tually used, or at least was well acquainted with, and in the passage before us, referred to these Christian Researches; and I think that any one who will attentively consider what has been said, will admit that the reasoning is in no respect forced or disjointed; but fair, legitimate, and satisfactorily conclusive. In point of fact it is in this case correct, for the writer of these pages well remembers the Bishop's having borrowed, with other books, the very volume now lying open beside him, for the purpose of this address, on the evening before it was delivered.-At that time he had little thought of the assistance the circumstance would afterwards afford in supplying so appropriate a subject of analysis for the illustration of the present work.

But taking lower grounds, and supposing we have in the Bishop's words nothing more than a passing mention of Buchanan's visit, with no means of ascertaining whether there ever were a published account of it, or not; and that afterwards we find a book professing to contain such a record, and bearing on the face of it none of the usual marks of spuriousness, or want of truth; this alone would be a great step gained; a strong presumption in favour of the authority of this record; and one which in most ordinary cases would be esteemed sufficient. Thus in a case very nearly parallel, it was known that the famous Roman orator Cicero had left a treatise entitled Dialogues on the Republic; but except a notice of it in the other writings of the orator himself, and a few quotations in three writers of somewhat early date, not a trace of it existed, till, in the year 1822, the work was discovered in the Vatican library at Rome; with a Commentary of Augustine on the Psalms, which had been written over it crosswise, a practice we shall have to speak of by and bye, as not uncommon in ages when parchment was scarce and dear. Yet on evidence so comparatively slight, this was received by the learned world as having its authenticity materially, almost legally demonstrated.

Receiving then Buchanan's work as genuine; we are carried back by it to Swartz, and his fellow Missionaries in Tanjore. This brings us by an easy step to the establishment of the first Protestant Mission at Tranquebar; and, through it, brings us in contact with the Christians of continental Europe, and of England, involving the mention of their Prin

ees, commerce, universities, religious establishments, and other objects of equal interest. Of this any one may satisfy himself by a glance at a few pages of a common book, a Memoir of Swartz, by the author of the Life of Buchanan. For full information on all these points a great variety of authors will claim a perusal; and collecting at each successive step all the well authenticated, and only the well authenticated materials that crowd upon us, as we push our researches further backwards, and taking up fully every new branch that presents itself; we shall soon find that starting from a single point, we have brought before us a vast mass of information on an almost endless variety of subjects, characters, and nations; in short a field will be opened for the study of universal history, geography, science, and all that is, or can be an object of knowledge among men. But it is obvious that to enter upon the whole of this would exceed the powers of any individual, and is beside our present purpose; for we have now to confine our inquiry to the Christian religion. Beginning then, not from one, but several well known writers of the present day, and selecting from each, not one, but several portions of their works; and then taking for authority those only whom they, directly or incidentally, vouch for as worthy of our trust; and then consulting these with a like spirit of confidence, remembering that their integrity has been satisfactorily made out; and proceeding thus with each fresh set of writers, step by step, we shall come at last to the originators of the Christian Scheme, the authors of our Scriptures; and if we can in this way complete our chain, the identity of our story with that they taught, will be at once made out.

This process will be further illustrated by a second example, bearing on this, but selected for a different purpose; namely, to show how the chronology of ancient writers may be traced with at least sufficient general accuracy, from no other data from that supplied by quotations among themselves, irrespective of any direct evidence they may supply. This is necessary, because in some cases we may be dependent on the method I am speaking of, and were it so in every case, so conclusive is it, that no detriment to our argument, would ensue. Let us then turn over the pages of the Charge delivered by the Bishop of Madras in 1842 and 1843. We find in it reference, in one way or

another, to Cranmer and Ridley; to Jewel, Hooker, Sanderson, Butler, Wesley, and Whitfield; and to Bishop Corrie and Dr. Mill. We might add to these names; but these are sufficient for our purpose, and chosen simply on account of the ages in which they severally lived. In a charge of Bishop Corrie's we might find allusion to all these persons, but none to the present Bishop of Madras, at least, as Bishop. In a charge of Bishop Middleton, twenty-five years since, we might find the first eight names; but probably not the two latter, at least in the capacity alluded to by Bishop Spencer. In any similar document of an English Bishop, from about the middle to near the end of the last century, we might be likely enough to find some reference to Wesley and Whitfield, as then calling for a comment on their proceedings; and all the names preceding their's might also occur. Going back another half century we lose sight of the two last named, and perhaps of Butler; the first traces of whose name might meet us towards its beginning. Half a century more, and the same remark will apply to Sanderson; while a century earlier, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, only the four first names on our list could be found; and a few years previously, in the reign of Edward VI., none but the two first would be likely to occur, for Jewel, though rising into notice, was young, and had not then the reputation he afterwards acquired; and Hooker was born the year that Edward died. Once more, in Bishop Spencer's charge we find no quotation from a single Indian writer on Christianity. Probably the lapse of another hundred years will furnish many for an eastern Bishop to bring forward; but at any rate many a name now unknown will ere then have been introduced to fame, and perhaps its owner lie slumbering in the dust. Be this as it may, the reader may now see how, by consulting different writers, and noting carefully when each name first comes upon the scene, or if we reckon backwards, when they cease to occur, we shall have but little difficulty in forming at least a general idea of the order of their succession, and the age in which they lived. And this, be it observed, is totally independent of the real value of the writer, or the respect we may entertain for his opinions. Be he friend or enemy, trust-worthy or suspected, judicious or frivolous, it makes no difference. He is not the halting place we are bound

G

for, but a mere guide by the way; if we find him a companion whose sound and solid sense may edify us on our journey, we may thankfully make him of our company, or even while away an hour, not lost in gleaning such information as he can supply: and if not, having availed ourselves of such directions as we can trust him for, we may shake him off, and wend our way alone.

But the use to be made of inferior writers shall be exemplified by a particular instance; for to complete our series we shall be carried through a dark and entangled period, where little else than ignorance and confusion reigned; and this might detract from the satisfaction felt in that completeness, unless we carefully explain how far we depend on the authorities of this period, and how it is we may safely do so to the extent required. But we may first remark, that when we have traced back our Christian books to the verge of these dark ages, we have in reality traced them beyond; for the very same relics of those days of ignorance that justify us in characterizing them thus, prove also to demonstration that they could not have forged, either the Christian Scriptures themselves, or the works of those early writers on whose evidence regarding them we must mainly depend. When the beaten path leads the traveller to the wild and unfrequented waste, he feels sure that it will take him beyond, and fearlessly pursues his way; and thus whatever detriment may be suspected to have befallen our books in passing through this moral waste, (and how little this is we shall have to show hereafter,) if they are found to have emerged from it, they must have passed through, for they could not have originated in it. But to proceed. The Book of Decretals, pretending to be a collection of decrees issued by the early Bishops of Rome, but now acknowledged by the Romanists themselves, to be a clumsy forgery is known to have appeared during the ninth century after Christ. One proof of the ignorance of the compiler is, that he makes the Bishops of the earlier centuries quote the Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Bible, not published till the fifth century; and not generally received by the Church of Rome till the seventh; and Victor, who was Bishop of Rome A. D. 192, is made to write to Theophilus of Alexandria, who flourished in 385! Now suppose that nothing whatever were known about the Vulgate, but that by

the latter mistake, and others of a similar kind, the forgery were fully made out, and its date assigned on the evidence on which it actually rests: we should be fully warranted in deducing with the greatest certainty the existence of the Vulgate, and of its general circulation, in the ninth century; and this on the authority of a bungling cheat, full of errors, but so far an infallible guide, simply because we have ascertained the period of its first appearance. I need not add that our information concerning the Vulgate is amply sufficient without this aid; and indeed that this information furnishes us with one of the many proofs of the forgery of the Decretals; but this supposed case may satisfactorily show, that to this extent, at least, if no further, we may use the worthless trash of the darkest times; and this is all we want; supposing no one opinion expressed, or fact stated by these writers could be depended on; so long as they wrote, and referred to previous writers, which they did to an extent never exceeded, their help will furnish us with the clue we need, and bring us to the brighter ages that preceded them.

Thus then we have seen how quotations, or incidental allusions, on the part of one author may confirm the authenticity of the writings of another, and that, even when they are at variance in matters of opinion; we have seen further how these writings may, without external aid, be chronologically arranged; and what is more, how works of no esteem may become, to a limited extent, but to the full extent we require, infallible guides in picking out our way. We have now to apply these principles in the measure, and to the extent each separate authority will bear, in the investigation of our main subject. And in consulting the writers of each age, we find that they so frequently allude to, quote, reply to, confirm, or contradict their contemporaries; that they are so interwoven with each other, and with the age immediately preceding them, and often with many more, that it is impossible to question for a moment any of the leading points we summon them to prove. There meets

us a complicated maze of writers, the bare mention of whose names would be a profitless task, and the briefest review of whose works, grouping them under the most general heads, would far exceed the space we could devote to such a purpose. It will be impossible therefore, to go through