jealous of the great principles of liberty asserted in that treatise, silenced Seneca, Quintillian, Pliny, Tacitus. Be it so. For thirteen or fourteen centuries I see nothing of it, except in the very few quotations found in Lactantius, St. Augustine, and Macrobius. In the year 1822, the work is discovered, with a Commentary of St. Austin on the Psalms, written over it crosswise, probably in the sixth century, as was frequently practised at that time, to avoid the expense of parchment. M. Mai publishes it-a French scholar, of the first reputation, eagerly makes a translation, and tells us, "it is sufficient to cast an eye on the simple and learned account which M. Mai gives of his labors, to be convinced of an authenticity materially, I will almost say, legally demonstrated." "But," adds the critic, "for men of taste, this authenticity will shine forth yet more in the great characters of patriotic elevation, of genius, and of eloquence, which mark the work. This kind of moral proof is more agreeable to the reader than dissertations on the orthography of an old work, and on the probable dimensions of a letter." "The immortal character," he concludes, "of the writer of genius and the Roman Consul, which shines in every page, and in the least traits of the work, gives it a sublime authenticity."

On such narrow grounds of external testimony do men proceed. Might I not, then, boldly appeal to the sacred sublimity, the divine wisdom, the unequalled discoveries of grace, the dignity and yet naturalness of style, the clearness and force of the arguments, the circumstantial character of the narrative, the unnumbered incidental agreements, the whole cast and impress of truth which characterizes, as we shall see hereafter, the New Testament; and might I not leave it to the practical common sense of every pious mind, to determine whether, even if the external testimony to its authenticity were ever so slight, we might not be permitted to repose securely on the inward character of genuineness, the holy stamp and seal of truth, the native impress of veracity and trust-worthiness, which commend

(h) M. Villemain.

our sacred books, not to the taste and judgment of a critic merely, but to the enlightened understanding, the best informed feelings, the conscientious admiration of every candid and serious reader.

But we insist not on this at present. We are now concerned with the argument arising from the various and accumulated external testimony. We shall hereafter unite both kinds of evidences-historical proofs of authenticity beyond any former example, and inward evidences from the character and style of the writings themselves—each so strong, as not to require the other; and yet each in the highest and most complete form ever exhibited to mankind: and we shall maintain, that if men admit ancient works every day on the slightest outward proof, they are morally obliged to allow the authenticity of the sacred writings, sustained by every outward and every inward species of evidence.

But, we return to the historical point before us, and ask, whether, it is not for the objector to establish a contrary case, before he can claim the attention of any reasonable person. We ask whether the burden of proof does not lie upon him. If he take it into his head to deny the authentic origin of the scriptures, let him marshal his distinct witnesses to a falsification; let him show clearly WHEN and WHERE and by WHOм and WHY these writings were forged, and WHAT are the marks which they exhibit of fiction and imposture. A mere doubt thrown out in the nineteenth century is rather too late.

It is thus men uniformly act in all their most important concerns; the burden of proof lies on him who would disturb the beneficial possession of others. The voice of our ordinary laws warrants such a conduct. It goes, indeed, still further. If a legal deed be of only thirty years' standing, and has conveyed an estate, and the estate has been enjoyed by the party to whom the conveyance transmitted it, such a deed is said, in the language of the profession, to prove itself; that is, you are not required to call any attesting witness to prove the handwriting of the party who executed it, nor any one to prove that of the attesting wit

nesses; but the deed proves itself, because the concomitant facts are held to show sufficiently its authenticity.

Now, how much more forcibly may the Christian church employ such an argument in the case of the deeds of its spiritual inheritance, the books of the New Testament-an inheritance which has been enjoyed from age to age, for seventeen or eighteen hundred years-an inheritance, the records of which may be traced distinctly upwards from the present to the apostolic times, an inheritance, where no one mark of a fictitious title has ever been shown, where the circumstances under which it was conveyed make a falsification morally impossible; and in the very language and style of which conveyance, all the shining characters. of truth are apparent-how much more, I say, may the Christian church oppose to the unbeliever the uninterrupted enjoyment of its blessings for so many ages, as a bar to his cavils, even without entering into the detail of those testimonies to which we have been referring in this discourse-how much more may he hold that the deed proves itself, and that the objector has no claim in reason to be heard, after Christianity has been conveying down from father to son for eighteen centuries, the assurance of pardon and reconciliation, the promises of life and hope, the sacraments and seals of salvation, the consolations of peace and joy, the rules of holiness and virtue, the pledges of future glory and immortality-blessings, not less real, and incomparably more important than those temporal benefits for which men so eagerly contend. We shrink not, indeed, as we have shown in this, and shall show in our next lecture from the most minute examination of our titles to these glorious hopes; but we contend that we have been too long in the possession of the beneficial enjoyment of our faith, to allow ourselves to be disturbed by unsupported assertions and general surmises, to which men would never for a moment listen in the most trifling human concern.

It is quite obvious, however, for I must draw towards a CONCLUSION, that the more practically any student is affected with the general importance of religion, the more he will enter into this and every other argument in the great

subject of the evidences of Christianity. A right state of heart is the key to all religious inquiries. It enables us easily to estimate the relative importance of different kinds of testimony. And after such general considerations as I have been offering on the authenticity of the New Testament, it leads us to repose with unshaken confidence on that external testimony, which even if it were less complete than it is, would however be amply compensated for by the conviction of the inward excellency and holy effects of the revelation which the Christian records convey. These points, however, will be considered hereafter-a reflection or two only may be here made on the argument so far as we have gone.

I. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Traces of his glory are to be discerned every where. Irradiations of wisdom and condescension and goodness shine out, not only in the highest mysteries of his gospel, but in the lowest external testimonies to the authenticity of the books in which they are unfolded. Every step of the evidences of Christianity has its appropriate light to the humble student. All is agreeable to the purest dictates of the reason with which God has endowed us. The star which conducted the eastern sages to the infant Saviour, did not shine with a brighter or more steady ray, than the historical proof of the genuineness of the divine books. It guides with unerring safety. The ordinary providence of God, in making the series of testimonies to his revelation rest on the same grounds as men are governed by in all like cases, is as full of wisdom, as those extraordinary displays of the same providence, or those more sacred and permanent operations of grace, which are other branches of the general proof which we shall hereafter have to consider. The very circumstance of the admission of the authentic origin of our books by the bitterest adversaries of the early centuries, when a denial of it by them might have embarrassed the Christian advocate in the present day, marks the finger of God. All the calumnies of the adversaries of Christianity which they advanced, have long been refuted and forgotten-the only one that could have been employed against us by the modern unbeliever,

was never thought of. Every thing holds together. The lowest chain of evidence is connected with the highest; the simplest deduction of an historical fact with the most lofty and surprising doctrines of redemption.

II. Enter, then, more deeply and practically into the nature of those blessings which are in so many various ways. confirmed to us. This is the end in view. We wish to quicken your sense of the importance of Christianity. Let the authenticity of the record be only the counterpart of the truth of your piety. Let the authentic books be received with an authentic faith, if I may so speak. Let the genuine writings of the apostles be welcomed with a genuine penitence and love. Let there be nothing fictitious in your personal religion, nothing spurious in your life, nothing false or fabricated in your humility or joy. Let the seal and security of the books of revelation correspond with the seal and security of your own interest in its blessings. Let not the authentic word of God be authentic only, to condemn your worldliness of mind, your pride, your selfishness, your negligence, your practical unbelief.

Once acquainted practically with the healing efficacy of the gospel, once taught by the secret but effectual aid of the Holy Ghost, once united to our Saviour by faith, we shall use the external evidence in the manner which we ought, not to rely on it as an end, not to be satisfied with it as truth intellectually received, but to rise by it, as by a stepping-stone, to the course on which we are to run the heavenly race; to reach forth by it daily after higher measures of faith and holiness, to employ it devoutly as a cause of constant gratitude to God, to lay it up as a provision against the moments of temptation, as an aid in the instruction of children and servants, as furniture for conversation with the well-disposed inquirer, as means for giving an answer to every one that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. We shall thus feel the ground on which we stand. We shall be fortified against the impressions of We shall know how to instruct a candid, or silence a bitter, adversary. We shall put upon each portion of the

scorn.