto his prayers.

"The countenance of the LORD is against them that do evil: to root out the remembrance of them from the earth."

Psalm cxlvi. ver. 9.

"The LORD careth for the stranger: He defendeth the fatherless and widow: as for the way of the ungodly, He turneth it upside down."

The Psalms throughout uniformly suppose, (as did the Jewish people at large) the immaculate Spirituality and Sanctity of the Deity: while on the other hand, whether we look to the barbarous ages and countries contemporary with David, or to Greece in her highest sub

sequent state of Science and Art, or to Rome even in her Virgilian days, we every where observe human passions of the most unworthy kind, attributed to their gods: if human sacrifices ceased to be offered, as nations became more civilized, still sensuality, revenge, and injustice, mark the anals of the Heathen Mythology: the Olympian Jove himself intrigues; Venus presides over lust; Mercury patronizes thefts and fraud; and Apollo flays Marsyas alive, (not as a punishment of vice, but) as a rival fluter!

Their actual worship, in their best times, was a mixture of the most puerile superstitions, (as to Auguries, &c.) and of the most gross licentiousness while in other periods it was stained with the most horrid cruelty; their very children being made "to pass through the fire," and sacrificed to their ferocious gods.

Whence this extraordinary distinction? — Whence had the Jews, (always far behind much of the Heathen World in science, arts, and war,) whence had they, even in periods the most remote, before the days of Homer himself, sentiments of the Deity, so just and so

sublime, and a practical worship so free from cruelty and impurity; while the accumulated wisdom of civilized Philosophy made, for so many following ages, such imperfect approaches to these great truths, or to a worship suited to them? Had these opposite effects no opposite causes?-And if the difference is not to be traced to Divine Revelation, how else, on rational principles, is it to be accounted for* ?

* In the East Indies, among a people who had been far advanced in civilization, when the country of their present British masters was in a state of barbarism, not a year passes that does not witness mothers casting their children into the Ganges, as a religious offering; and men deliberately prostrating themselves under the ponderous chariot-wheels of their gods, to be crushed to death, as a Sin offering to them. Yet when the religious opinions and practices of these people shall be meliorated by the light of the Gospel, (as I trust will be the case,) we may expect some notable Indian Philosopher, of a subsequent age, to discover (as has been discovered among ourselves,) that Revelation has furnished no information respecting the Attributes and Will of God, or regarding human duty, beyond what reason had already sufficiently afforded!-I refer with pleasure to a note to the venerable Bishop of London's " Beneficial Effects of Christianity, &c." (page 57,) which I first met with, while correcting this sheet for the press. From a quotation in that excellent work, 1 borrow my motto.