'

'heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the le'pers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and good tidings are preached to the poor.' All this had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah; and in Jesus the prophecy was fulfilled. And his doctrine was distinguished from that of all other teachers, not only by its intrinsic excellence, and by those mighty works that bore testimony to its truth, but also by its being in so peculiar a manner addressed to the poor, and suited to their capacity, and consequently to that of all the rest of mankind. His birth was announced, not to the great ones of the earth, but to shepherds. On poverty of spirit, or lowliness of mind, which is indeed the foundation of the Christian character, he pronounced particular benediction: his servants he chose from among the poor: and, by the establishment of a church, he provided a perpetual succession of ministers, who should preach the gospel to the poor, and to all other ranks of men to the end of the world. In consequence of this most gracious dispensation, the meanest of the Christian people, if it is not their own fault, may, in all ordinary cases, learn juster notions of virtue and vice, of God and man, of Providence and a future state, than the most learned philosopher could ever attain in the days of paganism. Can these facts be denied? And in him who admits them is it possible that any doubt should remain, concerning the usefulness of divine revelation, or the infinite importance of that which is brought to light by the gospel?

Let not the infidel pretend, that human reason is alone sufficient to discover the whole of man's duty, and establish in the world a complete or comfortable system of natural religion. For it is certain, that, even in the most polite nations, unassisted reason never did this, and, in the opinion of Socrates, never could. And of barbarous nations it will not be said, that their reason ever made important discoveries of any kind. And it deserves particular notice, that what our infidels call natural religion is in a great measure, as Rousseau himself acknowledges, derived from that very scripture,

which they absurdly and wickedly reject. I do not mean, that their ideas on this subject are acquired by an actual perusal of holy writ. In this study it is to be feared, that few or none of them ever made great proficiency. Those ideas they derive from impressions made on their minds in infancy and early youth; when, together with the humility and candour, it is probable they also had, what every Christian must have, the teachableness of little children. The writings too, and the conversation of Christians, to which, in these parts of the world, they must sometimes attend, may convey to them principles which they admit as rational, though perhaps they might be inclined to overlook, if they knew them to be scriptural.

If revelation be so highly important, it is most suitable to the wisdom and mercy of God to bestow it; and some persons even of the heathen, particularly Socrates, were not without hope, that one time or other it would be bestowed. So far was that great man from asserting the sufficiency of his knowledge, with respect either to divine or to human things, that though by no means a sceptic, he used through excess of modesty to say, that he knew nothing but his own ignorance. He taught, that the gods grant extraordinary communications of wisdom to those to whom they are propitious: and recommended it to his friends to have recourse to oracles, and other religious rites, in order to obtain from heaven such necessary or useful informa tion as human reason was not of itself able to supply.* Indeed the oracles, divinations, and auguries, so much attended to by the pagan world, prove, as already hinted, their consciousness of their own ignorance, and of the need that mankind have of supernatural illumination.

Of their oracles we know little, and can affirm nothing but what partakes more or less of conjecture. That they were the contrivance of priest-craft, has been said, and may in part be true. be true. It has also been said,

Xenoph. Memorab. lib. I

that demons had a concern in them; and this no considerate person will affirm to be impossible. Perhaps they may have been permitted by Providence to keep up in the minds of men a sense of the insufficiency of human reason, and to make them think, as Socrates did, that divine revelation was, at least, a desirable thing. This is certain, that Socrates had faith in them; that, though some of their answers might easily be accounted for, others are rather extraordinary; that Providence did, for a time, permit them; and that, soon after the great revelation took place, they became universally silent. These facts deserve the attention of those who

reject the gospel.

But, however desirable revelation may be, and however beneficial, we must not have the presumption to think that the Deity is obliged to bestow it. For this we have no better reason than to suppose that he was obliged to create man at first; or that he is under any necessary determination, arising from the perfection of his nature, to make men archangels, or to make all men equal in rank or sagacity. His dispensations of benevolence and grace are all gratuitous. We have nothing but what we have received from him, and what he might have with-held, without any imputation on his goodness, or any diminution of his eternal and unalterable felicity.

Nor is it possible for us to judge how far it may be consistent with the views of his Providence, to make this revelation universal. Its good effects may be so, though it is not universally known for it teaches, that persons who lived long before our Lord appeared on earth, and who never heard of his name, may be saved by his merits.

This being admitted, no conclusion unfavourable to Christianity can be drawn from the circumstance of its being known in some parts only of the world, and not known till four thousand years after the creation. For if it had been known one thousand, or three thousand years sooner, a captious mind might still ask, why it was not earlier, and coeval with mankind, or at least with

the fall. Whatever concerns man must have a beginning; and that Being who governs the universe, who alone perfectly knows his own counsels, and who sees at once the past, the present, and the future, can alone determine when any particular dispensation of Providence ought to begin; how quick or how slow it ought to be in its progress; and when it is to be completed. Many discoveries, beneficial to mankind, have been made in modern times. How absurd would it be to suppose the recency of a discovery an argument against its usefulness; or against the goodness of God in giv. ing man the power of making it now, rather than at an earlier period! Every thing here is progressive. If at once, and in the beginning, man had received all the good things that a gracious Creator had destined for him, this life could not have been a state of probation; and we, having no desires ungratified, no faculties unimproved, and nothing further to hope or to fear, must have been equally incapable of activity and happiness.

CHAPTER II.

THE GOSPEL HISTORY IS TRUE.

THE gospel history being conveyed to us in writing, the only possible way in which it could be safely conveyed through the long succession of seventeen hundred years, its evidences must, in part, depend on human testimony. In some respects, however, they are peculiar, and cliffer from those of other histories. No circumstance of the life of Julius Cæsar; the battle of Pharsalia for example, the destruction of the Nervii, or the invasion of Britain; is alluded to, so far as I know, in any writing previous to the birth of that commander: but many of the facts recorded in the gospel, though seemingly of far less magnitude, bear a striking resemblance to the events foretold by Jewish prophets, who lived several hundred years before the birth of Christ

The particulars of Cæsar's life, the speeches he made, and the great transactions he was engaged in, made no material alteration, except, perhaps, to the worse, in the manners and sentiments of mankind. But the things that were done, and the doctrines that were taught, by the supposed son of a carpenter of Judea, and by some fishermen his friends, produced a most important change for the better, in human sentiments and manners; a change diffused through many nations, and of which we at this day see and feel the consequences.

The evidences of the gospel, therefore, are to be treated somewhat differently from those of other historical records. I shall first consider it, merely as a portion of ancient history. Secondly, I shall speak of it as the accomplishment of certain prophecies. And I shall afterwards inquire, whether it may not be further confirmed, by the peculiar excellency of the knowledge we derive from it, as well as by the extraordinary changes introduced by it into the system of human affairs.

SECTION I

The Gospel considered as a portion of ancient history. As a short preface to what I have to say on the evi

dence of the gospel, considered as a portion of ancient history, it may be proper to set down the following remarks on testimony.

It is natural for man to speak as he thinks; and it is easy too, like walking forward. One may walk backwards or sideways; but it is uneasy, and a sort of force upon nature and the same thing is true of speaking or declaring what is contrary to one's belief. At least this is the general rule. Long practice in falsehood, or in walking sideways or backward, may, no doubt, render it easy; but it requires long practice to make it so.

We naturally believe what others tell us. We trust VOL. ii.

3 c