laters, not in the setting up the Calf only,
but in the manner of their Worshiping, _viz._ _Dancing_ and _Musick_,
Things they had not been acquainted with in the Worship of the true God)
I mention here, to observe how the Devil not only imposed upon their
Principles, but upon their Senses too; as if the awful Majesty of
Heaven, whose Glory they had seen in Mount _Sinai_, where they stood,
and whose Pillar of Cloud and Fire was their Guide and Protection, would
be worship'd by dancing round a Calf! and that not a living Creature, or
a real Calf, but the mere Image of a _Calf_ cast in Gold, or, as some
think, in Brass gilded over.

But this was the _Devil_'s Way with Mankind, namely, to impose upon
their Senses, and bring them into the grossest Follies and Absurdities;
and then, having first made them Fools, it was much the easier to make
them Offenders.

In this very manner he acted with them thro' all the Course of their
Wilderness Travels; for as they were led by the Hand like Children,
defended by Omnipotence, fed by Miracles, instructed immediately from
Heaven, and in all things had _Moses_ for their Guide; they had no room
to miscarry, but by acting the greatest Absurdities, and committing the
greatest Follies in Nature; and even these, the _Devil_ brought them to
be guilty of, in a surprising manner: 1. As GOD himself reliev'd them in
every Exigence, and supply'd them in every Want, one would think 'twas
impossible they should be ever brought to question either his
Willingness or his Ability, and yet they really objected against both;
which was indeed very provoking, and I doubt not, that when the _Devil_
had brought them to act in such a preposterous Manner, he really hoped
and believed God would be provok'd effectually: The Testimonies of his
Care of them, and Ability to supply them, were miraculous and
undeniable; he gave them Water from the Rock, Bread from the Air, sent
the Fowls to feed them with Flesh, and supported them all the Way by
Miracles; their Health was preserv'd, none were sick among them, their
clothes did not wear out, nor their Shoes grow old upon their Feet;
could any thing be more absurd, than to doubt whether he could provide
for them who had never let them want for so many Years?

But the _Devil_ managed them in spight of Miracles; nor did he ever give
them over till he had brought six hundred thousand of them to provoke
God so highly that he would not suffer above two of them to go into