66 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, of an empty sanctuary ", were at a loss to discover what ^^- could be the object, or what could be the instruments, of a M'orship which was destitute of temples and of altars, of priests and of sacrifices. Yet even in their fallen state, the jews, still asserting their lofty and ex- clusive privileges, shunned, instead of courting, the society of strangers. They still insisted with inflexible rigour on those parts of the law which it was in their power to practise. Their peculiar distinctions of days, of meats, and a variety of trivial though burdensome observances, were so many objects of disgust and aver- sion for the other nations, to whose habits and pre- judices they were diametrically opposite. The painful and even dangerous rite of circumcision was alone ca- pable of repelhng a willing proselyte from the door of the synagogue". * More li- Under these circumstances, Christianity offered itself of diHs-^ to the world, armed with the strength of the Mosaic law, tianity. ^nd delivered from the weight of its fetters. An ex- clusive zeal for the truth of religion, and the unity of God, was as carefully inculcated in the new as in the an- cient system : and whatever was now revealed to man- kind concerning the nature and designs of the Supreme Beinsr, was fitted to increase their reverence for that mysterious doctrine. The divine authority of Moses and the prophets was admitted, and even established, as the firmest basis of Christianity. From the begin- ning of the world, an uninterrupted series of predictions had announced and prepared the long expected coming of the JNIessiah, who, in compliance with the gross ap- prehensions of the jews, had been more frequently re- presented under the character of a king and conqueror, " When Pompey, using or abusing the right of conquest, entered into the holy of holies, it was observed with amazement, " Nulla intus Deiim etfigie, vacuam sedem et inania arcana." Tacit. Hist. v. 9. It was a po- pular saying, with regard to the jews. Nil prater nubes etcceli numen ado- rant. " A second kind of circumcision was inflicted on a Samaritan or Egyptian proselyte. The sullen indifference of the Talmudisis, with respect to the conversion of strangers, may be seen in Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, 1. vi. c. 6.
