side; and if the physiciah whose name it bore was a man of acknowledged eminence in his profession, we should be confirmed in Gur belief that it was really his invention, and not the imposture of an empiric, by observing that the skill displayed in its composition was worthy of the character of its assigned author, and that it was well suited to the cases which it was proposed to remedy. And even though the name should be somewhat soiled, so as to be with difficulty deciphered, yet if the skill were distinctly legible, we should not hesitate to attribute it to a man of science, nor should we scruple to use it ourselves, on its own evidence, if our circumstances required such an application.

"If Alexander the Great could, by his own skill, have discovered, in the cup presented to him by Philip, certain natural causes restorative of health, his confidence in the fidelity of his physician would have had a powerful auxiliary in his own knowledge of the subject. The conviction of his friend's integrity was, in his case, however, sufficient by itself to overcome the suspicions of Parmenio. But if, by his own knowledge, he had detected any thing in the cup which appeared to him decidedly noxious, his confidence in his friend would have only led him to the conclusion that this cup was really not prepared by him; but that some traitor, unobserved by him, had infused a poisonous ingredient into it.

"In like manner, if we discern that harmony in the Christian revelation which is the stamp of God upon it, we shall find little difficulty in admitting that external evidence by which he attested it to the world. And even though our opportunities or acquirements do not qualify us for following the argument in support of miracles, yet if we are convinced that the remedial virtue of its doctrines suits the necessities and diseases of our nature, we will not hesitate to assign it to the Great Physician of souls as its author, nor will we scruple to use it for our own spiritual health.

"No one who knows what God is, will refuse to receive a system of doctrines which he really believes was communicated by God: But then, no one in the right exercise of his reason, can, by any evidence, be brought to believe that what appears to him an absolute absurdity, did ever in truth

come from God. At this point, the importance of the internal evidence of revelation appears most conspicuous. If any intelligent man has, from hasty views of the subject, received the impression that Christianity is an absurdity, or contains absurdities, he is in a condition to examine the most perfect chain of evidence in its support, with the simple feeling of astonishment at the ingenuity and the fallibility of the human understanding. On a man in this state of mind, all arguments drawn from external evidence are thrown away. The thing which he wants, is to know that the subject is worth a demonstration; and this can only be learned by the study of the Bible itself. Let him but give. his unprejudiced attention to this book, and he will discover that there is contained in it the developement of a mighty scheme, admirably fitted for the accomplishment of a mighty purpose: He will discover that this purpose is no less than to impart to man the happiness of God, by conforming him to the character of God: And he will observe with delight and with astonishment, that the grand and simple scheme by which this is accomplished, exhibits a system of moral mechanism, which, by the laws of our mental constitution, has a tendency to produce that character, as directly and necessarily as the belief of danger has to produce aların, the belief of kindness to produce gratitude, or the belief of worth to produce esteem. He will discern, that this moral mechanism bears no marks of imposture or delusion, but consists simply in a manifestation of the moral character of God, accommodated to the understandings and hearts of men. And lastly, he will perceive that this manifestation only gives life and palpability to that vague though sublime idea of the Supreme Being, which is suggested by enlightened reason and conscience.

"When a man sees all this in the Bible, his sentiment will be, "I shall examine the evidence in support of the miraculous history of this book; and I cannot but hope to find it convincing: But even should I be left unsatisfied as to the continuity of the chain of evidence, yet of one thing I am persuaded, it has probed the disease of the human heart to the bottom; it has laid bare the source of its aberration from moral good and

true happiness; and it has propound ed a remedy which carries in itself the proof of its efficiency. The cause seems worthy of the interposition of God: He did once certainly display his own direct and immediate agency in the creation of the world; and shall I deem it inconsistent with his gracious character, that he has made another immediate manifestation of himself in a work which had for its object the restoration of innumerable immortal spirits to that eternal happiness, from which, by their moral depravation, they had excluded themselves?

"The external evidence is strong enough, if duly considered, to convince any man of any fact which he has not in the first place shut out from the common privilege of proof, by pronouncing it to be an impossibility. This idea of impossibility, when attached to the gospel, arises generally, as was before observed, from some mistaken notion respecting the matter contained in it. A very few remarks may be sufficient to show that this is the case. Those who hold this opinion, do not mean to say absolutely that it is impossible to suppose, in consistency with reason, that God ever would make a direct manifestation of his own immediate agency in any case whatever; because this would be in the very face of their own general acknowledgments with regard to the creation of the world: They must, therefore, be understood to mean no more, than that, considering the object and structure of Christianity, it is unreasonable to suppose that it could be the subject of a direct interposition from Heaven. We are thus brought precisely to the argument which it has been the intention of this Essay to illustrate.

"Now, if we suppose that it was one of the objects of the Creator, in the formation of the world, to impress upon his intelligent creatures an idea of his moral character-or, in other words, to teach them natural religion, (and that it was one of his objects, we may presume, from its having in some measure had this effect,)-it follows, that a direct and immediate agency on the part of God, is closely connected with the design of manifesting his moral character to man; and we may expect to meet these two things linked together in the system of God's government. If, therefore,

the gospel contains a most vivid and impressive view of the Divine character, harmonizing with the revelation of nature, but far exceeding it in fullness and in power, are we to be surprised at an interposition in its behalf of the same agency which was once before exhibited for a similar purpose? Thus, the object of the gospel, and its adaptation to that object, become the great arguments for its truth; and those who have not studied it in this relation, are not competent judges of the question. Indeed, if we take the truth of the gospel for granted, we must infer that this distinct and beautiful adaptation of its means to its end, was intended by its Divine author as its chief evidence; since he must have foreseen that not one out of a hundred who should ever hear of it could either have leisure or learning to weigh its external evidence. And this will explain a great deal of infidelity; for freethinkers in general are not acquainted with the substance of revelation; and thus they neglect that very point in it on which God himself rested its probability, and by which he invites belief.

"There may be also, for any thing that the reasoners of this world know, cycles in the moral world as well as in the natural; there may be certain moral conjunctures, which, by the Divine appointment, call for a manifestation of direct agency from the great First Cause; and, in this view, a miraculous interposition, though posterior to the creation, cannot be considered as an infringement of the original scheme of things, but as a part, and an essential part of it. When the world was less advanced in natural science than it is at present, a comet was considered an infringement on the original plan. And the period may arrive, and will assuredly arrive, when the spirits of just men made perfect shall discern as necessary a connection between the character of God and the work of redemption by Christ, as the philoso pher now discerns between the properties of matter and the movements of the various bodies belonging to our planetary system.

"If the gospel really was a communication from heaven, it was to be expected that it would be ushered into the world by a miraculous attestation. It might have been considered as giving a faithful delineation of the

Divine character, although it had not been so attested; but it could never have impressed so deep a conviction, nor have drawn such reverence from the minds of men, had it not been sanctioned by credentials which could come from none other than the King of Kings. As this conviction and this reverence were necessary to the accomplishment of its moral object, the miracles which produced them were also necessary. Under the name of miraculous attestations, I mean merely those miracles which were extrinsic to the gospel, and did not form an essential part of it; for the greatest miracles of all-namely, the conception, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord-constitute the very substance of the Divine communication, and are essential to the developement of that Divine character which gives to the gospel its whole importance.

"The belief of the miraculous at testation of the gospel, then, is just so far useful as it excites our reverence for, and fixes our attention on, the truth contained in the gospel. All the promises of the gospel are to faith in the gospel, and to those moral qualities which faith produces; and we cannot believe that which we do not understand. We may believe that there is more in a thing than we can understand; or we may believe a fact, the causes or modes of which we do not understand; but our actual belief is necessarily limited by our actual understanding. Thus, we understand what we say when we profess our belief that God became man, although we do not understand how. This how, therefore, is not the subject of belief; because it is not the subject of understanding. We, how ever, understand why,—namely, that sinners might be saved and the Divine character made level to our capacities; and therefore this is a subject of belief. In fact, we can as easily remember a thing which we never knew, as believe a thing which we do not understand. In order, then, to believe the gospel, we inust understand it; and in order to understand it, we must give it our serious attention. An admission of the truth of its miraculous attestation, unaccompanied with a knowledge of its principles, serves no other purpose than to give a most mournful example of the extreme levity of the human mind.

It is an acknowledgment that the Almighty took such a fatherly interest in the affairs of men, that he made a direct manifestation of himself in this world, for their instruction; and yet they feel no concern upon the subject of this instruction. Nevertheless, they say, and perhaps think, that they believe the gospel. One of the miraculous appearances connected with our Saviour's ministry places this matter in a very clear light. When, on the Mount of Transfiguration, he for a short time anticipated the celestial glory in the presence of three of his disciples, a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son; hear ye him.' He was sent to tell men something which they did not know. Those, therefore, who believed the reality of this miraculous appearance, and yet did not listen to what he taught, rejected him on the very ground on which it was of prime importance that they should receive him.

"The regeneration of the character is the grand object; and this can only be effected by the pressure of the truth upon the mind. Our knowledge of this truth must be accurate, in order that the image impressed upon the heart may be correct; but we must also know it in all the awfulness of its authority, in order that the impression may be deep and lasting. Its motives must be ever operating on us-its representations ever recurring to us-its hopes ever animating us. This will not relax, but rather increase our diligence in the business of life. When we are engaged in the service of a friend, do we find that the thought of that friend and of his kindness retards our exertions?-No. And when we consider all the business of life as work appointed to us by our Father, we shall be diligent in it for his sake. In fact, however clearly we may be able to state the subject, and however strenuous we may be in all the orthodoxy of its defence, there must be some flaw in our view of it, if it remains only a casual or an uninfluential visitor of our hearts. Its interests are continually pressing; eternity is every moment coming nearer; and our characters are hourly assuming a form more decidedly connected with the extreme of happiness or misery. In such circumstances, trifling is madness. The professed infidel is a reasonable man in comparison with him

who admits the Divine inspiration of the gospel, and yet makes it a secondary object of his solicitude."

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE FOR CHRISTIANITY.

MR EDITOR,

I HAVE read with great pleasure the paper on Miracles in the last Number of the Edinburgh Magazine, and beg leave to suggest to you the confirmation which your opinion receives from the doctrine of the New Testament on that subject. It is quite clear, I think, from many passages in the inspired volume, that what is called the external evidence of Christianity, or the evidence of attested miracles, has no force whatever, except in so far as it is supported by internal evidence; and that neither the evidence of testimony to the truth of miracles, nor even the evidence of miracles actually perceived by the senses, would establish the truth of a doctrine evidently contrary to reason, or evidently perniious in its moral tendency. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say." "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?". Go, and shew John those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." In this last passage, the internal and external evidences are

so connected, as to prove that the last is defective without the former. It is equally evident that a system of doctrines which elevates our ideas of the character of God, and tends thereby to exalt the character of man, is internally probable; and that the greater

The above communication came to

hand immediately after we had printed the preceding extract from Mr Erskine's va luable treatise. We are happy to avail ourselves of it, as affording some good illustrations of the same important argument; yet we should be unwilling to find ourselves immersed in a controversy, the invariable result of which is, that the disputants on either side push their opinions to an injudicious extreme, and go much farther than they had at first any concep tion of.-Edit.

He

this internal probability, the less external evidence is necessary, in order to prove such a system to be true. The clearer, too, our perception of this internal evidence, the less of external evidence is necessary in order to convince us of the truth of the system. It is even possible that the internal evidence may be so strong and so clearly perceived by the devout inquirer, as to render the evidence of testimony unnecessary. The man may believe the miracles, not on the evidence of testimony, but on account of their connection with a system of doctrines which he feels to be true. may believe the miracles on account of the doctrines, not the doctrines on account of the miracles. "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed."-" Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not forth behold he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." The idea expressed in this last verse is evidently this, that, in a mind rightly constituted, there is an instinctive discernment of moral and religious truth, resembling the instinct by which an animal is attracted to its food. If the Governor of the universe is infinite in wisdom and in goodness, it is evident that that religion which exhibits the most sublime view of his providence is the most probable; and, if a system of religious doctrines came down from heaven for the improvement of human nature, that system is internally more or less probable, in proportion as it is more or less efficacious for the end in view. Now, it is by adding the evidence of attested miracles to this internal evidence of a system the most beautiful in its theory,

and the most salutary and powerful in its operation, that the truth of Christianity is proved. The evidence is neither wholly internal, nor wholly external, but a mixture of both, in which the moral beauty of the doctrine increases the probability of the miracles, and the testimony in support of the miracles strengthens the evidence of the doctrine. "The dead are raised to life, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them."