fection of the Creator-so, by His free and unbounded grace and mercy, the righteousness which we could not achieve, had been accomplished by Him for us; and thus, that "mercy and truth had met together; righteousness and peace had kissed each other."

There could be no stronger external evidence of a supernatural agency than in these instances.

But, if scriptural prophecies and their fulfilment, furnish external proof of supernatural, that is divine agency; so do they also comprise the strongest internal evidence of the general truth of divine revelation.

Among the internal testimonies to scripture truth, the following consideration may have great weight: namely, that the whole series of prophecies, and the records of their accomplishment, have evidently proceeded in no order; nor upon any plan; nor to carry out any scheme; which can possibly be assigned to individual contrivance. In the Christian religion we contemplate a perfect unity; a most beautiful harmony as a whole: that is, in its gradual development from

*

* The term "development " has become a phrase of questionable significance, in consequence of its modern application to Papal superstitions. It has been adopted by those, who, not satisfied with a fundamental unity of faith, yearn for catholicity in collateral doctrines. Hence has arisen a disposition to recognise many of those extravagant excrescences, which were engrafted on the simplicity of the primitive and Apostolic Church, by the ambition, avarice, and superstitious fancies of the early patriarchal and Papal hierarchies. This theory of "development" seems to proceed on the assumption, that the Catholic Church, represented by its pontifical chiefs, and by the decrees of oecumenical councils, cannot have erred in its exposition of doctrinal mysteries: that "the Church," so represented, is the only true expounder of faith and doctrine: and that even the evangelical records themselves are of authority, more because they have been

the beginning of the world to its perfect accomplishment under the gospel.

sanctioned and adopted by the Church, than as the divinely-inspired rule, which gives direction to the Church itself. Thus, the theory in question inverts the proper order of things, by substituting the effect for the cause: by making the Church the authority for Christian faith and doctrine, instead of recognising Holy Scripture as the sole authority from which the Church herself should seek instruction.

'On what ground, (asks Mr. Newman in his development of Christian doctrine.) On what ground do we receive the canon of the New Testament, as it comes to us, but on the authority of the church of the fourth and fifth centuries?' This question may perhaps be satisfactorily answered by another. On what ground did the Church of the fourth and fifth centnries rest their authority, if not on the credentials comprised in the canon of the New Testament! The Church proceeds from, and depends upon the gospel, the gospel cannot proceed from or depend upon the Church. It is God's message-not the message of Man.

Revelation has doubtless been vouchsafed to mankind by a series of gradual development. But that development is embodied solely in the canon of Holy Scripture, comprising the old as well as the new testaments. All points of faith, and all essential doctrines, are comprised therein. Beyond these records there is no divine authority for further "development." The scheme of man's salvation is accomplished in Christ; the doctrines of that scheme are completely expounded by his apostles.

There were events in the scheme of man's redemption, which remained to be fulfilled at a time more or less remote from the apostolic period. But the articles of faith and doctrine of that period were not mere germs to be matured and amplified in after times by a vicarious, but plenary, authority vested in the Church, or its representative in the priesthood.

The instructions which St. Paul gave to Timothy were, that he should hold fast the form of sound words which he had heard of him, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Timothy was to " keep that good thing which was committed unto him by the Holy Ghost, which dwelt in the Apostles." (2 Tim. i. 13.)

Again, in his epistle to the Corinthians the apostle declares, that "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." We read of no infallible authority vested in the church, to "build on this foundation," even "gold, silver, and precious stones;" much less, "wood, hay, stubble." Such presumptuous " developments must abide a searching and severe test "the fire shall declare every man's work, of what sort it is." The spirit of the gospel-says the

But we see in it none of that limited regularity of induction; none of those closely connected steps of progression, constructed within a narrow space; nothing in short, of that kind of individuality, which always marks the plan and scheme of any one human originator.

In this respect, we may reverentially compare revelation to the legal constitution of our own country. The laws of Lycurgus, of Numa, of Draco, of Solon, of Justinian, of Napoleon, were codes bearing the individual impress of those, by whose authority they were promulgated.

The laws of England are the result of a progressive development. They are not the invention of any one jurist, of any single authority. Their constituent elements are diffused throughout the lapse of centuries; and, though their effects are harmony, order, and justice, they bear no marks of individuality in their origin and design.

The beneficial result from the concurrence of elements so widely diffused, ought to be gratefully considered as internal evidence of the gracious providence of God over the welfare of this nation.

In like manner, the prophetic elements of divine revelation, are, as it were, of spontaneous growth;

historian) evaporated in the pageantry of the church." (Decline and Fall, 8vo. Ed. p. 273.)

6

Mr. Newman would have said, the pageantry of the Church is a development of the spirit of the gospel.'

Mr. Gibbon had been a Papist; Mr. Newman unhappily is one.

gradual and slow in their progress to maturity, and requiring ages for their accomplishment. It is thus that they furnish in themselves the most unquestionable evidence, that they were not planned by any single human design. They possess no such mark of individuality, as the inventions of any one human contriver always exhibit. The attestation of prophecy, and its fulfilment, to the Christian revelation, is diffused throughout the vast space of the world's history. Its rays must be collected from all periods of time, and be traced to that one central object, to which they all incline, and from which, therefore, they have all radiated. That centre is Christ.

Can a system so diffused, yet so concentrated ; so interrupted in its action, yet so continued in its progress; so various in its elements, yet so uniform in its constitution; so diversified in its phases, yet so homogeneous in its unity;-can this be a system, which any one human being contrived and designed? Can it have been the result of a progressive succession of founders like the legal constitution of our own country? Revealed religion is a system. It is a system exhibiting all the essentials of unity, harmony, regularity, and determinate design. Man could not have conceived or effected it. Almighty God alone could have designed it, and He alone has accomplished it. How powerful is this internal evidence of the truth of divine revelation!

The patriarchal prophecies exhibit a striking

proof of divine inspiration, whether they relate to events connected with the tribes of Israel only; or whether they comprehend the wider scope of the future gospel dispensation.

God's gracious purpose of calling the heathen world to the knowledge of true religion, through Christ, is indicated, in a most remarkable manner, by various types and events in the patriarchal history. This merciful design seems to have constituted that glorious birthright, which was vested in the tribe of Joseph.

It has been our endeavour to illustrate these subjects; and above all to shew, that the essential principle of the Christian revelation, namely, "righteousness imputed, through Christ, to faith which worketh obedience by love," was fully exhibited in Abraham; as it was also proclaimed by St. Paul; and as it has been finally revived at the Reformation.

This fundamental principle, however it may have been lost sight of at various periods, in the mists of human corruption, never totally disappeared, but has at all times constituted the "unity of God's will revealed to mankind.

These pages are addressed to those, who, being engaged, like the writer, in secular occupations or amusements, may never have considered very deeply the prophetic evidences of their faith; or who may never have examined, in a spirit of real interest and inquiry, the pages of holy writ.