magic, we need not fcruple to say that, in this age, it must be moft egregious trifling, and that it does not deferve any reply. At leaft it will be time enough to consider this objection, when fome perfon fhall be produced, who fhall feriously fay, that he believes the miracles, but not the doctrines. Spinoza himself, as Mr. Bayle affures us, faid to his friends, that "if he could be "convinced of the refurrection of Lazarus, " he would break his whole fyftem in pieces, "and readily embrace the common faith "of chriftians.'

It may also be alledged as an argument for the ufe of miracles, that the more general is the corruption of religion, and confequently the more neceffary revelation is, the lefs capable men are of perceiving the internal proofs of the excellence of a divine religion, and therefore the more occafion they have for external proofs, fuch as miracles afford.

It is poffible that there may be intelligent beings, fuperior, and invifible to us,

and,

and, their powers far exceeding ours, they may exert them in fuch a manner, as that to us the appearance will be the fame as of a divine interpofition. But fuch an abuse of fuperior powers would be fo fatal, that it cannot be fuppofed that a wife and good. being would permit it. Indeed, if this were the cafe, the divine being would leave himself no certain method of making his own power and defigns known to his creatures, whatever occafion there might be for his interpofition; as it would not be in their power to guard themselves from artful and malicious beings, who might take pleasure in misleading and confounding them. If ever, therefore, fuch beings be permitted to work miracles, we may depend upon it that they will be fo circumftanced, that it will be in the power of men of virtue and good understanding to dif cover the cheat.

Upon the whole, however, it is not in the leaft degree probable, that any being, befides the fupreme, ever worked a real miracle; and, confequently, that all the VOL. I.

S

wonders

wonders in which God himself has not been concerned have been the effects of artifice and deceit, fo as to impofe upon none but the ignorant and the credulous; and that men of understanding, who have opportunity of making proper inquiries, may fee through and detect them.

SECTION II.

Of the nature of the evidence for revelation.

NAT

ATURAL religion being that knowledge of God, of our duty, and future expectations, which we acquire from our obfervations on the ufual courfe of nature, revealed religion may be defined to be the knowledge, relating to the fame fubjects, which we acquire from interruptions of the usual course of nature, by the interpofition of the God of nature, the fole controller of the laws which he himself has established. Now the proper evidence that there

there has been any fuch interruption in the ufual courfe of nature, or that any real miracles have been performed, must be the teftimony of those who had an opportunity of examining the facts, in the fame manner as, by our own obfervation, and that of others together, we acquire a knowledge of the laws of nature themfelves.

In fome refpects, however, the evidence of

revelation borrows aid from other confiderations, independent of human teftimony, fo as to be perfectly fimilar to the evidence for natural religion. The proper evidence for natural religion arifes from present appearances, the doctrines of it being nothing more than the conclufions we draw from them. Could we poffibly account for every thing that we fee in the world around us without the fuppofition of an uncaused being, there would have been no foundation. for natural religion; but not being able to account for what we fee without fuppofing the exiftence and agency of a fupreme being, we are under a neceffity of admitting that there is such a being, and confequent

1

ly of affenting to every other article of natural religion.

In like manner a variety of prefent appearances may be confidered as fo many ftanding evidences of feveral leading articles in revealed religion; because, unless we admit that the divine being has interpofed in the government of the world, in such a manner as the hiftories of the Jewish and christian revelations affert, it is impoffible to give a fatisfactory account of the known ftate of the world in paft and prefent times; as, for instance, that such a system as Judaism fhould have been established, and such a religion as christianity should have had that spread in the world, which all history fhews that it had, in fuch circumstances as the fame history informs us both the profeffors of that religion, and the world in general, then were.

In fact, the evidence from teftimony itself is ultimately the fame with this, being reduceable to the method of judging from known and even prefent appearances. For

the