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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
fcg the truth df iuoh * aet $ , Would rtitfiactety e&ftc&fl d * "nmkprtxmt tie * , arid # 0 uM iiffb&e an opinion It& pdlftiNSgnfr * Who Htiiitefl < fb 3 iy < joal 8 ry itt aWefr * tfthes , th&t the He-M $ fc Orefe -forcibly expelled Tor 8 * eir leditiotrs lii'd cirimiViStl b ^ havi <> ur ; or f 6 r diher reasons . 1 * 6 alfege , tMt if
thc ^ itfere natr HttAt lfteitiry -i ^ eeokb of bthfer nations , equally Or ^ 1-mo * t as ancietit , they might have i ^ t&fo ref&fe fKe HefriHe # History , is a mere suppositibn deserving
conmpt . Biit flie Mte inverted * * tid stoft J ^ c&tf&k df fetters in those ages geftto preclude the use of mauusdrpts in ^ aFl hktftftis , except by a few pei&ns of attp £ riot ratik . The gerierafity of the Hteb ¥£ ws themselves
eontiwiei strangers to It , for a -vait length of 8 bie > The j&rabfctns Were divided mJ * &Mt fttftaibe * 6 i ; small indepeodi ^ nt tribes <> r hortfes / at a dist ^ fice froHl e ^ ich other ; * tttd therefore
bttildtify < rt- otttei * ptfees df safety for the puipbse i > f 1 ie | fid ^ iting ^ rtid pf ese rring their toaQ ^ crjpts tould Harilly be in use among them , supposing them ever so ingettiolis sttid Wee a people . Ififie flse 6 f letters hM fe ^ en at all it be
cbtaitfnin Eg-y ^ t ftiay Naturally inferred that the \ i ^ e of hteix ^ gly phic cJApacters ^ cmld have heerx wholly nefctectett in i % o * rng eotifcse of time . Yet tfee liste of them wsts ittost prevalent ma . 6 y centuries afterward .
Letters tfere fibt ^ known in Gfe ^ ce , at least tBfe alrJhibet wfe very itaperfect , WI Ca < ftnus ittiport ^ d into it six teen Were , together iVith a colony from rfaticia ; which hap ^ peri ^ d accordin g totfce Newtonian chi * 6 rial 6 gyin the
, % i of David . It was libt till fct , or wter , the same time , that Egy £ t rose "> # && power , began to make con-Wte , and during the reign of Re-« ol > oham , King of Judah , erected a r * y extensive empire , thouerh of short
oration . Yet the country was the ^ st fertile and easy to be cultivated ? W in the world . The first set" ^ had no occasion for labou r and **?**** in ctittipfif down forests , arid
S § a stubb 6 rn soil- As it is n ! t > - by the a « n « al overflowin g of ^™ e > they had little to do tfe " ^ me tet&s , and then lodge 2 y ^ ^ d > farits in the rich i Jf ?™ Pt TROTWird to ^ ^ ettle ^ fcere co ^ l ^ wfeera j ii ^ d it Would be-** ot course , at an e » nly date , more
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populous and powerful than most other countries . Amordingly , so early as in the time of Moses , it appears to have been a great and flourishing kingdom , though not arrived perhaps to any high ambition of making conquests . It seems unaccountable then * how it should remain for five centum
nes after that time in so low , weak and inactive a condition that neither the Hebrews , nor Philistines , nor any of the neighbouring princes or states , seem ever to have had any
apprehension of danger from thence , or to have coveted any assistance or alliance there , till the time of Solomon , who married an Egyptian princess 5 and that no mention should ever be made
of the shipping and commerce of Egypt > though Sidon and Tyve are noted as commercial cities ; and So ^ lomon carried on a gainful traffic with some parts of the East Indies , from two ports on the Goast of the Red Sea . Yet soon after his time the
interference of Egypt became of mighty consequence in the affairs of the Hebrews , though Syria was a nearer and more troublesome neighbour to the kingdom of Israel . At length the Babylonian and Assyrian Empires
arose to conquest and dominion . But the weakness aiid insignificance ofthe kingdom of Egypt for so long a period , notwithstanding the natural fertility ofthe country is easily and clearly explained , if we allow that it suffered such a series of dreadful calamities as
are described in the Mosaic history ; which must have reduced it to such desolation that a rest of several centuries wouTd be necessarv to restore it . During this interval of weakness and distress , it was scarcely possible that the arts and sciences should be
cultivated , or any work of ingenuity executed fit to perpetuate the memory of past transactions . ( 3 ) " That iii the sacred record itself some circumstances are related which have an appearance of inconsistency
or contradiction . For instance , that all the cattle of Egypt are said to be destroyed three times—that the Whole Egyptian army to a man is said to be drowned—that the magicians of the Court / of Pharoah are said to work
miracles ofthe same kind with those which Moses wrought , and that the Hebrews are said to be divinely authorized to pillage and rob the Eeryf > - tians , and to destroy or exterminate
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QMtffitiiidh cMti&Kiftp the P&ffier and Authority by which Moses acted . 271
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1815, page 271, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1760/page/7/
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