hundred marks of gold, which he had presented to the queen. And in like manner he used many others of the Jews."* And when they were banished in the reign of Edward I. their estates were confiscated, and immense sums thereby accrued to the crown.

13. Their sons and their daughters should be given unto another people,'-ver. 32. And in several countries, in Spain and Por tugal particularly, their children have been taken from them by order of the government to be educated in the popish religion.The fourth council of Toledot ordered, that all their children should be taken from them for fear they should partake of their errors, and that they should be shut up in monasteries, to be instructed in the Christian truths. And when they were banished from Portugal," the king," says Mariana, "ordered all their children, under fourteen years of age, to be taken from them, and baptized: a practice not at all justifiable,” adds the historian, "because none ought to be forced to become Christians, nor children to be taken from their parents."+

14. They should be mad for the sight of their eyes which they should see,'-ver. 34. And into what madness, fury, and desperation have they been pushed by the cruel usage, extortions, and oppressions which they have undergone? We will allege only two similar instances, one from ancient, and one from modern history. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus,§ some of the worst of the Jews took refuge in the castle of Masada, where being closely besieged by the Romans, they at the persuasion of Eleazer their leader, first murdered their wives and children; then ten men were chosen by lot to slay the rest; this being done, one of the ten was chosen in like manner to kill the other nine, which having executed he set fire to the place, and then stabbed himself. There were nine hundred and sixty who perished in this miserable manner; and only two women, and five boys escaped by hiding themselves in the aquaducts under ground. Such another instance we have in our English history. For in the reign of Richard I. || when the people were in arms to make a great massacre of them, fifteen hundred of them seized on the city of York to defend themselves; but being besieged they offered to capitulate, and to ransom their lives

* Daniel in Kennet, vol. I, p. 179. Mariana, b. 26, c. 6.

Josephus de Bell. Jud. lib. 7, c. 8 et 9.

+ See Basnage, b. 7, c. 13, sect. 14.

Edit. Hudson.

Basnage, b. 7, chap. 10, sect. 20, who cites Matt. Paris, p. 111, et Polyd. Virgil

1. 14, p. 248.

with money. The offer being refused, one of them cried in de spair, that it was better to die courageously for the law, than to fall into the hands of the Christians. Every one immediately took his knife, and stabbed his wife and children. The men afterwards retired into the king's palace, which they set on fire, in which they consumed themselves with the palace and furniture.

15. They should serve other gods, wood and stone,'—ver. 36, and again, ver. 64,- they should serve other gods, which neither they nor their fathers had known, even wood and stone.'-And is it not too common for the Jews in popish countries to comply with the idolatrous worship of the church of Rome, and to bow down to stocks and stones rather than their effects should be seized and confiscated? Here again we must cite the author, who hath most studied, and hath best written their modern history, and whom we have had occasion to quote several times in this discourse. "The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions," saith he, "reduce them to the dilemma of being either hypocrites or burnt. The number of these dissemblers is very considerable; and it ought not to be concluded, that there are no Jews in Spain and Portugal, because they are not known they are so much the more dangerous, for not only being very numerous, but confounded with the ecclesiastics, and entering into all ecclesiastical dignities."* In another placet he saith, The most surprising thing is, that this religion spreads from generation to generation, and still subsists in the persons of dissemblers in a remote posterity. In vain the great lords of Spain make alliances, change their names, and take ancient scutcheons; they are still known to be of Jewish race, and Jews themselves. The convents of monks and nuns are full of them. Most of the canons, inquisitors, and bishops proceed from this nation. This is enough to make the people and clergy of this country tremble, since such sort of churchmen can only profane the sacraments, and want intention in consecrating the host they adore In the mean time Orobio, who relates the fact, knew these dissemblers. He was one of them himself, and bent the knee before the sacrament.— Moreover he brings proofs of his assertion, in maintaining, that there are in the synagogue of Amsterdam, brothers and sisters and near relations to good families of Spain and Portugal; and even

"

* Basnage, book 7, chap. 33, sect. 14.

B. 7, chap. 21, sect. 26.

Limborch Collet. cum Jud. p. 102.

Franciscan monks, Dominicans, and Jesuits, who come to do penance, and make amends for the crime they have committed in dissembling."

16. They should become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations,'--ver. 37. And do we not hear and see this prophecy fulfilled almost every day? is not the avarice, usury, and hard-heartedness of a Jew grown proverbial? and are not their persons generally odious among all sorts of people? Mahommedans, Heathens, and Christians, however they may disagree in other points, yet generally agree in vilifying, abusing, and persecuting the Jews. In most places where they are tolerated, they are obliged to live in a separate quarter by themselves, (as they did here in the Old Jewry) and to wear some badge of distinction. Their very countenances commonly distinguish them from the rest of mankind. They are in all respects treated, as if they were of another species. And when a great master of nature would draw the portrait of a Jew, how detestable a character hath he represented in the person of his Jew of Venice!

17. Finally, their plagues should be wonderful, even great plagues, and of long continuance,'--ver. 59. And have not their plagues continued now these 1700 years? Their former captivities were very short in comparison: and Ezekiel and Daniel prophesied in the land of the Chaldæans: but now they have no true prophet to foretel an end of their calamities, they have only false Messiahs to delude them and aggravate their misfortunes. In their former captivities they had the comfort of being conveyed to the same place; they dwelt together in the land of Goshen, they were carried together to Babylon: but now they are dispersed all over the face of the earth. What nation hath suffered so much, and yet endured so long? what nation hath subsisted as a distinct people in their own country, so long as these have done in their dispersion into all countries? and what a standing miracle isthus exhibited to the view and observation of the whole world?

Here are instances of prophecies, prophecies delivered above three thousand years ago, and yet as we see fulfilling in the world at this very time; and what stronger proofs can we desire of the divine legation of Moses? How these instances may affect others, I know not; but for myself I must acknowledge, they not only convince, but amaze and astonish me beyond expression. They are truly, as

* See Basnage, b. 6, chap 1, sect. 2.

Moses foretold they would be, a sign, and a wonder for ever;' Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments, and his statutes which he commanded thee and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever,ver. 45, 46.

DISSERTATION VIII.

PROPHECIES OF OTHER PROPHETS CONCERNING THE JEWS.

BESIDES the prophecies of Moses, there are others of other pro. phets, relative to the present state and condition of the Jews. Such are those particularly concerning the restoration of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin from captivity, and the dissolution of the ten tribes of Israel; and those concerning the preservation of the Jews, and the destruction of their enemies; and those concerning the desolation of Judea; and those concerning the infidelity and reprobation of the Jews; and those concerning the calling and obedience of the Gentiles. And it may be proper to say something upon each of these topics.

1. It was foretold, that the ten tribes of Israel should be carried captive by the kings of Assyria, and that the two remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin should be carried captive by the king of Babylon: but with this difference, that the two tribes should be restored, and return from their captivity, but the ten tribes should be dissolved and lost in theirs. Nay, not only the captivity and restoration of the two tribes were foretold, but the precise time of their captivity and restoration was also prefixed and determined by the prophet Jeremiah, xxv. 11,---This whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years:' and again, xxix. 10,---Thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place.' This prophecy was first delivered, Jer. xxv. 1, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Baby

lon. And this same year* it began to be put in execution: for Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea, besieged and took Jerusalem, made Jehoiakim his subject and tributary, transported the finest children of the royal family and of the nobility to Babylon, to be bred up there for eunuchs and slaves in his palace, and also carried away the vessels of the house of the Lord, and put them in the temple of his god at Babylon. Seventy years from this time will bring us down to the first year of Cyrus, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22; Ezra, i. 1; when he made his proclamation for the restoration of the Jews, and for the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusulem. This computation of the seventy years' captivity appears to be the truest, and most agreeable to Scripture. But, if you fix the commencement of these seventy years at the time when Jerusalem was burnt and destroyed, their conclusion+ will fall about the time when Darius issued his decree for rebuilding the temple, after the work had been stopt and suspended. Or, if you fix their commencement at the time when Nebuzaradan carried away the last remainder of the people, and completed the desolation of the land, their conclusiont will fall about the time when the temple was finished and dedicated and the first passover was solemnized in it. "So that," as Dean Prideaux says, "taking it which way you will, and at what stage you please, the prophecy of Jeremiah will be fully and exactly accomplished concerning this matter." It may be said to have been accomplished at three different times, and in three different manners, and therefore possibly all might have been intended, though the first without doubt was the principal object of the prophecy.

But the case was different with the ten tribes of Israel. It is very well known that Ephraim, being the chief of the ten tribes, is often put for all the ten tribes of Israel; and it was predicted by Isaiah, vii. 8,—Within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.' This prophecy was delivered in the first year of Ahaz, king of Judah; for in the latter end of his father Jotham's reign, 2 Kings xv. 37, Resin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, began their expedition against Judah. They went up towards Jerusalem to war against it in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz: and it was to comfort him and the house of David in these difficulties and distresses, that the prophet Isaiah

See Usher, Prideaux, and the Commentators on 2 Kings xxiv. 2 Chron, xxxvi. and Dan. i.

+ Prideaux Connect. part 1. book 3, Anno 518. Darius 4.

t Prideaux ibid. Anno 515. Darius 7.