maker, under
the name of Jeremiah; because many of them refer to him, and to the
circumstances of the times he lived in.

Of the duplicity, and of the false predictions of Jeremiah, I shall
mention two instances, and then proceed to review the remainder of the
Bible.

It appears from chapter xxxviii. that when Jeremiah was in prison,
Zedekiah sent for him, and at this interview, which was private,
Jeremiah pressed it strongly on Zedekiah to surrender himself to the
enemy. "If," says he, (ver. 17,) "thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the
king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live," etc. Zedekiah was
apprehensive that what passed at this conference should be known; and
he said to Jeremiah, (ver. 25,) "If the princes [meaning those of Judah]
hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto
thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king; hide it not
from us, and we will not put thee to death; and also what the king said
unto thee; then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication
before the king that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's
house, to die there. Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and
asked him, and "he told them according to all the words the king had
commanded." Thus, this man of God, as he is called, could tell a lie, or
very strongly prevaricate, when he supposed it would answer his purpose;
for certainly he did not go to Zedekiah to make this supplication,
neither did he make it; he went because he was sent for, and he
employed that opportunity to advise Zedekiah to surrender himself to
Nebuchadnezzar.

In chapter xxxiv. 2-5, is a prophecy of Jeremiah to Zedekiah in these
words: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold I will give this city into the hand
of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire; and thou
shalt not escape out of his hand, but thou shalt surely be taken, and
delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the
king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou
shalt go to Babylon. Yet hear the word of the Lord; O Zedekiah, king,
of Judah, thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not die by the sword, but thou
shalt die in Peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former
kings that were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee, and
they will lament thee, saying, Ah, Lord! for I have pronounced the word,
saith the Lord."

Now, instead of Zedekiah beholding the eyes of the king of B