sufferings of Christ, of the proof from prophecy, as one "which alone may assure any man that such a person doth come from God, and is in what he declareth or doeth approved by him." Whether there be any one single argument which is in itself sufficient to break down every barrier of infidelity, and place the citadel of Christianity at rest for ever from its foes, I presume not to determine. The language of our Saviour's answer to the Baptist would lead me to the formation of a different opinion, and I cannot but deem it to savour rather of boldness than discretion for any one to assert that he could see the Gospel "driven from all her defences and surrender them without a sigh, so long as the phalanx of her historical evidence remains impenetrable." That ancient river, the river Nile, that pours down its mighty waters over the Egyptian land, and brings the blessings of fruitfulness in the overflowing of its waves, is fed, not by one, but by many tributary streams; and vain and idle indeed should we account the presumption of that boastful traveller who, having pushed his adventurous steps to the head of one of its leading branches, should proclaim, in the pride of discovery, that the spring to which he had mounted was the only real source of its majesty and power. There is not a rivulet, however mean, or nameless, that does not contribute

its proportionate share in the production of the great result; nor is there one single argument, however trivial, which has not its place and its use in giving strength and beauty to the whole system of evangelical demonstration. But we remark in addition, that it is not less dangerous than unwise, to build up the truth of the Gospel upon some narrow foundation, and to attempt to generate in the mind a disparaging view of any other train of argument. He that has been taught to hold the proof from prophecy or from miracles as comparatively weak and insignificant when compared with the reasoning which is supplied by the internal evidences of the Gospel, will, in the first place, be led to form an overweening notion of the importance of that particular branch of proof. In the second place, and when, as will most probably be the case, he comes afterwards to find out that this favourite argumentis possessed neither of the solidity nor the conclusiveness with which he had graced it in his imagination, the undue and contemptuous opinion which he has imbibed to the prejudice of every other species of evidence, will leave him no sure rock of refuge to flee to in his difficulties, and he will fall, perhaps never to rise again. The same evil must also follow, whatever be that particular proof to which we give a partial and undivided attention. But he who instead of devoting his labours to the

exclusive examination of some scanty portion of the argument for Christianity, employs his faculties in a free and a fair contemplation of the whole, will never be confounded by the objections he may hear urged against any insulated part; but will still turn, in the hour of danger, to the irresistible force of the whole body of his reasoning; will still appeal to it as his apology, and still rest upon it as his stay. For it is not the lever or the wheel that forms the machine. It is not the eye, or the foot, or the tongue, or the hand, that constitutes the strong and living man; but it is the intimate connection and the judicious combination of them all. Separate them from each other, and from that moment their strength and their life are lost.

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Go then, and the miracles and the doctrines and the prophecies which the Lord did join together in his answer, let no man henceforth dare to put asunder in his own. Go, and when the infidel shall ask you a reason of the hope that is in you, tell him that you know both in whom and in what you have trusted, and lay before him the full and connected system of your proofs. Tell him, first of all, that you believe that the things which are written in the Gospel are true. If he ask you why, tell him, that it is because these things were written by the earliest and constant followers of

our Lord; and because those disciples shewed their sincerity by their sufferings; and because you never can, and never will renounce your belief in the testimony of men, whose virtue and integrity are known; who relate what they had heard and seen; of whom it is impossible to suppose that they were deceived; and who went down to the grave, through the severest agonies, maintaining with a firm and undaunted countenance the same undeviating tale.-Then lay your Bible before him. Turn to the Gospel itself, and recount to him the works of your Saviour upon earth. Tell him they were works of wonder, and therefore prove that there was in his mind and in his arm the co-operating strength and wisdom of a power superior to that which belongs to our poor and simple humanity. If he borrow the written language of the unbeliever* to aid him in his defence, and ask you, "what powers, whether supreme or subaltern, mortal or immortal, wise or foolish, just or unjust, good or bad?" Tell him that, with you, there is in this no mystery at all; because the works of Jesus were works of mercy as well as wonder; and, therefore prove that the Father of mercy, as well as of might, had sent him-that he was a prophet favoured above measure by God. Then, to prove that Jesus was indeed worthy of such sup* Shaftesbury.

port, let him learn the spirit of the Gospel by precept and example too. Let him go to the Mount and hear his Saviour commanding his disciples to love their enemies, and then let him go to the Cross and listen to that Saviour in for the forgiveness of his.

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The Gospel and its miracles and its morality having thus spoken for themselves, break to him the seal of prophecy. Lay before him the great scheme of Providence, from the foundation to the end of the world. Point to our first parents, fallen, wretched, banished, and just turning their unwilling steps from the beauties and blessings of a Paradise which they had lost through the disobedience of unbelief, and relieved from despair only by their confidence in the promise of a future Redeemer. Next lead him to the faith of Abraham, rewarded in the gracious declaration, that in Isaac should his seed be called, and that in him should all the nations of the earth again be blessed. Carry him hence through Judah to the man after God's own heart-to David and to David's line. But here the system will become too extensive for particular consideration. Fix his thoughts, therefore, upon some powerful and leading feature. Repeat to him, though it be through tears, the mournful forebodings of Isaiah, concerning him who was "acquainted with grief," as it were with