measure, have depended on the testimony of his disciples and friends: if so, it is not very probable that his appearing publicly would have had any great effect on the Jews, to persuade them to embrace a crucified Messiah. It is far more reasonable to believe, that they would have rejected the whole, and continued in their infidelity, unless a divine power interposed to remove the veil from their hearts.

In order to give the argument all the force the Deists can desire, let us further suppose, that, in consequence of our blessed Saviour's appearing to all the people of the Jews, the nation in general would have been convinced of the truth of his resurrection, and become his disciples; what advantage would the cause of Christianity have reaped from such effects of our Lord's public appearance? Would the evidence of his resurrection, have become thereby the more unquestionable? or would the modern infidels have been the better disposed to believe in this crucified JEsus? By no means: for we do not find that men of this class are at all the more ready to believe the miracles of Moses in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the Wilderness, because the whole nation were witnesses of them. The truth is, had our blessed Redeemer persuaded all the people of the Jews, by appearing personally to them, the objections against his resurrection would have been ten times more numerous and forcible than they are at present; for would not the whole have been called a state-trick, a Jewish fable, a mere political contrivance, to patch up their broken credit, after they had so long talked of a Messiah, who was to come at that time? Besides, we should certainly have been told, that the government being engaged in the plot, a fraud of this kind might have easily been carried on, especially as the people in general would eagerly fall in with it; because it was so exactly adapted to their prejudices, and because the few who had sagacity enough to detect the fraud, could have no opportunity of examining into it; or, if they

did examine and detect the fraud, would not have dared to make any discovery of it, in opposition to the whole weight of the state: so that they would let it pass quietly, without once calling it in question.

The resurrection of our great Redeemer universally believed amongst the Jews, and published to the world by the unanimous voice of the nation would, to say the truth, have been liable to an infinite number of objections, which are all effectually cut off by the method made choice of by the wisdom of Providence; for as the people in general, and the rulers in particular, continued in their infidelity, the persons concerned in this supposed fraud, must have carried it on under the greatest disadvantages. The reason is, that instead of making many friends to assist them, which a fraud of this kind requires, all men were their enemies, and interested to discover the cheat. The Jewish rulers, in particular gave all possible encouragement to make the strictest scrutiny into the fact, and into all its circumstances; and many doubtless, zealously made the inquiry with the utmost exactness. The apostles who preached the resurrection, exposed themselves to the fiercest resentment of the men in power; because the resurrection of our great Redeemer cast the greatest reflection upon those who had put him to death. It should also be remembered, that if the generality of the nation had not continued in their unbelief, the apostles, who preached the resurrection, would not have suffered these persecutions, which in every country were raised against them, chiefly by the Jews; and consequently one of the strongest arguments for the truth of their testimony would have been wanting: whereas, by their having been persecuted to death for their preaching the resurrection of their great Master, they fully demonstrated how sincerely they believed the great fact which they preached, in continual jeopardy of their lives, notwithstanding the virulent malice, and restless persecution of their enemies.

We have thus endeavored to answer, in the plainest and most satisfactory manner, the principal objection made by the Deists against the truth of our blessed Saviour's resurrection; and shall conclude this chapter with a few reflections on the life of the blessed JESUS; a life the greatest and best that was ever led by man, or was ever the subject of any history since the universe was called from its original chaos, by the powerful word of the Almighty, which spake it into being.

As the human character of the blessed JESUS results from the accounts given of him by the evangelists (for they have not formally drawn it up) so it is entirely different from that of all other men whatsoever; for whereas they have selfish passions, deeply rooted in their breasts, and are influenced by them in almost every thing they do, JESUS was so entirely free from them, that the most severe scrutiny cannot furnish one single action in the whole course of his life wherein he consulted his own interest only: no, he was influenced by very different motives; the present happiness and eternal welfare of sinners regulated his conduct; and while others followed their respective occupations, JESUS had no other business than that of promoting the happiness of the sons of men; nor did he wait till he was solicited to extend his benevolent hand to the distressed; he went about doing good, and always accounted it more blessed to give than to receive; resembling God rather than man, in every act of his life.

Persons of the most exalted faculties are apt to be elated with success and applause, or dejected by censure and disappointments: but the blessed JESUS was never elevated by the one, nor depressed by the other; he was never more courageous than when he met with the greatest opposition and cruel treatment, nor more humble than when the sons of men worshipped at his feet. He came into the world inspired with the grandest purpose that ever was formed, that of saving from

eternal perdition, not a single nation, but the whole world; and in the execution of it, went through the longest and heaviest train of labours that ever was sustained, with a constancy and resolution, on which no disadvantageous impression could be made by any accident whatever: calumny, threatenings, bad success, with many other evils constantly attending him, served only to quicken his endeavors in this glorious enterprise, which he unweariedly pursued, even till he finished it by his death on the cross.

Mankind are prone to retaliate injuries received, and seem to take a satisfaction in complaining of the cruelties of those who oppress them; whereas, the whole of CHRIST's labours breathed nothing but meekness, patience, and forgiveness, even to his bitterest enemies, and in the midst of the most excruciating torments. The words Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, uttered by him when his enemies were nailing him to the cross, fitly express the temper which he maintained through the whole course of his life, even when assaulted by the heaviest provo cations. The truth is, he never signified on any occasion, the least resentment by speech or action, nor indeed any emotion of mind whatever, except such as flowed from pity and charity; consequently such only as expressed the deepest concern for the welfare of mankind, to which his glorious life and sufferings effectually opened the way.

The greatest and best men have had their failings, which tarnish the lustre of their virtues, and shew them to have been nothing more than men. This was the case with Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, David, Paul, and other heroes celebrated in history; but it was otherwise with JESUS; he was superior to all the men that ever lived, both with regard to the purity of his manners, and the perfection of his virtues: he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners. Whether we consider him as a teacher or as a man, he

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did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Peter, ii. 22. His whole life was perfectly free from spot or weakness, at the same time it was remarkable for the greatest and most extensive exercises of virtue : but never to have committed the least sin in word or in deed, never to have uttered any sentiment that could be censured, upon the various topics of religion and morality, which were the daily subjects of his discourses, and that through the course of a life filled with the action, and led under the observation of many enemies, who had always access to converse with him, and who often came to find fault, is a pitch of perfection evidently above the reach of human nature; and consequently, he who possessed it, must have been divine, and a most perfect Being.

This adorable Person is the subject of the evangelical history. If the reader, by reviewing his life, doctrine, and miracles, as they are here represented to him united in one series, has a clearer idea of these things than before, or observes a beauty in his actions. thus linked together, which taken separately, do not appear so fully; if he feels himself touched by the character of JESUS in general, or with any of his sermons and actions in particular, thus simply delineated in writing, whose principal charms are the beauties of truth; above all, if his dying so generously for men, strikes him with admiration, or fills him with joy, in the prospect of that pardon which is hereby purchased for the world; let him seriously consider with himself, what improvement he ought to make of the divine goodness, and what returns of praise and gratitude are due to him.

The Saviour of mankind, by his death, has set open the gates of immortality to all the posterity of Adam; and by his word, spirit and example, graciously offers to make them meet for the glorious rewards in the kingdom of the heavenly Canaan, and to conduct them into the inheritance of the saints in light; let us, there