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taken; and, as I am upon the subject, I would beg permiffion to proceed a little further: it may be that these lines may meet the eye of fome learned clergyman of our church, to whom I will confider myself as now speaking.

There is fomething very peculiar and remarkable in the account we have concerning the death of MOSES, THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH, which is recorded in the last chapter of Deuteronomy, and which we conclude to have been written by the pen of Joshua: "And Mofes went up from the plains of "Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of "Pifgah, that is over against Jericho. And JEHOVAH "fhewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and "all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Ma"naffeh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost fea, and the fouth, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And JEHOVAH faid unto him, This is the land which I "fware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, "faying, I will give it unto thy feed: I have caufed thee to fee it with thine eyes, but thou fhalt not go over thither. So Mofes the fervant of JEHOVAH died there in the land of Moab, according "to the word of JEHOVAH. And he buried him in "a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth

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peor but no man knoweth of his fepulchre unto this day. And Mofes was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor "his natural force abated. And the children of "Ifrael wept for Mofes in the plains of Moab thirty "days:

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"days: fo the days of weeping and mourning for "Mofes were ended. And Jofhua the fon of Nun "was full of the fpirit of wifdom; for Mofes had laid

his hands upon him: and the children of Ifrael "hearkened unto him, and did as JEHOVAH COM"manded Mofes. And there arofe not a prophet fince "in Ifrael like unto Mofes, whom JEHOVAH knew "face to face, in all the figns and the wonders, which "JEHOVAH fent him to do in the land of Egypt to "Pharaoh, and to all his fervants, and to all his land,

and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great "terror which Mofes fhewed in the fight of Ifrael."

MOSES was the great and moft confpicuous of all the fervants of JEHOVAH; for the prophets are alfo called his fervants, Jere. vii. 25. xliv. 4. But Mofes is, by way of diftinction and pre-eminence, called "THE "fervant of JEHOVAH," Deut. xxxiv. 5. "Mofes 66 THE fervant of JEHOVAH:"~" Mofes мy fervant,” Jofh. i. 2." If there be a prophet among you, I

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JEHOVAH will make myself known unto him in a "vifion, and will fpeak unto him in a dream. My "fervant Mofes is not fo, who is faithful in all mine

houfe. With him will I fpeak mouth to mouth, ❝even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the "fimilitude of JEHOVAH fhall he behold: where"fore then were ye not AFRAID to fpeak against MY SERVANT MOSES?" Numb. xii. 6-8.

Mofes, THE fervant of JEHOVAH, seems to have been exempted by his gracious God from that decay, which is the evidence that the feeds of death are in our frame. We read of no illness that he was

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ever subject to; and when he arrived at the great age of 120 years, HIS EYE WAS NOT DIM, neither was his NATURAL FORCE ABATED. In this state of unabated strength he was to die; for even Mofes, THE fervant of JEHOVAH, once spake unadvisedly with his lips. They provoked the Lord to anger in the wilderness with their inventions. "They angered "him alfo at the waters of ftrife, SO THAT IT WENT "ILL WITH MOSES for their fakes; because they "provoked нis fpirit, fo that HE fpake unadvisedly "with his lips." Pf. cvi. 29, 32, 33. After he had recorded the words of that fong which he was comσε Emanded to teach unto the children of Ifrael, "HOVAH fpake unto Mofes that felfsame day, fay"ing, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto "mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that "is over against Jericho; and behold the land of “Canaan, which I give unto the children of Ifrael " for a poffeffion; and die in the mount whither thou "goeft up, and be gathered unto thy people; as "Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was "gathered unto his people: because ye trefpaffed "against me among the children of Ifrael at the waters "of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; be❝ caufe ye fanctified me not in the midft of the chil"dren of Ifrael. Yet thou fhalt fee the land before "thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land " which I give the children of Ifrael." Deut. xxxii. "48-52. On receiving this command, he clofes his auguft ministry by BLESSING that people whom he loved, and who yet unto this day hold his memory

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in high veneration. "The bleffing wherewith Mofes, "the man of God, bleffed the children of Ifrael "before his death," we read in the 33d chapter of Deuteronomy, the laft words that flowed from his facred pen.

He then obeys; he climbs mount Nebo, and JEHOVAH his gracious God fhews unto him that land which he promised unto his fathers Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob! and then HE DIES. If we had no further information, we fhould conclude that there was not an individual of his nation that did not in deep heartrending forrow fhew that laft fign of refpect for his perfon, and veneration for his character, by affembling at his funeral; but had we formed fuch a conclufion we should have erred, for it was not fo; on the contrary, we are informed, "So Mofes the fer"vant of JEHOVAH died there in the land of Moab, "according to the word of JEHOVAH. And HE "buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: and no man knoweth of his fe "pulchre unto this day." Deut. xxxiv. 5, 6.

The Book of Daniel, the greatly beloved Daniel, clofes with thefe words: " Bleffed is he that waiteth, ❝ and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five "and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end

be; for thou fhall reft, and ftand in thy lot at the "end of the days." Dan. xii. 12, 13. It is a matter entirely dependent upon the good pleasure of the Almighty, when that being, to whom, for the fins of mankind, the power of inflicting the stroke of death is committed, Heb. ii. 14. fhall fhoot his dart. It is

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a matter entirely dependent upon the good pleasure of the Almighty, how long the foul fhall thereby continue feparated from the body; and I prefume that there is, or at least was, fome tradition of the Jews, that the fpirit was not long difunited from the venerable body of Mofes; I think we have good reafon for thinking fo, from certain words in the General Epiftle of St. Jude, whereby the tradition to us Chriftians is confirmed he is fpeaking of those who defile the flesh, defpife dominion, and speak evil of dignities; and then he adds, "Yet Michael, the archangel, "when contending with the devil, he difputed about "the body of Mofes, durft not bring against him a "railing accufation, but faid, The Lord rebuke "thee, v. 9. Thus I conceive that we have the authority of St. Jude, confirming unto us Chriftians another Jewish tradition; and is there any thing therein in the leaft degree contradictory to thofe things which are most furely believed amongst us? By no means, but far otherwife. Did not Mofes and Elias appear in glory at the transfiguration of our Lord, and speak to him of his decease, which he fhould accomplish at Jerufalem :-" And it came to pafs "about an eight days after these fayings, he took "Peter and John and James, and went up into a "mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion "of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was "white and gliftering. AND, BEHOLD, THERE "TALKED WITH HIM TWO MEN, WHICH WERE "MOSES AND ELIAS: WHO APPEARED IN GLORY, "AND SPAKE OF HIS DECEASE WHICH HE SHOULD " ACCOMPLISH

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