almost all the prophecies of the Messiah, subsequent to the reign of David, to declare that this predicted Saviour, and prince of peace, would be, not the son of no mortal man, as this writer tells us he was, but the lineally descended son of David, who was a native of Bethlehem, as was his father Jesse and all his family. Not only, therefore, this particularly predicted descendant, but every son of David, is justly said to have sprung originally from Bethlehem, though perhaps not one of them was born there; and provided Jesus was truly the son of David by natural descent, this prophecy would have been equally accomplished in his person, whether he had been born at Bethlehem, Nazareth, or even at Rome. But the ingenious author has more marvels to introduce, in consequence of this misapplication of the prophet Micah, designed, no doubt, to catch the attention and admiration of the ignorant and credulous of his own times. A legation of idolatrous Chaldean Astrologers, who had calculated the nativity of this new-born king of the Jews by a star, though entire aliens from the Jewish Law, is dispatched from the East to do him. homage even in his cradle; and when, by the help of this prophecy, the chief priests

and scribes had informed Herod, he informs these Eastern Magi, that he was to be born at Bethlehem: but though he was anxiously solicitous to discover who and where this rival of his throne was; neither curiosity, policy, nor hospitality, induced him either to accompany them himself, or to send any trusty person with them, under the plausible and decent pretext of guiding the extraordinary strangers on their way. The star, however, more humane and hospitable than Herod, led them safe to Bethlehem, (as it might as well have done without inquiring of Herod at all; but then the inhuman massacre and other wonders that follow could have had no place ;) and even directed them to the very house where the young child was. In this wonderful story, which, with the generality of people, has so long passed for the infallible word of the God of Truth, there are two circumstances absolutely impossible; the one is, that any splendid object in the atmosphere even a meteor, sufficiently elevated to be, with the least propriety, called a star, should in the nature of things mark out any particular house; for even on a supposition that it was stationed directly over the house, the eye of the beholder could not possibly perceive

that, but must of necessity refer it to the same situation with all the other stars in that part of the firmament opposite to his eye, when looking at the supposed meteor; and, therefore, it must always appear to him equally distant from him with the remotest star in the heavens. The other impossibility is, that the immutable Deity, whose word spoken by the Jewish prophets is replete with taunting sneers at the vanity and folly of the pretended science of Astrology, and and who expressly commanded all Astrologers amongst his own people to be put to death, should so greatly change his sentiments and conduct respecting it, as to give it the most distinguished token of his approbation and encouragement, by permitting Pagan diviners to discover the nativity of the promised Messiah by their skill in Astrology, and become the first promulgers of it to the Jewish Government.

Upon these Astrologers returning home, without giving the Jewish king the intelligence he desired, and which, without depending upon them for it, he might easily have obtained, if he had been possessed of either common decency of conduct towards strangers, or even of common sense, Herod,

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violently intent upon the destruction of his infant rival, that he might be sure of murdering the right child, formed and executed, the historian tells us, a project of the most diabolical, unexampled cruelty, in massacreing all the infants from two years old and 66 under," that were in Bethlehem and the adjoining country; the writer does not except even the females. Now, if a Tyrant could be found wantonly cruel enough to attempt to execute such a project, it is impossible that the execution of it should not have excited an insurrection of the people. It is not in human nature for all the parents of a whole city, and considerable extent of territory, to submit tamely to have their infants torn from their arms and butchered before their eyes, without opposing the murderers, and endeavouring to secrete or flee away with their children: yet there is no record of such an insurrection; and since the escape of one single child, which it was not in his power to prevent, might defeat his whole aim and intention, Herod must have been, according to this writer, the most senseless as well as most inhuman of men. Luke has recorded many particular anecdotes and domestic circumstances of the princes and chief

persons of the times of which he wrote, and they are all both probable in themselves and confirmed by the testimony of other writers; but this highly improbable story stands upon the very doubtful authority of this Gospel, alone, unsupported by the evidence of any other writer, sacred or profane. Josephus and the Roman historians give us particular accounts of the character of this Jewish king, who received his sovereign authority from the Roman emperor, and inform us of other acts of cruelty which he was guilty of in his own family; but of this infamous, inhuman butchery, which to this day remains unparalleled in the annals of tyranny, they are entirely silent. Under such circumstances, if my eternal happiness depended upon it, I could not believe it true: but though I readily exclaim with Horace non ego, I cannot add, as he does, credat Judæus apella; for I am confident there is no Jew that reads this chapter, who does not laugh at the ignorant credulity of those professed Christians, who receive such groundless, improbable stories for the inspired word of God, and lay the foundation of their religion upon such incredible fictions as these.