er to show that this prophecy could not be
insisted on by the Christians, said by way of argument, that
allowing "that Bethlehem was to be the birth place of the Messiah,
what then? will a man's being born in Bethlehem, be sufficient to
make him the Messiah foretold by the Hebrew prophets!"

This Mr. Everett seizes hold on in the following Way, p. 95. "Now
if we were willing to be consistent, and cling to our principles
wherever they carry us, it would almost seem that this concession
might decide the controversy. The Messiah is to be of Bethlehem.
This reduces to a little span, the number of those among whom he
can be found. Moreover, Bethlehem is now in ruins, to all moral
purposes its identity is gone.[fn34] It is the habitation of Turks, of
Arabs, of Christians, and if there be any Jews there, none will
pretend that the divisions of the tribes are preserved among them,
so that the tribe of David, from whom the Messiah is to arise, is
known in Bethlehem, from the rest. Neither can it be argued that
hereafter when the Jews are restored, Bethlehem will be
repeopled with Jews, the family of David be discriminated, and the
prophecy admit of fulfillment, because Mr. English himself allows it
to be the sense of prophecy, that the Messiah shall be born before
the restoration. It only remains therefore to look back, and to see,
of all that have appeared in Bethlehem, which has the greatest
claim to this character."

On this reasoning I would observe, 1st, that my concession on
which it is founded is merely gratuitous; as the words "shall come
forth" signify merely derivation; 2nd, that Mr. Everett is mistaken in
supposing that Bethlehem is now in ruins. It is at present probably
nearly as large and populous as it ever was. 3d, Mr. Everett is
mistaken, in supposing that the family of David cannot be traced
among the Jews. There are at this moment in the world, many
families allowed by their bretheren to be descended from David.
Should any of the Jews go to Bethlehem at any time to come, and
have a male child born to him in that place, for aught that can be
known beforehand, that child may be the Messiah and the
prophecy be fulfilled in Mr. Everett's sense of it; which I repeat
cannot be insisted on, as "come forth" certainly may signify, and in
the case unluckily quoted by Mr. Everett, (Gen. x, 13. 14.)
certainly does import, derivation.[fn35]

The next passage, adduced by Mr. Everett, is the 10th v. of the ix.
ch of