B

bafe or fervile labour; and what other fort of employment can a poor man chufe, who has no ftock, unlefs it be a flock of learning, and a few books in his ftudy? Therefore, to deprive a man of the liberty of officiating, in any meeting houie in Scotland, is really to deprive him of his daily bread.

To conclude, Sir, this claufe is fraught with fuch dangerous confequences to the publick, and fuch great hardships upon private men, that I can neither as a chriftian, a churchman, an Englishman, a faithful fubject to his majefty, or a man of any humanity, give my confent to its being paffed into a law.

fupport from Rome, they will be more
industrious, and more daring in per-
verting the vulgar than the former,
fo that this claufe will be of the most
dangerous confequence, not only to
our present happy eftablifhment, but
to the protestant religion; and con- A
fequently, to put fuch a meaning up-
on the act of 1746 as I contend for,
without extending it any farther, will
be fo far from leaving the country
exposed to, that it will fecure it from
danger; whereas, to put fuch a
meaning upon that act, as the Hon.
gentleman who fpoke laft contends
for, and to fix that meaning, by the
clause now before us, will not only
expofe our country to danger, but
will be a hardship, at leaft upon inno-
cent men, if not a glaring injuftice;
for whatever doubt may be made, Cour
with respect to thofe minifters that
have qualified in pursuance of the late
act, no doubt can be made with re-
fpect to thofe that qualified and fet up
meeting houfes in Scotland, in pur-
fuance of the act of the 10th of queen
Anne. As to them, they have an D
undoubted right to their meeting-
houses, and to officiate in those
meeting houfes, which we are to
deprive them of, without the leaft
proof of any thing like a crime; nor
is it enough to fay, that they may re-
cover their property, by taking or- E
ders a fecond time, because it may
be impoffible for them to do fo, at
leaft it will be impoffible for them to
do fo, without putting themselves to
the expence of a long journey to
England or Ireland.

As to thofe poor clergymen who F
may, by this claufe, be deprived of
their only means of fubfiftence, not-
withstanding their having taken the
oaths to the government, I was
really forry to hear it fuggefted by
the Hon. gentleman, that they might
chufe fome other employment for G
the fupport of
of themtelves and
families. Alas! Sir, a clergyman
in holy orders is exprefsly forbid
by the canons to give himself to any
January, 1749

[This JOURNAL to be continued in next.]

A concife Account, and an Abfirali, of a famous Book lately published, intitled, A Free Inquiry into the Miraculous Powers, which are fupposed to have fubfifted in the Chriftian Church, from the earliest Ages thro' feveral fucceffive Centuries: By which it is fhewn, that we have no fufficient Reason to believe, upon the Authority of the Primitive Fathers, that any fuch Powers were continued to the Church, after the Days of the Apostles. By Conyers Middleton, D. D. Printed for Meffrs. Manby and Cox. Price Nine Shillings few'd.

T

HE publication of this book was preceded by an introductory difcourte, publifhed fome months ago, which gave a general account of the argument, and begins with telling us, That it is an opinion commonly received among chrutians, and above all, among thofe of the Romijn communion, that after the days of the apostles, there refided ftill in the primitive church, thro' feveral fucceflive ages, a divine and

extraordinary power of working mi-
racles, which was frequently and
openly exerted, in confirmation of
the truth of the Gospel, and for the
conviction of unbelievers. This o-
pinion being adopted by the papifts,
and efpoufed likewife in part by the A
proteftants, he thought it his duty
to inquire into the grounds of it;
and to this task he was particularly
excited, by what he had occafionally
obferved and heard, of the late
growth of popery in this kingdom,
and the great number of popifh B
books printed and difperfed amongst
us, in which great ufe is made of
that prejudice, in favour of primitive
antiquity, which prevails even in
this proteftant country.

E

This claim of a miraculous power, which is now peculiar to the church C of Rome, was, he fays, univerfally afferted and believed in all christian countries, and in all ages of the church, till the time of the reformation; but that spirit of inquiry, with which Chriftendom was then animated, detected the cheat, and ex- D pofed to publick view, the hidden fprings and machinery of thofe lying wonders, by which the world had been feduced and enflaved to the tyranny of Rome; which fet learned men, among the proteftants, upon the inquiry, when this cheat had begun, and how long any real miraculous power had fubfifted in the chriftian church; but that about this point they were very much divided, fome confining this power to the three first centuries, others to the first four, and fome extending its F continuance to the end of the fifth; by which they have unwarily betrayed the proteftant caufe, because it was in the third, fourth, and fifth, centuries, that the chief corruptions of popery were either actually introduced, or the feeds of them fo G effectually fown, that they could not fail of producing the fruits, which we now fee; fuch as the inflitution of monkery; the worship of reliques;

invocation of faints; prayers for the dead; the fuperftitious ufe of images; of the facraments; of the fign of the crofs; and of confecrated oil; all which corruptions, the doctor fhews to have been introduced before the fifth century, and approved by the later primitive fathers; and that the forgeries of the fourth and fifth centuries throw a fufpicion upon all the miracles recorded preceding that time, and posterior to the age of the apoftles; from whence he concludes, that we ought to admit of no miracles, but thofe of the fcriptures, which, according to the fundamental principle of the reformation, are a compleat rule both of faith and manners; and as fuch are clear alfo and intelligible, in all fundamental points, to every private chrif

tian.

This is the fubftance of the introductory discourse; and in the preface to the work, the doctor tells us, that when he fent abroad his introductory difcourfe, the larger work was ready, and at first intended to have been published at the fame time, with that difcourfe prefixed to it; but upon recollecting the great importance of the fubject, which had never before been profeffedly examined; and that the part especially, which he had undertaken to defend, was not only new, but contradictory to the general opinion, which prevail'd among chriftians; and above all, that he had nothing to truft to in the management of it, but his own private judgment; he began to think it a duty, which candor and prudence prefcribed, not to alarm the publick at once with an argument fo strange and fo little understood; nor to hazard an experiment fo big with confequences, till he had first given out fome sketch or general plan of what he was projecting; fo that all, who were difpofed to examine it, might have notice and leifure, to inquire into the grounds of it, and qualify themselves to form a proper judg

ment

ment of that evidence, which he might afterwards produce in its defence.

He fays, he forefaw that his introductory difcourfe was fure to encounter all the oppofition, that prejudice, bigottry, and fuperftition are A ever prepared to give to all free inquiries into opinions, which depend on the prevalence of their power; but that this would excite the candid inquirers alfo, to weigh the merit and confequences of it.

"The event, fays he, has an- B swered, not only to my expectation, but to my wifhes: For notwithftanding all, which has been publifhed against it, from the prefs, the pulpit, and the theological fchools, the general approbation, which it has every where received from thofe, whofe C authority I chiefly value, has given me the utmost encouragement to perfevere in the profecution of my argument, as being of the greatest importance to the proteftant, religion, and the fole expedient, which can effectually fecure it, from being gra D dually undermined, and finally fubverted by the efforts of Rome."

Then, after anfwering the most material objections, which had been made against his introductory dif courfe, he concludes, That his antagonists must not expect to bear down E facts with fyftems; and from the fuppofed integrity and piety of the fathers, to infer the certainty of what they atteft; but muft refer us to inftances, which tally with their teftimonies, and experimentally prove

the truth of them.

Now as to the work itself, the doctor proposes to obferve the following method:

by which they have hitherto been fupported.

2. To throw together all, which those fathers alfo have delivered, concerning the conditions of the perfons, who are faid to have been indued with thofe gifts, and to have wrought the miracles, to which they appeal.

3. To illuftrate the particular characters and opinions of the fathers, who atteft thofe miracles, fo as to enable us to determine, with more exactness, what degree of credit may be due to their teftimony.

4. To review all the feveral kinds of miracles, which are pretended to have been wrought, and to oblerve, from the nature of each, how far the credibility of them may reafonably be fufpected.

5. To refute fome of the moft plaufible objections, which have hitherto been made by his antagonifts, or which the prejudices and prepoffeffions of many pious chriftians may be apt to fuggeft, to the general turn of his argument.

As to the first of these five heads, he obferves, That none of the apoftolick fathers, that is, thofe who had lived and converfed with the apoftles, fuch as St. Barnabas, St. Clemens, St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp, St. Hermas, do, in their writings, make the leaft claim or pretenfion to any extraordinary gifts or miraculous powers, or that any fuch thing then fubfifted in the church. The firft, he fays, that mentioned any fuch, was Justin Martyr, who F did not write till 50 years after the days of the apoftles; and from him, from Irenæus, from Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, from Tertullian, from Minucius Felix, from Origen, from Cyprian, Arnobius, and Lactantius, he gives the principal teftimonies of thofe miraculous powers, fuppofed to have fubfifted in the primitive church, through the three first centuries.

1. To draw out, in their proper order, all the principal teftimonies, which relate to the miraculous gifts of the church, as they are found G in the writings of the fathers, from the earliest ages, after the days of the apostles. Whence we shall see, at one view, the whole evidence,

A

Upon the fecond head he remarks, That none of thefe fathers have any where affirmed, that either they themselves, or the apoftolick fathers before them, were indued with any power of working miracles, nor do they give us the names, conditions, or characters of the perfons that were; but that, in general, we may conclude from what is faid of them, both by friends and enemies, that they were private chriftians, and chiefly of the laiety; which was a difpenfation very different from what B we meet with in the New Teftament, where we find, that this power was committed to none but the apostles, and a few of the most eminent of the other difciples; whereas, after their days, thefe miraculous powers were not granted to their fucceffors, C the biops, the martyrs, or the principal champions of the christian caufe; but to boys, to women, to private and obfcure laymen, not only of an inferior, but fometimes alfo of a bad character. But, fays he, if these venerable faints and martyrs were D not indued with thefe miraculous powers when living, they had amends made to them when dead, if we can believe the reports of their fucceffors, by a profufion of them on their bones and reliques; which fuggefts a farther caufe of fufpecting the E faith and judgment of thofe early ages.

F

Upon the third head the doctor begins with this rule, That the authority of a writer, who affirms any questionable fact, muft depend on the character of his veracity and judgment. In pursuance of this rule, he examines what proofs of a found judgment, and strict veracity, are to be found in the writings of thofe fathers, who atteft the miraculous ftories under confideration; and from the writings of Justin Martyr and G Ireneus, after whom all the rest cop, he fhews, that whatever may be faid as to their veracity, their judgment is not at all to be depended

Upon the fourth he observes, That the miraculous powers mentioned in the teftimonies above produced, were, 1. The power of raising the dead. 2. That of healing the fick. 3. That of cafting out devils. 4. That of prophefying. 5. That of feeing vifions. 6. That of difcovering the fecrets of men. 7. That of expounding the fcriptures. 8. That of fpeaking with tongues.

Every one of these he particularly examines, and proves as clearly as a negative can be proved, that no one of them ever exifted in the chriftian church after the days of the apoftles.

And upon the fifth head, he states and refutes the most plaufible objections made to his argument, as follows:

1. He fays, it is objected, that by the character, which he has given of the ancient fathers, the authority of the books of the New Teftament, which were tranfmitted to us thro' their hands, will be rendered precarious and uncertain. To this he answers, That the authority of those books does not depend upon the faith of the fathers, or of any particular fet of men, but on the general credit and reception which they found, not only in all the churches, but with all the private chriftians of thofe ages, who were able to purchase copies of them; by which means there was fuch a number of copies fpread abroad, that it was impoffible for any man, or any fect, to fupprefs, alter, or deprave any one of them. But if the ob jection were to be allowed, it could not, he adds, hurt his argument; because the craft, or credulity charged upon the fathers, must be determined, not by confequences, but by facts; and if the charge be confirmed by thefe, it must be admitted, how far foever the confequences may reach.

2. It has been alledged, he fays, that all fufpicion of fraud, in the

cafe

7