are put into English by the well known T. Brown, for the edification of the Deists in England.

But these gentlemen have forgot, that the Israelites had great herds of many thousand cattle with them; which would be apter to stray, and fall into those holes and oozy places in the sand, than horses, with riders, who might direct them.

But such precarious and silly supposes are not worth the answering. If there had been no more in this passage through the Red sea than that of a spring-tide, &c. it had been impossible for Moses to have made the Israelites believe that relation given of it in Exodus, with so many particulars, which themselves saw to be true.

And all those scriptures which magnify this action, and appeal to it as a full demonstration of the miraculous power of God, must be reputed as romance or legend.

I say this for the sake of some Christians, who think it no prejudice to the truth of the Holy Bible, but rather an advantage, as rendering it more easy to be believed, if they can solve whatever seems miraculous in it, by the power of second causes; and so to make all, as they speak, natural and easy. Wherein, if they could prevail, the

:

natural and easy result would be, not to believe one word in all those sacred oracles for if things be not as they are told in any relation, that relation must be false; and if false in part, we cannot trust to it, either in whole, or in part.

Here are to be excepted mistranslations and errors, either in copy, or in press. But where there is no room for supposing of these, as where all copies do agree, there we must either receive all, or reject all: I mean in any book that pretends to be written from the mouth of God; for in other common histories, we may believe part, and reject part, as we see cause.

But to return: The passage of the Israelites over Jordan, in memory of which those stones at Gilgal were set up, is free from all those little carpings before-mentioned, that are made as to the passage through the Red sea; for notice was given to the Israelites the day before, of this great miracle to be done, Josh. iii. 5. It was done at noon-day, before the whole nation. And when the waters of Jordan were divided, it was not at any low ebb, but at the time when that river overflowed all his banks, v. 15. And it was done, not by winds, or in length of time, which winds must take to do it; but all on the sudden:

As soon as the feet of the priests that bare the ark, were dipped in the brim of the water, then the waters which came down from above, stood and rose up upon an heap, very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt-sea failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. The priests stood in the midst of Jordan, until all the armies of Israel had passed over. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lift upon the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. And the people came up out of fordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Fordan from before you, until ye were

passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over; that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever, chap. iy. from v. 18.

If the passage over the Red sea had been only taking advantage of a spring-tide, or the like; how would this teach all the people of the earth, that the hand of the Lord was mighty? How would a thing no more remarkable, have been taken notice of through all the world? How would it have taught Israel to fear the Lord, when they must know, that, notwithstanding of all these big words, there was so little in it? How could they have believed, or received a book as truth, which they knew told the matter so far otherwise from what it was?

But, as I said, this passage over Jordan, which is here compared to that of the Red sea, is free from all those cavils that are made as to that of the Red sea; and is a further attestation to it, being said to be done in the same manner, as was that of the Red sea.

3

Now, to form our argument, let us sup

pose, that there never was any such thing

as that passage over Jordan; that these stones at Gilgal were set up upon soone other occasion, in some after age; and then that some designing man invented this book of Joshua, and said, that it was wrote by Joshua at that time; and gave this stonage at Gilgal, for a testimony of the truth of it: Would not every body say to him, We know the stonage at Gilgal; but we never heard before of this reason for it, nor of this book of Joshua: Where has it been all this while? and where, and how came you, after so many ages, to find it? Besides, this book tells us, that this passage over Jordan was ordained to be taught our children, from age to age; and therefore that they were always to be instructed in the meaning of that stonage at Gilgal, as a memorial of it: but we were never taught it when we were children, nor did ever teach our children any such thing: And it is not likely that could have been forgotten, while so remarkable a stonage did continue, which was set up for that, and no other end.

And if, for the reasons before given, no such imposition could be put upon us as to the stonage in Salisbury plain; how much less could it be as to the stonage at Gilgal?

And if, where we know not the reason