possibly be misled by any corrupt or sinister

purpose.

We have only, then, to apply these considerations to the state of the question, as it at present stands, between believers and unbelievers, in order to discern how little advantage the latter can derive from the case of St. Thomas.

The weight of evidence, it is pretended, diminishes by length of time. We cannot, it is said, have the same certainty of events which occurred many ages since, as of those which took place a century ago, or in our own times. And even had they come to pass in our own times, they who did not actually see them are not obliged to receive them upon the report of others. The example of Thomas is cited as a case in point. These enlightened sceptics contend, that they only reason as he did; that they only require such demonstration as was afforded to him, before they yield assent.

It is easy to see through the flimsy veil of this miserable sophistry. Do these self-sufficient reasoners seriously give credit to the honest, unprejudiced disposition of the Apostle, when he was backward in receiving the truth, and cautious in believing it? Why, then, do they not yield to his subsequent

conviction? Why will they suppose him honest in first doubting, and yet dishonest in afterwards believing? If his authority be good in the former case, is it not equally so in the latter? If they deem him trustworthy, and a fit example for others, while his faith was yet unfixed, why withdraw that confidence from him, why repudiate his example, when he became steadfast, determinate, immovable? But, with reference to the present state of the question, it is indeed a mere fallacy to affirm that the evidences of Christianity have materially diminished by lapse of time, or that sufficient certainty of events, whether past or present, may not be obtained through the testimony of others, as well as from our own personal knowledge. The providence of God hath so ordained, that occurrences the most remote as to time or distance may be verified to us by various concurrent circumstances, which render it morally impossible that we should be deceived concerning them. And it may even happen, that by length of time proofs of this kind are so strengthened, and so accumulated, as to give additional confidence to our belief.

In the history of Christianity this has been most wonderfully exemplified. It is impossible to account even for the existence of the

Christian Religion at the present moment, without giving credit to its Sacred Records. We trace it through all ages, backwards from the present time to the very date of its commencement, in a regular unbroken chain of history. The life and character of our Saviour, and of his Apostles, the miracles wrought in confirmation of the Gospel, the doctrines delivered in it, the peculiar rites and institutions founded upon it, all precisely correspond, as to their date and their first reception in the world, with those very records. The facts are moreover, to a considerable extent, and in several striking particulars, attested by Heathen as well as Christian writers. They have been admitted by unbelievers as well as believers, both by adversaries and by friends. Still more strongly have they been confirmed by the word of Prophecy; a species of evidence which, from the very nature of it, increases in force in proportion to the length of time between the prediction and its fulfilment. Several of the most remarkable prophecies in Holy Writ are of this description; not only those which foretold the coming of our Saviour many ages before his birth, but those also which related to the destruction of Jerusalem, to the dispersion of the Jews over all the earth, (a prophecy now no less mani

festly going on in its accomplishment, than when it first commenced,) also to the overthrow of Paganism in the Roman empire, and to various changes, trials, and troubles, which the Church of Christ hath undergone since the period of our Lord's departure from the world. Here is a marvellous accession of proofs, from which believers in these latter ages are continually deriving greater and greater confirmation of the faith, and more full assurance that they are not following "cunningly-devised fables."

There is also another advantage which we now possess, beyond that enjoyed by Christians who were contemporary with the Apostles. We have the collected writings of several of the Apostles preserved for the edification of the Church; affording a greater mass of evidence, and of doctrine, than, perhaps, could ever have been obtained, by oral instruction, before these documents were brought into general circulation. These we can now compare together; we can examine their agreement with each other; and where a doubt arises as to the sense of one writer, or of one passage in any writing, we are enabled to illustrate and confirm it by reference to other portions of the Canonical Scriptures. Such advantages are inestimable in our researches

after truth. Every difficulty, every perplexity, has the fairest chance of being unravelled or removed. Unbelievers also have the opportunity of sifting and investigating every thing which they may think open to suspicion, and of assailing Christianity wherever they may deem it vulnerable. Where such means are resorted to, on either side, with an honest and unprejudiced mind, with singleness of heart, and sincerity of purpose ;-in short, with a real desire to find the truth ; a blessing will assuredly attend the labour. "If any man will do the will of God, he shall "know of the doctrine, whether it be of "God."

To sum up, then, in few words, all that has been here intended. The Apostles saw and believed. They neither closed their eyes, nor shut their ears, against the proofs and evidences that were set before them. And what these living witnesses thus saw and heard, they have recorded for the knowledge and information of after-times. "Blessed," therefore," are they who have not seen, and yet have believed." Blessed are they, who thankfully accept the light thus shining upon them, through the medium of those inspired Teachers. Blessed are they, who acknowledge, in the Sacred Oracles bequeathed to

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