folemn cuftoms fhould be inftituted at the very time for the purpose of commemorating them; that a nation the least difpofed to the religion which all this apparatus was provided to establish, should receive the hiftory as genuine, and reluctantly adopt the religion thus enjoined them; and that notwithstanding their many deviations from it, owing to the seductive nature of the rites of other nations, they should, by their faith in this history, be brought back to the ftrict obfervance of it, and continue in it to this day, a period of about four thousand years.

Nothing but a due attention to this remarkable state of things is neceffary to enfure the firm belief of the whole to the moft fceptical of mankind. And in due time we cannot doubt but that this due attention will be given to this history, and to that of the propagation of Chriftianity in conjunction with it; and then all mankind will of course become worhippers of the God of Abraham, of Ifaac, of Jacob, and of Jefus Chrift; and this

faith cannot but be attended with a great improvement in the moral conduct of men, such as will enfure to them the trueft enjoyment of this life, and immortal happiness in the life to come.

DISCOURSE

DISCOURSE VI.

General Obfervations on the Evidence of the divine Miffion of Mofes.

Afk now of the days that are paft, which were before thee, fince the day that God created man upon the earth; and ask from the one fide of heaven to the other, whether there have been any fuch thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it.

HAVING

DEUT. iv. 32.

AVING confidered pretty largely the miracles which accompanied the deliverance of the Ifraelites from their bondage in Egypt, and their fettlement in the land of Canaan, I fhall now, in order to diversify thefe difcourfes, make fome obfervations of a more general nature, relating to the evidences of both the Jewish and the Christian revelations, and alfo fome particulars refpecting Mofes himself.

In

In the first place I would obferve that the proper ground of our faith in the two revelations, by Mofes and by Chrift, is the evidence of the miraculous events which were exhibited on two peculiarly great occafions, and that much of the credibility of many of the fubfequent miracles, as those which occur in the history of the prophets of the Old Testament, and of the Apostles in the New, is derived from them. In any new circumftances of things, they are the first extraordinary events that require a peculiarly strong evidence, a degree of evidence proportioned to their extraordinary nature, that is, their want of analogy to preceding events; and fuch will be found

to have accompanied the miracles of Mofes and of Chrift, efpecially that of his refurrection. But these facts being once admitted, a new analogy of facts is established, in confequence of which events fimilar to them, as belonging to the fame fyftem, will naturally be admitted on lefs circumftantial evidence. If, for example, we had ourfelves feen any perfon do what was deemed extraordinary, or more than could

have been expected of perfons in his situation, we fhould examine the facts with the greateft-rigour. But after being fatisfied with refpect to their evidence, we fhould not require fo much for a repetition of the fame things, as the performance of others fimilar to them, either by himself, or by perfons connected with him.

If therefore any perfon be fatisfied that the miracles exhibited at the departure of the Ifraelites from Egypt, at Mount Sinai, and at their fettlement in the land of Canaan, be credible, he will have little difficulty in admitting the truth of other miracles, which occur in the course of the fame history, though, separately taken, the evidence of them fhould appear to be less fatisfactory. The fame will be the case with refpect to the miracles afcribed to Peter and Paul, after admitting those of Chrift; because they would be fuch as would be naturally expected to follow them.

Nay, the eafy admission of such miracles on flight evidence is a kind of proof that the evidence of the preceding miracles had

been