The following representation of the reverse of one of these is given from the original very rare coin, preserved in the cabinet of the British Museum.

It represents the conquered country as a desolate female sitting under a tree, and affords an extraordinary fulfilment of Isaiah's prediction (iii. 26. She being desolate SHALL SIT upon the ground,) delivered at least eight hundred years before, as well as a striking illus tration of the Lamentations of Jeremiah (ch. i. ver. 1.) How doth the city SIT solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

CHAPTER IV.

ALL THE BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS ARE OF DIVINE AUTHORITY, AND THEIR AUTHORS ARE DIVINELY INSPIRED.

SECTION I.-Preliminary Observations.

I. INSPIRATION defined.

It is the imparting of such a degree of divine influence, assistance, or guidance, as enabled the authors of the several Books of Scripture to communicate religious knowledge to others, without error or mistake.

II. Such Inspiration is both reasonable and necessary. 1. It is reasonable that the sentiments and doctrines, delivered in the Scriptures, should be suggested to the minds of the writers by the Supreme Being himself; since they relate to matters, concerning which the communication of information to men is worthy of God. 2. Further, Inspiration is necessary: for,

(1.) Some past facts are related in the Bible, which could not possibly have been known, had not God revealed them. (2.) Some events are predicted, which God alone could foreknow.

(3.) Other things also are contained in the Scriptures which are far above the capacity of man.

(4.) The authoritative language of Scripture argues the necessity of inspiration, admitting the veracity of the writers. They do not present us with their own thoughts, but exclaim, "Thus saith the Lord;" and on that ground they demand our

assent.

III. The Scriptures could not have been the invention of men. Wicked men would not have produced books which condemn every thing that is unholy, even if they were capable of doing so; and good men could not deceive.

IV. Criteria of Inspiration.

These are twofold, viz. Miracles and Prophecy.

To these may be added other internal evidences for the divine inspiration of the Scriptures; viz.

The sublime doctrines and precepts which they con. tain;

The harmony and connection subsisting between their various parts;

The miraculous preservation of the Scriptures; and Their tendency to promote the present and eternal happiness of mankind, as evinced by the blessed effects which are in ariably produced by a cordial belief of the doctrines of the Bible.

SECTION II. The Miracles, related in the Old and New Testaments, are Proofs, that the Scriptures were given by Inspiration of God.

I. A MIRACLE defined.

A MIRACLE is an effect or event, contrary to the established constitution or course of things; or, a sensible suspension or controlment of, or deviation from, the known laws of nature, wrought either by the immediate act, or by the assistance or by the permission of God, and accompanied with a previous notice or declaration that it is performed according to the purpose and power of God, for the proof or evidence of some particular doctrine, or in attestation of the authority or divine mission of some particular person.

Nature is the assemblage of created beings: these beings act upon each other, or by each other, agreeably to certain laws, the result of which is, what we call the course or order of nature. These laws are invariable; it is by them God governs the world. He alone established them; He alone therefore can suspend them. Effects, which are produced by the regular operation of these laws, or which are conformable to the established course of events, are said to be natural; and every palpable deviation from the constitution of the natural system, and the correspondent course of events in that system, is called a miracle.

II. Nature of the EVIDENCE arising from Miracles. OBJECTION.Miracles are beyond comprehension, and therefore are contrary to reason.

ANSWER.This is by no means the case: for the possibility of miracles is not contrary to reason. Every thing we see, indeed, is in one sense a miracle. How many of the most common phenomena in nature are beyond our comprehension! And yet, notwithstanding we cannot comprehend or solve the most common of these phenomena, they make no impression on us, because they are common, because they happen accord

ing to a stated course, and are seen every day. If they were out of the common course of nature, though in themselves not more difficult to comprehend, they would still appear more wonderful to us, and more immediately the work of God. Thus, when we see a child grow into a man, and, when the breath has left the body, turn to corruption, we are not in the least surprised, because we see it every day: but were we to see a man restored from sickness to health by a word, or raised to life from the dead by a mere command, though these things are not really more unaccountable, yet we call the uncommon event a miracle, merely because it is uncommon. We acknowledge, however, that both are produced by God, because it is evident that no other power can produce them.

Such, then, is the nature of the evidence which arises from miracles: and we have no more reason to disbelieve them, when well attested, and not repugnant to the goodness or justice of God, only because they were performed several ages ago, than we have to disbelieve the more ordinary occurrences of Providence which passed before our own time, because the same occurrences may never happen again during our lives. The ordinary course of nature proves the being and providence of God; these extraordinary acts of power prove the divine commission of that person who performs them.

III. DESIGN of Miracles.

This is, not to prove the great doctrines and duties of natural religion, but to prove new revealed doctrines, which neither were nor could be known to the reason of man. Consequently, believers in the Bible do not argue in a circle (as some modern objectors have asserted), proving the doctrines first by the miracles, and then the miracles by the doctrines: because the doctrines which they prove by miracles, and the doctrines by which they try them, are not the same doctrines.

No miracles are related in the Scriptures to have

been wrought in confirmation of falsehoods; yet this has been objected in the cases of the Egyptian Magicians, the Witch of Endor, and Satan in the time of Christ's temptation. But this objection is utterly des titute of foundation: for,

1. The Magicians did not perform any miracle. All they did, as the narrative of Moses expressly states,—was to busy themselves in their enchantments; by which, every man knows, miracles cannot be accomplished.

2. The Witch of Endor neither wrought nor expected to work any miracle, being herself terrified at the appearance of Samuel, who was sent by God himself.

3. There was nothing miraculous in Satan's leading Christ, by his free consent, to a lofty mountain, whence he could discover, not all the world, but all the four tetrarchies or kingdoms of oikovμevns, that is, the land of Judæa.

The proper effect of miracles is, to mark clearly the divine interposition; and the Scriptures intimate this to be their design; for both Moses and the Prophets, and Jesus Christ and his Apostles, appealed to them, in proof of their divine mission.

IV. CREDIBILITY of Miracles vindicated and proved. Whatever miracles are wrought, they are matters of fact, and capable of being proved by proper evidence, as other historical facts are. The witnesses, however, must be supposed to be acquainted with the course of nature so as to be able to judge that the event in question was contrary to it: for an event is not miraculous merely because it is to us strange or unaccountable, but because it is contrary to the known course of nature. To those who beheld the miracles of Moses and Jesus Christ, the seeing of those miracles was sufficient evidence of their divine inspiration. But to other men, miracles, like other events, admit of the evidence of testimony: the credibility of the witnesses therefore is the only point now to be considered.