1499 M6A21 A N ESSAY In ANSWER to Mr. HUME's ESSAY O N MIRACLES. By W I L L I A M ADAMS, D. D. Minifter of S T. C H A D 's, SALOP, And Chaplain to the Lord Bifhop of ST. As A PH. The THIRD EDITION, with Additions. i it fumus ad auras. VJRG. LONDON: Printed for B. WHIT E, at Horace's Head, in Fleet-Street; and T. C A D E L L in the Strand. MDCCLXVII. ERRATA. Page 8. line 19. for of read or. 16 5. for events read the events. 32 9. for whoever read who ever. 47 2 3- <* an - 77 25. /or miraculo read miracula. 115. in the Note of reference, for afcal read Pafcal. Lately pullijhed* Price i s. By the AUTHOR of this EfTay, rpH E N A T u R E and OBLIGATION of VIRTUE. * A Sermon preached in the Parifh-Church of St. Chad, Salop, at the primary Vifuation of the Lord Bifhop of Litchfield ; and publifhed at his Lordfhip'a Requeft. With an Appendix, containing Notes on the fame Subject. Price 6 d. The Suond Edition, The DUTIES of INDUSTRY, FRUGALITY, and SOBRIETY. A Sermon preached before a Society of Tradefmen and Artificers, in the Parifti- Church of St. Chad, Salop, on Eafter-Monday, 1766. Published at the Requeft of the Society. *Z fe AN ESSAY, . HUME hath many of the talents of a fine writer, and hath juftly ob- tained that character by the agree- able Ejfays moral and political '*, with which he has obliged the world. What he hath wrote well will create a prejudice in favour of his errors ; and thefe will have all their bad influence, when recommended by fo able an advocate. The prefent is a fubjed: of the greateft importance, and the author expreffes a particular fatisfaction in his per- formance. Thefe are reafons for confidering * The reader is defired to diftinguifli betwixt this and the metaphyfical eflays of this author, which is the book referred to throughout this treatife. B it 921865 k carefully, and for guarding ourfelves againft being deceived by the artifice or eloquence of the writer. He begins with challenging, a little indi- rectly, the thanks of the public, for a dif- covery, which, he apprehends, will be of uni- verfal fervice to mankind. This is nothing lefs than an infallible cure for fuperflition. " I " flatter myfelf," fays he, " that I have dif- " covered an argument, which, if juft, will, " with the wife and learned, be an everlafting " check to all kinds of fuperftitious delufion, " and, confequently, will be ufeful as long as <c the world endures ; for fo long, I fuppofe, " will the accounts of miracles and prodigies " be found in all profane hiftory *." The virtues of this fpecifick are fuch, that it exter- minates all religions alike ; as he (hews, by trying its ftrength upon the Chrtftian y which, where it prevails, is, perhaps, more obftinate and hard of cure than any other. Here, however, it has been known to fail. I have given it a fair trial, and known it tried by others, with- out the leaft effect, and think I can prove that * Pbilofopbical EJJays concerning human underflow 1 'v,, p. 174, firft edition, there [ 3 ] there is no one ingredient of any virtue or efficacy in it. The fecret itfelf is contained in the compafs of a few lines : and therefore, to give fome port and figure to it, the author has thought neceflary to introduce it with fome preliminary obfervations. In the firft of thefe, his meaning feems to be to lay down this as a principle - that all our reafonings concerning matter of fact are found- ed wholly on experience : " Tho' experience " be our only guide in reafoning concerning " matters of fact, it muft be acknowledged, " that this guide is not altogether infallible, <c but in fome cafes is apt to lead us into errors " and miftakes. One, who in our climate < mould expect better weather in any week of " "June than in one of December, would reafon <c juftly and conformable to experience ; but " 'tis certain, that he may happen in the event " to find himfelf miftaken. However, we may " obferve, that in fuch a cafe he would have * c no caufe to complain of experience > be- " caufe it commonly informs us before-hand " of the uncertainty, by that contrariety of B 2 " events [ 4 ] " events which we may learn from a diligent " obfervation *." In illuftrating this obferva- tion, both here and elfewhere, he feems to con- fine it to fuch events as are future : "An " hundred inftances or experiments on one " fide, and fifty on another, afford a very " doubtful expectation of any event ; tho' an " hundred uniform experiments, with only " one contradictory one, do reafonably beget " a very ftrong degree of affurance -f ." Here then I readily allow, that in reafoning concern- ing future contingencies experience is the beft guide we have, tho' in many cafes, as will here- after be feen, a very uncertain one. This obfervation is followed by a prudent caution. " A wife man," he tells us, " pro- " portions his belief to the evidence. In fuch " conclufions as are founded on an infallible ic experience he expects the event with the laft <c degree of affurance, and regards his paft ex- " perience as a full proof of the future ex- " iftence of tliat event. In other cafes he pro- " ceeds with more caution : he weighs the f oppofite experiments} he confiders which " fide is fupported by the greatefl number of * Pbilofopkical E/ays, p. 174. f P. 175. " experi- C 5 ] " experiments j to that fide he inclines, with " doubt and hesitation ; and, when at laft he " fixes his judgment, the evidence exceeds not " what we properly call probability. In all <c cafes we muft ballance the oppofite experi- " ments, where they are oppofite, and deduct " the lefTer number from the greater, in order " to know the exact force of the fuperior evi- <{ dence *." This logick is very juft, and what, I am perfuaded, every man of the plaineft un- derftanding knows how to praclife, without learning it from the fchools, or from the au- thor's refinements on the curious and fublime fubjetf (as he calls it) of probability f. He then proceeds " To apply thefe prin- " ciples to a particular inflance : We may ob- cc ferve, there is no fpecies of reafbning more " common, more ufeful, and even neceflary to <c human life, than that derived from the tefti- <c mony of men, and the reports of eye-wit- " nelTes and fpectators. This fpecies of reafon- <c ing perhaps one may deny to be founded on " the relation of caufe and efFect. I (hall not <{ difpute about a word. 'Twill be furficient P. 175, t EJfay m Probability , p. 97. 33 "to [ 6 ] " to obferve, that our affurance, in any argu- " ment of this kind, is derived from no other " principle than our obfervation of the veracity " of human testimony, and of the ufual con- " formity of fads to the reports of witneffes*." 'Tis difficult to fay what the author would here exemplify, there being no clear connection be- twixt this and the preceding paragraphs. But, if I may prefume to explain it, his argument ftands thus: The principle he fet out with, was, that our reafoning about matters of fact depends wholly upon experience. This he hath proved concerning fuch events as are future : he now wants to prove the fame concerning fads that are paft. Here he is aware, that, betides experience, we have another guide, which is the teftimony of hiftory, that of wit- neffes, &c. Thefe he does not chufe to diftin- guifh from the former, but infinuates, that the evidence of teftimony is included in that of experience, or that every argument from tefti- mony is only an argument from experience, for as much as the truth of that depends ultimately uponthisf . "The ultimate ftandard," he * P. 176. f It may with more propriety be faid, that the evi- dence of experience is included in that of teftimony, than [ 7 ] he tells us below, " by which we determine " difputes of this kind, is always derived from <{ experience and obfervation." Now it is true, that the evidence of teftimony mutt be refolved at laft into experience :" but this experience is of a fpecies entirely diftindfc from that on which the natural probability of any fad attefted refts : nor does it confift, as this author aflerts, in our obfervation of the veracity of human teftimony t and of the ufual conformity offaSts <with the reports of witneffes. It is built upon other principles, to which the author himfelf leads us in the words that follow : " Did not men's imagination na- " turally follow their memory had they not <c commonly an inclination to truth, and a fenti- ct ment of probity were they not fenfible to " iliame, when detected in afalfehood Were " not theie, I fay, difcovered by experience to C be qualities inherent in human nature, we than the contrary. Our own experience reaches around and goes back but a little way. But the experience of others, upon which we chiefly depend, is derived to us wholly from hiftory and tradition, that is, from tefti- mony. And it is obvious to obferve, that, in a queftion of fal, the teftimony of negative witneffes how many foever, is, for the moft part, no evidence at all ; while pofitive teftimony muft, more or lefs, have its weight. B 4 " fhould t 8 ] " fhould never repofe the lead confidence in " human teftimony *." The firft of thefe mo- tives I do not underftand. Of the reft I (hall obferve, that their force we collect, not fo much from our obfervaticn of other men, as from our own feeling, and a confcioufnefs of what paffes within our own breaft. We per- ceive in ourfelves, that a love and reverence for truth is natural to the mind of man : and the fame felf-experience teaches us, that there are certain other principles in human nature, by which the veracity of men may be tried, and the truth of teftimony be often put out of doubt, as will be hereafter feen. The next obfervation is, that, " as the evi- cc dence derived from witnefles and human tefti- " mony is founded on pafl experience, fo it tc varies with the experience, and is regarded " either as a proof of probability, according as cc the conjunction betwixt any particular kind " of report and any kind of objects has been " found to be conftant or variable -(-." Here again the author's meaning is loft in a thicket of words, which it is difficult for a common eye to penetrate. Let the reader try what he * P. 177- t Ibid. can [ 9 1 can make of the conjunction varying betwixt any particular report and any kind of objects. The credibility of an hiftorical fact depends upon the credibility of the fact itfelf, and that of the hiftorian or witneffes who relate it. Thefc fhould be always confidered diftindtly ; tho* the author, for reafons of his own, chufes to confound them. The latter of thefe depends in part upon principles that are fixed and in- variable, fuch as thofe the author has juft men- tioned, which are general principles of human nature; and in part too on the perfonal character of the relator, the intereft he has in the fact re- lated, and other circumstances. As thefe cir- cumftances vary, the evidence varies, and the fact becomes more or lefs credible. And fo, concerning the natural credibility of the fact, this is greater or lefs, according as our own, and the obfervation of others, in cafes of a fimilar nature, has been more or lefs uniform. Something like this I take to be the author's meaning in this place : and this is the amount of all that follows in this and the next para- graph. My defign, therefore, in this remark, is, not to conteft the author's principles, which, as far as I underftand them, are right enough ; but to fliew that his ftyle and manner of writ- 4 ing f 10 ] ing tend to embarrafs the fubjed, and perplex the reader. We are now coming nearer to the matter in queftion. " Suppofe," fays the author, " that " the fad, which the teftimony endeavours to " eftablifh, partakes of the extraordinary and " the marvellous ; in that cafe, the evidence " refulcing from the teftimony receives a dimi- " nution, greater or lefs, in proportion as the " fact is more or lefs unufual. When the " fad: attefted is fuch a one as has feldom fallen " under our obfervation, here is a conteft of " two oppofite experiences -, of which the one " deftroys the other, as far as its force goes, <f and v the fuperior can only operate on the " mind by the force which remains. The very (< fame principle of experience, which gives " us a certain degree of afiurance in the tefti- <c mony of witneffes, gives us alfo, in this cafe, " another degree of affurance againft the fad " which they endeavour to eftablifh *.'* Here the author feems to fuppofe, that a want of ex- perience, in any cafe, is the fame with experi- encing the contrary. When afatt attefted bath feidom fallen under our obfervation ', " here is>" fays * P. 179- he, [ II ] he, cc a contefl of two oppofite experiences:" but, in reality, here is no experience at all ; only a fact not obferved on one fide, and pofitive evi- dence, or the fact attefted, on the other a very unequal conteft ! as we fhall prefently fee ; the flighteft pofitive teftimony being, for the moft part, an over-ball ance to the ftrongeft negative evidence that can be produced. I grant, however, all that the author's argument requires, viz. that experience teaches us, of many things, that they are improbable, and not to be haftily believed -, of others, that they are naturally incredible : but thefe are fo, not be- caufe they are unufual or unobferved, but be- caufe there is a known difproportion betwixt the caufe affigned and the effect, or becaufe the fact aflerted is a contradiction to fome known and univerfal truth. Thefe premifes he now draws to a point, and makes them center in one conclufive ar- gument againft miracles : " To increafe the u probability againft the teftimony of witnef- " fes, let us fuppofe, that the fact which they " affirm, inftead of being only marvellous, is " really miraculous j and fuppofe alfo, that " the teftimony, confidered apart and in itfelf, " amounts r I* 3 cc amounts to an entire proof: in that cafe, " there is proof againft proof, of which the c ftrongeft muft prevail, but ftill with a di- " minution of its force in proportion to that of c< its antagonift *." I havejuft allowed, that there are facts which experience afTures us are wholly incredible : but of theie I (ball afTert, that-no good teflimony can be produced in their favour. Truth is always confident with itfelf ; and no one truth can ever be contradicted by another. The author is, therefore, too kind in fuppofing that miracles may admit of full proof from teilimony. I mall take no advantage of this conceffion, but readily acknowledge, that, if they are proved a priori to be incredible, it will be a vain attempt to prove them by tefti- mony. Let us fee, then, what the author al- ledges in bar of this proof. His batteries are now mounted, and he begins the attack. cc A miracle," fays he, et is a violation of et the laws of nature j and, as a firm and un- " alterable experience hath eftablifhed thefe " laws, the proof againft a miracle, from the c * nature of the fact, is as entire as any ar- " gument from experience can pofftbly be * P. 179. " imagined. [ '3 1 44 imagined. Why is it more than probable, ' that all men muft die that lead cannot by 11 itfelf remain fufpended in the air that fire " confumes wood, and is extinguimed by water " unlefs it be, that thefe events are found " agreeable to the laws of nature, and there is " required a violation of thefe laws, or, in <{ other words, a miracle, to prevent them ? " Nothing is efteemed a miracle, if it ever hap- " pens in the common courfe of nature. 'Tis " no miracle, that a man in feeming good <c health mould die of a fudden ; becaufe fuch " a kind of death, tho' more unufual than any lc other, has yet been frequently obferved to ** happen : but 'tis a miracle, that a dead man " mould come to life j becaufe that hath ne- " ver been obferved in any age or country. " There muft, therefore, bean uniform expe- ' rience againft every miraculous event, other- <c wife the event would not merit the appella- " tion. And, as an uniform experience amounts <c to a proof, there is here a direct and full " proof, from the nature of the fact, againft " the exiftence of any miracle: nor can fuch " a proof be deftroyed, or the miracle ren- cc der'd credible, but by an oppofite proof that <c is fuperior *." * P. 180. I have [ 14 J I have endeavoured to preferve the ftrength of this argument entire, by collecting every thing that is of any import to it in the obfer- vations that precede it : and, that the reader may fee it in its ftrongeft light, I fhall here repeat it, as it is again fumm'd up by the author at the end of his Eflay : " It appears, that no teftimony for any kind " of miracle can ever amount to a probability, " much lefs to a proof; and that, even fup- " pofing it amounted to a proof, 'twould be c oppofed by another proof, derived from the <c very nature of the fact which it would en- " deavour to eftablifh. 'Tis experience alone c< which gives authority to human teftimony ; " and 'tis the fame experience which aflures us *' of the laws of nature. When, therefore, " thefe two kinds of experience are contrary, <c we have nothing to do but fubtracl the one " from the other, and embrace an opinion, <l either on the one fide or the other, with " that afTurance which arifes from the re- *' mainder. But, according to the principle " here explained, this fubtraction, with regard " to all popular religions, amounts to an entire " annihilation : and therefore we may eftablifh 4 " it [ '5 ] " it as a maxim, that no human teftimony can " have fuch force as to prove a miracle, and '* make it a juft foundation for any fuchiyftem " of religion *." This is the author's great difcovery. The \vhole fecret is out. And here one cannot but wonder to fee a pofition, which is laid down by all that write in defence of miracles, pleaded as a decifive argument againft them, and to find the experience of all mankind brought in evidence againft all the religions of the world. An experienced uniformity in the courfe of nature hath been always thought neceffary to the belief and ufe of miracles. Thefe are indeed relative ideas. There muft be an ordinary regular courfe of nature, before there can be any thing extraordinary. A river muft flow, before its ftream can be interrupted. It is ftrange, therefore, that this uniformity, which is implied in the nature of a miracle, fhould at the fame time be inconfiftent with it. This is to fuppofe, that the exiftence of a miracle is a contradi&ion in terms -, and as fuch indeed the author feems to treat it : " A miracle fup- " ported by any human teftimony is more * P. 198. cc properly [ '6 ] " properly a fubjed of derifion than of argu- " ment * :" And again, " What have we *' to oppofe to fuch a cloud of witnefles, but the " ablolute impombility or miraculous nature of " events -j- ? " A modeft reader can Icarce look fuch afliirance as this in the face : he will be apt to miftrufl his own apprehenfion, and think there is more in thele big words than he readily fees. The firft reading gave me fufpi- cions of this kind ; but, having recovered my- felf, and taken courage to review it, I fear not to aflert, that all the experience the author can bring will amount to neither proof nor argu- ment again ft the belief of miracles. Let him, if he pleafes, plead his own experience that he has never feen or been witnefs to any mi- racle that he has always found the courfe of nature to be the fame and unchanged: but \ does this experience teach him, that the laws 1 of nature are necefTary and immutable that -there is no power in being fufficient to fufpend / or alter them or that there can be no reafons I to induce fuch a power to acl ? 'Till one or Vother of thefe can be proved from experience, it is no evidence in the prefent cafe, and, in- ftead of deciding the matter in queftion, is * P. 194. t P. 195- wholly [ 17 ] wholly impertinent and foreign to it. Can the fouthern climates experience that there is no frofl in the north ? Or, can Mr. Hume ex- perience that I have never feen fire kindled by a touch from ice ? This negative evidence, tho' multiplied infinitely, would ftill be ne- gative : and the fad laft mentioned might be true, and capable of very eafy proof from teftimony, as I (hall prefently {hew, though all the world mould agree that they had never feen the like. The uniformity of nature is no way impeach- ed or brought in queftion by the fuppofition of miracles. The concurring teftimony of mankind to the courfe of nature is not contradicted by thole who have experienced contrary appear- ances in a few inftances. The idea of a miracle unites and reconciles thefe feeming differences. By fuppofing the fadls in queftion to be mira- culous, the uniformity of nature is preferved, and the fads are accounted for upon another principle entirely confident with it. Thus, ex- perience teacheth us that lead and iron are hea- vier than water : but a man, by projecting thefe heavy bodies, may make them iwim in water, or fly in air. Should the fame be done by any C invifible invifible power, it would be a miracle. But the uniformity of nature is no more difturbed in this cafe than the former: nor is the general experience, which witnefles to the luperior gra- vity of thefe bodies, any proof that they may not be raifed in air and water by fome invifible agent, as well as by the power of man. All that experience teaches is the comparative weight of thefe bodies. If, therefore, they are feen to float in mediums lighter than themfelves, this muft be the effect of art or ftrength : but, if it be done without any vifible art or power, it muft be done then by fome art or power that is invi- fible ; that is, it muft be miraculous. This is the procefs by which we infer the exiftence of miracles ; which is, therefore, fo far from be- ing contradicted by that experience upon which the laws of nature are eftablifhed, that it is clofely connected and ftands in the faireft agree- ment with it. The queftion then will remain Whether any fuch invifible agents have ever interpofed in pro- ducing vifible effects? Againft the poffibility of this,tho' the authorispleafed to pronounce itim- poffible, he hath offered no argument (and, in- deed, none can poffibly be offered) : Again/I the 4 credibility [ 19 ] credibility of it, the experience which he pleads is no argument at all. This experience proves a courfe of nature j but, whether this is ever in- terrupted, is ftill a queftion. This experi- ence teaches what may be ordinarily expect- ed from common caufes, and in the com- mon courfe of things: but miraculous in- terpofitions, which we are enquiring after, are, by their nature and elTence, extraordinary and out of the common courfe of nature. Miracles, if at all, are effects of an extraordinary power upon extraordinary occafions : confequently, common experience can determine nothing con- cerning them. That fuch occafions may arife, both in the natural and moral world, is eafy to conceive. The greateft of natural philofo- phers * hath thought, that the frame of the world will want, in a courfe of time, the hand that made to retouch and refit it. The greateft of moral philofophers -(- hath thought it a rea- fonable hope, that God would fome time fend a meffenger from heaven to inftruct men in the great duties of religion and morality. * Newton Opt. ed. Lat. p. 346. t Socrates in Platonis Alcibiade 2, fub finem. C 2 As [ 20 ] As to the queftion of fatt Whether any fuch interpofitions have been ever known or obferved ? this muft be tried, like all other hif- torical fads, by the teftimony of thofe who re- late it, and the credit of the firft witneffes who have vouched it ; and not, as this author would have it, by theteftimony of others of thofe who lived in diftant times and places. There is mention of a comet, a little before the Achaian war, which appeared as big as the fun *. If this were well attefted by the aftro- nomers of that time, it would be trifling to ob- ject againft it that the like had never been ob- ferved before or lince. And juft as pertinent is it to alledge the experience of ages and coun- tries againft miracles which are faid to be wrought in other times and other countries. But, in truth, were the world to give evidence in the prefent queftion, they would, I am per- fuaded, depofe very differently from what this author expects. A great part of mankind have given their teftimony to the credibility of mi- racles : they have actually believed them. By this author's account, all the religions in the * Seneca Nat. Quajl. lib. 7. cap. 15. world world have been founded upon this belief. If this be true, we have univerfal teftimony to the credibility of miracles. How then can there be univerfal experience againft them ? The author tell us that we muft judge of teftimony by ex- perience. It is more certain that we muft judge of the experience of men by their teftimony. It is far from true that all religions have been founded on miracles. None but the Chriftian and "Jewijh appear to be fo founded. But there --^ is a fort of miracles, which men of all religions have agreed in believing. " A miracle," as this author fays, " may be either difcoverable by " men, or not. This alters not its nature and * c effence *." Many things appear to us to be effeded by natural means, the firft fprings of which may be moved by the immediate hand of God. But every fuch interpofition, in over- ruling or giving a new direction to the courfe of nature, is, as the author allows, miraculous. If then Providence ever interpofes in punifhing exemplary wickednefs, or in the fupport of eminent virtue in averting evil, or beftowing good thefe are miracles. But thefe have been \ * P. 181. C 3 univerfally [ 22 ] univerfally believed. Thefe bleffings of heaven have been implored and acknowledged, and thefe judgments deprecated, in the publick and private prayers of mankind, from the begin- ning of the world to this time. We cannot indeed argue, from thefe fuppofed interpofitions, that therefore Providence will in- terpofe in a vifible and fenfible manner. But it follows, that fuch interpofitions are poflible ; it follows, that they are credible. If we believe thefe miraculous interpofitions, when they do not appear to our fenfes, what mould hinder us from believing the like upon the report of our fenfes, or of credible perfons who give witnels to them ? If there are general reafons for con- cealing thefe interpofitions, may there not too be fpecial reafons for fignalizing them at times to the fenfes and notice of mankind ? It is cer- tain, that, if any fuch reafons can be affigned, all that is difficult of belief in miracles will be removed. Now, tho' we cannot indeed look into the counfels of Providence, nor, without prefumption, pronounce what is fit for God, in, any fuppofed circumftance, to do -, yet, in judg- ing of paft fads or miracles that are queftioned, we can readily fee whether any great end, wor- thy [ 23 ] thy of God, hath been anfwered by them : and if this appear to be. the cafe, it will create a pre- fumption in their favour : and if, farther, it {hall feem that this end could not have been compaffed by any other means, this will amount to fome proof of their reality. To fee this matter in the cleareft light, it may be proper to confider more diftindly the grounds of that credibility, which we allow, in different degrees, to hifbrical fadts. This depends, as I have faid, on the credibility of the facts them- felves, and on that of the hiftorian or witneffes who relate them. / The credibility of any facl: in itfelf, as this author frequently tells us, depends upon its ana- logy with the known courfe of nature *. But the powers of nature are fo imperfectly known to us, that in moft cafes we argue with great un- certainty from this principle. A confequence of this is, that teftimony is, for the moft part, of much greater force to eftablifh the truth of paft fa&s, than experience. It would have been thought highly incredible a few years ago, that * P. 165. 04 an an animal might be propagated by cutting it in pieces that you might, by dividing one living creature, give life to an hundred of the fame fpecies. Yet this fort of Hydra has been difco- vered ; and the fad, tho' contrary to the whole analogy of nature, was readily believed, when it had been experienced and teftified by very few. In like manner, I have no doubt that the mag- net lofes its polarity in very cold latitudes. I believe this upon the teflimony of one man *, tho' the experience of travellers in all climates before attefts the contrary. Here the moft uniform experience is outweighed by a tingle evidence. The reafon is, that the experience of other countries is only a negative evidence in the queftion. The experience was indeed, before the fact was tried, a very ftrong pre- fumption againfl it. The moft cautious failor would have ventured his fortune and life upon it. Yet is this prefumption of no weight in the queftion of paft fact, when compared with the flighteft teftimony f . In * Mr. Ellis, in his account of the North-weft Pafiage. f Every propofition or f^ct afierted is certainly true or falfe. By credible or probable we mean, not any thing real in the character of the propofition or fat, but only its * !^*; In cafes where a fufficient caufe is affigned, an effect, however new and ftrange, may become credible, or even probable, in itfelf, without any teftimony to fupport it. That fire fhould be its appearance to us, or to the perfon who eftimates this credibility. A thing is faid to be credible, when it wants and is thought capable of proof to be pro- bable, when there appear more reafons for than againft believing it. Credible is more than poffible> and impojjibk more than incredible. Again, probable is more than credible^ and incredible is more than improbable. But thefe words are ufed in common language fomewhat promifcuoufly. Thus, what is highly probable is faid to be highly credible', and what is very improbable to be very incredible. Hence, there are all degrees of incredible and credible, before you arrive at probability. After this, credible and probable are the fame, and ad- mit again of all degrees, 'till you arrive at moral cer- tainty. The fame thing then may be credible in all thefe different degrees to different perfons. That the earth is round that it is conftantly fpinning about like a tap, and travelling with a very fwift motion, while the fun and the heavens ftand ftill This to one part of mankind is wholly incredible, and to another morally certain. The credibility, therefore, or com- parative incredibility of any fa6t is, for the moft part, too loofe a bottom to ground any argument or inference upon. The fame teftimony may likewife bevarioufly credible to different perfons. But the evidence of this is far more diftin&, and its force more eafily afcertain- ed. The truth of teftimony, where it is doubtful, may be kindled by a touch from ice, is contrary to the experience of fome thoufand years. But ele&ricity is a caufe given equal to the effe<ft. From may be proved many different ways : that of doubtful facts can be made clear only by teftimony, which is indeed,, after all,, the proper proof of facts. Experience is the general teftimony of mankind to- general truths. Teftimony, as it is here oppofed to experience, is the atteftation of particular perfons to particular facts ; the former of thefe witnefles to the credibility of facts ; the latter gives evidence directly to their reality or exiftence. From the former we col- lect, that May is on this fide the line a warmer month than December : but the certainty of this in particular inftances is only to be proved, and the contrary may be proved, from the latter. We may indeed, as I have granted, in fome cafes, infer from the former of thefe the certainty or impoflibility of facts. But even here this limitation or condition is always underftood that we know the whole of the cafe that no caufe inter- venes, which is unknown or does not appear to us. And therefore, in the ftrongeft cafes that can be fup- pofed, experience is no bar to the evidence of teftimo- ny i becaufe it is very poflible, in almoft all cafes, that fuch caufe may intervene. Should I fee a ftone climb up hill, or a piece of folid iron fwim in water, I could not doubt the fact, how incredible foever in itfelf. Sup- pofe the fame to reft upon the teftimony of others : I cannot, indeed, fee with the eyes of other men j but I can fee that they have eyes, as well as myfelf : and, if From this time then the fact becomes credible, and even probable, tho' it were not tried and proved by any one witnefs. In if their veracity is proved,. as I afiert it may, even to our eyes and fenfes, (I mean, by fenfible and vifible fails) I have then nearly as good evidence for the fact, as if I had feen it myfelf. I might perhaps conclude, that the effect was produced by fome invifible agent ; but, whether this can be difcovered or not, the fa& muft ftill be admitted. All this is unwarily allowed by the author himfelf, in terms as ftrong as can be defired : " Suppofe all authors in all languages agree, that from " the firft of January ^ 1600, there was a total dark- ".nefs over the whole earth for eight days : Suppofe " that the tradition of this extraordinary event is ftill ** ftrong and lively among the people ; that all travel- " lers, who return from foreign countries, bring us ac- " counts of the fame tradition, without the leaft va- " riation or contradiction : 'Tis evident, that our pre- " fent philofophers, inftead of doubting of that fa&, 11 ought to receive it for certain, and ought to fearch " for the caufes whence it might be derived." P. 199. The author of the Free Inquiry into the miraculous Powers of the primitive Church has ftated this matter in a very different light. He fuppofes, that we have the evidence of fenfe for the natural credibility of fa&s, and feems to infer, that, when we argue from hence, we go upon furer ground than when we argue from teftimony, which he reprefents as ever dark and doubt- ful, and amounting only to a reafonable prefumption, at In moral or intelligent agents we look for moral caufes for reafons or motives to induce them to at, as well as for the natural powers of at beft : the contrary to which, in almoft every parti- cular, is, I think, the truth. As the principles laid down by this author are very general, and may be eafily mifapplied, beyond his intention, in the prefent quef- tion, it will not be improper to compare them with what has been (aid. " The queftion concerning thefe tc miraculous powers depends," fays he, " upon the * e joint credibility of the fails pretended to have been " produced, and of the witnefies who atteft them : if " either part be infirm, their credit muft fink in pro- * c portion, and, if the facts efpecially be incredible, muft " of courfe fall to the ground, becaufe no force of tef- ** timony can alter the nature of things. The credibi- " lity of fafts lies open to the trial of our reafon and " fenfes : but the credibility of witnefles depends on a " variety of principles wholly concealed from us ; and, " tho' in many cafes it may reafonably be prefumed, " yet in none can it certainly be known : for it is com- " mon with men, cut of crafty and felfifli views, to " difTemble and deceive : but plain facts cannot delude " us cannot fpeak any other language, or give any 4< other information, than that of truth. The tefti- " mony, therefore, of fals, as it is ofFer'd to our fenfes, " carries with it the fureft inftruction in all cafes, <s which Gou, in the ordinary courfe of his providence, " has thought fit to appoint for the guidance of human " life. of ading. And, where both a final and effici- ent caufe appear equal to the effect, the effect, however ftrange in itfelf, will become credible by " life *." In anfwer to which, I fhall not deny that the credibility of facts may in many cafes be tried by our fenfes ; but this is generally learnt from experience, or the common teftimony of mankind : And, 2dly, this credibility, however learnt or proved, is no direct evidence of the reality or exiftence of any doubtful fact ; fince the fail may be highly credible, and yet never exift may be in a great degree incredible, and yet certainly true. What the author calls the teftimony offafts offered to our fenfes is in this cafe only the teftimony of our fenfes, or that of other men, to the exiftence, not of the fact in queftion, but of other fails that are fuppofed analogous or fimilar to it ; which, tho' in many cafes it may amount to a very high prefumption, yet is in none a dire ft proof of any doubtful fatt : Whereas,' 3dly, tefti- mony is a direct evidence to the exiftence or reality, not of fimilar facts, but of the fact itfelf : and therefore, in judging of paft or diftant facts, where we cannot have the evidence of our fenfes, the teftimony of thofe who have this evidence is, not only the fureft, but the only method of injlruflion which Providence has appointed for our guidance thro 1 life. All that we certainly know of fuch facts is derived from this fource. The truth of tefti- mony is always prefumed, where there are no parti- cular reafons to fufpedt it. This prefumption alone will give more weight, as we have feen, to a fingletef- * Preface, p 9. timony, [ 3 1 by teftimony, if not probable without it. It is poflible for a man to fwim acrofs the Hellefpont. The poffibility of this faft will make it credible upon fufficient teftimony: but, if a competent reaibn is affigned for this hazardous enterprize (fuch as the efcaping certain death) this will make it credible upon the flighteft teftimony, or even probable without any. The refult then is that whatever is pof- fible, or in the loweft degree credible, is ca- pable of a proof from teftimony that the ftrongeft prefumption from experience is of timony, and make it better 'evidence for the truth of facts, than a very high degree of prefumption drawn from analogy is againft it. 4thly, This prefumption may be increafed to any degree by the concurrence of other teftimony ; which concurrence too is itfelf a dif- tin& proof of the fact attefted. Laftly, The veracity of every fingle witnefs may be proved by plain and in- difputable facts, as will be feen more fully hereafter. If then improbable or incredible facts require ftronger evidence to fupport them, the weight of teftimony may be increafed, and the proofs that fupport it multiplied, infinitely ; and, confequently, whatever is not abfo- lutely impoffible may be thus proved. The force of teftimony cannot indeed alter the nature of things : but it can make things improbable become probable it can give credibility, and even certainty, to things that were before incredible. little [ 3- 1 little force againft pofitive evidence and that, where a caufe is affigned equal to any effect, the event is rendered credible upon common teftimony, and fometimes probable without any. But there are, it is granted, many cafes, which, we may, from nature and experience, pronounce to be impoffible. It is impoflible that a facl or proportion mould be true, when the caufe af- figned 'is unequal to the effect. Now, the proportion of caufes to effects, the natural powers of agents, and the force of moral caufes on the mind, we know to a good degree, from experience. If we cannot precifely determine the force of natural agents, we can, in moft cafes, affign limits which they cannot pafs. For in- ftance : We cannot precifely mark out the bounds of human power j but we can, in all cafes, fay to what it does not extend. If the ftrength of men, at a medium, be equal to one, that of king Auguftus or Hercules may be equal to two ; but it cannot be equal to two hundred. A phyfician may reftore a dying man to health ; but he cannot reftore a dead man to life. Of all fuch events, as railing the dead, calming the winds or feas, curing difeafes with a word, we may f 3* ] may fairly pronounce, that they are impoffible to human ftrength, and therefore, when imputed to it, are incredible ; becaufe a force equal to two cannot produce an effect equal to two hun- dred. In this cafe experience decides with fuffi- cient authority againft the fact. And this, I fuppofe, the author miftook for an argument againft miracles. But whoever attributed thefe fads to human power ? Thofe who record, and thofe who be- lieve, miracles, univerfally afcribe them to a power fuperior to man. They agree, that they far exceed all human ftrength, and therefore are an argument of the concurrence and agency of fome fuperior power. Againft the interpolation of fuch fuperior power, experience, as we have feen, can determine nothing. If common expe- rience does not atteft or acknowledge fuch in- terpolations, the anfwer is given common oc- cafions do not call for them. The common wants of nature are provided for by the com- mon courfe of nature. Extraordinary occa- fions only can call for extraordinary interpofi- tions. Of thefe occafions we are not the pro- per judges : but, that many fuch may arife in the 4 [ 33 ] the government of free agents, feems obvious even to us. If men, by a bad ufe of their liberty, mould fink themfelves into a moral incapacity of an- fwering the ends of their creation If they mould lofe fight of God and religion and all the great motives to holinefs and virtue, and this evil fhould become general and pad all na- tural hopes of recovery it is very fuppofeable that God may interpofe, by a fpecial act of his Providence, in reftoring them to a capacity of ferving him, and of attaining that happinefs for which they were created. If virtue, and that knowledge which is neceflary to it, are worthy the care of Providence and if thefe were in danger of periming out of the world why fhould it be thought incredible that God mould fend a righteous man to teach the doctrines and enforce the duties of religion, with a clear and exprefs authority ? This miffion of a prophet would be miraculous : but the miracle would not appear ; and therefore other miracles would be neceflary to attefr. its truth. Superior know- ledge and virtue are not fufficient to charac- terize a prophet : he muft do fuch things as no man can do, except God were with him, D before [ 34 J before his miffion or character will be acknow- ledged for divine. Here then is a reafon, which, whenever it can be pleaded, will make miracles every way credible, and as capable of proof from teftimony as any matter of fact whatfoever. In the examination of paft facts, if no fucli end appears to have been anfwered by the mi- racles alledged, this will be a ftrong prefump- tion againft them. On the other hand, if any great confequences have followed if, for in- ftance, it mould appear from hiftory, that na- tural religion had, when loft, by the help of thefe miracles, been revived in all its purity, and eftablifhed in many nations as the will of God this will be a ftrong preemption in their favour : And, if there appear no other affign- able caufe, which could give birth to this great event, but the miracles pretended, this will be a good proof of their reality. We come next to confider the credibility de- rived to fads from teftimony. This depends in general upon the principles of human nature, which we can argue with the more certainty from, bccaufe we experience them in ourfelves, [ 35 1 as well as obferve them in others. We are made naturally to love truth, and to hate and abhor falmood and deceit. The fhame of being de- tedled in a lye, and the reproach that ever fol lows it, is a full proof of this. Even in mat- ters of no moment, in the moft tranfient dif- courfe, where men think it unnecefiary to at- tend to what they fay, were there no temptation from vanity or a defire of pleafing, they would never deviate from truth. But this principle will operate far more ftrongly, where men are called upon to attend, have leifure to confider, and give their teftimony deliberately : it will operate more ftrongly on good men than bad in cafes of great moment than in matters of indifference. Could we be abfolutely certain, in any cafe, that a man had no intereft, real or fuppofed, in deceiving that he had no motive to deceive we might depend with abfolute certainty upon the truth of his evidence. Now, this aflurance we may have from circumftances that cannot deceive us. Incapable as we are of penetrating into all the referves and recefTes of the human mind, there is yet a certain and infallible teft, by which the veracity of men may in many D 2 cafe [ 36 ] cafes be tried. For example : If the perfon at- tefting gives up every known intereft for the fake of his teftimony, without any known pro- fpeft of advantage if he is expofed by it to prefent fufferings, and is threaten'd with yet greater if he perfifts under all the difcourage- ments that can be thought of, and goes through a long feries of evils, which, by receding from his teftimony, he might prevent and, Iaftly 9 if he gives up life itfelf for a painful and igno- minious death this is fuch a proof of fincerity as cannot be refitted. In this cafe, we are not only allured that the witnefs is free from every corrupt biafs, but that he has thehigheft regard for truth. Nothing but a confcious fenfe of this, with the hope of a future reward from the God of truth, can fupport men under a lofs of all things, and under the actual fuffering of all the evils of life. A good man may give up his intereft for the fake of truth : a bad man will facrihce truth to intereft : but no man will give up intereft and truth together for nothing, or for the fake of falmood, which is worfe than nothing. The maxims we here argue from are the moft certain and uncontroverted of any in mo- rality t 37 1 rality That men act from motives, and that good, real or apparent, is the object, the motive and aim of every action. The laws by which the moral world is governed are as certain and infallible as thofe of the natural. The paffions, appetites, and fenfes of mankind act, and are acted upon, with as much uniformity as any powers and principles in nature. That men mould love falmood rather than truth that they mould chufe labour and travail, mame and mifery, before pleafure, eafe, and efteem is as much a violation of the laws of nature, as it is for lead or iron to hang unsupported in the air, or for the voice of a man to raife the dead to life : but this, I have granted to the author, is, not miraculous, but impoffible, and mall therefore have his leave, I hope, to affert, that falmood, thus attefted, is impoffible' in other words, that teftimony, thus tried and proved, is infallible and certain. It remains, indeed, that witnefles the mod upright and unfufpected may be miftaken in their teftimony : they may be deceived them- felves ; and therefore their teftimony, even thus proved, is not to be fecurely relied on. But, happily, miracles, at leaft all that we difpute D 3 with [ 38 ] with this author, are of fuch a nature, that it is impoffible to be deceived about them. Fails that are vifible and palpable to the fenfes of mankind, that are done in open day-light, that lie open to fcrutiny and obfervation for a long time together, prefent witnefles muft know whether they fee or not. They who report them as eye-witnefles cannot be deceived themfelves in the belief of them, however they may intend to deceive others. I conclude then, that miracles, when there appears a fufficient caufe for working them, are credible in themfelves that, when they come under the cognizance of our fenfes, they are proper matter of teftimony, and, when at^ tefted by witnefles who have fufficient oppor- tunities of convincing themfelves, and give fuf- ficient proof of their conviction, have a right to command our faith.. And here I accept the author's alternative, without complaining of the infidious terms in which it is expreffed. <c The plain confe- " quence," fays he, " is (and 'tis a general ' maxim worthy of our attention) that no tef- " timony is fufficient to eftablifh a miracle, un- [ 39 ] " unlefs the teftimony be of fuch a kind, that " its faldiood would be more miraculous than u the fact which it endeavours to eftablim : " and even in that cafe there is a mutual de- <{ ftruction of arguments, and the fuperior " only gives us an afTurance fuitable to that " degree of force which remains after deduct- <c ing the inferior. If the falmood of any " perfon's teftimony would be more iniracu- * c lous than the event which he relates, then, 11 and not 'till then, can he pretend to com- ' mand my belief or opinion *." By miracu- lous it is plain that the author here means, in the popular fenfe of the word, wonderful or in- credible. I afTert then, that miracles may be made fo credible by circumftances and con- curring facts, and fo fupported by teftimony, that, if we reject them, we muft believe things more incredible, or, as the author would have us fpeak, more miraculous than the miracles themfelves. The miracles I mail mention are thofe in the Chriflian Gofpel healing the fick without any vifible means, giving fight to the blind, raifing the dead to life, Gfc. all which are faid * P. 182. D 4 to L 40 ] to be performed by the power of God for ends the moft worthy of himfelf, viz. to reftore re- ligion and morality to their true principles, and to eftablim the practice of them in the world. The character of thofe who were appointed to this work, and the doctrines which they taught, correfpond perfectly with this defign : great as it was, they undertook it with alacri- ty and confidence, declaring from the begin- ning that their commiffion was to go and teach all nations : the miracles which they atteft, as giving authority to their doctrine, they affert from their own knowledge, as what they faw with their eyes, and handled with their hands : the number of thefe facts, and the numbers at- tefting them, were very great : they concur- red, without variation, in the fame doctrine, and in the fame teftimony : they fubmitted, with the fame courage and conftancy, to the greateft perfecutions and afflictions, in confir- mation of their truth ; and, when called to it (as many of them were) laid down their lives for its fake : they forefaw from the beginning the oppofition they met with, and foretold, with the fulleft aflurance, their fuccefs againft it : and the event juftified their predictions ; the the religion they taught was in a ftiort time eftablimed in a great part of the world. Here, now, the attempt itfelf, if not fpirit- ed and fupported by truth, is wholly ftrange and unaccountable. That men of low birth and education Ihould conceive a defign of new- modelling the religion of all nations, and re- forming their manners, by the laws of temper- ance, purity, and chanty that bad men fhould concur in an end fo great and godlike, or good men in means fo impious as fraud and impofture that men of craft or addrefs mould chufe for the hero of their ftory one who was chronicled as a malefactor, and who had been put to death by the confent of a whole people one, too, that had abufed their confidence, and milled them by falfe hopes into an endlefs train of miferies all this is contrary to na- ture, and therefore, by the author's rule, im- poffible. The zeal with which they carried on this de- ftgn, traverfing feas and kingdoms, without reft, and without wearinefs a zeal which could not be exceeded by the moft righteous men in the mofl righteous caufe this, if not prompted by 4 duty [ 4* ] duty and a ftrong conviftion of the truths they taught,, is ftill more incredible. The excellency of the religion they taught, in its worship and morality far furpaffing all human wifdom and philofophy, and the fole end of which is to make men honeft, iincere, and virtuous, if it be the work of ignorance and fraud, is equally ftrange and myfte- rious. The fuccefs of this defign is yet a greater miracle. In this chain of wonders the event is the moft miraculous part. The eftablimment of the Gofpel in an hundred different nations, its victory over Jews and Gentiles, over the power and policy of the wifeft and greateft people, over the pride of learning and the obftinacy of ignorance, over the prejudices of religion and thofe of fin and irreligion, is an event the moft wonderful of any in hiftory. But this is a miracle which we fee before our eyes : it is a miraculous fadl that muft be afcribed to a mi- raculous caufe. Even granting the truth of the Gofpel miracles, the inftruments in propagating it were fo unequal to the work, that nothing but the power of God, accompanying and working [ 43 ] working with them, can account for its fuccefs. It was ftill a miracle that it mould profper in their hands. But, without either truth or providence to fupport it, this fuccefs would be more than miraculous it would be im- poffible. The teftimony directly given to thefe miracles is ftrongly confirmed by the character of the witnefles, who, as far as appears even from 'the teftimony of their enemies, were unblameable in their lives and manners men of confcience and religion. Their writings breathe a fpirit of piety, a zeal for God and good works, that is not equalled by any writings in the world : they carry in them fuch marks of candor, truth, and iimplicity, as cannot be imitated : all which can never confift with the daring impiety of ufurping the moft facred of all characters, and preaching a falfe religion to the world. The numbers that engaged in this defign, tho' difperfed in different regions, agreed per- fectly in the fame report. It was in the power of any of thefe, or of the accomplices that muft be concerned with them, to defeat the whole by difcovering the fraud : and it cannot be, [ 44 ] be, that not one {hould, by fear or intereft, per- fuafion or torture, be prevailed on to difco- ver it. They put their teftimony to the trial, by claiming a power of working miracles them- felves: they difplayed this power frequently and publickly, and fo fubmitted their truth to the eyes and fenfes of all about them. This pretence, if falfe, muft have defeated the moft probable and hopeful fcheme ; if true, it was no more than neceffary to the difficulties of this. The event was great numbers were every day converted to the faith. But this conduct cannot, any more than the event, be reconciled to the character or fuppolition of impofture. Laftly, they gave the higheft proof that can be given to the veracity of teftimony, by going thro' the fiery trial of perfecution, in all its various forms of imprifonment, torture, and death. This began with the very beginning of Chriftianity. They faw it evidently before their eyes, and plainly devoted themfelves from the firft to a life of fufFerings and affliction. They gave up eafe and fecurity, country, kindred, family, and friends, to be treated every- where with [ 45 ] with contempt and contumely, to conflict with poverty and want, to be perfecuted from city to city, fentenced to imprifonment and ftripes, and, at laft, to die by ftoning, by the fword, or the crofs. But this, in fupport of fallhood and wrong, is fo contrary to human nature, that it is abfolutely incredible. The fuppofition then, that the miracles of the Gofpel are falfe, is full of wonders, prodi- gies, things unnatural, and which experience, the author's criterion in matters of fact, pro- nounces to be impoffible. And what now is that contrariety to nature, which is pleaded againft the poffibility of mi- racles ? "A miracle," the author tells us, " may be accurately defined a tranfgreffton of " a law of nature by a particular volition of the ct Deity or by the interposal of fome invitibie <c agent *." But this definition is neither ac- curate nor confident with itfelf. The laws of nature are the laws of God: and, if God (hould occafionally change or invert any of thefe, there is no law, that I know of, againft it no law of God or nature broken by it. But, in fact, * P. 181. where [ 46 ] where miracles are fuppofed, there is no change made in thefe laws. I have (hewn, that all that is unnatural in miracles is only appearance. There is nothing contrary to nature in fuppofing the dead to be raifed, or the winds controlled by a power equal to the effed. It was no way contrary to the nature of God to reveal his will to mankind, in order to reform their cor- ruptions, and to conduct them to virtue and happinefs. On the contrary, this might be pi- oufly hoped for from his wifdom and goodnefs. It was no way contrary to the nature and con- dition of men. It appears from the hiftory of mankind, that natural religion was at this time univerfally corrupted, and that no other pro- bable means were left of reftoring it. Reafon and philofophy had tried their flrength in vain. It was, therefore, on the part of man, highly expedient and defireable, In fact, to this re- velation, whether real or pretended, and to no other caufe, it is owing, that the great truths of nature, concerning God, a Provi- dence, and a future ftate, are now ib widely fpread, and that half the world, inftead of dumb idols, are ferving the living God : and, if all the good ends, that might be expected, are not yet anfwered by it, yet the feed of the word is 4 fown, t 47 ] fown, the foundations of true religion are laid, and there is hope that it will in time enlarge its borders, and prevail, where it is received, with more effect and influence. It cannot be denied, that the Gofpel is an adequate provi- fion for the wants, a remedy for all the infir- mities of mankind. There is nothing, that can be wiflied for in a rule of duty, that is not comprehended in it. The miracles, then, that atteft it, are accounted for to our reafon : we have God, the caufe of all things, for their author : and a fufficient reafbn is afligned for the divine interpolation. And this will, at the fame time, account for all the wonders that followed : the actions, fufferings, and fuccefs of the Apoftles will, upon this fcheme, appear eafy, confiftent, and natural. But, if this account be not admitted, thefe will remain fo many contradictions to nature and experience, and it will lie upon the author to reconcile them to our belief. If the common motives to human actions, intereft, paffion, and prejudice, cannot be pleaded in an anfwer to thefe difficulties, what other account can be given of them ? Some caufe muft bs affigned adequate to the effect. For men to act without motives [ 48 ] motives is as unnatural, as it is for a body to fink without weight to act againft the force of motives is as contrary to nature, as it is for a ftone to afcend again ft the laws of gra- vity. Hear what this author fays himfelf in another Effay : " We cannot make ufe of a ** more convincing argument, than to prove " that the actions afcribed to any perfon are <c directly contrary to the courfe of nature, and < that no human motives, in fuch circum- e ftances,. could ever induce him to fuch a " conduct *." The author tells us, that in this cafe we mufl reject the greater miracle. But miracle is too foft a name for thefe inconfiftencies. Could he {hew, that God, or fome invifible agent, had interpofed in confounding the reafon and under- flanding of all that preached or believed the Gofpel, in changing their nature, and giving a contrary direction to their paffions, affections, and inftincts, they would then be miracles, and proper objects of our belief. But this I {hall prefume impoffible to be proved, becaufe no end can be affigned for fuch interpofition, but merely to deceive mankind an end fo unwor- * P. 135- thy [ 49 ] thy of God, and contrary to the perfections of his nature, that we may pronounce it impoflible for him to promote, or even to permit it to take effect. Here, then, I may call upon the author, in his own words, to lay his hand upon his heart, and declare, whether the miracles of the Gofpel could poffibly have been better attefted, if true whether there is any one condition want- ing that can add credibility to them whether there is any thing fo contrary to nature in thefe miracles, as in the teflimony given, and the belief gained, to them, if falfe whether it is not eafier to believe the miracles true, than that fo many miraculous confequences (a na- tural effect of true miracles) mould arife from them, if falfe or, laftly, whether it be not more credible that God mould work thefe mi- racles for fo great an end as that of giving birth and eftablifhment to Chriftianity, than that he fhould work more and greater miracles to con- found and deceive mankind. When he has bal- lanced his account of the impoflibility of mira- cles with the evidence for thofe of the Gofpel, and fubtracted the former from the latter, this E fubtraftion [ 5 1 Jubtratfion will certainly amount to an entire annihilation. Let us now fee the poor cafe which the au- thor puts at laft to illuftrate and crown his argu- ment, " When any one tells me, that he faw " a dead man reftored to life, I immediately < consider with myfelf, whether it be more pro- <{ bable that this perfon {hould either deceive " or be deceived, or that the fact he relates <c (hould really have happened : I weigh the one <c miracle againft the other, and, according to c< the fuperiority which I difcover, I pronounce <c my decifion, and always reject the greater c< miracle *." The author's argument requires him to prove, that no miracles, however cir- curaftanced, can be made credible by any tefti- mony whatfoever. But, in the cafe fuppofed, the miracle has not one circumftance to make it credible, nor the teflimony one condition to confirm its truth. A dead man we may fup- pofe raifed to life without any reafon, ufe, or end whatfoever : and a dead man may be railed for fome extraordinary purpofe of Pro- vidence, as to give authority and character to the fpecial meflengers of God. Now, tho' * P. 182. the [ 5' 1 the former of thefe cannot be made cre- dible by the naked teftimony of one man, the latter may be made credible by the atteftation of many, efpecially, if they give proof, that they were neither deceived themfelves, nor intended to deceive others, Though one man, unaffifted, cannot lift a weight of twenty tuns, twenty men, with the help of engines, may lift the weight of one. I agree with the author, that, when a man is laid to rife, like the ghoft in Prince Edward*, only to fet again, it is more credible, that the teftimony is falfe, than the miracle true : but, when I fee an effect worthy of Providence, in which the religion, virtue, and morality of a great part of man- kind are concerned, brought about by the be- lief of this or fuch-like miracles, and find, upon inquiry, that this miracle is attefted by a great number of perfons who lived and died confef- fors and martyrs to it, the falihood of fuch teftimony appears to me far more miraculous than fuch a miracle. The author puts the fame cafe, with the addition of fome particulars, in the fecond part * A late play, called Edward the Black Prince, E 2 I 52 I of his Effay : " Suppofe that all the hiftoriana " who treat of England mould agree, that, on " the firftof January ', i6oo r queen Elizabeth died that, both before and after her death, " (he was feen by her phyficians and the whole M court, as is u-fual with perfons of her rank " that her fucceffor was acknowledged and " proclaimed by parliament and that, after " having been interred a month, (he again ap- * peared, took poneffion of the throne, and " governed England three years : I nauft confefs "' I mould be furprized at the concurrence of c fo many odd circumftances, but mould not " have the leaft inclinadon to believe fo mira- " culous an event *." Here, again, the facl: fuppofed is the ftrangefl: and moft unac- countabk that the author could well conceive, becaufe no final caufe appears to make it in any degree credible. But when was any fuch facl at- tefted by hiftorians ? If the author thinks the ory incredible, I think it as incredible thatany good hiftorian mould relate it : if he thinks it incredible, becaufe it is a miracle, I think it in- credible that God mould work fuch, a miracle for nothing. , * P., But [ 53 1 But the importance of miracles is, it feems, with the author, a thing of no con federation: this, which we confidered as a circumftance that gives the higheft credibility to the Gofpel miracles, is, at laft, the very reafon why he rejects them as incredible. <c I beg," fays he, " that the limitation here made may be re- " marked, when I fay, that a miracle can never " be proved, fo as to be a foundation of a fy- <c ftem of religion ; for I own, that, otherwife, c< there may poffibly be miracles, or violations cc of the ufual courfe of nature, of fuch a * { kind, as to admit of proof from human tefti- * c mony, tho' perhaps it will be impoflible to " find any fuch in all the records of hiftory *" This conceffion is very remarkable, and appears to me to be fairly giving up the argument : for, if miracles may be wrought in cafes of lefs mo- ment, why may they not in greater ? or, is re- ligion the laft and leaft of all things in the opi- nion of this author? I confefs myfelf at a lofs to guefs what can be his intention in this place, If, in compromife for the other mi- racles which he here grants us unafked, he ex- pects us to give up all that have religion for * P. 199. E their [ 54 1 their object, it will indeed anfwer his purpofe very well. He may grant other miracles pof- fible, and yet make good his argument againft them. But thefe are not fo eafily dealt with. The lureft way not to believe them is not to examine them. And this he wiiely recom- mends as the beft expedient that has been tried againft them. " If a miracle," fays he, c< be < afcribed to any new fyftem of religion, men, <c in all ages, have been fo much impofed on " by ridiculous ftories of that kind, that this *' very circumftance would be a full proof of a " cheat, and fufficient, with all men of fenfe, <c not only to make them rejeft the fad:, but " even rejecl: it without farther examination *." This, indeed, is a fhort way with religion and miracles ; and we muft own, that the author hath found out at laft a deciiive argument againft them. * P. 200. PART [ 55 ] ^ ##*# <()>##*>## # PART II. T ITTLE as it is that the author has done i J in the firft part of his EiTay, he feems to think it more than enough, and that half his pains might have been fpared : "In the " foregoing reafoning, we have fuppofed, that " the teftimony upon which a miracle is found- " ed may poffibly amount to an entire proof, " and that the falfhood of that teftimony would " be a kind of prodigy. But 'tis eafy to (hew, u that we have been a great deal too liberal in 11 our conceffions, and that there never was a " miraculous event, in any hiftory, eftabliihed " on fo full an evidence*." But, if the author was fo fure of his ftrength, why this corps de re/erve, a body of troops that have been for ever harrafled, and are yet untired, in the fer- vice of infidelity ? The firft of thefe veteran bands is drawn up as follows : " There is not/' fays he, tf to be * P. 183. E 4 <c found, [ 56 ] found, in all hiftory, any miracle attefted t>y " a fufficient number of men of fuch unquef- '* tioned good fenfe, education, and learning, " as to fecure us againft all delufion in them~ " felves of fuch undoubted integrity, as to < place them beyond aUfufpicion of any defign <{ to deceive others of fuch credit and repu- " tation in the eyes of mankind, as to have a " great deal to lofe, in cafe of being detected <c in a falmood and, at the fame time, atteft- <{ ing facts performed in fuch a publick man~ <e ner, and in fo celebrated a part of the world, as to render the detection unavoidable : all ft which circumftances are requiiite to give us " a full affurance in the teftimony of men *." The reader will allow me to fuppofe, that the author has in view, both here and throughout his Effay, the Cbrijlian miracles, which we have been confidering. Now, the objections here made have been fo frequently and fully anfwered by the advocates of Chriftianity, that it is quite piteous to fee the author, after pro- claiming a victory, calling in fuch poor his relief. * P. 183, As [ 57 1 As to the firft condition here required, there never was perhaps a fact directly attefted by fo many witneffes as the miracles in queftion. We have ftill upon record the exprefs depofitions of many in the writings of the Apoftles. The con- verfion of every fmgle perfon to Cbriftianity was, in truth, a clear and precife teftimony to thefe fadls ; for this religion was wholly built upon them. Now, betides the twelve Apoftles and feventy Difciples chofen to preach the Gof- pel, a great number more were converted by the miracles and refurreftion of Chrifl. But thofe that gave this witnefs to the miracles of the Apoftles were without number. Never was there a doctrine that fpread fo fwiftly through the world, or that gained fo many prefent and im mediate witnefles to its truth. The Apoftles and firft Difciples had not, ma- ny of them, the advantages of education and learning. But what learning is required to en- able men to fee with their eyes and hear with their ears ? The miracles they atteft were plain fads, the obje&s of fenfe. Folly itfelf could not be deceived in them : and fure folly could never fo fuccefsfully deceive. Thefe men, illiterate as they were and void of art or elo- 3 quence [ 58 ] quence, did what this author, with all his arguments, will never be able to do : they got the better of all the religions in the world about them, and eftablifhed their own in dif- ferent and diftant countries. They had, there- fore, we may hope, fenfe enough to teftify what their eyes had feen and their hands had handled. They had not perhaps any great reputation to lofe. But the good name of a poor man is as dear to him as that of the greateft. If they had no publick chara&er to lofe, they had pub- lick infamy to dread : . and this they incurred, not by being detected in a falfhood, but by per- fevering in the truth. If it was little that they gave up to follow Chrift> it was, however, all that they had. And what they gained was a negative quantity, and muft be put to the fide of their lofles ; they gained hunger and thirft, toil and labour, watchings and fallings, fcorn and reproach, fcourgings and death. They loft, then, enough to evidence their fincerity. They gave every proof, that ever was given by man, to the truth of their teftimony. As [ 59 1 As to the notoriety of the fads, they were done in the moft publick manner--in places of conftant refort many of them in yerufalem, at times of the greateft concourfe : and, what is more, they were done in direct: opposition to the prejudices of all that faw them before the moft vigilant and powerful enemies, who did not, as this author tells us wife men commonly do, " think the matter too inconfiderable to de- " ferve their attention*," but exerted their utmoft induftry and authority in fuppreffing this new religion ; putting its head and leader to death, fuborning falfe witnefTes to difcredit him and his miracles, and proceeding immedi- ately, by imprifoning fome, and killing others, to deter and difperfe his followers. Thefe mira- cles, therefore, were wrought in the very place where their detection was moft certain and unavoidable ; and the teftimony given to them was given in the fame publick manner and in the fame place. * The author is well aware, that the teftimony of the Apoftles and firft Chriftians, if the mira- cles were falfe (I mean, the facl of giving fuch * P. 198. teftimony) [ 6 ] teftimony) and the miraculous events that fol- lowed in confequence of them, will be thought, upon reflection, at leaft as incredible as the mi- racles themfelves : and therefore, to abate our wonder on this head, he obferves, " fecondly, " that there is a principle in human nature, tc which, if ftrictly examined, will be found u to diminim extremely the aflurance we might " have from human teftimony in any kind of " prodigy. The maxim, by which we com- " monly conduct ourfelves in cur reafonings, rt is, that the objects of which we have no ex- l< perience refemble thcfe of which we have " that what we have found to be moft ufual is * e always moft probable. But, tho', in pro- c< ceeding by this rule, we readily reject any " fact that is unufual or incredible in an ordi- " nary degree, yet, in advancing farther, the " mind obferves not always the fame rule ; but, " when any thing is affirmed utterly abfurd and Cf miraculous, it rather the more readily admits ct fuch a fact upon account of that very cir- *' cumftance which ought to deflroy all its au- " thority. The paffion of furprize and wonder " arifing from miracles, being an agreeable * emotion, gives a fenfible tendency towards c the ct the belief of thofe events from which it is " derived *." The love of novelty is, indeed, a natural paflion 5 it is no other than the love of know- ledge, which God hath implanted in the mind for the wifeft reafons : and for the fame reafons we may be allured that he hath not laid fnares to betray us into error, and much lefs hath placed in us a principle, as the author here fuppofes, the tendency of which is to make us believe things, merely becaufe they are in- credible. " With what greedinefs," faith he, " are the miraculous accounts of travellers re- < ceived, their defcriptions of fea and land " monfters, their relations of wonderful ad- ee ventures, ftrange men, and uncouth man- " ners !" It is true that every new difcove- ry gratifies our love of knowledge, and gives pleafure to the mind : but it muft have the appearance of truth to do fo. Tho' we love to be informed, we do not love to be deceived. A fingle miracle would rifk the credit of the beft-efteetned travels. But, according to this author's principle, the voyage to Lilliput or * P. 184, Lafuta [ 63 ] jLaputa muft meet with more credit than that of Anfon or Ellis. But, if the love of novelty will not re- concile us to miracles, that of religion will make us believe any thing. " If the fpirit of " religion joins itfelf to the love of wonder, " there is an end of common fenfe *.*' If the author means, that men are more apt to believe miracles in the caufe of religion than in any other cafe^ he is fo far in the right* Where mould men expect or believe miracu- lous interpolations, but where it is mofl wor- thy of God to interpofe? But it does not follow, that religion is a friend to falfe mi- racles, or an enemy to common fenfe. On the contrary, right notions of the divine nature and perfections, which religion teaches, are a neceffary help to diftinguifh true miracles from falfe. Now, the Jews, in general, were bet- ter inftructed in thefe points than the wifeft of the Heathens. The men of Athens were far more fuperftitious than the moft ignorant of the Hebrews. The falfe wonders of magick, witch- craft, and necromancy, thefe were taught by * P. 185. their C 63 ] their law to hold in contempt, and, confe- quently, were lefs liable to be pradifed upon by appearances of this fort. And, of the Apoftles and firft Chriftians. it is certain, that they had all the fecurity againft delufion and error of this kind, that a rational piety and the nobleft fentiments of God and a Providence could give them. But " a religionift may be an enthufiaft, and " imagine he fees what has no reality : he may ' know his narration to be falfe, and yet per- <c fevere in it, with the beft intentions in the <e world, for the fake of promoting fo holy a " caufe : or, even where this delufion has no " place, vanity, excited by fo ftrong a tempta- " tion, operates on him more powerfully than " on the reft of mankind in any other circum- " fiances, and felf-intereft with equal force : <f his auditors may not have, and commonly * e have not, fufficient judgment to canvas his " evidence ; wlkt judgment they have they re- " nounce upon . principle in thcfe fublime and " myfterious fubjecls *." Here, it is confefTed, the author has touched upon a very powerful * P. 185, and [ 64 ] and fruitful fource of error. Men, whofe pa lions arc Wronger than their reafon, will be guil- ty of excefs in religion as well as in other things. A zeal for opinions frequently makes men conclude their own caufe to be the caufe of God ; and, from wifhing that Heaven may declare in their favour, they are eafily led to believe fuch interpositions upon the flighted teftimony. But, tho* this principle will make men believe falfe miracles, it will not overpower their fenfes, or make them fee what has no rea- lity. The French prophets were extravagant enough to expeft that one of their principal teachers would come to life again j but, with all their enthufiafm, none could believe that he faw this miracle : on the contrary, this difap- pointment opened their eyes, and the pretence to miracle ruined their caufe. Nor can I allow, with the author, that men of the beft inten- tions can propagate a known falfhood for the fake of truth. An honeft man may be hafty in believing j but he cannot 82 a deceiver or importer. It is certain, the religion of Chrift difdains fuch pious frauds, and his Apoftles have forbad and condemned them in terms as fevere as language can exprefs : nor is it a prin- ciple in this religion, as this writer would in- finuate finuate, that men mould renounce their judg- ment in inquiries of ihis fort : on the contrary, they areinjoined carefully to examine the truth of miracles and doctrines, before they believe them. But, granting the author's principles in their full extent, the miracles of the Gofpel will be no way affected by them : For, firft, the Apo- flles are free from all tincture and appearance of enthufiafm; witnefs the writings which they have left behind them, and that fyftem of doc- trines and morals contained in them : in their piety nothing over paffionate, rapturous, or ec- ftatick appears, but all is rational fober, and temperate : their zeal for their matter and his religion never tranfports them into complaints or invectives againft his enemies or their own, or into any ftrained elogiums or panegyricks upon his character : they recite all that is won- derful in his actions, without exclamation, with- out vehement afleveration, with an undoubting, unguarded fimplicity, that is highly fingular and remarkable : their whole conduct, in like manner, was void of oftentation, fteady, uni- form, and regular throughout : they were not only confident each with himfelf (which a fa- F natick [ 66 ] natick fpirit feldom is) but all purfued the fame plan, without varying or change, with the moft perfed harmony and agreement. And, fecond- ly, whatever influence, from paffion or preju- dice, the witneiTes to Chriftianity were under, this operated the contrary way, and muft dif- pofe them to reject, rather than receive, the mi- racles: the Apoftles themfelves were Jews, and zealous of the traditions and cuftoms of their anceftors : the other converts, whether Jews or Pagans, were prejudiced, as ftrongly as they could be, by religion, againft the Gofpel: bigot- ry and enthufiafm rofe up every- where in perfe- cution againft it ; nothing but reafon and con- viclion could induce men to declare for it : every paffion, every intereft, and every prejudice per- fuaded againft this belief: and, in fad, every tingle converfion to it was not barely the tefti- mony of an unprejudiced judge, but the tefti- mony of an enemy to its truth. " The wife," fays the 'author, in another place, tc lend a very academick faith to every <c report which favours the paffion of the repor- " ter, whether it magnifies his country, hisfa- cc mily, or himfelf, or in any other way ftrikes " in with his natural inclinations and propcn- " fities. t 6 7 i ei Titles. But what greater temptation than to " appear a mifilonary, a prophet, an ambaffador' tl from heaven ? Who would not encountef <c many dangers and difficulties to attain fo fu- 11 blime a character * ?" Where this character is indeed attended with honour and refpect, it will be natural for ambitious men to defire it. But the head and leader of this feet had been every- where reviled and perfecuted, and was crucified as a malefactor : his followers every- where fhared the fame fate. What temptation was there to appear his prophet or ambaflador ? What vanity' or felf-intereft was gratified by it ? But thirdly, the author tells us, < e it forms u a very ftrong preemption againft all fuperna- " tural and miraculous relations, that they are (l always found chiefly to abound amongft ig- ec norant and barbarous nations ; or, if a civi- " lized people has ever given admiffion to any 1 <c of them, that people will be found to have " received them from ignorant and barbarous " anceftors, who tranfmitted them with that " inviolable fanclion and authority which al- tf ways attends ancient and received opinions-f-." * P. 196. t P. 186. F 2 This [ 68 ] This argument we prefume, has been already anfwered. The miracles of the Gofpel were, as wehavefaid, performed where they were mod fufpected. The yews were by no means a bar- barous people, and they were freer from fuper- flition than any other nation in the world. Thefe miracles were immediately canvaffed with all the feverity that the prejudice of enemies could fugged. Some who were healed of their difeafes were fent immediately to the prjefts, on purpofe, as it feems, that they might undergo the ftricteft inquifition. Others were called before the council, examined, and threatened, and eve- ry means tried to refute and filence them. This religion did not get ftrength in the dark, and then adventure itfelf by degrees into the light : it was openly proclaimed, from the firft, in the temple, and in the fynagogue, where the Jews always reforted : and, when the Apoftles had filled Jerufalem zndjttd<za with their doctrines, Rome and Athens were fome of the next fcenes of their miniftry. Under this head we are entertained with a long ftory from the Pjeitdomantis of Lucian. " It was," faith the author, " a wife policy " in that cunning importer, Alexander, who, " tho' "" tho' now forgotten, was once fo famous, c to lay the firft fcene of his impoftures in <f Paphlagonici) where, as Lucian tells us, the " people were extremely ignorant and ftupid, " and ready to fwallow even the grofleft de- c< lufion. People at a diftance, who are weak " enough to think the matter at all worth " inquiry, have no opportunity of receiving c< better information. The (lories come mag- " nified to them by an hundred circumftances, " Fools are induftrious to propagate the delu- " fion ; while the wife and learned are con- " tented, in general, to deride its abfurdity, " without mforming themfelves of the parti- <l cular fads, by which it may be diftindly t( refuted. And thus the importer above-men- " tioned was enabled to proceed, from his ig- <c norant PapUagonians, to the inlifting votaries <f even among the Grecian philofophers and " men of the moft eminent rank and dif- <c tindtion in Rome nay, could engage the " attention of that fage emperor, Marcus ct AurelhtSy fo far as to make him truft the " fuccefs of a military expedition to his delu- " five prophecies*." But what, if this famous importer never pretended to miracles ? It is * P, 1 88. F 3 laid, [ 70 ] faid, indeed, that he had his emiffaries in dif- tant countries, who reported this, among other things, to his honour: but there is no appear- ance in his hiftory of his ever counterfeiting or pretending to this power. It was his policy not to hazard his reputation on fo dangerous an iiTue. Ignorant and flupid as his Papblagonians were, it might have been too much for all his art to impoie falfe fads upon their eyes and fenfes. He had, by a bold and fuccefs- ful cheat of another kind, eftablilhed his cha- ra&er among this people, who, Lucian tells us, differed from brutes in nothing but their out- ward form. He had the fortune too to gain the ear of a famous Roman general, who, by the fame author's account, was formed to be the dupe of every pretender. This feems to have got him fome name in Rome. But I find none, that deferved to be called philofophers, among his votaries. It is certain, that the fight of a Chrijlian or an Epicurean difconcerted all his management. They were always drove from his prefence, having the confidence, no doubt, to deride the prophet and his oracles. Every one muft believe, upon the reprefentation here made, that the emperor Antqnme had un- dertaken the expedition mentioned at the infti- 5 gation [ 7' ] gation of this importer, or, at leaft, had con- certed meafures with him for purfuing it. But the oracle given out by this pretended prophet was voluntary and unafked, in order, if the event had happened, as was probable, to increale his own credit. And, fuperftitious as this great emperor and philofopher was, he did nothing, in purfuance of it, but what the wifeft general might have done to humour the fuperftition and folly of his foldiers, and to infpire them with a confidence of victory. It no-where appears that he hazarded the leaft point, or altered any one of his meafures, in confequence of it. But, if it were true that this impudent importer had this learned emperor and the fchools of Greece among his admirers, this would only prove how much the wifeft part of mankind were en- llaved by fuperftition, before Chriftianity re- leafed them from it. The author adds, as a fourth reafon which diminilhes the authority of prodigies, " that " there is no teftimony for any, even thofe <c which have not been exprefsly detected, that " is not oppofed by an infinite number of wit-t " nefles ; fo that not only the miracle deftroys { the credit of the teftimony, but even thetefti- F 4 moriy [ 72 ] " mony deflroys itfelf. To make this the bet- ter underftoqd, let us confider, that, in mat- " ters of religion, whatever is different is con r <c trary, and that 'tis impoffible the religions of <f antient Rome, of Turfy, of Siam, and of <( China mould, all of them, be eftabliihed on ec any folid foundation. Every miracle, there- " fore, pretended to have been wrought in any t of thefe religions (and all of them abound " in miracles) as its dired fcope is to eftablifh " the particular fyftem to which it is attri- " buted, fo it has the fame force, ' tho' more " indirectly, to overthrow every other fyftem : *' in deftroying a rjval-fyftem, it likewife de- ** flroys the credit of thole miracles on which " that fyftem was eftablifhed : fo that all the " prodigies of different religions are to be re- <{ garded as contrary fads, and the evidence of <{ th'efe prodigies, whether weak or ftrong, 33 " oppofite to each other *." This argument, he is apprehenfive, will appear too fubtle and refined : but the only fault of it is, that it has fio foundation in truth. The author cannot name a fingle miracle, that was ever offered a a teft of any of thefe religions, before their efta- tlifhnient, or to authorize any pretended pro- * P. 190. phet [ 73 1 phet to teach fuch religion. Mahomet exprefs- ly difclaims this power in many places of his Koran. It appears from his manner of fpeak- ing of it, that he knew what advantage this pre- tence would give to his caufe, and even felt the want of it : yet, with all the affiftance that art and power could give him, he durft not hazard fo dangerous an experiment. There is a wide difference betwixt eftablifhing falfe miracles, by the help of a falfe religion, andeftabliming a falfe religion by the help of falfe miracles. Nothing is more eafy than the former of thefe, or more difficult than the latter. The author would make us believe that miracles are to be met with in almoft every page of antient hiftory : tc When we perufe the firft hiftories of all na- ^ tions, we are apt to imagine ourfelves tran- " fported into fome new world, where the whole <e frame of nature is disjointed, and every ele- " ment performs its operations in a different "manner from what it does at prefent. Battles, < revolutions., peflilences, famines, and deaths, " are never the effedts of thofe natural caufes <c which we experience *." But the truth is, they are very thinly fown in the writings of the heathens. Portents and prodigies I call not by * P. 187. that [ 74 ] that name. Thefeare to be accounted for from natural caufes, or owe their exigence to a fright- ed or difturbed imagination. Of miracles, pro- perly fpeaking, there are very few upon record : moft of thefe are given up, by the hifbrians who relate them, as vulgar fables, unworthy of belief, and none are fo attefted as to make them in any degree credible. Of this the author has undefignedly given us a full proof in the flory which immediately follows : tl One of the beft-attefted miracles in all tc profane hiftory is that which Tacitus reports 11 of Fefpa/ian, who cured a blind man in Alex- < andria by means of his fpittle, and a lame <c man by the mere touch of his foot, in obedi- ct ence to a vifion of the god Serapis, who had " injoined them to have recourfe to the emperor " for thefe miraculous and extraordinary cf cures*." This, the author feems to infi- cuate, is as well attefted as any Cbnftian mira- cle, and may be made as good an argument for the religion of the antient Egyptians as any miracle for any religion whatfoever : " Every " circumftance," fays he, C adds weight to the testimony, and might be difplayed at large * P. 192. C{ with [ 75 ] " with all the force of argument and eloquence, " if any one were now concerned to enforce the " evidence of that exploded and idolatrous fu- " perftition." The occafion being fo tempting, he has tried his hand, and (hewn us how far this miracle may be parallell'd with thofe of the Gof- pel : <c The gravity, folidity, age, and probity of <c fo great an emperor, who, thro' the whole " courfe of his life, converfed in a familiar way " with his friends and courtiers, and never af- e< fected thofe extraordinary airs of divinity af- ." fumed by Alexander and Demetrius The Ct hiftorian a cotemporary writer, noted for " candor and veracity, and, withal, the great- " eft and moft penetrating genius, perhaps, of " all antiquity, and fo free from any tendency , <c to fuperftition and credulity, that he even tc lies under the contrary imputation of atheifm cc and profanenefs The perfons, from whofe ' " teftimony he related the miracle, ofeftabliflied " character for judgment and veracity (as we " may well fuppofe) eye-witneffes of the facl, " and confirming their verdict, after the Flavian <c family were defpoiled of the empire, and " could no longer give any reward, as the " price of a lye: Utrumque, qui interfile re, nunc c< quoque memorant, poftquam nullum mendach " fretium. [ 76 3 " prctitufl. To which if we add the publick " nature of the facl, as related, it will appear, " that no evidence can well be fuppofed ftronger " for fo grofs and fo palpable a falfhood." As to the character of this wife emperor, Sueto- ititts, who has wrote his life, tells us, that he had long before this conceived hopes of the empire, from certain idle dreams and omens, of which he has reckoned up eight or ten, as ridiculous as any in hiftory : that immediately before this, when he was now proclaimed em- peror by fome of the legions, andhadftrengthen- ed himlelf by feveral alliances, he condefcend- ed, notwithstanding his probity and gravity, to give out a miracle upon his own authority, to make himfelf confiderable in the eyes of the people ; pretending that, in the temple of Sera- pis, where he went alone, defrmltate imperil cujpiciumfafturus, one Bo/Hides, who was known at the time to be far diftant a4id unable to tra- vel, had appeared to him, offering him crowns and garlands a certain omen (as he and his courtiers interpreted the word Bafilides) of the royal dignity. As for the credit of the hiftorian, he was no witnefs of the fad, nor, for ought we know, ever converfed with thofe that faw it ; and the teftimony he gives to it does by no means [ 77 1 means amount to a proof that he believed it himfelf. To what purpofe, then, is the cha- racter he gives us of his veracity, penetrating genius, and incredulous turn of mind ? But, if the teftimony of the hiftorian be not ad- mitted, the witnefies, from whofe teftimony he related it, were of eftablimed character for veracity and judgment. This, indeed, is to the purpofe. On this point the whole merits of the caufe muft reft. How, then, is this proved to us ? Why, the author fays it may well be fup- pofedy and the hiftorian tells us that they per* lifted in the report, when they could gain no- thing by the fraud. But how does it appear that they had never received any reward for their verdict ? The emperor, tho* he affected not the airs of divinity, yet was well pleafed with his new title, and, no doubt, was well underftood to look with a favourable eye on thofe who contributed to fupport it. The good ufes to which this miracle ferved are honeftly told us both by Suetonius and Tacitus : Auloritas t et quafi majeftas qua dam, utfcilicet inopinato et adhuc novoprincipi deer at, hezcquoque acceffit, Suet. Miraculo evenere, queiscekflisfa^ vor etquaedam in Vefpafianum mclinationuminwn qftcnderetur, Tacit. The Alexandrians could not 5 but [ 78 ] but have an intereft in gaining the favour of this prince : the perfons cured are faid to be eplebe Alexandria, probably unknown to thefe witnefles and to all the Romans about Vefpafian : the partifans of the new emperor were prepared to welcome and improve every thing that look- ed in his favour : the phyficians, who were con- fulted whether theie diforders were curable, de- clared that they were : Where, then, is the wonder that two men mould be inftrudted to act the part of lame and blind, when they were fure of fucceeding in the fraud, and of being well rewarded (as we may well fuppofe] for their pains ? This ftory is followed by two others, as re- markable proofs of the credulity of mankind, which, having obtained in Chrijlian countries, may perhaps be thought more appofite to the author's purpofe of difcrediting the Chrijlian miracles. " There is alfo," faith he, "a very <c memorable ftory related by cardinal de Retz t " and which may well deferve our confide- " ration : When that intriguing politician fled <c into Spain, to avoid the perfecution of his " enemies, he palled thro' Saragoffa, the ca- " pital of drragcn, where he was fhewn, in " the [ 79 ] u the cathedral church, a man who had ferved " twenty years as a door-keeper of the church, " and was well known to every body in town <c who had ever paid their devotions at that " cathedral : he had been feen for fo long a " time wanting a leg, but recovered that limb " by the rubbing of holy oyl upon the ftump ; " and, when the cardinal examined it, he found " it to be a true natural leg, like the other. " This miracle was vouched by all the ca- <e nons of the church ; and the whole com- <c pany of the town was appealed to for a " confirmation of the fact, whom the cardi- " nal found, by their zealous devotion, to be " thorough believers of the miracle. Here " the relater was alfo contemporary with the " fuppofed prodigy, of an incredulous and <c libertine character, as well as of great ge- < nius the miracle of fo fingular a nature " as could fcarce admit of a counterfeit " and the witneffes very numerous, and all " of them, in a manner, fpectators of the " fact: of which they gave their teftimony : " and what adds mightily to the force of the <{ evidence, and may double our furprife on " this occafion, is, that the cardinal himfelf, " who relates the ftory, feems not to give " any [ 8 ] " any credit to it, and, confequently, cannot " be fufpecled of any concurrence in the holy < fraud *.'' The ftory is, indeed, remarkable, as the author has told it. Firft, the rela- ter was a cardinal and a man of great ge- nius -, and, tho' he had never feen the wooden leg, yet he fatisfied himfelf that the man had now two natural legs, like anot/jer man. It does not, indeed, appear, that he examined all or any of the canons, or that he difcourfed with any body in town about it : but he found, by the devotion of the people, that they believed the man to have had a wooden leg. Then the cardinal was a man of a libertine cha- racter, and, 'which is Jlill more wonderful, and adds mightily to the evidence, he did not believe thejiory himfelf. This climax of evidence and wonder flili rifing upon us is very extraordi- nary. The relater of the flory was a cardinal, and therefore a good evidence of a Rotnijk miracle : he was of a libertine character ^ and therefore had the better right to be believed 5 but, what puts the evidence out of queftionj be did not believe the flory himfelf', which, again, is doubly fur prizing, as the author ob- ferves, becaufe he was naturally of an incre* * P 193. duloui [ 8' ] dulous temper. This is the firft ftory. The fecond deferves a more ferious attention. " There, furely, never was fo great a num- ct her of miracles afcribed to one perfon, as " thofe which were lately laid to have been " wrought in France upon the tomb of Abbe " Paris, the famous Janfenift y with whofe " fandity the people were fo long deluded. " The curing of the tick, giving hearing to " the deaf and fight to the blind, were every- " where talked of as the ufual effects of that " holy fepulchre. But, what is more extra- " ordinary, many of the miracles were im- " mediately proved, upon the fpot, before " judges of unqueftioned integrity, attefted by " witnefles of credit and diftinclion, in a " learned age, and on the moft eminent the- '* atre that is now in the world. Nor is this " all : a relation of them was publimed and <f difperfed every-where: nor were thejefutts, " tho' a learned body, fupported by the civil c< magiftrate, and determined enemies to thofe cc opinions in whofe favour the miracles were <c faid to have been wrought, ever able di- " ftindlly to refute or detect them. Where " mall we find fuch a number of circum- G " fiances " fiances agreeing to the corroboration of one " fact ? And what have we to oppofe to fuch * c a cloud of witnefles, but the abfolute im- " poflibility or miraculous nature of the events " which they relate ? And this, furely, in the " eyes of all reafonable people, will alone be " regarded as a fufficient refutation *." The author has here afferted many things that he will not be able to fupport. The mi- racles pretended were, many of them, refuted upon the fpot : a judicial inqueft was made by the archbimop of Paris into one of the moft celebrated, and the cheat was fully de- tected : the lieutenant of the police brought many to confefs that the part they had aded was all artifice and pretence j and an ordon- nance was hereupon iflued from the court for apprehending all that were concerned in fuch frauds : the archbifhop of Sens exhibited a pub- lick charge againft more than twenty, as pal- pable and difcovered cheats : and Mr. Mont- geron, the profefled advocate of thefe miracles, of whom we mall have more to fay hereafter, does not, in his anfwer, pretend to defend a fourth part of thefe : and the author may fee * P. 195- his [ 3 ] his defence' of thefe, and of all the other mi- racles he defends, dijlinftly refuted in the Cri- tique generale of Mr. Des Vceux. The moft ufual effects of this fepulchre were not cures, but diflempers a fort of convulfions, which feized alike the found and the fick, and were attended with fuch ftrange appearances as brought great contempt and ridicule upon the other miracles of this faint. Thefe con- vulfions, we are told by fkilful phyficians, are eafily counterfeited, and, from being counter- feited, frequently become real and habitual: they are too fo communicable, by a fort of fympathy, to perfons of weak nerves, that this diftemper, it is well known, is for this rea- fon excluded fome of our great hofpitals ; it having been found that, when one is feized, it fpreads, like infection, thro' a whole ward. This will account for the great numbers who are faid to have felt this extraordinary effect from vifiting the Abbes tomb. I deny not that there were real cures wrought upon the fick that were brought there : but the fame, I dare pronounce, would happen, if a thoufand people, taken at a venture, were at any time removed from their fick cham- G 2 bers [ 4 ] bers in London to St. Paul's Churchyard or the Park, efpecially, if they went with any ftrong hope of a cure : in fuch a number, fome are always upon the point of recovery many only want to fancy themfelves well others may be flattered for a time into this belief, while they are ill and many more, by frem air and motion, and efpecially by forbearing the ufe of other means, will find a change for the better : but, that the blind received their fight, or the deaf were reftored to hearing, by thefe vifits, I deny that we have any com- petent or tolerable evidence. This fanguine writer does, indeed, take upon him to ani'wer for the credit of the witneffes and the integrity of the judges. But thefe miracles were never proved in a judicial way. The vouchers pro- duced for them are only certificates collected from all forts of perfons, who were neither interrogated by judge or council, nor con- fronted by other. witnefTes : they only left their depofitions or affidavits in the hands of a no- tary, who was not concerned to examine, or even to know, the perfons who made them, or whether they gave in their own or ficti- tious names. The credit, therefore, of the witncffes witneffes was never proved by any trial what- foever *. Doctor * In the fecond edition of the Metaphyfical EJfiys there is an additional note to p. 195, &c. in which the author obferves, that " the Molinljl party had tried to difcre- " dit thefe miracles in one inftance, that of Madamoi- " felle le Franc. But, befides that their proceedings " were the moft irregular in the world, particularly in " citing only a few of the Janfenifts' witneffes, whom " they tampered with : befides this, I fay, they foon " found themfelves overwhelmed by a cloud of new " witneffes, one hundred and twenty in number, moft " of them perfons of credit and fubftance in Paris, who " gave oath (for whal? not for the miracle in queftion, *' but] for the miracles." The pretended cure of Anne le Franc was the moft celebrated and beft-attefted of all the firft miracles of this faint ; and was, therefore, very fitly pitched upon for examination, in order to give all the advantage to the miracles that could be wifhed, and to put the trial of them upon the faireft iffue. It was tried by a judi- cial procefs directed for that purpofe ; and, whatever formalities the author may think wanting in the pro- ceedings, it was fo clearly convicted of irnpofture, that one of the ableft advocates for thefe miracles, M. le Gros, could find nothing to reply in its defence ; nor does M. de Montgeron himfelf pretend to defend it. It was proved, by five of the witneffes to this miracle, that the certificates, which they had given into the hands of the notary, and which were counterfigned by Ma- G 3 damoifelle t. [ 86 ] Do&or Middleton, who has likewife fet out the evidence of thefe miracles with great pa- rade, is pleafed to tell us that " the reality of " them damoifelle h Franc herfelf, were afterwards falfified, and many material circumftances added which they had never attefted : by others, that (he was, in great mea- fure, recovered before fhe vifited the tomb ; and that many of the disorders alledged as cured were entirely chimerical : and by others, that (he returned from the tomb in the fame condition that fhe went there, and ftill wanted the help of farther medicines : which laft circumftance may feem confirmed by the non-appear- ance of k Franc herfelf, who was not to be found at the trial. The author goes on, after celebrating the vigilance, activity, penetration, and extenfive intelligence of Monf. Hcraut, then lieutenant de police^ to obferve, that " this magiftrate, who by the nature of his office is al- " moft abfolute, was inverted with full powers, on " purpofe to fupprefs or difcredit thefe miracles > and " he frequently feized immediately and examined the " witneffes and fubje&s of them; but never could * 4 reach any thing fatisfactory againft them." But the nature of this magiftrate's office was fo far from mak- ing him abfolute in the prefent cafe, that it gave him no power at all to examine the truth of thefe miracles. This was the province of the archbifhop alone, and not to be invaded : accordingly, in the ordonnance of the king, dated January 27, 1732, by which Mr. Heraut wasimpowered to arreft and confine the moft obftinate of thefe c< them is attefted by fome of the principal " phylicians and furgeons in France, as well " as the clergy of the firft dignity, feveral of " whom were eye-witnefles of them, who " prefented a verbal procefs of each to the " archbimop, with a petition, fjgned by above " twenty cures or rectors of the parities of < Paris, defiring that they might be authen- ?< tically regiftered, and iblemnly published to thefe miraculized cheats, after the conviction of Anne le Franc, and after he had brought many to a voluntary confeffion of the fraud, this power is particularly referved to the archbiftiop. Soon after this the tomb was inclofed and fhut up ; but the fame farce ftill continued in many parts of the city, fome hundreds pretending to thefe miraculous con- vulfions ; moft of them poor girls, who got a liveli- hood by the bufinefs. So that the author might have fpared his remark, " No Jajifenift was ever embarra/Ted *' to account for the cefiation of the miracles when the *' church-yard was fhut up. 'Twas the touch of the " tomb that operated thefe extraordinary effects > and " when no one could approach the tomb, no effects " could be expected, &V." As he might too his con- cern for the poor Molinifls that rejected thefe miracles ; who were never put, as he reprefents, to the hard necef- fity of accounting for them from witchcraft and the power of the devil, but always refolved them into their proper caufes. 04 the [ 88 ] " the people, as true miracles*.'' Anyone, who reads this in connection with what goes before it, will be led to believe that a great nun) her of thefe miracles had been confirmed by this verbal procefs -\* : but there never were, as far as I can inform myfelf, more than four or five thus proved by order of the cardinal Noailles. Whether the petition mentioned was prefented by phyficians and clergy of the firft dignity, as the doctor's words feem to import, I will not take upon me to controvert : but, in all that I have read, I find only that it was prefented by the twenty-two cures who figned it J. The doctor might have told us too that it * Free Inquiry, p. 225. f The verbal procefs I take to be a narrative of the fact drawn up on the fpot by a magiftrate (in the pre- fent cafe, by a commifTary appointed for that purpofe) upon a view of the place and circumftances, an exami- nation of the parcies, and the depofition of witnefles. J Mr. Hume, in the additional note to page 196, fpeaking of Mr. de Ventlmille, who was fucceflbr to cardinal Noailles in the archbifhoprick of Paris, tells us, that twenty-two reclors or cures of that city, whofe general character, for ftri&nefs of life and manners, he celebrates very juftly, but very little to the purpofe, did, it was rejected as well as preferred, and the archbimop's reafons for rejecting it, which were nothing lefs than palpable falmoods and con- tradictions, legally proved, par des informations juridiques, on the witnefTes, and even in the de- pofitions taken by order of the cardinal deNoailles: he might have told us that thirty of the moft eminent Janfenift doctors, who were fuppofed to have an intereft in fupporting thefe miracles, protefted againll the abufe that was made of them, and published many good reafons for not believing them that, if fome phyiicians of note pronounced the cures in queftion to be miraculous, many more, who had better opportunities of informing themfelves, judged the contrary that one of the faculty published a treatife to account for the phenomenon of the convulfions in a natural way, and feveral, who did, c< with infinite earneftnefs, prefs him to examine " thefe miracles, which they afiert to be known to the " whole world, and indifputably certain : but he wife- *' ly forbore." But it is certain, that this prelate was fo far from forbearing or declining this tafk, that he caufed a publiclc judicial inqueft to be made into them ; and, in an ordonnance of November 8, 1735, has pub- Jifhed the moft convincing proofs, that the miracles, fo ftrongly warranted by thefe cures, were forged and counterfeited. [ 90 ] who were confulted on the other pretended cures, declared the whole to be fiction and impofture *. All that was real in thefe phenomena may be accounted for from nature: but a great part was certainly appearance, and owing to art. The Abbe Paris, as doctor Middleton has told us, " was a zealous Janfenifl, and a warm " oppofer of the bull or conftitution Umge?iitus y " by which the doctrines of this feet were ex- " prefsly condemned : he died in 1/25, and *' was buried in the churchyard of St. Medard * See letter yth of the Critique ef Mr. Des Vceux. This judicious writer, who is now minirter of the French church in Dublin^ was himfelf a Janfenift and an inha- bitant of Pans at the time when thefe miracles were celebrated. This circumftance, which adds to the credit of his verdict, doctor Middleton^ who had feen liis book, and therefore muft know it, chufes to con- ceal, and to reprefent him only as a Proteftant writer. This may be excufe<J. But it is too much to aflert that ** he does not deny the facts, but only endeavours to * f make the miraculous nature of them fufpedted :" for near a fourth part of this book, which confifts of nine letters, in two volumes, I2mo, is taken up in difprov- ing thefe fadls, and the title at the head of one of the longeft letters is Ou Yon fait voir, far les pieces menu que Mr. de Montgeron produit 9 que lesfaits quil public ne font pas vrais. " in [ 9' ] * c in PartSy whither the great reputation of his <c fan&ity drew many people to vifit his tomb, " and pay their devotions to him as a faint ; " and this concourfe, gradually increafmg, made <c him foon be confidered as a fubject proper " to revive the credit of that party, now " utterly depreffed by the power of the Jefuits, <c fupported by the authority of the court *." Half the city of Paris, and many among them of rank, took part with the appellants againft this bull. The faint was, therefore, fure to have juftice done him. Moft of thefe, if they did not believe, yet wimed well to his miracles, for the fake of mortifying the Jejuits and their party. " But the evidence of thefe miracles is {till ^* preferved in a pompous volume of Mon <{ de Montgeron, a perfon of eminent rank in " Parity who, Dr. Middkton tells us, dedicated <c and prefented it to the king in perfon, be- <c ing induced, as the author declares, by the " incontestable evidence of the fats, by which '" he himfelf from a libertine and profefled " Deift, became a fincere convert to the Cbrif- " tian faith f." As the credit of thefe boafted * Free Inquiry, p. 223. -j- Free Inquiry ^ p. 224. miracles [ 9* ] . miracles refts alrnoft wholly on this book of Mr. Montgeron, the reader will not be difpleafed, if we flop a little to confider the character of the work and its author. This book was published, as we are adver- tifed at the beginning, to demonftrate, among other things, the juftice of the caufe of the appellants againft the bull Unigenitus : but it was fo far from anfwering the purpofe of re- viving the credit of the Janfenifts or their miracles, that from this time they funk into 'greater difgrace than ever ; while the author was cafhiered from his employment, fent firft to the Bafiile, and afterwards into banimment. The author declares himfelf converted to Chri- ftianity by the evidence of thefe fads : but it is ftrange to obferve, from his own hiftory of this converfion, that it was wrought with- out his either feeing or examining the evi- dence of any one of thefe miracles. It ap- pears, from this hiftory, that the author was early imprefTed with a fenfe of religion that, having given himfelf up to a life of pleafure and debauch, he was, on a certain occafion, fo ftruck with remorfe, as to fhut himfelf up in a convent, with defign to fpend his days in penitence [ 93 ] penitence and retirement that, returning again to his former life, he endeavoured to free him- felf from the checks of confcience by reading the books of Deifts, and perfuading himfelf that religion was a cheat that the famous bull Unigenitus, which juft then appeared, helped much to confirm him in this belief: But the fears of religion ftill kept hold of him, and, particularly, on the firft report of our dbbcs miracles, his confcience took the alarm, and put him upon inquiring in earneft into the truth of religion that, upon hearing a fecond time of thefe miracles, he refolved to vifit the tomb, and make a ftricT: inquiry into their truth that, coming there, he was immediately ftruck with the ardor that appeared in the devotion of the people ; ftrongly impreffed with which, he fell himfelf on his knees, and addrefled a fhort prayer to the faint, befeeching him, c< That, if indeed he ftill lived, and had any " power with the Almighty, he would pity " his blindnefs, and intercede for him, that " his mind might be enlightened, and the <e cloud removed which held him in dark- " nefs !" Upon which, immediately, while he continued fome hours on his knees, all the arguments for religion, which he had ever heard [ 9* ] heard or read, prefented themfelves to his mind, and pafled in review before him, with fuch force and conviction, that he became from that moment a zealous and confirmed Chriftian. Here, you fee, the author, without waiting for any miracle, or inquiring into thofe which he had heard, was not only converted to Chri- ftianity, but became a determined believer of all the miracles of this faint. And from this (hort fketch we may eafily make out his character, which was plainly that of a wrong- headed and violent man, that could think coolly about nothing, changing, as fancy or temper led him, from one opinion, from one extreme, to another, and governed throughout by paffion or prejudice, and not by reafon. His book was published ten (or according to Dr. Middleton, twelve) years after the Abbes death ; and 'tis a collection of only nine cures, felected out of the great number which are faid to have been wrought in all this time; the firft of which I mall prefent my reader with, in a few words, as a fpecimen of the reft : A Spanijh youth, at the age often years, loft entirely the fight of the left eye by a vio- lent rheum and inflammation: a fewyears after, receiving [ 95 ] receiving a blow upon the right eye, he became almoft blind for fome days, but, by proper remedies, recovered his fight again : at the age of fixteen, this eye was attacked with a fluxion and inflammation like to that which had d&- ftroyed the other, but was foon recovered, by the application of a certain water, fo far as to allow him for two or three months after to pro- fecute his ftudies : but, the diforder then re- turning, and the fame remedy being found in- effectual, he continued in this ftate, without the application of any remedy, near two months ; at the end of which, hearing of fa& Abbe Paris* miracles, he refolved, with the confent of his governors, who were zealous Janfentfts, to ap- ply to the Abbes tomb : he entered upon a neu- vaine, or nine-days devotion, in honour of the faint, and to fupplicate his affiftance : the effect was, that his pains redoubled, and the inflam- mation increafed j but towards the end of the term thefe bad fymptoms abated, and his eye at laft became ftrong enough to bear the light, and to permit him to return to his ftudies : and all this without the ule of any other means than faving the eye from reading for three months, (hutting out the lieht, and bathing it the two laft days with a little decoction of mallow-roots 4 with [ 96 ] with laudanum, prefcribed by an oculift; and this too owed all its virtue to the manner of ap- plying it, which was not with a common linen rag, but a piece of the fhirt in which the Abbe died, and fome of the earth in which he was buried. A certain Janfenijl phyfician, who faw this eye two days before the cure, judging it to be a diforder of the optick nerve, exprefTed fome doubt whether it were curable, and, being told afterwards that no human means had been ufed, inclined to think the cure miraculous. This, I fuppoie, is one of the principal phy- licians, who, Dr. Middleton tells us, attefted the truth of thefe miracles. But it is certain that many other phyficians and oculifts, both .in France and Spain, thought otherwife, and prefcribed bleeding, bathing, and the ufe of dif- ferent medicines for it. The left eye, in the mean time, remained in its former ftate, un- cured ; and the eye which was healed relapfed fome time after, and was again cured by bleed- ing. This is the firft miracle, as it is related by this author, and attefted by many vouchers and certificates printed along with it a ftory too contemptible for argument or remark. But, if the reader defires to fee the falfe colouring in which the writer has dreffed it, and the 4 incon- [ 97 1 inconfiftencies and prevarication of the witnefles detected, he may find this done, to his entire fatisfaction, in the letters above-mentioned, and in the nineteenth and twentieth tomes of the Bibliotheque raifonee j from which, and Mr. Fernet 's Traite de la Verite de la Religion Chre- tienne, moft of thefe remarks are taken. The evidence then, for thefe miracles, tho* fet out with fo much eloquent pomp, when examined, is found to amount to very little.' But this is acknowledged, that the credulity of mankind is very fully proved by this and the other legendary miracles of Popery, and that hence an argument of feeming weight ftill lies againft the miracles of the Gofpel : for, if fo many other miracles have been believed rafh- ly and without reafon, it is poffible that thefe may likewife have been received upon incom- petent teftimony : and, if this be poffible, mufl it not alfo be allowed more probable, than that events fo ftrange and contrary to the common courfe of nature mould be true ? This is the inference, we may prefume, the author would have us make from the ftories he hath related; and this objection he has incidentally dropped in feveral parts of his Eflay : ** The many in- H !! flance g " ftances of forged miracles, and prophecies, " and fupernatural events, which, in all ages, " have either been detected by contrary evi- " dence, or which detect themfelves by their <{ abfurdity, mark fufficiently the ftrong pro- " penfity of mankind to the extraordinary and " the marvellous, and ought reafonably to be- <c get a fufpicion againft all relations of this <{ . kind * :" And again, in the place above cited, " Should a miracle be afcribed to any " new fyftem of religion, men in all ages have t been fo much impofed on by ridiculous {lories " of that kind, that this very circumftance <f would be fufficient, with all men of fenfe, " not only to make them reject the fact, but c< even reject it without farther examina- " tion -f-/' As this is one of the moft fpe- cious and prevailing arguments againft the miracles of religion, it will deferve a diftinct anfwer. To the firft confequence, then, which the author here draws from the credulity of men, I readily agree That miracles and facts of an extraordinary nature may be juftly fufpected, 'till lufficient evidence of their reality is pro- * P. 186. f P. 200. duced, { 99 ] duced 3 and ought never to be received, 'till after a previous examination had into this evidence* But, that all miracles mould be rejected without examination, becaufe a great number have been forged, is, fure, a mofl illogical conclufion. The truth of the Gofpel miracles does not im- ply that all the miracles upon record are true : how then does the falmood of other miracles affect the truth of thefe ? If fome men are cheats and impoftors, is there no truth in the world ? If fome have believed upon too flight evidence, mult we, therefore, reject all tefti- mony, and difbelieve or doubt about every thing ? Is the currency of bad coin a proof that there is none good ? The teft and aflay will always diftinguifh the true from the falfe : and it is our own fault, if we are impofed upon by counterfeits. God hath given us reafon and underftanding to know good and evil, truth and falmood, and, in all things pertaining to life or duty, hath made the difference between them fufficiently clear and difcernible. If he fpeaks to us by miracles, he will, doubtlefs, caufe his voice to be known, and give full evidence of his authority. To thofe, who are not prefent wit- nefles of his power, this evidence will be tranf- mitted with fuch testimony as cannot be im- PI 2 peached peached * fuch as will ftand every fair and equitable trial. With fuch teftimony, we affert, the Scripture miracles are delivered down to us. Let them be brought to the trial, and, if they are found wanting, be rejected ; but not be con- demned, as this fupercilious writer would have them, unheard. I obferve, that this author, in common with, many others, feems to think every proof of the credulity of mankind a fort of argument againft the evidence of the Gofpel: they think this fuf- ficient to account for the belief of all miracles, and that it is, therefore, needlefs and folly to look for any evidence in their favour: " When " fuch reports fly about, the folution of the " phenomenon is obvious; and we judge in " conformity to experience and oblervation, cf when we account for it by the known prin- " ciples of credulity and delufion. And mall " we, rather than have recourfe to fo natural a " folution, allow of a miraculous violation of " the mofl known and moft eftablifhed laws of <c nature * ?" But I muft deny that there is any fuch caufe or principle in human nature as credulity. If fome are more credulous than * P. 197- others I ioi ] others if the fame perfon be more credulous in fome points than other this depends upon other principles : it is a natural effect, and al- ways to be accounted for from natural caufes. Intereft, when it is oppofed by truth, will biafs the mind to error: ignorance and indolence will difpofe men, the one of neceffity, the other of choice, to follow the judgment of others, and to believe as the world about them does : a de- ference to authority, whether publick or pri- vate a prejudice to opinions in which we have been educated, or which we have long entertained has the like effect : where men are, as is frequent, divided into parties by opi- nion, this prejudice will be heightened by pride and refentment; they will hearken greedily to every thing that favours their fyftem, and be obftinately deaf to every thing that oppofes it. Thefe are principles in human nature of great force and extent ; and, where they induce to the belief of any thing, there we may fufpect credulity, and that men will be prepared to be- lieve, without evidence, even things the moft difficult of belief. If, in thefe circumftances, it happen, that not the factitfelf, but the miracu- lous nature of it only, is the point that gratifies our wimes, there, the greater the miracle is, the H 3 greater t I" ] greater are thefe corrupt reafons for believing it, and, the more ftrange and incredible it is, the more eafily ibmetirnes will it obtain belief: as a ftone, the heavier it is, and the more unapt to motion, will defcend the fwifter, if the plane be fufficiently inclined, upon which it moves. But, on the other hand, where thefe or fuch-r like principles have no influence, truth will be fairly heard, and the faith of men will be ge- nerally proportioned to the evidence that ap- pears: and, where men believe and maintain opinions contrary to the influence of thefe prin- ciples, it is a fair prefumption that their faith is well grounded, and that their aflent is ex- torted by the force of truth. The principles, therefore, of credulity will by no means ac- count for all belief alike. Tho' a flone will defcend by its own weight, it does not follow that it can move itfelf upon even ground ; and, if it be feen, contrary to its natural gravity, to afcend a fleep acclivity, we are fure that there muft be fome competent power to impell it. Where miracles are wimed for or wanted, the ftrangeft and moftunfupported may be believed: but, in other circumftances, the miraculous na- ture [ "3 1 ture of the fad: will hang as a weight upon it, and retard its progrefs ; and, if it make its way, in oppofition to the withes, paffions, and pre- judices of mankind, there muft be truth and evidence to fupport it. I have already afTerted that it required a ftronger faith and more credulity to believe the evidence of the Gofpel falfe, than to believe the miracles true. All the principles that can make men credulous confpired to make the firft Chriftians dilbelieve the Gofpel. It was not, therefore, credulity, butconvidtion, which wrought this belief in them. But thefe prin- ciples very naturally account for the miracles of the Romifi church. Intereft, authority, and all the powers of enthufiafm, fuperftition, and pre- judice, forward the belief of thefe : the power of the church is fupported by them, and the countenance of the church, in the opinion of the believer, gives certainty and infallibility to them. The difparity, then, betwixt thefe and the Gofpel miracles is infinite. The end for which the Scripture miracles were wrought is the greateft that can be thought of, and the tefti- H 4 mony mony by which they are fupported is confirmed by the fureft teft of truth. If miracles, there- fore, are in any cafe credible, they are in this 5 if teftimony is in any cafe to be relied on, it is in this. But what are the ends propofed or anfwered by the miracles of Popery? More offerings are, perhaps, brought to the (hrine at Loretto, more gain is made of the relicks of the faints. But are any nations brought to the faith, or is any fingle infidel converted, by them ? Then, the teftimony which vouches them is implicitly received, and the veracity of the wit- nefles confirmed by no proof or trial. There is no one condition here to make miracles cre- dible no one cirumftance to credit the evi- dence that fupports them. There is, therefore, no confequence to be drawn from thefe to die miracles of the Gofpel. And the fame obfervation will hold, tho J not xvith equal force, of the miracles recorded in the church before the times of Popery : there were not the fame antecedent reafons for work- ing jthem, nor the fame great confequences at- tending them : and when were any called, at the hazard of their fortunes and lives, to attefl ? We are not, therefore, to be alarmed,, if t If the truth of thefe miracles is fometimes brought in queftion, or even if many of them mould be proved to be falfe ; fmce the miracles of Chrijl and his Apoftles are no way affected by this, and the Gofpel wants no miracles, but its own, to fupport it : nor, indeed, can we do a greater injury to the cauie of Chriftianity, than to parallel thefe, even fuppofing them true, with the canonical miracles of Scripture; flnce, tho' both may be equally true, yet the evidence upon which we receive them, and, confequently, the reafons for believing them, are not equal, but the one, in its weight and force, infinitely tranfcends the other. Nor is it any reproach to Chriftianity, or any juft caufe of offence to pious Chriftians, if the fathers^ of the church, men juftly celebrated for their piety and virtue, and even for their learning and abilities, are found to have given too eafy credit to thefe mi- racles. Learning and piety are no fecurity againft errors of this kind. On the contrary, men of this character, as they are often lefs pradlifed in the arts of men, and lefs apt to fuf- pedl defign and fraud in others, may lie more open to be deceived. Men may be prejudiced, even by piety and virtue, to fuch opinions as are thought favourable to piety and virtue, and, where [ "6 ] where any thing is thought of good tendency, may think it good to believe it. A little ac- quaintance with hiftory will teach us, if our own obfervation does not, that men of great abilities and of the moft upright intentions may be hafty in believing and zealous in fupporting the belief of fables, efpecially where the caufe of virtue or religion is fuppofed to be promoted by them. We may, therefore, retain our veneration for the piety and good works of thefe eminent lights of the church, without believing every thing that they believed : we may believe many of the fads which they have recorded to be falfe, without hurting Chriftianity, or in the leaft impairing the evidence of the Gofpel. I might, under this head, have obferved that falfe miracles are almoft a natural confequence of true, and, therefore their prevalence and re- ception is rather a prefumption of the exiftence of true miracles than an argument againft them. Could we forefee that a feries of miracles would be wrought in any country, and a publick wor- fhip and religion be eftablifhed in confequence of it, we might prefume that miracles would be 2 there t 107 3 there more frequently pretended and counter- feited than in any other place. True miracles, like true money, will give a currency to falfe; and the authority and character, which they give to thofe that work them, will excite the crafty and ambitious to imitate them. On the other hand, where no prior miracles are ac- knowledged, there is lefs temptation to coun- terfeit this power, and more difficulty of fuc- ceedinginit. In fact, the falfe pretences of mi- racles among Chriftians are no more than might be expected, in confequence of the truth and certainty of the firft miracles of Chriftianity ; and, if the number of thefe has been far greater in the Cbriflian world than elfewhere, it is an argument that there, if any-where, true miracles have been wrought. The reader will be pleafed to fee this argument in the words of Dr. Mlddleton : " The innumerable forgeries of this fort, which have been impofed upon ? { mankind in all ages, are fofar from weaken- ing the credibility of the Jewtfh and Cbrijlian miracles, that they ftrengthen it : for how c could we account for a practice fo univerfal, " of forging miracles for the fupport of falfe ' religions, if on fome occafions they had not f ' actually been wrought for the confirmation of " a true " a true one ? or, how is it poffible that fo tf many fpurious copies fhould pafs upon the <c world, without ibme genuine original from " which they were drawn, whofe known ex- <e iftence and tried fuccefs might give an ap- * f pearance of probability to the counterfeit ? *' Now, of all the miracles of antiquity, there * c are none that can pretend to the character of " originals, but thofe of the Old and New & * " Teftament, which, though the oldeft by <c far of all others of which any monuments ts now remain in the world, have yet main-* " tained their credit to this day, through the " perpetual oppofition and fcrutiny of ages ; <{ whilft all the rival productions of fraud and < craft have long ago been fucceffively explod- cc ed, and funk into utter contempt an event * c that cannot reafonably be afcribed to any *' other caufe, but to the natural force and " effect of truth, which, though defaced for *' a time by the wit, or depreffed by the power, te of man, is fure ftill to triumph in the end <l ever all the falfe mimickry of art and the J c vain efforts of human policy *." * Prefatory Difcourfe to a Letter from Rcmf, p. 88. The The remainder of this EfTay is little more than a rude infult on the Scriptures and the Cbriflian religion. For fear his readers mould miftake his meaning, and not apply his argu- ment where he intended, the author proceeds, with a fmiling grimace, to tell us, " that our " moft holy religion is founded on faith, not <c on reafon ; and 'tis a fure method of ex- <c poling it, to put it to fuch a trial as it is by " no means fitted to endure." This he pre- tends to make evident by examining the mi- racles related in the Pentateuch : { Here," fays he, " we are to confider a book prefented to. " us by a barbarous and ignorant people, wrote " in an age when they were ftill more bar- <{ barous, and, in all probability, long after the tf facts it relates, corroborated by no concurring " teftimony, and refembling thole fabulous ac- " counts which every nation gives of its origin. <c Upon reading this book we find it full of pro- ** digies and miracles : it gives an account of a 11 ftate of the world and of human nature en- " tirely different from the prefent of our fill *' from that ftate of the age of man extended " to near a thoufand years of the deftruction *' of the world by a deluge of the arbitrary * l choice of one people as the favourites of hea- 2 " ven, [ no ] " ven, and that people the countrymen of the cc author of their deliverance from bondage by (t prodigies the moft aftonifhing imaginable t I " delire any one to lay his hand upon his heart, <c and, after ferious confideration, declare, whe- " ther he thinks that the falfhood of fuch a ** book, fupported by fuch a teftimony, would " be more extraordinary and miraculous than <c all the miracles it relates; which is, however, " neceflary to make it be received, accord- " ing to the meafures of probability above efta- ' blimed *." If the yews were thus more than barbarous at the time when thefe books were wrote,whence, without a miracle, could they learn all the great truths relating to the being and attributes of God, which the moft learned part of the world were for many ages after in total ignorance about ? Whence could the religion and laws of this people fo far exceed thofe of the wifeft Hea- then, and come out at once, in their firft in- fancy, thus perfect and entire j when all human fyftems are found to grow up by degrees, and to ripen, after many improvements, into per- fection ? The Jews had but little commerce * P. 201, t III ] with other nations, and, therefore, did not ex- cel in the literary and other arts of Greece : but the fame Scriptures, which prove that they were earlierinpofleffion of the moftufefulandfublime parts of knowlege, fecured them likewife from ever finking into that barbarity which the author charges upon them. Let any one compare the book of Genefts y which he treats with fo much freedom, and which is by many centuries the oldeft book in the world, with any of the earliefl heathen hiftorians let him compare the pfalms of David with the hymns of Callimachus or Or- pbeus let him read the hiftory ofjfofefAuf t who wasjuft cotemporary with Chrljl and his Apoftles and he will incline to judge more favourably of this people. The great events recorded in this hiftory havs no connection with the argument of miracles, and, therefore, do not belong to this place. But thefe are corroborated by the ftrongeft concurring teftimony that can be defired to facts that are, mod of them, older than the ufe of letters itfelf. The traditions of every country fee m all to point to one and the fame original. The late inven- tion of arts and fciences, the foundation of cities and empires, the manner of peopling the world, and and the number of its prefent inhabitants, feem all to prove that the world had its beginning no earlier than the period affigned by Mofes, and agree perfectly with the account of the deluge. There are no monuments of antiquity which give room to fufped the world of earlier ori- ginal. The firft authors of Greece and Egypt fpeak of the chaos, of the abyfs of waters that covered the earth, of man's being formed out of the ground, and of his firft innocence. From thefe, one of the Latin poets has de- fcribed the creation, the ftate of innocence, the gradual corruption of mankind, and the deluge, in a manner very nearly refembling that of Mofes. The memory of a general flood, which deftroyed the whole race of men and animals, except one family, feems to have been preferved for fome ages among almoft all nations. Lucian tells us, the tradition among both the Greeks and Syrians was, that this was a judgment from heaven on the wicked- ne(s of mankind : he defcribes the manner of the flood, the ark in which fome of every kind were preferved, and many other particu- lars, juft as we have them in the book of Ge-> nefis. Plutarch, alluding to the fame tradition, mentions the ark, and even the dove that was feat L "3 ] fent forth to fee if the waters were abated. A great number of antient authors, who mention the deluge, and give witnefs to the building of Babel, the burning of Sodom, and many other great events in the Mofaic hiftory, are reckon'd up by Jofephus, Grotius, and others. The prelent furface of the earth, the fhells of fim that are found in midland countries, and even on the tops of mountains, and the remains of land-animals at very great depths in the earth, are Hill furviv- ing monuments of the deluge *. It is aimed certain * An univerfal deluge will, I fuppofe, be allowed one of the moft miraculous fails in the hiftory of the Old Teftament. The difficulties that on all fides fur- round it are as great as can eafily be conceived. And hence fDxny'Chriftian writers (among whom is the learned Mr. Wollajlon) have thought it fufficient to believe that this flood was topical, confined to a fmall part of Afia 5 and that the genius of the language in which the rela- tion is delivered, and the manner of writing hiftory in it, will account for all the reft. But, the more we im- prove in natural knowledge, the more reafons we fee for believing this hiftory in the literal and largeft fenfe. One of the lateft and ableft writers upon this fubjedl confirms what the beft natural hiftorians have obferved that the fhells of fifh are found in great quantities in all parts of the world that the Lapides Judaici, which are gathered on the top of mount Carmel, are evidently the remains of a fea-animal that the Alps and Pyrenaan mountains abound with others and that there is not a mountain in the world, in which there have been I tolerable t "4 ] certain that the world began to be peopled about the plains of Babylon and near where the ark is faid to have refted. From the eaft colonies of men were fent weftward : and from thence we can trace pretty diftindlly the progrefs of arts and fciences. The long lives of the firft men are tolerable opportunities of inquiring, where remains of fea-animals have not been found : he tells us, that many of thofe which are found in great abundance in our ifiand are natives of other fcas that the horns of Indian deer are found in great clufters, and always at conllderable depths, in many parts of England, and fome- times under a flratum of fea-fhells : and hence, though- writing upon another queftion, he concludes, <e it is " equally certain, that, wherever they are found, " water muft have at one time overflowed, fmce there * e is no other poflible means of their being brought " there ; and, fmce they are found in every part of " the earth, the tops of the higheft mountains not * excepted, that overflowing of water muft have been " univerfal." tfilFi Remarks on Phil. Tranf. p. 53. Here, then, we have one of the moft difputable parts of the Bible-hiftory confirmed and proved by indifput- able fact and experiment. In the mean time, it muft be obferved that the miracles upon which the Cbrijnan and yewifi religions were built have an evidence of their own, diftinft from that of the other parts of this hif- tory ; and that, tho' it were allowed that many errors may have crept into the hiftorical parts of this book, yet the truth of thefe religions, and the faith of thofe miracles upon which they are built, would remain unfhaken. fpoken t "5 ] fpoken of by all the Heathens. This fact is fo far from difcrediting the Mofalc hiftory, that Moniieur Pafcal reckons it a full proof of the fidelity of the author : " This hiftorian," fays he, cc has brought the deluge, and even the <l creation, fo near his own time, by means of " the few generations which he counts between " them, that the memory of them could not but be ftill frefh and lively in the minds of all <c the Jewifli nation." In the line of tradition there are but five fleps betwixt Mofes and the firft man. " Therefore, the creation and the " deluge are indubitably true. This argument," fays he, " muft be acknowledged for conclufive ft by thofe who apprehend its procefs *." The longevity of men in the firft ages feems neceffary for the better peopling the world, the invention and improvement of arts, and for propagating religious and all ufeful knowledge, when they depended wholly on tradition. And I am per- iuaded that this author cannot even invent a more probable or rational account of peopling the world than this which he aiFecls to deride. The other infinuations, which he has thrown out to difcredit thefe books, have been fo often rduted, that it is tedious to go over them again. *PafcaI's Thoughts, p. 86. J 2 ' The t "6 ] The authority of an hiftorian is not, fure, the worfe for his being the countryman of thofe \vhofe hiftory he writes. The character ofMofes is remarkably free from all partiality to hini- felf and his countrymen : he faithfully records all the obftinacy and perverfe behaviour of the latter, and frequently reproaches them with it in the fevereft terms : he fpares not his own fail- ings, or thofe of his neareft friends, and omits many things, which are recorded by others, to his honour: the future government of the Ifraelites he left not to his own tribe, but to that of yudah, and, in the appointment of his immediate fuccefibr, had no regard to his own family, but left them undiftinguifhed and mixed with the common Levttes. As to the arbitrary preference of this people, a diftinction in religious privileges is perfectly agreeable to the analogy of God's difpenfations to mankind, both natural and moral. But the yemjh difpenfation ought not to be considered apart, but in connection with the CbHJlian, in which it ended. Thefe are but different parts of one and the fame fcheme, which naturally illuftrate and confirm each other's authority. " And, from this view of them," fays Dr. Mld- " we fee the weaknefs of that objection 2 " com- [ "7 J u commonly made to the Mofaic part, on the " account of its being calculated for theufe only t( of a peculiar people ; whereas, in truth, it <c was the beginning of an univerfal fyftem, " which, from the time of Mofes, was gradually " manifested to the world by the fucceffive " miffions of the Prophets, 'till that fulnefs of tf time, or coming of the Meffjah, when life < and immortality were brought to light by the cc Gofpel, or the chief good and happinefs of " man perfectly revealed to him *." The origin of this people is fo far from refem- bling the fabulous accounts of other nations, that it is quite fingtilar, and in all refpecls dif- ferent from any other. They are a numerous people, fprung from the loins of one man, and have continued unmixed with the reft of the world, if we reckon from the time of Abraham, when they were firft marked out by the promife of God to his pofterity, near 4000 years a great part of the age of the world, and approaching very near to the time when it was laft peopled by the pofterity of Noah. Their very exiftence at this time, taken with all its circumftances, is a miracle, which gives cre- dit to all the miracles of Mofes. * Prefatory Difcourfe to the Letter from Rome, p. 88. I 3 The The books, which record thefe miracles, were certainly wrote foon after the fads ; fince the religion, laws, and polity of the yews were wholly built upon them. Thefe books are the great charter by which they were incorporated into a nation. Thefe miracles are the only fanclion which gives authority to the laws they contain. The miracles were wrought in the face of all Ifraelj and many of them under cbferva- tion for a long time together. The books, that record them, were of publick authority and daily refort. It was, therefore, impoffible, if falfe, that they mould obtain credit for a day. The very being of thefe laws is a proof of the miracles connected with them j fince the latter, if falfe, mull have difcovered thefalmood of the former. By appealing to thefe facts, it was put in the power of every one to fee through, or, rather, it was put out of their power not to fee through, the impofture. The memory of thefe fads was not only preferved in thefe records, but they were written, if I may fo fpeak, and re- corded in the daily cuftoms and religious cere- monies of the Jews. The Paffiruer was inftituted in memory of their coming out of Egypt the feaft oiPentecoft in token of the law being given upon mount Sinai fifty days after that of Taber- nacles in remembrance of their encamping in the 2 defart [ "9 ] defart and, in the form of dedicating or offer- ing their firft-fruits, a folemn commemoration was injoined of the figns and wonders by which they were delivered out of Egypt. The belief, therefore, of the miracles muft of neceffity be as antient as their religion ; and indeed, without thefe, their religion, government, and even their prefent exiilence, as a people, would be more miraculous than all the miracles recorded in the Pentateuch. We are now come to the conclusion of this celebrated EfTay : " Upon the whole," fays he, " we may conclude, that the Cbriftian religion " not only was at firft attended with miracles, < { but even at this day cannot be believed by any " reafonable perfon without one. Mere reafon " is infufficient to convince us of its veracity : " and whoever is moved by faith to aflfent to it, " is confcious of a continued miracle in his own " perfon, which fubverts all the principles of <c his understanding, and gives him a determi- " nation to believe what is moft contrary to " cuftom and experience *." The author in one of his EfTays, complains of a want of politenefs and civility in thofe who * P. 203. 1 4. defend defend religion againft the attacks of the Free- thinkers, " whole moderation and good man- " ners," he tells us, " are very confpicuous, " when compared with the furious zeal and " fcurrility of their adverfaries *." But who can, without fome impatience, fee a religion which he holds facred, and which hath efta- blifhed itfelf purely by reafon and argument, treated with this open fcorn and abuie ? Has this author lived in the time of Sir Ifaac Newton, Mr. Locke } and Mr. Addifon? Can he know tha^ thefe men gloried in the name of Chriftians, that the firft of them employed many of his beft hours in ftudying and illuftrating the Scriptures, and that the other two have wrote profefTedly in the defence of this religion, and yet think himfelf at liberty to treat all that be- lieve it as men that are incapable of reafoning or thinking ? The charge, which he has here brought againft: the advocates of Chriftianity, is fo far from being true, that I dare reft the whole merits of the controverfy upon this ifTue. Let any one read the authors he men- tions, Collins and Ttndal, with Morgan, Gor- don> and the later writers in this caufe, and compare them with their antagonifts, Chandler, Cony bear e, Iceland, Fojler, and judge on which * EJJays moral and political^ p. 62. fide fide the temper and moderation lies. And yet, if men claim fome authority to opinions which have the publick voice on their fide, where is the wonder or the blame ? It is nothing unnatural for men thus fupported to affume a confidence, and to expect fome deference and modefty from their adverfaries. But, when men oppofe eftablimed opinions with an air of autho- rity, and decide againft the publick when they profefs to doubt, and yet didlate, about every thing, and a<ft at once the Sceptick and the Dog- matift this is a character, which, however it may be accounted for, can never be excufed *. And * The author tells us, that, " in all controverfics, c< thofe who oppofe the eftablifhed and popular opinions " affect a moft extraordinary gentlenefs and modcra- " tion, in order to foften, as much as poflible, any " prejudices that may lie againft them *." But the facl: is notoriously otherwife. In eftablifhments of every kind, the party which forms the oppofition, if they have the liberty to fpeak out, is ufually the moft furious and loud in inve&ive. The reafon is, the moft furious and vehement fpirits are the moft impatient of control, and the moft forward to oppofe. A man that is a tyrant in his own temper is fure to complain of tyranny in his fuperiors ; and a proud man will always think you proud, if you differ from him, whatever au- thority and whatever modefty you may have on your fide. Thus the celebrated author of the Patriot King pro- nounces the moft candid of all writers to be a/>;v- * EJJ'ajt Kurql and fclitical, p. 6z, fumptuous [ 122 ] And I here afk my reader, whether he has any- where met with either a more fceptical, difpu- tatious turn of mind, or a more imperious, dog- matical ftyle, than in the writings of this author? It famptucus Dogmatift for daring to differ from his opinion, even before it was known. This confummate writer, not content to fhine in his own fphere, aflumes the no'd, and will give the law in metaphyficks as well as politicks. " I would not fay," fays he, " that God *' governs by a rule that we know or may know as well * c as he, and upon our knowledge of which he appeals " to men for the juftice of his proceedings towards ** them, which a famous divine has impioufly advanced " in a pretended demonftration of his being and attri- " butes : God forbid * !" I learn from hence, that the famous divine fpoken of has the misfortune to have fallen under the difpleafure of this author, and that he has a fovereign contempt for all that do fo. But, what his offence is, I am ftill at a lofs to conjecture. I think myfelf certain, that he has no-where faid what the author charges him with, " that we know or may " know the rule by which God governs as well as he." He has indeed, faid, " that God himfelf, tho' he has no " fuperior, from whofe will to receive any law of his tc actions, yetdifdains not to obferve the rule of equity " and goodnefs as the law of all his actions in the " government of the world, and condefcends to appeal " even to men for the righteoufnefs and equity of his " judgments (as in Ezek. xviii.) ; that (not barely his " infinite power, but) the rules of this eternal law are " the true foundation and the meafure of his dominion * Patriot King, p, 94, over [ 3 1 It is remarkable with what eafe and alacrity he hath aflerted the fad: before us. But this cava- lier manner is familiar to him. He tells us, in another EfTay, " that the Quakers are perhaps " the " over his creatures *." But what is this more than the author himfelf has faid, in terms as free, in the very page that is ftained with this cenfure ? " That God is " not an arbitrary, but a limited monarch, limited " by the rule which infinite wifdom prefcribes to infinite " power that he does always that which is fitteft to " be done and that this fitnefs, of which no created " power is a competent judge, refults from the various " natures and the more various relations of things." He adds, " So that, as creator of all fy (terns by which " thofe natures and relations are constituted, he pre- *' fcribed to himfelf the rule which he follows as " governor of every fyftem of being." This, though no candid reader will complain of it, is more crude and perplexed than any thing I remember in the author here arraigned. God does always what is right and fit. But right and fit were not made what they are, when this or any other fyftem of beings was made. The fitnefs of every action, the fame circumftances fuppofed, was al- ways and ever will be the fame. This rule is eternal and immutable as truth itfelf, and its authority is as univerfal, extending to all beings and to all poflible fyftems of beings ; as the author we are fpealcing of has, with equal modefty and clearnefs, aflertcd and proved immediately before the paflage here cited. If he has faid, farther, that God appeals to men for the juftice of his proceedings, he has given his authority for this an authority which a Chrijtian divine muft * Demonftration of the being and attribute?, &t. gth edit. p. ziS. think cc the only regular body of Deifts in the uni- " verfe :" And again, " that the leading Whigs " have always been either Deifts or profeffed <c Latitudinarians in their principles, that is," fays think decifive. And what doth this amount to more than faying that God hath implanted in men a fenfe of what isjuft, merciful, and good, and that all his dif- penfations are agreeable to our ideas of juftice, mercy, and goodnefs ? Does not the aftronomer try the works of God by the laws of mechanifm and geometry, when he pronounces that they are done in number, weight, and meafure ? And muft we not have fome meafure of juftice, mercy, and goodnefs, when we attribute thefe to the Deity ? To fay that we can fee the wifdom of God in his works is not faying that we are as wife as God himfelf : nor does our feeing the fitnefs and equity of his proceedings in fome inftances imply that we are competent judges of or can fee the reafon of his pro- ceedings in all. As the author has not pointed out the paffages in the writer he excepts againft, I can only guefs this to be the place. But, if he has any-where dropped an expreffion that may feem lefs accurate or proper upon this fubje<5t, the author might have par- doned it, who confefies, in the fame page, that he cannot exprefs himfelf on this fubjecl: properly, and that, when our ideas are inadequate, our expreffion muft needs be improper. To return : We have here a phenomenon, which, to thofe who have not ftuclied human nature, will appear altogether fingular : Lord B e complaining of the impiety, pride, and pre- fumption of Dr. Clarke. Eftablifhed opinions and an eftablifhed character provoke his refentment: rather than fubmit to another, he will contradict himfelf. And this, I take t 125 1 fays he, cc friends to toleration, and indifferent <c to any particular feet of Chriftians *." Now, it is certain that the Quakers profefs the belief of Chriftianity as univerfally as any fe<5t what- foever. And what right has the author to charge a whole body of men with fuch fla- grant infincerity ? As to the Whigs, the principles of toleration are certainly Chriftian principles, and do by no means imply an in- difference to any fedt, much lefs a coldnefs to religion in general : and, if the bcft Chriftians are ufually the beft fubjeclis and citizens (which I think an indifputable truth) I mould hope their principles would be no impedi- ment to their faith. I am fure, however, they have no reafon to thank this author for his compliment. They who believe religion muft think that the caufe of virtue and the happinefs of man- kind are bound up in it : and this will juftify a * EJJap moral and political^ p. 1 1 1 . I take it, is the principle from which moft of Mr. Humes philofophy is derived ; to whofe extraordinary gentlenefs and modefty that of this writer (to fpeak in the curious phrafe of the latter) * is but as the politive degree to the fuperlative. Eft genus lominum, qui ejfcprimosfe omnium rerum volunt, Necfunt. * Patrist KiKjr, p. 148, decree [ '26 ] degree of zeal and ardor in its defence. But what is there to call for or excufe this fpirit in thofe who oppofe it ? If the author be a friend to virtue, which, from his elegance of mind and tafte, I fcarce can doubt if he be a friend to natural religion, which a perfon of fo much thought and reflection fure muft be what principles has he in referve for the fupport of thefe, when Chriftianity is taken away ? The beft philofophy, as I have already faid, availed but little in reforming the religions or morals of mankind : and, as to the philofophy of this author, it is,, as far as I underftand it, as ill calculated for this purpofe as any I have met with *. But, indeed, religion can never be fupported, or virtue taught, with any force or effect, by the reafonings of philofophers. The world will never be governed by metaphyfical ideas of honour and beauty, decency of action, and the fitnefs of things. It is the author's own * The character of this author's philofophical writ- J ngs, which I (hould not otherwife have attempted, may be given in his own words, where he fpeaks of the^/- ciphron and other works of the ingenious and good Bifliop Berkeley: " They admit of no anfwer, and produce no " conviction : their only effect is to caufe that mo- * { mentary amazement and irrefolution and coafufion, u which is the refult of Scepticifm." EJJays moral and political) p. 240. obferva- [ "7 1 obfervation, that " an abftraded, invifible ob- " je<5t, like that which natural religion alone " prefents to us, cannot long actuate the mind, tc or be of any moment in life. To render the <c paffion of continuance, we muft find fome 4< method of affecting the fenfes and imagina- <{ tion, and muft embrace fome hiflorical as " well as philofophical accounts of the Divi- " nity. Popular fuperftitions," fays he, " and " obfervances are even found to be of ufe in this " particular *." The great thing to be wifhed, then, for the intereft of virtue and the good of mankind, is, that the maxims of natural reli- gion mould be fixed and aflured by an autho- rity that is decifive that a rule of duty mould be taught as the will and law of God that the fanctions of this law, a future ftate and a judgment to come, mould be known alike to all, both fmall and great that the hopes of pardon fhould be aflured to the penitent (inner that there mould be an inftitution to propa- gate this knowledge, and to Ipread it thro' the world that there mould be a publick worfhip fet up, and a difcipline and ceconomy preicribed, to train men to piety and virtue : but all this, and much more to the advantage of virtue, we have in the Chriftian religion. * EJJayt moral a nd polit ical, p. 231, Can Can the author tell us where elfe they are to be found ? If he is looking out a cure for fuperftition, I venture to affure him, that, with nil his refearches into metaphyficks and morals, he will never find any equal to that religion which he endeavours to explode ; which in a few years did infinitely more towards freeing the world from the fear and folly of prodigies, omens, dreams, and oracles, than all the phi- lofophy in the world had done in many ages. If, unhappily, this religion is flill corrupted by fuperftitious mixtures, thefe I freely com- mit to the mercy of the author. But Chri- ftianity is not to anfwer for thefe any more than for the other errors and vices of mankind, which, however it aims to correct, it does not pretend to eradicate. And even thefe will be better and more fuccefsfully oppofed by fair argument and civility than with iniult and re- o J proach. Where a liberty of debate and free inquiry is allowed, it is unpardonable to infult the publick that allows it. " There is a degree <c of doubt and caution and modefty, which, " in all kinds of fcrutiny and deciiion, ought " for ever to accompany a juil reafoner *.'* * Philojopblcal EjjuySi p. 250. F I N I S. R M; Form LI University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. QL APR15 1996 REC'D ID-URL HAR221996 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY 69; B 3A99 M6A21 1767