Though my defign required me only to fhew the poffibility of all the matters recorded by the Evangelifts, every judicious Reader must be fenfible, that the particulars which I have taken notice of, do much more. They afford the ftrongest presumption imaginable, of the truth of the Gofpels. For if this hiftory of Jefus be a forgery, it is plainly of a nature fo great, fo extenfive, and fo complicated, as to be the moft aftonishing forgery that ever exifted. The Son of God, the Saviour of the world, the Jewish Meffiah, are characters quite new. Nothing like them was ever feen or heard of in the world before. Wherefore the perfons who imagined them, could not be helped either by reading, or converfation, or obfervation. But they must have drawn them wholly from their own fancy. To form characters fo extraordinary, properly, was a task sure of infinite difficulty: efpecially as they are formed not in a way of defcription, but by a fimple narration of many facts, fentiments, and difcourfes. Yet difficult as it may feem, thus to reprefent fuch characters feparately, it must have been much more fo to unitc them all in one and the fame perfon: and that with fuch judgment, that not the leaft impropriety, inconfiftency, or inaccuracy, can be found, by the fevereft examination of the many fentiments, actions, and difcourfes, from which they refult. Characters fo various, fo complicated, and fo new, thus united in one person, seem beyond the reach of the most exalted human genius. What fhall we fay then, when we find thefe characters exhibited to the world, by a few illiterate Fishermen from Judea? Exhibited in a fimple narration of actions and discourfes? Nay, what fhall we fay, when we obferve that these Writers have introduced the perfon, whom they have advanced with these amazing characters, delivering to the world an abfolutely perfect fyftem of religion and morality, in the fermons, parables, and precepts, which they have put into his mouth? A fyftem far fuperior to what Plato or Ariftotle, Cicero or Seneca, or any of the Philofophers you please to name, have written? Shall we believe, that these things were the fruits of the Evangelifts' own genius? Or fhall we rather believe, that they fpeak the truth, when they tell the world, that in their Gospels, they do no more than narrate what they heard and faw the perfon perform, who is the fubject of their hiftory? I really think no one can be at a lofs to judge, which of thefe fuppofitions he ought to prefer.

More than all this, the interpofition of God, defcribed in the Gofpels, is evidently a tranfaction fo vaft and magnificent in its plan, fo wonderful in its execution, and fo important in its confequences, that the flender abilities of the illiterate Evangelifts, never could have fuggefted the idea of it to them. Far

lef

lefs could they by the natural fcope of their DVT ZE. 176 traced it out in all its moft diftant dependencias

the whole agree with amazing exactnels, to the

God, to the order of his Providence, and to the day of 1 povernment, as they actually have done in the Grid then fhould we fcruple to acknowlege, that in Leictr affair, thefe men have copied from realities, ever mouth, who being the prime agent therein, coILMA to mankind the counfels of the Deity, refpecting them a and fet before them a juft idea of this joyful event, wh out all peradventure, is the grandeft, the most extenine, and the most important in the Annals of the UNIVER:L"

Having taken up fo much room in the analysis of this £ pat of the Doctor's work, it is impoffible for us to enter upon the remaining parts. From what we have here exhibited, our Renders can be at no great lofs to form an idea of the manner la which thefe are executed. In the fecond Book, he confiders the collateral Evidences of the Gofpels, arifing from the ancient prophecies, both direct and typical: and from the teftimonies which have been given to the facts recorded in the Gospels, by heathen and Jewish Writers, and particularly by the ancient enemies of Chriflianity.

The third book contains the direct Proofs of the Gospel Hiftory, arifing from the early publication of the Gofpe's; the character of the Evangelifts; the authenticity of the books; the converfion of the world to Christianity; and certain monuments at this day fubfifting in the world; fuch as the state of the Jews, the corruptions of Chriftianity, and fuch like.

Upon the whole, we cannot help fpeaking of Dr. Macknight's performance as a valuable and ufeful one: the plan of it is natural and peripicuous; the language is generally nervous and proper; the manner is often warm and animated, above the common level of theological difputations; it contains a confiderable variety of ufeful knowlege, the purchase of extenfive reading; and applied in a proper and fenfible manner. The Doctor feldom appears to have funk below himself, except in the management of a few points; which, perhaps, he thought it not prudent, or himfelf not at liberty, to fpeak freely upon : in this refpect he is not a fingular inftance of the unfavourable influence of ecclefiaftical laws, and authorized articles of faith, upon the interetts of religious knowlege and free enquiry. In this refpect, we think ourselves in full as happy a fituation as our friends beyond the Tweed.

The

The Hiftory of the Ruffian Empire under Peter the Great. By M. de Voltaire. Vol. II. 8vo. 5s. Nourfe, &c.

Ni

O Writer, perhaps, was ever better qualified for execut→ ing an Hiftory of his own Times, than Mr. de Voltaire. Ingenious in an extraordinary degree, intimately acquainted with human nature and human life, familiar with Princes, and correfpondent with their Minifters, his writings come recommended by their peculiar fpirit and vivacity, by a natural and obvious display of thofe paffions, thofe private influences of life, which, however minute, lead frequently to great events, by a liberal investigation of the principles of Monarchs, and a knowlege of thofe circumftances of management and intrigue, which, to other Writers, must have been inacceffible.-Though born under an arbitrary Government, yet warm with the love of Liberty, and an advocate for the rights of human nature; no flave to party, either from principle or connections; judging of the narratives of cotemporary Hiftorians, with that unprejudiced freedom which is natural to an enlightened mind unbiaffed by dependence, and deciding upon events, rather from the probability of concurring circumftances, than from the mere ipfe dixit of any Relater; his hiftorical writings are a charter of the privileges of mankind, wherein truth is not injured by private attachments; is neither obfcured by a narrownefs of conception, nor betrayed by an indolent acquiefcence in the determinations of others.

Let Mr. Voltaire accept of this eulogium from the Authors of the Monthly Review, as an acknowlegement for the manifold. pleasure which his writings have afforded them.

His History of Ruffia has a claim to all thofe encomiums which we have paffed on his hiftorical writings in general; and the ignorance and prefumption of thofe Hiftorians who have pretended to give any account of the tranfactions of Peter the Great, have rendered his Memoirs of that glorious Prince, as neceffary as they are entertaining, liberal, and ingenious.

With respect to the contents of the volume before us, our Readers may remember to have had a pretty full view of them, in our account of the Original, in the Appendix to the Twentyeighth volume, of our Review: we fhall, therefore, dwell no longer on the prefent article than is requifite, by a proper extract, to give a just idea of the tranflation.

It is well known, that in the dangerous campaign on the river Pruth, the Czar Peter was reduced to the laft extremity; from which he was happily refcued, by the wife and timely addrefs of his amiable Emprefs, the celebrated Catherine.

Of

Of the character of that Emprefs, the following accounts, collected from different parts of the fecond volume of this Hiftory, must be acceptable to every Reader.

The young captive of Marienbourg, who had been named Catherine, was fuperior to her fex, as well as to her misfortunes. Her behaviour had rendered her fo agreeable, that the Czar would always have her near his perfon; fhe attended him in his travels, and in his moft toilfome expeditions, sharing his fatigues, and foothing his cares with the chearfulness of her difpofition and complaifant behaviour. She was quite a Stranger to all that faftuous pomp and ceremony which the rest of her sex have now converted into a real neceffity: (Ne connaiffant point cet apareil de luxe et de mollefle dont les femmes fe font fait ailleurs des befoins réels.) But what rendered her a more extraordinary favourite was, her neither being envied nor oppofed; nor was any other perfon facrificed to make room for her promotion. Often did the appease the Emperor's wrath, and added to his greatness, by infpiring him with more clemency; (& le rendit plus grand encor en le rendant plus clement.) In a word, fhe was become fo neceffary to him, that in 1707 he privately married her. He had already two daughters by her, and the following year a Princefs, who was afterwards married to the Duke of Holftein.

While the Turkish army was paffing the Danube, the Czar advanced through the frontiers of Poland, and paffed the Boryfthenes, in order to extricate Marthal Shermetof, whose troops being encamped on the banks of the Pruth, to the fouth of Jaffi, were in danger of being furrounded by a hundred thousand Turks, and an army of Tartars. The Czar, before he croffed the Boryfthenes, was apprehenfive of expofing Catherine to a danger which, every day, became more menacing; (chaque jour plus terrible) but Catherine looked upon this folicitude of her husband as an affront to her affection, and to her courage. She preffed the matter fo ftrongly, that Peter could not deprive himfelf of her company; the foldiers with joy beheld her on horfeback at the head of the army, for fhe rarely made ufe of a carriage. The Ruffian troops were obliged to march through defarts beyond the Boryfthenes, to cross the Bog, and to pass the river Tiras, now known by the name of the Niefter; after which they had ftill another defert to march through, before they arrived at Jaffi on the banks of the Pruth. But Catherine encouraged the army, diffufed an alacrity among the troops, fent refreshments and affiftance to the Officers, and extended her tenderness and care even to the common foldiers.'

The

The Hiftorian's reflections on Peter's publicly acknowleging his marriage with Catherine, are liberal, philofophical, and juft:

The applauses of subjects to abfolute Princes, are always fufpicious, but the acclamations with which this marriage was received at Petersburg were fincere, and feconded by all fenfible perfons throughout Europe, who with pleafure faw, and nearly at the fame time, on one fide, the heir of this vaft Monarchy, without any other glory than that of his birth, married to a Princefs; and, on the other, a Conqueror and Legislator, publicly admitting to his bed and his throne, an unknown captive, without any other recommendation than merit. This approbation has augmented with the fpread of that found philofophy which, within thefe forty years, has made fuch progreffes, (tant de progrès); a fublime and circumfpect philofophy, teaching that only external tokens of regard are to be paid to any kind of gran deur and power; and that real refpect is to be referved for wellexerted abilities, and public fervices.'

The most interefting part of this Hiftory, and at the fame time the most valuable, on account of the elucidation of doubtful facts, is the Czar's negociation with the Vizier Baltagi, in the campaign on the Pruth, where he was fo furrounded with Turks and Tartars, that it was impoffible for him to retreat:

All the relations and memoirs of the times unanimoufly agree, that the Czar, fluctuating in his mind, whether he should renew the engagement the next day with the enemy, and expofe his wife, his army, his empire, and the fruit of all his labours, to a danger which feemed almoft infuperable, retired to his tent oppreffed with anxiety, and labouring under convulfions, to which he was fometimes fubject, and which his prefent folicitude contributed to increafe. Thus refigning himself a prey to the moft torturing difquietude, and unwilling that his diftracted condition fhould be known, he gave orders that no body should be permitted to enter his tent. Then it was that he experienced the good effects of having permitted his wife to accompany him in this expedition. Catharine entered his tent, notwithstanding his prohibition.

A woman who had faced death during all thefe engagements, who had been no lefs expofed than any other perfon to the fire of the Turkish artillery, had a right to fpeak. She did, and perfuaded her husband to try what could be effected by negociation.

It has been an immemorial cuftom amengft Oriental nations, whenever a perfon afks audience of the Sovereign, or his representative, never to accoft them empty handed. Catharine go: together the few jewels fhe had brought with her in this military REV. Mar. 1764.

P

journey,