osophers and princes, and all the passions of all mankind? No other answers can be given to these questions, than that the religion itself has been divinely revealed, and that it has been divinely assisted, in its progress throughout the world.

In addition to this internal evidence of Christianity, as it is called, there are external proofs, which must not be passed over. Christ, on various occasions, appealed to the miracles which he wrought, in confirmation of his doctrine and mission; miracles public and indisputable, which, from the testimony of Pilate himself, were placed on the records of the Roman empire,* and which were not denied by the most determined enemies of Christianity, such as Celsus, Porphyrius, and Julian, the apostate. Among these miracles, there is one of so extraordinary a nature, as to render it quite unnecessary to mention any others, and which, therefore, is always appealed to by the apostles, as the grand proof of the gospel they preached I mean the resurrection of Christ from the dead; to which must be added its circumstan ces, namely, that he raised himself to life by his own power without the intervention of any living person; and that he did this in conformity with his prediction, at the time, which he had appointed for this event, and in defiance of the efforts of his ene· mies, to detain his body in the sepulchre. To elude the evidence resulting from this unexampled prodigy, one or other of the following assertions must be maintained, either that the disciples. were deceived in believing him to be risen from the dead, or that they combine to deceive the world into a belief of that imposition. -Now it cannot be credited, that they themselves were deceived in this matter, being many in number, and having the testimony of their eyes, in seeing their master repeatedly, during forty days; of their ears, in hearing his voice; and one, the most incredulous among them of his feeling in touching his person and probing his wounds; nor can it be believed that they con spired to propagate an unavailing falsehood of this nature. throughout the nations of the earth, namely, that a person, put to death in Judea, had risen again to life, without any prospect to themselves for this world, but that of persecution, torments, and a cruel death, which they successively endured, as did their numerous disciples after them, in testimony of this fact; or, for the other world, but the vengeance of the God of truth.

Next to the miracles, wrought by Christ, is the fulfilment oi the ancient prophecies concerning him, in proof of the religion. aught by him. To mention a few of these; he was born just fter the sceptre had departed from the tribe of Juda, Gen. xlix

Tertul. in Apolog.

10.; at the end of seventy-two weeks of years from the restora tion of Jerusalem. Dan. ix. 24; while the second temple of Je rusalem was in being, Hagg. ii. 7. He was born in Bethlehem, Mic. v. 2.; worked the identical miracles foretold of him, Isai xxxv. 5. He was sold by his perfidious disciple for thirty pieces of silver, which were laid out in the purchase of a potter's field, Zach. xi. 13. He was scourged, spit upon, Isai. 1. 6.; placed among malefactors, Isai. xxxiii. 12. His hands and feet were transfixed with nails, Ps. xxii. .6.; and his side was opened with a spear, Zach. xii. 10. Finally, he died, was buried with honour, Isai. liii. 9.; and rose again to life without experiencing corrup tion. Ps. xvi. 10. The sworn enemies of Christ, the Jews, were during many hundred, years before his coming, and still are in possession of the Scriptures, containing these and many other predictions concerning him, which were strictly fulfilled.

The very existence, and, other circumstances respecting this extraordinary people, the Jews, are so many arguments in proof of Christianity. They have now subsisted, as a distinct people, for more than four thousand years, during which they have again and again been subdued, harassed, and almost extirpated. Their mighty conquerors, the Philistines, the Assyriens, the Persians, the Macedonians, the Syrians, and the Romans, have, in their turns, ceased to exist and can no where be found as distinct nations while the Jews exist in great numbers, and are known in every part of the world. How can this be accounted for? Why has God preserved them alone, amongste ancient nations of the earth? The truth is, they are still the subject prophecy, with respect to both the Old and New Testament. They exist as monuments of God's wrath against them; as witnesses to the truth of the Scriptures which condemn them; and as the destined subjects of his final mercy before the end of the world. They are to be found in every quarter of the globe; but in the condition which their great legislator Moses threatened tnem with, if they forsook the Lord, namely, that he would remove them into all the kingdoms of the earth. Deut. xxviii. 25. That they should become an astonishment and a by-word, among all nations, ibid. 37. That they should find no ease, neither hould the sole of their foot have rest, ibid. 65. Finally, they are every where seen, but carrying, written on their foreheads, the curse which they pronounced on themselves in rejecting their Messiah: his blood be upon us and upon our children. lat. xxvii. Still is this extraordinary people preserved, to he, in the end, co verted, and to find mercy. Rom. xi. 25, &c. SAMUEL CAREY

25.

LETTER II.

TO JAMES BROWN, Esq. &c.

PRELIMINARIES.

Winton, October 20, 180

DEAR SIR,

YOU certainly want no apology for writing to me on the subject of your letter. For if, as St. Peter inculcates, each Christian ought to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh him a reason of the hope that is in him, 1 Pet. iii. 15. how inexcusable would a person of my ministry and commission be, who am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise, Rom. i. 14. were I unwilling to give the utmost satisfaction in my power, respecting the Catholic religion, to any human being whose inquiries appear to proceed from a serious and candid mind, desirous of discovering and embracing religious truth, such as I must believe yours to be. And yet this disposition is exceedingly rare among Christians. Infinitely the greater part of them, in choosing a system of religion, or in adhering to one, are guided by motives of interest, worldly honour, or convenience. These inducements not only rouse their worst passions, but also blind their judgemert; so as to create hideous phantoms to their intellectual eyes, and to hinder them from seeing the most conspicuous objects which stand before them. To such inconsistent Christians, nothing proves so irritating as the attempt to disabuse them of their errors, except the success of it, by putting it out of their power to defend them any longer. These are they; and O how infinite is their number! of whom Christ says, they love darkness rather than light, John iii. 16.; and who say to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things: speak unto us smooth things. Isai. xxx. 10. They form to themselves a false conscience, as the Jews did, when they murdered their Messiah, Acts iii. 17.: and as he himself foretold many others would do, in murdering his disciples. John xvi. 2. I cannot help saying that I myself have experienced something of this spirit, in my religious discussions with persons who have been loudest in professing their candour and charity. Hence, I make no doubt that, if the elucidation which you call for at my hands, for your numerous society, should happen, by any means to become public, that I shall have to eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water of tribulation, 1 Kings xxii. 17. for this

discharge of my duty, perhaps for the remainder of my .ite But, as the apostle writes, none of these things move me ; neither ount I my life dear to me, so that I may finish my course i4, and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus.

ACIS XX. 24.

It remains, sir settle the conditions of our correspondence. What I propose is, that, in the first place, we should mutually, and indeed all of us who are concerned in this friendly controversy, be at perfect liberty, to speak, without offence to any one, of doctrines, practices, and persons, as we judge best for the discovery of truth: secondly, that we should be disposed, in common, as far as poor human nature will permit, to investigate truth with impartiality; to acknowledge it, when discovered, with candour; and, of course, to renounce every error and unfounded prejudice that may be detected, on any side, whatever it may cost us in so doing. I, for my part, dear sir, here solemnly promise, that I will publicly renounce the religion, of which I am a minister, and will induce as many of my flock, as I may have influence over, to do the same, should it prove to be that 66 mass of absurdity, bigotry, superstition, idolatry, and immorality," which you, sir, and most Protestants conceive it to be; nay, even if I should not succeed in clearing it of these respective charges. To religious controversy, when originating in its proper motives, a desire of serving God and securing our salvation, I cannot declare myself an enemy, without virtually condemning the conduct of Christ himself, who, on every occasion, arraigned and refuted the errors of the Pharisees: but I cannot conceive any hypocrisy so detestable as that of ascending the pulpit or employing the pen on sacred subjects to serve our temporal interest, our resentment, or our pride, under pretext of promoting or defending religious truth.-To inquirers, in the former predicament, I hold myself a debtor, as I have already said; put the circumstances must be extraordinary to induce me to nold a communication with persons in the latter. Lastly, as you appear, sir, to approve of the plan I spoke of in my first letter to Dr. Sturges, I mean to pursue it on the present occasion. This, however, will necessarily throw back the examination of your charges to a considerable distance as several other important inquiries must precede.

I am, &c.

J. M

LETTER III.

From JAMES BROWN, Esq. to the Rev. J. M. D. D.

REVEREND SIR,

PRELIMINARIES.

New Cottage, Oct. 30, 1801

I HAVE been favoured, in due course, with yours of the 20th instant, which I have communicated to those persons of our society, whom I have had an opportunity of seeing. No circum. stance could strike us with greater sorrow, than that you should suffer any inconvenience from your edifying promptness to comply with our well meant request, and we confidently trust that nothing of the kind will take place through our fault. We agree with you, as to the necessity of perfect freedom of speech, where the discovery of important truths is the real object of inquiry. Hence, while we are at liberty to censure many of your popes, and other clergy, Mr. Topham will not be offended with any thing that you can prove against Calvin; nor will Mr. Rankin quarrel with you for exposing the faults of George Fox and James Naylor; nor shall I complain of you for any thing that you can make out against our venerable Latimer or Cranmer ; I say the same of doctrines and practices, as of persons. If you are guilty of Idolatry, or we of heresy, we are respectively unfortunate, and the greatest charity we can do, is to point out to each other the danger of our respective situations, to their full extent. Not to renounce error and embrace truth of every kind, when we clearly see it, would be folly; and to neglect doing this, when the question is about religious truth, would be folly and wickedness combined together. Finally, we cheerfully leave you to follow what course you please, and to whatever extent you please, provided you only give us such satisfaction as you can give, on he subjects I mentioned in my former letter,

DEAR SIR,

I am, Rev. Sir, &c.

LETTER IV.

JAMES BROWN.

To JAMES BROWN, Esq. &c.

DISPOSITIONS FOR RELIGIOUS INQUIRY.

THE dispositions which you profess, on the part of your friends, as well as yourself, I own, please me, and animate me