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Untitled Article
craf ^ w hen fally manage d , is too well known for us to doubt tot a momem the propriety of this injunction ; and the history of the Hebrew nation shows its wisdom
in a striking point ot view , by the general conduct of the peopl ? at laige , but especially by the behaviour of many of their kings , not excepting I he greatest ami most celebrated of them , Solomon *
It remains ior us now to consider the sentence which was passed on the different offenders . i ,. That on the serpent was striking and apposite . ** Thou art accursed above all cattle and every beast *
In its natural state it goes in the meanestposture 5 on its belly ; while other animals , even the reptiles , are furnished with legs . " And yet , ? Moses would seem to say to the Israelites , ** this is the despi . cabje deity which the Egyptians
adore ; and , strange as it may seem , after whose rites and worship you aee . sighing , Men unaccountably ittfatuaad ! what can bewitch you fa gq to the temple of such a god ; or to hold in any other view than that ot abhorrence and detestation
the rites and ceremonies which are enjoined on the worshippers of a sci pent !' . ' The sentence passed on Eve strongly marks the increased pains and terrors of child-birth in the
land to which they would be driven , and where they would be slaves ^ the one to their fusts , the others to the people who conquered them . To the wretched slave the sorrows
of conception are multiplied indeed , and the joy of having brought a man-child into the world is re * . pressed , and often it may be destRoyecU by the , recollection that he is born to slavery * " Thy desire shall be to thy hus «
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band t And he shalF rtifle are $ ' itff& ? A doctrine completely Jewisfcf Thefr wortien were perfectly stt b * ject to the . control 61 their hug . band ** It seems that the Jewhh
lawgiver thought the restraint a wholesome one . Our spiritual law * givers have thought the same , aftd have copied the primitive ^ curse into the form of matrimony ; but the customs of this corner of fhe globe
( and not , as some , in compliment to our religjon , have said , Chris * tiariity ) have rendered that cur&fc nugatory ; by proving that it is either unjust or impossible to put it in force .
In the sentence passed on Adatii is an equally emphatic demftveia- ^ tion of the terrors of that stale into which the Jews would be plunged wberi they had forsakett the wofti ship of the true God W go afte *
idols . No longer in pos 8 e&sioti ° df their own land , to them the groutfflf would be cursed : tt ^ 'best produce ; would feed the iuxiiry ^ F Hi * eiV masters , and to thern the * refd « fe
only would be given , lh Sorr 6 ^ would they eat their breadf ^ noT would they See a prospect df telief bnfc in returning to the dust diSrfof which they had been taker ! . ^ ¦¦ *'' How natural is the shamfe evincted
by Adam , and his attempt to shtlii his Maker ' s presence ^ byllyifig Ke-i hind the trees of tlie garden ^ & ( Wt he had been guilty of offer ) rtg&dtit&i " tion to the creatures of that God !
And how much does the accoUrtt of the Almighty ' s visit ing him in the garden correspond with the opinions entertained of Jehovah by the Jetf s ! He was represented
by them a * dwelling bttw ^ en lh& cherubim , as present in the t ^ b ^ r * - nacle , and afterwards ttft abiiding in the temple of Jerusalem . Tfcter ^ iu the place of hb worthfe ,: ^
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skil 3 © 6 On Mk& Fm hf Mnn .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1814, page 396, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2442/page/12/
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