ity, were the seal by which Jehovah, the Prince of the kings of the earth, confirmed the message of the apostles and others of the first publishers of Christianity. But in case they had been impostors, and their message a falsehood, is it, I ask, likely that he would, by communicating to them the power to work these miracles, have sealed their testimony, and succeeded their undertaking? Would he not rather have followed them with some terrible judgment, as a punishment for their impiety, and daring wickedness? The inference is plain-the conclusion is clear. Had they been deceivers, although in the present life they might perhaps have escaped these judgments, yet (considering the circumstances under which they laboured) success would never have crowned their exertions. As impostors, they never could have surmounted the difficulties which they had to contend with at the commencement of their enterprize; and we may reasonably infer, that in this case, both their names and their labours would long since have sunk into deserved and perpetual oblivion. But when we survey the state of the matter, and find that the reverse was the case-that God, instead of thus visiting them with condign punishment, and frustrating their exertions, in the most extraordinary manner confirmed their testimony, and succeeded their exertions :-we must, if free from prejudice, and open to conviction, be ready to acknowledge, that this divine interposition is a selfevident and indubitable proof of the truth of Christianity, and a confirmation of its evidence, so solid, satisfactory, and convincing, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

SECTION 2.

Collateral Observations referring to the Christian Miracles.

On reading the foregoing account of the nature, number, and variety of the miracles recorded in the New Testament, the mind is naturally anxious for a solution to the query, why it was, if these miracles, according to

the statement given, were so numerous and convincing, that so many of the Jews, who perpetually beheld and had an opportunity of examining them, instead of being convinced, as might naturally be expected from their being eye-witnesses of the facts recorded, still continued in their disbelief and rejection of the gospel? To this I reply, that many of the eye-witnesses of these miracles were, as appears from the testimony of Nicodemus, convinced of the undoubted truth of Christianity, yet still continued to reject it, not on account of the deficiency of its evidence, but because it was opposed to their worldly views and interests-because it prescribed duties, and demanded sacrifices, which they were utterly unwilling to perform. The conduct of those inconsiderate men, though painful to reflect on, is by no means calculated to excite our astonishment. Multitudes are found in every country, who are ever ready to sacrifice the concerns of the soul to those of the body; and the folly of men in rejecting the gospel, and preferring the interests of time to those of eternity, we must, if we are observant of their habits and pursuits, acknowledge to be a fact of common and every-day occurrence. Exclusive of the characters who rejected the gospel on the aforesaid principle, there were doubtless others who had an equal opportunity of witnessing the miracles recorded by the Evangelists, but who still continued in the neglect of its truth, because they never duly considered the matter, or attended with seriousness of mind, as they ought to have done, to that weight of evidence which is derived from them in support of its divine authority. This apathy and indifference to the evidences of Christianity is a common and a prevailing sin; and it is undoubtedly to be attributed to this, that the majority of mankind continue to neglect and disbelieve it. For the confirmation of the truth of this assertion, I only need refer the reader to the conduct of the inhabitants of this country. The truth or falsehood of a religion, it must be acknowledged, involves the most awful and important consequences: now although they are

G

daily told this, and that the religion to which they now adhere is false, and the one which is revealed in the Bible alone is true; and that if they reject the latter, and continue in their adherence to the former, their ruin in the eternal world, as the consequence of their conduct, is inevitable; yet notwithstanding this, the great majority of them, as is evident from observation, still go on from day to day, manifesting the most astonishing apathy and indifference to all that is brought before them on the subject, without so much as once examining the evidences by which the two religions support their respective claims. We are, from the multiplicity of these painful facts which come before us, necessitated to acknowledge, that it is immaterial how weighty and convincing the evidences of Christianity may be in themselves, if these evidences are not candidly investigated. If a due and serious attention is not paid to them, and if the mind is not sufficiently free from prejudice, and open to receive the conviction which their clearness and sufficiency are calculated to produce, no beneficial effect can be expected to follow. And it is not, as it respects the truths of the gospel, the weight of evidence, but a candid investigation of, and due attention to, that evidence, which is required to produce conviction in the mind, and induce the enquirer to receive it.

Perhaps it may be observed, on the other hand, if notwithstanding the infidelity of some, numerous instances can nevertheless be brought forward of the beneficial effects which resulted from the miracles of the gospel in the first ages of Christianity, why have they not for these reasons been perpetuated and continued to the present day? To this I reply, that the perpetuity of miracles would be calculated to destroy their effect, and deprive them of that beneficial influence which arises from them, when only occasionally operated. For instance, suppose the sun were to discontinue his visits to the earth for the space of 100 years, and the inhabitants during this period had no other light but that of the moon. Suppose that at

the expiration of the 100 years, the sun were again unexpectedly to visit the earth; the inhabitants then living, not having previously seen him, would consider his appearance as a most wonderful miracle: but being, as they now are, daily favoured with his visits, no astonishment is excited, nor any thing miraculous supposed to be connected with his appearance. So, to apply this illustration to the subject before us, if we daily saw the dead reanimated and raised to life, the blind restored to sight, and men cured in a supernatural way of the most obstinate and dangerous diseases, the commonness of these events would destroy the idea of any thing miraculous being connected with them; and however extraordinary they might be, we should nevertheless look upon them with as much indifference, as we now do upon the most ordinary occurrences of common life.

I further observe, that as it respects the truth of Christianity, all we can possibly require is sufficient evidence; leaving the nature and degree of that evidence, as it is proper we should, to the wisdom and goodness of God. Provided this is given, the reception of it becomes our necessary duty. On this principle, therefore, I hesitate not to assert, that the evidence for the divine authority of Christianity, which we have from scripture testimony and other sources, is abundantly sufficient to remove all our sceptical reasonings, to satisfy all our reasonable enquiries, and lead us, under the conviction of its indubitable truth, to bow with reverence and submission to its supreme and universal authority.

The circumstances in which those to whom the gospel was first addressed were placed, were very different from ours. The evidence arising from miracles was then, if not the only, at least the most satisfactory and convincing evidence which they could receive. But the different situation in which we are placed the evidence arising from indubitable testimony-the completion of the canon of scripture, and the conviction which the high tone of its moral precepts is calculated to produce-and the firm

establishment which the Christian religion has now obtained in the world-are sufficient evidence for us, and therefore the continuance of miraculous interference is now altogether unnecessary.

In reference to this latter observation, viz. the firm footing and wide spread which Christianity has now obtained in the world, I request the reader's attention to the following illustration, which I bring forward to shew, that miracles are no longer required to accelerate its interests. When a little child is first learning to walk, it is supported, assisted, and directed in various ways by the parent, as its strength and present state of progress may require: but when the child has learnt the use of its limbs, and acquired sufficiency of strength to walk alone, these extraordinary means, being no longer necessary, are of course discontinued, and it is left to pursue its own course in the exercise of the ability which it has acquired. So the Christian religion, at the period to which I refer, was as it were but in the infancy of its days; and, like the little child just spoken of, it then required for its confirmation and establishment, the extraordinary and miraculous support which attended it: but as it has now obtained a firm footing in the world, and as its divine authority is abundantly proved by the most satisfactory testimonial and moral evidence; miracles, being no longer necessary to aid its progress, or establish the truth of its claims, are, on account of their further inutility, as might naturally be expected, wisely discontinued.

SECTION 3.

Of the Hindoo Miracles.

As the human mind is fertile in raising objections against the divine authority of Christianity, it is not improbable but that some persons, under the influence of this unhappy disposition, may endeavour to invalidate the weight of the evidence for its truth brought forward in