that their concurring Teftimony decided the Matter fo clearly as to leave no Room for further Doubts; for them to fufpend their Sentence till they had made a nice Difquifition into the distinct Weight of every single Deposition, would be thought, at least, a fuperfluous Exactness, and a Delay which the Service of the Caufe did not demand.

"TIS probable therefore, that this Question owes its Rife to a Set of Men not properly taken in under either of these Claffes. I mean thofe Enemies of the Chriftian Cause, who wear the Mafk of Friends. Unable to gain their Ends by open Force, they craftily endeavour to divide it against itself, and thus to deftroy it by its own Strength. They endeavour to fhew that Prophecy is a ftronger Proof of the Truth of Christianity than Miracles. One would at first apprehend no ill Defign here. For what would be the Confequence? Miracles afford a very strong Proof: Prophecy yields yet a stronger: Therefore Chriftianity is impregnable. This would be the Inference of a common Genius. But these fublime Reafoners would give the Argument a contrary Tendency, making this furprizing Inference, therefore Christianity is overthrown: And having with great Industry proved the Strength of Prophecy fuperior to that of Miracles, would terminate their Reasoning here, that there is not the least Degree of Strength in either of them.

THEY, to whom the Laws of Argument are known, will eafily difcern the Weakness of

this

this Sophifm. Indeed they conceal their firft Term; but force them to produce this, and the Fallacy appears. They begin by faying that Prophecy is stronger than Miracles. But it is plain that, before any Comparison can be begun between them, or any Judgment made of the Excefs of the Force of one above that of the other, the Amount of their particular Forces should first be known. Or, if this Difquifition be too nice or laborious, it must at least be agreed upon that they have each of them fome Quantity of Force, and that Force must be valued in the Grofs; otherwise no Estimate can be made, though ever fo inartificial, of their comparative Forces. The diftinct Forces then of Prophecy and Miracles, or at least of one of them, is evidently the first Term, though they endeavour to hide it. Whence it is plain, that, by returning after the Comparifon to weaken the Forces of either of them, they are chargeable with an Abfurdity even worse than that of Begging the Question: their Reasoning maanifeftly terminates in an Attempt to unfettle that which was first of all settled; to establish an E1timate of the Two Forces contrary to that which was firft agreed upon; and therefore to destroy those very Principles from which the Argument proceeded.

Ir must surely be plain to common Sense, that a Comparison between Two Things does not affect or alter the real Nature of the Things themselves. The Refult of it can only be a Knowledge of the Proportion they bear to each other,

of

of their relative Value, not of that which ought to be known before, their real Worth confidered fingly and independently on each other. For the Things compared remain the fame in every Refpect after, as they were before, the Comparison. However they go on, to the great Surprize of all the Beholders, to convince them that this Bulwark of Prophecy, which they had laboured to raife to fuch feeming Strength and Fairness, is all a Deception of the Senfes, and therefore by caufing this to vanish, which was to Appearance the strongest, they imagine all the other pretended Strength of Evidence must fink and disappear with it. Thus they would raise one Part of the Edifice above its natural Height, and then, by letting it fall upon the reft, crush the whole Structure under it. Such treacherous Designs lurk underneath fuch fpecious Appearances! Like the faithless Delilah, with a feemingly affectionate Anxiety, they enquire where the great Strength of Christianity lieth, that they may at once lop it off, and deliver it over, thus defpoiled and enfeebled, to the Derifion and Infults of its Enemies. But they are deceived. A Conqueft over Chriftianity is not to be acquired by any fuch Artifices as these. Its Strength is not, like that of the Hebrew Champion, lodged in any Excrescencies, or held by Virtue of any fecret Cuftoms or Obfervances but is natural to it, runs through its Constitution, and is diffused in just Proportions over all its Parts.

IT

IT has been pretended that our Saviour himself has entered into this Difpute, and has decided it in the Manner they defire, who wish to make the worst Use of it against his Religion. Though I really think that this Question howfoever decided, if fairly confidered, threatens no great Hurt, or promises no great Advantage, to Christianity; yet, because designing Men may give it such a Turn as to mislead the unwary, and make that an Inftrument of the greatest Hurt which is in itself perfectly harmless; to prevent this Abuse of the Nature of Things, and to deprive the Enemies of Christianity of their laft faint Hopes of Success in their fraudulent Attempts against it, is a Profpect which makes this Question feem more worthy a ferious Confideration, and the Endeavour to fet it in a clear Light appear fruitful of better Effects, than barely the Gratification of an indolent Curiofity. We shall begin then by confidering the Affertion of Dr. Middleton, that all which his Lordship has been affirming fo freely concerning the fuperior Evidence of Miracles to that of Prophecy, Seems to have been originally confuted, and the whole Question determined against him by Chrift himself; Who in one of his Parables declares, that thofe, who would not hearken to Mofes and the Prophets, would not be perfuaded, though one rofe from the dead. Luke 16. 31. clearly intimating, that the Word of Prophecy, as delivered in the Old Teftament, carried with it a firmer Proof of the Truth of his Gospel to the Jews, than even the greatest of all Miracles. a It is proper

a P. 57.

proper to begin with this, because if our Saviour's Sentiments should really appear to be what they are here represented, all Argument is at an End: And Nothing will remain for Us to do, but, fubmitting to his facred Authority, to guard against any ill Application of his Opinion, and to prevent his own Declaration from being turned to the Destruction of his Caufe.

Two Circumftances well understood, will lead Us to a clear Apprehenfion of the Force of this Paffage as far as the prefent Question is concerned, viz. what was the Point, and what were the Means, of Perfwafion proposed. Dr. M. thinks that the Point of Perfwafion was the Truth of the Gofpel, and the Means, expreffed by Mofes and the Prophets, and the Rifing of one from the dead, Prophecies and Miracles. Now granting that he is right in this Opinion, still our Saviour's declaring that the latter would be ineffectual where the former had failed, will be far from amounting to a clear Intimation, that the Word of Prophecy carried with it a firmer Proof of the Truth of the Gofpel, than the greatest of all Miracles: because he does not say that Prophecy could do more than Miracles, but only that Miracles could not do more than Prophecy; not, that Prophecy could bring Conviction to the Mind of an Infidel where Miracles had failed, but that the latter could not overcome that Degree of Infidelity which had been Proof against the former. The Inference then can be carried no farther than that Miracles are not of fuperior Force

to