rians; but, in fact, their evidence would only be confidered as that of ten or twelve men, opposed to the evidence of more than ten or twelve millions.

However, if the credit of Livy and Salluft was fo well established, that we could not believe that they would affert as a fact, what they might easily have known not to be fo; we should say that, though we had no method of accounting for fuch a narration being found in the copies of their works, which have come down to us, we were fatisfied that they were not of their compofition. Paffages, we might fay, like that in Jofephus concerning Chrift, may have got into the works of more respectable writers (as a comparison of circumftances fufficiently proves) without our being able to say when, or by whom, the books were corrupted. And if we had any evidence that there were, in early times, copies of the entire hiftories of Livy and Salluft, in which nothing was faid of the marriage of Auguftus to Cleopatra, nothing farther, I imagine, would be wanting to our intire fatisfaction on the subject.

Now thefe very material obfervations, and feveral others, apply to the cafe before us. It is true that we do find the ftory of the miraculous conception in the received gofpels of Matthew and Luke; and it is almost certain that they were there in the time of Justin Martyr. But it is no less certain, that there were in early times gofpels of Matthew, and of Luke too, which did not contain that ftory; and there is fufficient reafon to think, that the great body of Jewish chriftians, who were cotemporary with the apoftles, did not believe it. It was probably a long time before it gained any credit at all with any of their pofterity, and it is probable that it never did so with the generality of them. It is certain that fome very learned perfons, and therefore, probably, the most inquifitive among them, and who wrote expressly on the fubject, never believed it; and yet no good reason can be given why a history which has the appearance of being greatly to the credit of the founder of their religion, fhould not have been believed by them, as well as by other chriftians.

A circumstance of greater weight than even this is, that the Gnoftics of that age, to whofe peculiar fyftems the doctrine of the miraculous conception could not but have appeared exceedingly favourable, did likewife reject it as fabulous. If these particulars can be well fupported, it must appear that fomething is wanting to the full credibility of this part of the gofpel hiftory; and it will be farther weakened, if any circumstances can be pointed out that affect the authenticity of the introductions to the gofpels of Matthew and Luke. Such facts of this kind, and fuch obfervations as have occurred to me on the fubject, I now proceed to lay before my readers.

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Reafons for thinking that the Miraculous Conception was not known, or believed, in very early times.

THAT the miraculous conception

of our Saviour was not known, and of course not believed, during the time of his public ministry, will, I imagine, be allowed by all perfons; and this of itfelf is a circumftance not very favourable to its truth. For though there might be reasons why it fhould be concealed from the enemies of Jefus (as it might be fuppofed to amount to a declaration of his being the Meffiah) there does not seem to have been any reason why it should have been concealed from his friends, as it would have tended to ftrengthen their faith in his divine miffion. Befides, as Jofeph and Mary were not enjoined fecrecy on this head, they would naturally fpeak of fo wonderful a thing

a thing as that of a virgin being with child, at least to their pious friends, who would give them credit for it; and if it had been believed by them, is it not probable that more respect would have been paid to Jefus during his infancy and childhood?

If there had been any perfons of property among them, they would hardly have fuffered fo extraordinary a child as this to have followed the occupation of a common carpenter, which Jefus is thought to have done till he was thirty years of age. If the account of Luke be true, the ftory of this miraculous conception could not well have been a fecret. According to him it must have been known not only to Jofeph and Mary, but also to Zacharias and Elizabeth, if not to Simeon and Anna; the latter of whom is faid to have spoken of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerufalem. Luke ii. 38. Now, as none of these perfons are faid to have made any fecret of what they knew, we may fafely conclude, that, by fome. means or other, it would certainly get abroad; and a fact of this extraordinary

VOL. IV.

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