by a careful comparison of many scattered hints, about what time would he have passed through Troas? Most probably, about the month of May. How natural for him to leave his cloak behind, when the summer months were now begun, and especially if he purposed to return by the same route, so as to winter in Thrace or Macedonia! Yet, as Mr. Biley has justly observed, there is no allusion to the season in the first letter to Timothy; no allusion to the proposed return to Asia after the winter, in that to Titus; no allusion to the winter at Nicopolis, or to the second interview with Timothy, in the present letter. The harmony is as completely hidden below the surface as it could possibly be !'" A similar work has been published by the Rev. J. J. Blunt, B.D. Margaret Professor of Divinity, Cambridge, entitled, "Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings both of the Old and New Testament, an Argument of their Veracity." We take an example from this work : "Towards the end of the famine caused by this drought, Elijah is commanded by God to get him to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there;' where a widow woman was to sustain him. He goes: finds the woman gathering sticks near the gate of the city; and asks her to fetch him a little water and a morsel of bread. She replies, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.'+ in "This widow-woman, then, it seems, dwelt at Zarephath, or Sarepta, which belongeth to Zidon. Now, from a passage in the book of Joshua, we learn that the district of Zidon, in the division of the land of Canaan, fell to the lot of Asher. Let us, then, turn to the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy, where Moses blesses the tribes, and see the character he gives of this part of the country: Of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil;'§ indicating the future fertility of that region, and the nature of its principal crop. It is likely, therefore, that at the end of a dearth of three years and a half, oil should be found there, if anywhere. Yet this symptom of truth occurs once more as an ingredient in a miraculous history-for the oil was made not to fail till the rain came. The incident itself is a very minute one; and minute as it is, only discovered to be a coincidence by the juxtaposition of several texts from several books of Scripture. It would require a very circumspect forger of the * 1 Kings xvii. 9. +1 Kings xvii. 12. § Deut. xxxiii. 24. story to introduce the mention of the oil; and when he had introduced it, not to be tempted to betray himself by throwing out some slight hint why he had done so.' The same coincidences are observable in the Gospel histories. "In every narrative," observes Paley, "we perceive simplicity and undesignedness,—the air and the language of reality. When we compare the different narratives together, we find them so varying as to repel all suspicion of confederacy; so agreeing under this variety, as to show that the accounts had one real transaction for their common foundation; often attributing different actions and discourses to the Person whose history, or rather memoirs of whose history, they profess to relate; yet actions and discourses so similar as very much to bespeak the same character, which is a coincidence that, in such writers as they were, could only be the consequence of their writing from fact, and not from imagination."-Evidences of Christianity. I know of no better mode of training the reasoning faculties than the perusal of works like these. They require not extensive information nor profound thinking. The mode of reasoning is familiar to the apprehension of a child. It is reasoning made easy. At the same time, the facts investigated are very interesting, and the lessons acquired are of the utmost importance. The circumstances of each case, too, have so much similarity with the transactions of ordinary life, as to give an aptitude for discussing the affairs of daily occurrence. The reader will observe that all this reasoning is founded on the second rule of circumstantial evidence; that is, from the existence of the sign we prove the existence of the condition; or, as it has been otherwise expressed, the existence of the consequent proves the existence of the antecedent. Upon the supposition that these writings are forgeries, the circumstances mentioned could not have occurred. We know this from our own common sense, and from our knowledge of human nature and of human affairs. Upon the supposition that these writings are genuine, these circumstances would naturally occur; and hence, from the existence of the sign, we prove the existence of the condition. 5. Circumstantial evidence is employed too with reference to the affairs of ordinary life. Bankers, merchants, and traders judge by this kind of evidence of the solvency and responsibility of the parties with whom they deal. The actual amount of a man's property is probably known only to himself. His standing on the exchange or in the market will depend upon his personal character, his business habits, his conformity to established rules, and the extent to which he practises those moral virtues which are known to be the surest guide to wealth. We are told that "it is of great importance to a banker to have an ample knowledge of the means and transactions of his customers. The customer, when he opens his account, will give him some information on this subject. The banker will afterwards get information from his own books. The amount of transactions that his customer passes through his current account, will show the extent of his business. The amount of his daily balance will show if he has much ready cash. The extent and character of the bills he offers for discount, will show if he trust large amounts to individual houses, and if these are respectable. On the other hand, the bills his customer may accept to other parties, and his payments, will show the class of people with whom he deals, or who are in the habit of giving him credit."* Another banker observes that, "Next in importance to a study of his accounts, the habits and character of a client are deserving of your attentive consideration. If a man's style of living, for example, becomes extravagant, and he gives himself over to excess, you cannot too promptly apply the curb, however regular the transactions upon his account may seem."+ Now, this is judging from circumstantial evidence. By the same kind of evidence we are guided in our domestic adjudications. In this mode of reasoning we judge of the honesty of our servants, of the truthfulness of our children, and of many other transactions connected with family discipline. By this mode too we often judge of the sincerity of our friends, and of the character of public men. 6. The Scriptures furnish us with a good many instances of both right and wrong judgments founded on circum stantial evidence. * Gilbart's Practical Treatise on Banking. The "Internal Management of a Country Bank." By Thomas Bullion. Saul put to the sword the priests of the Lord upon circumstantial evidence. The high priest had given bread to David's troop, had supplied him with a sword, and had inquired of God for him. He made a most logical defence: -He had been in the habit of inquiring of God for him. David was the king's son-in-law; he was a distinguished man in the nation; and the high priest did not know that a rupture had taken place between him and Saul. Samuel convicted Saul of disobedience and falsehood by circumstantial evidence. Saul said: "I have performed the commandment of the Lord." Samuel said: "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" Peter was accused upon circumstantial evidence. He was a Galilean; he spoke a provincial dialect; and he had been seen in the garden— all these circumstances seemed to warrant a suspicion that he also " was one of this man's disciples." St. Paul was accused upon circumstantial evidence. The charge was, that he had defiled the temple: the proof was, that he had been seen walking the streets of Jerusalem in company with Trophimus, an Ephesian. The tribes beyond Jordan were accused of idolatry, upon circumstantial evidence. They had built an altar. It was shown that this altar was not intended for sacrifice. 7. You will observe that arguments are often expressed in a conditional form when they have no reference to the relation of conditional cause and effect. In these cases, the relation is usually denoted by the words antecedent and consequent. The antecedent denotes what goes before, and the consequent denotes what follows after. The consequent is the result of the antecedent, or is a natural inference from the antecedent. Thus-If the sun be fixed, the earth must move. If there be no fire, there will be no smoke. If it be our duty to love our neighbours as ourselves, very few people perform their duty. "If we say, We have no sin, we deceive ourselves." Dr. Watts observes, that "the truth of these propositions depends not at all on the truth or falsehood of their two parts, but on the truth of the connexion of them; for each part of them may be false, and yet the whole proposition true, as—“ If there be no Providence, there will be no future punishment." In many cases, indeed, we do not intend to denote any kind of condition or contingency, but adopt this form of reasoning merely because it is a more forcible way of stating the argument. Arguments from analogy, and à fortiori, as will be explained hereafter, are almost always expressed in this form, as well as those advanced in the way of objections." If the Lord be with us, why is all this evil befallen us?"-Judg. vi. 13.—“ If Baal be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.”Judg. vi. 31. SECTION VII. THE RELATION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT-FINAL CAUSES. WITH regard to intelligent beings, actions are the effects of motives or feelings. Hence the motive or design of an action is called its final cause. With regard to final causes and effects, the mode of reasoning is from the existence of the cause to infer the existence of the effect, or from the existence of the effect to infer the existence of the Moral causes refer to habits, events, and institutions. Final causes refer generally to individual acts. 1. The following are examples : cause. "And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth."-Exod. ix. 16. "Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same by his infinite goodness and mercy."-Prayer-Book. "The gentleman travels for pleasure. The lady rides for exercise. The merchant toils for wealth. The soldier fights for glory." "Smith has shown that labour is the real source of wealth: that the wish to augment our fortune and to rise in the world— |