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o £ tke Ulmnii ^ w w prese nt day enjoy ; for by its i « $ trupfijM # iity , a precious truth , the tjoctrii * $ of the Divine Unity , th % i uaassi ^ d reason could only have gravelled by a , teclious process , was preliminarily diffused ampnff the people ; and by them
preserved as an article of blmq belief , until , at length , ij * clear minds it ripeaed iatp ^ rational id ^ a * Thus was a considerable part of the human race spared the sac ! w ^ ude ri ivg s to which a belief ifli Polytheism must lead , and the H ^ brevy con s ti tution
preserves the honourable distinction of not placing the belief of the wellinformed ifl . direct opposition to the creed . of t ^ e pepplej a qircu ^ ast ^ nce q { universal occurrence spnQjxg the
enlightened Heathens . Observed from this point of view , the events of Jewish story become sew important portion of universal history , and neither all the wickedness commonly attributed to the nation , nor all the labour of the
ingenious tp debase it , shall impede our doing it justice . The meanness and abjectness of the nation can no more destroy the elevated desert of its lawgiver , than it can annihilate the vast influence justly claimed by the people La the history of the world . As au impure and common vessel , in which ,
however , something precious was to be preserved , should we esteem it . We should honour it as the channel , with all its impurity , chosen by Providence for tlj $ conveyance of truth , the noblest of all possessions ; and by the same power destroyed , as soon as it had served its destined purpose . In this manner we shall neither , on the
one hand , impress on the Hebrews a value never theirs ; nor , on the other , rob then * of the mprit to which they have an unquestionable claim . The Hebrews , as is well known ,
entered . Egypt a single Nomadic family , not exceeding seventy persons , and ther ^ firs t became a people , puriqjj a period of about 400 ye ^ rs , spent in this country , they ipcreased to nearly 2 , 000 , 000 ; of whom 600 , 000 were
considered able to bear ajrms wfyen they quitted tjie kingdom . In the course of this long residence they vvere separated from the Egyptians , both by the dwelling-place assigned them , and by their pastoral ocupation , which iend ® red them objects of aversion to
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$ U the aborigines , $ a < J excluded them ft-opn yarft ^ RPtiftft ia th # civil privk leges of the Egyptian ^ . They govern - ed themsejves according to the pastoral mode , the father being the sovereign
of his family , the patriarch of bis tribe ; thus creating aji enapire within ^ n empire , the alarming increase of \ vhiqh ajt length awakened tie solicitude of the kings .
Such a distinct body of people in the heart of the kingdom , leading the lazy life of shepherds , closely connected with each other , but having no common interest with the state ,
might , in any hostile invasion , become dangerous , and be easily tempted to take advantage of the weakness of the state , where it played the part of an unoccupied spectator .
State policy , therefore , counselled th ^ t the straqgers should be narrowly watched , that they should be employed , autd measures taken to diminish their increase ; they were oppressed with heavy labour , and being thus rendered useful to the state , selfishness
united with policy to augment their burdens . Inhumanly they were reduced to public vassalage , and special task-masters appointed to drive and maltreat them . This barbarous conduct , however , did not prevent the increase of their strength and numbers . This , in a healthy system , would
naturally have led to their distribution ajflpngst the other inhabitants , and to the concession of equal rights ; measifres prevented by the universal aversion entertained for them by the Egyptians , a dislike still further Increased by its necessary consequences . When the King of Egypt cleared the province of Goshen on the Eastern side of the
Lower Nile as a dwelling-place for the family of Jacob , he could scarcely have calculated on 2 , 000 , 000 of successors , who were to find room there . The province was probably of no
extraordinary circumference , and the grant would have been sufficiently magnificent , if , in making It , regard had been paiidl to only a hundredth part of these descendants . As tine abode of the Hebrews did not increase with
their population , it must have become more and more narrow with each succeeding generation , until , at lengthy in a manner highly prejudicial to health , they must have been compres-
Untitled Article
Th # Mosiac Mmfon * 195
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 195, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/3/
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