(for Satan could not do good, it being the very opposite to him) and the raising of dead, and giving life thereby, was a much more miraculous. work than the curing diseases and infirmities, both which being divine, proves him to have been divine who did the work. The testimonies of him being the divine Saviour of mankind, are all substantiated by those miracles, therefore the said testimonies stand as true, which is another testimony of them being men of truth from the Lord to mankind; the miracles were as thus recorded, St. Matthew's Gospel, iv. 23 to 25, and viii. I to 34, and xii. 22, and xiv. 15 to 36; and in St John's Gospel, xi. 32 to 44: Now such acts as those thus mentioned being of the Lord, none but those to whom he conferred them could have them, and they so favoured must have been his servants in his work of the gospel of truth, and by which there was a sign of his favour, or he would not have given such power; and to have the sign of his approbatou, indicated that they did his will, the which showed they declared his truth, otherwise they would not have done his will; and which power being bad in a great measure by his followers, is another evidence of their truth in their words of Scripture: the miraculous power which they had is as follows, Acts of the Apostles, iii. 1 to 11, and ix. 32 to 43, and xvi. 16, 17, 18. Thus therefore the attestators of the divine truths give evidence of their truth, by which we have an additional assurance of the same.

I will also remark, that the formation of christian churches in various parts of Europe and Asia, or the then known world, are certain assurances of the truth of their cause; for nothing is more unlikely than to even suppose that the people would expose themselves to the

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dangers and troubles of their most avowed enemies in the infant state of the churches, without the said churches being very sure of the soundness of the christian cause, and much less would they expose themselves to death had the cause been defective. This also becomes another substantiation of their truth in the cause by the aforesaid evidences; and which is an evidence that cannot be equalled by any success of any other cause or causes, which to some might have equal force, having in some cases equal success-I mean Paganism and Mahomedanism; both have ever since their commencement been accommodative to the fancies and dispositions of the people, and therefore have had no such dangers and deaths attending them; but the christian cause had those perils and sufferings in the commencement, and more or less since; and I affirm that there is not a stronger evidence of a cause being true, than such endangers and sufferings.

I will only now say, that the reception and spread of the christian cause under the aforesaid circumstances, is with the other evidences one more, of the truth of the cause; and waving any more upon this point until I state the reception and continuation of the Scriptures from the first until now, I say that sufficient has herein been said to establish in any mind the real truth from the Lord, in what the whole of the writers have stated relative to mankind and the Almighty in any way.

The Old Testament writers have, as aforesaid, given every evidence of their truth, in as much as they have been pure in motives-ibraved many sorrows rejected undue honours

been holy in themselves and writings-been received and depeaded upon by a vast and

dubious nation for thousands of years; and they do therefore stand as the men of divine truth, who wrote and promoted the same.

The New Testament writers have given the same evidence of themselves by their impossibility to feign, owing to the absence of the knowledge of those who had the rank of divinity in the Jewish churches; by their stated fulfilments of prophecies relative to the time of the Saviour's coming; and the many circunstances of his coming, life, and death, and the rest, which they could not feign, as stated, and which others of them could not falsify, through having elevated ranks and learning, by which they would be raised above anything absurd or false; they have given the evidence of truth also by endangered circumstances by sufferings and deaths and by the miracles stated and performed by them; together with the dependance of the christian churches upon them till now, (which dependance shall be more fully stated hereafter,) and I say again they are all positive evidences of the truth in them, and from them to mankind as the servants of the Lord to men.

In further proof of all the aforesaid writers having wrote and promoted the inspired and preceptive, prophetical, and doctrinal truths in the Holy Scriptures to mankind, I shall now explain and auswer all the objections of any moment which have been raised against the Scriptures, owing to many apparent contradictions and difficulties.

First, the account of Moses has been disputed in as much as it stands evident that he wrote some hundreds of years after the many things he narrates were in existence, and in which time they had not the means of record

ing by writing, as they were without any knowledge of it, and who therefore could not keep regular accounts in that way.

To this I will say, that although it was the case as thus stated, yet he had it in his power to narrate as correct an account as if he had lived in the whole time which elapsed until his time, and that for the reason as follows, He has stated events which in the cours eof about 2668 years from the first did happen, and he began, as in the Scriptures, with the creation of all visible things: the power he had to do so, seems to have been well founded as one from his predecessors only; for it was very easy to submit from generation to generation a correct account, seeing they lived so much longer than mankind have been wont to do since the time of Moses; yea they lived so long, that our first parents and many of their children or descendants were all living during many hundreds of years, and therefore could with every certainty bear their united testimonies of the truth of the subjects stated.

Adam lived not less than 930 years; and after being 130 years old he had a son named Seth, who succeeded Cain, and that would leave Adam 800 years to live after his fruitfulness; and Seth had a son, Enos, after he lived 105. Thus the progeny of our first parents very much increased until there was a vast progeny, to whom he did bear a verbal testimony of the acts of God in creation, which the Lord had made known to him.

Adam lived until the days of Lamech, from whom was born Noah, that ascended in the ark over the earth on the water, the Book of Genesis, v. 1 to 32, and as thus stated; it was a numberless witness that they had in their

power to bear of the works of God and of his servants, for they increased very much at that time by living so long; and thus Noah had as certain an account of what is stated, as if he had lived in the whole time.""

After Noah there was a very populous increase of the earth, and in the which Noah and his families lived during many hundreds of years him and many of his descendants lived until Tereh, of whom was born Abraham, the peculiar man of God; and by this means they were able to transmit from those who lived with our first parents, all the events relative to God and mankind; yea, many of the cotemporaries of Noah lived after the birth of both Abrahani and Isaac'; hence they were well able to testify from the first till then all which is recorded, see the account from Noah by the sons of Shem, Genesis, xi. 10 to 32. Thus as correct as the account could be from the creation till Noah; so it was from Noah to our fathers Abraham and Isaac, by having the very same meaus. And from them, all they had been favoured with and what transpired in their days, were soon transmitted to Moses; for it was only about 620 years from the time of Isaac's birth until Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt, as is very clear; thus, at the age of 60 years Isaac had his son Jacob, Genesis, xxv. 26; and after Jacob was born he lived 147 years, see Genesis, xlvii. 28; and 130 years of which were elapsed before his going into Egypt at the famine, for he was only there the last 17 years; and all the time of the children of Jacob being in Egypt was 430 years, see Book of Exodus, xii. 40, 41. And these years, viz. 60 of Isaac's age before Jacob was born; the 130 of Jacob's age before he went into Egypt; and 430 years