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by this very circumstance to be conformable to experience. No event can be contrary to the experience of one individual or any number of individuals, simply because they may never have witnessed any such event; for if this were the case, every thing new and strange, that has not come within the range of our own observation or experience, must be rejected as false. On this ground, we must reject all discoveries of new and untried powers of nature, till we can bring them to the test of our own limited experience. The development of new metals by the galvanic battery, the new and strange discoveries of geological science, the petrified and imbedded remains of an ancient and peculiar order of things, must all be rejected, because they are not conformable to our experience.* True, we ought not to credit such discoveries till they are fully attested by competent witnesses; but this is all we claim for miracles. The only question to be settled in regard to them is, have they been established by adequate testimony?

Experience has established certain laws of conduct that are as uniform and constant in their operation as the laws of the physical world. "That a man," says our authority upon this subject, "will consult his own preservation, and serve his own interests; that he will prefer pleasure to pain, and gain to loss; that he will not commit a crime to endanger his person or property without a motive, and conversely, if he hath done such an act that he had a motive for doing it, are principles of action and conduct so clear, that they may properly be regarded as axioms in the theory of evidence." Hence, it may be regarded as a fact, attested by all experience, that honest and competent witnesses will speak the truth. It is conformable to all our experience of the human family, that a number of sensible and worthy men, who had full opportunities of ascertaining a fact, and no conceivable motive to speak any thing but the truth, should by their testimony establish the reality of such a fact. Above all, it is inconsistent with our experience upon this subject, that eight virtuous men should suffer and die for what they know to be a falschood. In one word, it is more consistent with our experience, to believe that Christianity is true, than to believe that it is false.

*Mr. Starkie urges this argument with much force in a note upon this subject. Vol. I, p. 489. † Vol. I, p. 499.

VOL. V.NO. XX.

73

The conditions under which miraculous events take place, affect their credibility. Hence, while sufficient evidence will prove the reality of a miracle in any circumstances, it is more natural and easy for us to credit miraculous interposition in a case wherein it would be reasonable to expect it, and where such interposition is obviously designed to subserve some great and worthy purpose. This condition is fulfilled in the case of the Christian miracles, and especially in that of the resurrection of Christ. Let us describe the circumstances in which this great event occurred. The world by wisdom knew not God, and mankind were departing farther and farther from truth and purity. Darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people. A crisis had arrived in the affairs of man; and it appeared highly necessary and important, that the Divine Being should interpose for the benefit of his creatures. A long train of events had seemed to prepare the way for a distinguished and glorious revolution, and some intimations had been given of its approach. The advent of a divine messenger had been predicted in certain ancient books, and a general expectation of this event had for some time prevailed, not only in Palestine, but all over the Oriental world. A person claiming the character to which we have referred, makes his appearance. His aspect and manners correspond to the idea of "a teacher sent from God." He speaks on the subject of religion and morals, of life and immortality, as man had never before spoken; he rises infinitely above his contemporaries, and supplies in his own character a splendid illustration of the principles of purity and virtue. He performs many wonderful works, and suffers much from the persecution of the ungodly. He speaks of death, inflicted by others, as the necessary completion of his course; and looks forward to it, with a sublime and mysterious confidence. He finally dies by the hand of the public executioner, praying for his enemies, and exclaiming, It is finished! But previous to this, he had not only told his followers that he should die, but that he should rise again on the third day, and that all this was absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of his mission on earth, and the confirmation of his claims as a divinely commissioned teacher. They, however, are incredulous of the fact, and give up all for lost. His

enemies, being aware of his prediction, make his sepulchre sure, and seal it with the seal of the government. They also appoint a guard of Roman soldiers, to watch it by day and night. But on the third day, the sepulchre is found empty-the body of Jesus is gone. He appears to some of his disciples, then to the apostles: converses with them, and eats with them, and that not once but frequently. Some of them, at first, doubt, but they obtain ocular demonstration of the fact, so that all become perfectly certain of his resurrection. At least, such is the burden of their testimony; a testimony which they bear before the judicial tribunals and people of the Jews, and which they repeat to the day of their death, notwithstanding every variety of persecution, to which, in consequence of this testimony, they were subjected. Here, all must perceive, every thing is natural, consistent, satisfactory. The occasion is a great one-the greatest that can be conceived. Divine interposition seems highly appropriate. The miracle is natural and dignified; and thus, when the full and honest-hearted testimony of the witnesses is given, we have no difficulty in yielding it our implicit credence. He who can reject it, simply because it is a miracle, can reject any thing, however well established, that comes into competition with his preconceived notions, and philosophical dreams.

In the fifth and last place, their testimony is corroborated by collateral circumstances, in other words, by collateral evidence. This department of proof is very extensive and elaborate. It embraces a consideration of the natural and civil history of the times in which the witnesses lived; the progress of Christianity; its influence upon Judaism and idolatry; the changes which it wrought in the character of individuals and communities; the commemorative rites of the Christian faith; the numerous and minute coincidences between facts, names, dates and allusions in the Christian records, to the civil and political institutions, manners, customs and languages of the Jews and the neighboring nations; the testimonies of profane writers to many of the facts of the gospel history; the admissions of heretics, apostates and enemies; and the evidence supplied by ancient coins, medals and marbles. But the limits and design of this essay will not permit us even to. touch upon the discussion of these points.

On the review of the whole, we may be permitted to say, that the credibility of the Gospel history is confirmed by all the evidence which the case admits; that the proof is not only satisfactory, but peculiarly and abundantly so; and that our faith consequently rests upon a foundation at once broad, and deep, and eternal. T.

ARTICLE VI.

CONNECTION OF THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE WITH THE CAUSE OF LEARNING.*

By the Rev. ENOCH POND, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary, Bangor, Me.

The subject of this paper is, the connection of the missionary enterprise with the cause of science and literature throughout the world; or, the influence which the former of these causes has exerted, and may be expected to exert, upon the latter.

Were I disposed to make the most of this subject, I might call attention, first of all, to the labors of the primitive Christian missionaries,―the apostles, and their successors for the next four hundred years,-who not only traversed the vast Roman empire, embodying, at that period, all the civilized portions of the earth, but who penetrated, on every side, the surrounding regions of darkness and barbarism, carrying with them the lights and consolations of religion, and also the lesser lights of learning and science. The staid and mystic Oriental, the untutored African, and the rude barbarians of northern Europe, including our own indomitable ancestors, were first taught the use of letters, as well as brought under the humanizing influence of Christianity, by the labors of missionaries.

I might also refer to the Nestorian missionaries of the middle ages, who penetrated the wide fields of Central Asia, from the uttermost bounds of China, to the Euphrates and

*The substance of the following article was delivered as an address, on two public occasions. This will account for the direct and popular style in which some parts of it are written.

the Caspian Sea, softening the hearts of the fierce natives, and enriching their minds, with the rudiments of learning, and the elements of holy truth. It was through this region of country, that the celebrated Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, passed, in his excursion to the distant East. It was the Nestorian churches, chiefly, that he visited and described. And the fact that, by some, his narrative has been regarded as little better than romance, was more owing to the ignorance of the reader, than to a want of competency or fidelity in the writer.

I might refer, also, to the Romish missionaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For whatever may be thought as to the results of their labors in a religious point of view, I am persuaded that, in a literary view, full justice has not been meted to them. The principal scene of their labors was southern and eastern Asia, some part of Africa, Mexico, and South America; and it is not too much to say, that nearly all the accurate knowledge of these great countries which the world possessed, until within the last fifty years, was derived from these men. The publications of the French missionaries alone amounted to half a hundred large volumes, all of which were read with avidity, not only by the friends of religion, but by the ablest scholars in Europe. The ancient maps of the interior provinces of China and Cochin-China, of the greater Tartary, Thibet, and Japan, were constructed almost entirely by the Jesuits, and other papal missionaries. The earliest accounts of Congo and Abyssinia were from the same source, and served as a guide to Mr. Bruce, in his subsequent travels through those countries. The Jesuits in South America explored and described vast regions, which had never before been visited by any European. One of these men wrote a history of the New World, of which Dr. Robertson says, "It contains more accurate observations, and more sound science, than are to be found in any description of remote countries published in that age.' Another of them left a manuscript history of St. Domingo, which was the basis of the work of Charles voix.

But it is not my intention to enlarge on the writings of these missionaries of a former age, or on the indebtedness of the literary world to their labors. I choose rather to call attention to the modern missionary enterprise,—that which commenced among Protestants near the beginning

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