sistent. They leave the premises so broad and firm that they warrant more than the lame conclusions deduced from them. An example is seen in Strauss; "No one can be more inimical to the dogmatic and historical Christianity of the Church than he; yet he asserts firmly that Christ and Christianity is the highest moral ideal to which the world can ever attain." Only on the assumption that a miracle is literally impossible, or that the evidence of the Gospel records is untrustworthy, can disbelief in the Divinity of the Christian religion be justified. But who has shewn this? Cavils and speculations are rife enough, but who has proved the impossibility of miracles, or falsified the Christian records? You must remember that while one duke in the British senate writes on the side of scepticism, another is found to write on the truth of "those things which are most surely believed among us." Very seriously I repeat to you, your reason may be brought to rest on irrefragable evidence, producable in favour of Christianity, and with the aid of a living trust of your spirit in the Gospel provisions, your heart may be tranquilized. More even than by the explicit and commanding proof of reason, will the hallowing and assuring acquisitions of faith certify that the Gospel is from God, by its harmony with your moral nature, your spiritual yearnings, and your sense of sinfulness, feebleness, and dependence. I can see nothing but hope in the revolution which the study of Christian evidences in these days has undergone; and the same I would affirm in reference to the revolution in Biblical criticism. We have nothing to fear from the minutest and severest trial of the foundations of that faith which sustained our fathers in their earthly sorrows, secured for them triumph over death, and bore them into the presence of the Living and Eternal God. Ever remember that the condition of the knowledge of God's favour is not the possession of a mighty mind, but of an humble heart, and that in His earthly as well as in His heavenly kingdom, he that is least in his own estimation, is the greatest.

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15

It it too obvious we are nga de gs and that an irreligious and sceptical spirit De foundations of our beliefs in every owledge are passing through a testing I should rejoice to knew what able evidence of the truth of the me by indicating the mode of e Inspiration and authority of

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tion, I may say I believe in the importance of both, yet speaking from my personal convictions, I find that the experimental evidence places Christianity beyond the reach of accidents, whether of science or criticism, and therefore I attach to it the greater weight. You will have learnt from history and observation, that the moral and spiritual truths of the Gospel, the relations between the moral law of God, and the moral conscience of man, have won for Christianity, and are every day winning for it, an entrance into the heart, not merely of the really educated, but of the poor, the ignorant, and the afflicted. Yet from the importance I attach to internal evidence, I do not for a moment wish to imply, that man's imperfect reason and conscience constitute a sufficient power of judging what is, or what is not, worthy to be called inspired truth. If our reason were perfect, and our moral nature upright, then I might not be so loth to subscribe to the notion, that "our only idea of Inspiration is that which we form from our knowledge of the Bible itself." Hardly two minds will agree in declaring what the Bible actually is. Very different from this measured calculation of its value, this balancing process of induction, is that proof of its truth and excellence which accrues to a devout believer in its promises and provisions. Such an individual enjoys the fulfilment of the Divine words, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." He has that species of proof, the most convincing of all, which arises from the correspondence he feels between the blessings he needs, and those it is the office of the Saviour to supply; he has in the holy and elevating affections which Christ's religion communicates, a pledge of the super-human purity and beneficence of its author; he has the practical experience of the efficacy of His sacrifice in removing guilt from his conscience, and in diffusing an unearthly influence through his soul; he has, finally, strengthening convictions from day to day of the Redeemer's

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ALIQUIS. It it too obvious we are living in a destructive age, and that an irreligious and sceptical spirit reigns. All the foundations of our beliefs in every department of knowledge are passing through a testing and analytical process. I should rejoice to know what really constitutes reliable evidence of the truth of the Bible. Would you oblige me by indicating the mode of investigation of the Divine Inspiration and authority of the Christian religion?

NEMO. I can place before you the grounds of my own personal faith and rejoicing in the Gospel. In the first place, albeit, you may regard it as visionary, as it is certainly untransferable, the truth of the Christian religion is to me attested and certified by its influence on my heart and life. I must gratefully avow that by a penitent faith in the provisions of the Gospel, I have been for some time the subject of a conscious transformation of character. I could not throw away my belief in the Divinity and preciousness of the Gospel of Christ, if all the world beside were to reject its truth. And one of the signs of the day is to me hopeful, that is, the value set upon internal evidence. The tendency now is to believe the history of the Gospel from the intrinsic merits of its Revelations, and the evidences of its Divinity are not so much sought for in the storm, in the earthquake, or the fire, as in the still small voice within us. The internal evidence afforded to His doctrine by the life of Jesus has a great hold of me. Then the soul satisfying possession, which faith in the merits and mediation of Christ communicates, is strong enough on my mind to carry the weight of all objections against the Biblical miracles, and also the weight of "those things hard to be understood," which I find in some of the Scriptures. I rejoice in this growing appreciation of internal evidence, which is finding its way in the most diverse inquiries. Without going far into the consideration of the relative value of external and internal evidence as applied to Revela

tion, I may say I believe in the importance of both, yet speaking from my personal convictions, I find that the experimental evidence places Christianity beyond the reach of accidents, whether of science or criticism, and therefore I attach to it the greater weight. You will have learnt from history and observation, that the moral and spiritual truths of the Gospel, the relations between the moral law of God, and the moral conscience of man, have won for Christianity, and are every day winning for it, an entrance into the heart, not merely of the really educated, but of the poor, the ignorant, and the afflicted. Yet from the importance I attach to internal evidence, I do not for a moment wish to imply, that man's imperfect reason and conscience constitute a sufficient power of judging what is, or what is not, worthy to be called inspired truth. If our reason were perfect, and our moral nature upright, then I might not be so loth to subscribe to the notion, that "our only idea of Inspiration is that which we form from our knowledge of the Bible itself." Hardly two minds will agree in declaring what the Bible actually is. Very different from this measured calculation of its value, this balancing process of induction, is that proof of its truth and excellence which accrues to a devout believer in its promises and provisions. Such an individual enjoys the fulfilment of the Divine words, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." He has that species of proof, the most convincing of all, which arises from the correspondence he feels between the blessings he needs, and those it is the office of the Saviour to supply; he has in the holy and elevating affections which Christ's religion communicates, a pledge of the super-human purity and beneficence of its author; he has the practical experience of the efficacy of His sacrifice in removing guilt from his conscience, and in diffusing an unearthly influence through his soul; he has, finally, strengthening convictions from day to day of the Redeemer's

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