ever will be theologians who feel a peculiar | of our religion no farther than to the length interest in their subject; and we trust that of an ambiguous and midway scepticism. there ever will be men, with a higher grasp By adopting a decisive infidelity, we reof mind than either the mere theologian, or ject a testimony, which, of all others, has the mere naturalist, who are ready to ac- come down to us in the most perfect and knowledge the claims of truth in every unsuspicious form. We lock up a source quarter,-who are superior to that narrow of evidence, which is often repaired to in contempt, which has made such an unhappy other questions of science and history. and malignant separation among the differ- We cut off the authority of principles, ent orders of scientific men,-who will ex- which, if once exploded, will not terminate amine the evidences of the Gospel history, in the solitary mischief of darkening and and, if they are found to be sufficient, will destroying our theology, but will shed a view the miracles of our Saviour with the baleful uncertainty over many of the most same liberal and philosophic curiosity with interesting speculations on which the huwhich they would contemplate any grand man mind can expatiate. phenomenon in the moral history of the Even admitting, then, this single objecspecies. If there really appears, on the face tion in the subject of our Saviour's testiof this investigation, to be such a difficulty mony, the whole length to which we can leas the one in question, a philosopher of the gitimately carry the objection is scepticism, order we are now describing will make or that dilemma of the mind into which it many an anxious effort to extricate him- is thrown by two contradictory appearself; he will not soon acquiesce in a scep- ances. This is the unavoidable result of ticism, of which there is no other example admitting both terms in the alleged conin the wide field of human speculation; he tradiction. Upon the strength of all the will either make out the insufficiency of reasoning which has hitherto occupied us, the historical evidence, or prove that the we challenge the infidel to dispose of the falsehood ascribed to Jesus Christ has no one term, which lies in the strength of the existence. He will try to dispose of one of historical evidence. But in different ways, the terms of the alleged contradiction, be- we may dispose of the other which lies in fore he can prevail upon himself to admit the alleged falsehood of our Saviour's testiboth, and deliver his mind to a state of un-mony. We may deny the truth of the certainty most painful to those who respect geological speculation; nor is it necessary truth in all her departments. to be an accomplished geologist, that we We offer the above observations, not so may be warranted to deny it. We appeal much for the purpose of doing away a dif- to the speculations of the geologists themficulty which we conscientiously believe to selves. They neutralize one another, and have no existence, as for the purpose of leave us in possession of free ground for exposing the rapid, careless, and unphiloso- the informations of the Old Testament. phical procedure of some enemies to the Our imaginations have been much regaled Christian argument. They, in the first in- by the brilliancy of their speculations, but stance, take up the rapid assumption, that they are so opposite to each other, that we Jesus Christ has, either through himself, now cease to be impressed by their evior his immediate disciples, made an asser-dence. But there are other ways of distion as to the antiquity of the globe, which, posing of the supposed falsehood of our upon the faith of their geological specula- Saviour's testimony. Does he really astions, they know to be a falsehood. After sert what has been called the Mosaical anhaving fastened this strain upon the sub-tiquity of the world? It is true that he ject of the testimony, they by one sum- gives his distinct testimony to the divine mary act of the understanding, lay aside all legation of Moses; but does Moses ever say, the external evidence for the miracles and that when God created the heavens and general character of our Saviour. They the earth, he did more at the time alluded will not wait to be told, that this evidence to than transform them out of previously is a distinct subject of examination; and existing materials? Or does he ever say, that, if actually attended to, it will be found that there was not an interval of many much stronger than the evidence of any ages between the first act of creation, deother fact or history which has come down scribed in the first verse of the book of to us in the written memorials of past ages. Genesis, and said to have been performed If this evidence is to be rejected it must be at the beginning; and those more detailed rejected on its own proper grounds; but if operations, the account of which commenall positive testimony, and all sound reason- ces at the second verse, and which are deing upon human affairs, go to establish it, scribed to us as having been performed in then the existence of such proof is a phe- so many days? Or, finally, does he ever nomenon which remains to be accounted make us to understand, that the genealogies for, and must ever stand in the way of of man went any farther than to fix the positive infidelity. Until we dispose of it, antiquity of the species, and, of consewe can carry our opposition to the claims quence, that they left the antiquity of the globe a free subject for the speculations of philosophers?-We do not pledge our selves for the truth of one or all of these suppositions. Nor is it necessary that we should. It is enough that any of them is infinitely more rational than the rejection of Christianity in the face of its historical evidence. This historical evidence remains in all the obstinacy of experimental and well-attested facts; and as there are so many ways of expunging the other term in the alleged contradiction, we appeal to every enlightened reader, if it is at all candid or philosophical to suffer it to stand. CHAPTER VIII. feel and understand the powerful evidence which lies in the tone, the manner, the circumstantiality, the number, the agreement of the witnesses, and the consistency of all the particulars with what we already know from other sources of information. Now it is undeniable, that all those marks which give evidence and credibility to spoken testimony, may also exist to a very impres sive degree in written testimony; and the argument founded upon them, so far from being fanciful or illegitimate, has the sanction of a principle which no philosopher will refuse; the experience of the human mind on a subject on which it is much exercised, and which lies completely within the range of its observation. On the Internal Evidence, and the Objections of Deistical Infidels. THERE is another species of evidence for Christianity, which we have not yet noticed, -what is commonly called the internal evidence, consisting of those proofs that Christianity is a dispensation from heaven, which are founded upon the nature of its doctrines, and the character of the dispensation itself. The term "internal evidence" may be made, indeed, to take up more than this. We may take up the New Testament as a human composition, and without any reference to its subsequent history, or to the direct and external testimonies by which it is supported. We may collect from the performance itself such marks of truth and honesty, as entitle us to conclude, that the human agents employed in the construction of this book We cannot say so much, however, for were men of veracity and principle. This the other species of internal evidence, that argument has already been resorted to, and which is founded upon the reasonableness a very substantial argument it is. It is of of the doctrines, or the agreement which is frequent application in questions of gene- conceived to subsist between the nature of ral criticism; and upon its authority alone the Christian religion and the character of many of the writers of past times have the Supreme Being. We have experience been admitted into credit, and many have of man, but we have no experience of God. been condemned as unworthy of it. The We can reason upon the procedure of numerous and correct allusions to the cus-man in given circumstances, because this is toms and institutions, and other statistics of an accessible subject, and comes under the the age in which the pieces of the New Testament profess to have been written, give evidence of their antiquity. The artless and undesigned way in which these allusions are interwoven with the whole history, impresses upon us the perfect sim-like the scale, and compass, and measureplicity of the authors, and the total absence ments of Sir Isaac Newton, will lead you on of every wish or intention to palm an im- safe and firm footing to the true economy of posture upon the world. And there is such the heavens; the other, like the ether and a thing too as a general air of authenticity, whirlpools, and unfounded imaginations of which, however difficult to resolve into Des Cartes, will not only lead you to misconparticulars, gives a very close and power-ceive that economy, but to maintain a stubful impression of truth to the narrative. There is nothing fanciful in this species of internal evidence. It carries in it all the We feel that in thus disclaiming all supcertainty of experience, and experience port from what is commonly understood too upon a familiar and well-known sub- by the internal evidence, we do not follow ject, the characters of honesty in the the general example of those who have written testimony of our fellow men. We written on the Deistical controversy. Take are often called upon in private and every-up Leland's performance, and it will be day life to exercise our judgment upon the found that one half of his discussion is exspoken testimony of others, and we both pended upon the reasonableness of the doc cognizance of observation; but we cannot reason on the procedure of the Almighty in given circumstances. This is an inaccessible subject and comes not within the limits of direc. and personal observation. The one, born opposition to the only competent evidence that can be offered upon the subject. times. trines, and in asserting the validity of the certain sacrifices must be made, and some argument which is founded upon that rea-of the most urgent propensities of the mind sonableness. It would save a vast deal of put under severe restraint and regulation. controversy, if it could be proved that all The human mind feels restless and dissatisthis is superfluous and uncalled for; that fied under the anxieties of ignorance. It upon the authority of the proofs already longs for the repose of conviction; and to insisted on, the New Testament must be re- gain this repose, it will often rather preceived as a revelation from heaven; and cipitate its conclusions, than wait for the that, instead of sitting in judgment over it, tardy lights of observation and experiment. nothing remains on our part but an act of There is such a thing, too, as the love of unreserved submission to all the doctrine simplicity and system-a prejudice of the and information which it offers to us. It is understanding, which disposes it to include conceived, that in this way the general ar- all the phenomena of nature under a few gument might be made to assume a more sweeping generalities-an indolence, which powerful and impressive aspect; and the loves to repose on the beauties of a theory, defence of Christianity be more accommo- rather than encounter the fatiguing detail dated to the spirit and philosophy of the of its evidences-a painful reluctance to the admission of facts, which, however true, Since the spirit of Lord Bacon's philoso-break in upon the majestic simplicity that phy began to be rightly understood, the we would fain ascribe to the laws and operascience of external nature has advanced tions of the universe. with a rapidity unexampled in the history of all former ages. The great axiom of his philosophy is so simple in its nature, and so undeniable in its evidence, that it is astonishing how philosophers were so late in acknowledging it, or in being directed by its authority. It is more than two thousand years since the phenomena of external nature were objects of liberal curiosity to speculative and intelligent men. Yet two centuries have scarcely elapsed since the true path of investigation has been rightly pursued, and steadily persevered in; since the evidence of experience has been received as paramount to every other evidence, or, in other words, since philosophers have agreed that the only way to learn the magnitude of an object is to measure it, the only way to learn its tangible properties is to touch it, and the only way to learn its visible properties is to look at it. Now, it is the glory of Lord Bacon's philosophy, to have achieved a victory over all these delusions; to have disciplined the minds of its votaries into an entire submission to evidence; to have trained them up in a kind of steady coldness to all the splendour and magnificence of theory, and taught them to follow, with unfaultering step, wherever the sure though humble path of experiment may lead them. To justify the cautious procedure of the inductive philosophy, nothing more is necessary than to take a view of the actual powers and circumstances of humanity; of the entire ignorance of man when he comes into the world, and of the steps by which that ignorance is enlightened; of the numerous errors into which he is misled the moment he ceases to observe, and begins to presume or to excogitate; of the actual history of science; its miserable progress, so long as categories and principles retained their ascendency in the schools; and the splendour and rapidity of its triumphs, so soon as man understood that he was nothing more than the disciple of Nature, and must take his lesson as Nature offers it to him. What is true of the science of external Nothing can be more safe or more infallible than the procedure of the inductive philosophy as applied to the phenomena of external nature. It is the eye, or the earwitness of every thing which it records. It is at liberty to classify appearances, but then in the work of classifying, it must be directed only by observation. It may group nature, holds equally true of the science phenomena according to their resemblances. and phenomena of mind. On this subject, It may express these resemblances in words, too, the presumptuous ambition of man carand announce them to the world in the form ried him far from the sober path of experiof general laws. Yet such is the hardihood mental inquiry. He conceived that his of the inductive philosophy, that though a business was not to observe, but to specusingle well-attested fact should overturn a late; to construct systems rather than conwhole system, that fact must be admitted. sult his own experience and the experience A single experiment is often made to cut of others; to collect the materials of his short the finest process of generalization, theory, not from the history of observed however painful and humiliating the sacri- facts, but from a set of assumed and excogifice; and though a theory, the most simple tated principles. Now the same observaand magnificent that ever charmed the eye tions apply to this department of inquiry. of an enthusiast, was on the eve of emerg-We must admit to be true, not what we ing from it. presume, but what we find to be so. We In submitting, then, to the rules of the must restrain the enterprises of fancy. A inductive philosophy, we do not deny that law of the human mind must be only a G Let us therefore endeavour to evince the success and felicity with which Lord Bacon's principles may be applied to the investigation before us. series of well-authenticated facts, reduced to investigation, theology is the only subject one general description, or grouped together that is suffered to remain the victim of preunder some general points of resemblance. judice, and of a contempt the most unjust, The business of the moral as well as of the and the most unphilosophical. natural philosopher is not to assert what he We do not speak of this feeling as an excogitates, but to record what he observes; impiety; we speak of it as an offence against not to amuse himself with the speculations the principles of just speculation. We do of fancy, but to describe phenomena as he not speak of it as it allures the heart from sees or as he feels them. This is the busi- the influence of religion; we speak of it as ness of the moral as well as of the natural it allures the understanding from the influinquirer. We must extend the application ence of evidence and truth. In a word, we of Lord Bacon's principles to moral and are not preaching against it; we reason metaphysical subjects. It was long before against it. We contend that it is a transthis application was recognized, or acted gression against the rules of the inductive upon by philosophers. Many of the conti- philosophy. All that we want is, the apnental speculations are still infected with plication of Lord Bacon's principles to the the presumptuous a priori spirit of the old investigation before us; and as the influschools; though the writings of Reid and ence of prejudice and disgust is banished Stewart have contributed much to chase from every other department of inquiry, away this spirit from the metaphysics of we conceive it fair that it should be banishour own country, and to bring the science ed from theology also, and that our subof mind, as well as matter, under the entire ject should have the common advantage of dominion of the inductive philosophy. a hearing,-where no partiality of the heart These general observations we conceive or fancy is admitted, and no other influto be a most direct and applicable introduc-ence acknowledged than the influence of tion to that part of the subject which is evidence over the convictions of the underbefore us. In discussing the evidence of standing. Christianity, all that we ask of our reader is to bring along with him the same sober and inductive spirit, that is now deemed so necessary in the prosecution of the other sciences; to abandon every system of theology, that is not supported by evidence, however much it may gratify his taste, or regale his imagination, and to admit any system of theology, that is supported by evidence, however repugnant to his feelings or his prejudices; to make conviction, in fact, paramount to inclination, or to fancy; and to maintain, through the whole process of the investigation, that strength and intrepidity of character, which will follow wherever the light of argument may conduct him, though it should land him in conclusions the most nauseous and unpalatable. We have no time to enter into causes; but the fact is undeniable. Many philosophers of the present day are disposed to nauseate every thing connected with theology. They associate something low and ignoble with the prosecution of it. They regard it, as not a fit subject for liberal inquiry. They turn away from it with disgust, as one of the humblest departments of literary exertion. We do not say that they reject its evidences, but they evade the investigation of them. They feel no conviction; not because they have established the fallacy of a single argument, but because they entertain a general dislike at the subject, and will not attend to it. They love to expatiate in the more kindred fields of science or elegant literature; and while the most respectful caution, and humility, and steadiness, are seen to preside over every department of moral and physical According to Bacon, man is ignorant of every thing antecedent to observation; and there is not a single department of inquiry, in which he does not err the moment that he abandons it. It is true that the greater part of every individual's knowledge is derived immediately from testimony; but it is only from testimony that brings home to his conviction the observation of others. Still it is observation which lies at the bottom of his knowledge. Still it is man taking his lesson from the actual condition of the thing which he contemplates; a condition that is altogether independent of his will, and which no speculation of his can modify or destroy. There is an obstinacy in the processes of nature, which he cannot controul. He must follow it. The construction of a system should not be a creative, but an imitative process, which admits nothing but what evidence assures us to be true, and is founded only on the lessons of experience. It is not by the exercise of a sublime and speculative ingenuity that man arrives at truth. It is by letting himself down to the drudgery of observation. It is by descending to the sober work of seeing, and feeling, and experimenting. Wherever, in short, he has not had the benefit of his own observation, or the observation of others brought home to his conviction by credible testimony, there he is ignorant. This is found to hold true, even in those sciences where the objects of inquiry are ! the most familiar and the most accessible. | fluence of every authority, but the authority Thus, there is both a humility and a hardihood in the philosophical temper. They are the same in principle, though different in display. The first is founded on a sense of ignorance, and disposes the mind of the philosopher to pay the most respectful attention to every thing that is offered in the shape of evidence. The second consists in a determined purpose to reject and to sacrifice every thing that offers to oppose the influence of evidence, or to set itself up against its legitimate and well-established conclusions. In the ethereal whirlpools of Des Cartes, we see a transgression against the humility of the philosophical character. It is the presumption of knowledge on a subject, where the total want of observation should have confined him to the modesty of ignorance. In the Newtonian system of the world, we see both humility and hardihood. Sir Isaac commences his investigation with all the modesty of a respectful inquirer. His is the docility of a scholar, who is sensible that he has all to learn. He takes his lesson as experience offers it to him, and yields a passive obedience to the authority of this great schoolmaster. It is in his obstinate adherence to the truth which his master has given him, that the hardihood of the philosophical character begins to appear. We see him announce, with entire confidence, both the fact and its legitimate consequences. We see him not deterred by the singularity of his conclusions, and quite unmindful of that host of antipathies which the reigning taste and philosophy of the times mustered up to oppose him. We see him resisting the in We look upon these two constituents of the philosophical temper, as forming the best preparation for finally terminating in the decided Christian. In appreciating the pretensions of Christianity, there is a call both upon the humility and the hardihood of every inquirer; the humility which feels its own ignorance, and submits without reserve to whatever comes before it in the shape of authentic and well-established evidence; and the hardihood, which sacrifices every taste and every prejudice at the shrine of conviction, which defies the scorn of a pretended philosophy, which is not ashamed of a profession that some conceive to be degraded by the homage of the superstitious vulgar, which can bring down its mind to the homeliness of the Gospel, and renounce, without a sigh, all that is elegant, and splendid, and fascinating, in the speculations of moralists. In attending to the complexion of the Christian argument, we are widely mistaken, if it is not precisely that kind of argument which will be most readily admitted by those whose minds have been trained to the soundest habits of philosophical investigation; and if that spirit of cautious and sober-minded inquiry to which modern science stands indebted for all her triumphs, is not the very identical spirit which leads us to "cast down all our lofty imaginations, and to bring every thought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ." On entering into any department of inquiry, the best preparation is that docility of mind which is founded on a sense of our total ignorance of the subject: and nothing is looked upon as more unphilosophical than the temerity of that a priori spirit, which disposes many to presume before they investigate. But if we admit the total ignorance of man antecedent to observation, even in those sciences where the objects of inquiry are the nearest and the most familiar, we will be more ready to' admit his total ignorance of those subjects which are more remote and more inaccessible. If caution and modesty be esteemed so philosophical, even when employed in that little field of investigation which comes within the range of our senses; why should they not be esteemed philosophical when employed on a subject so vast, so awful, so remote from direct and personal observation, as the government of God? There can be nothing so completely above us, and 1 |