Indifferency if he has the least Spark of Reason and how stupid soever he has been coming to know himself he ought to consider whence he came and what shall become of him Monsieur Pascall having reduc'd him to this Condition of desiring to be inform'd of so weighty a Doubt in the first place he directs him to Philosophers and having there discover'd to him all that the greatest Philosophers of all manner of Sects have said of the State of Man he shews so many Defects so many Weaknesses Contradictions and Absurdities in what they have alledg'd that it is no hard matter for Men to judge that they cannot there find any safety Then he makes him reflect on the whole Universe and on all Ages and shews the many Religions that is Profess'd but at the same time he shews him by undeniable Arguments that all those Religions are compos'd but of Vanity and Folly of Errours and Extravagancies and that he cannot yet therein find any thing may satisfie him At length he makes him look on the Jews and in them he shews such extraordinary Circumstances that they easily Attract his Attention having shew'd what this People had that was Peculiar he particularly insists in mentioning an only Book whereby they are Govern'd and which contains both their History their Law and Religion One no sooner opens this Book but that one finds the World is the Work of God and that it is the same God who did make Man after his own Image and that he invested him with all Benefits of Body and Mind suitable to that State. Although there has been nothing yet that convinc'd him of this Truth yet it is very grateful to him and Reason alone suffices to shew that he finds more likelihood that God made Man and all things in the World than in all that Men have fansy'd by their own Imaginations What most puzzles him is That by the Description made of Man he is very uncapable of Possessing the Privileges that belonged to him when he first came out of the Hands of his Creator but he does not long continue in this Doubt for persisting to Read this same Book he therein finds that Man being Created by God in the State of Innocence and enjoying all manner of Perfection the first thing he did was to Rebel against his Maker and to employ all the Benefits he received to displease him Monsieur Pascall makes him understand this was the greatest Crime that could be in all its Circumstances it was punish'd not only in the First Man who thereby falling from his first State was plung'd in Misery in Weakness Errour and Ignorance but also all his Posterity are thereby Polluted and Corrupted to all ensuing Generations Then he shews him several places in this Book wherein he has discover'd this Truth he lets him see that there is scarce any more mention made of Man but in reference to this State of Weakness and Corruption that it is often repeated that all Flesh is Polluted that Men have given up themselves to their Lusts and that they are prone to Evil from their Birth He shews also that this first Fall is the Spring not only of what is most incomprehensible in the Nature of Man but also of a great many Effects that are without him and whereof the Cause is unknown to him To conclude he represents Man in such Lively Colours in this Book that he does not appear to differ from the first Original that he found out 'T is not enough to have shewn to this Man his State of Misery Monsieur Pascall shews him farther That in this same Book he shall find matter of Comfort and in Effect he shews him that 't is said that the Remedy is in the Hands of God that it is to him we must have Recourse to have the Helps we stand in need of that he will be intreated of us and that he will send a Saviour to Men that will pay a Ransom for them and that will restore them to Life and Happiness Having explain'd unto him a great many particular Remarks touching this Book and People he farther makes him consider that it is that alone that makes due mention of the Soveraign Being and that gives a Right Notion of a True Religion he represents the most sensible Marks which he referrs to those contain'd in this Book and he inclines him particularly to consider that it makes the Essence of true Worship consist in Loving and Adoring God which is a peculiar Character and that does visibly distinguish it from all other Religions whose falseness appears by want of this Essential Mark. Though Monsieur Pascall had led this Man on so far whom he intended insensibly to convince having not yet said any thing to him that might confirm him in the Truths that he discover'd to him nevertheless he put him in a State of receiving them with satisfaction provided he may be assur'd that he ought so to do and wished with all his Heart that they may be certain and well grounded seeing he therein found such great Benefit for his Repose and for satisfying his Doubts This is the State every Reasonable Man should be in if he duely consider'd the Consequences of the things Monsieur Pascall Treated of and it might justly be hoped that then he would soon submit to the Proofs that he after alledged to confirm the certainty of the weighty Truths which he asserted and which make up the ground of the Christian Religion which he design'd to teach To speak something briefly to those Proofs having shew'd in General that the Truths in Agitation were contain'd in a Book the certainty whereof no Man of Sense ever question'd he insisted particularly on the Books of Moses wherein these Truths are more especially to be found and he shew'd by a great many undeniable Circumstances that it was alike impossible that Moses should have Recorded Untruths or that the People to whom he committed them should suffer themselves to be Cheated had Moses a design to do so He spake also of all the Miracles that are mention'd in this Book and being of great concern to the Religion therein contain'd he made appear it was impossible but they must needs be true not only by the Authority of the Book wherein they are contain'd but also by the Circumstances wherewith they are attended and which render them Infallible He shew'd also how all Moses's Law was Figurative that all which hapned to the Jews was only the Figure of the Truths accomplish'd at the coming of the Messias and that the Veil that cover'd these Figures being taken off it was easie to see their accomplishment and full Consummation in regard of those that believed in Jesus Christ Monsieur Pascall afterwards undertook to prove the Truth of Religion by Prophecies and he inlarged very much on this Subject more than on any other having taken much pains therein and having particular Abilities to this purpose he explain'd them in a very full and clear manner
in Divinity of the Faculty of Paris Counsellor and Almoner in Ordinary to the King and Bishop of Grenoble â—T hapned to me in Examining this Work in the State it is in as it will almost to all those that will Read 〈◊〉 which is more than ever to lament the Loss of the â—uthor who only was able to finish what he so happily â—â—d begun To conclude if this Book imperfect as it is â—â—th nevertheless mightily work upon Reasonable Perâ—â—s and discover the Truth of Christian Religion to â—ose that Sincerely seek after it What would it not â—â—ve done if the Author had liv'd to have perfected it â—nd if these rough Diamonds do here and there cast â—â—th such shining Light what Mind would they not â—â—ve dazl'd if this Skilful Artist had liv'd to have â—â—lish'd and finish'd them Moreover had he liv'd his â—â—cond Thoughts had doubtless been more Methodical â—an the First which are made Publick in this Treaâ—â—e but they could not have been Wiser they might â—â—ve been better polish'd and cemented but they could â—â—t have been more Solid and Resplendent It is the Teâ—â—imony we give of this Work and that we find noâ—â—ing in it contrary to the Doctrine and Belief of the â—hurch At Paris 21st September 1669. Bish Le Camus Dr. of the Faculty of Divinity of Paris Counsellor and Almoner to the King. ADVERTISEMENT THe Thoughts contain'd in this Book having bâ— Writ and Compos'd by Monsieur Pascall in 〈◊〉 manner as hath been related in the Preface that to say just as they came in his Mind and with any continuance it cannot be expected much Order to be found in the Chapters of this Collection whâ— is compos'd for the most part of many Thoughts â—â—stinct the one from the other and that are â—â—ranged under the same Title but because they see to Treat near hand of the same Subject And thoâ— it be easie enough in Reading each Chapter to juâ—â— if it be a continuation of what preceeded or 〈◊〉 contains a New Thought nevertheless it was judgâ— the better to distinguish them to make some partâ—â—â—lar Mark. So that where at the beginning of â— Article this Mark * is seen it imports this â—â—ticle contains new Matter that relates not to 〈◊〉 went before but is distinct of it self and by 〈◊〉 same Rule it will be found that the Articles 〈◊〉 have not this Mark make but one Discourse 〈◊〉 were found in this Order in Monsieur Pascall's Oâ—â—ginals yet in some places the Articles being 〈◊〉 Two or Three of them are included in one Paragraph It hath also been thought convenient at the End â—â— these Thoughts to insert some Prayers Compos'd â—â— Monsieur Pascall during a great Sickness he had in 〈◊〉 younger years they have been Printed formerly twiâ—â— or thrice on imperfect Copies it being done withoâ—â— the knowledge of those that give this Impression to thâ— Publick THE LIFE OF MONSIEUR PASCALL Writ by Madam PERIER his Sister MY Brother was born at Clermont the 19th of June 1623. My Father's Name was Stephen Pascall President of the Court of Aids and my Mother was Antoinete Begon My Brother was no sooner of Age to be discoursed with but he gave pregnant Marks of an extraordinary Wit by the ingenious Replies he made to those that spake to him but much more by Questions he proposed on the Nature of sundry things to the admiration of those that heard him this hopeful Beginning was not without good ground for as he grew in Years and Stature so he increased in Wisdom and far surpassed what could be expected from one of his Age. My Mother departed this Life in the Year 1626. at which time my Brother was but Three years old My Father being left as 't were alone apply'd himself more closely in looking after his Family and having no other Son but this the quality of an only Son and the signs of a towardly Wit which he observ'd in this Child made him so much delight in him that he could not resolve to commit him to be educated by any body else and even then resolv'd to instruct him himself which he did My Brother never was bred up at any College nor had any other Master or Tutor but my Father In the Year 1631. my Father retired to Paris and took us all along with him and there made his Residence My Brother being about Eight years of Age found much benefit by this remove upon account of my Fathers design of educating him for 't is certain he could not have been so careful of him in the Country where the discharge of his Employment and the continual resort of Company that abounded at his House might have hinder'd him but at Paris he was free and at full liberty he made it his sole business and had all Books and helps that the care of so wise and affectionate a Father could procure His chief Maxim in the course of his Education was always to keep my Brother above his Work and 't was for this Reason he would not begin to teach him Latin till he was Twelve years old that so he might learn it with the greater ease and delight During this interval he left him not Idle but entertain'd him with all things whereof he found him capable He shew'd him in general what Languages were he shew'd him how they were reduced into Grammar by certain Rules that those Rules had Exceptions which were to be observ'd and that thereby the means was found out of making all Languages communicable from one Country to another This general Idea of things opened his Understanding and made him comprehend the Reason of Grammar Rules so that when he came to learn them he new the meaning of them and apply'd himself preisely to those things only which were most necessary to be learned After these general Notions my Father instructed him in other things he often discoursed him of the extraordinary effects of Nature as of Gun powder c. which are surprizing when one considers them My Brother was much pleas'd with this kind of Discourse but he was very curious to know the Reason of all things and as they are not always well known when my Father did not answer him or that he gave him those Answers that are commonly alledg'd which are for the most part but meer evasions he was not satisfied therewith for he had ever an admirable clearness of Judgment to discern things and it may be truly said That at all times and in all things Truth was the sole Object of his desire and nothing could satisfie him but the knowledge of it so that from his Childhood he could not submit to any thing but to what appeared to him plainly and evidently so that when Reasons were offer'd him that were not solid he sought out others himself and when he fixed on any thing he would not forsake it till he found some others that he liked better One time amongst others one chancing at Dinner to strike a China
with the more Joy the satisfaction of their Doubts that they should be taught at the same time the Remedy of this Gulf of Miseries wherein Man is incompassed and wherein it cannot be imagin'd how those who are without hope of Delivery can find any Rest It is against this surprizing Rest Monsieur Pascall most of all invey'd and one shall find him mov'd against it in all his Writings with so much Force and Eloquence that 't is hard to listen to what he says without being concern'd and those Persons who have set up their Resolution and that say they know what they have to do yet if they seriously consider'd it could scarce avoid being shaken and he did not think they could have the least spark of good Sense that did not yield to it And having suppos'd that a reasonable Man could not rest therein no more than in the Ignorance of his true State past and to come he caus'd to be sought out all things that could give him any Light and first examin'd what those had said who are called Philosophers But he had not much trouble to shew that 't was no hard matter to be satisfi'd that all they had done was nothing else but to contradict one another That they had found out so many sorts of true Happinesses that 't was impossible any one of them should have found the true one because in all likelihood it must be of that Nature that one could not be mistaken in it and false Happiness cannot be like it If it chanc'd that any amongst them attain'd to know Man was born Miserable none of them ever thought of giving the Reason of it nor so much as to enquire after it although there 's nothing in the World more worthy to be sought after Some of them Figur'd Man great notwithstanding what he finds in himself of low and mean. Others again represented him Vile notwithstanding the instinct which lifts him up Some of them taught Man was Disposer of his own Happiness others that he was Miserable without Recovery Some that he was capable of all things others that he was of nothing To conclude there was no Sect that spake so well of him but that every body found in himself the quite contrary Man not able to satisfie himself herein nor yet to give over so necessary an Inquiry and thinking 't was not Men like himself and Ignorant as he is from whom he could expect to find information Monsieur Pascall made him call to mind that it may be he and such as him had a Maker that was able to Communicate himself to them and give them some Marks of their Original and of his Design in giving them their Being And thereupon taking a view of the whole World and all Ages he discover'd a great many Religions but not one of them was able to affect him Being indued with Sense he comprehends something of that which may consist with a Sovereign Good if there be one and of what he has reveal'd to Man in case he reveal'd himself to them at all as he must needs have done if there be any such thing as true Religion But instead thereof what finds he in his Inquiry Religions that take rise with certain People and expire with them Religions wherein several Gods are ador'd and Gods more ridiculous than Men Religions that have nothing Divine nor Spiritual in them which tolerate Vice which sometimes are setled by force sometimes by falshood Religions without Authority without Proofs or any thing Supernatural having nothing but a gross Carnal Worship all consisting in outward Shew savouring of Man and wholly displeasing to Almighty God the which leaving Man in a like Ignorance of the Nature of God and of himself doth serve only more and more to shew whereunto the Folly of Man doth extend To conclude rather than to make any choice or to fix his Rest on any of those he see he would rather choose to be his own Executioner and at once to rid himself out of so Miserable a Condition when being just ready to fall into Dispair he discover'd a certain People which of a sudden drew his Attention by a great many singular and wonderful Circumstances It is the Jewish Nation of which Monsieur Pascall observes so many things throughout his Thoughts and whole Book That if one has the least measure of Curiosity one cannot chuse but inquire and search into it They are a People that issu'd all from one Man they had ever a great care of not making Alliance with other Nations so that by preserving their Genealogy they could give to the World a History worthy of Credit rather than any other Nation whatsoever it being in effect nothing else but the History of one sole Family and therefore cannot be subject to any great Confusion howsoever 't was a Family so numerous that had there been any deceit used 't was impossible the Nature of Man is such but that some one or other would have discover'd and made it known Moreover this History being the oldest of any it cannot have borrow'd any thing of others and for that very Reason it deserves a peculiar esteem and veneration For whatsoever is said of the History of China Japan c. with half an Eye one may perceive they are but ridiculous Fables and this is True. The more one examins those the more their Falshood is discover'd whereas the more this is search'd into it confirms it self and becomes undeniable And to conclude when there is occasion to hear mention made of Men fallen from the Sun or sprung up out of Mountains and of Men Created by an Omnipotent God one must have very little Judgment of things to be one Moment in suspence which is the most likely to be True. This Man overjoy'd of this Discovery resolv'd to relie on it as his chiefest Stay and presently found that this so great a People Govern'd themselves by one only Book which contains both its History its Laws and Religion and all this so compact and inseparable that he the more admir'd it and was fully perswaded that if any part of it be true all the rest must needs be so too But what 's remarkable is he no sooner opened this Book but with the History of this People he there also finds that of the Creation of the World that Heaven and Earth are the Works of Gods hands that Man was Created and that his Maker made himself known to him that he put all other Creatures under his Subjection that he made him after his own Image and by consequence endow'd him with Knowledge and Light and capable of Truth and Happiness free in his Knowledge and in his Actions and in a perfect Conformity of his Desires to Justice and right Reason For to conclude it is what signifies the resemblance to God which Man cannot approach to in the Body and is the Breath of Life wherewith God enliven'd him which is nothing else but a Beam of that most pure
nothing wherein it is harder to impose upon them and wherein there is less occasion of Dispute So that when it is demonstrated to them that Christian Religion is inseparably join'd to Deeds the truth of which cannot justly be contested they must and ought submit to what it teacheth or that they abandon all Sincerity and right Reason If Moses for Instance was and that he wrote the Book that is attributed to him then the Jewish Religion is true If the Jewish Religion be True Jesus Christ is the Messias and if Jesus Christ be the Messias all must be believed that he said The Trinity the Incarnation Resurrection Ascension and all the Rest It is by this Divine chain of Truths God conducts Men to the true Faith and that they might shew there is nothing more reasonable than the submission they give to the most incomprehensible Mysteries very far from censuring them of Weakness and Imprudence And as this great Body of Christian Religion is compos'd of a great many different Parts which all tend to the same End and that it has subsisted Six thousand years it cannot but be by a Chain of infinite Truths that every Age has added a new Accumulation of Proofs and that at what Part soever one begins at what Point soever one apply themselves one still finds such a great abundance of Light that 't is impossible not to be convinc'd But one is so much the more obliged to apply themselves exactly to the seeking these Proofs God ordering it so that they should not consist in common Principles and so plain that they should presently be discover'd and that they should be alike seen of all Men. It is rather a heap of Circumstances that every body does not put together or don 't consider after the same manner which yet nevertheless are plain to the most ordinary Capacity when they ever so little open their Eyes and when they are all together produce a certainty if not greater at least more intimate and natural than that we have by speculative and abstracted Demonstrations because the manner of it is more proportion'd to the Mind of Man and that there 's no body but finds the Principles in themselves It is in this design that to give an Essay of the way that one should consider these Deeds which by their certainty do necessarily perswade that of our Religion we will make choice of the particular History of Moses and the Truth of his Books which serve as the Foundation of the Jewish Religion as this doth of the Christian according to St. Paul. I do not think my self bound presently to prove that if there was effectively a Man who lookt on himself to be sent on Gods part and that not desiring he should be believed on his bare Word or by Actions which are known to be but little above those of the power of Man has given for greater Evidence that wonderful Succession of Prodigies which is to be seen in the Pentateuch who was seen to have dispos'd of Life and Death to have Commanded the Elements and made the whole Frame of Nature stoop to his Orders I make no question I say but all the World will confess but this Man does best desérve to be believ'd of what he has writ concerning God in whose Name it was he wrought all these Wonders and that the Religion he Establish'd should be accounted as True and Divine The most obstinate Spirits will as 't were be at a loss under the weight of these Wonders and find no other means to satisfie the Inclination they have to Unbelief but to seek vain Reasons to question the Truth of these Miracles and of the Book which contains them But if they have any remains of Honesty and Sincerity left in them they cannot possibly proceed very far in these Doubtings and they will find them so dissipated by the abundance of Proofs which attend this History that they must be forc'd either to confess it to be true or be reduc'd to the dulness of those who to avoid believing what Religion Commands do rather chuse never to think at all of it For by what Suppositions do they think to shake the certainty of what is writ in these Books and put their Mind in a State of thinking that it all amounts to nothing Let them give all the scope they can to their Imagination and let it feed them with all the Chimera's it can they will never find any thing that has the least shadow of likelihood and which a Judgment never so little solid would not be asham'd to propose Will they say Moses never was and that all that is said of him is only a Fable invented at pleasure But let them consider that it is not Jews and Christians only that have been heard speak of this Moses seeing it is also known that Prophane Historians make mention of him and if that were not so let them also look on all the Histories in the World but as Fables seeing there is not one of them can be Credited if it were permitted to doubt that there was a Man called Moses who brought the Jews out of Aegypt after a long Captivity For all the Reasons whereby Men judge the truth of other Histories do equally appear in that of Moses For Instance we do not doubt but that there was an Alexander and a Cyrus because several Authors have writ of it and that no body ever thought of making any question of it neither has ever any body seriously question'd if there was a Moses It was constantly own'd and believ'd amongst a very Numerous People and by all those that knew them and that had any dealing with them without ever having been deny'd by any body But there is moreover this difference that Moses has particular Proofs and such as are not to be found in others for never was a Book preserv'd with so much Care and Affection as that which contains his History and nevertheless Men had never greater and more powerful Reasons to destroy the Truth of any Book if they could have found any colour for doing it than the Jews had in regard of this seeing that at once they might have freed themselves from a Law that was the most troublesom the most painful terrible and Injurious that could be to be observ'd so that one can see no Motive that should incline them to bear it but the firm perswasion of the Truth of it Incredulity not being able to subsist in this Chimera it must of necessity pass to some other and that for Example one must say That it is true there was a Man call'd Moses and that he was Chief of a great People he brought out of Aegypt but that he was a great Impostor which deceiv'd that People by false Miracles and forged all the Prodigies he Relates in his Book to subject them to the Law which he gave them and by that Law to himself in making them look upon it as come from Heaven and making
as that they subsist no longer unless it be amongst some ignorant People who only taking things on the first Credit of them never trouble themselves in throughly searching into the Truth of Matters But there is nothing clear in the World if it be not that no such thing can happen for the Book we now speak of and describe I could as well say that it would be no hard matter now to Insert in the New Testament as long and considerable a History as that and how idle soever this Supposition seems I cannot tell but that 't was harder to do it in the Books of Moses seeing the Jews respected it as much every jot as we do our New Testament and that there was not one amongst them that had not a very particular Intrest to know what was contain'd in it were it only to preserve themselves from the Sentence of Death which without Remission they were to suffer if they omitted certain Rites they were to perform But what does absolutely prove the Vanity of this Supposition is that there is as it were two Histories of Moses one that was written in the Book that bears his Name the other which is as it were engrav'd in the Ceremonies and Laws observ'd by the Jews the Practice whereof is a pregnant Proof of the Book that enjoin'd them and also of what it contain'd of greatest importance For the greatest part of the most Wonderful Miracles were shewn by the Ceremonies and other things that served in the Worship of the Jewish Religion The Pot of Manna kept in the Ark was a Monument of Gods Miraculous feeding that People in the Wilderness Aaron's Rod that blossom'd was a Sign of the manner how God confirm'd the Priesthood to him and the Two Tables shew'd what 's related in Exodus touching the Establishing the Law. The Sacrifice of the Pascal Lamb the Ceremony of the Azymes and the appointing the Tribe of Levi for the Service of the Temple shew'd the Passage of the Angel the Death of the First born of the Aegyptians and the deliverance of the Children of Israel The Plates of Gold nail'd to the Altar was a Memorial of the Death of those unadvis'd Levites that disputed the Priest-hood with Aaron To conclude The Ark the Tabernacle the sundry Orders of Priests and Levites all the Ceremonies of Sacrifices and Washings all the Laws the appointing the Countries beyond Jordan to the Tribes of Reuben Gad and the half Tribe of Manasses The Cities of Refuge for Man slaiers I say all these things which it were no less absurd to deny than it were to say there were never any Jews have a necessary reference and dependance on the Books of Moses and do invincibly prove that they could not be writ since his Time. For to this purpose it must be either that all we have said has not also been settled but since Moses's time and after publishing the Books attributed to him or that being Established by Moses his Word and without any Book some should add these Books to the Ceremonies and Laws that were in use and added these Miracles the more to enjoin this People to the observation of this Law. But all this is so unlikely that there was never any Person known that durst seriously maintain any such thing How can it be said for Example that the Pentateuch was made and published a long time after Moses his Death and that it was the Cause of Establishing the Law and Worship of the Jewish Religion contain'd in it It may as well be said the Ark and the Tabernacle which are the Foundations of this Religion were not made neither but a long while after Moses and after the publishing of this Book Now this cannot possible be for all the Jews were perswaded their Ark and Tabernacle were made by Moses as this Book does mention and it cannot be conceiv'd by what Fancy they could be of this Opinion if they themselves had made them after they had seen and receiv'd this Book which had not been known till a long time after Moses his Death doubtless this would have been one of the Pleasantest things in the World and the most unparallel'd either that this Book being made of a sudden and in a readiness with this great number of Laws and Ceremonies as being already in use they afterwards came to be Establish'd or that being made by little and little and just as all those things were settled it had always as is said at the Palace Retroactive Effect to make each of these Establishments be attributed to Moses How also could this People who beginning to receive this Law had they at least known it had been untrue that it had been practis'd since Moses and that it had a constant Succession of Priests since Aaron could they have Universally perswaded themselves that what this Book Commanded had been always practis'd and that the Priests it Established had received their Ministry from Aaron by an uninterrupted Succession And how also upon this same Foundation could all the other Tribes and Families have sufferr'd the Tribe of Levi and the Sons of Aaron to usurp to themselves the Prerogatives belonging to the Priest-hood and to the Office of the High-Priest There is no less absurdity in the other Supposition which is That the Law being given by Moses his bare Word was preserv'd by the Jews for some time only by meer Tradition and that afterwards those that wrote it added thereunto all these Miracles for besides that it were already a kind of Miracle and hard to believe that this People should receive so severe and troublesom a Law as that was from a Man that had done nothing extraordinary How could it be that Moses who doubtless had the use of writing should have omitted so Essential a thing and should not leave in Writing a Law that contain'd so many Rights and Ceremonies and so many Directions that it was necessary to have it always in readiness not to fail in some part or other of it Also we are inform'd by this Book it self that Moses fail'd not herein Moses it is said wrote this Law and gave it to the Priests the Sons of Levy and command it should be Read every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles And it is there said in several places That God commanded Moses to Write what he commanded him on the Mountain If the Jews then had receiv'd this Law from him only by Word how then could they receive a Book that contain'd so gross and manifest a Lye and that had in it an Express Command from God wherein their Legislator had fail'd This same Command of Reading the Law every Seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles as being given by Moses does shew also that it could not be chang'd nor alter'd for it was impossible but those alterations would have been discover'd and being so that they should be sufferr'd by a People so wedded to this Law and whose Love for it was grounded on the
this Law may be easily seen only by Reading it where it doth appear that all things are dispos'd with so much Wisdom Equity and Judgment that the Antientest Greek and Roman Legislators having some knowledge of it have form'd their principal Laws by it which appears by that they call their Laws the Twelve Tables and by the other Proofs mention'd by Josephus But this Law is at the same time the strictest â—nd most rigorous Law in the World obliging this People to keep them within bounds in observing a thousand particular laborious Duties under pain of Death so that it is as wonderful that it should always be kept for so many Ages by so head-strong and impatient a People as this whereas all other Nations chang'd their Laws from time to time although more easie to be kept 2. * This People is yet more admirable in their Sincerity They keep with great respect and fidelity the Book wherein Moses declares they have ever been ungrateful to God and saith that they will be so also after his Death but he calls Heaven and Earth to witness against them that he hath warn'd them of it that to conclude God growing displeas'd at them would disperse them over the Face of the Earth that as they provok'd him by Worshipping those which were not Gods he would provoke them by calling a Nation that was not his People nevertheless this Book that renders them so perverse they keep it as safe as their Life It is a sincerity that cannot be equall'd in the World nor has not its Root in Nature 3. * Moreover I do not find any cause at all to question the truth of this Book which contains all these things for there is a great difference betwixt a Book made by a single Person and that he disperses amongst the People and a Book that is made by a whole People 4. * This is a Book made by Authors that were contemporaries any History that is not Contemporary is Suspitious as the Books of the Sybills Trismegistus and many others that have been cry'd up in the World and have been found false afterwards But 't is not so with Contemporary Authors §. IX Of the Injustice and Corruption of Man. 1. MAn is visibly made for thinking it is his greatest Merit and Dignity his whole Duty is to think as he ought the true method of thinking is to begin by ones self by ones Author and by ones latter End. Nevertheless what is it is thought of in the World Seldom of these things but of taking ones Pleasure of growing Rich of getting Reputation of becoming a King without thinking what 't is to be a King or to be a Man. 2. * The thought of Man is a thing admirable by Nature It must needs have very great faults to be undervalu'd yet it has such that nothing is more ridiculous How great is it by its Nature how despicable through its Defects 3. * If there be a God he it is that ought to be lov'd and not the Creatures The Reasoning of the Wicked in the Book of Wisdom is only grounded upon this That they perswade themselves there is no God this being granted say they let us enjoy the Creatures But had they known there is a God they would have concluded the quite contrary And it is the conclusion of the Wise There is a God let us not therefore enjoy the Creatures Then all that invites us to cleave to the Creature is Evil because it hinders us either from serving God if we do know him or to seek him if we do not â—now him Now we are full of Concupiscence â—hen we are full of Evil therefore we should â—bhor our selves and every thing that fastens to â—ught else but God only 4. * When we would think of God how maâ—y things do we find that would hinder us and â—hat tempt us to think of something else All â—his is Evil and even born with us 5. * It is not true that we are worthy others â—hould love us it is not just we should desire it were we born reasonable and with any degree of Knowledg of our selves and others we should not have this Inclination yet 't is born with us then are we born unjust Every one seeks-himself this is against all order we should be for the general to be for ones self is the beginning of all disorder in War Peace and Oeconomy c. 6. * If the Members of Societies Natural and Civil tend to the good of the Body the Societies themselves should tend to a more general Body 7. * Whoever hates not in himself this Self-love and this instinct of preferring himself above every thing is very blind seeing there is nothing more opposite to Justice and Truth for it is false that we deserve it and it is unjust and impossible to attain to it seeing all desire the same thing It is therefore an evident injustice that we are born in which we must free our selves from and yet we cannot divest 8. * Nevertheless no other Religion but the Christian ever observ'd this was a Sin nor that we were born in it nor that we were bound to resist it nor ever thought of prâ—scribing any Remedies 9. * There is an intestine War in Man betwixt Reason and the Passions he might enjoy some rest had he Reason and not Passions oâ— had he Passions and not Reason but having both the one and the other he cannot be without Wars not being able to have Peace with the one without having variance with the other so that he is always divided and contrary to himself If it be an Ignorance which is unnatural to live without searching what one is it is yet a far more terrible one to live ill in believing God All Men almost are in one or the other of these two Mistakes §. X. Jews 1. GOD intending to shew that he could form a People Holy with an inward Holiness and fill them with an Eternal Glory did accomplish in the things of Nature what he was to have done in those of Grace to the end it might be seen that he could do things invisible seeing he did those that were visible He sav'd his People from the Deluge in the Person of Noah he brought them out of the Loyns of Abraham he redeem'd them from their Enemies and brought them into a Land of Rest The design of God was not to save from the Deluge and cause a great People to proceed from Abraham only to bring them into a Land of Plenty but as Nature is a Symbol of Grace so these visible Miracles are Images of invisible ones that he design'd to do 2. * Another Reason why he made the Jewish Nation was that intending to wean his People from Carnal and Perishable things he would shew by so many Miracles that 't was not for want of Power 3. * This People was plung'd in these Earthly Thoughts that God lov'd their Faâ—her Abraham his Body and what should proceed
taliter omni Nationi said David speaking of the Law But speaking of Jesus Christ it must be said fecit taliter omni Nationi Also it appertains to Jesus Christ to be Universal The Church offers Sacrifice but for Believers only Jesus Christ offered that of the Cross for all 13. * Let us then spread forth our Arms to our Redemer who having been promis'd Four thousand years at last came and suffer'd and dyed for us upon Earth in the time and in all the Circumstances as were foretold And waiting through Grace to dye in peace and hope of being Eternally united to him let us in the mean time live with comfort whether it be in enjoying the good things he shall be pleas'd to give us or in bearing the Evil things he is pleas'd to send on us for our good and that he has taught us to suffer by his Example §. XV. Jesus Christ prov'd by Prophesies 1. THe greatest Proofs of Jesus Christ are the Prophesies it is also what God most of all provided for the success that fulfill'd them is a Miracle that subsisting from the first begining continues to the end of the World. God raised up Prophets for the space of Sixteen hundred years and for Four hundred years after he dispersed these Prophesies with the Jews that carry'd them into all parts of the World see here the preparation of the birth of Jesus Christ whose Gospel being to be believed all the World over it was not only requisite there should be Prophesies that it might be believed but also that these Prophesies should be divulg'd through all the World that it might be believ'd by all Men. 2. * If any one Man should have writ a Book of Predictions of Jesus Christ for the time and manner and that Jesus Christ should come in the manner as was Prophesi'd it would shew a very great clearness But herein is more here is a Succession of Men for the space of Four thousand years that constantly and without any variation come one after another and foretell the same Event A whole Nation affirm it and which subsist Four thousand Years and that in a whole body give Testimony of the assurances they have of it from whence they cannot be diverted for any threats or punishments can be inflicted on them this is very considerable 3. * The time is foretold by the State of the â—ewish People by the State of the Gentiles by the State of the Temple by the number of Years 4. * The Prophets having given divers Signs that were to happen at the coming of the Messias it was requisite all these marks should be fulfill'd at the time and so it was necessary the Fourth Monarchy should succeed when Daniels seventy Weeks were accomplish'd that the Scepter should then depart from Judah and that the Messias should come And then did Jesus Christ appear who called himself the Messias 5. * It is foretold that in the Fourth Monarchy before the destruction of the second Temple before the power of the Jews was taken away and in Daniel's Seventieth Week the Gentiles should be instructed and brought to the knowledg of the same God ador'd by the Jews that those that lov'd him should be deliver'd from their Enemies and fill'd with his Fear and Love. And it hapned that in the Fourth Monarchy before the destruction of the Temple c. the Gentiles in great multitudes Worshipped the true God and lived Angelical Lives Virgins consecrated their Lives to God renouncing their Pleasures What Plato could not perswade a few chosen Men to do a secret Virtue perswades a Hundred thousand ignorant Persons to do by the help of very few words What 's the meaning of all this It is what was Prophesi'd so long time before hand Effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem All Men wallowed in Lust and Infidelity all the World became warm with Charity Princes renounce their greatness the Rich forsake their Riches Virgins suffer Martyrdom Children quit their Fathers Houses to live in Deserts Whence proceeds this Courage It is because the Messias is come these are the effects and marks of his coming For the space of Two thousand Years the God of the Jews was unknown to the infinite numbers of Gentiles and in the time foretold infinite numbers of Gentiles Adore this only true God. Idol Temples are destroy'd whole Kingdoms submit to the Cross What 's all this It is the Spirit of God that is powr'd forth on the whole Earth 6. * It is foretold the Messias should come and Establish a new Covenant that should make that of Egypt be forgotten that he would write his Law not on outward Tables but in the Heart that he would put his Fear which was but exteriour in the inward part of the Heart That the Jews should refuse Jesus Christ and that they should be forsaken of God because the chosen Vine yielded nothing but sower Grapes That the chosen People should be unbelieving ingrateful populum non credentem contradicâ—â—tem That God would strike them with blindness and that they should grope at Noon Day like the Blind That the Church should be little in the beginning but should increase afterwards It is Prophesi'd that in those days Idolatry should be destroy'd that the Messias should cause the Idols to fall and should bring Men to the true Worship of God. That the Temples of Idols should be destroy'd and that throughout the World they should offer him a pure Service and not Beasts That he should teach Men the perfect way That he should be King of Jews and Gentiles And there never came any Man before nor since that taught near so much as this 7. * So many Persons having foretold this coming Jesus Christ came saying Behold me this is the time He came telling Men they had no greater Enemies then themselves that 't is their Lusts that keep them from God that he came to deliver them and to give them his Grace to chuse to himself out of all Mankind a Holy Church that he came to bring into this Church Jews and Gentiles that he came to destroy the Idols of the one and the Superstition of the others What the Prophets foretold should come to pass I tell you my Apostles shall accomplish The Jews are on the point of being forsaken Jerusalem shall soon be destroy'd the Gentiles shall know the true God and my Apostles shall instruct them in the Worship of God when ye have slain the Heir of the Vineyard Afterwards his Apostles said to the Jews You are forsaken and to the Gentiles You shall enter into the knowledge of God. Unto this all Men have aversion by the Natural opposition of their Concupiscence This King of Jews and Gentiles is supressed by the one and the other and both conspire his Death All the Powers of the World conspire together against this Religion in its Infancy the Wise the Learned the Kings of the Earth some write others
Death His Friends on their part were no less desirous to make his Works publick and knowing better the value of what remain'd of his than those who only judged of it by conjecture there 's no question to be made but they found themselves obliged to pay this last Testimony of kindness to a Person whose Memory was so dear to them and to communicate to the World a thing which they with great reason believ'd would be of so great use to all Orders of Men. For although Monsieur Paseall had as yet writ nothing on this Subject but some indigested Thoughts which might afterwards have found place in the Work which he designed but would have made but a very small part and would have given but a slender account of it nevertheless it may be truly said that nothing has appear'd comparable to it on this Subject However it cannot well be judged in what manner these precious Remains of this great Man will be entertain'd in the World a great many Persons doubtless will be disatisfied in finding so little order in it in that every thing seems so indigested and that there be many Thoughts that have no dependance nor connection one to another nor is it easie to see whereto they tend But let such consider that what Monsieur Pascall had undertaken were not such things as may be said to be finish'd as soon as taken in hand neither were they common ordinary things which are as good one way as another there was a great distance betwixt the Project and the finishing of it It was to be a Composition of several Pieces of different Natures wherein the World was to be reform'd of sundry Errors and also to be inform'd of a great many Truths To conclude it was design'd therein to Treat of all things and to speak Reasonably which but very few have yet done for indeed all things conduce to Religion or all things divert from it and as it is the greatest of all Gods designs or rather the Center of his good Pleasure and that he has done all things for Jesus Christ there is nothing in the World but doth referr to him all things living or inanimate all things agitated in the Thought or Actions of Men are the Consequences of Sin or the Effects of Grace and that wherein God's chief scope is to enlighten our Darkness or to increase them when we love them So that every thing might have found room in Monsieur Pascall's Book and how much Wisdom soever he had he might have employ'd his whole Life in the sole Collecting of so much Matter and yet have omitted speaking of many things Can it then be thought strange that having therein spent only the last Four or Five Years of his Life and that with many lets and impediments too that after his Decease there was found only a little Parcel of imperfect Materials Moreover a great many Persons fansy'd to themselves before-hand what this Work should be and imagin'd he ought to have set about Composing it after the same manner as they would have done themselves it is most certain they are therein mightily mistaken Those that find nothing convincing without Geometrical Demonstrations expect also Proofs of the Existence of God and of the Immortality of the Soul which may lead them from one Principle to another as their Demonstrations do Others require those common Reasons that prove but very little or which only satisfie those that are already perswaded Others desire Metaphysical Reasons which for the most part are only refin'd Notions that are not capable of making any great impression on the Understanding and whereof 't is always suspicious To conclude there be others that look for nothing but for that which is called common Places and I can't tell what kind of Eloquence and sound of Words void of Truth which only dazle the Sight and never reach the Heart It is most certain none of all these shall find what they seek after in these Fragments but 't is also as sure they would therein find their desire were they not deceiv'd with false Notions of what they look for All that is contain'd therein is full of the Works of an unparallell'd Eloquence and of that Eloquence which proceeds from the lively Sense of things and also of a profound Wisdom and that never fails to move and produce some Effect There are seen Metaphysical Proofs as full and convincing as can be given on this Matter and also Demonstrations for those that understand them grounded on as undeniable Principles as those of Geometry can be But the mischief of all is That these Principles referr more to the Heart than to the Understanding and Men are so little accustom'd to study their Heart that there is nothing they know less than it It is very seldom or never that their Meditation tends thither and although they do nothing all their Life and in all things but follow the Motions of their Heart it is but as blind Men do who suffer themselves to be led along without seeing who leads them or knowing what does lie in their way It is not therefore strange that they should be insensible of the Light God has given them if they never turn their Eyes towards it and that they rest satisfi'd with things that hinder them from seeing it And if there be any found that apply themselves to the study of the Heart of Man can they boast of searching it to the bottom and penetrate the Abiss of Prejudices false Sentiments and Passions wherein this little Light is almost extinguish'd The Truth is there is not so much need of proving the Existence of God as there is to make him be felt This latter is the most necessary as also the most safe and to know him he must be sought in the Sentiments which yet subsist in us and that we have still remaining of our first Nature for if God has left Tokens and Marks of himself in all his Works as it can no way be doubted we shall sooner find them in our selves than in exteriour things that don't speak to us and of which we have only a slight superficial Knowledge being not able to know the Ground and Nature of them And if it be inconceivable that he has not imprinted in his Creatures what they owe to him for the Being he has given them it will be much more probable Man shall find this important Lesson in his Heart than in inanimate things which fulfil the Will of God without knowing it and for whom their very Being differs but little from nothing It is then so little to be wonder'd at that God may be found this way that 't is one of the greatest Wonders in the World that we should not find him and it must be only the like Confusion Sin made in Man at his first Creation that can deprive one of the Sense of this Presence of God which his Immensity makes to be every where Nevertheless let him not be dejected this
and intelligible Life where of his Essence is compos'd To say truth here are many Doubts remov'd and that very easily The Eternity of the World which is so difficult to conceive and the accidental meeting of a few Atoms are things doubtless not very easie to be imagin'd when there is need to explain the admirable Order of the Universe the production of Beasts and Plants the curious Fabrick of Mans Body and more especially what is meant by Thought and Soul 't is hard to be believed this Eternity and these Atoms do appear to hang so well together and that the Understanding is not very forward to submit to the Belief of it How happy would this Man think himself if he could find the Truth of these things he would be willing to part with any thing on Condition this beginning of discovering Truth might succeed But as he would not fix on a rest wherein there may be any doubt and that he fears as much to be deceived as to rest in the incertainty he is in he resolves to search fully into the thing and to examin it with the greatest exactness may be In the first place he observes as a Circumstance that can't sufficiently be admir'd that the Pen-Man of the Holy Bible did comprize many and great things in one Chapter and that but a very short one and whereas 't is the Nature of most Men to make the smallest things look Big and that any one else would have thought it unbecoming to Treat of so weighty a Subject so unconcernedly he is amaz'd to see this Man speak so plainly of it and being to be lookt upon as a Person chosen to reveal it to Men that he so little indeavour'd to put a value on himself by flattering his Readers or in setting a Gloss on what he said or taking any heed of proving it So strange or rather so singular a way of proceeding doubtless deserves extraordinary Respect and 't is very likely that whoever could Treat of things of this Nature in this manner knew very well that their value consisted in their own Truth without having need of other Ornaments and that he was also verily perswaded that they were either well known or very easie to be believed Nevertheless of a sudden there appears a difficulty that can scarce be surmounted and at the same time one sees That if it be a God that Created the World and that he himself gave a Testimony of the goodness of his Works Man must needs be made in the State before recited yet one finds himself so quite another thing that one knows not scarce what to think Very far from taking ones self for the Image of God we don't find the least resemblance of God in us and the more we know our selves the less shall we find our selves inclin'd to obey God whom we ought in all things to resemble It is certain we should be but little enlightn'd should we stop our Inquiry here it would argue great negligence and guilt not to make farther Progress in so weighty an Inquiry For this very first view that 't is God made us is attended with so many Circumstances that nothing but fear of finding more than we seek for can hinder Men from inquiring more distinctly into it This very Man that Monsieur Pascall thought uncapable of this great fear of knowing his Duty and that too well knew his inability of himself to determine a thing of so great Importance stopt not there and stay'd not long before he was better inform'd For he perceiv'd soon after that the same Man we describ'd to be so inlightned and so much Master of himself had no sooner known his Maker but he offended him The first use he made of so precious a Gift as Liberty was to Transgress the very first Commandment he had received and all of a sudden forgetting what might justly be thought a Creature owed to Almighty God who was but newly taken from the Dust of the Earth to enjoy the whole World and to know and serve his Creator he aspir'd to quit his dependance and by his own Skill to acquire the knowledge God was pleas'd to hide from him and in a Word aspir'd to become his equal It 's not needful to use many Words to shew nor much Wisdom to comprehend that this was the most horrible Crime that could be in all its Circumstances and it was Punish'd as it deserv'd For besides the Death wherewith Adam was threatned he also fell into a deplorable State which could not be better shewn than by that bitter Irony that he had the Grief to hear from the Mouth of God For instead of continuing an Image of the Holiness and Justice of his Creator as he might have done and of becomming like him as he thought to have done in that same Moment he lost all those Advantages that he had not rightly improv'd His Understanding became obnubilated God hid himself from him in impenetrable Darkness he became a Child of Wrath and a Slave of Sin of all the Light and Knowledge he had he only retain'd a faint desire of Knowledge which was of no other use to him but to increase his Torment he had no other benefit and use of his Liberty but to commit Sin and found himself wholly uncapable of doing good At last he became that incomprehensible Monster call'd Man and moreover imparting more and more his Corruption to all that proceeded from him he replenish'd the whole World with poor blind guilty Creatures like himself It is what is to be found at large in the following part of this Book for Monsieur Pascall supposing that one could not chuse but be allur'd by so great a view and representing it with much earnestness and also all that 's contain'd in the Old Testament it may be observ'd that what 's therein Treated is the Corruption of Man of Mens giving themselves up to their Vile Affections and their Inclination to Evil from their very Infancy and inlarging upon the things which render this Book remarkable and worthy of Respect he shew'd that 't was the only Book in the World wherein the Nature of Man was truly describ'd in its Greatness and in its Misery and discover'd to him the State of his Heart in a great many places Whatever he had discover'd in studying himself he therein found it very clearly The Reading hereof having created as 't were a new Light in the Darkness of his Soul he not only discern'd more plainly what he already had seen but he also found a great many things that he had not thought of and that were never before taken notice of by those that had made the greatest inquiry after them Then he not only admires this Book should make Man know himself better than he doth himself but also that 't is that alone in all the World that has to purpose Treated of the Soveraign Being and that it makes him conceive it to be as far above what he thought him to
things of the weightiest Consequence and that have been ever in force Besides it would be pleasant to see a Combination carry'd on betwixt Five or Six hundred thousand Men and that not one of them nor of their Posterity ever discover'd it For there was not one of those Miracles but that every one of all that People being all together in one Camp might have discover'd the fraud or that they might have avow'd as having seen them with their Eyes or being done in their Days or in the time of their Fathers What a difficult thing then would it have been to Moses to have gained so many People and especially a People so hard to govern And how could it be but there would have been found some heady Person or some Man of good Sense that would have opposed such a design Whoever would have attempted it must have but little experience of Men to believe but that there would soon have been as many Sectaries as Moses or at least but that he would have been desirous to have inform'd Posterity of this Deceit and might easily enough have done it Besides What could there have been fitter to have render'd the Jews ridiculous to all the World instead of admiring them and how blind must they have been not to see it For Instance What would the Aegyptians have said of all the Plagues Moses said he smote them with of the slaying their First born of the drowning Pharoah's Army in the Red-Sea And by what Complacency could all those other Nations whom he boasted to have overcome by such extraordinary ways could they have sufferr'd to pass for currant so many Fables unless they had been also of the Combination and as truly Enemies of the Glory which is ridiculously imagin'd the others sought after I grant Men may invent Fables yet they do not carry them thus far when they desire they should be believ'd and besides they take great heed to place their beginning a great way off and to hide it in the obscurity of past Ages But as it is not Mens scope to appear Ridiculous and Deceivers they never invent things that may be gainsaid by Witnesses that are living and by whole Nations that are concern'd in them For Example It would have been pleasant for the Moors when they return'd into Africa being expell'd by the Spaniards to have gone about to have made the World believ'd that they were brought over by Miracles like that of Moses and that after the Mediterranian Sea had divided it self to let them pass through it they saw it join together again and Drown an Army of I cannot tell how many thousand Men that pursu'd them yet the design would have been no less Extravagant in respect of the Jews for we must not look on those times though so remote and ignorant yet not to be so dark as they are represented Men heard and knew what past amongst each other they had the same Intrest and Passions we have they saw what they saw and knew what was needful to be known even as we do These two Hypothesies must then of necessity be laid aside neither was Moses an Impostor that deceiv'd the Jews nor were the Jews of intelligence with him There remains only to say Moses was not Author of the Book that goes under his Name or at least that it is but since his time that all the Miracles have been added to it that it contains this is the most Infidelity can Inspire but Reason will not suffer a Man of the least Sense to stop here If there were nothing else to assure one that this Book is truly of Moses and that we have it just as he wrote it but only because it goes in his Name that this Book testifies that it has ever been attributed to him and that till this time none ever thought of saying the contrary this were sufficient cause not in Reason to doubt of it because we have no other assurance that the Books of past Ages are of Authors that they are attributed unto And let it not be alledg'd that there are Books which having for some time passed under the Name of certain Authors have at last been found to be but forgery for not to enter into this Query it is impossible this should happen to a Book of the greatest Importance to which the Authors Name is of great Moment and whereof in all Ages there has been so much care used to Examine the Original and Truth because Truth is of that Nature that all things agree therein and concur in Establishing it and that it is impossible that no Industry nor Cunning can find any thing that can contradict it on the contrary Untruth and Fraud at last discovers it self if one makes it ones indeavour to inquire into it because it cannot chuse but that a great many things will appear contrary to it and that notwithstanding all the Foresight and Skill those Deceivers have it is impossible let the Mind of Man be never so wary that one should perceive all Inconveniencies may occur and if one could foresee them how to frame ones self to adjust them For to conclude When to this purpose there might be certain Effects within the power of Men it is also as sure there are also a great many things without their reach they must be able to command the Time present and that to come alter the Course of all things and in a Word be Masters of Nature and of the Mind and Will of Men. So that it is evident we have incomparably more Proofs in behalf of the Books of Moses than there is for others These were deposited in the hands of some few Persons it was but few that were concern'd about them those that were seldom thought of them and when they did it was of no great importance But the Book we speak of is of quite another kind It was always in the Hands of a great People it was the continual Object of their Care and as it was the Ground of their Religion and of a Religion that hated Lying and Deceit how was it possible they would have sufferr'd to be impos'd upon in regard of the Name of the Author and that it should be alter'd by so many Fables Or how could all this be done and that they should never perceive it And who could have been so bold as to have attempted all this Let this continu'd Course of Miracles wrought in Aegypt and in the Wilderness be seriously consider'd and let one seriously judge if all those are things that can be foisted into a Book and made be accounted to pass for the Original This is the utmost could be done for some inconsiderable Book that was to be seen but by a few Persons and for some private Miracle that may be said was done but in presence of a few Witnesses And it is seen these things do not spread far nor do not continue any long time they scarce any sooner appear but they are opposed so far
an Altar they call it the God that brought them out of Aegypt and give to this pleasant Divinity made of Bracelets and Ear-Rings the same Honours and Praises as they owed and were wont to give to the true God Creator of Heaven and Earth which had chosen them from amongst all People for his Favourites One must needs have lost their Senses to imagin this People should suffer that this Passage should be added to their History and that they should do it to acquire the admiration of other Nations could they think their Glory had not been compleat without it Is it not on the contrary a stain that never can be washt out and which Posterity will for ever tax them with And is it not rather one of the strangest things in the World that this Action should be come to our Knowledge and that this whole Nation should not have us'd all their indeavours to suppress the Memory of it much less to invent it against themselves and to suffer to add to so many things that might have serv'd to make them be consider'd a Passage that covers them with shame to all Eternity And we find that Josephus manag'd the Intrest of his Nation so different a way that he chose rather to expose himself to the reproach of violating the Law of History in suppressing this Crime publickly committed by the Jews in the Wilderness than to expose them to the shame of all the World in divulging it How could it be also that the Rebellion of Corah should be added to this History which was so shameful to all his Posterity Was there no Cause of fearing least some or other of his Family to free them from this disgrace would have discover'd the falseness of it Wherefore should they rather than others bear the Burden of this disgrace Had they cast Lots for it Was it a thing they could not avoid And is it not evident that if it had been a Fiction all the whole Family together would have oppos'd it and would have desir'd the Authors of this Fraud to have sought out other Flourishes to inrich their History But if the Dying Words of Moses be consider'd that Threatens this People with so many Calamities and so many Curses and that after reproaching them with all their Rebellions farther declares to them that they will commit yet far greater and for their Punishment they shall fall into endless Miseries that they shall see themselves trodden down with Enemies and reduc'd to such a strait that they shall see their Cities destroy'd their Wives and Daughters ravish'd and their Sacrifices abolish'd And to conclude that they shall be carry'd away Captive and dispers'd over the Face of the Earth to be a Shame and Reproach to all the World I say if all this be consider'd I cannot tell what one must be to imagin that this People could combine with any body that had us'd them so sharply But it is most of all to be observ'd that these are not only bare Discourses of one that would terrifie his Followers and only Threatnings of what Evils should befal the Jews if they fail'd observing the Law. If they in some places appear'd Conditional in others they are Positive Prophecies which declare they will absolutely Transgress this Law as indeed they did and that all these Evils shall fall upon them as also it hapned What likelihood is there then that the Jews should be so simple or rather so stupid to suffer such Prophecies to be added to their History and that in a design of Honour to their Nation they should consent to a thing that must needs turn to their shame and disgrace For could they not see that if these Productions prov'd false their Religion would pass for a Cheat and they must of necessity lose the Credit they had got all the World over and if indeed they fell into these Miseries they should be esteem'd the worst of Men and instead of any Comfort were only to expect the scorn of all Men of falling into the Miseries they were warn'd of and to be fallen in them for having drawn on themselves Gods Indignation for the breach of his Law. So that whatever Liberty one gives to the Imagination it produces nothing but Chimera's Moses did not abuse the Jews he could have no such design and if he had it was impossible he should succeed in it by the ways he took neither were the Jews of Intelligence with him to impose upon their own Posterity and upon all other Nations It was no Stranger that made use of this way to make them believe either by what he found Establish'd amongst them or by Tradition or by Writing and it is as unlikely that the Jews should be concern'd in this Imposture with any body else as with Moses This is a little of what might be said on this large Subject for it is not to be thought one can relate all the Proofs this Book gives of its Truth the more one thinks of them the more they do discover themselves to us it is an Inexhaustible Spring of Light and without being at the trouble of explaining them one finds the Language and Stile of this Book is not the Production of Man nor of human Wisdom That nothing is more different from the ways not only of Impostors and Cheats but also of those that are called Prudent and Wise Men of the World that it is a Stile very singular and quite different from that of Men which act by their own private Spirit and that therein is not discovered common Passions common Interests nor Prudent nor Politick Ends as is usually seen in others And to conclude that it is impossible so much to divest human Passions as one must to produce such a Work wherein so little of Man doth appear Nevertheless this Book is we have it and it was not Chance nor Fortune made it It hath been and is the most considerable Object that ever was in the World for Two thousand years the most considerable People in the World were so enamour'd with it that they never let it out of their sight From the Hands of this People it fell into the keeping of Christians that is it was spread over the Face of the whole Universe And now at the End of Sixteen hundred years these two Nations diametrically opposite still consider it with the same Veneration dispute of the right meaning of it and therein equally find the Original right they pretend to the Kingdom of Heaven wherein they both think no others have any Intrest Who then durst presume to say That he may chuse to be any way concern'd in a Matter of this importance And who is it can forbear and lay this Book aside as it is without being satisfi'd whether it be true or false as a thing that were indifferent or of which the Truth were not to be found out Or who can be so obstinate to go on Head-long against such an abundance of Truth and Light without any