John Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly; WHITTAKER & CO. AVE-MARIA LANE; SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, MDCCCXXXV. OR, AN ATTEMPT TO DISPLAY, BY INTERNAL TESTIMONY, THE EVIDENCE AND EXCELLENCE OF REVEALED RELIGION. BY VICESIMUS KNOX, D.D. LATE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND MASTER OF TUNBRIDGE SCHOOL. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, BY THE REV. HENRY STEBBING, M.A. LONDON: John Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly; WHITTAKER & CO. AVE-MARIA LANE; SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, MDCCCXXXV. J. Hoc philosophiæ genus in affectibus situm est, verius quam in syllogismis; vita est magis, quam disputatio; afflatus potius quam eruditio; transformatio magis, quam ratio. Tantum esto docilis et multum in hac philosophia promovisti. 1psa suppeditat doctorem spiritum, qui nulli sese lubentius impertit, quam simplicibus animis. At rursum ita non deest infimis ut summis etiam sit admirabilis. Quid artem aliud est Christi philosophia, quam ipse renascentiam vocat, quam instauratio bene conditæ naturæ.-Erasmus. Πνεῦμα ζωοποιοῦν. 1 Cor. xv. 45. INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. CHRISTIANITY, and the arguments on which it is established, have a universal and never to be diminished value. The reasonings of politicians, and even of philosophers, have a limited application : those of the Christian teacher pertain to the interests of mankind at large; and neither time nor circumstance can diminish their real importance, or deprive them of the interest they possess in thoughtful and ingenuous minds. But this can only properly be said of Christian doctrine purely and honestly exhibited; or of meditations on its application, which display throughout the spirit of its precepts, their elevation, their simplicity, their benignity. Theology, therefore, is a science which can recognize no fundamental principle not plainly traceable in the book of God; nor can it be expected to produce any effect, however taught, without the assistance of that same divine influence which originally gave efficacy to the |