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our hands, certain accounts of miracles wrought by Christ. I have proved these accounts to have been written by their professed authors.-I have shewn that these authors could neither have deceived others, nor have been deceived themselves, as to the fact of the miracles said to have been wrought; and that the miracles were of a kind which prevented all possibility of mistake. Christ did therefore really perform that, which no one could perform but by the power of God! And consequently, his profession that he was a teacher sent by God, must be true. All his commandments, all his doctrines, therefore, proceed from the fountain of Truth:-and our Religion being founded on these doctrines, and these commandments, is, in every important particular, infallibly true. I have confined the argument to Miracles, as I promised; but if you are not satisfied, I will proceed to consider the evidence afforded by the Prophecies of the Old Testament, concerning the Messiah, and the state of the Jews, and those which Christ himself delivered.-By the unrivalled excellence, and wonderful progress of the Christian Religion,-by

D. Stop! stop! I have had enough of argument for one day besides, I recollect I have an engagement, to which I must immediately attend. To day, I confess you have been better prepared than I was. I will, however, take some future opportunity of overthrowing your argument.

That opportunity never occurred: The Deist carefully avoided all farther intercourse with EUSEBES: and though he would not confess, even to himself, what was the real cause of it, his neighbours very sensibly attributed it, to an inability to support, by argument, the horrid doctrines, which he had in a few instances successfully disseminated, by mixing profaneness with wit, and ridicule with Blasphemy..

Feb. 1820.

EUMENES.

Miscellaneous.

"

THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD

DEDUCED FROM THE WORKS OF NATURE.

THESE are thy glorious works, Parent of good,
Almighty, thine this universal frame,

Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!"

MILTON.

AFTER having contemplated the numerous tribes of Insects, in all the various forms in which they are presented to us by a review of their instinctive powers and sensations, their egg state and transformationtheir habitations, food, and uses-we are naturally and unavoidably led from this pleasing investigation to the contemplation of their Creator!

In all ages, arguments respecting the Existence of a God, have been drawn from the works of Nature: and what can contribute more to convince us of the Almighty power,-to raise our minds from "Nature "up to Nature's God, "-than the contemplation of the sweeping whirlwind, and the awful thunder,-or the examination of the structure of the meanest INSECT? Can we look upon the great world of animated beings, without admiring how all are adapted to each other, and how suited they are to the purposes for which they were intended? Or, can we examine the commonest production of nature, and not be convinced of its great superiority over the finest piece of workmanship, that the most clever artist was ever able to produce? Imitate, if you can, the structures of the bee, the granaries of the ant, the webs of the spider,

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God alone can

and the threads of the silkworm! work these wonders; and he presents them to us, not as models for our imitation, but as so many testimonies of his power and wisdom. It is our duty therefore to correspond to his views, and to contemplate his perfections, even in the smallest of his works. Amongst all the animals, we alone are capable of this contemplation. The Sun sheds his beams over all the earth; but man alone comprehends their source, and perceives their effects. Beasts live and grow, but they know not how. The lion is unconscious of his strength; the nightingale of the melody of her voice; the butterfly of the beauty of its wing; and the caterpillar feeds upon the leaf, without knowing what it is that affords it sustenance. Can we doubt, then, that the tribute of admiration which they demand from the faculties. of man, is a reasonable tribute, which he owes to his Creator?

Like NATURE's law no eloquence persuades,
The mute harangue our ev'ry sense invades ;
Th' apparent precepts of th' Eternal Will
His ev'ry work and ev'ry object fill;
Round with our eyes his revelation wheels,

Our ev'ry touch his demonstration feels.

And, → Supreme! whene'er we cease to know

Thee, the sole source, whence sense and science flow;

Then must all faculty, all knowledge fail,

And more than monster o'er the man prevail.

1

SELECTIONS FROM SOUTH.

THE HONEST COUNTRY GENTLEMAN,

THE honest country gentleman, and the thriving tradesman, or country farmer, have all the real benefits of nature, and the blessings of plenty, that the high. est and richest grandees can pretend to; and (what is more) all these, without the tormenting fears and jealousies of being rivalled in their prince's favor, or supplanted at court, or tumbled down from their high and beloved stations. All these storms fly over their heads, and break upon the towering mountains and lofty cedars; they have no ill-got places to lose; they are neither libelled nor undetermined; but, without invading any man's right, sit safe and warm in a moderate fortune of their own, free from all that grandeur and magnificence of misery, which is sure to attend an inviduous greatness.And he, who is not contented with such a condition, must seek his happiness (if ever he have any) in another world; for Providence itself can provide no better for him in this.

RELIGION.

THE pleasure of the religious man is an easy and partable pleasure, such a one as he carries in his bosom, without alarming either the eye or the envy of the world-A man, putting all his pleasures into this one, is like a traveller putting all his goods into one jewel; the value is the same, and the convenience greater.

CONSCIENCE.

A palsy may as well shake an oak, or a fever dry up a fountain, as either of them shake, dry up, or impair the delight of conscience.-For it lies within, it centres in the heart, it grows into the very substance of the soul, so that it accompanies a man to his grave; he never outlives it, and that for this cause only, because he cannot outlive himself.

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DOCTOR DONNE, a person of great parts and learning, being upon his death-bed, and taking his solemn farewell of his friends, made this weighty declaration to them: "I'repent of all my life; that part excepted, "which I spent in communion with my God, and in ❝endeavouring to do good.

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THOMAS SMITH.

THOMAS SMITH, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth, a short time before his death, sent to his friends, the Bishops of Winchester and Worcester, and intreated them to draw him, out of the Scriptures, the plainest and exactest way of making his peace with God; adding, "That it was great pity men considered "not to what end they were born into the world, till "they were ready to go out of it.”

SELDEN.

SELDEN, one of the greatest scholars and antiquaries of his time, and one who had taken a diligent survey of what knowledge was considerable amongst the Jews, Heathens, and Christians; at last, toward the end of his days, in his conference with Bishop Usher, declared, "That notwithstanding he had been so labori"ous in his enquiries, and curious in his collections, and "had possest himself of a treasure of books and manu

scripts upon all ancient subjects; yet he could rest "his soul on none save the Scriptures:" and above all, that passage lay most remarkably upon his spirit, TITUS chap. 2. v. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. And indeed, it is one of the most comprehensive passages in the Scriptures; for it comprises the end, means, and recompence of Christianity. ..in or Tue 3er 20

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