pot, nor meat to boil with them; sends for Moses and Aaron in haste, confesses himself a sinner, begs them to pray for him, and take away the locusts; Moses. (who always had the Lord at his beck) intreats his God, God sends a west-wind, and blew them all into the Red-Sea; so that not one locust was to be found in all Egypt.

But Moses's tools not being yet completed, Pharaoh's heart is again made hard as a millstone; and as if he canted before, he now seems again to set Israel's God at defiance. So this God now commands Moses to stretch out his hand toward heaven, that there might be darkness over all the land of Egypt; darkness that might be felt. Moses stretches out his hand; See! cloudsof thick darkness gather together over all the land of Egypt; so that they saw not each other. And no creature stirred from his place for three days together. But the Goshenites had light as usual.

What sort of darkness could that be which could be felt? It must be felt by the eyes, not by the fingers surely. What were there no fires, no lamps, no candles in all Egypt? and were they chained each to his place by darkness that no one stirred out of it; and yet it is said Pharaoh sent for Moses; could that be while the darkness was? And when it was gone, what occasion was there to send for him? Why did not the Israelites run away during these three days of darkness. No one could hinder them. The Egyptians are all locked up in the blackness of night. If Pharaoh's heart was hardened, sure the heart of Israel was infatuated not to go off when they might. There could not be a more lucky time. They might have gone three days journey into the wilderness, before they were missed or perceived to be gone.

If it was light all over Goshen, why did not the Egyptians go to Goshen. It is easy to see light from a dark place. (To be continued.)

No. 9.]

THE

FREE ENQUIRER.

SATURDAY.

[Dec. 12, 1761.

LET us recount all the miracles wrought to bring down Pharaoh's heart, to humble and soften it, and which yet the God of Israel every time made stubborn and hard, to prevent its being humbled and softened. 1. The rod made a serpent, and the serpent a rod. 2. All the water in Egypt turned into blood. 3. All the land of Egypt covered with frogs. 4. All the dust in Egypt turned into lice.

5. All the air and the houses in Egypt, except Goshen, full of swarms of flies.

6. All the cattle of Egypt destroyed, except in Goshen, by the rot or murrain.

7. All the Egyptians, men and beasts, infected with boils and blains.

8. All the men, beasts, and vegetables which were in the fields, throughout all Egypt, destroyed by thunder, lightning, and hail, except in Goshen.

9. All the growth of the earth, greens, and fruits, which outlived the storm, destroyed by locusts.

10. All the land of Egypt, except Goshen, covered with darkness, so that none stirred out of their places for three days together.

What face of probability have these stories to support them?

How went the work of the Hebrew slaves on, during their operation? Did they mix blood with their clay, for want of water, in making bricks? or did they drink it? Did not the frogs, the lice, the flies, the boils, the locusts, the darkness, obstruct their labour, and give them holidays, whether Pharaoh would grant them or not?

It is incredible that any king should suffer himself to be hectored and insulted, in such words as Moses and Aaron are said to have used to Pharaoh, and not, at least, have clapped them in prison, to see if the God, whose power they proclaimed, could, or would, deliver them: or to prevent them from sowing sedition among his slaves. This may be learned, however, whether true or false, that when a king suffers himself to be insulted by priests, his kingdom

..totters.

It has been asked, and with reason, why the king of Egypt's magicians, Jannes and Jambres, wrought miracles as well as Moses, and three miracles of like kind? If by the power of the devil, are the laws of God, in nature, controllable by the devil? In what a loose, indifferent, and careless manner, then does God govern the world. Or is the devil's power superior to God's. If the king's magicians wrought them by the power of God, then God's kingdom is divided against itself? God sets up a power to counteract his own designs. Indeed this is agreeable to working miracles before Pharaoh, with a command to let Israel go, and then hardening his heart, to prevent his assenting to it! If the magicians wrought false miracles, which appeared as true, and Moses wrought true miracles, which were not discernable from the false; how then can any truth be proved by miracles, whether God, or the devil work contrary miracles, or whether one be false, and the other true? This is a question, which requires the wisdom of our divines to solve.

Without inconsistent miracles, the plain story is consistent enough. It is owned that nature does nothing in vain. Is God a being distinct from nature, and does he things in vain? The Being which Idoes nothing in vain, is wiser than that which does. God, after spending all his wonderful power and Twrath in the day-time, left the work to be done by robbers and murderers in the night? But miracles have their existence in tales: as facts they cannot

be proved. As they leave no demonstrable traces behind them, there can be no proof of a miracle, but the miracle itself. Heathens had their past miracles to boast of also, and the first Christians were foolish enough to believe them to have been really done, but done by the devil. Indeed imaginary actions are fit to be ascribed to an imaginary Being, created by ignorance to save appearances, and to answer knotty questions; which being only present salvoes, made them more work in future, like a plaister that skins a sore, while it festers within, and breeds corruption. If conjurors, witches, wizards, ghosts, apparitions, and wonder-workers, were not all created formerly by deceivers, and kept alive by ignorance, where are they fled? Are we worse than they? how can that be, when these wicked spirits have forsaken us? Are we better? Why then do the clergy complain of our immorality? They, not having wisdom to lead us, want power to drive us; which shews they are nothing like Jesus Christ, whom they call their Master, who said, "my sheep hear my voice, and follow me." He did not drive them by force, but allured them by love and kindness. He was not a sheep-driver, nor a sheep-fleecer. He did not frighten them with penal laws and punishments.

Had the Lord been willing to bring Israel out of Egypt by a miracle, surely he could have done it at once; and not have made so many vain and fruitless attempts, inconsistent with perfect power and wisdom. The pretence they are said to be wrought for, only to manifest a superior power, destroys the credit of their ever being wrought at all: for if there are many independent powers above nature, there are many Gods.

The king of Egypt had a mind to make a lazy idle people useful by labour. Why should he and his people be miraculously plagued for doing so? Does God encourage idleness in those who have no means to support them? If not, for what reason were these

plagues? The Hebrews were doubtless made to work, to keep them from doing mischief. Labours, both of the mind and body, are absolutely necessary to mankind, especially in society.

What more is needful to destroy the veracity of those miraculous stories, than the manner in which they are told.

If God wrought wonders in Egypt to induce the king to let Israel go, why did not the means answer the end, as well at first as last? Did God make use of means, and prevent the effects designed by them? nothing can be more absurd! How very stupid is it to believe that God commanded Pharaoh to do what he prevented him from doing, and plagued him for not doing? As if God strove with man, till he could strive no more; and was obliged to kill him, at last, to conquer him! If God had made Pharaoh's heart soft instead of hard, he need have wrought no other miracle to oblige him to let his darling people go. Did any wonderful honour or service redound to the God of Israel by all these wonders? Did they convince the Egyptians that he only was God? Did the Egyptians worship the God of the Hebrews because of his wonderful works? And yet these things are said to be done that he might get him honour upon Pharaoh and his people. It is a poor honour from man that, is got by man's destruction. All these wonders therefore were wrought to no end, or to a bad one. Is it not then better to discredit their ever having been wrought at all? Surely he that spoke the world into being (if it was the same God) need only to have said, "Let my people go,” and they must have gone.

Are not all the former wonders told to mislead the judgment of the reader in the grand design contrived by Moses, and committed by chosen men, (perhaps of the tribe of Levi) prompted, by promises of making them rulers and officers over the rest of the people, that this might also be thought by the reader of the history to be miraculously performed,