reflection attended reason, inquiry followed reflection. Reflection gave the consciousness of the power of choice; and when the power of choice was wrongly exerted, so that the reason of man was separated from the will of man, and the aberration of man from his best happiness commenced, then another prophecy was given, which has been in all ages the germ of history, and which will be the perpetual anticipation of history, till the time comes when "the seed of the woman shall have bruised the serpent's head." But not only is prophecy in this manner the anticipation of history-it anticipates philosophy. By philosophy, I mean not the systems, theories, and hypotheses, respecting mind, thought, ideas, faculties, and capacities, which justify the definition of metaphysics, that it is the art only of bewildering the intellect; but by philosophy, I mean the knowledge of God in action both on mind and matter, whether according to that general uniformity, which we term Nature; or by a deviation from that uniformity, which we call Miracle. Revelation anticipated this philosophy by ascribing all things to God. By thus anticipating history and philosophy, prophecy anticipates also the experience of mankind; for the actions of men which have accomplished the perpetually increasing development of the mass of prophecy, extending from the fall to the end of the world, are the result of experience in the latter ages of the world; though they might be the result of inexperience, or impulse, in the early ages. Modern experience is still fulfilling prophecy. The commerce, arts, sciences, and energies of the nations which are filling the world with good, are all, all fulfilling, by their silent influence, the first prophecy at the fall of man, and the last prophecy of the Book of Revelation, which is only the repetition of the first prophecy, that "there shall be no more curse '." But if the Creator of the world is thus the Preserver of the world; and if He has hitherto governed the human mind in such manner, that the actions of men shall accomplish His fore-ordained and fore-decreed will; then, it is evident, that not only are the actions of men the accomplishers of God's decrees, but that the motives of those actions must be, in some most mysterious manner, under the cognizance, the superintendence, and the influence, of the Creator of the human mind. Now we know that the human mind is ruled by the laws of association, or relative suggestion-that it receives ideas from the senses, combines them in certain modes, and resolves upon certain actions: and the theories of ancient and modern metaphysicians are generally formed upon the supposition that the human mind alone, by its own innate powers, arrives at its own conclusions, forms its own motives, and exercises its own will. The Christian who believes in the continuance of the Providence which orders the eventually greater happiness of mankind, for the purpose of accomplishing the prophecies, will not be content with this supposition. He will believe with the Catholic Church in all ages, that though the God of Christianity does not now give the power of predicting events to the human mind, He still influences the human mind; and that, not merely by the continuance of the general law of association, but by suspending that law, or interfering to change the order of the 1 Rev. xxii. 3. thoughts, the government of the motives, and the source of action. He "puts into the mind good desires;" and He gives strength to the mind to develope those desires in the good actions which shall tend to the fulfilment of the good and merciful designs enunciated beforehand in His prophecies. This is the Christian view of history, philosophy, and experience. And if this view had been adopted, the world would not have been insulted by the writing of histories which omit the subject of God's Providence altogether; neither would the thoughtful and reflecting student of the philosophy of mind have been offended by those theories of metaphysicians (I omit every English name) which profess to account for the conduct and motives of men without any reference to the Father of Spirits, whose agency influences thought in its origin, progress, and objects. We should not, for instance, have been grieved by the psychology of Kant, the idealism of Fichte, the intellectual tuition of Schelling, or the identity of contraries of Hegel. It is now, as it ever was-" the world by wisdom knew not the God" of Revelation; and every other God is the phantom of folly. Prophecy is still being fulfilled by the God who gave prophecy at the first; and therefore the mind of man must be influenced, not merely by the laws which would never lead men to God, but by the perpetual Divine interference with the human mind, till all His prophecies be fulfilled. The present Section proves the truth and justice of these remarks. The twelve tribes were now about to take possession of the Holy Land, and their inspired lawgiver pronounces that blessing upon them which predicts their future condition in the territory of their fathers. Their destinies, their actions, their motives, all seemed to themselves to be the result of what the world would call chance, accident, human resolution, their own choice: but all was decreed beforehand. God's Providence influenced their decision, so that they all accomplished a pre-ordained destiny; and a pre-ordained destiny still continues to mark the character of the nation, though it no longer distinguishes in their nation tribe from tribe. Beginning, then, with the recapitulation of the guidance of God in the wilderness from Sinai to Meribah Kadesh, which last place in our Translation is erroneously interpreted "with ten thousands of His saints," after declaring the general love of God to Israel, and the giving of the Law, which constituted their inheritance, which distinguished them from other nations 2; he commences the blessings with Reuben. I will go through the whole twelve, and apply the prophecy to their temporal condition in Canaan. "Let Reuben," he prays, still continue to be numbered, in spite of the sin of his ancestor, among the tribes of Israel. Let him "live, and not perish." And he was preserved, but without the influence of his seniority. The name of Simeon is not mentioned: but there are some Versions which place his name in the same verse with Reuben. If they are right, the second clause of the sixth verse will mean, "Let the number of the men of Simeon be few;" and they were scattered among the tribes as Jacob had predicted, and were few in number (ver. 6). Judah was blessed with the promise of the prosperity which VOL. II. PART VI. 2 Deut. xxxiii. 1–6. 3 E made him the head of the tribes. He was brought to the monarchy over his people. His "hands," or his troops, were sufficient for his protection, and God was his help from his enemies (ver. 7). Levi was blessed with the religious influence afforded by the oracular power of the Urim and Thummim resting with the High Priest before the captivity; (the power of that oracle being with the manifested God of Israel before the captivity;) and with the same Holy One, Christ the incarnate God, who was tempted by the Israelites at Massah. Levi had inflicted the judgments of God upon his own kindred in the matter of Zimri and Cozbi, and the promise of the priesthood was preserved to him; so that Levi, in all the ages of the future possession of Canaan, taught the Law, and offered incense, and upheld the service of the tabernacle and of the temple (ver. 8-11). Benjamin was the possessor of the land upon which the temple was built; and he did not apostatize with the rest of the tribes. His power was continued and identified with that of Judah; but God dwelt between his borders, the shoulders, the mountains of his territories (ver. 12). Joseph, that is, Ephraim and Manasseh, or the descendants of these his two sons, was blessed with the most extensive, fruitful, and wealthy of all the territories granted to the twelve tribes. Zebulun rejoiced in its commerce. It was the possessor of the safest place for ships on the coast of the Mediterranean (ver. 18). Issachar was blessed with the tranquillity of its agricultural possessions. It neither enlarged its borders by war, nor increased its wealth by commerce (ver. 18). Both these two tribes attracted the surrounding nations to the commerce and peace of their land. Zebulun, from the abundance of the seas and the treasures of the land, possessed and enjoyed the commerce of the Tyrian purple and the manufacture of glass. And thus, at that time, as now, commerce made the nations of the world acquainted with the God of Revelation (ver. 19). Gad was blessed as a military tribe. Jephthah enlarged its borders. Exposed to the incursions of the Moabites and Ammonites, he "tore the arm," that is, he destroyed the strength of the one, and "tore the scalp of the head," that is, he overthrew the sovereignty of the other. This tribe was first settled of all the twelve, in that portion of the conquered territory of Sihon, which Moses the lawgiver assigned to him; but this tribe joined its brethren in the conquest of Canaan, and in executing, therefore, the judgment of the Lord. "He said, he shall leap from Bashan." The history does not tell us when this was done. I have no doubt that when the tribe of Dan, as the "lion's whelp," took possession of Laish in the north of Canaan, they passed from mount Ephraim by the east of Bashan, and thence took the city by surprise, which they called after their own name (ver. 22). Naphtali possessed the west of Dan, and extended to the Sea of Tiberias, which is here called "the south." Its territory was fertile, fruitful, pleasant-abounding in the fig, the palm, and the olive (ver. 23). Asher was blessed with quietness and peace. It was the neighbour of Tyre and Sidon, which it did not, or would not, conquer. It submitted to the tyranny Jabin, and became enriched by the commerce of its neighbours in brass and * Judges xi. of iron, to which allusion seems to be made. Its strength was as its duration, for it held its possessions till the Captivity, and was preserved by God's Providence against all the power of Syria (ver. 24, 25). Such were the blessings of the dying Moses upon the twelve tribes; and with these his invaluable life ended. One blessing more he adds, indeed, not upon one or more of the tribes, but upon all Israel; and that blessing, though it was first, we may say, accomplished by the past establishment of the tribes in Canaan, is still being accomplished in the declaration (ver. 28) that "Israel shall dwell in safety alone." And Israel does still dwell alone; and we may believe that it will be, as other prophecies declare, still preserved to dwell alone, as the accomplisher of God's prophecies, till the time shall come when Christ, the God of Israel, shall restore the people to Canaan by His Providence, and to His heavenly Father by His Holy Spirit : and this hope and this assurance justify the remarks we have made, that the only true philosophy is that which thus regards God as the God who fulfils prophecy in history; and that the God of Revelation thus accomplishes all his prophecies, by ordering, impressing, and directing, in a manner more than human-though seemingly only human-the thoughts, the motives, the reasonings, and the conclusions of the minds of men. BEFORE CHRIST 1451. DEUTERONOMY XXXII. 48, TO THE END. Moses ascends Mount Nebo to die. 48 And the LORD spake died in mount Hor, unto Moses that selfsame was gathered unto Numb. 27. day, saying, 12, 13. b people: d 11, 12, 13, & 27. 14. at Kadesh. 49 Get thee up into this 51 Because dye tres- Numb. 20. mountain Abarim, unto passed against me among mount Nebo, which is in the children of Israel at the land of Moab, that is the waters of || Meribah- Or, strife over against Jericho; and Kadesh, in the "wilderness behold the land of Canaan, of Zin; because ye sanc-See Lev. 10. which I give unto the tified me not in the midst children of Israel for a pos- of the children of Israel. e 3. 12. session: с thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give DEUTERONOMY XXXIII. Moses blesses the people. Gen. 49. 28. 1 And this is the bless-children of Israel before h 1491. i Exod. 19. man of God blessed the 2 And he said, The Hab. 3. 3. BEFORE CHRIST 1451. BEFORE CHRIST 1451. ch. 17. 9, 10, LORD came from Sinai, and word, and kept thy coverose up from Seir unto nant. them; he shined forth from 10 || ° They shall teach tor, Let mount Paran, and he came Jacob thy judgments, and them each, *See Ps. 68. with ten thousands of Israel thy law : || d they Lev. 10. 11. saints: from his right hand shall put incense + before 11. & 24.8. went ta fiery law for thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Mal. 2. 7. 3 Yea, he loved the 11 Bless, LORD, his subbed a fire people; m all his saints are stance, and faccept the 17. Dan. 7. 10. + Heb. of law. ch. 7. 7, 8. Ps. 47.4. them. : e Ezek. 44. 23, 24. Or, let them put incense. d Exod. 30.7, 8. 40. Exod. 19. 5. in thy hand and they "sat work of his hands: smite Numb, 16. down at thy feet; every through the loins of them 1 Sam. 2.28. one shall receive of thy that rise against him, and words. of them that hate him, that Hos. 11. 1. Mal. 1. 2. mch. 7. 6. 1 Sam. 2. 9. Ps. 50. 5. n Luke 10, 39. Acts 22.3. 4 P Moses commanded | they rise not again. us a law, even the inhe 12 ¶ And of Benjamin 12 Sam. 24. 23. Ps. 20. 3. Ezek. 20, 40, 43. 27. • Prov. 2. 1 ritance of the congregation he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety 41 5 And he was king in 6 ¶ Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few. 7 ¶ And this is the blessing of Judah : and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto long, and he shall dwell 13 And of Joseph he 14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the . Gen. 49. 8. his people : t let his hands sun, and for the precious be sufficient for him; and things + put forth by the Heb. tirs be thou "an help to him t moon, from his enemies. "Ps. 146. 5. * Exod. 28. 30. k forth. 15 And for the chief 8 And of Levi he said, things of ithe ancient Gen. 49. 26. x Let thy Thummim and mountains, and for the prethy Urim be with thy holy one, y whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with 82, 16. whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; y Exod. 17.7. Numb. 20. 13. Ps. 81. 7. Gen. 29. 32. cious things of the lasting Hab. 3. 6. hills, 16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the 4. 9 Who said unto his good will of him that 'Exod. 3. 2, father and to his mother, dwelt in the bush: let the Acts 7.30, 35. m come upon the Gen. 49.26. 1 Chron. 17. I have not seen him; blessing Job 37. 24. 17. a neither did he acknow- head of Joseph, and upon ledge his brethren, nor the top of the head of him * Exod. 32. 26, 27, 28. h See Jer. 18. knew his own children : for that was separated from his |