rity of the Apoftles when they tell us, that they faw Jefus perform his wonderful works, that they converfed with him familiarly for many days after his refurrection, that he afcended to heaven before their eyes, and that afterwards, in confequence of being endued with power from on high agreeably to his promise, they went about through all the world preaching the doctrine of eternal life through him, and converting men from idolatry and vice, God himself bearing witnefs with them by divers miracles, and wonders, and gifts of the Holy Ghost *: Were there, I fay, no more reason to queftion the honefty of the Apoftles when they deliver this part of their history, than when they give an account of the affairs of the Jews and Romans, of the ignominious fufferings and crucifixion of Chrift under Pilate, of Peter's denial, Judas's treachery, and other events of a fimilar nature, we fhould be obliged alike to receive both. This,

*Heb. ii. 4.Rom. xv. 18, 19.

This, indeed, feems to me to be nearly the truth t. The extraordinary facts they relate are fo blended with the common, and told with fo much of the appearance of a like artless fimplicity in both cafes, as has, I think, a ftrong tendency to imprefs an attentive and impartial mind.

† "The Gospels and the Acts afford us the fame " hiftorical evidence of the miracles of Chrift and the Apoftles, as of the common matters related in

them. This indeed could not have been affirmed "by any reasonable man, if the authors of these books like many other hiftorians had appeared to "aim at an entertaining manner of writing, tho' "they had in their works interfperfed miracles at pro"per distances and on proper occasions. These might

have animated a dull relation, amused the reader, "and engaged his attention. But the facts, "both miraculous and natural in fcripture, are re"lated in plain unadorned narratives; and both of "them appear in all refpects to ftand upon the fame

foot of hiftorical evidence." Butler's Analogy, Part II. Chap. 7.

SECT. III.

Of the Credibility of Miracles, and the Force of Teftimony when employed to prove them.

T has, I hope, been fufficiently proved

in the laft fection, that the influence of improbabilities on historical evidence is by no means fuch as Mr. Hume afferts, and that there cannot be any fuch incredibility in miracles as renders them incapable of being proved by teftimony. We have seen that teftimony is continually overcoming greater improbabilities than those of its own falfehood, and that, like the evidence of fenfe, the capacity of doing this is implied in its very nature.-The objection therefore, grounded on the supposed abfurdity of trufting a feebler experience in oppofition to a stronger, or of believ

ing

ing teftimony, when it reports facts more improbable and extraordinary than falfehood and deception, is fallacious.

I must add what deferves particular notice, that what has been faid fhews us that Mr. Hume's argument would prove nothing even tho' one of the principles before oppofed were granted, namely, that we derive our regard to teftimony from experience in the fame manner with our affurance of the laws and course of nature.

It is not neceffary to the purpose of this Differtation that I fhould proceed any further. The improbability, however, attending miracles being a point that ftrongly affects the minds of many perfons, I cannot help entering a little further into the confideration of it, in order to fhew more fully how much it has been magnified, and with what propriety and effect teftimony may be employed to gain credit to the fupernatural facts of christianity. This fhall be my

bufinefs

bufinefs in the greatest part of what remains of this Differtation.

There are many events, not miraculous, which yet have a previous incredibility in them fimilar to that of miracles, and by no means inferior to it. The events I mean, are all fuch phænomena in nature as are quite new and strange to us. No one can doubt whether these are capable of full proof by testimony.—I could, for inftance, engage by my own. fingle teftimony to convince any reafonable perfon, that I have known one of the human species, neither deformed nor an ideot, and only thirty inches high, who arrived at his moft mature ftate at seven years of age, and weighed then eighteen pounds; but from that time gradually declined, and died at feventeen, weighing only twelve pounds, and with almost every mark of old age upon him. Now, according to Mr. Hume's argument, no teftimony can prove fuch a fact; for it might be said, that nothing being more