other men of God, to whom the word of the Lord came, had no discovery of the Lord himself, the essential Word. If some display of his presence had not attended their every revelation, might they not have said, thus says my warm imagination-thus says my enthusiastic brain, as well as, thus says the Lord?

From the variety and authenticity of these manifestations left upon sacred record, I conclude, that the doctrine I maintain, far from being new and unscriptural, is supported by the experiences of God's children for 3,600 years, viz. from the creation of the world till the close of the Old Testament.

With respect to what is extraordinary, as to the design and barely external, as to the circumstances of some of these manifestations, I refer you to the distinctions I made on that subject in my second letter. Should you object that the contents of this prove only, that God favoured the Patriarchs and Jews with immediate revelations of himself, because they had neither the gospel nor the scriptures: I answer.

1. The gospel was preached to them, as well as to us. The Patriarchs had tradition, which answered the end of the scriptures in their day. The Jews, in the time of the Judges, had not only tradition, but a considerable part of the scriptures, even all the writings of Moses. Under the kings, they had the Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, the Proverbs, and a thousand and five Songs of Solomon. They had also the bock of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy of Ahija' the Shilonite, and the visions of Iddo the seer, which are now lost. These contained the substance of the Bible.

2. When the Lord answered Saul no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams, the reason assigned for it by the Holy Spirit, is, not that the canon of scripture was filled, and there was no more occasions for immediate revelations; but that the Lord was departed from him, and was become his enemy.

3. David, who had the honour of being a sacred writer himself after his relapse into sin, could not be satisfied with the Psalms he had penned down; but he mourned, prayed, and watered his bed with his tears, inconsolable till the Lord immediately revealed his pardoning love, and said to his soul, I am thy salvation.

4. If, because we have the letter of scripture, we must be deprived of all immediate manifestations of Christ and his Spirit, we are great losers by that blessed book, and we might reasonably say" Lord bring us back to the dispensation of Moses. Thy Jewish servants could formerly converse with thee face to face, but now we can know nothing of thee, but by their writings. They viewed thy glory in various wonderful appearances, but we are indulged only with black lines telling us of thy

glory. They had the bright Shekinah, and we have only obscure descriptions of it. They were blessed with lively oracles, and we only with a dead letter. The ark of thy covenant went before them, and struck terror into all their adversaries; but a book, of which our enemies make daily sport, is the only revelation of thy power among us. They make their boast of Urim and Thummim, and received particular, immediate answers from between the Cherubim; but we have only general ones, by means of Hebrew and Greek writing, which many do not understand. They conversed familiarly with Moses, their mediator, with Aaron their high priest, and Samuel their prophet; these holy men gave them unerring directions in doubtful cases; but alas! the apostles and inspired men are all dead, and thou Jesus our mediator, priest and prophet, canst not be consulted to any purpose, for thou manifestest thyself no more. As for thy sacred book, thou knowest that some times the want of money to purchase it, the want of learning to consult the original, the want of wisdom to understand the translation, the want of skill or sight to read it, prevent our improving it to the best advantage, and keep some from reaping any benefit from it at all. O Lord, if, because we have this blessed picture of thee, we must have no discovery of the glorious original, have compassion on us, take back the precious book, and impart thy more precious self to us, as thou didst to thy ancient people."

5. St. Paul declares, that though the Mosaic dispensation was glorious, that of Christ exceeds it in glory. But if Christ revealed himself immediately to the Jews, and to christians only mediately, by the letter of a book, it is plain, the apostle was mistaken; for no one can deny, it is far more glorious to see the light of God's countenance and hear his voice, than merely to read something about them in a book.

6. That particular manifestations of Christ, far from ceasing with the Jewish, have increased in brightness and spirituality under the christian dispensation, I shall endeavour to prove in my next.

According to my promise, I shall now prove, that the NewTestament abounds, as well as the Old, with accounts of particular revelations of the Son of God.

Before his birth, he manifested himself to the blessed virgin, by the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost. She rejoiced in God her Saviour, and glorified more, in having him revealed as God in her soul, than in finding him conceived as man in her womb. Soon after Joseph, her husband, was assured in a heavenly dream, that the child she bore was Emmanuel, God with us. He revealed himself next to Elizabeth.

When she heard the salutation of Mary, she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and made sensible, that the virgin was the mother of her Lord. So powerful was this manifestation, that her unborn son was affected by it. The babe leaped in her womb for joy, and was filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

So important is a particular knowledge of Jesus, that an angel directed the shepherds, and a miraculous star the wise men, to the place where he was born and there the Holy Spirit so revealed him to their hearts, that they hesitated not to worship the seemingly despicable infant, as the majestic God, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain.

Simeon, who waited for the consolation of Israel, had it revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. The promise was fulfilled; and while his bodily eyes discovered nothing but a poor infant, presented without pomp in the temple, his spiritual eyes perceived him to be the light of Israel, and the salvation of God. Nor was this extraordinary favour granted only to Simeon, for it is written, all flesh shall see the salvation of God; and St. Luke informs us, that Anna partook of the sight with the old Israelite, gave thanks to her new born Lord, and spake of him to all that waited for redemption in Jerusalem.

When he entered upon his ministry, he first manifested himself to his forerunner. "I knew him not, personally, said John; “but he that sent me to baptize with water, said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he, who baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record, that this is the Son of God, the Lamb, that taketh away the sins of the world."

Jesus had manifested himself spiritually to Nathaniel under the fig-tree; and the honest Israelite, being reminded of that divine favour, confessed the author of it: Rabbi, said he, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. Our Lord pleased with this ready confession, promised that he should see greater things, enjoy brighter manifestations, than these; that he should even see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

The bare outward sight of our Saviour's person and miracles rather confounded than converted the beholders. What glorious beams of his Godhead pierced through the veil of his mean appearances, when, with supreme anthority, he turned the buyers and sellers out of the temple: When he entered Jerusalem in triumph, and all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And when he said to those, who apprehended him, I am He,

and they went backward, and fell to the ground! Nevertheless, we do not find, that one person was blessed with the saving knowledge of him, on any of these solemn occasions. The people of Galilee saw most of him, and yet believed least in him. "What wisdom is this, which is given to this man, said they, that such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? and they were offended at him." Some went even so far as to ascribe his miracles to a diabolical power, affirming, that he cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Hence it appears, that if he had not in some degree, revealed himself to the hearts of his disciples, when he said to them, follow me, they would never have forsaken all immediately and followed him. He manifested forth his glory, says St. John, and his disciples believed on him and yet, when the manifestation was chiefly external, how weak was the effect it produced even upon them? How was our Lord, after all, obliged to upbraid them with their unbelief, their little faith, and, on a particular occasion, with their having no faith? If we know, savingly, that Jesus is God with us-flesh and blood, i. e. mere man with all his best powers, hath not revealed this to us, but our Father, who is in heaven. As no man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him; so no man knoweth the Son but the Father, and he to whom the Spirit proceeding from the Father does reveal him. For no man savingly can say, that Jesus is Jehovah, the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost; And he, that hath sent me, by this divine revelation, says Jesus, hath seen the Father also; far I and the Father are one.

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Had not our Lord revealed himself in a peculiar manner to sinners, no one would have suspected him to be God manifest in the flesh. Till he discovers himself, as he does not unto the world, he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty in him, that we should desire him; we hide as it were our faces from him; he is despised, and we esteem him not. He was obliged to say to the woman of Samaria, I that speak to thee am He; and to say it with a power that penetrated her heart, before she could believe with her heart unto righteous

ness.

If our Lord had not called Zaccheus inwardly as well as outwardly; if he had not made him come down from the pinnacle of proud nature, as well as from the sycamore tree; the rich publican would never have received him gladly, nor would the Lord have said, This day is salvation come to thy house, forasmuch as thou art a son of faithful Abraham.

The blind man, restored to bodily sight, knew not his heavenly benefactor. till a second and greater miracle was wrought

upon the eyes of his blind understanding. When Jesus found him, sometime after he was cured, he said to him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on hun ?" And Jesus, opening the eyes of his mind, and manifesting himself to him, as he does, not unto the world, said Thou hast both seen him, and t is he that talketh with thee." Then, and not till then, he could say from the heart, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him.

Both the thieves, who were crucified with him, heard his prayers and strong cries; both saw his patience and his meekness, his wounds and his blood. One continued to make sport of his sufferings, as though he had been a worse malefactor than himself; while the other blessed with an internal revelation of his godhead, implored his mercy, trusted him with his soul, and confessed him to be the King of Glory, at the very moment when he hung tortured and dying as the basest of slaves.

St. Peter speaks so highly of the manifestation, with which he and the two sons of Zebedee were favoured on mount Tabor, that we ought not to pass it over in silence. They saw the kingdom of God coming with power; they beheld the King in his beauty. "His face did shine like the sun, and his raiment became white as light; a bright cloud overshadowed him, and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

Nor did our Lord reveal himself less after his resurrection. Mary sought him at the grave with tears. As she turned herself, she saw him standing, but knew not that it was Jesus. He said unto her, Why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, enquired after the object of her love; until Jesus, calling her by name, manifested himself to her as alive from the dead. Then she cried out Master! and in her transport, would have taken her old place at his feet.

With equal condescension he appeared to Peter, that he might not be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. True mourners in Sion weep, some for an absent God, as Mary, others for their sins, as Peter; and they will not be comforted, no, not by angels; but only by him, who is nigh to all that call upon him, and is health to those that are broken in heart. He, that appeared first to weeping Mary, and next to sorrowing Peter, will shortly visit them with his salvation. He is already with them, as he was with Mary, though they know it not: and he will soon be in them, the sure and comfortable hope of glory.

This observation is farther confirmed by the experience of the two disciples, who walked to Emmaus, and were sad. Jesus drew near, joined and comforted them. He made their hearts to burn within them while he talked with them by the