Northampton (should this scheme take place) be much more easily supplied with a useful pastor, than this new college with a tutor of Mr. Doddridge's abilities and temper? Such a removal may too be consistent with the exercise of your ministry, and that, perhaps, as usefully as where you now

are.

"Mr. Coward desires a letter from you upon this affair in a week or two's time. I would by no means have you absolutely reject his offer; and, indeed, if you do not think fit to accept it yet, at least, if possible, keep the matter in suspense, that you may have it in your own choice, to accept or refuse, if you should live till his will becomes in force. I ask your pardon for these hints; and do not doubt your prudence in writing to Mr. Coward. My wife joins in hearty service to your whole self.

"I am yours sincerely,

"D. JENNINGS."

The following fragment is unfortunately all that remains of Dr. Doddridge's interesting reply :

To the Rev. David Jennings, D.D. "March 23, 1734; “Rev. and dear Sir,-You will easily believe that your letter of the 20th instant hath cost me a great many thoughts and I will write you my heart about it, without any disguise.

"I am very sensible of the honour Mr. Coward intends me in the proposal; and am sensible of this great additional proof of your esteem for me, which I own I cannot reflect upon without some amazement, when I consider how very much you are my superior, and how well you know me. I have, however, two objections to the scheme. The one is, I fear I am not qualified to fill a post of so much importance. I write this, not to draw on a compliment, but from a real sense of my own weakness, and the narrow extent of my knowledge, of which I am more and more sensible. The other objection is, as you will easily imagine, the tender apprehension I must have of leaving a people whom I sincerely love, aud among whom it has pleased God to bless my ministry,

and where there is not, that I know of, one malcontent, and where God is monthly adding to our communion. The thought of quitting this church for so small a congregation, as I apprehend I should have at Walthamstow, doth indeed very deeply impress my mind; and I am ready to apprehend, that these two considerations alone would engage me to decline the honour, and great advantage as to my temporal affairs, which such a situation would confer, if I were immediately to give a positive answer. But I entirely agree with you, that it is more advisable to keep this affair in suspense, especially considering what you intimate concerning the possibility of its being offered to a person, in whose hands if it were to fall, I think the foundation, generous and noble as it is, would prove a most dangerous blow to that cause, for the service of which I verily believe it is intended."

Dr. Doddridge having written to his honoured friend, the Rev. D. Some for his advice, received the following excellent reply:

"Dear Sir,—Since you desire it, I shall give you my thoughts upon the affair now depending between you and Mr. Coward, without any re

serve.

66

The great and generous design of that good gentleman should be encouraged; and we should bless God, who has put it into his heart to show his love to a dear Redeemer, by an attempt which may be so very serviceable to his interest in the world. Bnt the utmost precaution should be taken, that his intentions may be answered, and so large a charity employed in accordance with the original purposes.

"I do not doubt but that he will perform every promise he makes to you and your family, in the most ample manner; but a settlement by will cannot be safe. Wills are proved in the Ecclesiastical Courts, and the contents of them thereby become open to the view of all the officers and judges of those courts, who, where the dissenting interest is concerned, seldom fail of finding something in them, either to stir up tedious and expensive litigations, or to defeat the design of

the testator.

We have suffered much

by them, in these parts; and we may be sure that, when so large a benefaction as this comes under their consideration, their utmost art and skill will be employed to perplex, if not to defeat the design of the donor. Besides, there are many other accidents which may attend wills; and if this great affair be left on that footing, I expect the charity will not continue long in the way in which Mr. Coward designs it should go.

"The only method that I could ever find out to secure such charities from our enemies was, to settle them in the hands of trustees, with power for the majority to choose a new trustee upon the death of any one of their number; and that if any interruption was given them, in the execution of their trust, the then remaining trustees should stand seized of the charity, to be by them employed to such pious and charitable uses as they, in their discretion, should think fit, without being accountable to any person for the same. This is the way I have been advised to; and if the trustees are honest men, and choose such to

succeed them, all is safe; and if they

are not, limitations and directions are easily broken through, as we see in many instances in this kingdom.

"As to the other matter, of limiting you to twenty pupils, I think you cannot answer it to God and your own conscience, to comply with it Your

pupils being disposed in classes, you may as well take care of thirty as of twenty besides, you know your present engagements to several who are now with you, and with others who are coming to you. If it goes off on this footing, it lies not at your door. As to other things, I would not have you oppose the inclinations of this aged Christian, whose name is so well known in our churches, and for whom we ought daily to bless God, who has raised up a man to seek the good of Jerusalem. May God direct you in all your ways.

"I am sincerely yours,

"D. SOME."

Dr. Doddridge visited London on this important business, and thus wrote to his lady:

"I dined with Mr. Coward at Mr. Pace's, the gentlemen who is to be the steward of his college. The good old man treated me in the most friendly and obliging manner. He acquiesces in my stay at Northampton, yet still carries on his scheme. Some grand secret is to be disclosed, which you alone are to know. Should it after all be the settlement of his pupils at Northampton I should think it little less than a miracle. Whatever it be, he caresses me more than ever, determines to wait the leadings of Providence, and drinks your health and mine every day in one of his three glasses after dinner.

"All hearts are in the hand of God. Who can tell where these

things will end? However it be, I am sure my stay with my dear people will be an inexpressible pleasure to me. I hope our breaches will not be renewed; and in the mean time it is a cause for great thankfulness, that those made by death are the only breaches known amongst us."

The circumstances which led to this project of a separate college, instead of continuing to support those already in existence, cannot now be distinctly traced; it would appear, from some incidental remarks contained in the

Correspondence," that about that time, from some cause or other, Mr. Eames had separated himself from the academical institution supported by the Independent Fund Board, which had then recently formed a junction with the King's Head Society; and it seems probable, that Mr. Coward, regretting the withdrawment of so great and learned a man from a station for which he was so preeminently qualified; and being daily convinced of the transcendent worth of Doddridge, felt anxious to associate these two distinguished individuals under circumstances more favourable to the full development of their powers, and by doing this, to render a most important service to the cause

of truth and holiness. But the objections of Dr. Doddridge to the abandonment of his beloved charge at Northampton proved too strong to be overruled, and consequently the scheme for the erection of a college at Walthamstow, or yet nearer to the Metropolis, was, for the time, relinquished.

Mr. Coward died in 1738, having made an arrangement in his will for the perpetuity of those various projects which his liberal mind had devised. The anxiety of this good man, that the large sums of money appropriated by him to the propagation of the Gospel among Protestant Dissenters, might be applied exclusively to truly evangelical uses, is apparent from the terms employed in his will, both with reference to the college, and the weekly lecture founded by him, and also from the selection of trustees charged with the execution of his benevolent intentions, all of whom were decidedly orthodox. With respect to the Academical Institution, it is required that the students be instructed in the principles of the Westminster Confession of Faith, or the Assembly's Catechism; and with reference to the lecture, all who might be appointed to preach as stated lecturers, are to be informed by the trustees at the time of their appointment, that they are

to preach Christ direct. These two clauses have, unquestionably, been the means of preserving the funds of this institution from a similar misappropriation to that which has occurred in many other

cases.

or

The first trustees on whom the execution of this will devolved were Dr. Watts, Dr. Guyse, Dr. Jennings, and Mr. Neal, son of the author of the History of the Puritans. From some cause other, it appears that the legal validity of this will was for a time disputed, and much anxiety was occasioned thereby, both to Dr. Doddridge and the trustees, while the proceedings in Doctors' Commons and the Court of Chancery were pending. They terminated, however, in fully establishing the will, by a legal decision of the Chancellor in its favour in February, 1740.

Several young ministers of distinguished reputation were successively engaged to assist Dr. Doddridge in the work of tuition; among whom were Mr. Job Orton, afterwards pastor of the church at Shrewsbury; Dr. Aikin, of Kibworth and Leicester; Mr. J. Robertson, afterwards Professor of Oriental Literature in the University of Edinburgh; Mr. S. Clark, son of Dr. Clark, of St. Alban's; with several others less known to the religious public.

IN the following article we propose to examine, with some degree of care, the fourth and fifth sections of the fifth Book of the History, by Tacitus. These two sections in themselves are, indeed,

only a small portion; but they contain a mass of facts worthy of being most highly prized by the assiduous and devout student of the word of God, facts which have a direct and very material

bearing on the early history and practices of the Jews, and which go very far to prove that the first five books of Moses do not present to our minds accounts of a doubtful or fictitious nature, but such as bear the glorious stamp of certainty and of truth. In rapidly glancing over their contents, we shall find that they have reference to the law-giver of the Israelites, to the peculiar institutions which he prescribed, and to several domestic usages which prevailed among them. To each of these we shall now turn our consideration.

It must be remembered that the character, the official capacity, and the various events which chequered the deeply interesting career of Moses, occupy a very prominent place in the Holy Scriptures. In the early books of the Old Testament his life is spread out before us; sometimes threatened with danger, oppressed with toil, darkened by perplexity; then again glowing with zeal, brightened by hope, and exalted into feelings of holiest and sublimest rapture. His many and conspicuous deeds also are there exhibited to us in the most impressive manner; whilst they are rehearsed with great frequency and reverence in the book of Psalms, in the Prophets, and in the New Testament. Any information that may tend to confirm or throw light upon the scriptural delineation of his character and labours, is unspeakably valuable, and demands the most attentive regard. Especially this is the case, when the information is drawn from the work of a writer, who was not in the least anxious or inclined to say any thing in his favour. The portion of history now under examination, supplies us with such information. We have already, from the page

N. S. NO. 109.

of Tacitus, contemplated Moses as the watchful guardian and the intrepid conductor of the emancipated Jews, amidst the manifold distresses and perils of that " great and terrible wilderness" through which they were called to journey. We are now, from the pages of the same historian, to behold him in a new capacity of yet greater importance and responsibility. We are to view him as the lawgiver of that people to whom he had previously been a leader and a shield. of the vast importance of this station, no reflecting mind will entertain

even the shadow of a doubt; inasmuch as legislation is inseparably connected with the prosperity and enjoyment of a people, giving a distinct colouring to their condition, and fixing all their habits; elevating or depressing them; in fine, making them the admiration, or the pity, or the scorn of the world. Among those who concur in the correctness of these statements, Tacitus would have stood the foremost. It is, moreover, strikingly manifested by the love and veneration cherished towards those persons who, in any country, have established laws and institutions of a beneficial kind. To maintain this high office in all its dignity, requires an intellectual and moral loftiness of character seldom found among men. It will be recollected that Lycurgus gave laws to Sparta; Solon to Athens; Numa Pompilius to Rome, in the infancy of her expanding magnificence and glory; and whilst they thus promoted the security and happiness of the citizens, they also surrounded their own names with immortal fame. But immeasurably before these great and justly renowned men, stands Moses, the man of God, the divinely commissioned lawgiver,

C

mighty in himself, and still mightier through the presence and spirit of Jehovah, discharging his arduous and solemn duties in a manner which has rendered his memory blessed in the midst of the church on earth.

Many of the classical writers have either expressly mentioned or plainly recognized Moses as the lawgiver of the Jewish people. We need not here enumerate them; nor is it necessary to exhibit their respective statements, as it is not our design to multiply, or to compare with one another, the various testimonies which are to be found in their works. It is sufficient to observe, that no one of these writers has given a clearer or a more direct account on this subject than Tacitus. We must now turn at once to his testimony. His language is as follows:-" Moses, quo sibi in posterum gentem firmaret, novos ritus contrariosque ceteris mortalibus indidit." Few are the words contained in this sentence, but their meaning is very full and significant. They distinctly announce to us three memorable facts; they assert that Moses gave rites or institutions respecting religion, to the Jews; that these institutions were of a totally new character, and contrary to those of other men ; and that he prescribed them for the purpose of establishing the people more firmly and permanently under his own authority. On the second of the above three facts, our historian amplifies a little in the following brief but emphatic sentence-" Profana illic omnia, quæ apud nos sacra; rursum concessa apud illos, quæ nobis incesta." We confess that when we meet with such declarations as these, in so masterly and searching a writer as Tacitus, and compare them with the narra

tives of the Old Testament, on the same subjects, the result is to us inexpressibly gratifying and delightful. We would earnestly recommend to our readers to make the comparison for their own satisfaction. To aid them in this, we will now contemplate the scripture testimony for the facts under consideration. In doing this, we shall not adopt our own language, but rather introduce a few passages from the inspired volume, and let them speak for themselves. Of such passages the number is very great. From the many which crowd upon our minds, we shall endeavour to select the most pointed and striking. In the Book of Numbers, xxi. 18, Moses is called expressly "the lawgiver." In Exodus xix. 9, is the following statement:-" And the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever:" xx, 19, " And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear:" xxiv. 12, " And the Lord said unto Moses, come up to me into the mount, and be there and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." In the Book of Deuteronomy, v. 22, we find Moses addressing the people, concerning the law, with great solemnity, in the following manner:-" These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more: and he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.' In 27th verse of the same chapter, the people thus utter their feelings to Moses-" Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall

"