From men, whose minds we cannot suppose to have been seasoned with any other notions of divine things than those which they derived from the teaching of the Pharisees, who had obscured the law by their traditions, and loaded it with ceremonies, there arose a pure and spiritual religion. From men, educated in the narrowness and bigotry of the Jewish spirit, there arose a religion which enjoins universal benevolence, a scheme for diffusing the knowledge of the true God over the whole earth, and forming a church out of all the nations under heaven. The divine plan of blessing the human race, in turning them from their iniquity, originated from a little district,- -was adopted, not by the whole tribe as a method of retrieving their ancient honours, but by a few individuals in opposition to public authority, and was prosecuted with zeal and activity under every disadvantage and discouragement. When his contemporaries heard Jesus speak, they said, "Whence hath this man wisdom? How knoweth this man letters, having never learned ?”* When the Jewish council heard Peter and John, they marvelled, because they knew that they were ignorant and unlearned men ;† and to every candid inquirer, the superiority of that system, and the magnificence of that plan contained in the books of the New Testament, when compared with the natural opportunities of those from whom they proceeded, must appear the most inexplicable phenomenon in the history of the human mind, unless we admit the truth of their claim.

A third branch of the internal evidence of Christianity arises from the character of Jesus Christ. It is often said with much truth, that the Gospel has the peculiar excellence of proposing in the character of its author an example of all its precepts. That character may also be stated as one branch of the internal evidence of Christianity, whether you consider Jesus as a teacher, or as a man. His manner of teaching was most dignified and most winning. "Never man spake like this man." He taught by parable, by action, and by plain discourse. Out of familiar scenes, out of the objects which surrounded him, and the intercourse of social life, he extracted the most pleasing

* Matt. xiii. 54. John vii. 15.

Acts iv. 13.

and useful instruction. He repelled the attacks of his enemies with a gentleness which disarmed, and a wisdom which confounded their malice. There was a plainness, yet a depth in all his sayings. He was tender, persuasive, or severe, according to circumstances; and the discourse, which seemed to have been dictated to him merely by the occasion, is found to convey lasting and valuable counsel to posterity. His character as a man, is allowed to be the most perfect which the world ever saw. All the virtues of which we can form a conception, were united in him with a more exact harmony, and shone with a lustre more bright and more natural, than in any of the sons of men. His descending from the glories of heaven, assuming the weakness of human nature, and voluntarily submitting to all the calamities which he endured for the sake of men, exhibits a degree of benevolence, magnanimity, and patience, which far exceeds the conception that Plato formed of the most tried and perfect virtue. The majesty of his divine nature is blended with the fellow-feeling and condescension implied in his office; and although the history of mankind did not afford any model that could here be followed, this singular character is supported throughout, and there is not any one of the words or actions ascribed to him, which does not appear to the most correct taste to become the man Christ Jesus. It is not possible that a manner of teaching, so infinitely superior to that of the Scribes and Pharisees, or that a character so extraordinary, so godlike, so consistent, could have been invented by the fishermen of Galilee. Admit only that the books of the New Testament are authentic, and you must allow that the authors of them drew Jesus Christ from the life. And how do they draw him? Not in the language of fiction, with swoln panegyric, with a laborious effort to number his deeds, and to record all his sayings, but in the most natural artless manner. Four of his disciples, not many years after his death, when every circumstance could easily be investigated, write a short history of his life. Without attempting to exhaust the subject, without studying to coincide with one another, without directing your attention to the shining parts of his history, or marking any contrast between him and other men, they leave you, from a few facts, to gather the character of the man whom they had fol

lowed. Thus you learn his innocence not from their protestations, but from the whole complexion of his life, from the declaration of the judge who condemned him; of the centurion who attended his execution; of a traitor, who, having been admitted into his family, was a witness of his most retired actions, who had no tie of affection, of delicacy, or consistency, to restrain him from divulging the whole truth, and who might have pleaded the secret wickedness of his master as an apology for his own baseness, who would have been amply repaid for his information, and yet who died with these words in his mouth, “I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood."* Had Judas borne no such testimony, an appeal to him was the most unsafe method in which the writers of this history could attest the innocence of their master. But if the wisdom of God had ordained, that even in the family of Jesus the wrath of his enemies should thus praise him, it was most natural for one of the evangelists to record so striking a circumstance: and I mention it here, only as a specimen of the manner in which the character of Jesus is drawn, not by the colouring of a skilful pencil, but by a continual reference to facts, which to impostors are of difficult invention, and of easy detection, but which, to those who exhibit a real character, are the most natural, the most delightful, and the most effectual method of making their friend known. "Shall we say," writes Rousseau, no uniform champion for the cause of Christianity," shall we say that the history of the gospel is invented at pleasure? No. It is not thus that men invent. It would be more inconceivable that a number of men had in concert produced this book from their own imaginations, than it is that one man has furnished the subject of it. The morality of the gospel, and its general tone, were beyond the conception of Jewish authors; and the history of Jesus Christ has marks of truth so palpable, so striking, and so perfectly inimitable, that its inventor would excite our admiration more than its hero."*

A fourth branch of the internal evidence of Christianity arises from the characters of the apostles of Jesus as drawn

Matt. xxvii. 4.

† Rousseau, Emile, ii. 98.

in their own writings. Their condition renders the superiority of their doctrine inexplicable, without admitting a divine revelation: their character gives the highest credibility to their pretensions. We seldom read the work of any person, without forming some apprehension of his character; and if his work represent him as engaged in a succession of trials, pouring forth the sentiments of his heart, and holding, in interesting situations, much intercourse with his fellow-creatures, we contract an intimate acquaintance with him before we are done, and we are able to collect from numberless circumstances, whether he be at pains to disguise himself from us, or whether he be really such a man as he wishes to appear. No scene ever was more interesting to the actors, than that in which the writings of the apostles of Jesus exhibit them; and the gospels and epistles taken together, afford to every attentive reader a complete display of their character. We said, that they appear from their writings devoid of enthusiasm, cool and collected. Yet this coolness is removed at the greatest distance from every mark of imposture. They are at no pains to disguise their infirmities; all their prejudices shine through their narration; and they do not assume to themselves any merit for having abandoned them. We see light opening slowly upon their minds, their hopes disappointed, and themselves conducted into scenes very different from those which they had figured. "We trusted," said they, after the death of their master, "that it was he which should have redeemed Israel." Yet it is not long before they become firm, and cheerful, and resolute. Not overawed by the threatenings of the magistrates, nor shaken by the persecutions which they endured from their countrymen, they devoted their lives to the generous undertaking of spreading through the world the knowledge of that religion which they had embraced. Appearing as the servants of another, they disclaim the honours which their followers were disposed to pay them; they uniformly inculcate quiet inoffensive manners, and a submission to civil authority; and labouring with their hands for the supply of their necessities, they stand forth as patterns of humility and self-denial. The

Luke xxiv. 21.

churches to which they write are the witnesses to posterity of their holy, unblameable conduct; their sincerity and zeal breathe through all their epistles; and, when you read their writings, you behold the most illustrious example of disinterested beneficence, that exalted love of mankind, which made them forego every private consideration, in order to promote the virtue and happiness of those to whom they were sent. They had differences amongst themselves, which they are at no pains to conceal; yet they remained united in the same cause. They had personal enemies in the churches which they planted; yet they were not afraid to reprove, to censure, to excommunicate; and, in the immediate prospect of death, they continued their labour of love.

Such is the character of the apostles of Jesus, as it appears in their authentic writings, not drawn by themselves, but collected from the facts which they relate, and the letters which they address to those who knew them. It is a character so far raised above the ordinary exertions of mortals, and so diametrically opposite to the Jewish spirit, that we naturally search for some divine cause of its being formed. We are led to consider its existence as a pledge of the truth of that high claim which such men appear not unworthy to make; and this assurance of their veracity which we derive from their conduct, disposes our minds to attend to that external evidence which they offer to adduce.

I have thus stated what appear to me the principal parts of the internal evidence of Christianity. I have not mentioned the style or composition of the books of the New Testament, because although I am of opinion that there are in them instances of sublimity, of tenderness, and of manly eloquence, which are not to be equalled by any human composition, and although the mixture of dignity and simplicity which characterises these books is most worthy of the author and the subject of them, yet this is a matter of taste, a kind of sentimental proof which will not reach the understandings of all, and where an affirmation may be answered by a denial. The only evidence which Mahomet adduced for his divine mission, was the inimitable excellence of his Koran. Produce me,

said he, a single chapter equal to this book, and I renounce