rough the desert! In what ancient nation were seen such
respect to parents, such fidelity to husbands, such charming delights of
home, such beautiful simplicities, such ardent loves, such glorious
friendships, such regard to the happiness of others!

Such, in brief, was the great work which Moses performed, the marvellous
legislation which he gave to the Israelites, involving principles
accepted by the Christian world in every age of its history. Now,
whence had this man this wisdom? Was it the result of his studies and
reflections and experiences, or was it a wisdom supernaturally taught
him by the Almighty? On the solution of this inquiry into the divine
legation of Moses hang momentous issues. It is too grand and important
an inquiry to be disregarded by any one who studies the writings of
Moses; it is too suggestive a subject to be passed over even in a
literary discourse, for this age is grappling with it in most earnest
struggles. No matter whether or not Moses was gifted in a most
extraordinary degree to write his code. Nobody doubts his transcendent
genius; nobody doubts his wonderful preparation. If any uninspired man
could have written it, doubtless it was he. It was the most learned and
accomplished of the apostles who was selected to be the expounder of the
gospel among the Gentiles; so it was the ablest man born among the Jews
who was chosen to give them a national polity. Nor does it detract from
his fame as a man of genius that he did not originate the most profound
of his declarations. It was fame enough to be the oracle and prophet of
Jehovah. I would not dishonor the source of all wisdom, even to magnify
the abilities of a great man, fond as critics are of exalting the wisdom
of Moses as a triumph of human genius. It is natural to worship
strength, human or divine. We adore mind; we glorify oracles. But
neither written history nor philosophy will support the work of Moses as
a wonder of mere human intellect, without ignoring the declarations of
Moses himself and the settled belief of all Christian ages.

It is not my object to make an argument in defence of the divine
legation of Moses; nor is it my design to reply to the learned
criticisms of those who doubt or deny his statements. I would not run
a-tilt against modern science, which may hereafter explain and accept
what it now rejects. Science--whether physical or metaphysical--has its
great truths, and so has Revelation; the realm of each is distinc