sound sense) reasonable caution used by Christian writers, not to put the issue of the truth wholly upon miracles, without this addition, when not done in contradiction to the revelations already given in the Holy Scriptures.

And they do it upon this consideration, though it is impossible to suppose that God would work a real miracle, in contradiction to what he has already revealed; yet men may be imposed upon by false and seeming miracles, and pretended revelations, (as there are many examples, especially in the church of Rome,) and so may be shaken in the faith, if they keep not the holy Scriptures as their rule.

We are told, 2 Thess. xi. 9, of him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. And Rev. xiii. 14, xvi. 14, and xix. 20, of the devil and false prophets, working miracles. But the word, in all these places, is only semeia, signs; that is, as it is rendered Matt. xxv. 24; which though sometimes it may be used to signify real miracles, yet not always, nor in these places. For, though every miracle be a sign and a wonder, yet every sign or wonder is not a miracle.

IX. Here it may be proper to consider a common topic of the deists, who, when they are not able to stand out against the evidence of fact, that such and such miracles have been done, then turn about and deny such things to be miracles; at least, that we can never be sure whether any wonderful thing that is shown to us be a true or a false miracle.

And the great argument they go upon is this; that a miracle being that which exceeds the power of nature, we cannot know what exceeds it, unless we know the utmost extent of the power of nature; and no man pretends to know that; therefore, that no man can certainly know whether any event be miraculous. And, consequently, he may be cheated in his judgment between true and false miracles.

To which I answer, that men may be so cheated, and there are many examples of it.

But that, though we may not always know when we are cheated, yet we can certainly tell, in many cases, when we are not cheated.

For

For though we do not know the utmost extent of the power of nature, perhaps, in any one thing; yet it does not follow, that we know not the nature of any thing, in some measure; and that certainly too. example; though I do not know the utmost extent of the power of fire, yet I certainly know, that it is the nature of fire to burn; and that, when proper fuel is administered to it, it is contrary to the nature of fire not to consume it. Therefore, if I see three men taken off. the street, in their common wearing apparel, and without any preparation cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and that the flame was so fierce, that it burnt up those men that threw them in; and yet, thaf those who were thrown in, should walk up and down in the bottom of the furnace, and I should see a fourth person. with them of glorious appearance, like the Son of God; and that these men should come up again out of the furnace, without any harm, or so much as the smell of fire upon themselves, or their clothes, I could not be deceived in thinking, that there was a stop put to the nature of fire, as to these men; and that it had its effect upon the men whom it burnt at the same time.

..Again, though I cannot tell how wonderful and sudden an increase of corn might be produced by the concurrence of many causes, as a warm climate, the fertility of the soil, &c.; yet this I can certainly know, that there is not that natural force in the breath of two or three words spoken, to multiply one small loaf of bread so fast, in the breaking of it, as truly and really, not only in appearance and show to the eye, but to fill the bellies of several thousand hungry persons; and that the fragments should be much more than the bread was at first. So neither in a word spoken, to raise the dead, cure diseases, &c.

.

Therefore, though we know not the utmost extent of the power of nature; yet we can certainly know what is contrary to the nature of several such things as we do know.

And therefore, though we may be cheated and im- ' posed upon in many seeming miracles and wonders, yet there are some things wherein we may be certain.

But further, the deists acknowledge a God, of an almighty power, who made all things; yet they would put it out of his power to make any revelation of his will to mankind. For if we cannot be certain of any`miracle, how should we know when God sent any thing extraordinary to us?

Nay, how should we know the ordinary power of nature, if we know not what exceeded it? If we know not what is natural, how do we know there is such a thing as nature? That all is not supernatural, all miracles, and so disputable, till we come to downright skepticism, and doubt the certainty of outward senses, whether we see, hear, or feel; or all be not a miraculous illusion!

Which, because I know the deists are not inclined to do, therefore I will return to pursue my argument upon the conviction of our outward senses, desiring only this, that they would allow the senses of other men to be as certain as their own. Which they cannot refuse; since, without this, they can have no certainty of their

own.

X. Therefore, from what has been said, the cause is summed up shortly in this, that though we cannot see what was done before our time, yet by the marks which I have laid down concerning the certainty of matters of fact done before our time, we may be as much assured of the truth of them, as if we saw them with our eyes; because whatever matter of fact has all the four marks before mentioned, could never have been, invented and received, but upon the conviction of the outward senses of all those who did receive it, as before is demonstrated. And therefore the topic which I have chosen

does stand upon the conviction even of men's outward senses. And since you have confined me to one topic, I have not insisted upon the other, which I have only named.

XI. And it now lies upon the deists, if they would appear as men of reason, to show some matter of fact of former ages, which they allow to be true, that has greater evidence of its truth, than the matters of fact of. Moses and of Christ; otherwise they cannot, with any show of reason, reject the one, and yet admit of the

other.

But I have given them greater latitude than this; for I have shown such marks of the truth of the matters of fact of Moses and of Christ, as no other matters of fact of those times, however true, have, but these only; and I put it upon them to show any forgery that has all these

marks.

This is a short issue. Keep them close to this. This determines the cause all at once.

Let them produce their Apollonius Tyanæus, whose life was put into English by the execrable Charles Blount, and compared with all the wit and malice he was master of, to the life and miracles of our blessed Saviour. Let them take aid from all the legends of the church of Rome, those pious cheats, the sorest disgraces in Christianity; and which have bid the fairest of any one contrivance to overturn the certainty of the miracles of Christ, and his apostles, and the whole truth of the Gospel, by putting them all upon the same foot; at least, they are so understood by the generality

The hand of that scorner, which durst write such outrageous blasphemy against his Maker, the divine vengeance has made his own executioner. This I would not have mentioned. (because the like judgment has befallen others,) but that the Theistical Club have set this up as a principle; and printed a vindication of this same Blount for murdering himself, by way of justification of self-murder. Which some of them have since, as well as formerly, horribly practised upon themselves. Therefore this is no common judgment to. which they are delivered, but a visible mark set upon them, to show. how far God has forsaken them; and as a caution to all Christians, to beware of them, and not to come near the tents of these wicked men, lest they perish in their destruction.

of their devotees, though disowned and laughed at by the learned, and men of sense among them.

Let them pick and choose the most probable of all the fables of the heathen deities, and see if they can find, in any of these, the four marks before mentioned. Otherwise, let them submit to the irrefragable certainty of the Christian religion.

XII. But if, notwithstanding all that is said, the deists will still contend, that all this is but priestcraft, the invention of priests, for their own profit, &c., then they will give us an idea of priests, far different from what they intend; for then, we must look upon these priests, not only as the cunningest and wisest of mankind, but we shall be tempted to adore them as deities, who have such power, as to impose, at their pleasure, upon the senses of mankind; to make them believe, that they had practised such public institutions, enact ed them by laws, taught them to their children, &c.,

when they had never done any of these thdren, &c.,

or even

so much as heard of them before; and then, upon the credit of their believing that they had done such things as they never did, to make them further believe, upon the same foundation, whatever they pleased to impose upon them, as to former ages; I say, such a power as this, must exceed all that is human; and consequently, make us rank these priests far above the condition of mortals..

2. Nay, this would make them, outdo all that has ever been related of the infernal powers; for though their legerdemain had extended to deceive some unwary beholders, and. their power of working some seeming miracles has been great, yet it never reached, or ever was supposed to reach so far, as to deceive the senses of all mankind in matters of such public and notorious nature as those of which we now speak; .to make them believe, that they had enacted laws for such •public observances, continually practised them, taught them to their children, and had been instructed in them