1499
M6A21
A N
ESSAY
In ANSWER to
Mr. HUME's ESSAY
O N
MIRACLES.
By W I L L I A M ADAMS, D. D.
Minifter of S T. C H A D 's, SALOP,
And Chaplain to the Lord Bifhop of ST. As A PH.
The THIRD EDITION, with Additions.
i it fumus ad auras. VJRG.
LONDON:
Printed for B. WHIT E, at Horace's Head, in Fleet-Street;
and T. C A D E L L in the Strand.
MDCCLXVII.
ERRATA.
Page 8. line 19. for of read or.
16 5. for events read the events.
32 9. for whoever read who ever.
47 2 3- <* an -
77 25. /or miraculo read miracula.
115. in the Note of reference, for afcal read Pafcal.
Lately pullijhed* Price i s.
By the AUTHOR of this EfTay,
rpH E N A T u R E and OBLIGATION of VIRTUE.
* A Sermon preached in the Parifh-Church of St.
Chad, Salop, at the primary Vifuation of the Lord
Bifhop of Litchfield ; and publifhed at his Lordfhip'a
Requeft. With an Appendix, containing Notes on
the fame Subject.
Price 6 d. The Suond Edition,
The DUTIES of INDUSTRY, FRUGALITY,
and SOBRIETY. A Sermon preached before a
Society of Tradefmen and Artificers, in the Parifti-
Church of St. Chad, Salop, on Eafter-Monday,
1766. Published at the Requeft of the Society.
*Z
fe
AN
ESSAY,
. HUME hath many of the talents
of a fine writer, and hath juftly ob-
tained that character by the agree-
able Ejfays moral and political '*,
with which he has obliged the world. What
he hath wrote well will create a prejudice in
favour of his errors ; and thefe will have all
their bad influence, when recommended by
fo able an advocate. The prefent is a fubjed:
of the greateft importance, and the author
expreffes a particular fatisfaction in his per-
formance. Thefe are reafons for confidering
* The reader is defired to diftinguifli betwixt this
and the metaphyfical eflays of this author, which is the
book referred to throughout this treatife.
B it
921865
k carefully, and for guarding ourfelves againft
being deceived by the artifice or eloquence of
the writer.
He begins with challenging, a little indi-
rectly, the thanks of the public, for a dif-
covery, which, he apprehends, will be of uni-
verfal fervice to mankind. This is nothing lefs
than an infallible cure for fuperflition. " I
" flatter myfelf," fays he, " that I have dif-
" covered an argument, which, if juft, will,
" with the wife and learned, be an everlafting
" check to all kinds of fuperftitious delufion,
" and, confequently, will be ufeful as long as
<c the world endures ; for fo long, I fuppofe,
" will the accounts of miracles and prodigies
" be found in all profane hiftory *." The
virtues of this fpecifick are fuch, that it exter-
minates all religions alike ; as he (hews, by
trying its ftrength upon the Chrtftian y which,
where it prevails, is, perhaps, more obftinate and
hard of cure than any other. Here, however,
it has been known to fail. I have given it a
fair trial, and known it tried by others, with-
out the leaft effect, and think I can prove that
* Pbilofopbical EJJays concerning human underflow 1 'v,,
p. 174, firft edition,
there
[ 3 ]
there is no one ingredient of any virtue or
efficacy in it.
The fecret itfelf is contained in the compafs
of a few lines : and therefore, to give fome
port and figure to it, the author has thought
neceflary to introduce it with fome preliminary
obfervations.
In the firft of thefe, his meaning feems to be
to lay down this as a principle - that all our
reafonings concerning matter of fact are found-
ed wholly on experience : " Tho' experience
" be our only guide in reafoning concerning
" matters of fact, it muft be acknowledged,
" that this guide is not altogether infallible,
<c but in fome cafes is apt to lead us into errors
" and miftakes. One, who in our climate
< mould expect better weather in any week of
" "June than in one of December, would reafon
<c juftly and conformable to experience ; but
" 'tis certain, that he may happen in the event
" to find himfelf miftaken. However, we may
" obferve, that in fuch a cafe he would have
* c no caufe to complain of experience > be-
" caufe it commonly informs us before-hand
" of the uncertainty, by that contrariety of
B 2 " events
[ 4 ]
" events which we may learn from a diligent
" obfervation *." In illuftrating this obferva-
tion, both here and elfewhere, he feems to con-
fine it to fuch events as are future : "An
" hundred inftances or experiments on one
" fide, and fifty on another, afford a very
" doubtful expectation of any event ; tho' an
" hundred uniform experiments, with only
" one contradictory one, do reafonably beget
" a very ftrong degree of affurance -f ." Here
then I readily allow, that in reafoning concern-
ing future contingencies experience is the beft
guide we have, tho' in many cafes, as will here-
after be feen, a very uncertain one.
This obfervation is followed by a prudent
caution. " A wife man," he tells us, " pro-
" portions his belief to the evidence. In fuch
" conclufions as are founded on an infallible
ic experience he expects the event with the laft
<c degree of affurance, and regards his paft ex-
" perience as a full proof of the future ex-
" iftence of tliat event. In other cafes he pro-
" ceeds with more caution : he weighs the
f oppofite experiments} he confiders which
" fide is fupported by the greatefl number of
* Pbilofopkical E/ays, p. 174. f P. 175.
" experi-
C 5 ]
" experiments j to that fide he inclines, with
" doubt and hesitation ; and, when at laft he
" fixes his judgment, the evidence exceeds not
" what we properly call probability. In all
<c cafes we muft ballance the oppofite experi-
" ments, where they are oppofite, and deduct
" the lefTer number from the greater, in order
" to know the exact force of the fuperior evi-
<{ dence *." This logick is very juft, and what,
I am perfuaded, every man of the plaineft un-
derftanding knows how to praclife, without
learning it from the fchools, or from the au-
thor's refinements on the curious and fublime
fubjetf (as he calls it) of probability f.
He then proceeds " To apply thefe prin-
" ciples to a particular inflance : We may ob-
cc ferve, there is no fpecies of reafbning more
" common, more ufeful, and even neceflary to
<c human life, than that derived from the tefti-
<c mony of men, and the reports of eye-wit-
" nelTes and fpectators. This fpecies of reafon-
<c ing perhaps one may deny to be founded on
" the relation of caufe and efFect. I (hall not
<{ difpute about a word. 'Twill be furficient
P. 175, t EJfay m Probability , p. 97.
33 "to
[ 6 ]
" to obferve, that our affurance, in any argu-
" ment of this kind, is derived from no other
" principle than our obfervation of the veracity
" of human testimony, and of the ufual con-
" formity of fads to the reports of witneffes*."
'Tis difficult to fay what the author would here
exemplify, there being no clear connection be-
twixt this and the preceding paragraphs. But,
if I may prefume to explain it, his argument
ftands thus: The principle he fet out with,
was, that our reafoning about matters of fact
depends wholly upon experience. This he hath
proved concerning fuch events as are future :
he now wants to prove the fame concerning
fads that are paft. Here he is aware, that,
betides experience, we have another guide,
which is the teftimony of hiftory, that of wit-
neffes, &c. Thefe he does not chufe to diftin-
guifh from the former, but infinuates, that the
evidence of teftimony is included in that of
experience, or that every argument from tefti-
mony is only an argument from experience,
for as much as the truth of that depends
ultimately uponthisf . "The ultimate ftandard,"
he
* P. 176.
f It may with more propriety be faid, that the evi-
dence of experience is included in that of teftimony,
than
[ 7 ]
he tells us below, " by which we determine
" difputes of this kind, is always derived from
<{ experience and obfervation." Now it is true,
that the evidence of teftimony mutt be refolved
at laft into experience :" but this experience is
of a fpecies entirely diftindfc from that on which
the natural probability of any fad attefted refts :
nor does it confift, as this author aflerts, in our
obfervation of the veracity of human teftimony t and
of the ufual conformity offaSts <with the reports of
witneffes. It is built upon other principles, to
which the author himfelf leads us in the words
that follow : " Did not men's imagination na-
" turally follow their memory had they not
<c commonly an inclination to truth, and a fenti-
ct ment of probity were they not fenfible to
" iliame, when detected in afalfehood Were
" not theie, I fay, difcovered by experience to
C be qualities inherent in human nature, we
than the contrary. Our own experience reaches around
and goes back but a little way. But the experience of
others, upon which we chiefly depend, is derived to us
wholly from hiftory and tradition, that is, from tefti-
mony. And it is obvious to obferve, that, in a queftion
of fal, the teftimony of negative witneffes how many
foever, is, for the moft part, no evidence at all ; while
pofitive teftimony muft, more or lefs, have its weight.
B 4 " fhould
t 8 ]
" fhould never repofe the lead confidence in
" human teftimony *." The firft of thefe mo-
tives I do not underftand. Of the reft I (hall
obferve, that their force we collect, not fo
much from our obfervaticn of other men, as
from our own feeling, and a confcioufnefs of
what paffes within our own breaft. We per-
ceive in ourfelves, that a love and reverence
for truth is natural to the mind of man : and
the fame felf-experience teaches us, that there
are certain other principles in human nature,
by which the veracity of men may be tried,
and the truth of teftimony be often put out of
doubt, as will be hereafter feen.
The next obfervation is, that, " as the evi-
cc dence derived from witnefles and human tefti-
" mony is founded on pafl experience, fo it
tc varies with the experience, and is regarded
" either as a proof of probability, according as
cc the conjunction betwixt any particular kind
" of report and any kind of objects has been
" found to be conftant or variable -(-." Here
again the author's meaning is loft in a thicket
of words, which it is difficult for a common
eye to penetrate. Let the reader try what he
* P. 177- t Ibid.
can
[ 9 1
can make of the conjunction varying betwixt any
particular report and any kind of objects. The
credibility of an hiftorical fact depends upon
the credibility of the fact itfelf, and that of the
hiftorian or witneffes who relate it. Thefc
fhould be always confidered diftindtly ; tho*
the author, for reafons of his own, chufes to
confound them. The latter of thefe depends
in part upon principles that are fixed and in-
variable, fuch as thofe the author has juft men-
tioned, which are general principles of human
nature; and in part too on the perfonal character
of the relator, the intereft he has in the fact re-
lated, and other circumstances. As thefe cir-
cumftances vary, the evidence varies, and the
fact becomes more or lefs credible. And fo,
concerning the natural credibility of the fact,
this is greater or lefs, according as our own,
and the obfervation of others, in cafes of a
fimilar nature, has been more or lefs uniform.
Something like this I take to be the author's
meaning in this place : and this is the amount
of all that follows in this and the next para-
graph. My defign, therefore, in this remark,
is, not to conteft the author's principles, which,
as far as I underftand them, are right enough ;
but to fliew that his ftyle and manner of writ-
4 ing
f 10 ]
ing tend to embarrafs the fubjed, and perplex
the reader.
We are now coming nearer to the matter in
queftion. " Suppofe," fays the author, " that
" the fad, which the teftimony endeavours to
" eftablifh, partakes of the extraordinary and
" the marvellous ; in that cafe, the evidence
" refulcing from the teftimony receives a dimi-
" nution, greater or lefs, in proportion as the
" fact is more or lefs unufual. When the
" fad: attefted is fuch a one as has feldom fallen
" under our obfervation, here is a conteft of
" two oppofite experiences -, of which the one
" deftroys the other, as far as its force goes,
<f and v the fuperior can only operate on the
" mind by the force which remains. The very
(< fame principle of experience, which gives
" us a certain degree of afiurance in the tefti-
<c mony of witneffes, gives us alfo, in this cafe,
" another degree of affurance againft the fad
" which they endeavour to eftablifh *.'* Here
the author feems to fuppofe, that a want of ex-
perience, in any cafe, is the fame with experi-
encing the contrary. When afatt attefted bath
feidom fallen under our obfervation ', " here is>" fays
* P. 179-
he,
[ II ]
he, cc a contefl of two oppofite experiences:" but,
in reality, here is no experience at all ; only a
fact not obferved on one fide, and pofitive evi-
dence, or the fact attefted, on the other a
very unequal conteft ! as we fhall prefently fee ;
the flighteft pofitive teftimony being, for the
moft part, an over-ball ance to the ftrongeft
negative evidence that can be produced. I
grant, however, all that the author's argument
requires, viz. that experience teaches us, of
many things, that they are improbable, and not
to be haftily believed -, of others, that they are
naturally incredible : but thefe are fo, not be-
caufe they are unufual or unobferved, but be-
caufe there is a known difproportion betwixt the
caufe affigned and the effect, or becaufe the
fact aflerted is a contradiction to fome known
and univerfal truth.
Thefe premifes he now draws to a point,
and makes them center in one conclufive ar-
gument againft miracles : " To increafe the
u probability againft the teftimony of witnef-
" fes, let us fuppofe, that the fact which they
" affirm, inftead of being only marvellous, is
" really miraculous j and fuppofe alfo, that
" the teftimony, confidered apart and in itfelf,
" amounts
r I* 3
cc amounts to an entire proof: in that cafe,
" there is proof againft proof, of which the
c ftrongeft muft prevail, but ftill with a di-
" minution of its force in proportion to that of
c< its antagonift *." I havejuft allowed, that
there are facts which experience afTures us are
wholly incredible : but of theie I (ball afTert,
that-no good teflimony can be produced in their
favour. Truth is always confident with itfelf ;
and no one truth can ever be contradicted by
another. The author is, therefore, too kind in
fuppofing that miracles may admit of full proof
from teilimony. I mall take no advantage of
this conceffion, but readily acknowledge, that,
if they are proved a priori to be incredible, it
will be a vain attempt to prove them by tefti-
mony. Let us fee, then, what the author al-
ledges in bar of this proof. His batteries are
now mounted, and he begins the attack.
cc A miracle," fays he, et is a violation of
et the laws of nature j and, as a firm and un-
" alterable experience hath eftablifhed thefe
" laws, the proof againft a miracle, from the
c * nature of the fact, is as entire as any ar-
" gument from experience can pofftbly be
* P. 179.
" imagined.
[ '3 1
44 imagined. Why is it more than probable,
' that all men muft die that lead cannot by
11 itfelf remain fufpended in the air that fire
" confumes wood, and is extinguimed by water
" unlefs it be, that thefe events are found
" agreeable to the laws of nature, and there is
" required a violation of thefe laws, or, in
<{ other words, a miracle, to prevent them ?
" Nothing is efteemed a miracle, if it ever hap-
" pens in the common courfe of nature. 'Tis
" no miracle, that a man in feeming good
<c health mould die of a fudden ; becaufe fuch
" a kind of death, tho' more unufual than any
lc other, has yet been frequently obferved to
** happen : but 'tis a miracle, that a dead man
" mould come to life j becaufe that hath ne-
" ver been obferved in any age or country.
" There muft, therefore, bean uniform expe-
' rience againft every miraculous event, other-
<c wife the event would not merit the appella-
" tion. And, as an uniform experience amounts
<c to a proof, there is here a direct and full
" proof, from the nature of the fact, againft
" the exiftence of any miracle: nor can fuch
" a proof be deftroyed, or the miracle ren-
cc der'd credible, but by an oppofite proof that
<c is fuperior *."
* P. 180.
I have
[ 14 J
I have endeavoured to preferve the ftrength
of this argument entire, by collecting every
thing that is of any import to it in the obfer-
vations that precede it : and, that the reader
may fee it in its ftrongeft light, I fhall here
repeat it, as it is again fumm'd up by the
author at the end of his Eflay :
" It appears, that no teftimony for any kind
" of miracle can ever amount to a probability,
" much lefs to a proof; and that, even fup-
" pofing it amounted to a proof, 'twould be
c oppofed by another proof, derived from the
<c very nature of the fact which it would en-
" deavour to eftablifh. 'Tis experience alone
c< which gives authority to human teftimony ;
" and 'tis the fame experience which aflures us
*' of the laws of nature. When, therefore,
" thefe two kinds of experience are contrary,
<c we have nothing to do but fubtracl the one
" from the other, and embrace an opinion,
<l either on the one fide or the other, with
" that afTurance which arifes from the re-
*' mainder. But, according to the principle
" here explained, this fubtraction, with regard
" to all popular religions, amounts to an entire
" annihilation : and therefore we may eftablifh
4 " it
[ '5 ]
" it as a maxim, that no human teftimony can
" have fuch force as to prove a miracle, and
'* make it a juft foundation for any fuchiyftem
" of religion *."
This is the author's great difcovery. The
\vhole fecret is out. And here one cannot
but wonder to fee a pofition, which is laid
down by all that write in defence of miracles,
pleaded as a decifive argument againft them,
and to find the experience of all mankind
brought in evidence againft all the religions
of the world. An experienced uniformity in
the courfe of nature hath been always thought
neceffary to the belief and ufe of miracles.
Thefe are indeed relative ideas. There muft
be an ordinary regular courfe of nature, before
there can be any thing extraordinary. A river
muft flow, before its ftream can be interrupted.
It is ftrange, therefore, that this uniformity,
which is implied in the nature of a miracle,
fhould at the fame time be inconfiftent with it.
This is to fuppofe, that the exiftence of a miracle
is a contradi&ion in terms -, and as fuch indeed
the author feems to treat it : " A miracle fup-
" ported by any human teftimony is more
* P. 198.
cc properly
[ '6 ]
" properly a fubjed of derifion than of argu-
" ment * :" And again, " What have we
*' to oppofe to fuch a cloud of witnefles, but the
" ablolute impombility or miraculous nature of
" events -j- ? " A modeft reader can Icarce
look fuch afliirance as this in the face : he will
be apt to miftrufl his own apprehenfion, and
think there is more in thele big words than he
readily fees. The firft reading gave me fufpi-
cions of this kind ; but, having recovered my-
felf, and taken courage to review it, I fear not
to aflert, that all the experience the author can
bring will amount to neither proof nor argu-
ment again ft the belief of miracles. Let him,
if he pleafes, plead his own experience that
he has never feen or been witnefs to any mi-
racle that he has always found the courfe of
nature to be the fame and unchanged: but
\ does this experience teach him, that the laws
1 of nature are necefTary and immutable that
-there is no power in being fufficient to fufpend
/ or alter them or that there can be no reafons
I to induce fuch a power to acl ? 'Till one or
Vother of thefe can be proved from experience,
it is no evidence in the prefent cafe, and, in-
ftead of deciding the matter in queftion, is
* P. 194. t P. 195-
wholly
[ 17 ]
wholly impertinent and foreign to it. Can
the fouthern climates experience that there is
no frofl in the north ? Or, can Mr. Hume ex-
perience that I have never feen fire kindled by
a touch from ice ? This negative evidence,
tho' multiplied infinitely, would ftill be ne-
gative : and the fad laft mentioned might be
true, and capable of very eafy proof from
teftimony, as I (hall prefently {hew, though all
the world mould agree that they had never feen
the like.
The uniformity of nature is no way impeach-
ed or brought in queftion by the fuppofition of
miracles. The concurring teftimony of mankind
to the courfe of nature is not contradicted by
thole who have experienced contrary appear-
ances in a few inftances. The idea of a miracle
unites and reconciles thefe feeming differences.
By fuppofing the fadls in queftion to be mira-
culous, the uniformity of nature is preferved,
and the fads are accounted for upon another
principle entirely confident with it. Thus, ex-
perience teacheth us that lead and iron are hea-
vier than water : but a man, by projecting thefe
heavy bodies, may make them iwim in water,
or fly in air. Should the fame be done by any
C invifible
invifible power, it would be a miracle. But
the uniformity of nature is no more difturbed
in this cafe than the former: nor is the general
experience, which witnefles to the luperior gra-
vity of thefe bodies, any proof that they may
not be raifed in air and water by fome invifible
agent, as well as by the power of man. All that
experience teaches is the comparative weight of
thefe bodies. If, therefore, they are feen to float
in mediums lighter than themfelves, this muft
be the effect of art or ftrength : but, if it be
done without any vifible art or power, it muft
be done then by fome art or power that is invi-
fible ; that is, it muft be miraculous. This is
the procefs by which we infer the exiftence of
miracles ; which is, therefore, fo far from be-
ing contradicted by that experience upon which
the laws of nature are eftablifhed, that it is
clofely connected and ftands in the faireft agree-
ment with it.
The queftion then will remain Whether any
fuch invifible agents have ever interpofed in pro-
ducing vifible effects? Againft the poffibility of
this,tho' the authorispleafed to pronounce itim-
poffible, he hath offered no argument (and, in-
deed, none can poffibly be offered) : Again/I the
4 credibility
[ 19 ]
credibility of it, the experience which he pleads
is no argument at all. This experience proves
a courfe of nature j but, whether this is ever in-
terrupted, is ftill a queftion. This experi-
ence teaches what may be ordinarily expect-
ed from common caufes, and in the com-
mon courfe of things: but miraculous in-
terpofitions, which we are enquiring after, are,
by their nature and elTence, extraordinary and
out of the common courfe of nature. Miracles,
if at all, are effects of an extraordinary power
upon extraordinary occafions : confequently,
common experience can determine nothing con-
cerning them. That fuch occafions may arife,
both in the natural and moral world, is eafy to
conceive. The greateft of natural philofo-
phers * hath thought, that the frame of the
world will want, in a courfe of time, the hand
that made to retouch and refit it. The greateft
of moral philofophers -(- hath thought it a rea-
fonable hope, that God would fome time fend
a meffenger from heaven to inftruct men in the
great duties of religion and morality.
* Newton Opt. ed. Lat. p. 346.
t Socrates in Platonis Alcibiade 2, fub finem.
C 2 As
[ 20 ]
As to the queftion of fatt Whether any
fuch interpofitions have been ever known or
obferved ? this muft be tried, like all other hif-
torical fads, by the teftimony of thofe who re-
late it, and the credit of the firft witneffes who
have vouched it ; and not, as this author would
have it, by theteftimony of others of thofe
who lived in diftant times and places. There
is mention of a comet, a little before the
Achaian war, which appeared as big as the
fun *. If this were well attefted by the aftro-
nomers of that time, it would be trifling to ob-
ject againft it that the like had never been ob-
ferved before or lince. And juft as pertinent is
it to alledge the experience of ages and coun-
tries againft miracles which are faid to be
wrought in other times and other countries.
But, in truth, were the world to give evidence
in the prefent queftion, they would, I am per-
fuaded, depofe very differently from what this
author expects. A great part of mankind have
given their teftimony to the credibility of mi-
racles : they have actually believed them. By
this author's account, all the religions in the
* Seneca Nat. Quajl. lib. 7. cap. 15.
world
world have been founded upon this belief. If
this be true, we have univerfal teftimony to the
credibility of miracles. How then can there be
univerfal experience againft them ? The author
tell us that we muft judge of teftimony by ex-
perience. It is more certain that we muft judge
of the experience of men by their teftimony.
It is far from true that all religions have been
founded on miracles. None but the Chriftian
and "Jewijh appear to be fo founded. But there --^
is a fort of miracles, which men of all religions
have agreed in believing. " A miracle," as this
author fays, " may be either difcoverable by
" men, or not. This alters not its nature and
* c effence *." Many things appear to us to be
effeded by natural means, the firft fprings of
which may be moved by the immediate hand
of God. But every fuch interpofition, in over-
ruling or giving a new direction to the courfe of
nature, is, as the author allows, miraculous.
If then Providence ever interpofes in punifhing
exemplary wickednefs, or in the fupport of
eminent virtue in averting evil, or beftowing
good thefe are miracles. But thefe have been \
* P. 181.
C 3 univerfally
[ 22 ]
univerfally believed. Thefe bleffings of heaven
have been implored and acknowledged, and
thefe judgments deprecated, in the publick and
private prayers of mankind, from the begin-
ning of the world to this time.
We cannot indeed argue, from thefe fuppofed
interpofitions, that therefore Providence will in-
terpofe in a vifible and fenfible manner. But it
follows, that fuch interpofitions are poflible ; it
follows, that they are credible. If we believe
thefe miraculous interpofitions, when they do
not appear to our fenfes, what mould hinder us
from believing the like upon the report of our
fenfes, or of credible perfons who give witnels
to them ? If there are general reafons for con-
cealing thefe interpofitions, may there not too
be fpecial reafons for fignalizing them at times
to the fenfes and notice of mankind ? It is cer-
tain, that, if any fuch reafons can be affigned,
all that is difficult of belief in miracles will be
removed. Now, tho' we cannot indeed look
into the counfels of Providence, nor, without
prefumption, pronounce what is fit for God, in,
any fuppofed circumftance, to do -, yet, in judg-
ing of paft fads or miracles that are queftioned,
we can readily fee whether any great end, wor-
thy
[ 23 ]
thy of God, hath been anfwered by them : and
if this appear to be. the cafe, it will create a pre-
fumption in their favour : and if, farther, it
{hall feem that this end could not have been
compaffed by any other means, this will amount
to fome proof of their reality.
To fee this matter in the cleareft light, it may
be proper to confider more diftindly the grounds
of that credibility, which we allow, in different
degrees, to hifbrical fadts. This depends, as I
have faid, on the credibility of the facts them-
felves, and on that of the hiftorian or witneffes
who relate them. /
The credibility of any facl: in itfelf, as this
author frequently tells us, depends upon its ana-
logy with the known courfe of nature *. But
the powers of nature are fo imperfectly known
to us, that in moft cafes we argue with great un-
certainty from this principle. A confequence of
this is, that teftimony is, for the moft part, of
much greater force to eftablifh the truth of paft
fa&s, than experience. It would have been
thought highly incredible a few years ago, that
* P. 165.
04 an
an animal might be propagated by cutting it in
pieces that you might, by dividing one living
creature, give life to an hundred of the fame
fpecies. Yet this fort of Hydra has been difco-
vered ; and the fad, tho' contrary to the whole
analogy of nature, was readily believed, when it
had been experienced and teftified by very few.
In like manner, I have no doubt that the mag-
net lofes its polarity in very cold latitudes. I
believe this upon the teflimony of one man *,
tho' the experience of travellers in all climates
before attefts the contrary. Here the moft
uniform experience is outweighed by a tingle
evidence. The reafon is, that the experience
of other countries is only a negative evidence
in the queftion. The experience was indeed,
before the fact was tried, a very ftrong pre-
fumption againfl it. The moft cautious failor
would have ventured his fortune and life upon
it. Yet is this prefumption of no weight in
the queftion of paft fact, when compared with
the flighteft teftimony f .
In
* Mr. Ellis, in his account of the North-weft
Pafiage.
f Every propofition or f^ct afierted is certainly true or
falfe. By credible or probable we mean, not any thing
real in the character of the propofition or fat, but only
its
* !^*;
In cafes where a fufficient caufe is affigned, an
effect, however new and ftrange, may become
credible, or even probable, in itfelf, without
any teftimony to fupport it. That fire fhould
be
its appearance to us, or to the perfon who eftimates this
credibility. A thing is faid to be credible, when it
wants and is thought capable of proof to be pro-
bable, when there appear more reafons for than againft
believing it. Credible is more than poffible> and impojjibk
more than incredible. Again, probable is more than
credible^ and incredible is more than improbable. But
thefe words are ufed in common language fomewhat
promifcuoufly. Thus, what is highly probable is faid
to be highly credible', and what is very improbable to
be very incredible. Hence, there are all degrees of
incredible and credible, before you arrive at probability.
After this, credible and probable are the fame, and ad-
mit again of all degrees, 'till you arrive at moral cer-
tainty. The fame thing then may be credible in all
thefe different degrees to different perfons. That the
earth is round that it is conftantly fpinning about like
a tap, and travelling with a very fwift motion, while
the fun and the heavens ftand ftill This to one part
of mankind is wholly incredible, and to another
morally certain. The credibility, therefore, or com-
parative incredibility of any fa6t is, for the moft part,
too loofe a bottom to ground any argument or inference
upon. The fame teftimony may likewife bevarioufly
credible to different perfons. But the evidence of this
is far more diftin&, and its force more eafily afcertain-
ed. The truth of teftimony, where it is doubtful,
may
be kindled by a touch from ice, is contrary to
the experience of fome thoufand years. But
ele&ricity is a caufe given equal to the effe<ft.
From
may be proved many different ways : that of doubtful
facts can be made clear only by teftimony, which is
indeed,, after all,, the proper proof of facts.
Experience is the general teftimony of mankind to-
general truths. Teftimony, as it is here oppofed to
experience, is the atteftation of particular perfons to
particular facts ; the former of thefe witnefles to the
credibility of facts ; the latter gives evidence directly
to their reality or exiftence. From the former we col-
lect, that May is on this fide the line a warmer month
than December : but the certainty of this in particular
inftances is only to be proved, and the contrary may be
proved, from the latter. We may indeed, as I have
granted, in fome cafes, infer from the former of thefe
the certainty or impoflibility of facts. But even here
this limitation or condition is always underftood that
we know the whole of the cafe that no caufe inter-
venes, which is unknown or does not appear to us.
And therefore, in the ftrongeft cafes that can be fup-
pofed, experience is no bar to the evidence of teftimo-
ny i becaufe it is very poflible, in almoft all cafes, that
fuch caufe may intervene. Should I fee a ftone climb
up hill, or a piece of folid iron fwim in water, I could
not doubt the fact, how incredible foever in itfelf. Sup-
pofe the fame to reft upon the teftimony of others : I
cannot, indeed, fee with the eyes of other men j but
I can fee that they have eyes, as well as myfelf : and,
if
From this time then the fact becomes credible,
and even probable, tho' it were not tried and
proved by any one witnefs.
In
if their veracity is proved,. as I afiert it may, even to
our eyes and fenfes, (I mean, by fenfible and vifible
fails) I have then nearly as good evidence for the fact,
as if I had feen it myfelf. I might perhaps conclude,
that the effect was produced by fome invifible agent ;
but, whether this can be difcovered or not, the fa&
muft ftill be admitted. All this is unwarily allowed by
the author himfelf, in terms as ftrong as can be defired :
" Suppofe all authors in all languages agree, that from
" the firft of January ^ 1600, there was a total dark-
".nefs over the whole earth for eight days : Suppofe
" that the tradition of this extraordinary event is ftill
** ftrong and lively among the people ; that all travel-
" lers, who return from foreign countries, bring us ac-
" counts of the fame tradition, without the leaft va-
" riation or contradiction : 'Tis evident, that our pre-
" fent philofophers, inftead of doubting of that fa&,
11 ought to receive it for certain, and ought to fearch
" for the caufes whence it might be derived." P. 199.
The author of the Free Inquiry into the miraculous
Powers of the primitive Church has ftated this matter in
a very different light. He fuppofes, that we have the
evidence of fenfe for the natural credibility of fa&s,
and feems to infer, that, when we argue from hence,
we go upon furer ground than when we argue from
teftimony, which he reprefents as ever dark and doubt-
ful, and amounting only to a reafonable prefumption,
at
In moral or intelligent agents we look for
moral caufes for reafons or motives to induce
them to at, as well as for the natural powers
of
at beft : the contrary to which, in almoft every parti-
cular, is, I think, the truth. As the principles laid
down by this author are very general, and may be eafily
mifapplied, beyond his intention, in the prefent quef-
tion, it will not be improper to compare them with
what has been (aid. " The queftion concerning thefe
tc miraculous powers depends," fays he, " upon the
* e joint credibility of the fails pretended to have been
" produced, and of the witnefies who atteft them : if
" either part be infirm, their credit muft fink in pro-
* c portion, and, if the facts efpecially be incredible, muft
" of courfe fall to the ground, becaufe no force of tef-
** timony can alter the nature of things. The credibi-
" lity of fafts lies open to the trial of our reafon and
" fenfes : but the credibility of witnefles depends on a
" variety of principles wholly concealed from us ; and,
" tho' in many cafes it may reafonably be prefumed,
" yet in none can it certainly be known : for it is com-
" mon with men, cut of crafty and felfifli views, to
" difTemble and deceive : but plain facts cannot delude
" us cannot fpeak any other language, or give any
4< other information, than that of truth. The tefti-
" mony, therefore, of fals, as it is ofFer'd to our fenfes,
" carries with it the fureft inftruction in all cafes,
<s which Gou, in the ordinary courfe of his providence,
" has thought fit to appoint for the guidance of human
" life.
of ading. And, where both a final and effici-
ent caufe appear equal to the effect, the effect,
however ftrange in itfelf, will become credible
by
" life *." In anfwer to which, I fhall not deny that
the credibility of facts may in many cafes be tried by
our fenfes ; but this is generally learnt from experience,
or the common teftimony of mankind : And, 2dly,
this credibility, however learnt or proved, is no direct
evidence of the reality or exiftence of any doubtful fact ;
fince the fail may be highly credible, and yet never exift
may be in a great degree incredible, and yet certainly
true. What the author calls the teftimony offafts offered
to our fenfes is in this cafe only the teftimony of our
fenfes, or that of other men, to the exiftence, not of
the fact in queftion, but of other fails that are fuppofed
analogous or fimilar to it ; which, tho' in many cafes it
may amount to a very high prefumption, yet is in none
a dire ft proof of any doubtful fatt : Whereas,' 3dly, tefti-
mony is a direct evidence to the exiftence or reality, not
of fimilar facts, but of the fact itfelf : and therefore, in
judging of paft or diftant facts, where we cannot have
the evidence of our fenfes, the teftimony of thofe who
have this evidence is, not only the fureft, but the only
method of injlruflion which Providence has appointed for our
guidance thro 1 life. All that we certainly know of fuch
facts is derived from this fource. The truth of tefti-
mony is always prefumed, where there are no parti-
cular reafons to fufpedt it. This prefumption alone
will give more weight, as we have feen, to a fingletef-
* Preface, p 9.
timony,
[ 3 1
by teftimony, if not probable without it. It is
poflible for a man to fwim acrofs the Hellefpont.
The poffibility of this faft will make it credible
upon fufficient teftimony: but, if a competent
reaibn is affigned for this hazardous enterprize
(fuch as the efcaping certain death) this will
make it credible upon the flighteft teftimony,
or even probable without any.
The refult then is that whatever is pof-
fible, or in the loweft degree credible, is ca-
pable of a proof from teftimony that the
ftrongeft prefumption from experience is of
timony, and make it better 'evidence for the truth of
facts, than a very high degree of prefumption drawn
from analogy is againft it. 4thly, This prefumption
may be increafed to any degree by the concurrence of
other teftimony ; which concurrence too is itfelf a dif-
tin& proof of the fact attefted. Laftly, The veracity
of every fingle witnefs may be proved by plain and in-
difputable facts, as will be feen more fully hereafter.
If then improbable or incredible facts require ftronger
evidence to fupport them, the weight of teftimony may
be increafed, and the proofs that fupport it multiplied,
infinitely ; and, confequently, whatever is not abfo-
lutely impoffible may be thus proved. The force of
teftimony cannot indeed alter the nature of things : but it
can make things improbable become probable it can
give credibility, and even certainty, to things that were
before incredible.
little
[ 3- 1
little force againft pofitive evidence and that,
where a caufe is affigned equal to any effect,
the event is rendered credible upon common
teftimony, and fometimes probable without
any.
But there are, it is granted, many cafes, which,
we may, from nature and experience, pronounce
to be impoffible. It is impoflible that a facl or
proportion mould be true, when the caufe af-
figned 'is unequal to the effect. Now, the
proportion of caufes to effects, the natural
powers of agents, and the force of moral caufes
on the mind, we know to a good degree, from
experience. If we cannot precifely determine the
force of natural agents, we can, in moft cafes,
affign limits which they cannot pafs. For in-
ftance : We cannot precifely mark out the
bounds of human power j but we can, in all
cafes, fay to what it does not extend. If the
ftrength of men, at a medium, be equal to one,
that of king Auguftus or Hercules may be equal
to two ; but it cannot be equal to two hundred.
A phyfician may reftore a dying man to health ;
but he cannot reftore a dead man to life. Of all
fuch events, as railing the dead, calming the
winds or feas, curing difeafes with a word, we
may
f 3* ]
may fairly pronounce, that they are impoffible
to human ftrength, and therefore, when imputed
to it, are incredible ; becaufe a force equal to
two cannot produce an effect equal to two hun-
dred. In this cafe experience decides with fuffi-
cient authority againft the fact. And this, I
fuppofe, the author miftook for an argument
againft miracles.
But whoever attributed thefe fads to human
power ? Thofe who record, and thofe who be-
lieve, miracles, univerfally afcribe them to a
power fuperior to man. They agree, that they
far exceed all human ftrength, and therefore are
an argument of the concurrence and agency of
fome fuperior power. Againft the interpolation
of fuch fuperior power, experience, as we have
feen, can determine nothing. If common expe-
rience does not atteft or acknowledge fuch in-
terpolations, the anfwer is given common oc-
cafions do not call for them. The common
wants of nature are provided for by the com-
mon courfe of nature. Extraordinary occa-
fions only can call for extraordinary interpofi-
tions. Of thefe occafions we are not the pro-
per judges : but, that many fuch may arife in
the
4
[ 33 ]
the government of free agents, feems obvious
even to us.
If men, by a bad ufe of their liberty, mould
fink themfelves into a moral incapacity of an-
fwering the ends of their creation If they
mould lofe fight of God and religion and all
the great motives to holinefs and virtue, and
this evil fhould become general and pad all na-
tural hopes of recovery it is very fuppofeable
that God may interpofe, by a fpecial act of his
Providence, in reftoring them to a capacity of
ferving him, and of attaining that happinefs for
which they were created. If virtue, and that
knowledge which is neceflary to it, are worthy
the care of Providence and if thefe were in
danger of periming out of the world why
fhould it be thought incredible that God mould
fend a righteous man to teach the doctrines and
enforce the duties of religion, with a clear and
exprefs authority ? This miffion of a prophet
would be miraculous : but the miracle would
not appear ; and therefore other miracles would
be neceflary to attefr. its truth. Superior know-
ledge and virtue are not fufficient to charac-
terize a prophet : he muft do fuch things as
no man can do, except God were with him,
D before
[ 34 J
before his miffion or character will be acknow-
ledged for divine. Here then is a reafon,
which, whenever it can be pleaded, will make
miracles every way credible, and as capable of
proof from teftimony as any matter of fact
whatfoever.
In the examination of paft facts, if no fucli
end appears to have been anfwered by the mi-
racles alledged, this will be a ftrong prefump-
tion againft them. On the other hand, if any
great confequences have followed if, for in-
ftance, it mould appear from hiftory, that na-
tural religion had, when loft, by the help of
thefe miracles, been revived in all its purity,
and eftablifhed in many nations as the will of
God this will be a ftrong preemption in their
favour : And, if there appear no other affign-
able caufe, which could give birth to this great
event, but the miracles pretended, this will be
a good proof of their reality.
We come next to confider the credibility de-
rived to fads from teftimony. This depends in
general upon the principles of human nature,
which we can argue with the more certainty
from, bccaufe we experience them in ourfelves,
[ 35 1
as well as obferve them in others. We are made
naturally to love truth, and to hate and abhor
falmood and deceit. The fhame of being de-
tedled in a lye, and the reproach that ever fol
lows it, is a full proof of this. Even in mat-
ters of no moment, in the moft tranfient dif-
courfe, where men think it unnecefiary to at-
tend to what they fay, were there no temptation
from vanity or a defire of pleafing, they would
never deviate from truth. But this principle
will operate far more ftrongly, where men are
called upon to attend, have leifure to confider,
and give their teftimony deliberately : it will
operate more ftrongly on good men than bad
in cafes of great moment than in matters of
indifference.
Could we be abfolutely certain, in any cafe,
that a man had no intereft, real or fuppofed, in
deceiving that he had no motive to deceive
we might depend with abfolute certainty upon
the truth of his evidence. Now, this aflurance
we may have from circumftances that cannot
deceive us. Incapable as we are of penetrating
into all the referves and recefTes of the human
mind, there is yet a certain and infallible teft,
by which the veracity of men may in many
D 2 cafe
[ 36 ]
cafes be tried. For example : If the perfon at-
tefting gives up every known intereft for the
fake of his teftimony, without any known pro-
fpeft of advantage if he is expofed by it to
prefent fufferings, and is threaten'd with yet
greater if he perfifts under all the difcourage-
ments that can be thought of, and goes through
a long feries of evils, which, by receding from
his teftimony, he might prevent and, Iaftly 9
if he gives up life itfelf for a painful and igno-
minious death this is fuch a proof of fincerity
as cannot be refitted. In this cafe, we are not
only allured that the witnefs is free from every
corrupt biafs, but that he has thehigheft regard
for truth. Nothing but a confcious fenfe of
this, with the hope of a future reward from the
God of truth, can fupport men under a lofs of
all things, and under the actual fuffering of all
the evils of life. A good man may give up his
intereft for the fake of truth : a bad man will
facrihce truth to intereft : but no man will give
up intereft and truth together for nothing, or
for the fake of falmood, which is worfe than
nothing.
The maxims we here argue from are the
moft certain and uncontroverted of any in mo-
rality
t 37 1
rality That men act from motives, and that
good, real or apparent, is the object, the motive
and aim of every action. The laws by which
the moral world is governed are as certain and
infallible as thofe of the natural. The paffions,
appetites, and fenfes of mankind act, and are
acted upon, with as much uniformity as any
powers and principles in nature. That men
mould love falmood rather than truth that
they mould chufe labour and travail, mame and
mifery, before pleafure, eafe, and efteem is
as much a violation of the laws of nature, as it
is for lead or iron to hang unsupported in the
air, or for the voice of a man to raife the dead
to life : but this, I have granted to the author,
is, not miraculous, but impoffible, and mall
therefore have his leave, I hope, to affert, that
falmood, thus attefted, is impoffible' in other
words, that teftimony, thus tried and proved,
is infallible and certain.
It remains, indeed, that witnefles the mod
upright and unfufpected may be miftaken in
their teftimony : they may be deceived them-
felves ; and therefore their teftimony, even thus
proved, is not to be fecurely relied on. But,
happily, miracles, at leaft all that we difpute
D 3 with
[ 38 ]
with this author, are of fuch a nature, that it
is impoffible to be deceived about them. Fails
that are vifible and palpable to the fenfes of
mankind, that are done in open day-light, that
lie open to fcrutiny and obfervation for a long
time together, prefent witnefles muft know
whether they fee or not. They who report
them as eye-witnefles cannot be deceived
themfelves in the belief of them, however
they may intend to deceive others.
I conclude then, that miracles, when there
appears a fufficient caufe for working them,
are credible in themfelves that, when they
come under the cognizance of our fenfes, they
are proper matter of teftimony, and, when at^
tefted by witnefles who have fufficient oppor-
tunities of convincing themfelves, and give fuf-
ficient proof of their conviction, have a right
to command our faith..
And here I accept the author's alternative,
without complaining of the infidious terms in
which it is expreffed. <c The plain confe-
" quence," fays he, " is (and 'tis a general
' maxim worthy of our attention) that no tef-
" timony is fufficient to eftablifh a miracle,
un-
[ 39 ]
" unlefs the teftimony be of fuch a kind, that
" its faldiood would be more miraculous than
u the fact which it endeavours to eftablim :
" and even in that cafe there is a mutual de-
<{ ftruction of arguments, and the fuperior
" only gives us an afTurance fuitable to that
" degree of force which remains after deduct-
<c ing the inferior. If the falmood of any
" perfon's teftimony would be more iniracu-
* c lous than the event which he relates, then,
11 and not 'till then, can he pretend to com-
' mand my belief or opinion *." By miracu-
lous it is plain that the author here means, in
the popular fenfe of the word, wonderful or in-
credible. I afTert then, that miracles may be
made fo credible by circumftances and con-
curring facts, and fo fupported by teftimony,
that, if we reject them, we muft believe things
more incredible, or, as the author would have
us fpeak, more miraculous than the miracles
themfelves.
The miracles I mail mention are thofe in
the Chriflian Gofpel healing the fick without
any vifible means, giving fight to the blind,
raifing the dead to life, Gfc. all which are faid
* P. 182.
D 4 to
L 40 ]
to be performed by the power of God for ends
the moft worthy of himfelf, viz. to reftore re-
ligion and morality to their true principles, and
to eftablim the practice of them in the world.
The character of thofe who were appointed to
this work, and the doctrines which they
taught, correfpond perfectly with this defign :
great as it was, they undertook it with alacri-
ty and confidence, declaring from the begin-
ning that their commiffion was to go and teach
all nations : the miracles which they atteft, as
giving authority to their doctrine, they affert
from their own knowledge, as what they faw
with their eyes, and handled with their hands :
the number of thefe facts, and the numbers at-
tefting them, were very great : they concur-
red, without variation, in the fame doctrine,
and in the fame teftimony : they fubmitted,
with the fame courage and conftancy, to the
greateft perfecutions and afflictions, in confir-
mation of their truth ; and, when called to it
(as many of them were) laid down their lives
for its fake : they forefaw from the beginning
the oppofition they met with, and foretold,
with the fulleft aflurance, their fuccefs againft
it : and the event juftified their predictions ;
the
the religion they taught was in a ftiort time
eftablimed in a great part of the world.
Here, now, the attempt itfelf, if not fpirit-
ed and fupported by truth, is wholly ftrange
and unaccountable. That men of low birth
and education Ihould conceive a defign of new-
modelling the religion of all nations, and re-
forming their manners, by the laws of temper-
ance, purity, and chanty that bad men
fhould concur in an end fo great and godlike,
or good men in means fo impious as fraud and
impofture that men of craft or addrefs mould
chufe for the hero of their ftory one who was
chronicled as a malefactor, and who had been
put to death by the confent of a whole people
one, too, that had abufed their confidence,
and milled them by falfe hopes into an endlefs
train of miferies all this is contrary to na-
ture, and therefore, by the author's rule, im-
poffible.
The zeal with which they carried on this de-
ftgn, traverfing feas and kingdoms, without reft,
and without wearinefs a zeal which could not
be exceeded by the moft righteous men in the
mofl righteous caufe this, if not prompted by
4 duty
[ 4* ]
duty and a ftrong conviftion of the truths they
taught,, is ftill more incredible.
The excellency of the religion they taught,
in its worship and morality far furpaffing all
human wifdom and philofophy, and the fole
end of which is to make men honeft, iincere,
and virtuous, if it be the work of ignorance
and fraud, is equally ftrange and myfte-
rious.
The fuccefs of this defign is yet a greater
miracle. In this chain of wonders the event is
the moft miraculous part. The eftablimment of
the Gofpel in an hundred different nations, its
victory over Jews and Gentiles, over the power
and policy of the wifeft and greateft people,
over the pride of learning and the obftinacy
of ignorance, over the prejudices of religion
and thofe of fin and irreligion, is an event the
moft wonderful of any in hiftory. But this is a
miracle which we fee before our eyes : it is a
miraculous fadl that muft be afcribed to a mi-
raculous caufe. Even granting the truth of the
Gofpel miracles, the inftruments in propagating
it were fo unequal to the work, that nothing
but the power of God, accompanying and
working
[ 43 ]
working with them, can account for its fuccefs.
It was ftill a miracle that it mould profper in
their hands. But, without either truth or
providence to fupport it, this fuccefs would
be more than miraculous it would be im-
poffible.
The teftimony directly given to thefe miracles
is ftrongly confirmed by the character of the
witnefles, who, as far as appears even from 'the
teftimony of their enemies, were unblameable
in their lives and manners men of confcience
and religion. Their writings breathe a fpirit of
piety, a zeal for God and good works, that is
not equalled by any writings in the world : they
carry in them fuch marks of candor, truth, and
iimplicity, as cannot be imitated : all which
can never confift with the daring impiety of
ufurping the moft facred of all characters, and
preaching a falfe religion to the world.
The numbers that engaged in this defign,
tho' difperfed in different regions, agreed per-
fectly in the fame report. It was in the power
of any of thefe, or of the accomplices that
muft be concerned with them, to defeat the
whole by difcovering the fraud : and it cannot
be,
[ 44 ]
be, that not one {hould, by fear or intereft, per-
fuafion or torture, be prevailed on to difco-
ver it.
They put their teftimony to the trial, by
claiming a power of working miracles them-
felves: they difplayed this power frequently
and publickly, and fo fubmitted their truth
to the eyes and fenfes of all about them. This
pretence, if falfe, muft have defeated the moft
probable and hopeful fcheme ; if true, it was no
more than neceffary to the difficulties of this.
The event was great numbers were every
day converted to the faith. But this conduct
cannot, any more than the event, be reconciled
to the character or fuppolition of impofture.
Laftly, they gave the higheft proof that
can be given to the veracity of teftimony, by
going thro' the fiery trial of perfecution, in all
its various forms of imprifonment, torture, and
death. This began with the very beginning of
Chriftianity. They faw it evidently before their
eyes, and plainly devoted themfelves from the
firft to a life of fufFerings and affliction. They
gave up eafe and fecurity, country, kindred,
family, and friends, to be treated every- where
with
[ 45 ]
with contempt and contumely, to conflict with
poverty and want, to be perfecuted from city
to city, fentenced to imprifonment and ftripes,
and, at laft, to die by ftoning, by the fword,
or the crofs. But this, in fupport of fallhood
and wrong, is fo contrary to human nature,
that it is abfolutely incredible.
The fuppofition then, that the miracles of
the Gofpel are falfe, is full of wonders, prodi-
gies, things unnatural, and which experience,
the author's criterion in matters of fact, pro-
nounces to be impoffible.
And what now is that contrariety to nature,
which is pleaded againft the poffibility of mi-
racles ? "A miracle," the author tells us,
" may be accurately defined a tranfgreffton of
" a law of nature by a particular volition of the
ct Deity or by the interposal of fome invitibie
<c agent *." But this definition is neither ac-
curate nor confident with itfelf. The laws of
nature are the laws of God: and, if God (hould
occafionally change or invert any of thefe, there
is no law, that I know of, againft it no law
of God or nature broken by it. But, in fact,
* P. 181.
where
[ 46 ]
where miracles are fuppofed, there is no change
made in thefe laws. I have (hewn, that all
that is unnatural in miracles is only appearance.
There is nothing contrary to nature in fuppofing
the dead to be raifed, or the winds controlled
by a power equal to the effed. It was no way
contrary to the nature of God to reveal his
will to mankind, in order to reform their cor-
ruptions, and to conduct them to virtue and
happinefs. On the contrary, this might be pi-
oufly hoped for from his wifdom and goodnefs.
It was no way contrary to the nature and con-
dition of men. It appears from the hiftory of
mankind, that natural religion was at this time
univerfally corrupted, and that no other pro-
bable means were left of reftoring it. Reafon
and philofophy had tried their flrength in vain.
It was, therefore, on the part of man, highly
expedient and defireable, In fact, to this re-
velation, whether real or pretended, and to
no other caufe, it is owing, that the great
truths of nature, concerning God, a Provi-
dence, and a future ftate, are now ib widely
fpread, and that half the world, inftead of dumb
idols, are ferving the living God : and, if all
the good ends, that might be expected, are not
yet anfwered by it, yet the feed of the word is
4 fown,
t 47 ]
fown, the foundations of true religion are laid,
and there is hope that it will in time enlarge
its borders, and prevail, where it is received,
with more effect and influence. It cannot be
denied, that the Gofpel is an adequate provi-
fion for the wants, a remedy for all the infir-
mities of mankind. There is nothing, that can
be wiflied for in a rule of duty, that is not
comprehended in it. The miracles, then, that
atteft it, are accounted for to our reafon : we
have God, the caufe of all things, for their
author : and a fufficient reafbn is afligned for
the divine interpolation. And this will, at the
fame time, account for all the wonders that
followed : the actions, fufferings, and fuccefs
of the Apoftles will, upon this fcheme, appear
eafy, confiftent, and natural.
But, if this account be not admitted, thefe
will remain fo many contradictions to nature
and experience, and it will lie upon the author
to reconcile them to our belief. If the common
motives to human actions, intereft, paffion, and
prejudice, cannot be pleaded in an anfwer to
thefe difficulties, what other account can be
given of them ? Some caufe muft bs affigned
adequate to the effect. For men to act without
motives
[ 48 ]
motives is as unnatural, as it is for a body to
fink without weight to act againft the force
of motives is as contrary to nature, as it is
for a ftone to afcend again ft the laws of gra-
vity. Hear what this author fays himfelf in
another Effay : " We cannot make ufe of a
** more convincing argument, than to prove
" that the actions afcribed to any perfon are
<c directly contrary to the courfe of nature, and
< that no human motives, in fuch circum-
e ftances,. could ever induce him to fuch a
" conduct *."
The author tells us, that in this cafe we mufl
reject the greater miracle. But miracle is too
foft a name for thefe inconfiftencies. Could he
{hew, that God, or fome invifible agent, had
interpofed in confounding the reafon and under-
flanding of all that preached or believed the
Gofpel, in changing their nature, and giving a
contrary direction to their paffions, affections,
and inftincts, they would then be miracles, and
proper objects of our belief. But this I {hall
prefume impoffible to be proved, becaufe no
end can be affigned for fuch interpofition, but
merely to deceive mankind an end fo unwor-
* P. 135-
thy
[ 49 ]
thy of God, and contrary to the perfections of
his nature, that we may pronounce it impoflible
for him to promote, or even to permit it to
take effect.
Here, then, I may call upon the author, in
his own words, to lay his hand upon his heart,
and declare, whether the miracles of the Gofpel
could poffibly have been better attefted, if
true whether there is any one condition want-
ing that can add credibility to them whether
there is any thing fo contrary to nature in thefe
miracles, as in the teflimony given, and the
belief gained, to them, if falfe whether it
is not eafier to believe the miracles true, than
that fo many miraculous confequences (a na-
tural effect of true miracles) mould arife from
them, if falfe or, laftly, whether it be not
more credible that God mould work thefe mi-
racles for fo great an end as that of giving birth
and eftablifhment to Chriftianity, than that he
fhould work more and greater miracles to con-
found and deceive mankind. When he has bal-
lanced his account of the impoflibility of mira-
cles with the evidence for thofe of the Gofpel,
and fubtracted the former from the latter, this
E fubtraftion
[ 5 1
Jubtratfion will certainly amount to an entire
annihilation.
Let us now fee the poor cafe which the au-
thor puts at laft to illuftrate and crown his argu-
ment, " When any one tells me, that he faw
" a dead man reftored to life, I immediately
< consider with myfelf, whether it be more pro-
<{ bable that this perfon {hould either deceive
" or be deceived, or that the fact he relates
<c (hould really have happened : I weigh the one
<c miracle againft the other, and, according to
c< the fuperiority which I difcover, I pronounce
<c my decifion, and always reject the greater
c< miracle *." The author's argument requires
him to prove, that no miracles, however cir-
curaftanced, can be made credible by any tefti-
mony whatfoever. But, in the cafe fuppofed,
the miracle has not one circumftance to make
it credible, nor the teflimony one condition to
confirm its truth. A dead man we may fup-
pofe raifed to life without any reafon, ufe,
or end whatfoever : and a dead man may be
railed for fome extraordinary purpofe of Pro-
vidence, as to give authority and character
to the fpecial meflengers of God. Now, tho'
* P. 182.
the
[ 5' 1
the former of thefe cannot be made cre-
dible by the naked teftimony of one man, the
latter may be made credible by the atteftation
of many, efpecially, if they give proof, that
they were neither deceived themfelves, nor
intended to deceive others, Though one man,
unaffifted, cannot lift a weight of twenty tuns,
twenty men, with the help of engines, may
lift the weight of one. I agree with the
author, that, when a man is laid to rife, like
the ghoft in Prince Edward*, only to fet again,
it is more credible, that the teftimony is falfe,
than the miracle true : but, when I fee an effect
worthy of Providence, in which the religion,
virtue, and morality of a great part of man-
kind are concerned, brought about by the be-
lief of this or fuch-like miracles, and find, upon
inquiry, that this miracle is attefted by a great
number of perfons who lived and died confef-
fors and martyrs to it, the falihood of fuch
teftimony appears to me far more miraculous
than fuch a miracle.
The author puts the fame cafe, with the
addition of fome particulars, in the fecond part
* A late play, called Edward the Black Prince,
E 2
I 52 I
of his Effay : " Suppofe that all the hiftoriana
" who treat of England mould agree, that, on
" the firftof January ', i6oo r queen Elizabeth
died that, both before and after her death,
" (he was feen by her phyficians and the whole
M court, as is u-fual with perfons of her rank
" that her fucceffor was acknowledged and
" proclaimed by parliament and that, after
" having been interred a month, (he again ap-
* peared, took poneffion of the throne, and
" governed England three years : I nauft confefs
"' I mould be furprized at the concurrence of
c fo many odd circumftances, but mould not
" have the leaft inclinadon to believe fo mira-
" culous an event *." Here, again, the facl:
fuppofed is the ftrangefl: and moft unac-
countabk that the author could well conceive,
becaufe no final caufe appears to make it in any
degree credible. But when was any fuch facl at-
tefted by hiftorians ? If the author thinks the
ory incredible, I think it as incredible thatany
good hiftorian mould relate it : if he thinks it
incredible, becaufe it is a miracle, I think it in-
credible that God mould work fuch, a miracle
for nothing. ,
* P.,
But
[ 53 1
But the importance of miracles is, it feems,
with the author, a thing of no con federation:
this, which we confidered as a circumftance
that gives the higheft credibility to the Gofpel
miracles, is, at laft, the very reafon why he
rejects them as incredible. <c I beg," fays he,
" that the limitation here made may be re-
" marked, when I fay, that a miracle can never
" be proved, fo as to be a foundation of a fy-
<c ftem of religion ; for I own, that, otherwife,
c< there may poffibly be miracles, or violations
cc of the ufual courfe of nature, of fuch a
* { kind, as to admit of proof from human tefti-
* c mony, tho' perhaps it will be impoflible to
" find any fuch in all the records of hiftory *"
This conceffion is very remarkable, and appears
to me to be fairly giving up the argument : for,
if miracles may be wrought in cafes of lefs mo-
ment, why may they not in greater ? or, is re-
ligion the laft and leaft of all things in the opi-
nion of this author? I confefs myfelf at a
lofs to guefs what can be his intention in this
place, If, in compromife for the other mi-
racles which he here grants us unafked, he ex-
pects us to give up all that have religion for
* P. 199.
E their
[ 54 1
their object, it will indeed anfwer his purpofe
very well. He may grant other miracles pof-
fible, and yet make good his argument againft
them. But thefe are not fo eafily dealt with.
The lureft way not to believe them is not to
examine them. And this he wiiely recom-
mends as the beft expedient that has been tried
againft them. " If a miracle," fays he, c< be
< afcribed to any new fyftem of religion, men,
<c in all ages, have been fo much impofed on
" by ridiculous ftories of that kind, that this
*' very circumftance would be a full proof of a
" cheat, and fufficient, with all men of fenfe,
<c not only to make them rejeft the fad:, but
" even rejecl: it without farther examination *."
This, indeed, is a fhort way with religion and
miracles ; and we muft own, that the author
hath found out at laft a deciiive argument
againft them.
* P. 200.
PART
[ 55 ]
^
##*# <()>##*>## #
PART II.
T ITTLE as it is that the author has done
i J in the firft part of his EiTay, he feems to
think it more than enough, and that half
his pains might have been fpared : "In the
" foregoing reafoning, we have fuppofed, that
" the teftimony upon which a miracle is found-
" ed may poffibly amount to an entire proof,
" and that the falfhood of that teftimony would
" be a kind of prodigy. But 'tis eafy to (hew,
u that we have been a great deal too liberal in
11 our conceffions, and that there never was a
" miraculous event, in any hiftory, eftabliihed
" on fo full an evidence*." But, if the author
was fo fure of his ftrength, why this corps de
re/erve, a body of troops that have been for
ever harrafled, and are yet untired, in the fer-
vice of infidelity ?
The firft of thefe veteran bands is drawn up
as follows : " There is not/' fays he, tf to be
* P. 183.
E 4 <c found,
[ 56 ]
found, in all hiftory, any miracle attefted t>y
" a fufficient number of men of fuch unquef-
'* tioned good fenfe, education, and learning,
" as to fecure us againft all delufion in them~
" felves of fuch undoubted integrity, as to
< place them beyond aUfufpicion of any defign
<{ to deceive others of fuch credit and repu-
" tation in the eyes of mankind, as to have a
" great deal to lofe, in cafe of being detected
<c in a falmood and, at the fame time, atteft-
<{ ing facts performed in fuch a publick man~
<e ner, and in fo celebrated a part of the world,
as to render the detection unavoidable : all
ft which circumftances are requiiite to give us
" a full affurance in the teftimony of men *."
The reader will allow me to fuppofe, that the
author has in view, both here and throughout
his Effay, the Cbrijlian miracles, which we
have been confidering. Now, the objections
here made have been fo frequently and fully
anfwered by the advocates of Chriftianity, that
it is quite piteous to fee the author, after pro-
claiming a victory, calling in fuch poor
his relief.
* P. 183,
As
[ 57 1
As to the firft condition here required, there
never was perhaps a fact directly attefted by fo
many witneffes as the miracles in queftion. We
have ftill upon record the exprefs depofitions of
many in the writings of the Apoftles. The con-
verfion of every fmgle perfon to Cbriftianity
was, in truth, a clear and precife teftimony to
thefe fadls ; for this religion was wholly built
upon them. Now, betides the twelve Apoftles
and feventy Difciples chofen to preach the Gof-
pel, a great number more were converted by the
miracles and refurreftion of Chrifl. But thofe
that gave this witnefs to the miracles of the
Apoftles were without number. Never was there
a doctrine that fpread fo fwiftly through the
world, or that gained fo many prefent and im
mediate witnefles to its truth.
The Apoftles and firft Difciples had not, ma-
ny of them, the advantages of education and
learning. But what learning is required to en-
able men to fee with their eyes and hear with
their ears ? The miracles they atteft were plain
fads, the obje&s of fenfe. Folly itfelf could
not be deceived in them : and fure folly could
never fo fuccefsfully deceive. Thefe men,
illiterate as they were and void of art or elo-
3 quence
[ 58 ]
quence, did what this author, with all his
arguments, will never be able to do : they got
the better of all the religions in the world
about them, and eftablifhed their own in dif-
ferent and diftant countries. They had, there-
fore, we may hope, fenfe enough to teftify
what their eyes had feen and their hands had
handled.
They had not perhaps any great reputation
to lofe. But the good name of a poor man is
as dear to him as that of the greateft. If they
had no publick chara&er to lofe, they had pub-
lick infamy to dread : . and this they incurred,
not by being detected in a falfhood, but by per-
fevering in the truth. If it was little that they
gave up to follow Chrift> it was, however, all
that they had. And what they gained was a
negative quantity, and muft be put to the fide
of their lofles ; they gained hunger and thirft,
toil and labour, watchings and fallings, fcorn
and reproach, fcourgings and death. They
loft, then, enough to evidence their fincerity.
They gave every proof, that ever was given
by man, to the truth of their teftimony.
As
[ 59 1
As to the notoriety of the fads, they were
done in the moft publick manner--in places of
conftant refort many of them in yerufalem,
at times of the greateft concourfe : and, what is
more, they were done in direct: opposition to the
prejudices of all that faw them before the
moft vigilant and powerful enemies, who did
not, as this author tells us wife men commonly
do, " think the matter too inconfiderable to de-
" ferve their attention*," but exerted their
utmoft induftry and authority in fuppreffing
this new religion ; putting its head and leader
to death, fuborning falfe witnefTes to difcredit
him and his miracles, and proceeding immedi-
ately, by imprifoning fome, and killing others,
to deter and difperfe his followers. Thefe mira-
cles, therefore, were wrought in the very place
where their detection was moft certain and
unavoidable ; and the teftimony given to them
was given in the fame publick manner and in
the fame place.
*
The author is well aware, that the teftimony
of the Apoftles and firft Chriftians, if the mira-
cles were falfe (I mean, the facl of giving fuch
* P. 198.
teftimony)
[ 6 ]
teftimony) and the miraculous events that fol-
lowed in confequence of them, will be thought,
upon reflection, at leaft as incredible as the mi-
racles themfelves : and therefore, to abate our
wonder on this head, he obferves, " fecondly,
" that there is a principle in human nature,
tc which, if ftrictly examined, will be found
u to diminim extremely the aflurance we might
" have from human teftimony in any kind of
" prodigy. The maxim, by which we com-
" monly conduct ourfelves in cur reafonings,
rt is, that the objects of which we have no ex-
l< perience refemble thcfe of which we have
" that what we have found to be moft ufual is
* e always moft probable. But, tho', in pro-
c< ceeding by this rule, we readily reject any
" fact that is unufual or incredible in an ordi-
" nary degree, yet, in advancing farther, the
" mind obferves not always the fame rule ; but,
" when any thing is affirmed utterly abfurd and
Cf miraculous, it rather the more readily admits
ct fuch a fact upon account of that very cir-
*' cumftance which ought to deflroy all its au-
" thority. The paffion of furprize and wonder
" arifing from miracles, being an agreeable
* emotion, gives a fenfible tendency towards
c the
ct the belief of thofe events from which it is
" derived *."
The love of novelty is, indeed, a natural
paflion 5 it is no other than the love of know-
ledge, which God hath implanted in the
mind for the wifeft reafons : and for the fame
reafons we may be allured that he hath not laid
fnares to betray us into error, and much lefs hath
placed in us a principle, as the author here
fuppofes, the tendency of which is to make
us believe things, merely becaufe they are in-
credible. " With what greedinefs," faith he,
" are the miraculous accounts of travellers re-
< ceived, their defcriptions of fea and land
" monfters, their relations of wonderful ad-
ee ventures, ftrange men, and uncouth man-
" ners !" It is true that every new difcove-
ry gratifies our love of knowledge, and gives
pleafure to the mind : but it muft have the
appearance of truth to do fo. Tho' we love
to be informed, we do not love to be deceived.
A fingle miracle would rifk the credit of the
beft-efteetned travels. But, according to this
author's principle, the voyage to Lilliput or
* P. 184,
Lafuta
[ 63 ]
jLaputa muft meet with more credit than that
of Anfon or Ellis.
But, if the love of novelty will not re-
concile us to miracles, that of religion will
make us believe any thing. " If the fpirit of
" religion joins itfelf to the love of wonder,
" there is an end of common fenfe *.*' If
the author means, that men are more apt to
believe miracles in the caufe of religion than
in any other cafe^ he is fo far in the right*
Where mould men expect or believe miracu-
lous interpolations, but where it is mofl wor-
thy of God to interpofe? But it does not
follow, that religion is a friend to falfe mi-
racles, or an enemy to common fenfe. On the
contrary, right notions of the divine nature
and perfections, which religion teaches, are a
neceffary help to diftinguifh true miracles from
falfe. Now, the Jews, in general, were bet-
ter inftructed in thefe points than the wifeft of
the Heathens. The men of Athens were far
more fuperftitious than the moft ignorant of the
Hebrews. The falfe wonders of magick, witch-
craft, and necromancy, thefe were taught by
* P. 185.
their
C 63 ]
their law to hold in contempt, and, confe-
quently, were lefs liable to be pradifed upon
by appearances of this fort. And, of the
Apoftles and firft Chriftians. it is certain, that
they had all the fecurity againft delufion and
error of this kind, that a rational piety and the
nobleft fentiments of God and a Providence
could give them.
But " a religionift may be an enthufiaft, and
" imagine he fees what has no reality : he may
' know his narration to be falfe, and yet per-
<c fevere in it, with the beft intentions in the
<e world, for the fake of promoting fo holy a
" caufe : or, even where this delufion has no
" place, vanity, excited by fo ftrong a tempta-
" tion, operates on him more powerfully than
" on the reft of mankind in any other circum-
" fiances, and felf-intereft with equal force :
<f his auditors may not have, and commonly
* e have not, fufficient judgment to canvas his
" evidence ; wlkt judgment they have they re-
" nounce upon . principle in thcfe fublime and
" myfterious fubjecls *." Here, it is confefTed,
the author has touched upon a very powerful
* P. 185,
and
[ 64 ]
and fruitful fource of error. Men, whofe pa
lions arc Wronger than their reafon, will be guil-
ty of excefs in religion as well as in other
things. A zeal for opinions frequently makes
men conclude their own caufe to be the caufe
of God ; and, from wifhing that Heaven may
declare in their favour, they are eafily led to
believe fuch interpositions upon the flighted
teftimony. But, tho* this principle will make
men believe falfe miracles, it will not overpower
their fenfes, or make them fee what has no rea-
lity. The French prophets were extravagant
enough to expeft that one of their principal
teachers would come to life again j but, with
all their enthufiafm, none could believe that he
faw this miracle : on the contrary, this difap-
pointment opened their eyes, and the pretence
to miracle ruined their caufe. Nor can I allow,
with the author, that men of the beft inten-
tions can propagate a known falfhood for the
fake of truth. An honeft man may be hafty
in believing j but he cannot 82 a deceiver or
importer. It is certain, the religion of Chrift
difdains fuch pious frauds, and his Apoftles
have forbad and condemned them in terms as
fevere as language can exprefs : nor is it a prin-
ciple in this religion, as this writer would in-
finuate
finuate, that men mould renounce their judg-
ment in inquiries of ihis fort : on the contrary,
they areinjoined carefully to examine the truth
of miracles and doctrines, before they believe
them.
But, granting the author's principles in their
full extent, the miracles of the Gofpel will be
no way affected by them : For, firft, the Apo-
flles are free from all tincture and appearance
of enthufiafm; witnefs the writings which they
have left behind them, and that fyftem of doc-
trines and morals contained in them : in their
piety nothing over paffionate, rapturous, or ec-
ftatick appears, but all is rational fober, and
temperate : their zeal for their matter and his
religion never tranfports them into complaints
or invectives againft his enemies or their own,
or into any ftrained elogiums or panegyricks
upon his character : they recite all that is won-
derful in his actions, without exclamation, with-
out vehement afleveration, with an undoubting,
unguarded fimplicity, that is highly fingular
and remarkable : their whole conduct, in like
manner, was void of oftentation, fteady, uni-
form, and regular throughout : they were not
only confident each with himfelf (which a fa-
F natick
[ 66 ]
natick fpirit feldom is) but all purfued the fame
plan, without varying or change, with the moft
perfed harmony and agreement. And, fecond-
ly, whatever influence, from paffion or preju-
dice, the witneiTes to Chriftianity were under,
this operated the contrary way, and muft dif-
pofe them to reject, rather than receive, the mi-
racles: the Apoftles themfelves were Jews, and
zealous of the traditions and cuftoms of their
anceftors : the other converts, whether Jews or
Pagans, were prejudiced, as ftrongly as they
could be, by religion, againft the Gofpel: bigot-
ry and enthufiafm rofe up every- where in perfe-
cution againft it ; nothing but reafon and con-
viclion could induce men to declare for it : every
paffion, every intereft, and every prejudice per-
fuaded againft this belief: and, in fad, every
tingle converfion to it was not barely the tefti-
mony of an unprejudiced judge, but the tefti-
mony of an enemy to its truth.
" The wife," fays the 'author, in another
place, tc lend a very academick faith to every
<c report which favours the paffion of the repor-
" ter, whether it magnifies his country, hisfa-
cc mily, or himfelf, or in any other way ftrikes
" in with his natural inclinations and propcn-
" fities.
t 6 7 i
ei Titles. But what greater temptation than to
" appear a mifilonary, a prophet, an ambaffador'
tl from heaven ? Who would not encountef
<c many dangers and difficulties to attain fo fu-
11 blime a character * ?" Where this character
is indeed attended with honour and refpect, it
will be natural for ambitious men to defire it.
But the head and leader of this feet had been
every- where reviled and perfecuted, and was
crucified as a malefactor : his followers every-
where fhared the fame fate. What temptation
was there to appear his prophet or ambaflador ?
What vanity' or felf-intereft was gratified
by it ?
But thirdly, the author tells us, < e it forms
u a very ftrong preemption againft all fuperna-
" tural and miraculous relations, that they are
(l always found chiefly to abound amongft ig-
ec norant and barbarous nations ; or, if a civi-
" lized people has ever given admiffion to any 1
<c of them, that people will be found to have
" received them from ignorant and barbarous
" anceftors, who tranfmitted them with that
" inviolable fanclion and authority which al-
tf ways attends ancient and received opinions-f-."
* P. 196. t P. 186.
F 2 This
[ 68 ]
This argument we prefume, has been already
anfwered. The miracles of the Gofpel were, as
wehavefaid, performed where they were mod
fufpected. The yews were by no means a bar-
barous people, and they were freer from fuper-
flition than any other nation in the world.
Thefe miracles were immediately canvaffed
with all the feverity that the prejudice of enemies
could fugged. Some who were healed of their
difeafes were fent immediately to the prjefts, on
purpofe, as it feems, that they might undergo
the ftricteft inquifition. Others were called before
the council, examined, and threatened, and eve-
ry means tried to refute and filence them. This
religion did not get ftrength in the dark, and
then adventure itfelf by degrees into the light :
it was openly proclaimed, from the firft, in the
temple, and in the fynagogue, where the Jews
always reforted : and, when the Apoftles had
filled Jerufalem zndjttd<za with their doctrines,
Rome and Athens were fome of the next fcenes
of their miniftry.
Under this head we are entertained with a
long ftory from the Pjeitdomantis of Lucian.
" It was," faith the author, " a wife policy
" in that cunning importer, Alexander, who,
" tho'
"" tho' now forgotten, was once fo famous,
c to lay the firft fcene of his impoftures in
<f Paphlagonici) where, as Lucian tells us, the
" people were extremely ignorant and ftupid,
" and ready to fwallow even the grofleft de-
c< lufion. People at a diftance, who are weak
" enough to think the matter at all worth
" inquiry, have no opportunity of receiving
c< better information. The (lories come mag-
" nified to them by an hundred circumftances,
" Fools are induftrious to propagate the delu-
" fion ; while the wife and learned are con-
" tented, in general, to deride its abfurdity,
" without mforming themfelves of the parti-
<l cular fads, by which it may be diftindly
t( refuted. And thus the importer above-men-
" tioned was enabled to proceed, from his ig-
<c norant PapUagonians, to the inlifting votaries
<f even among the Grecian philofophers and
" men of the moft eminent rank and dif-
<c tindtion in Rome nay, could engage the
" attention of that fage emperor, Marcus
ct AurelhtSy fo far as to make him truft the
" fuccefs of a military expedition to his delu-
" five prophecies*." But what, if this famous
importer never pretended to miracles ? It is
* P, 1 88.
F 3 laid,
[ 70 ]
faid, indeed, that he had his emiffaries in dif-
tant countries, who reported this, among other
things, to his honour: but there is no appear-
ance in his hiftory of his ever counterfeiting or
pretending to this power. It was his policy not
to hazard his reputation on fo dangerous an
iiTue. Ignorant and flupid as his Papblagonians
were, it might have been too much for all
his art to impoie falfe fads upon their eyes
and fenfes. He had, by a bold and fuccefs-
ful cheat of another kind, eftablilhed his cha-
ra&er among this people, who, Lucian tells us,
differed from brutes in nothing but their out-
ward form. He had the fortune too to gain
the ear of a famous Roman general, who, by
the fame author's account, was formed to be
the dupe of every pretender. This feems to
have got him fome name in Rome. But I find
none, that deferved to be called philofophers,
among his votaries. It is certain, that the fight
of a Chrijlian or an Epicurean difconcerted all
his management. They were always drove
from his prefence, having the confidence, no
doubt, to deride the prophet and his oracles.
Every one muft believe, upon the reprefentation
here made, that the emperor Antqnme had un-
dertaken the expedition mentioned at the infti-
5 gation
[ 7' ]
gation of this importer, or, at leaft, had con-
certed meafures with him for purfuing it. But
the oracle given out by this pretended prophet
was voluntary and unafked, in order, if the
event had happened, as was probable, to increale
his own credit. And, fuperftitious as this great
emperor and philofopher was, he did nothing,
in purfuance of it, but what the wifeft general
might have done to humour the fuperftition and
folly of his foldiers, and to infpire them with a
confidence of victory. It no-where appears that
he hazarded the leaft point, or altered any one
of his meafures, in confequence of it. But, if
it were true that this impudent importer had
this learned emperor and the fchools of Greece
among his admirers, this would only prove
how much the wifeft part of mankind were en-
llaved by fuperftition, before Chriftianity re-
leafed them from it.
The author adds, as a fourth reafon which
diminilhes the authority of prodigies, " that
" there is no teftimony for any, even thofe
<c which have not been exprefsly detected, that
" is not oppofed by an infinite number of wit-t
" nefles ; fo that not only the miracle deftroys
{ the credit of the teftimony, but even thetefti-
F 4 moriy
[ 72 ]
" mony deflroys itfelf. To make this the bet-
ter underftoqd, let us confider, that, in mat-
" ters of religion, whatever is different is con r
<c trary, and that 'tis impoffible the religions of
<f antient Rome, of Turfy, of Siam, and of
<( China mould, all of them, be eftabliihed on
ec any folid foundation. Every miracle, there-
" fore, pretended to have been wrought in any
t of thefe religions (and all of them abound
" in miracles) as its dired fcope is to eftablifh
" the particular fyftem to which it is attri-
" buted, fo it has the fame force, ' tho' more
" indirectly, to overthrow every other fyftem :
*' in deftroying a rjval-fyftem, it likewife de-
** flroys the credit of thole miracles on which
" that fyftem was eftablifhed : fo that all the
" prodigies of different religions are to be re-
<{ garded as contrary fads, and the evidence of
<{ th'efe prodigies, whether weak or ftrong, 33
" oppofite to each other *." This argument,
he is apprehenfive, will appear too fubtle and
refined : but the only fault of it is, that it has
fio foundation in truth. The author cannot
name a fingle miracle, that was ever offered a
a teft of any of thefe religions, before their efta-
tlifhnient, or to authorize any pretended pro-
* P. 190.
phet
[ 73 1
phet to teach fuch religion. Mahomet exprefs-
ly difclaims this power in many places of his
Koran. It appears from his manner of fpeak-
ing of it, that he knew what advantage this pre-
tence would give to his caufe, and even felt the
want of it : yet, with all the affiftance that art
and power could give him, he durft not hazard
fo dangerous an experiment. There is a wide
difference betwixt eftablifhing falfe miracles, by
the help of a falfe religion, andeftabliming a falfe
religion by the help of falfe miracles. Nothing
is more eafy than the former of thefe, or more
difficult than the latter. The author would
make us believe that miracles are to be met
with in almoft every page of antient hiftory :
tc When we perufe the firft hiftories of all na-
^ tions, we are apt to imagine ourfelves tran-
" fported into fome new world, where the whole
<e frame of nature is disjointed, and every ele-
" ment performs its operations in a different
"manner from what it does at prefent. Battles,
< revolutions., peflilences, famines, and deaths,
" are never the effedts of thofe natural caufes
<c which we experience *." But the truth is,
they are very thinly fown in the writings of the
heathens. Portents and prodigies I call not by
* P. 187.
that
[ 74 ]
that name. Thefeare to be accounted for from
natural caufes, or owe their exigence to a fright-
ed or difturbed imagination. Of miracles, pro-
perly fpeaking, there are very few upon record :
moft of thefe are given up, by the hifbrians
who relate them, as vulgar fables, unworthy of
belief, and none are fo attefted as to make them
in any degree credible. Of this the author has
undefignedly given us a full proof in the flory
which immediately follows :
tl One of the beft-attefted miracles in all
tc profane hiftory is that which Tacitus reports
11 of Fefpa/ian, who cured a blind man in Alex-
< andria by means of his fpittle, and a lame
<c man by the mere touch of his foot, in obedi-
ct ence to a vifion of the god Serapis, who had
" injoined them to have recourfe to the emperor
" for thefe miraculous and extraordinary
cf cures*." This, the author feems to infi-
cuate, is as well attefted as any Cbnftian mira-
cle, and may be made as good an argument
for the religion of the antient Egyptians as any
miracle for any religion whatfoever : " Every
" circumftance," fays he, C adds weight to the
testimony, and might be difplayed at large
* P. 192.
C{ with
[ 75 ]
" with all the force of argument and eloquence,
" if any one were now concerned to enforce the
" evidence of that exploded and idolatrous fu-
" perftition." The occafion being fo tempting,
he has tried his hand, and (hewn us how far this
miracle may be parallell'd with thofe of the Gof-
pel : <c The gravity, folidity, age, and probity of
<c fo great an emperor, who, thro' the whole
" courfe of his life, converfed in a familiar way
" with his friends and courtiers, and never af-
e< fected thofe extraordinary airs of divinity af-
." fumed by Alexander and Demetrius The
Ct hiftorian a cotemporary writer, noted for
" candor and veracity, and, withal, the great-
" eft and moft penetrating genius, perhaps, of
" all antiquity, and fo free from any tendency
, <c to fuperftition and credulity, that he even
tc lies under the contrary imputation of atheifm
cc and profanenefs The perfons, from whofe '
" teftimony he related the miracle, ofeftabliflied
" character for judgment and veracity (as we
" may well fuppofe) eye-witneffes of the facl,
" and confirming their verdict, after the Flavian
<c family were defpoiled of the empire, and
" could no longer give any reward, as the
" price of a lye: Utrumque, qui interfile re, nunc
c< quoque memorant, poftquam nullum mendach
" fretium.
[ 76 3
" prctitufl. To which if we add the publick
" nature of the facl, as related, it will appear,
" that no evidence can well be fuppofed ftronger
" for fo grofs and fo palpable a falfhood." As
to the character of this wife emperor, Sueto-
ititts, who has wrote his life, tells us, that he
had long before this conceived hopes of the
empire, from certain idle dreams and omens,
of which he has reckoned up eight or ten, as
ridiculous as any in hiftory : that immediately
before this, when he was now proclaimed em-
peror by fome of the legions, andhadftrengthen-
ed himlelf by feveral alliances, he condefcend-
ed, notwithstanding his probity and gravity, to
give out a miracle upon his own authority, to
make himfelf confiderable in the eyes of the
people ; pretending that, in the temple of Sera-
pis, where he went alone, defrmltate imperil
cujpiciumfafturus, one Bo/Hides, who was known
at the time to be far diftant a4id unable to tra-
vel, had appeared to him, offering him crowns
and garlands a certain omen (as he and his
courtiers interpreted the word Bafilides) of the
royal dignity. As for the credit of the hiftorian,
he was no witnefs of the fad, nor, for ought
we know, ever converfed with thofe that faw
it ; and the teftimony he gives to it does by no
means
[ 77 1
means amount to a proof that he believed it
himfelf. To what purpofe, then, is the cha-
racter he gives us of his veracity, penetrating
genius, and incredulous turn of mind ? But,
if the teftimony of the hiftorian be not ad-
mitted, the witnefies, from whofe teftimony
he related it, were of eftablimed character for
veracity and judgment. This, indeed, is to the
purpofe. On this point the whole merits of the
caufe muft reft. How, then, is this proved to
us ? Why, the author fays it may well be fup-
pofedy and the hiftorian tells us that they per*
lifted in the report, when they could gain no-
thing by the fraud. But how does it appear
that they had never received any reward for
their verdict ? The emperor, tho* he affected
not the airs of divinity, yet was well pleafed
with his new title, and, no doubt, was well
underftood to look with a favourable eye on
thofe who contributed to fupport it. The
good ufes to which this miracle ferved are
honeftly told us both by Suetonius and Tacitus :
Auloritas t et quafi majeftas qua dam, utfcilicet
inopinato et adhuc novoprincipi deer at, hezcquoque
acceffit, Suet. Miraculo evenere, queiscekflisfa^
vor etquaedam in Vefpafianum mclinationuminwn
qftcnderetur, Tacit. The Alexandrians could not
5 but
[ 78 ]
but have an intereft in gaining the favour of
this prince : the perfons cured are faid to be
eplebe Alexandria, probably unknown to thefe
witnefles and to all the Romans about Vefpafian :
the partifans of the new emperor were prepared
to welcome and improve every thing that look-
ed in his favour : the phyficians, who were con-
fulted whether theie diforders were curable, de-
clared that they were : Where, then, is the
wonder that two men mould be inftrudted to act
the part of lame and blind, when they were
fure of fucceeding in the fraud, and of being
well rewarded (as we may well fuppofe] for their
pains ?
This ftory is followed by two others, as re-
markable proofs of the credulity of mankind,
which, having obtained in Chrijlian countries,
may perhaps be thought more appofite to the
author's purpofe of difcrediting the Chrijlian
miracles. " There is alfo," faith he, "a very
<c memorable ftory related by cardinal de Retz t
" and which may well deferve our confide-
" ration : When that intriguing politician fled
<c into Spain, to avoid the perfecution of his
" enemies, he palled thro' Saragoffa, the ca-
" pital of drragcn, where he was fhewn, in
" the
[ 79 ]
u the cathedral church, a man who had ferved
" twenty years as a door-keeper of the church,
" and was well known to every body in town
<c who had ever paid their devotions at that
" cathedral : he had been feen for fo long a
" time wanting a leg, but recovered that limb
" by the rubbing of holy oyl upon the ftump ;
" and, when the cardinal examined it, he found
" it to be a true natural leg, like the other.
" This miracle was vouched by all the ca-
<e nons of the church ; and the whole com-
<c pany of the town was appealed to for a
" confirmation of the fact, whom the cardi-
" nal found, by their zealous devotion, to be
" thorough believers of the miracle. Here
" the relater was alfo contemporary with the
" fuppofed prodigy, of an incredulous and
<c libertine character, as well as of great ge-
< nius the miracle of fo fingular a nature
" as could fcarce admit of a counterfeit
" and the witneffes very numerous, and all
" of them, in a manner, fpectators of the
" fact: of which they gave their teftimony :
" and what adds mightily to the force of the
<{ evidence, and may double our furprife on
" this occafion, is, that the cardinal himfelf,
" who relates the ftory, feems not to give
" any
[ 8 ]
" any credit to it, and, confequently, cannot
" be fufpecled of any concurrence in the holy
< fraud *.'' The ftory is, indeed, remarkable,
as the author has told it. Firft, the rela-
ter was a cardinal and a man of great ge-
nius -, and, tho' he had never feen the wooden
leg, yet he fatisfied himfelf that the man had
now two natural legs, like anot/jer man. It does
not, indeed, appear, that he examined all or
any of the canons, or that he difcourfed with
any body in town about it : but he found, by
the devotion of the people, that they believed
the man to have had a wooden leg. Then
the cardinal was a man of a libertine cha-
racter, and, 'which is Jlill more wonderful, and
adds mightily to the evidence, he did not believe
thejiory himfelf. This climax of evidence and
wonder flili rifing upon us is very extraordi-
nary. The relater of the flory was a cardinal,
and therefore a good evidence of a Rotnijk
miracle : he was of a libertine character ^ and
therefore had the better right to be believed 5
but, what puts the evidence out of queftionj
be did not believe the flory himfelf', which,
again, is doubly fur prizing, as the author ob-
ferves, becaufe he was naturally of an incre*
* P 193.
duloui
[ 8' ]
dulous temper. This is the firft ftory. The
fecond deferves a more ferious attention.
" There, furely, never was fo great a num-
ct her of miracles afcribed to one perfon, as
" thofe which were lately laid to have been
" wrought in France upon the tomb of Abbe
" Paris, the famous Janfenift y with whofe
" fandity the people were fo long deluded.
" The curing of the tick, giving hearing to
" the deaf and fight to the blind, were every-
" where talked of as the ufual effects of that
" holy fepulchre. But, what is more extra-
" ordinary, many of the miracles were im-
" mediately proved, upon the fpot, before
" judges of unqueftioned integrity, attefted by
" witnefles of credit and diftinclion, in a
" learned age, and on the moft eminent the-
'* atre that is now in the world. Nor is this
" all : a relation of them was publimed and
<f difperfed every-where: nor were thejefutts,
" tho' a learned body, fupported by the civil
c< magiftrate, and determined enemies to thofe
cc opinions in whofe favour the miracles were
<c faid to have been wrought, ever able di-
" ftindlly to refute or detect them. Where
" mall we find fuch a number of circum-
G " fiances
" fiances agreeing to the corroboration of one
" fact ? And what have we to oppofe to fuch
* c a cloud of witnefles, but the abfolute im-
" poflibility or miraculous nature of the events
" which they relate ? And this, furely, in the
" eyes of all reafonable people, will alone be
" regarded as a fufficient refutation *."
The author has here afferted many things
that he will not be able to fupport. The mi-
racles pretended were, many of them, refuted
upon the fpot : a judicial inqueft was made
by the archbimop of Paris into one of the
moft celebrated, and the cheat was fully de-
tected : the lieutenant of the police brought
many to confefs that the part they had aded
was all artifice and pretence j and an ordon-
nance was hereupon iflued from the court for
apprehending all that were concerned in fuch
frauds : the archbifhop of Sens exhibited a pub-
lick charge againft more than twenty, as pal-
pable and difcovered cheats : and Mr. Mont-
geron, the profefled advocate of thefe miracles,
of whom we mall have more to fay hereafter,
does not, in his anfwer, pretend to defend a
fourth part of thefe : and the author may fee
* P. 195-
his
[ 3 ]
his defence' of thefe, and of all the other mi-
racles he defends, dijlinftly refuted in the Cri-
tique generale of Mr. Des Vceux. The moft
ufual effects of this fepulchre were not cures,
but diflempers a fort of convulfions, which
feized alike the found and the fick, and were
attended with fuch ftrange appearances as
brought great contempt and ridicule upon
the other miracles of this faint. Thefe con-
vulfions, we are told by fkilful phyficians, are
eafily counterfeited, and, from being counter-
feited, frequently become real and habitual:
they are too fo communicable, by a fort of
fympathy, to perfons of weak nerves, that this
diftemper, it is well known, is for this rea-
fon excluded fome of our great hofpitals ; it
having been found that, when one is feized,
it fpreads, like infection, thro' a whole ward.
This will account for the great numbers who
are faid to have felt this extraordinary effect
from vifiting the Abbes tomb.
I deny not that there were real cures wrought
upon the fick that were brought there : but
the fame, I dare pronounce, would happen,
if a thoufand people, taken at a venture, were
at any time removed from their fick cham-
G 2 bers
[ 4 ]
bers in London to St. Paul's Churchyard or the
Park, efpecially, if they went with any ftrong
hope of a cure : in fuch a number, fome are
always upon the point of recovery many
only want to fancy themfelves well others may
be flattered for a time into this belief, while
they are ill and many more, by frem air
and motion, and efpecially by forbearing the
ufe of other means, will find a change for
the better : but, that the blind received their
fight, or the deaf were reftored to hearing,
by thefe vifits, I deny that we have any com-
petent or tolerable evidence. This fanguine
writer does, indeed, take upon him to ani'wer
for the credit of the witneffes and the integrity
of the judges. But thefe miracles were never
proved in a judicial way. The vouchers pro-
duced for them are only certificates collected
from all forts of perfons, who were neither
interrogated by judge or council, nor con-
fronted by other. witnefTes : they only left their
depofitions or affidavits in the hands of a no-
tary, who was not concerned to examine, or
even to know, the perfons who made them,
or whether they gave in their own or ficti-
tious names. The credit, therefore, of the
witncffes
witneffes was never proved by any trial what-
foever *.
Doctor
* In the fecond edition of the Metaphyfical EJfiys there
is an additional note to p. 195, &c. in which the author
obferves, that " the Molinljl party had tried to difcre-
" dit thefe miracles in one inftance, that of Madamoi-
" felle le Franc. But, befides that their proceedings
" were the moft irregular in the world, particularly in
" citing only a few of the Janfenifts' witneffes, whom
" they tampered with : befides this, I fay, they foon
" found themfelves overwhelmed by a cloud of new
" witneffes, one hundred and twenty in number, moft
" of them perfons of credit and fubftance in Paris, who
" gave oath (for whal? not for the miracle in queftion,
*' but] for the miracles."
The pretended cure of Anne le Franc was the moft
celebrated and beft-attefted of all the firft miracles of
this faint ; and was, therefore, very fitly pitched upon
for examination, in order to give all the advantage to
the miracles that could be wifhed, and to put the trial
of them upon the faireft iffue. It was tried by a judi-
cial procefs directed for that purpofe ; and, whatever
formalities the author may think wanting in the pro-
ceedings, it was fo clearly convicted of irnpofture, that
one of the ableft advocates for thefe miracles, M. le
Gros, could find nothing to reply in its defence ; nor
does M. de Montgeron himfelf pretend to defend it. It
was proved, by five of the witneffes to this miracle,
that the certificates, which they had given into the hands
of the notary, and which were counterfigned by Ma-
G 3 damoifelle
t.
[ 86 ]
Do&or Middleton, who has likewife fet out
the evidence of thefe miracles with great pa-
rade, is pleafed to tell us that " the reality of
" them
damoifelle h Franc herfelf, were afterwards falfified,
and many material circumftances added which they had
never attefted : by others, that (he was, in great mea-
fure, recovered before fhe vifited the tomb ; and that
many of the disorders alledged as cured were entirely
chimerical : and by others, that (he returned from the
tomb in the fame condition that fhe went there, and
ftill wanted the help of farther medicines : which laft
circumftance may feem confirmed by the non-appear-
ance of k Franc herfelf, who was not to be found at the
trial.
The author goes on, after celebrating the vigilance,
activity, penetration, and extenfive intelligence of
Monf. Hcraut, then lieutenant de police^ to obferve, that
" this magiftrate, who by the nature of his office is al-
" moft abfolute, was inverted with full powers, on
" purpofe to fupprefs or difcredit thefe miracles > and
" he frequently feized immediately and examined the
" witneffes and fubje&s of them; but never could
* 4 reach any thing fatisfactory againft them." But the
nature of this magiftrate's office was fo far from mak-
ing him abfolute in the prefent cafe, that it gave him
no power at all to examine the truth of thefe miracles.
This was the province of the archbifhop alone, and not
to be invaded : accordingly, in the ordonnance of the
king, dated January 27, 1732, by which Mr. Heraut
wasimpowered to arreft and confine the moft obftinate of
thefe
c< them is attefted by fome of the principal
" phylicians and furgeons in France, as well
" as the clergy of the firft dignity, feveral of
" whom were eye-witnefles of them, who
" prefented a verbal procefs of each to the
" archbimop, with a petition, fjgned by above
" twenty cures or rectors of the parities of
< Paris, defiring that they might be authen-
?< tically regiftered, and iblemnly published to
thefe miraculized cheats, after the conviction of Anne
le Franc, and after he had brought many to a voluntary
confeffion of the fraud, this power is particularly referved
to the archbiftiop.
Soon after this the tomb was inclofed and fhut up ;
but the fame farce ftill continued in many parts of the
city, fome hundreds pretending to thefe miraculous con-
vulfions ; moft of them poor girls, who got a liveli-
hood by the bufinefs. So that the author might have
fpared his remark, " No Jajifenift was ever embarra/Ted
*' to account for the cefiation of the miracles when the
*' church-yard was fhut up. 'Twas the touch of the
" tomb that operated thefe extraordinary effects > and
" when no one could approach the tomb, no effects
" could be expected, &V." As he might too his con-
cern for the poor Molinifls that rejected thefe miracles ;
who were never put, as he reprefents, to the hard necef-
fity of accounting for them from witchcraft and the
power of the devil, but always refolved them into their
proper caufes.
04 the
[ 88 ]
" the people, as true miracles*.'' Anyone,
who reads this in connection with what goes
before it, will be led to believe that a great
nun) her of thefe miracles had been confirmed
by this verbal procefs -\* : but there never were,
as far as I can inform myfelf, more than four
or five thus proved by order of the cardinal
Noailles. Whether the petition mentioned was
prefented by phyficians and clergy of the firft
dignity, as the doctor's words feem to import,
I will not take upon me to controvert : but,
in all that I have read, I find only that it was
prefented by the twenty-two cures who figned
it J. The doctor might have told us too that
it
* Free Inquiry, p. 225.
f The verbal procefs I take to be a narrative of the
fact drawn up on the fpot by a magiftrate (in the pre-
fent cafe, by a commifTary appointed for that purpofe)
upon a view of the place and circumftances, an exami-
nation of the parcies, and the depofition of witnefles.
J Mr. Hume, in the additional note to page 196,
fpeaking of Mr. de Ventlmille, who was fucceflbr to
cardinal Noailles in the archbifhoprick of Paris, tells
us, that twenty-two reclors or cures of that city, whofe
general character, for ftri&nefs of life and manners, he
celebrates very juftly, but very little to the purpofe,
did,
it was rejected as well as preferred, and the
archbimop's reafons for rejecting it, which were
nothing lefs than palpable falmoods and con-
tradictions, legally proved, par des informations
juridiques, on the witnefTes, and even in the de-
pofitions taken by order of the cardinal deNoailles:
he might have told us that thirty of the moft
eminent Janfenift doctors, who were fuppofed
to have an intereft in fupporting thefe miracles,
protefted againll the abufe that was made of
them, and published many good reafons for
not believing them that, if fome phyiicians
of note pronounced the cures in queftion to
be miraculous, many more, who had better
opportunities of informing themfelves, judged
the contrary that one of the faculty published
a treatife to account for the phenomenon of
the convulfions in a natural way, and feveral,
who
did, c< with infinite earneftnefs, prefs him to examine
" thefe miracles, which they afiert to be known to the
" whole world, and indifputably certain : but he wife-
*' ly forbore." But it is certain, that this prelate was
fo far from forbearing or declining this tafk, that he
caufed a publiclc judicial inqueft to be made into them ;
and, in an ordonnance of November 8, 1735, has pub-
Jifhed the moft convincing proofs, that the miracles, fo
ftrongly warranted by thefe cures, were forged and
counterfeited.
[ 90 ]
who were confulted on the other pretended
cures, declared the whole to be fiction and
impofture *.
All that was real in thefe phenomena may
be accounted for from nature: but a great
part was certainly appearance, and owing to
art. The Abbe Paris, as doctor Middleton has
told us, " was a zealous Janfenifl, and a warm
" oppofer of the bull or conftitution Umge?iitus y
" by which the doctrines of this feet were ex-
" prefsly condemned : he died in 1/25, and
*' was buried in the churchyard of St. Medard
* See letter yth of the Critique ef Mr. Des Vceux.
This judicious writer, who is now minirter of the French
church in Dublin^ was himfelf a Janfenift and an inha-
bitant of Pans at the time when thefe miracles were
celebrated. This circumftance, which adds to the
credit of his verdict, doctor Middleton^ who had feen
liis book, and therefore muft know it, chufes to con-
ceal, and to reprefent him only as a Proteftant writer.
This may be excufe<J. But it is too much to aflert that
** he does not deny the facts, but only endeavours to
* f make the miraculous nature of them fufpedted :" for
near a fourth part of this book, which confifts of nine
letters, in two volumes, I2mo, is taken up in difprov-
ing thefe fadls, and the title at the head of one of the
longeft letters is Ou Yon fait voir, far les pieces menu que
Mr. de Montgeron produit 9 que lesfaits quil public ne font
pas vrais.
" in
[ 9' ]
* c in PartSy whither the great reputation of his
<c fan&ity drew many people to vifit his tomb,
" and pay their devotions to him as a faint ;
" and this concourfe, gradually increafmg, made
<c him foon be confidered as a fubject proper
" to revive the credit of that party, now
" utterly depreffed by the power of the Jefuits,
<c fupported by the authority of the court *."
Half the city of Paris, and many among them
of rank, took part with the appellants againft
this bull. The faint was, therefore, fure to
have juftice done him. Moft of thefe, if they
did not believe, yet wimed well to his miracles,
for the fake of mortifying the Jejuits and their
party.
" But the evidence of thefe miracles is {till
^* preferved in a pompous volume of Mon
<{ de Montgeron, a perfon of eminent rank in
" Parity who, Dr. Middkton tells us, dedicated
<c and prefented it to the king in perfon, be-
<c ing induced, as the author declares, by the
" incontestable evidence of the fats, by which
'" he himfelf from a libertine and profefled
" Deift, became a fincere convert to the Cbrif-
" tian faith f." As the credit of thefe boafted
* Free Inquiry, p. 223.
-j- Free Inquiry ^ p. 224.
miracles
[ 9* ] .
miracles refts alrnoft wholly on this book of
Mr. Montgeron, the reader will not be difpleafed,
if we flop a little to confider the character of
the work and its author.
This book was published, as we are adver-
tifed at the beginning, to demonftrate, among
other things, the juftice of the caufe of the
appellants againft the bull Unigenitus : but it
was fo far from anfwering the purpofe of re-
viving the credit of the Janfenifts or their
miracles, that from this time they funk into
'greater difgrace than ever ; while the author
was cafhiered from his employment, fent firft
to the Bafiile, and afterwards into banimment.
The author declares himfelf converted to Chri-
ftianity by the evidence of thefe fads : but it
is ftrange to obferve, from his own hiftory
of this converfion, that it was wrought with-
out his either feeing or examining the evi-
dence of any one of thefe miracles. It ap-
pears, from this hiftory, that the author was
early imprefTed with a fenfe of religion that,
having given himfelf up to a life of pleafure
and debauch, he was, on a certain occafion,
fo ftruck with remorfe, as to fhut himfelf up
in a convent, with defign to fpend his days in
penitence
[ 93 ]
penitence and retirement that, returning again
to his former life, he endeavoured to free him-
felf from the checks of confcience by reading
the books of Deifts, and perfuading himfelf
that religion was a cheat that the famous bull
Unigenitus, which juft then appeared, helped
much to confirm him in this belief: But the
fears of religion ftill kept hold of him, and,
particularly, on the firft report of our dbbcs
miracles, his confcience took the alarm, and put
him upon inquiring in earneft into the truth
of religion that, upon hearing a fecond time
of thefe miracles, he refolved to vifit the tomb,
and make a ftricT: inquiry into their truth that,
coming there, he was immediately ftruck with
the ardor that appeared in the devotion of the
people ; ftrongly impreffed with which, he
fell himfelf on his knees, and addrefled a
fhort prayer to the faint, befeeching him,
c< That, if indeed he ftill lived, and had any
" power with the Almighty, he would pity
" his blindnefs, and intercede for him, that
" his mind might be enlightened, and the
<e cloud removed which held him in dark-
" nefs !" Upon which, immediately, while
he continued fome hours on his knees, all
the arguments for religion, which he had ever
heard
[ 9* ]
heard or read, prefented themfelves to his mind,
and pafled in review before him, with fuch
force and conviction, that he became from that
moment a zealous and confirmed Chriftian.
Here, you fee, the author, without waiting for
any miracle, or inquiring into thofe which he
had heard, was not only converted to Chri-
ftianity, but became a determined believer of
all the miracles of this faint. And from
this (hort fketch we may eafily make out his
character, which was plainly that of a wrong-
headed and violent man, that could think
coolly about nothing, changing, as fancy or
temper led him, from one opinion, from one
extreme, to another, and governed throughout
by paffion or prejudice, and not by reafon.
His book was published ten (or according
to Dr. Middleton, twelve) years after the Abbes
death ; and 'tis a collection of only nine cures,
felected out of the great number which are
faid to have been wrought in all this time;
the firft of which I mall prefent my reader
with, in a few words, as a fpecimen of the
reft : A Spanijh youth, at the age often years,
loft entirely the fight of the left eye by a vio-
lent rheum and inflammation: a fewyears after,
receiving
[ 95 ]
receiving a blow upon the right eye, he became
almoft blind for fome days, but, by proper
remedies, recovered his fight again : at the age
of fixteen, this eye was attacked with a fluxion
and inflammation like to that which had d&-
ftroyed the other, but was foon recovered, by
the application of a certain water, fo far as to
allow him for two or three months after to pro-
fecute his ftudies : but, the diforder then re-
turning, and the fame remedy being found in-
effectual, he continued in this ftate, without the
application of any remedy, near two months ;
at the end of which, hearing of fa& Abbe Paris*
miracles, he refolved, with the confent of his
governors, who were zealous Janfentfts, to ap-
ply to the Abbes tomb : he entered upon a neu-
vaine, or nine-days devotion, in honour of the
faint, and to fupplicate his affiftance : the effect
was, that his pains redoubled, and the inflam-
mation increafed j but towards the end of the
term thefe bad fymptoms abated, and his eye at
laft became ftrong enough to bear the light, and
to permit him to return to his ftudies : and all
this without the ule of any other means than
faving the eye from reading for three months,
(hutting out the lieht, and bathing it the two
laft days with a little decoction of mallow-roots
4 with
[ 96 ]
with laudanum, prefcribed by an oculift; and
this too owed all its virtue to the manner of ap-
plying it, which was not with a common linen
rag, but a piece of the fhirt in which the Abbe
died, and fome of the earth in which he was
buried. A certain Janfenijl phyfician, who faw
this eye two days before the cure, judging it to
be a diforder of the optick nerve, exprefTed
fome doubt whether it were curable, and, being
told afterwards that no human means had been
ufed, inclined to think the cure miraculous.
This, I fuppoie, is one of the principal phy-
licians, who, Dr. Middleton tells us, attefted
the truth of thefe miracles. But it is certain
that many other phyficians and oculifts, both
.in France and Spain, thought otherwife, and
prefcribed bleeding, bathing, and the ufe of dif-
ferent medicines for it. The left eye, in the
mean time, remained in its former ftate, un-
cured ; and the eye which was healed relapfed
fome time after, and was again cured by bleed-
ing. This is the firft miracle, as it is related
by this author, and attefted by many vouchers
and certificates printed along with it a ftory
too contemptible for argument or remark. But,
if the reader defires to fee the falfe colouring
in which the writer has dreffed it, and the
4 incon-
[ 97 1
inconfiftencies and prevarication of the witnefles
detected, he may find this done, to his entire
fatisfaction, in the letters above-mentioned, and
in the nineteenth and twentieth tomes of the
Bibliotheque raifonee j from which, and Mr.
Fernet 's Traite de la Verite de la Religion Chre-
tienne, moft of thefe remarks are taken.
The evidence then, for thefe miracles, tho*
fet out with fo much eloquent pomp, when
examined, is found to amount to very little.'
But this is acknowledged, that the credulity
of mankind is very fully proved by this and
the other legendary miracles of Popery, and
that hence an argument of feeming weight ftill
lies againft the miracles of the Gofpel : for, if
fo many other miracles have been believed rafh-
ly and without reafon, it is poffible that thefe
may likewife have been received upon incom-
petent teftimony : and, if this be poffible, mufl
it not alfo be allowed more probable, than that
events fo ftrange and contrary to the common
courfe of nature mould be true ? This is the
inference, we may prefume, the author would
have us make from the ftories he hath related;
and this objection he has incidentally dropped
in feveral parts of his Eflay : ** The many in-
H !! flance g
" ftances of forged miracles, and prophecies,
" and fupernatural events, which, in all ages,
" have either been detected by contrary evi-
" dence, or which detect themfelves by their
<{ abfurdity, mark fufficiently the ftrong pro-
" penfity of mankind to the extraordinary and
" the marvellous, and ought reafonably to be-
<c get a fufpicion againft all relations of this
<{ . kind * :" And again, in the place above
cited, " Should a miracle be afcribed to any
" new fyftem of religion, men in all ages have
t been fo much impofed on by ridiculous {lories
" of that kind, that this very circumftance
<f would be fufficient, with all men of fenfe,
" not only to make them reject the fact, but
c< even reject it without farther examina-
" tion -f-/' As this is one of the moft fpe-
cious and prevailing arguments againft the
miracles of religion, it will deferve a diftinct
anfwer.
To the firft confequence, then, which the
author here draws from the credulity of men, I
readily agree That miracles and facts of an
extraordinary nature may be juftly fufpected,
'till lufficient evidence of their reality is pro-
* P. 186. f P. 200.
duced,
{ 99 ]
duced 3 and ought never to be received, 'till after
a previous examination had into this evidence*
But, that all miracles mould be rejected without
examination, becaufe a great number have been
forged, is, fure, a mofl illogical conclufion.
The truth of the Gofpel miracles does not im-
ply that all the miracles upon record are true :
how then does the falmood of other miracles
affect the truth of thefe ? If fome men are
cheats and impoftors, is there no truth in the
world ? If fome have believed upon too flight
evidence, mult we, therefore, reject all tefti-
mony, and difbelieve or doubt about every
thing ? Is the currency of bad coin a proof
that there is none good ? The teft and aflay
will always diftinguifh the true from the falfe :
and it is our own fault, if we are impofed upon
by counterfeits. God hath given us reafon and
underftanding to know good and evil, truth and
falmood, and, in all things pertaining to life or
duty, hath made the difference between them
fufficiently clear and difcernible. If he fpeaks
to us by miracles, he will, doubtlefs, caufe his
voice to be known, and give full evidence of his
authority. To thofe, who are not prefent wit-
nefles of his power, this evidence will be tranf-
mitted with fuch testimony as cannot be im-
PI 2 peached
peached * fuch as will ftand every fair and
equitable trial. With fuch teftimony, we affert,
the Scripture miracles are delivered down to us.
Let them be brought to the trial, and, if they
are found wanting, be rejected ; but not be con-
demned, as this fupercilious writer would have
them, unheard.
I obferve, that this author, in common with,
many others, feems to think every proof of the
credulity of mankind a fort of argument againft
the evidence of the Gofpel: they think this fuf-
ficient to account for the belief of all miracles,
and that it is, therefore, needlefs and folly to
look for any evidence in their favour: " When
" fuch reports fly about, the folution of the
" phenomenon is obvious; and we judge in
" conformity to experience and oblervation,
cf when we account for it by the known prin-
" ciples of credulity and delufion. And mall
" we, rather than have recourfe to fo natural a
" folution, allow of a miraculous violation of
" the mofl known and moft eftablifhed laws of
<c nature * ?" But I muft deny that there is
any fuch caufe or principle in human nature as
credulity. If fome are more credulous than
* P. 197-
others
I ioi ]
others if the fame perfon be more credulous
in fome points than other this depends upon
other principles : it is a natural effect, and al-
ways to be accounted for from natural caufes.
Intereft, when it is oppofed by truth, will biafs
the mind to error: ignorance and indolence will
difpofe men, the one of neceffity, the other of
choice, to follow the judgment of others, and
to believe as the world about them does : a de-
ference to authority, whether publick or pri-
vate a prejudice to opinions in which we
have been educated, or which we have long
entertained has the like effect : where men
are, as is frequent, divided into parties by opi-
nion, this prejudice will be heightened by pride
and refentment; they will hearken greedily to
every thing that favours their fyftem, and be
obftinately deaf to every thing that oppofes it.
Thefe are principles in human nature of great
force and extent ; and, where they induce to
the belief of any thing, there we may fufpect
credulity, and that men will be prepared to be-
lieve, without evidence, even things the moft
difficult of belief. If, in thefe circumftances, it
happen, that not the factitfelf, but the miracu-
lous nature of it only, is the point that gratifies
our wimes, there, the greater the miracle is, the
H 3 greater
t I" ]
greater are thefe corrupt reafons for believing it,
and, the more ftrange and incredible it is, the
more eafily ibmetirnes will it obtain belief: as
a ftone, the heavier it is, and the more unapt
to motion, will defcend the fwifter, if the
plane be fufficiently inclined, upon which it
moves.
But, on the other hand, where thefe or fuch-r
like principles have no influence, truth will be
fairly heard, and the faith of men will be ge-
nerally proportioned to the evidence that ap-
pears: and, where men believe and maintain
opinions contrary to the influence of thefe prin-
ciples, it is a fair prefumption that their faith
is well grounded, and that their aflent is ex-
torted by the force of truth. The principles,
therefore, of credulity will by no means ac-
count for all belief alike. Tho' a flone will
defcend by its own weight, it does not follow
that it can move itfelf upon even ground ; and,
if it be feen, contrary to its natural gravity, to
afcend a fleep acclivity, we are fure that there
muft be fome competent power to impell it.
Where miracles are wimed for or wanted, the
ftrangeft and moftunfupported may be believed:
but, in other circumftances, the miraculous na-
ture
[ "3 1
ture of the fad: will hang as a weight upon it,
and retard its progrefs ; and, if it make its way,
in oppofition to the withes, paffions, and pre-
judices of mankind, there muft be truth and
evidence to fupport it.
I have already afTerted that it required a
ftronger faith and more credulity to believe the
evidence of the Gofpel falfe, than to believe
the miracles true. All the principles that can
make men credulous confpired to make the
firft Chriftians dilbelieve the Gofpel. It was
not, therefore, credulity, butconvidtion, which
wrought this belief in them. But thefe prin-
ciples very naturally account for the miracles of
the Romifi church. Intereft, authority, and all
the powers of enthufiafm, fuperftition, and pre-
judice, forward the belief of thefe : the power
of the church is fupported by them, and the
countenance of the church, in the opinion of
the believer, gives certainty and infallibility to
them.
The difparity, then, betwixt thefe and the
Gofpel miracles is infinite. The end for which
the Scripture miracles were wrought is the
greateft that can be thought of, and the tefti-
H 4 mony
mony by which they are fupported is confirmed
by the fureft teft of truth. If miracles, there-
fore, are in any cafe credible, they are in this 5
if teftimony is in any cafe to be relied on, it is
in this. But what are the ends propofed or
anfwered by the miracles of Popery? More
offerings are, perhaps, brought to the (hrine at
Loretto, more gain is made of the relicks of the
faints. But are any nations brought to the faith,
or is any fingle infidel converted, by them ?
Then, the teftimony which vouches them is
implicitly received, and the veracity of the wit-
nefles confirmed by no proof or trial. There
is no one condition here to make miracles cre-
dible no one cirumftance to credit the evi-
dence that fupports them. There is, therefore,
no confequence to be drawn from thefe to die
miracles of the Gofpel.
And the fame obfervation will hold, tho J not
xvith equal force, of the miracles recorded in
the church before the times of Popery : there
were not the fame antecedent reafons for work-
ing jthem, nor the fame great confequences at-
tending them : and when were any called, at
the hazard of their fortunes and lives, to attefl
? We are not, therefore, to be alarmed,,
if
t
If the truth of thefe miracles is fometimes
brought in queftion, or even if many of them
mould be proved to be falfe ; fmce the miracles
of Chrijl and his Apoftles are no way affected
by this, and the Gofpel wants no miracles, but
its own, to fupport it : nor, indeed, can we
do a greater injury to the cauie of Chriftianity,
than to parallel thefe, even fuppofing them true,
with the canonical miracles of Scripture; flnce,
tho' both may be equally true, yet the evidence
upon which we receive them, and, confequently,
the reafons for believing them, are not equal,
but the one, in its weight and force, infinitely
tranfcends the other. Nor is it any reproach to
Chriftianity, or any juft caufe of offence to
pious Chriftians, if the fathers^ of the church,
men juftly celebrated for their piety and virtue,
and even for their learning and abilities, are
found to have given too eafy credit to thefe mi-
racles. Learning and piety are no fecurity
againft errors of this kind. On the contrary,
men of this character, as they are often lefs
pradlifed in the arts of men, and lefs apt to fuf-
pedl defign and fraud in others, may lie more
open to be deceived. Men may be prejudiced,
even by piety and virtue, to fuch opinions as
are thought favourable to piety and virtue, and,
where
[ "6 ]
where any thing is thought of good tendency,
may think it good to believe it. A little ac-
quaintance with hiftory will teach us, if our
own obfervation does not, that men of great
abilities and of the moft upright intentions may
be hafty in believing and zealous in fupporting
the belief of fables, efpecially where the caufe
of virtue or religion is fuppofed to be promoted
by them.
We may, therefore, retain our veneration
for the piety and good works of thefe eminent
lights of the church, without believing every
thing that they believed : we may believe many
of the fads which they have recorded to be
falfe, without hurting Chriftianity, or in the
leaft impairing the evidence of the Gofpel.
I might, under this head, have obferved that
falfe miracles are almoft a natural confequence
of true, and, therefore their prevalence and re-
ception is rather a prefumption of the exiftence
of true miracles than an argument againft them.
Could we forefee that a feries of miracles would
be wrought in any country, and a publick wor-
fhip and religion be eftablifhed in confequence
of it, we might prefume that miracles would be
2 there
t 107 3
there more frequently pretended and counter-
feited than in any other place. True miracles,
like true money, will give a currency to falfe;
and the authority and character, which they
give to thofe that work them, will excite the
crafty and ambitious to imitate them. On the
other hand, where no prior miracles are ac-
knowledged, there is lefs temptation to coun-
terfeit this power, and more difficulty of fuc-
ceedinginit. In fact, the falfe pretences of mi-
racles among Chriftians are no more than might
be expected, in confequence of the truth and
certainty of the firft miracles of Chriftianity ;
and, if the number of thefe has been far
greater in the Cbriflian world than elfewhere,
it is an argument that there, if any-where, true
miracles have been wrought. The reader will
be pleafed to fee this argument in the words of
Dr. Mlddleton : " The innumerable forgeries
of this fort, which have been impofed upon
? { mankind in all ages, are fofar from weaken-
ing the credibility of the Jewtfh and Cbrijlian
miracles, that they ftrengthen it : for how
c could we account for a practice fo univerfal,
" of forging miracles for the fupport of falfe
' religions, if on fome occafions they had not
f ' actually been wrought for the confirmation of
" a true
" a true one ? or, how is it poffible that fo
tf many fpurious copies fhould pafs upon the
<c world, without ibme genuine original from
" which they were drawn, whofe known ex-
<e iftence and tried fuccefs might give an ap-
* f pearance of probability to the counterfeit ?
*' Now, of all the miracles of antiquity, there
* c are none that can pretend to the character of
" originals, but thofe of the Old and New
& *
" Teftament, which, though the oldeft by
<c far of all others of which any monuments
ts now remain in the world, have yet main-*
" tained their credit to this day, through the
" perpetual oppofition and fcrutiny of ages ;
<{ whilft all the rival productions of fraud and
< craft have long ago been fucceffively explod-
cc ed, and funk into utter contempt an event
* c that cannot reafonably be afcribed to any
*' other caufe, but to the natural force and
" effect of truth, which, though defaced for
*' a time by the wit, or depreffed by the power,
te of man, is fure ftill to triumph in the end
<l ever all the falfe mimickry of art and the
J c vain efforts of human policy *."
* Prefatory Difcourfe to a Letter from Rcmf, p. 88.
The
The remainder of this EfTay is little more
than a rude infult on the Scriptures and the
Cbriflian religion. For fear his readers mould
miftake his meaning, and not apply his argu-
ment where he intended, the author proceeds,
with a fmiling grimace, to tell us, " that our
" moft holy religion is founded on faith, not
<c on reafon ; and 'tis a fure method of ex-
<c poling it, to put it to fuch a trial as it is by
" no means fitted to endure." This he pre-
tends to make evident by examining the mi-
racles related in the Pentateuch : { Here," fays
he, " we are to confider a book prefented to.
" us by a barbarous and ignorant people, wrote
" in an age when they were ftill more bar-
<{ barous, and, in all probability, long after the
tf facts it relates, corroborated by no concurring
" teftimony, and refembling thole fabulous ac-
" counts which every nation gives of its origin.
<c Upon reading this book we find it full of pro-
** digies and miracles : it gives an account of a
11 ftate of the world and of human nature en-
" tirely different from the prefent of our fill
*' from that ftate of the age of man extended
" to near a thoufand years of the deftruction
*' of the world by a deluge of the arbitrary
* l choice of one people as the favourites of hea-
2 " ven,
[ no ]
" ven, and that people the countrymen of the
cc author of their deliverance from bondage by
(t prodigies the moft aftonifhing imaginable t I
" delire any one to lay his hand upon his heart,
<c and, after ferious confideration, declare, whe-
" ther he thinks that the falfhood of fuch a
** book, fupported by fuch a teftimony, would
" be more extraordinary and miraculous than
<c all the miracles it relates; which is, however,
" neceflary to make it be received, accord-
" ing to the meafures of probability above efta-
' blimed *."
If the yews were thus more than barbarous
at the time when thefe books were wrote,whence,
without a miracle, could they learn all the great
truths relating to the being and attributes of
God, which the moft learned part of the world
were for many ages after in total ignorance
about ? Whence could the religion and laws of
this people fo far exceed thofe of the wifeft Hea-
then, and come out at once, in their firft in-
fancy, thus perfect and entire j when all human
fyftems are found to grow up by degrees, and
to ripen, after many improvements, into per-
fection ? The Jews had but little commerce
* P. 201,
t III ]
with other nations, and, therefore, did not ex-
cel in the literary and other arts of Greece : but
the fame Scriptures, which prove that they were
earlierinpofleffion of the moftufefulandfublime
parts of knowlege, fecured them likewife from
ever finking into that barbarity which the author
charges upon them. Let any one compare the
book of Genefts y which he treats with fo much
freedom, and which is by many centuries the
oldeft book in the world, with any of the earliefl
heathen hiftorians let him compare the pfalms
of David with the hymns of Callimachus or Or-
pbeus let him read the hiftory ofjfofefAuf t who
wasjuft cotemporary with Chrljl and his Apoftles
and he will incline to judge more favourably
of this people.
The great events recorded in this hiftory havs
no connection with the argument of miracles,
and, therefore, do not belong to this place. But
thefe are corroborated by the ftrongeft concurring
teftimony that can be defired to facts that are,
mod of them, older than the ufe of letters itfelf.
The traditions of every country fee m all to point
to one and the fame original. The late inven-
tion of arts and fciences, the foundation of cities
and empires, the manner of peopling the world,
and
and the number of its prefent inhabitants, feem
all to prove that the world had its beginning no
earlier than the period affigned by Mofes, and
agree perfectly with the account of the deluge.
There are no monuments of antiquity which
give room to fufped the world of earlier ori-
ginal. The firft authors of Greece and Egypt
fpeak of the chaos, of the abyfs of waters that
covered the earth, of man's being formed out
of the ground, and of his firft innocence.
From thefe, one of the Latin poets has de-
fcribed the creation, the ftate of innocence,
the gradual corruption of mankind, and the
deluge, in a manner very nearly refembling
that of Mofes. The memory of a general
flood, which deftroyed the whole race of men
and animals, except one family, feems to have
been preferved for fome ages among almoft all
nations. Lucian tells us, the tradition among
both the Greeks and Syrians was, that this
was a judgment from heaven on the wicked-
ne(s of mankind : he defcribes the manner
of the flood, the ark in which fome of every
kind were preferved, and many other particu-
lars, juft as we have them in the book of Ge->
nefis. Plutarch, alluding to the fame tradition,
mentions the ark, and even the dove that was
feat
L "3 ]
fent forth to fee if the waters were abated. A
great number of antient authors, who mention
the deluge, and give witnefs to the building of
Babel, the burning of Sodom, and many other
great events in the Mofaic hiftory, are reckon'd
up by Jofephus, Grotius, and others. The prelent
furface of the earth, the fhells of fim that are
found in midland countries, and even on the tops
of mountains, and the remains of land-animals
at very great depths in the earth, are Hill furviv-
ing monuments of the deluge *. It is aimed
certain
* An univerfal deluge will, I fuppofe, be allowed
one of the moft miraculous fails in the hiftory of the
Old Teftament. The difficulties that on all fides fur-
round it are as great as can eafily be conceived. And
hence fDxny'Chriftian writers (among whom is the learned
Mr. Wollajlon) have thought it fufficient to believe that
this flood was topical, confined to a fmall part of Afia 5
and that the genius of the language in which the rela-
tion is delivered, and the manner of writing hiftory in
it, will account for all the reft. But, the more we im-
prove in natural knowledge, the more reafons we fee
for believing this hiftory in the literal and largeft fenfe.
One of the lateft and ableft writers upon this fubjedl
confirms what the beft natural hiftorians have obferved
that the fhells of fifh are found in great quantities in
all parts of the world that the Lapides Judaici, which
are gathered on the top of mount Carmel, are evidently
the remains of a fea-animal that the Alps and Pyrenaan
mountains abound with others and that there is not
a mountain in the world, in which there have been
I tolerable
t "4 ]
certain that the world began to be peopled about
the plains of Babylon and near where the ark is
faid to have refted. From the eaft colonies of
men were fent weftward : and from thence we
can trace pretty diftindlly the progrefs of arts and
fciences. The long lives of the firft men are
tolerable opportunities of inquiring, where remains of
fea-animals have not been found : he tells us, that
many of thofe which are found in great abundance in
our ifiand are natives of other fcas that the horns of
Indian deer are found in great clufters, and always at
conllderable depths, in many parts of England, and fome-
times under a flratum of fea-fhells : and hence, though-
writing upon another queftion, he concludes, <e it is
" equally certain, that, wherever they are found,
" water muft have at one time overflowed, fmce there
* e is no other poflible means of their being brought
" there ; and, fmce they are found in every part of
" the earth, the tops of the higheft mountains not
* excepted, that overflowing of water muft have been
" univerfal." tfilFi Remarks on Phil. Tranf. p. 53.
Here, then, we have one of the moft difputable parts
of the Bible-hiftory confirmed and proved by indifput-
able fact and experiment. In the mean time, it muft be
obferved that the miracles upon which the Cbrijnan and
yewifi religions were built have an evidence of their
own, diftinft from that of the other parts of this hif-
tory ; and that, tho' it were allowed that many errors
may have crept into the hiftorical parts of this book,
yet the truth of thefe religions, and the faith of thofe
miracles upon which they are built, would remain
unfhaken.
fpoken
t "5 ]
fpoken of by all the Heathens. This fact is fo
far from difcrediting the Mofalc hiftory, that
Moniieur Pafcal reckons it a full proof of the
fidelity of the author : " This hiftorian," fays
he, cc has brought the deluge, and even the
<l creation, fo near his own time, by means of
" the few generations which he counts between
" them, that the memory of them could not
but be ftill frefh and lively in the minds of all
<c the Jewifli nation." In the line of tradition
there are but five fleps betwixt Mofes and the
firft man. " Therefore, the creation and the
" deluge are indubitably true. This argument,"
fays he, " muft be acknowledged for conclufive
ft by thofe who apprehend its procefs *." The
longevity of men in the firft ages feems neceffary
for the better peopling the world, the invention
and improvement of arts, and for propagating
religious and all ufeful knowledge, when they
depended wholly on tradition. And I am per-
iuaded that this author cannot even invent a
more probable or rational account of peopling
the world than this which he aiFecls to deride.
The other infinuations, which he has thrown
out to difcredit thefe books, have been fo often
rduted, that it is tedious to go over them again.
*PafcaI's Thoughts, p. 86.
J 2 ' The
t "6 ]
The authority of an hiftorian is not, fure, the
worfe for his being the countryman of thofe
\vhofe hiftory he writes. The character ofMofes
is remarkably free from all partiality to hini-
felf and his countrymen : he faithfully records
all the obftinacy and perverfe behaviour of the
latter, and frequently reproaches them with it in
the fevereft terms : he fpares not his own fail-
ings, or thofe of his neareft friends, and omits
many things, which are recorded by others, to
his honour: the future government of the
Ifraelites he left not to his own tribe, but to
that of yudah, and, in the appointment of his
immediate fuccefibr, had no regard to his own
family, but left them undiftinguifhed and
mixed with the common Levttes.
As to the arbitrary preference of this people,
a diftinction in religious privileges is perfectly
agreeable to the analogy of God's difpenfations
to mankind, both natural and moral. But the
yemjh difpenfation ought not to be considered
apart, but in connection with the CbHJlian, in
which it ended. Thefe are but different parts
of one and the fame fcheme, which naturally
illuftrate and confirm each other's authority.
" And, from this view of them," fays Dr. Mld-
" we fee the weaknefs of that objection
2 " com-
[ "7 J
u commonly made to the Mofaic part, on the
" account of its being calculated for theufe only
t( of a peculiar people ; whereas, in truth, it
<c was the beginning of an univerfal fyftem,
" which, from the time of Mofes, was gradually
" manifested to the world by the fucceffive
" miffions of the Prophets, 'till that fulnefs of
tf time, or coming of the Meffjah, when life
< and immortality were brought to light by the
cc Gofpel, or the chief good and happinefs of
" man perfectly revealed to him *."
The origin of this people is fo far from refem-
bling the fabulous accounts of other nations,
that it is quite fingtilar, and in all refpecls dif-
ferent from any other. They are a numerous
people, fprung from the loins of one man, and
have continued unmixed with the reft of the
world, if we reckon from the time of Abraham,
when they were firft marked out by the promife
of God to his pofterity, near 4000 years
a great part of the age of the world, and
approaching very near to the time when it was
laft peopled by the pofterity of Noah. Their
very exiftence at this time, taken with all its
circumftances, is a miracle, which gives cre-
dit to all the miracles of Mofes.
* Prefatory Difcourfe to the Letter from Rome, p. 88.
I 3 The
The books, which record thefe miracles, were
certainly wrote foon after the fads ; fince the
religion, laws, and polity of the yews were
wholly built upon them. Thefe books are the
great charter by which they were incorporated
into a nation. Thefe miracles are the only
fanclion which gives authority to the laws they
contain. The miracles were wrought in the face
of all Ifraelj and many of them under cbferva-
tion for a long time together. The books, that
record them, were of publick authority and
daily refort. It was, therefore, impoffible, if
falfe, that they mould obtain credit for a day.
The very being of thefe laws is a proof of the
miracles connected with them j fince the latter,
if falfe, mull have difcovered thefalmood of the
former. By appealing to thefe facts, it was put
in the power of every one to fee through, or,
rather, it was put out of their power not to fee
through, the impofture. The memory of thefe
fads was not only preferved in thefe records, but
they were written, if I may fo fpeak, and re-
corded in the daily cuftoms and religious cere-
monies of the Jews. The Paffiruer was inftituted
in memory of their coming out of Egypt the
feaft oiPentecoft in token of the law being given
upon mount Sinai fifty days after that of Taber-
nacles in remembrance of their encamping in the
2 defart
[ "9 ]
defart and, in the form of dedicating or offer-
ing their firft-fruits, a folemn commemoration
was injoined of the figns and wonders by which
they were delivered out of Egypt. The belief,
therefore, of the miracles muft of neceffity be as
antient as their religion ; and indeed, without
thefe, their religion, government, and even their
prefent exiilence, as a people, would be more
miraculous than all the miracles recorded in
the Pentateuch.
We are now come to the conclusion of this
celebrated EfTay : " Upon the whole," fays he,
" we may conclude, that the Cbriftian religion
" not only was at firft attended with miracles,
< { but even at this day cannot be believed by any
" reafonable perfon without one. Mere reafon
" is infufficient to convince us of its veracity :
" and whoever is moved by faith to aflfent to it,
" is confcious of a continued miracle in his own
" perfon, which fubverts all the principles of
<c his understanding, and gives him a determi-
" nation to believe what is moft contrary to
" cuftom and experience *."
The author in one of his EfTays, complains
of a want of politenefs and civility in thofe who
* P. 203.
1 4. defend
defend religion againft the attacks of the Free-
thinkers, " whole moderation and good man-
" ners," he tells us, " are very confpicuous,
" when compared with the furious zeal and
" fcurrility of their adverfaries *." But who
can, without fome impatience, fee a religion
which he holds facred, and which hath efta-
blifhed itfelf purely by reafon and argument,
treated with this open fcorn and abuie ? Has
this author lived in the time of Sir Ifaac Newton,
Mr. Locke } and Mr. Addifon? Can he know tha^
thefe men gloried in the name of Chriftians,
that the firft of them employed many of his
beft hours in ftudying and illuftrating the
Scriptures, and that the other two have wrote
profefTedly in the defence of this religion, and
yet think himfelf at liberty to treat all that be-
lieve it as men that are incapable of reafoning
or thinking ? The charge, which he has here
brought againft: the advocates of Chriftianity,
is fo far from being true, that I dare reft the
whole merits of the controverfy upon this
ifTue. Let any one read the authors he men-
tions, Collins and Ttndal, with Morgan, Gor-
don> and the later writers in this caufe, and
compare them with their antagonifts, Chandler,
Cony bear e, Iceland, Fojler, and judge on which
* EJJays moral and political^ p. 62.
fide
fide the temper and moderation lies. And
yet, if men claim fome authority to opinions
which have the publick voice on their fide,
where is the wonder or the blame ? It is nothing
unnatural for men thus fupported to affume a
confidence, and to expect fome deference and
modefty from their adverfaries. But, when men
oppofe eftablimed opinions with an air of autho-
rity, and decide againft the publick when they
profefs to doubt, and yet didlate, about every
thing, and a<ft at once the Sceptick and the Dog-
matift this is a character, which, however it
may be accounted for, can never be excufed *.
And
* The author tells us, that, " in all controverfics,
c< thofe who oppofe the eftablifhed and popular opinions
" affect a moft extraordinary gentlenefs and modcra-
" tion, in order to foften, as much as poflible, any
" prejudices that may lie againft them *." But
the facl: is notoriously otherwife. In eftablifhments
of every kind, the party which forms the oppofition, if
they have the liberty to fpeak out, is ufually the moft
furious and loud in inve&ive. The reafon is, the moft
furious and vehement fpirits are the moft impatient of
control, and the moft forward to oppofe. A man that
is a tyrant in his own temper is fure to complain of
tyranny in his fuperiors ; and a proud man will always
think you proud, if you differ from him, whatever au-
thority and whatever modefty you may have on your fide.
Thus the celebrated author of the Patriot King pro-
nounces the moft candid of all writers to be a/>;v-
* EJJ'ajt Kurql and fclitical, p. 6z,
fumptuous
[ 122 ]
And I here afk my reader, whether he has any-
where met with either a more fceptical, difpu-
tatious turn of mind, or a more imperious, dog-
matical ftyle, than in the writings of this author?
It
famptucus Dogmatift for daring to differ from his opinion,
even before it was known. This confummate writer,
not content to fhine in his own fphere, aflumes the
no'd, and will give the law in metaphyficks as well as
politicks. " I would not fay," fays he, " that God
*' governs by a rule that we know or may know as well
* c as he, and upon our knowledge of which he appeals
" to men for the juftice of his proceedings towards
** them, which a famous divine has impioufly advanced
" in a pretended demonftration of his being and attri-
" butes : God forbid * !" I learn from hence, that
the famous divine fpoken of has the misfortune to have
fallen under the difpleafure of this author, and that he
has a fovereign contempt for all that do fo. But, what
his offence is, I am ftill at a lofs to conjecture. I think
myfelf certain, that he has no-where faid what the
author charges him with, " that we know or may
" know the rule by which God governs as well as he."
He has indeed, faid, " that God himfelf, tho' he has no
" fuperior, from whofe will to receive any law of his
tc actions, yetdifdains not to obferve the rule of equity
" and goodnefs as the law of all his actions in the
" government of the world, and condefcends to appeal
" even to men for the righteoufnefs and equity of his
" judgments (as in Ezek. xviii.) ; that (not barely his
" infinite power, but) the rules of this eternal law are
" the true foundation and the meafure of his dominion
* Patriot King, p, 94,
over
[ 3 1
It is remarkable with what eafe and alacrity he
hath aflerted the fad: before us. But this cava-
lier manner is familiar to him. He tells us, in
another EfTay, " that the Quakers are perhaps
" the
" over his creatures *." But what is this more than
the author himfelf has faid, in terms as free, in the very
page that is ftained with this cenfure ? " That God is
" not an arbitrary, but a limited monarch, limited
" by the rule which infinite wifdom prefcribes to infinite
" power that he does always that which is fitteft to
" be done and that this fitnefs, of which no created
" power is a competent judge, refults from the various
" natures and the more various relations of things." He
adds, " So that, as creator of all fy (terns by which
" thofe natures and relations are constituted, he pre-
*' fcribed to himfelf the rule which he follows as
" governor of every fyftem of being." This, though
no candid reader will complain of it, is more crude and
perplexed than any thing I remember in the author here
arraigned. God does always what is right and fit. But
right and fit were not made what they are, when this
or any other fyftem of beings was made. The fitnefs of
every action, the fame circumftances fuppofed, was al-
ways and ever will be the fame. This rule is eternal
and immutable as truth itfelf, and its authority is as
univerfal, extending to all beings and to all poflible
fyftems of beings ; as the author we are fpealcing of
has, with equal modefty and clearnefs, aflertcd and
proved immediately before the paflage here cited. If
he has faid, farther, that God appeals to men for the
juftice of his proceedings, he has given his authority
for this an authority which a Chrijtian divine muft
* Demonftration of the being and attribute?, &t. gth edit. p. ziS.
think
cc the only regular body of Deifts in the uni-
" verfe :" And again, " that the leading Whigs
" have always been either Deifts or profeffed
<c Latitudinarians in their principles, that is,"
fays
think decifive. And what doth this amount to more
than faying that God hath implanted in men a fenfe of
what isjuft, merciful, and good, and that all his dif-
penfations are agreeable to our ideas of juftice, mercy,
and goodnefs ? Does not the aftronomer try the works
of God by the laws of mechanifm and geometry, when
he pronounces that they are done in number, weight,
and meafure ? And muft we not have fome meafure of
juftice, mercy, and goodnefs, when we attribute thefe
to the Deity ? To fay that we can fee the wifdom of
God in his works is not faying that we are as wife as
God himfelf : nor does our feeing the fitnefs and equity
of his proceedings in fome inftances imply that we are
competent judges of or can fee the reafon of his pro-
ceedings in all. As the author has not pointed out the
paffages in the writer he excepts againft, I can only
guefs this to be the place. But, if he has any-where
dropped an expreffion that may feem lefs accurate or
proper upon this fubje<5t, the author might have par-
doned it, who confefies, in the fame page, that he
cannot exprefs himfelf on this fubjecl: properly, and
that, when our ideas are inadequate, our expreffion
muft needs be improper. To return : We have here a
phenomenon, which, to thofe who have not ftuclied
human nature, will appear altogether fingular : Lord
B e complaining of the impiety, pride, and pre-
fumption of Dr. Clarke. Eftablifhed opinions and an
eftablifhed character provoke his refentment: rather than
fubmit to another, he will contradict himfelf. And this,
I take
t 125 1
fays he, cc friends to toleration, and indifferent
<c to any particular feet of Chriftians *." Now,
it is certain that the Quakers profefs the belief
of Chriftianity as univerfally as any fe<5t what-
foever. And what right has the author to
charge a whole body of men with fuch fla-
grant infincerity ? As to the Whigs, the
principles of toleration are certainly Chriftian
principles, and do by no means imply an in-
difference to any fedt, much lefs a coldnefs to
religion in general : and, if the bcft Chriftians
are ufually the beft fubjeclis and citizens
(which I think an indifputable truth) I mould
hope their principles would be no impedi-
ment to their faith. I am fure, however,
they have no reafon to thank this author for his
compliment.
They who believe religion muft think that
the caufe of virtue and the happinefs of man-
kind are bound up in it : and this will juftify a
* EJJap moral and political^ p. 1 1 1 .
I take it, is the principle from which moft of Mr.
Humes philofophy is derived ; to whofe extraordinary
gentlenefs and modefty that of this writer (to fpeak in
the curious phrafe of the latter) * is but as the politive
degree to the fuperlative.
Eft genus lominum, qui ejfcprimosfe omnium rerum volunt,
Necfunt.
* Patrist KiKjr, p. 148,
decree
[ '26 ]
degree of zeal and ardor in its defence. But
what is there to call for or excufe this fpirit in
thofe who oppofe it ? If the author be a friend
to virtue, which, from his elegance of mind
and tafte, I fcarce can doubt if he be a friend
to natural religion, which a perfon of fo much
thought and reflection fure muft be what
principles has he in referve for the fupport of
thefe, when Chriftianity is taken away ? The
beft philofophy, as I have already faid, availed
but little in reforming the religions or morals of
mankind : and, as to the philofophy of this
author, it is,, as far as I underftand it, as ill
calculated for this purpofe as any I have met
with *. But, indeed, religion can never be
fupported, or virtue taught, with any force or
effect, by the reafonings of philofophers. The
world will never be governed by metaphyfical
ideas of honour and beauty, decency of action,
and the fitnefs of things. It is the author's own
* The character of this author's philofophical writ-
J ngs, which I (hould not otherwife have attempted, may
be given in his own words, where he fpeaks of the^/-
ciphron and other works of the ingenious and good Bifliop
Berkeley: " They admit of no anfwer, and produce no
" conviction : their only effect is to caufe that mo-
* { mentary amazement and irrefolution and coafufion,
u which is the refult of Scepticifm." EJJays moral and
political) p. 240.
obferva-
[ "7 1
obfervation, that " an abftraded, invifible ob-
" je<5t, like that which natural religion alone
" prefents to us, cannot long actuate the mind,
tc or be of any moment in life. To render the
<c paffion of continuance, we muft find fome
4< method of affecting the fenfes and imagina-
<{ tion, and muft embrace fome hiflorical as
" well as philofophical accounts of the Divi-
" nity. Popular fuperftitions," fays he, " and
" obfervances are even found to be of ufe in this
" particular *." The great thing to be wifhed,
then, for the intereft of virtue and the good of
mankind, is, that the maxims of natural reli-
gion mould be fixed and aflured by an autho-
rity that is decifive that a rule of duty mould
be taught as the will and law of God that
the fanctions of this law, a future ftate and a
judgment to come, mould be known alike to
all, both fmall and great that the hopes of
pardon fhould be aflured to the penitent (inner
that there mould be an inftitution to propa-
gate this knowledge, and to Ipread it thro'
the world that there mould be a publick
worfhip fet up, and a difcipline and ceconomy
preicribed, to train men to piety and virtue :
but all this, and much more to the advantage
of virtue, we have in the Chriftian religion.
* EJJayt moral a nd polit ical, p. 231,
Can
Can the author tell us where elfe they are to
be found ? If he is looking out a cure for
fuperftition, I venture to affure him, that, with
nil his refearches into metaphyficks and morals,
he will never find any equal to that religion
which he endeavours to explode ; which in a
few years did infinitely more towards freeing
the world from the fear and folly of prodigies,
omens, dreams, and oracles, than all the phi-
lofophy in the world had done in many ages.
If, unhappily, this religion is flill corrupted
by fuperftitious mixtures, thefe I freely com-
mit to the mercy of the author. But Chri-
ftianity is not to anfwer for thefe any more
than for the other errors and vices of mankind,
which, however it aims to correct, it does not
pretend to eradicate. And even thefe will be
better and more fuccefsfully oppofed by fair
argument and civility than with iniult and re-
o J
proach. Where a liberty of debate and free
inquiry is allowed, it is unpardonable to infult
the publick that allows it. " There is a degree
<c of doubt and caution and modefty, which,
" in all kinds of fcrutiny and deciiion, ought
" for ever to accompany a juil reafoner *.'*
* Philojopblcal EjjuySi p. 250.
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