In accordance with this express prediction of Moses, that when the Israelites should be gathered out of all countries into their own land, God would give them a heart and disposition to love the Lord their God, and to do all his commandments which Moses was then delivering to them are the prophecies of Ezekiel; who in his last chapters, after giving a prophecy of the general return of the descendants of Jacob to their own land, proceeds to predict the division of the country, between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, among the restored tribes; and minutely describes the plan, parts, offices, and ceremonies, of a new and eternal temple to be raised upon the ancient site of that of Solomon, that is to be consecrated by the re-establishment of the magnificent ritual of Moses, with augmented splendour.
That the prophecy of Moses, and those of Ezekiel, referred to, have never yet been fulfilled, is undeniable; and that they will be fulfilled, will not be doubted by a Christian; and can hardly be disbelieved by a Sceptic, who will take the trouble to compare the history of "the eternal people,"[fn86] with the predictions concerning it which have been fulfilled to the letter.
Mr. Everett, in the 449 page of his work, speaks rather contemptuously of the law of Moses. It is somewhat unusual to see a descendant of savage wanderers of the woods, who painted themselves blue in order to look handsome,[fn87] and whose posterity, and among them Mr. Everett himself, might so far as religion and morals is concerned, but for the instruction originally derived from the law of Moses, be still in the same respectable state, speaking lightly of a Book to which every nation on the Globe, who have any rational ideas of God or futurity, are absolutely indebted for that invaluable knowledge. The Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan religions, by which so many of our unfortunate race have been brought to a knowledge of God, and made candidates for an eternity of bliss, are all founded on, and derived from the Pentateuch. If that Book had never existed, those religions could not have existed. All that part of mankind who have any claims to reason in their Religion, are therefore indebted to this Jew Book for the benefit.
Nor is this all the wonder. The sublime and fundamental Doctrine of the Pentateuch—One God—Eternal and Supreme—-the Almighty Creator and tremendous Avenger—can be traced up to Abraham, that wandering shepherd who at the command of God left his country and his father's house, to go to a foreign land., where he lived and died a stranger and a pilgrim.
What ideas should we entertain of a man whose tent was frequented by angels, and with whom the Supreme "conversed face to face, as a man talketh with his friend!" of a man who lived and died a shepherd, yet to whom it was predicted four thousand years ago, by Him whose word never fails that "his name should be great, that it should be a blessing, and that in his seed should all the nations of the earth be blessed." Sceptic! has not this prophecy been fulfilled? Is not the name of Abraham a theme of blessing to the Jew—the Christian—the Magian—and the Musselman? Is not his name pronounced with reverence throughout the four continents of the Globe. Has not the earth been blessed in his seed? Is there a nation or people upon it, who have any rational ideas of God or futurity, who have not derived them from Moses, Jesus, or Mohammed? Are we not indebted to these descendants of this wonderful man,[fn89] for the consolations which support the soul under the trials of life, and for the faith and hope that smooth the bed of death? assuredly— assuredly. The events of past ages have verified the divine origin of the prediction, and ages to come will still farther confirm it.
Mr. Everett objects to the law of Moses, its multiplied forms and ceremonies; but these were mostly not obligatory upon the whole nation, but upon one tribe set apart to this duty, and who had nothing else to do.[fn90]
The influence of these rights [fn91] and ceremonies—and no religion can perpetually exist without them, for after all the [fn92] man is the slave of his senses, and powerfully affected by the impressions made upon them—cannot be doubted by one who attentively considers their amazing magnificence.
A temple blazing with the most precious productions of the mine,[fn93] and inaccessible to all but the consecrated descendants of one man, standing at the extremity of an immense area covered with variegated marble, and surrounded by magnificent corridors and porticos; a gorgeous host of nearly forty thousand priests,[fn94]: to minister at the ever smoking altar, and to nourish the eternal fire; the golden ewer containing the hallowed blood of atonement, and the censer streaming [fn95] clouds of fragrance, in the hands of the trembling descendant of Aaron approaching the inner sanctuary of the INVISIBLE AND ALMIGHTY; three hundred sons of song, accompanied with psaltery and cymbal, and "the harp with a solemn sound," resounding the attributes of HIM WHO IS, AND EVER SHALL BE;[fn96] and hundreds of thousands of worshippers prostrating their foreheads on the pavement in awe and extacy, as the temple shines forth with the Shechinah, streaming its rainbow glories into the heart of heaven, and covering the earth with its effulgence, plainly showing that GOD IS THERE! This, all this Mr. Everett pronounces, "all calculated to occupy the attention of a simple and unfeeling [fn97] people." p. 344.[fn98] There is, not however, a philosopher on earth that would [fn99] walk barefoot over its whole circumference to witness such a sight.
With this terminates my reply to Mr. Everett. I leave it to his consideration, whether he has fulfilled the magnificent promises held out to the public in the splendid table of contents prefixed to his book, from which it should seem as if I were actually crushed into the dust; and I leave it to the consideration of my abused and deluded countrymen, whether the heavy artillery of the law and the prophets, which I have wheeled but from the Old Testament, has not fairly blown the old board fences behind which a crazy superstition is ensconced, and which Mr. Everett has painted up to look like real fortifications, and mounted with quaker guns, to splinters and fragments.