idea of so sublime, so pure, so efficacious a religion, as Christianity is; especially when compared with the others above alluded to? Could he have acquired it in the workshop of a poor artisan of Nazareth, or among the fishermen of the lake of Genezareth? Then, how could he and his poor unlettered Apostles succeed in propagating this religion, as they did, throughout the world, in opposition to all the talents and power of Philosophers and Princes, and all the passions of all mankind? No other answers can be given to these questions, than that the religion itself has been divinely revealed, and that it has been divinely assisted in its progress throughout the world.

In addition to this internal evidence of Christianity, as it is called, there are external proofs, which must not be passed over. Christ, on various occasions, appealed to the miracles which he wrought, in confirmation of his doctrine and mission; miracles public and indisputable, which, from the testimony of Pilate himself, were placed on the records of the Roman Empire (1), and which were not denied by the most determined enemies of Christianity, such as Celsus, Porphyrius, and Julian, the apostate. Among these miracles, there is one of so extraordinary a nature, as to render it quite unnecessary to mention any others, and which is therefore always appealed to by the Apostles, as the grand proof of the gospel they preached; I mean the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. To the fact itself must be added also its circumstances; namely, that he raised himself to

(1) Tertul. in Apolog.

or

life by his own power, without the intervention of any living person; and that he did this in conformity with his prediction, at the time which he had appointed for this event to take place, and in defiance of the efforts of his enemies, to detain his body in the sepulchre. To elude the evidence resulting from this unexampled prodigy, one other of the following assertions must be maintained; either that the Disciples were deceived in believing him to be risen from the dead, or that they combined to deceive the world into a belief of that imposition. Now it cannot be credited that they themselves were deceived in this matter, being many in number, and having the testimony of their eyes, in seeing their Master repeatedly during forty days; of their ears in hearing his voice; and one, the most incredulous among them, the testimony of his feeling, in touching his person and probing his wounds. Nor can it be believed that they conspired to propagate an unavailing falsehood of this nature throughout the nations of the earth; namely, that a person, put to death in Judea, had risen again to life-and this too, without any prospect to themselves for this world, but that of persecution, torments, and a cruel death, which they successively endured, as did their numerous disciples after them, in testimony of this fact; without any expectation for the other world, but the vengeance of the God of truth.

Next to the miracles wrought by Christ, is the fuifilment of the ancient prophecies concerning him, in proof of the religion which he taught. To mention a few of these: He was born just after the sceptre had departed from the tribe of Juda,

Gen. xlix. 10.; at the end of seventy weeks of years from the restoration of Jerusalem, Dan. ix. 24.; while the Second Temple of Jerusalem was in being, Hagg. ii. 7. He was born in Bethlehem, Mic. v. 2.; worked the identical miracles foretold of him, Isai. xxxv. 5. He was sold, by his perfidious disciple for thirty pieces of silver, which were laid out in the purchase of a potter's field, Zach. xi. 13. He was scourged, spit upon, Isai. 1. 6.; placed among malefactors, Isai. xxxiii. 12. His hands and feet were transfixed with nails, Ps. xxii. 16.; and his side was opened with a spear, Zach. xii. 10. Finally, he died, was buried with honour, Isai. liii. 9.; and rose again to life without experiencing corruption, Ps. xvi. 10. The sworn enemies of Christ, the Jews, were, during many hundred years before his coming, and still are, in possession of the Scriptures, containing these and many other predictions concerning him, which were strictly fulfilled.

The very existence, and other circumstances respecting this extraordinary people, the Jews, are so many arguments in proof of Christianity. They have now subsisted, as a distinct people, for more than four thousand years, during which they have again and again been subdued, harassed, and almost extirpated. Their mighty conquerors, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Macedonians, the Syrians, and the Romans, have in their turns ceased to exist, and can no where be found as distinct nations; while the Jews exist in great numbers, and are known in every part of the world. How can this be accounted for? Why has God preserved them alone, amongst the ancient nations of the earth? The truth is, they are still

the subject of prophecy, with respect to both the Old and the New Testament. They exist, as monuments of God's wrath against them; as witnesses to the truth of the Scriptures which condemn them; and as the destined subjects of his final mercy before the end of the world. They are to be found in every quarter of the globe; but in the condition with which their great Legislator Moses threatened them, if they forsook the Lord; namely, that he would remove them into all the kingdoms of the earth, Deut. xxviii. 25., that they should become an astonishment, and a by-word, among all nations, ibid. 37. That they should find no ease, neither should the sole of their foot have rest, ibid. 63. Finally, they are every where seen, but carrying, written on their foreheads, the curse which they pronounced on themselves in rejecting the Messiah: His blood be upon us and upon our children! Matt. xxvii. 25. Still is this extraordinary people preserved, to be, in the end, converted, and to find mercy. Rom. xi. 26., &c.

SAMUEL CAREY.

LETTER II.

To JAMES BROWN, Esq. &c.

PRELIMINARIES.

Winton, October 20, 1801.

DEAR SIR,

You certainly want no apology for writing to me on the subject of your letter. For if, as St. Peter inculcates, each Christian ought to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh him a reason of the hope that is in him, 1 Pet. iii. 15., how inexcusable would a person of my ministry and commission be, who am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise, Rom. i. 14., were I unwilling to give the utmost satisfaction, in my power, respecting the Catholic Religion, to any human being, whose inquiries appear to proceed from a serious and candid mind, desirous of discovering and embracing religious truth, such as I must believe yours to be. And yet this disposition is exceedingly rare among Christians. Infinitely the greater part of them, in choosing a system of religion, or in adhering to one, are guided by motives of interest, worldly honour, or convenience. These inducements not only rouse their worst passions, but also blind their judgment; so as to create hideous phantoms to their intellectual eyes, and to hinder them from seeing the most conspicuous objects which stand before them. To such inconsistent Christians nothing proves so irritating as the attempt to disabuse them of their errors, except the success of that attempt, by