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change of life and conduct, I am persuaded that the miracles in the Scriptures would have been received without objection or scruple, universally. Let the Deist, therefore, commune with his own conscience; let him dispassionately inquire into the cause of his rejection of the evidence in support of the Christian miracles: does it arise from the clearness of his reason, that detects and rejects falsehood, or is it indeed produced by his enmity and repugnance to the doctrines and precepts which the Scriptures command him to receive ?

[Referred to in page 101.]

CYRUS PREDICTED BY NAME.

Not only was the name of Cyrus plainly expressed in this prediction, but it describes the most minute circumstances of an event that did not transpire for more than two centuries after its delivery, and long before any of the events out of which it arose existed. It contained a direct intimation that he would not be a believer in the God of Israel,-all this was fulfilled in every point. One hundred and twenty years elapsed ere the temple and city of Jerusalem were destroyed; during that time the prediction was preserved by the very people, whose humiliation it implied, and who, persisting as they did, to the last, in the disbelief of every intimation of their captivity, would gladly have suppressed all that

related to it, if possible. In part of the predition, Cyrus is surnamed the Shepherd of God,' and this name is applied to him in the writings of Xenophon. And to complete the evidence in proof of the precision that attended the fulfilment of this prediction, we are informed by the same historian, that pagan sacrifices to the heathen deities were offered by his request in his presence at the time of his death. He thus invokes them: "O paternal Jove, Sun, and all ye gods, receive these as completions of many and noble actions and tokens of thanks; because in sacrifices, in heavenly signs, in auguries, and in predicting voices, you have shewn me things which it was fit, and which it was not fit, for me to do." Thus we are reminded that, while it is said, "I have surnamed thee," it is added, "though thou hast not known me."

[Referred to in page 103.]

THE kingdom of Egypt ceased with the destruction of the Ptolemies. It had lasted 294 years from the death of Alexander the Great. Cambyses invaded the country, conquered and subdued it 526 years B. C., thirty-three years after the vision of Daniel. The empire recovered from this shock, and again flourished as a kingdom,—but since its subjugation by the Roman arms, it has been base among the nations.

Cyropædia, lib. viii. cap. 45.

[Referred to in page 109.]

DANIEL ix. 25. This commandment is the beginning of
the 70 weeks, or 490 years. It does not refer to the
proclamation of Cyrus in the first year of his reign, which
was confined to the rebuilding of the Temple, and did
not extend to the city of Jerusalem; nor is it the decree
of Darius Hystaspes, which also only regards the Temple
and is merely a confirmation of the decree of Cyrus,
Ezra vi. For the same reasons, it cannot be the decree
in the 7th year of the reign of Artaxerxes, which only
confirmed what his predecessors had granted, but it
must be dated from the 20th of Artaxerxes Longimanus.
Bishop Chandler observes, "That either of the two latter
are sufficient to shew the completion of the prophecy
in Christ. The commencement of the weeks (as he re-
marks) must be either from the 7th of Artaxerxes, which
falls on the 457th year before A. D., or from the 20th
of Artaxerxes, (add to 457 years before Christ, 26 years
after Christ, which is the number that 483-or 69 weeks
-exceed 457 years,) and you are brought to the begin-
ning of John the Baptist's preaching of the advent of the
Messiah: add seven years, or one week, to the former,
and you come to the 33rd year of A. D., which was the
of Jesus Christ's death; or else compute 490 years,
the whole seventy weeks, from the 7th of Artaxerxes
by subtracting 457 years (the space of time between
that year and the beginning of A. D.) from 490, and there
remains 33, the year of our Lord's death. Let the 20th

year

of Artaxerxes be the date of the 70 weeks, which is the 445th year before A. D., and reckon 69 weeks of Chaldean years, 70 Chaldean years being equal to 69 Julian ; and so 478 Julian years making 483 Chaldean,—and they end in the 33rd year after Christ, or the passover following. Answer to the Grounds and Reasons, &c., p. 139.

It will not perhaps be esteemed tedious, if, in illustration of this point, I refer to Dr. Gill, whose learning and industry were equal. "The Syriac version, though not a true sense of the passage, rendering

literal one, gives the

it, Unto the coming of the King Messiah,' unto which there were to be 7 and 62 weeks, or 69 weeks, which make 483 years; and these being understood of eastern years, used by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Persians, consisting of 360 days, reckoning 30 days to a month, and 12 months to a year, there were just 483 of these from the 20th year of Artaxerxes, to the 33d year of the vulgar era of Christ, and the 19th of Tiberius Cæsar, in which he suffered."-From DR. GILL, in loc.

[Referred to in page 129.]

DR. KENNEDY had gone extensively through the external evidences, which contain much interesting information, but which might, nevertheless, be esteemed prolix by the general reader, especially with such books of reference

as" Haldane's Evidences," "Horne's Introduction," and Erskine's excellent work. As Dr. Kennedy lived not to touch on the internal evidence-on which he placed the greatest weight-the Editor has considered that it would not be unjust to Dr. K. to omit his reasonings on the first part, with the reservation only of the following abstract:

"If the Jewish books had merely contained an account that, two thousand years ago, their founder, Abraham, was a shepherd;-that his descendants increased, and by their bravery liberated themselves from the Egyptian bondage; that, after leaving Egypt, they wandered in quest of new settlements—and, allured by the fertility of Canaan, conquered, by their own valour, the inhabitants; extirpating some, expelling others, and reducing the remainder to subjection ;-that, tired of elective governments, they founded a monarchy;-that the nation became divided into two portions;-that the one was carried away captive by the Assyrians; and after some time, the other was taken by the Babylonians;-that the king of Babylon had, from humanity, or some other motive, reinstated them ;—and that, after various vicissitudes, they became tributary to the Romans:-if their cosmogony had been as absurd as that of other nations,—had their books been filled with accounts of gods and goddesses,had their worship been directed to stones and statues,— their writings would have been received with interest, and the notice they incidentally give of the Egyptians, the Edomites, Amalakites, and others little known, would

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