teftible experience, his former theory of the powers, laws, and actions of nature, muft affuredly appear to him, fufpicious, imperfect, and defective. He would unquestionably enlarge his limited ideas of them, and confefs, that many things were poffible in nature, which he hitherto had not fuppofed, or had deemed abfurd and impoffible. Numerous and continued miracles would place us all in a fimilar fituation not only would our understanding be perplexed; and our knowledge rendered uncertain thereby, but they would have a moft pernicious influence on our conduct and activity. Deprived of analogy, the guide of our lives, we fhould have no preponderating probability, that like effects would follow like labours and exertions; whence we should have no ground or rule of conduct, and be deterred from all action, or rafhly yield to every fantastic hope, or romantic fcheme. The extreme rarity of miracles feems to me proper, beneficial, and neceffary, for another reason. They fhould be nothing but the feal which God fets on his inftructions to mankind, as the ftamp of their authenticity. Did they abound, they would too ftrongly excite the curiofity of the many, draw their chief attention, which fhould be occupied in examining and meditating on the truth to be believed, too much to the figns, and produce an inordinate defire of miracles, inimical to the reception of truth. Befides, men would leave the proper demonstrations of truth out of the question, and not feek to difcover its connection, but,' accuf-tomed to thefe extraneous proofs, would require a particular miracle for every precept. How much true earnest meditation on religion would be hindered, and fenfuality and fuperftition promoted thereby, must be obvious to every one. Were miracles fo multiplied, revealed religion would probably become a kind of diplomatic ftudy to the greater part of mankind, and the fubftance of it would remain unin

vestigated

veftigated and unapplied. For as the diplomatift chiefly employs himself in examining marks, feals, and the like, thinking chriftians would give themfelves up too much to the examination of the feals of their religion, at the expence of more useful and important occupations. I would compare miracles, therefore, with Herculean remedies, as they are called, in medicine, which properly timed, and in cafes of extreme neceffity, produce the most falutary effects, but used frequently, and without occafion, are' highly dangerous and destructive.

If what has been advanced be juft, the objection to religious miracles (and we find no reasonable grounds for the admiflion of any others) that they are contradictory to the laws of nature, and prefume an alteration in the decrees of God, is wholly infignificant and unfounded. But it feems to me, that this objection may be removed, even if the preceding explanation be not admitted.

To another objection, which the celebrated Hume has made against miracles, or rather against their adequacy to establish the authority of any thing announced, our author, in my opinion, has given an answer the most valid and weighty hitherto adduced against his manifeft fophifms. Hume maintains, that, if miracles be contradictory to the general courfe of things, confirmed to us as steadfast and unalterable by the univerfal experience of all mankind, and all our notions and conclufions refpecting actual occurrences must be grounded on this univerfal experience, no human teftimony can be sufficient to convince us, that this general courfe of nature has been interrupted in any particular instance. For human accounts and testimonies are not confirmed as true and certain by any such conftant experience: on the contrary, experience teaches us, that men, prone to belief in the marvellous, particularly in matters of religion, lie and deceive themfelves. He admits only a single

inftance

inftance in which a miracle can be fufficiently confirmed. "No teftimony is fufficient to establish a miracle, unless the teftimony 'be of fuch a kind, that its falfehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavours to establish and even in that cafe, there is a mutual deftruction of arguments, and the fuperior only gives us an affurance suitable to that degree of force, which remains, after deducting the inferior."

This, with fome limitation, might be granted him, without, perhaps, detracting from the credibility of the fcripture miracles: and could we fatisfy his demand, the higher and more over-ftretched it is, the more strongly would the credibility of those miracles be proved. This our author actually performs, whilft, true to his fyftem of neceffity, he remarks, that, with respect to the human mind, its actions and movements follow certain laws as fteadfaft, a course of nature as unalterable, and an analogy as unfailing, as thofe which take place in the corporeal world. He fhews, though briefly, that, on the fuppofition of the teftimonies in behalf of the gospel miracles being false, as great a miracle, and as great a deviation from analogy, muft have taken place in the moral world, as muft have happened in the phyfical, fuppofing these teftimonies to be true. Miracles in the phyfical world prefent us with new and unheard of occurrences, and an apparent connection of causes and effects, fuch as we have never experienced, and cannot explain in the fame way as all our other obfervations and knowledge of the course of things. In the moral world they exhibit to us new men, that perceive, think, and act in a manner which we could neither expect nor believe from our internal feelings, or from our conftant and uniform experience of mankind.

Men fo wonderful, fo fingular in their kind, muft the first preachers of christianity have been, had the

miraculous

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miraculous events, on which their doctrines and proceedings were founded, been purposely forged by them, or had their belief of them arifen from felfdeception. In the firft cafe they would have been impoftors, but fuch impoftors as the world never beheld. For when men practise deceit it is with a view to gain; but their deceptions led to their own detriment. Void of fear and hope, the ufual incentives to human undertakings, they were led to frame their impofitions neither by one, nor the other. They feared none of thofe things which impoftors usually fear they braved the oppofition of a whole world ftirred up against them, and the obftacles thrown in their way by artifice, induftry, learning, power, and authority. Quite defenceless, they involuntarily encountered all thefe enemies, and went as fheep to the flaughter. But perhaps they figured to themselves the conteft lefs arduous, and victory more easy? No: they did not flatter themselves with fallacious representations. This is clear from their own and their teacher's explanations on this head, and from the never flinching conftancy with which, to the end of their lives, they endured the extremeft troubles and perfecutions, without expreffing the leaft aftonishment. Perhaps the dread of

greater evils made them fo patiently fubmit to the lefs? They that renounced life, with all its comforts and enjoyments, had no greater evil to fear in this world. If their impofture went fo far as to teach and confirm a future ftate, which they themselves did not believe, they had as little to fear in it, as to hope. If however they believed in future rewards and punishments, they could confider the propagation of this belief by means of a grand wilful impofture, and vile blafphemous lies, at moft as pardonable from the benevolence of their purpose, but by no means as a title to reward, and a duty of confcience. Marvellous would it have been, under fuch circumstances, VOL. III.

Rr

had

had they felt themselves impelled to this impofture by the fear of future punishment. Hence it is evident, that they had nothing to hope, unlefs the being confidered as founders and heads of a poor perfecuted fect, that must be as contemptible to them as they were in the eyes of the world, and on condition of being themselves moft eminently exposed to the poverty, contempt, and perfecution attending it. And even this wretched hope, of being the chiefs of a profcribed and deceived people, they could not, with any fhadow of reafon, in their totally deferted and defenceless fituation, entertain. If notwithstanding it be fuppofed, that ambition, though divefted of all intereft and every view to pleasure or comfort, was the true motive of their undertaking, it cannot but appear strange, that this fhould have entered into the heart of a fingle individual. Even in this cafe fuch individual would have affumed to himself exclufively the fupremacy, in order to fatisfy his ambition. But here we have at leaft eleven competitors, each of whom, by fimilar pretenfions, incroaches on the ambition of the reft, makes their claim to be confidered as difcoverers queftionable, and fets infupportable limits to their authority. Nay thefe men, who had facrificed every thing to their ambition and luft of power, placed a twelfth by their fide by lot, and, which is moft extraordinary, bore without repining, that a young man, who had publicly been their perfecutor, fhould, without their knowledge and affent, affociate himself with them, and pretend to like powers and prerogatives. They difplayed no envy at the happy fuccefs of his endeavours, or his increasing fame, though it seemed to obfcure theirs: nay they permitted this new comer to attack their dearest prejudice, oppofe himself to them as one of the most eminent on a fignal occafion, and openly accufe them of diffimulation. Their deeds, it is true, were actually, or in appearance, fo powerful and ftriking, that

they