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 the 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 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 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 or 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 decieve 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 unavarling 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 eruel death, which they successively endured, as did their numerous disciples after them, in tes(1) Tertul. in Apolog.

timony 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 fulfilment 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. xiix. 10; at the end of seventy weeks of years from the restoration of Jerusalem, Lun. ix. 24; while the Second Temple of Jerusalem was n being, Hagg. ii. 7. He was born in Bethlehem, Mic. v. 2; worked the identical miracles foretold of him, Isa. xxxv. 5. He was sold by his perfidious disciple for thirty pieces of silver, which were laid out in the purchase of a poller's field, Zach, ix. 13. He was scourged, spit upon, Isa. 1.6; placed among malefactors, Isa. 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, Isa. 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! Mat. 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, Oct. 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 putting it out of their power to defend them any longer. These · are they, and O! how infinite is their number, of whom Christ says, They love darkness rather than light, John, iii. 16; and who say to the Prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things: speak unto us smooth things Isa. xxx. 10. They form to themselves a false conscience, as the Jews did when they murdered their Messiah, Acts, iii. 17; and as he himself foretold that many others would do, in murdering his disciples, John, xvi. 2. And here permit me to observe, that I myself have experienced something of this spirit in my religious discussions, with persons who have been loudest in professing their candour and charity. Hence, I make no doubt, if the elucidation which

ou call

for at my hands, for your numerous Society, should happen, by any means to become public, that I shall have to eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water of tribulation, 1 Kings, xxii. 27 for this discharge of my duty, perhaps during the remainder of my life. But, as the Apostle writes, none of these things move me; neither count I my life dear to me, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus. Acts, xx. 24.

It remains, Sir, to settle the conditions of our correspondence. What I propose is, that, in the first place, we should mutually, and indeed all of us who are concerned in this friendly controversy, be at perfect liberty without offence to any one, to speak of doctrines, practices, and persons, in the manner we may judge the most suitable for the discovery of truth: secondly, that we should be disposed, in common, as far as poor human nature will permit, to investigate truth with impartiality; to acknowledge it, when discovered, with candour; and, of course, to renounce every error and unfounded prejudice that may be detected, on any side, whatever may be the sacrifice or the cost. I, for my part, Dear Sir, here solemnly promise, that I will publicly renounce the Religion, of which I am a Minister, and will induce as many of my flock, as I may be able to influence, to do the same, should it prove to be that mass of absurdity, bigotry, superstition, 'idolatry, and immorality,' which you, Sir, and most Protestants conceive it to be; nay, even if I should not succeed in clearing it of these respective charges. To religious controversy, when originating in its rroper motives, a desire of serving God and securing our salvation, I cannot declare myself an enemy, without virtually condemning the conduct of Christ himself, who, on every occasion, arraigned and refuted the errors of the Pharisees; but I cannot conceive any hy