"it would neverthelefs meet with violent oppofi"tion."--He was reproved for the fuppofed extravagance of the fentiment; and he did not juftify it.-Probably it might not have immediately occurred to him that the experiment had been tried, and that the event was recorded in the moit faithful of all hiftories, the Holy Bible; otherwife he might, as it feems to me, have fupported his opinion by that unexceptionable authority.

The Supreme Being had been pleased to nourish up a fingle family, by continued acts of his attentive providence, 'till it became a great people and having refcued them from bondage by many miracles performed by his fervant Mofes, he perfonally delivered to that chofen fervant, in prefence of the whole nation, a conftitution and code of laws for their obfervance; accompanied and fanctioned with promifes of great rewards, and threats of fevere punishments, as the confequence of their cbedience or difobedience.

This conftitution, though the Deity himself was to be at its head, (and it is therefore called by political writers a Theocracy) could not be canied into execution but by means of his minifters; Aaron and his fons were therefore commiffioned to be, with Mofes, the firft cftablished miniftry of the new government.

One would have thought, that the appointment of men who had diftinguished themfelves in procuring the liberty of the nation, and had hazarded their lives in openly oppofing the will of a pow erful monarch who would have retained that nation in flavery, might have been an appointment acceptable to a grateful people; and that a conftitution, famed for them by the D.ity himfelf, might on

that account have been fecure of an univerfal welcome reception. Yet there were, in every one of the thirteen tribes, fome difcontented reft lefs fpirits, who were continually exciting them to reject the propofed new government, and this from various motives.

Many fill retained an affection for Egypt, the land of their nativity, and thefe, whenever they felt any inconvenience or hardship, though the natural and unavoidable effect of their change of fituation, exclaimed againit their leaders as the authors of their trouble; and were not only for returning into Egypt, but for ftoning their deliverers *. Thofe inclined to idolatry were displeased that their golden calf was deftroyed. Many of the chiefs thought the new conftitution might be injurious to their particular interefts, that the profitable places would be engroffed by the families and friends of Mofes and Aaron, and others equally well-born excluded †.—In J fephus, and the Talmud, we learn fome particulars, not fo fully narra ted in the feripture. We are there told, "that Corah was ambitious of the priesthood; and offended that it was conferred on Aaron; and this, as he faid, by the authority of Mofes only, without the confent of the people. He accufed Mofes of having, by various artifices, fraudulently obtained the government, and deprived the people of their liberties; and of confpiring with Aaron to perpetuate the tyranny in their family. Thus, though, Coral's real motive was the fupplanting of Aaron, he perfunded the people that he meant only the

Numbers, chap, xiv.

† Numbers, chap. xvi, ver. 3. And they gathered themselves together again Mofs and Aaron, and fid unto them, Yet too much upon you, feeing all congregations are holy, every one or then--where.ore then lift ye ug yourselves above the congregation?"

public good; and they, moved by his infinuations, began, to cry out" Let us maintain the common liberty of our refpective tribes; we have freed ourfelves from the flavery impofed upon us by the Egyptians, and fhall we fuffer ourselves to be made flaves by Mofes? If we must have a mafter, it were better to return to Pharaoh, who at least fed us with bread and onions, than to ferve this new tyrant, who by his operations has brought us into danger of famine." Then they called in queftion the reality of his conference with God; and objected to the privacy of the meetings, and the preventing any of the people from being present at the colloquies, or even approaching the place, as grounds of great fufpicion. They accufed Mofes alfo of peculation; as embezzling part of the golden fpoons and the filver chargers, that the princes had offered at the dedication of the altar*, and the offer. ings of the gold of the common people†, as well as most of the poll tax ; and Aaron they accused of pocketing much of the gold of which he pretended to have made a molten calf. Befides peculation, they charged Mofes with ambition; to gratify which paffion, he had, they faid, deceived the people, by promifing to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey; instead of doing which, he had brought them from fuch a land; and that he thought light of this mifchief, provided he could make himself an abfolute prince . That, to fupport the new dignity with fplendor in his family, the partial poll-tax already levied and given to Aa

* Numbers, chap. vii,

Exodus, chap. xxxv. ver. 22. Numbers, chap. iii. and Exodus, chap xxx. Numbers, chap. xvi. ver. 13, Is it a Gmall thing that thou haft brought us up Out of a land flowing with m lk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thoa make thy felf altogeil.er a prince over us?"

ron was to be followed by a general one+, which would probably be augmented from time to time, if he were fuffered to go on promulgating new laws on pretence of new occafional revelations of the divine will, till their whole fortunes were devoured by that aristocracy."

Mofes denied the charge of peculation; and his accufers were deftitute of proofs to fupport it; though facts, if real, are in their nature capable of proof. "I have not," faid he, (with holy confidence in the prefence of God) "I have not taken from this people the value of an ass, nor done them any other injury," But his enemies had made the charge, and with fome fuccefs among the populace; for no kind of accufation is fo readily made, or eafily believed, by knaves, as the accufation of knavery.

-In fine, no less than two hundred and fifty oft he principal men, "famous in the congregation, men of renown," heading and exciting the mob, working them up to fuch a pitch of phrenfy, that they called out, ftone 'em, ftone 'em, and thereby fecure our liberties; and let us choofe other captains that may lead us back into Egypt, in cafe we do not fucceed in reducing the Canaanites.

On the whole, it appears that the Ifraelites were a people jealous of their newly acquired liberty, which jealoufy was in itself no fault; but that when they fuffered it to be worked upon by artful men, pretending public good, with nothing really in view but private intereft, they were led to oppose the establishment of the new conftitution, whereby they brought upon themselves much inconvenience and misfortune. It farther appears from

Numbers, chap. iii. † Exodus, chap. xxx.

Numbers, chap. xvi.

the fame ineftimable hiftory, that when, after many ages, the conftitution had become old and much abused, and an amendment of it was propofed, the populace, as they had accufed Mofes of the ambition of making himself a prince, and cried out, ftone him, stone him; fo, excited by their highpriefts and feribes, they exclaimed against the Meffiah, that he aimed at becoming king of the Jews, and cried, crucify him, crucify him. From all which we may gather, that popular oppofition to a public measure, is no proof of its impropriety, even though the oppofition be excited and headed by men of distinction.

To conclude, I beg I may not be understood to infer, that our general convention was divinely infpired when it formed the new federal constitution, merely becaufe that conftitution has been unreaonably and vehemently oppofed: yet, I must own, I have fo much faith in the general government, of the world by Providence, that I can hardly conceive a tranfaction of fuch momentous importance to the welfare of millions now exifting, and to exift in the pofterity of a great nation, fhould be fuffered to pafs without being in fome degree. influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omniprefent and beneficent Ruler, in whom all inferior fpirits live, and move, and have their being.

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