tomb, but of the character that not seldom results from violent and overpowering excitement, from strong mental and physical sympathy; or from sudden convulsions pro. duced in consequence of these. The tomb of the Abbe furnishes only the place and circumstances of the oc

casion.

14. That these examples of Mr. Hume, therefore, do not come into comparison with the miracles of Christ, will be admitted certainly by all who are disposed to judge fairly. And there is this remarkable difference between the miracles of the Savior and these just examined-the first answered the ends designed, and the second utterly failed. The pretended miracles of the saint, instead of establishing the cause in behalf of which they were devised, raised a division among its friends, disgusting some with the fraud; and created a prejudice without,and finally Jansenism completely sunk out of existence, notwithstanding its wonders, and the powerful and zealous party enlisted in its defence. Not so with the Gospel and miracles of Jesus. These have outlived all opposition, and are gathering numbers and strength every day.Christianity is greater, more honored and loved to-day, than ever before; and wears a crown of glory that is growing brighter and brighter for ever.*

* See, in reference to this question, Campbell on Miracles, Pt. II. Sects. iv, v. He borrows mostly from the Criterion of Dr. Douglass. Paley's Evidences, Pt. I. Proposition ii. chapt. ii; Horne's Introduction, vol. i. chap. iv. Sect. ii; &c

SECTION IV.

IGNORANCE OF THE AGE FAVORABLE TO MIRACLE-WORKING.

IF JESUS WROUGHT SO MANY MIRACLES HE WOULD

HAVE CONVERTED THE WHOLE JEWISH NATION.

I. IGNORANCE OF THE AGE.

1. THIS is a favorite objection with many, who betray their own ignorance in making it; for they manifestly know not whereof they affirm. It is also greatly in use among some who would be regarded as learned opposers of the Christian religion. Men are easily deceived in this age, say they, and how much more easy was it to deceive them eighteen hundred years ago, when they were sunk in the lowest depths of ignorance and darkness. This assertion is often heard from those who prefer not to take the trouble of close and patient inquiry into the matter; and it is considered by them as a sufficient explanation of all the miracles, and of the progress of the Christian religion. Now, we beg leave to say that this is mere assertion. The period at which Christ made his appearance was not an age of such profound ignorance and darkness, as the unbeliever imagines or affirms.

2. So far from this, it is a fact, well known to those who are acquainted with the history of the period in ques

tion.

tion, that it was the era of the declension of the hitherto prevailing darkness, and the spread of general informa"It happened very providentially," says Mr. Addison, "to the honor of the Christian religion, that it did not take its rise in the dark illiterate ages of the world, but at a time when arts and sciences were at their height, and when there were men who made it the business of their lives to search after truth, and sift the several opinions of philosophers and wise men, concerning the duty, the end, and chief happiness of reasonable creatures." And we find in and about this period some of the greatest names of antiquity, and many of the most celebrated compositions of any age or country. We need mention only those of Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Nepos, Sallust, Livy; and after these Plutarch, Tacitus, Pliny the naturalist, and the younger Pliny, and many others of the same class. То say that an age which produced such men as these, men who have been the wonder and admiration of the world, was an age of profound ignorance and darkness, is but a confession of one's own ignorance of the history of the times. The truth is, it was what it has been justly called, "a learned and inquisitive age," and formed one of the brightest stars in the constellation of Roman literature. Such an age, therefore, was, of all others, the least likely to be imposed upon by false miracles or frauds of any kind.

3. The sceptic should remember, that there is a vast difference between the false and erroneous views of God and religion, and what he calls profound ignorance. That the people of this age had the most absurd religious notions, and were morally blinded, is true; but moral darkness is one thing, and intellectual darkness quite another. While we admit the first in relation to this period, we deny the last, the falsity of which has been proved. And we desire our friends, when commenting upon this partic

ular, to be a little more guarded, and before they attribute the rise and progress of Christianity to the ignorance of the age, to make the distinction we have pointed out; because it is most surely a very important one, and will unquestionably put a very different face upon their

assertions.

4. But even suppose we admit the objection, length and breadth, grant that the people were both morally and intellectually darkened, that they were buried in universal ignorance-what then? Does this make them incompetent witnesses of the plainest matters of fact? Take the

most ignorant man that can be found, one that never saw a book; if he has the use of his eyes, and ears, and senses, he can certainly tell whether a multitude were fed with five loaves or five thousand, whether he sees a dead body come forth to life, and move, and speak, and eat. It does not require much learning or philosophy to enable one to decide a matter of this sort. Yet these, and such as these, were the miracles of Christ; they were matters of fact, to judge of which it was but necessary to have common sense, and the use of one's physical faculties. The objection, then, founded on the ignorance of the age, is in the first place, false; and, in the second place, if true, would not weigh a feather against the Christian miracles.

II. IF CHRIST WROUGHT SO MANY AND SUCH GREAT MIRACLES, WHY WAS NOT THE WHOLE JEWISH NATION CONVERTED HOW COULD THEY RESIST SUCH EVIDENCE?

1. This question is often asked with a confidence which seems to signify that he who asks it is satisfied that it casts a suspicion upon the reality of the Christian miracles. The sceptic affirms, that if Christ actually wrought the miracles ascribed to him by the Evangelists, the unbelief of the Jews can in no way be accounted for, inasmuch

as it would seem to be absolutely impossible to resist the force of such evidence. If one were now to restore to life a man who had been dead four days, we should believe at once in his divine mission, because we could not help it-the mind could not bear up against the weight of evidence like this; it would be compelled to submit, so to speak, whether it would or not. This appears somewhat plausible, at the first, but a little examination will show us that some things are taken for granted which we do not feel disposed to grant as readily as the objector might wish. The objection assumes as its very base that the Jews did not believe in Christ. But who, we ask, is meant by the Jews? That the whole nation is not converted, is admitted; but that many, yea, that multitudes were, is certain.

2. It is a well-known fact, that the first preachers of the Gospel, and all the first believers therein, were Jews, who, notwithstanding their strong prejudices, were convinced by the works which Christ wrought, and embraced his religion. Every one who has read the evangelical histories, and especially the four or five first chapters in the Acts of the Apostles, will be satisfied that great numbers of the Jews believed. Frequent mention is made of "multitudes," a 66 great multitude both of men and women;" and there are two instances, in one of which, three thousand, and in the other, five thousand at a time, were converted to the Gospel faith. Let this objection be confined, then, to its proper limits, and much of its supposed force will be lost at the very outset.

3. It will he observed, farther, that this inquiry seems to assume that all the Jewish nation were eye-witnesses of the miracles of Christ, which gives a greater weight to their rejection. This, however, was by no means the case. It is probable that but a very small portion of the