be received as of sufficient weight;-for the oral tradition preserved only by the Church, and the declaration of its own opinion in councils, is simply the Church giving both testimony and judgment in its own cause; which testimony and judgment are the very points we have to examine by external evidence.

There remain the writings of the fathers of the Church, and the Scriptures of the living God. The former, disavowed, as has been over and over again proved from their own writings, for themselves personally, and for their councils, any superhuman authority*; and therefore can determine dogmatically no question requiring an authority greater than that of man. We come therefore, finally, to the Scriptures. But to found the infallibility, or authority of the Church on Scripture, and at the same time to require men to receive the Scripture itself solely on the authority of the Church, is plainly arguing in a circle. It is no better than attempting to found its authority on its own tradition,

*See Faber, Difficulties of Romanism-pp. 272-279-more particularly the citations from Cyril of Jerusalem and Augustine in pp. 274 & 278. Usher's Answer to a Jesuit, pp. 24-27. Beveridge on the xxxix Articles.-vol. i. pp. 265-269. Taylor's (Bp.) Diss. from Popery, Part II. B. i. S. 2.

I add a passage from Augustine which I do not remember to have seen among those selected by Protestant divines. I do not know from which of Augustine's works it is taken; it is quoted without reference, but with the original subjoined, by the Jesuit Lacunza, or Ben Ezra, Irving's Trans. vol. i. p. 47. "The disputations of any, though catholic and praiseworthy men, we ought not to hold in the same estimation with the canonical Scripture; so as not to feel at liberty, without offence to the honour due to them, to call in question, and even to refute, any thing which we may chance to find in their writings, disagreeing with the truth, as God hath enabled others, or ourselves to understand it. And as I feel in respect to the writings of other men, so I wish my readers to feel in respect of mine."

or on the decision of councils and writers, to whom their own decrees alone have given authority to decide. Protestants most cordially and freely admit the paramount weight due to God's own word: it is their avowed and only standard of faith:-but they deny that its Inspiration can be logically deduced from the authority of the Church, in the sense understood by the Romanist, such authority being yet unproved; and they retort on him the charge of having fallen into the selfsame vicious train of reasoning with which he unjustly charges them; for the faultiness of the proof is too glaring to be for a moment concealed by the flimsy disguise which he flings around it, when he interposes a second subject, and a double proposition. Whatever support, then, the Church may derive from Scripture, and whether or not Scripture itself can be authenticated without the authority of the Church; the Church's own authority cannot, plainly, be independently established.

Now in demonstrating the inspiration of Scripture on the Protestant plan, we are entirely independent of the church, as such, whatever it be that constitutes that mystic body. We employ, it is true, what are called the writers of the Church, (but not exclusively,) and we are glad to avail ourselves of the concurrence of all ages as to the inspiration of the Scriptures. But we do not argue that they must be inspired, because these writers have so determined; or even because the Church itself, if its decision could be presented in a manner the most unexceptionable, has so determined. We are satisfied with their testimony to a simple

FACT, or, if you will, to two simple facts, to the opinion prevalent in their day concerning the authenticity and inspiration of these books; and, what is of infinitely greater moment, to the existence of the books themselves. We thus go back from age to age, and find that we can trace the sister facts of the prevalence of this opinion, and of the existence of the books, up to the age of their authors. In this age, the opinion of contemporaries as to their inspiration will possess the very greatest weight, but we may be content only to insist on the authenticity of the books, which now becomes necessarily associated with their existence, as being deduced from it by considerations dependent on the most obvious principles and free from every cavil. The authenticity is thus made out by an orderly and uninterrupted series of the most unexceptionable witnesses; unexceptionable, be it observed, not on account of the soundness of their Christian faith, (for many of them were grievously in error,) but on account of the manner in which their testimony is delivered, and because its validity depends on the most ordinary principles of every day life. Having, then, by extrinsic evidence to a matter of fact, ascertained the full authenticity of Scripture, we next proceed, by a line of reasoning also absolutely infallible, to deduce the inspiration of its authors from the facts recorded in Scripture, thus independently authenticated, in connection with the nature of the doctrines which it teaches: and in the whole process, the authority of the Church has never once been employed.

In very truth, if the infallibility of the Church could be made out from Scripture, (which, however, it never has been, and never can be,) the greatest service the Protestant could do for the Romanist, would be to prove for him the inspiration of Scripture, independently of AUTHORITY. For once establish this, and whether the controversialist maintain the extravagant notions peculiar to the papacy, or the more moderate views of a limited authority, as common to many of the Protestant Churches, or finally, even if his definition of a Church comprise no more than a single congregation, he is at least sure that his foundation is sound and unmoveable; and he may, in perfect security, review his superstructure, and alter or repair its defects, at leisure, as light and wisdom break in upon him from above.

But with the superstructure the author of these pages is not now concerned. His only object, in these remarks, has been to furnish, briefly, an answer to the cavil of the Romanist; and in so doing to point out the argument which our common Protestantism derives from the Evidences of Christianity.

Perhaps it most commonly happens that an author, from his more intimate familiarity with his subject, is more sensible to its defects than the great majority of his readers; and hence, apologies which may seem to them almost to border on an affectation of humility, if not to degenerate entirely into the opposite of the mask they have assumed, are in truth a more genuine expression of dissatisfaction than may sometimes be supposed.

The present writer has been so far sensible of some instances of faulty arrangement, and inaccuracies of expression, that he has been induced to reprint several pages of the following work; -a step which it is due to the press at which it has been got up, to acknowledge thus publicly; because it has somewhat, though not very visibly, disfigured the neatness of the printer's work, by denuding a few of the pages of their proper number of lines, and crowding others in a corresponding degree; while the commencement and headings of one or two sections have been left with a larger share of surrounding emptiness than has fallen to the lot of their brethren, whose original location has not been interfered with. Some deficiencies still remain which will detract from the comeliness of the dress, rather than from the internal compactness of the argument, (be the dress and framing comely and compact or otherwise,) and they will claim the indulgence of a forbearing public, until the reception with which the work may meet, shall determine whether or no it can ever reach a second edition.

The errors just alluded to are those of lesser moment; and had none of them been corrected, they would not have materially affected the merits or demerits of the volume. The author has been jealously solicitous to give admission to nothing inconsistent, even to the least commandment, with the law and the testimony,-for he well knows that whatever is not according to this, has no truth in it. He cannot anticipate that all will coincide with him in his views, as to what constitutes Scripture truth; oras to what is sound and conclusive reason