out of four concur in giving us this prophecy as a part of their history of our Lord, and as actually delivered by him, at the period assigned to it, which we know was nearly forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem. Now we have no more reason to doubt their veracity in this point than in any other; and if, on the strength of their character, on the evident marks of integrity, simplicity, and truth, which appear in every page of their writings; and above all, if in consequence of their undergoing the bitterest sufferings as an evidence of their sincerity, we give implicit credit to what they tell us respecting the life, the death, the doctrines, the miracles, and the resurrection of Christ, there is the very same reason for admitting the genuineness of this prophecy. It stands on the same solid grounds of their veracity and probity as the rest of the Gospel does; and when men lay down their lives, as they did, in confirmation of what they assert, they have surely some right to be believed.

We

We may then safely consider this prophecy as an unquestionable proof of the divine foreknowledge of our Lord, and the divine authority of the Gospel; and on this ground only (were it necessary) we might securely rest the whole fabric of our religion. Indeed this remarkable prediction has always been considered, by every impartial person, as one of the most powerful arguments in favour of Christianity; and in our own times, more particularly, a man of distinguished talents and acknowledged eminence in his profession, and in the constant habit of weighing, sifting, and scrutinizing evidence with the minutest accuracy in courts of justice, has publicly declared, that he considered this prophecy, if there were nothing else to support Christianity, as absolutely irresistible

But

*See Mr. Erskine's eloquent speech at the trial of Williams, for publishing Paine's Age of Reason; to which I must beg leave to add the weighty and important testimony of that most able and upright judge, Lord Kenyon, who, in his charge to the jury on the same occasion, made this noble CONFESSION OF FAITH.

But our Lord's predictions respecting this devoted city do not end even here. He not only foretels the entire destruction of Jerusalem, but the continuance of its desolation and subjection to heathens, and the dispersion and captivity of the Jews for a long period of time. For if we turn to the parallel place in St. Luke, we shall find him expressing himself in these words, respecting the Jews and their city; "they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations : and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles

be

"I am fully impressed with the great truths of religion, which, thank God, I was taught in my early years to believe; and which the hour of reflection and inquiry, instead of creating any doubt, has fully confirmed me in."-How vain are all the idle cavils of the whole tribe of infidels put together, when contrasted with such a declaration as this from such a man !

Since this note was written, the public has to lament the loss of this truly great man. But he is now at rest from his virtuous labours; and he will long be remembered, and revered, not only by his own profession, but by all descriptions of men, as the firm friend and intrepid protector of the laws, the constitution, the morals, and the religion of this country.

be fulfilled." That is, not only vast numbers of the Jews shall perish at the siege of Jerusalem, partly by their own seditions, and partly by the sword of the enemy, but multitudes shall also be made captives, and be dispersed into all countries; and Jerusalem shall remain in a state of desolation and oppression, trampled upon and trodden down by heathen conquerors and rulers, till all the Gentiles shall be converted to the faith of Christ, and the Jews themselves shall acknowledge him to be the Messiah, and shall be restored to their ancient city.

The former part of this prophecy has been already most exactly fulfilled, and is an earnest that all the rest will in due time be accomplished. The number of Jews slain during the siege was upwards of one million one hundred thousand, and near three hundred thousand more were destroyed in other places in the course of the war. Besides these, as Josephus informs us, no less than ninety

* Luke, xxi. 24.

+ Bell. Jud. 1. ii. iii. iv. vii. &c.

seven

seven thousand were made captives and dispersed into different countries, some into Egypt, some to Cæsarea, some carried to grace the triumph of Titus at Rome, and the rest distributed over the Roman provinces *; and the whole Jewish people continue to this hour scattered over all the nations of the earth.

With respect to their city, it has remained, for the most part, in a state of ruin and desolation, from its destruction by the Romans to the present time; and has never been under the government of the Jews themselves, but oppressed and broken. down by a succession of foreign masters, the Romans, the Saracens, the Franks, the Mamalukes, and last by the Turks, to whom it is still subject. It is not, therefore, only in the history of Josephus, and in other ancient writers, that we are to look for the accomplishment of our Lord's predictions; we see them verified at this moment before our eyes, in the desolated state of the once celebrated city and temple

*Josephus, Bell. Jud. 1. vi. c. 9.

of