I have been alluding to the lower orders, the great bulk of mankind. In the higher ranks, which have access to other modes of improvement and instruction, the results of a Christian faith may seem less decidedly and evidently marked. But it will be found, on inquiry, that a comparative indifference to the honours and pleasures of the world, a sense of responsibility concerning the employment of the various talents of time, wealth, and influence, an active charity, a spirit of humility and condescension, a lively interest in whatever regards the moral or temporal welfare of others, belongs, in an eminent and singular degree, to the disciples of Christianity. We cannot contemplate such a character, without acknowledging its intrinsic excellence. But to make a fair estimate, we ought to compare this character with what would otherwise have existed in its stead: we ought to remember, that, speaking generally, what is benevolence would have been selfishness; what is charity would have been indifference; what is lowliness would have been arrogance and pride; what is moderation would have been intemperate luxury, if the virtues had not been

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substituted for the vices through the influence of Christianity.

These results are daily arising from the Christian religion, and have done so in a greater or less degree from the period of its first promulgation. They are either the consequences of a design contrived by divine wisdom for the benefit of man, or the accidental effects of an imposture undertaken for no assignable motive by uneducated enthusiasts. But surely it contradicts all probability or experience, to believe that a scheme so vague and empirical as that of the apostles must have been, if they did not act upon divine authority, should have proved so suitable to mankind, so effectual towards the object which it professes, and so beneficial to the world at large.

This, however, like every other difficulty which has been shown, in the preceding treatise, to embarrass the hypothesis which ascribes Christianity to human invention, vanishes at once when the divine origin of the religion is admitted. We should then expect that it would

prove efficient for all those purposes which are actually answered by it; that it would console the anxieties, trials, and sorrows to which human life is inevitably subject; that it would provide for the dedication of the powers and faculties of mankind to the will and service of their Maker; that it would propose a way for restoring the disobedient to his regard; and further, that it should be found suitable to every age, and condition, and climate, and capable of improving the general character wherever it was received. And all this it is constantly effecting. Systems confessedly of human origin make no approach towards these results. We see no reason to wish all men Stoics; or all men Epicureans; or all men Mohammedans; or all men polytheists; or all men Atheists. But no one who has ever witnessed, with impartial eyes, the operation of Christianity in a single family, or a single individual, can resist the inference, that if the spirit of the Gospel were universal, and all men were practical Christians, there would be little left to complain of even in this imperfect world.

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CHAPTER XIII.

Conclusion.

THE preceding chapters have been intended to establish a strong moral evidence of the truth of Christianity. Whether we consider the doctrines introduced by its Author :-their originality in his nation; their originality in the world;—and yet the confirmation which they receive from many singular facts, singular enactments, and minute prophecies contained in the Jewish Scriptures:-Or whether we consider the internal evidence of the Christian writings;--their language; their anticipation of conduct subsequently developed, and their general wisdom :-Or whether we consider the peculiar character formed under the influence of Christianity; its excellence in individuals; its beneficial effects upon mankind; and its suit

ableness to their condition as dependent and corrupt beings:-Or whether we consider the rapidity with which a religion so pure, so self-denying, so humiliating, and so uncompromising, was propagated and embraced, even in the face of bitter hostility:-we have phænomena which nothing, except the truth of the religion, can adequately explain. Except on this supposition, it would be difficult to account for any one of these several facts. But either we must believe that not one only, but all of these improbable facts concur to deceive us :-or Jesus Christ did appear in the world, and bear the character which he claimed of Mediator between God and man:-did suffer the penalty due to human transgression;-and does redeem from that penalty as many as "receive him," and commit themselves to his care'.

It must be always borne in mind, that this is the assertion made throughout the Gospel.

1 "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name."-John, i. 12.