55 
writers, ascribed to the Jews : this idea is founded on 
the universal practice of circumcision amongst them, 
and from the title of “ Descendants of Abraham” 
having been assumed by the inhabitants of St. Mary’s 
Isle, and the coast opposite. But these circumstances 
by no means determine the point, it being well known 
that many of the eastern nations practise circumcision, 
who, it is certain, are not of Jewish extraction; and 
as to the title of “ Descendants of Abraham,” it would 
apply as well to the descendants of any other part of 
his family, (which was numerous, and all undoubtedly 
practised circumcision), as to those who sprung from 
Isaac. 
But, we ask, what period of the Jewish history 
is assigned as the probable one at which the island 
was peopled by them? That it could not take 
place after the dispersion, is, we think, obvious; for, 
wherever that people have been found, their charac¬ 
teristics are so plain, that they may be distinguished 
without much difficulty. Believing, as they do, that 
the promised Messiah has still to make his appear¬ 
ance, and that their return to the Holy Land will 
precede or accompany his advent, they are found 
every where to hold themselves distinct from the 
nations and people around them, — regulated by 
different customs and laws,—tenacious of their reli¬ 
gious rites and ceremonies,—and assuming to them¬ 
selves the same high ground, as being exclusively 
“ the people of God.” 
The same arguments, with many additional ones, 
