THE GREATNESS OF CHRIST.

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Nature the revelation of her mysteries. There the truth shines forth with satisfying clearness. Therefore do I hold it to be true and right to call the truth he preached through his own being, his truth-Christian truth. When it is so denominated, it is not meant that he appropriated it to himself. On the contrary, in the sense in which it is his, it is more effectually put within the reach of all men, and imparted to all, and we are made to feel that it is natural and eternal truth. It may sound extravagantly, yet so perfect is the manifestation of the spiritual power and beauty of truth in him, that if I presumed to say, but I do not

if I presumed to say for what one purpose God made all that we see, and arranged the mighty and complicated course of events, I should say it was in order to provide a sphere for the manifestation of such a being as Jesus of Nazareth; that he is the Masterpiece of the Divine Artist, for the creation of which all else was ordained,-"the Heir of all things."

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CHAPTER VIII.

MIRACLES.

"The deep philosopher sees chains of causes and effects so wonderfully and strangely linked together, that he is usually the last person to decide upon the impossibility of any two series of events being independent of each other; and in science, so many natural miracles, as it were, have been brought to light,-such as the fall of stones from meteors in the atmosphere, the disarming a thunderbolt by a metallic point, the production of fire from ice by a metal white as silver, and referring certain laws of motion of the sea to the moon, -that the physical inquirer is seldom disposed to assert confidently on any abstruse subjects belonging to the order of natural things, and still less so on those relating to the more mysterious relations of moral events and intellectual natures."-SIR H. DAVY.

THE next aspect under which we may contemplate the character of Christ is in relation to those extraordinary works of power and benevolence ascribed to him. It is interesting to see how they illustrate his moral elevation.

As the difficulty which most minds find in admitting the reality of the Christian miracles, arises not from the peculiar character of these miracles, but from the idea of a miracle of any kind, I propose first to state what I understand by a miracle.

The word 'miracle' is derived from the Latin word 'miraculum,' which signifies simply a wonder, Taking the term in this sense exclusively, no one is disposed to doubt the reality of an event, solely on the score of its wonderfulness, because in this sense there is

nothing that is not miraculous. The existence of the merest atom, when we duly consider it, is an unspeakable miracle. The universe-all being-is miraculous. There is no presumption therefore against the truth of any fact upon this ground. The presumption would seem to be in the opposite direction, for all things are wonders, all are miracles.

But there is another idea that enters into the common understanding of a miracle, and hence arises the difficulty. Miracles are usually conceived of, and represented as, departures from the natural order of things,-interruptions, violations of the laws of Nature. They are so understood and designated by Dr. Channing in his Dudleian Lecture. And so regarded, they are defended in the following

manner:

"We are never to forget," says this eminent writer, "that God's adherence to the order of the universe is not necessary and mechanical, but intelligent and voluntary. He adheres to it, not for its own sake, or because it has a sacredness which compels him to respect it, but simply because it is most suited to accomplish purposes in which he is engaged. It is a means, and not an end; and, like all other means, must give way when the end can best be promoted without it. It is the mark of a weak mind to make an idol of order and method,-to cling to established forms of business when they clog instead of advancing it. If, then, the great purposes of the universe can best be accomplished by departing from its established laws, these laws will undoubtedly be suspended; and, though broken in the letter, they will be observed in

their spirit, for the ends for which they were first instituted will be advanced by their violation. Now the question arises, for what purposes were nature and its order appointed; and there is no presumption in saying that the highest of these is the improvement of intelligent beings. Mind (by which we mean both moral and intellectual powers) is God's first end. The great purpose for which an order of nature is fixed, is plainly the formation of mind. In a creation without order, where events would follow without any regular succession, it is obvious that mind must be kept in perpetual infancy; for in such a universe, there could be no reasoning from effects to causes, no induction to establish general truths, no adaptation of means to ends; that is, no science relating to God, no matter, no mind; no action, no virtue. The great purpose of God, then, I repeat it, in establishing the order of nature, is to form and advance the mind; and if the case should occur in which the interests of the mind could best be advanced by departing from this order or by miraculous agency, then the great purpose of the creation, the great end of its laws and regularity, would demand such departure; and miracles, instead of warring against, would concur with, nature.

"Now we Christians maintain that such a case has existed. We affirm that, when Jesus Christ came into the world, nature had failed to communicate instructions to men, in which, as intelligent beings, they had the deepest concern, and on which the full development of their highest faculties essentially depended; and we affirm, that there was no prospect of relief

from nature; so that an exigence had occurred in which additional communications, supernatural lights, might rationally be expected from the Father of spirits."

Nothing can be stated with more clearness and simplicity than the views here given. But I am bold to confess that, in my humble opinion, they savour too much of false analogies.

1. I cannot unhesitatingly assent to the sentiment, that order is beautiful, in the sight of God and man, only as a means to an end. If it have not a certain intrinsic worth, can it have any vitality as a means? And again, is not our perception of the orderly structure of the human frame, for instance, antecedent to any knowledge of the fitness of its organization for the purposes of life? When we contemplate the regularity of the natural world, can we help feeling that the Creator delights in order and beauty, and that when, as the account of the creation says, he pronounced all things good, it was not merely for the uses they would serve as means, but also for a certain intrinsic goodness?

2. That the divine methods might clog the divine purposes, and require to be varied and changed,-that exigencies might occur in the divine works and ways,— seem to me impossible and offensive suppositions. But much more offensive is it to hear it affirmed, in so many words, that nature has failed to accomplish aught.

3. I shrink, too, from the familiarity with the ways and purposes of the Infinite Mind implied in the foregoing statement. It may be admitted that there