human being, ever constituted one person, and the various qualities and acts which are peculiar to such, and which admit of no interchange of the two natures, were ever exhibited in the same individual, then is it most manifest, that the original conception of such a being could have been only in the mind of God; that he who exemplified the prototype must be formed and commissioned by God; and that those who narrated the facts, which prove the existence of such a mysterious being, wrote a true history, and never thought of a fiction; that is, the Christian religion must be true. Now that these characters were sustained, and that without intermission, through the whole of his recorded life, and without the slight est defect in a single instance, yea with the utmost perfection by our blessed Lord, we well know : and we need go no further than Mr. Wilson's volume for an excellent epitome of the argument; an argument so satisfactory that we could almost be contented to leave Christianity to stand or fall by the closest investigation of its validity. Mr. Wilson's review of the subject is so comprehensive, and the various parts are so dependent on each other, that it would be as difficult to select for quotation a passage which should give a fair representation of the whole, as to detach from a beautiful portrait a single feature that should convey an idea of the entire original. We therefore refer our readers to the lecture itself; only observing further upon it, that the Christian, when assailed by unbelieving doubts, may with much profit have recourse to this part of Mr. Wilson's work, and he will by the blessing of God arise from every renewed perusal of it with unshaken confidence that his faith is founded on an immoveable rock.

The next lecture argues the truth of Christianity from its tendency to promote, in the highest degree,the temporal and spiritual happiness of individuals and nations. Mr. Wilson

had shewn, in one of his external evidences, that, so far as the Gospel has prevailed, it has secured a much larger portion of human felicity than had ever been experienced under any other system, professing to be contrived for the benefit of man. This, however, was only an historical fact, and was properly adduced under the head of historical evidence: but he now advances a step further, and endeavours to shew that it not only has had, in point of fact, this effect, but that it has a direct tendency to produce it; and that, in proportion as foreign hindrances and disturbing causes are taken away, it must and will secure the utmost felicity of which individuals and nations are capable. This topic is not introduced so much as a distinct and independent evidence of the truth of Christianity, as a subsidiary and confirmatory argument. And yet we see no reason why it may not be elevated to the rank of a clear and direct evidence; for if it be true that every system of man's device (though the energies and talents of the greatest and best of men in all ages have been directed to this grand object) for ameliorating the condition of the human race, so as to connect the happiness of the individual with that of the species has utterly failed, and that this failure has arisen from ignorance of the true state of man, and of the various relations in which he stands to the rest of mankind, and to the Supreme Governor of the world, and a total inadequacy of means to carry into effect what may have been even partially correct in the system, so that the generations of the world have passed away without any material advancement towards this most desirable and essential object, it may be fairly presumed that what such powerful and longcontinued efforts have never yet been able to achieve, never could be effected by unassisted man. And if, further, it be also true, that another system has been formed, and developed in the Holy Scrip

tures, which, founded on the most correct principles of human nature, and of the entire state of man-of his origin his present character, tendencies, capacities, relations, and destiny, and embracing every necessary means for the full accomplishment of its purposes, has a direct and obvious tendency to make the whole of the human race, in the highest degree possible, happy; and, so far as the experiment has been made, has effected all that it aims at, allowing for the necessary interruptions of extrinsic and disturbing. causes, which impediments themselves are in a train of counteraction, and must, evidently, in due time, entirely cease; then it surely cannot be denied that such a system, with such a tendency to promote the greatest happiness of man, may be fairly argued to be of Divine origin.

Mr. Wilson pursues his argument into all its strongest and most direct bearings, and has furnished his readers with such a statement of facts, corroborative of his reasoning, as cannot fail to carry conviction to every unprejudiced mind. After nearly exhausting his topics, he adds,

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Suppose, then, that the whole world, by degrees, should become Christians, partly by the purifying of nominal Christian states, partly by the conversion of nations, partly by the restoration of the Jews, partly by the overthrow of the Mohammedan and Papal apostasies, what would be the effect? There would be no more idolatry and its abominations. There would be no profaning the name of God, no perjury, no hypocrisy, no despising of those that are good, no arrogance, ingratitude, pride, self-complacency, no murmuring, sullenness, suicide. There would be no wars, rivalships, antipathies, breaches of trust, strife, wrongs, slanders, litigations, deceit, murder. In short,

there will be none of those streams of

death, one or more of which flow through every vein of society, and poison all its enjoyments. The result would be, that the world would become a scene of general peace and prosperity; and, abating the chances and calamities to which flesh is inseparably heir, would wear one unvaried face of complacency and joy. ”pp. 210, 211. In the following lecture, Mr. Wilson brings the truth of Christianity to the test of personal experience, and

endeavours to shew that every one, "by humbly submitting to its directions, and making a trial for himself of its promised blessings," may possess the evidence which, of all others, is the most decisive to the individual of its Divine origin. The nature of the argument may be thus compressed: If Christianity state certain effects and benefits to be experienced by those who embrace it, such as cannot be experienced from any other system, and such as can proceed only from supernatural causes, we may put these statements to the test, and try them by our own actual experience: and should we verify them, the conclusion is most satisfactory and conclusive; just as the claims of a medicine to be a universal remedy for diseases hitherto incurable, are substantiated by its universal suc cess, wherever it has been applied. This argument, it will be perceived, does not properly belong either to the historical or the innate proofs of the truth of Christianity, and would seem to require a division of the whole subject of evidences, into external, internal, and experimental. Waving, however, this technical distinction, it may be observed, that where it can be applied, it is, perhaps, of all arguments, the most convincing, and approaches the nearest to the inductive philosophy of subjecting every thing to the test of experiment; for if the actual attainment of Christian knowledge, and the habitual experience of its holy principles, purifying motives, and animating prospects, are such as no other system could communicate, or ever pretend to effect, then the actual recipient of such within himself the complete truth extraordinary blessings must have of its Divine origin.

The argument, then, in itself, appears to be not only unobjectionable, but completely satisfactory. We are not, however, sure that we can concur with Mr. Wilson in all his statements, in elucidation and confirmation of it. We think that

some of them are too strong and unguarded, and would give more countenance than he intended to the notion that Christians are, at the time when the Holy Spirit operates on the mind and heart, conscious of a supernatural agency, and this not in extraordinary, but in the usual influences of that Divine Being. We much doubt, for instance, whether it falls within the experience of Christians generally, or that they have a right to expect it should be so, to have as clear a perception and consciousness of "the shining of Christ the Sun of Righteousness into the mind," as of "the rising of the natural sun after a dark night." The latter, we think is far more immediate, clear, and sensible to the bodily eye, than the former to the mental vision; and similar observations might be made on a few other applications of passages of Scripture to Christian experience. It is simply to the direct present perception and consciousness of Divine agency, and not to the effects as afterwards seen in the review, and which we conclude to be all that Mr. Wilson intended, that our objection extends. We quote the following passage relative to the application of the argument to Christians in times of doubt and perplexity.

"There is no time when this inward testimony is not the most satisfactory, from its very nature, to the heart of man; whilst there are times of peculiar temptation, when no other can afford relief. No minds are so open to the incursion of doubt, as the most powerful and argumentative; no minds are so open to the fiery darts of the great adversary; none so prone to an infirm and wavering faith. In these respects, the moral and internal witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart, is a refuge and consolation. It shuts out doubts, it silences cavils, it overrules objections, it quells speculative difficulties. To be conscious of the Divine glory of the things revealed; to feel their elevating, feel their elevating, purifying, consoling effects; to know they have made me a better man; to recollect that answers to prayer, and fulfilment of promises, have been and are, testifying of the truth of Christianity to the heart: these are solid proofs, which silence the floating conjectures and momentary hesitations which temptations may inject into CHRIST. OBSERV. APP.

the mind. The soul has an anchor, a hold, an interior conviction of Christianity which nothing can shake. It is not this or that particular argument merely, that sustains our faith; it is the great substance of the Gospel, producing holy and heavenly effects upon the heart and character." pp. 257, 258.

In rising from the perusal of this lecture, we find our minds in a frame which we could wish continually to enjoy. It is in unison with the Scriptures themselves: it reposes on the "sure mercies of David:" it is raised above human reasonings and abstract deductions: it is "a peace of God which passeth all understanding:" it is the refreshment which an exhausted frame receives from a rich cordial; it is the consciousness of life, and health, and comfort. We feel that, in receiving the Scriptures as the word of God, we

are resting on a rock; and enjoy the hope of the richest blessing which God can impart in this world, and enjoy the foretaste of all the felicity which he will confer in the future.

This lecture concludes the direct internal evidence for the truth of Christianity. Those that follow are only collaterally connected with the argument, and contain directions for the application of the test in the preceding lecture; answers to the objections of infidels; contrasts between the lives and deaths of Christians and infidels; the kind of faith with which the Christian Revelation should be received; and the sound interpretation of the records of revelation. Each of these topics will richly repay the reader for a careful perusal.

In taking our leave of Mr. Wilson's work, we scarcely think it necessary to dwell upon such faults as the occasional want of simplicity, too great exuberance of style, accumulating terms without always adding variety or strength to the sentiment; and over minuteness of subdivision of heads, so as sometimes to dilate the of the reader. We have already main topic, and fatigue the attention adverted to what appeared to us SL

the incorrectness of a statement, or invalidity of an argument. But these can scarcely be called deductions from the excellent and important matter of the work, which is well calculated to enlarge the knowledge, to enrich the mind, and to strengthen the faith of every Christian reader. The mind of the writer is thoroughly imbued with the evidences in support of Christianity; and he has made the reasonings of others so appropriately his own, as to give an air of freshness to some topics of necessity trite. The great peculiarity, however, of Mr. Wilson's work is the devout unction which he has infused into almost every sentiment, and the edifying tendency of all his proofs and arguments. He is never satisfied with convincing the understanding, but aims at carrying along with him the heart and affections. He proves that Christianity is true, that he may make his reader a Christian. He sets forth its claims to a Divine origin, that he may exhibit its infinite importance. He shews its adaptation to the wants and woes of man, that he may direct the miserable to the source of blessedness, and those that are ready to perish to the wells of salvation. He convinces the young that infidelity has no support from reason, nor countenance from the wise and good, that he may preserve them from the "paths of the destroyer," and conduct them by ways of pleasantness" to habi. tations of eternal bliss; and none, we presume, can read these pages without experiencing as beneficial an influence on their heart as an augmented stedfastness of their faith. It is in this moral and religious application that many of our standard works on the evidences are defective. The writers reasoned as if they be lieved Christianity, but did not personally feel its value as a record of salvation; a defect inexcusable, even in an abstract treatise on such a subject, but which would be doubly so in a series of lectures delivered from the pulpit, and on the day

devoted to the special purposes of spiritual edification.

But we may seem to have forgotten the other claimants on our attention, who stand at the head of this article; and we have, in truth, reason to apologise both to them and to our readers, for having left so small a space for remarking on their valuable publications. We may, however, congratulate the Christian community that, in this "day of rebuke and blasphemy," so many able champions for the truth have girded on the harness, and gone forth to meet the boastful Goliaths who have defied the armies of the living God. Each of these has laid prostrate his enemy, and in every instance Dagon has fallen before the sacred ark.

The seventeen sermons of Mr. Marsh are intended to exhibit “a brief survey of the evidence and nature of the Christian religion;" and the peculiarity and excellence of his argument is, that he connects the evidences for the Christian faith with its leading and fundamental doctrines, and makes them mutually establish and sustain each other. After two preliminary discourses, on "the duty of examining the evidences of our faith," Mr. Marsh proves from the works of creation "the being of a God;" and then proceeds to establish the same truth from revelation; not by assuming its Divine origin, but, after briefly, and by the usual arguments, proving "the truth or authority of the sacred volume," by shewing that Jesus Christ taught this doctrine, and asserted the being and perfections of the Divine nature from his own knowledge, as having seen God, having come from him, and being his Son; and that this testimony must be true, seeing that, in confirmation of it, he wrought miracles and foretold such future events as could not have been foreseen but by a Divine prescience, and especially his own resurrection from the dead, with a special reference to the truth of his being the Messiah. Having

thus placed the existence and attributes of the Supreme Being on this two-fold foundation, he has, in the very process of his argument, established the truth of the Holy Scriptures by the miracles and prophecies which it contains. But he does not rest here. Prophecies themselves are, for the most part, confirmatory of the laws and precepts of the Bible; for the promises and threatenings, which are the frequent subjects of these predictions, are so many sanctions of God's laws, and therefore prove both the existence and importance of the Divine code. He then reduces this code to its two grand and constituent principles, the love of God and man, and shews that it is of universal obligation. But every individual has violated these laws; and this fact brings the whole human race under the sentence of condemnation. This again opens the way for redemption, with the doctrines therewith connected, such as the atonement, justification, sanctification, and so forth. And thus the whole of the Christian dispensation, in all its grand peculiarities, is shewn to form one indissoluble chain of doctrines and truths, all arising out of, and dependent upon, the original proof of the existence of one God. The argument is important, and Mr. Marsh has conducted it with great clearness and ability. It is, moreover, of a character peculiarly suited to pulpit instruction; for while it lays the foundation of Christianity on a firm basis, and calls into its service the historical evidences, it connects itself, at every step, with all that is appropriate and essential to Chris tianity, to our hopes and our fears, to our faith and holiness, to our present enjoyments, and future prospects. We may, moreover, recommend this series of sermons as containing an excellent summary of the Christian system; and, to the Christian who has but little time for voluminous reading, and but little taste for elaborate reasoning,

as furnishing a convenient and safe, epitome of Christianity.

2

The treatise of Mr. Sheppard, the well-known author of "Thoughts on Private Devotion," on "The Divine Origin of Christianity, deduced from some of those Evidences which are not founded on the Au thenticity of Scripture," is of no ordinary value. It will be seen from the title-page, that the ground he takes, if not altogether previously unoccupied, is not that upon which the usual writers upon Christian evidences take their stand. Whilst these commence their valuable labours by proving the genuineness of the books which record the life, doctrines, miracles, and resurrection of our Lord, and thus acquire the undoubted right of using the materials with which those records provide them, to establish the claims of Christianity to universal belief, Mr. Sheppard leaves this field of argument untouched; and without any reference to the sacred books themselves, shews that the history of Christianity is so interwoven with the contemporary history of the world, as to form an essential and staple part of its composition; and that this history, whether it relate to political, philosophical, polemical, moral, or religious topics, furnishes abundant means of substantiating the claims of Christianity to a Divine origin. Having achieved this object, and thus prepared the mind of his readers to receive the Gospel as a dispensation of grace and mercy from Heaven, the flood of light which will break in when the record itself is thrown open and explored, will be irresistible, and carry along with it the conviction of demonstration; or, to change the metaphor, whilst the previous information was like the dawning of the sun at the break of day, the radiance of Divine knowledge, as diffused from the books of the New Testament, will be like the same luminary shining in his meridian splendour.

The harvest of the direct proofs