common to that part of the country, makes no
part of my argument; all that I mean to show is, that it is not Moses
that could write this account, because the account extends itself beyond
the life time of Moses. Moses, according to the Bible, (but it is such
a book of lies and contradictions there is no knowing which part to
believe, or whether any) died in the wilderness, and never came upon
the borders of 'the land of Canaan; and consequently, it could not be
he that said what the children of Israel did, or what they ate when they
came there. This account of eating manna, which they tell us was written
by Moses, extends itself to the time of Joshua, the successor of
Moses, as appears by the account given in the book of Joshua, after
the children of Israel had passed the river Jordan, and came into the
borders of the land of Canaan. Joshua, v. 12: "And the manna ceased on
the morrow, after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither
had the children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit
of the land of Canaan that year."

But a more remarkable instance than this occurs in Deuteronomy; which,
while it shows that Moses could not be the writer of that book, shows
also the fabulous notions that prevailed at that time about giants' In
Deuteronomy iii. 11, among the conquests said to be made by Moses, is
an account of the taking of Og, king of Bashan: "For only Og, king
of Bashan, remained of the race of giants; behold, his bedstead was a
bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine
cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after
the cubit of a man." A cubit is 1 foot 9 888/1000 inches; the length
therefore of the bed was 16 feet 4 inches, and the breadth 7 feet 4
inches: thus much for this giant's bed. Now for the historical part,
which, though the evidence is not so direct and positive as in the
former cases, is nevertheless very presumable and corroborating
evidence, and is better than the best evidence on the contrary side.

The writer, by way of proving the existence of this giant, refers to his
bed, as an ancient relick, and says, is it not in Rabbath (or Rabbah)
of the children of Ammon? meaning that it is; for such is frequently the
bible method of affirming a thing. But it could not be Moses that said
this, because Moses could know nothing about Rabbah, nor of what was in
it. Rabbah was not a city belonging to this giant king, nor was it one