prove efficient for all those purposes which are actually answered by it; that it would console the anxieties, trials, and sorrows to which human life is inevitably subject; that it would provide for the dedication of the powers and faculties of mankind to the will and service of their Maker; that it would propose a way for restoring the disobedient to his regard; and further, that it should be found suitable to every age, and condition, and climate, and capable of improving the general character wherever it was received. And all this it is constantly effecting. Systems confessedly of human origin make no approach towards these results. We see no reason to wish all men Stoics; or all men Epicureans; or all men Mohammedans; or all men polytheists; or all men Atheists. But no one who has ever witnessed, with impartial eyes, the operation of Christianity in a single family, or a single individual, can resist the inference, that if the spirit of the Gospel were universal, and all men were practical Christians, there would be little left to complain of even in this imperfect world.

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CHAPTER XIII.

Conclusion.

THE preceding chapters have been intended to establish a strong moral evidence of the truth of Christianity. Whether we consider the doctrines introduced by its Author :-their originality in his nation; their originality in the world; and yet the confirmation which they receive from many singular facts, singular enactments, and minute prophecies contained in the Jewish Scriptures :-Or whether we consider the internal evidence of the Christian writings;--their language; their anticipation of conduct subsequently developed, and their general wisdom:-Or whether we consider the peculiar character formed under the influence of Christianity; its excellence in individuals; its beneficial effects upon mankind; and its suit

ableness to their condition as dependent and cor rupt beings:-Or whether we consider the rapidity with which a religion so pure, so self-deny ing, so humiliating, and so uncompromising, was propagated and embraced, even in the face of bitter hostility:-we have phænomena which nothing, except the truth of the religion, can adequately explain. Except on this supposition, it would be difficult to account for any one of these several facts. But either we must believe that not one only, but all of these improbable facts concur to deceive us:-or Jesus Christ did appear in the world, and bear the character which he claimed of Mediator between God and man:-did suffer the penalty due to human transgression;-and does redeem from that penalty as many as "receive him," and commit themselves to his care'.

It must be always borne in mind, that this is the assertion made throughout the Gospel.

1

"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name."-John, i. 12.

Jesus is either the Redeemer of the world, or he is nothing. That he professed to be. That his supernatural birth, his miraculous power, his peculiar death, his predicted resurrection, were designed to prove him. Unless then he is that, his professions are untrue, and the whole authority of his religion falls to the ground. We cannot distinguish between his doctrines and his precepts. We cannot deny his mysterious divinity, and retain his moral supremacy. Not to insist upon the undoubted fact, that the precepts and the doctrines are connected together, and depend upon one another-why should we practise sobriety; why enforce purity, or humility, or any other characteristic of Christianity, because it is recommended by Jesus of Nazareth, unless Jesus of Nazareth were indeed the Son of God, and requires these graces as a preparation for that future kingdom which he came to reveal, and offers to his followers?

What, therefore, the preceding evidence proves, if it prove any thing, is, that the Gospel

is a message of reconciliation from God to man, proposed by Christ in the character of their Redeemer. And what those reject, who are not living as the disciples of Christ by a vital and practical faith, is the offered means of restoration to the favour of their Creator.

Perhaps it may be thought, that if the responsibility were so awful, the evidence would be more irresistible.

1. But in answer to this, it must be remembered, that if the Christian Scriptures are true, and give a faithful account of the mission of Christ and its design, the evidence of it which we actually possess is the only conceivable evidence by which it could be confirmed to us. Jesus could not have put on human nature, or have suffered the punishment of human transgressions, in every country, and in every age. Yet, unless he had done so, unless he had been personally seen by every individual who might be required to believe in him, the rest of the