ference, that the book of Revelation is [there] omitted.-He obferves also, that the 85th of the apoftolical canons contains the fame account of their writings, which has been univerfally received: but as the authenticity of thofe canons has been fometimes fufpected, he lays no great ftrefs upon their authority. He next proceeds to confider the private teftimonies of particular writers, to the fame purpofe; and obferves, that if we examine thofe writers who have left us catalogues of the facred writings of the New Teftament, we shall find, that they all agree in the main, notwithstanding any distance of time and place; and that their differences in other points of religious controverfy, occafioned no difagreement on this article, The proof of this he makes fufficiently clear, by going over the feveral teftimonies of the antient fathers in a very accurate manner, from whence it appears, that many of them bore witness to all the books of the New Teftament, agreeably to our prefent canon; tho' from the filence of fome, who had not happened to mention them, in particular the epiftle to the Hebrews, the epiftles of St. James and St. Jude, St. Peter's fecond epiftle, the two laft epiftles afcribed to St. John, and the book of Revelation, had been doubted of for fome time, tho' afterwards univerfally acknowledged as genuine; which fhews the very great circumfpection that was used before the admiffion of any writings into the canon, which was never done without the cleareft proof of their authenticity.---Tho' it may not be easy to fix the precife time, when the books of the New Teftament were firft collected, and acknowledged by the univerfal approbation of the church, to be the genuine writings of infpired men; yet our author has made thus much fufficiently clear, viz. that these books were actually confidered as the rule and standard of Christianity, before there was any civil or ecclefiaftical authority erected in the church, fufficient to impose them upon the common belief of Chriftians;—they were thus confidered at a time, when the powers of this world were of a different religion, and when no particular church or fociety of Chriftians had authority fufficient to prescribe an univerfal law in contradiction to the evidence of fact.

Thus far the first chapter of this work:-the fecond contains reflections on the writers of the New Teftament, shewing the truth of their hiftory: with some proofs of their being genuine from internal characters, and their agreement with contemporary hiftorians. It is not fufficient,' (as Mr. Cockburne obferves) to prove a work to be genuine, that it has been attefted by many antient writers of the best authority; there is an intrinfic character, fo neceffary to confirm fuch

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teftimonies, and to render them decifive, that if any writing fhould carry in it certain marks of contradiction to the character and fentiments of the perfon to whom it is afcribed, or to the hiftory of the time in which he lived, fuch incon-. fiftencies would have weight enough to difcredit the best atteftations, for a reafon which is felf-evident, that truth muft ever agree with itself.-On the other hand, if authentic teftimonies are enforced by fuch characters of truth, as diftinguish a genuine from a counterfeit werk, we have all the evidence for its being genuine, which the nature of historical proof will admit of; nor can there be any ground to fuppofe fuch a piece to be spurious, but on fuch principles as would justify an univerfal fcepticifm, with refpect to hiftory.'-This internal evidence of the truth of the books of the New Teftament, and their agreement with contemporary writers, are both fufficiently made out by our author, who justly adds thereto, another characteristic of truth in the writers of the New Teftament, viz. That propriety of manners andcharacter, in which our Saviour, and the first teachers of his religion, are fo fitly reprefented.' He then gives a sketch of of our Saviour's life and character, extracted from the gospels, and painted in fuch juft and lively colours, as deter us from attempting any abridgment of what will amply recompence the reader's application to the work itfelf; where he will find fuch remarks on the character of Chrift, as afford an argument that the picture drawn of it by the evangelifts, is an original, and was taken from the life.With regard to the general character of the writers of the New Teftament, he fhews, that whoever reads the writings of the apoftles and evangelifts, with the leaft attention, muft find there fo many traces of the ftricteft regard to virtue, and fuch fentiments of the pureft morality, as will not allow him to fufpect, that writers of this character fhould have formed a defign to impofe on the world under the mafk of religion.-Nor, fecondly, were they chargeable with fuch enthufiafm as might difpose them, to credulity, or make them liable to the artifices of impofture.' Thirdly, Impartiality is fhown to make another part of the character of the evangelical writers. Fourthly, He, proves, that they agree fo well in their accounts of our Sa-. viour's life and doctrine, as to leave no reafon to fufpect the truth of their teftimony. For, as Mr. Cockburne oblerves, it is fcarce poffible, that four writers of an history so much, diverfified, containing fo many facts, with a variety of circumftances; and fo many occafional difcourfes, which might," have been diverfely reported, fhould have agreed better, un

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lefs we should fuppofe, that every word of their narratives had been fuggefted to them. If there is any fhew of disagreement, it is either immaterial, as not affecting any part of their history, or proceeds from a different manner in the ⚫ relation. Thus, if one of the evangelifts has omitted what has been mentioned by others, that omiffion cannot be charged as any contradiction in the hiftory itself. Other differences in the ftile, or order of the narrative, were unavoidable, as the relators feem to have been left to their own conduct (tho' under fome direction) in the use of language and method; nay, fuch a difagreement rather tends to confirm the truth of their relations, as it affords an argument that there was no concert in compofing the gofpels; or that the evangelifts had not merely tranfcribed one from another." -The laft character he gives of thefe writers is, that they were divinely affifted, and delivered only thofe truths, which were fuggefted to them by the Holy Spirit: which immediate direction of the apoftles feems to have been neceffary to procure them a fufficient authority, and to fecure the ends of a divine revelation, by preventing fuch mistakes as illiterate men might, otherwise, be liable to, in the delivery of a new inftitution.

In the 4th chapter, our author fhews, that the notoriety of the facts related in the gofples, and acts of the apoftles, fufficiently diftinguifhes them from the pretended miracles of later date. In the 5th chapter he treats of the predictions contained in the New Testament; and observes, that as the events therein foretold depended upon mere contingencies, or the choice of free beings, they afford undoubted proofs of a divine foreknowledge: for that, in many inftances, the event was fo far from having any neceffary or probable connection with the caufes which produced it, that it rather appeared unlikely to have happened. He inftances in our Saviour's predictions of the manner and circumstances of his own death, and of the tragical deftruction of Jerufalem, which fo foon followed it. A third inftance is that remarkable prediction relating to the extraordinary fuccefs which fhould attend the labours of the apoftles in preaching the gofpel to all nations and a fourth is the prediction of St. Paul, relating to the corruptions of religion, which fhould be introduced in latter times, when fome fhould depart from the faith, giving heed to feducing fpirits and doctrines of devils, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abftain from meats which God had created to be received with thanksgiving: all which were remarkably fulfilled.-In the 6th chapter he proves; that the books of the New Teftament were

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acknowledged to be the genuine writings of the perfons whofe names they bear, by the most antient enemies of our religion and that the facts contained therein were fuppofed by them to be true; tho' they were willing to afcribe them to the power of magic, or any other but the real caufe. This he proves from Celfus, Porphyry, and particularly Julian the apoftate, from whom he has feveral quotations, to fhew that even this bittereft enemy of Christianity acknowledged the books of the New Teftament, to be the authentic records thereof, and never pretended to fix on them any fufpicion of forgery.-Concerning the ftile of the facred writings, our author obferves (chap. 7.) that it is agreed amongst the best judges of language, antient and modern, that the apoftles and evangelifts have no pretenfions to the character of exact writers; nor is it ftrange, that men of a low birth and profeffion, who wrote in a language which was not their own, and had acquired habits of expreffion peculiar to their country and their ideas of religion, fhould not have been fufficiently mafters of the Greek to write correctly; or, in other words, that ⚫ their ftile fhould be a mixture of idioms very different from that of antient Greece.' And tho' the contrary opinion has been espoused by Pfochenius, Blackwall, and others, yet our author thinks, it can be no honour to the infpired writers to suppose that they writ with a claffical propriety.' For, as it was not the defign of the gofpel to teach men eloquence, but to correct their morals, that manner of writing must be confidered as beft, which is beft fuited to the nature of the • fubject, and to vulgar understandings.' But ftill, as he afterwards adds, notwithstanding any impropriety, or defect of ftile, which may be charged on the facred writers, an impartial reader will be apt to find in them a natural eloquence, " more fignificant than mere propriety of language, or a due arrangement of periods; and that there is fometimes à force in their expreffions, more moving and pathetic than the • most artificial eloquence, not animated by the fame fpirit.' 'When treating, in the eighth chapter, of the fuccefs of the evangelical writings, he justly obferves, that it was furely an event too extraordinary to be accounted for in the courfe ⚫ of natural caufes, that the labours of a few illiterate converts, should have produced fuch furprifing effects in the • converfion of the world to a religious inftitution, which had • nothing but truth to recommend it.-Had the first converts to Chriflianity facrificed the intereft of their paffions, or the prejudices of their birth, to the eafe and conveniencies of life; or had they merely confulted their fortunes, by differbling

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bling their real fentiments; as fuch political changes are too 'common to occafion any furprize, especially among men who have no principles of virtue, no argument could be founded on the greateft revolutions of this kind. But it is certain, that the primitive Chriftians acted from very different motives, and had not only embraced the external forms of virtue, but were strictly obfervant of thofe rules of morality in ⚫ their own lives, which they prefcribed to others.'

In fupport of this part of their character, he produces the teftimonies, not only of friends, but of enemies too, particularly of Pliny the younger, the emperor Julian, and Ammianus Marcellinus; and thence concludes, that nothing less than the force of truth could have extorted fuch acknowledg ments and as we cannot eafily fufpect these authorities, they afford us a convincing evidence, that men who governed their lives by fuch ftrict rules, were [themfelves] thoroughly perfuaded of the truth of their religion.'

The 9th chapter gives us feveral arguments for the truth of the gofpel-history, drawn from the intrepid conftancy of the primitive martyrs.

The 10th chapter treats of fome remarkable events following our Saviour's afcenfion, which contributed to the propagation of the gofpel; particularly the miracles wrought by the apoftles, and their fucceffors: and here the author thinks it more than probable, that such extraordinary powers remained in the church after their deceafe, notwithstanding all the bold affertions of a late free enquirer to the contrary.

The 11th chapter (which concludes the first part) fhews how the deftruction of Jerufalem became a means of propagating the books of the New Teftament; both as it had a tendency to produce this effect, and as that cataftrophe was accompa nied with many very remarkable and interefting circumftances, which had been foretold in these books.

The fecond part of this work contains a particular hiftory of the feveral books of the New Teftament; and firft of St. Matthew's gospel, which Mr. Cockburne fhews, from antient teftimonies, to have been wrote in the Hebrew or Syriac language, within a few years (moft probably about eight) after our Saviour's afcenfion. As to the Greek tranflation (if it be one) he does not pretend to fix abfolutely upon the person who made it, but rather feems to incline to an old conjectureThat this apoftle himfelf might have writ it in the Greek torigue as well as in Hebrew for more general inftruction, as the last was a language very little understood.' The ftile of this evangelift,' (he obferves) being a mixture of Greek

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