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    seventy . At the end of Hie first period of twenty-fire years it Would be One hundred and forty y of the second , two hundred and eighty ; of the third , five hundred and sixty ; of the fourth , one thousand one

    • hundred and twenty ; of the fifth , two thousand two hundred and forty ; of the sixth , -foiir thousand four hundred and eighty ; of the seventh , eight thousand nine hundred and

    sixty \ of the - ' eighth , seventeen thousand nine hundred and twenty ; and if we add the ninth , which reaches to tea years after their departure , thirty s five thousand eight hundred and forty . No deduction is made in this

    coiiiputaticm for the slavery to which they were ^ subject , and the destruction of their iriale children during almost half the time ; beside the evil diseases of Egypt , * which are mentioned by Moses . * BMtothisnumber .

    theindltiplication of Josephs family whidh are not included in the seventy , ought to be added , which wotffd raise the Tiumber by fhe saitle ^> roportioh a twelth part ; that is . to thirty eight thousand nine hundred and fifty-five : " 4 tnd the mixed multitude , " Which is

    said to accompany them might probably make the wliole minoflber m the Wiiaerfless of Sinai , to Amount to upwards of forty thousand . If then we allow this number to be dotibted during the last thirty years before the invasion and conquest of Canaan , the number will not much -exceed at that

    period eighy thousand : among them there might be twenty thousand men , fit to bear arms : a number sufficient , under the command of Joshua , an able and experienced general , to conquer in five years , the small slates or principalities with which he had to

    contend singly , and evfcn the confederacies formed against him 5 but too weak after his decease , when the tribes wer 6 disunited , to extend their conquests much farther ; as appears from the history . For they soon became so weak as to suffer

    extremely by the incursions of their neighbours , some of whom they had before defeated . II . However favourable and liberal the King , who then reigned in Egypt , might be to Jacob arid his family , when by Joseph ^ influence they catin * to settle in the country 5 it is * Dihit . vii . 15 .

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    rfcyy iiliJ > robaHe , that he would assign to them a tract of Country , so vastly exceeding thdr immediate use £ nd occupation , as woujd be sufficient to maintain afterward such an

    incredible number of people . Goshen which they inhabited , was a province probably very small compared to all Egypt- . ¦ 'III . It is not easy to conceive how the Egyptians could oppress the Israelites , to such a degree of rigour anU cruelty , or how the latter would

    submit to it without making any resistance , Unless their respective numbers and strength had been exceedingly unetjual . It appears frdm the History , ihdt after Egypt had been almost ruined , by various plagues and devastations , and above all by the destruction off all the first-born of man and

    beast , throughout the kingdom , yet the king was able to pursue ihehi with such an army as struck them with extreme tei-ror . The saying ' therefore of Pharaoh to His courtiers * , 4 i Behold , they iare ttiore and mightier than we , " must 'be understood as an

    extravagant expression of his fears , or rather , as a mere pretence for reducing them to slavery , and practising such severities upon them . IV . There are several circumstances related during their journeying aim residitig in the Arabian Deserts , ^ hicli indicate their number to have

    bee * n comparatively small ; such as tTheae . They journeyed three days in a hot climate without a fresh supply of water . Twelve wells atEliin , one stream from the rock at Horeb , and one at Meribah were sufficient for them and their cattle No other

    miraculous supply is ever mentioned , lior any murmuring for want of it . They are described ( Num . xxxiii . ) as pitching upon a single mountain , named Shapheiy and other particular places , of too small extent to be capable of containing a number of

    people much above the preceding computation . Moses was abJe to judge aiid determine in person all fciiits and contests among them , till by his father-in-law Jethro ' s -advice ,

    he instituted inferior magistrates . The first engagement they had , was with the Amalckites , a petty tribe or horde , yet fche victory remained dubious for a considerable time . To say nothing of the impossibility of sustaining so prodigious a multitude for forty

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    € ht ' the Number of the Hebrew People at different Periods . 43

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1815, page 43, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1756/page/43/