God." Now I would ask if by this he means to deny that there have been any divine messengers since the days in which God saw cause to enable them to work miracles? If so, surely there must have been a great deal of imposture practised through every age since, even in that order of priesthood to which he belongs. For there is no difficulty in producing abundant testimony, that they declare themselves God's messengers to their hearers. Some not far from us lately have taken the liberty to tell their hearers, that if they did not obey their message to them, they should appear as witnesses against them, at the bar of God, in the last day; and yet they wrought no miracle to accredit them. But to return to his assertion, "that miracles are the test that persons have authority from God."

There is no difficulty in shewing scripture to prove its absurdity without much comment. See 1 Cor. xii. 7 to 11. "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, for to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing, by the same Spirit; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

There is no doubt it will be said that some of these gifts are as demonstrative as miracles; and it is granted; but there are several of them that bear no analogy to miracles. Therefore clearly shewing that miracles would be no test of their authority; and at the very close of the apostolic age it appears that the wecking

of miracles was rather a mark of false prophets; by which those that had the mark of the beast were to be deceived, Rev. xiii. 13, 14. “And he doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dweil on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by the sword and did live," &c. Rev. xvi. 14. "For they are the spirits of devils working miracles," &c. and xix. 20. "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophets that wrought miracles before him, which deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image." It seems by all this that miracles were not always a true test, and yet there was a test by which those that had not received the mark of the beast, and his image should know them, and I have no doubt there is still a test remaining for such as those upon whom John pronounced the blessing. Rev. xvi. 15. Blessed is he who watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

But upon Rand's mode of reasoning here, Christ has Do messengers now, neither has had for at least seventeen centuries, and yet we hear much every day of messengers, numerous messengers, even sent to convert the heathen, that never had any outward knowledge of a Saviour; and who of all others would have a right to demand miracles, if that was the only test by which messengers were to be accredited.

I have no doubt they are messengers, but if they are not to be received as Christ's, for want of that test, whose messengers are they? To say it is sufficient that they have the bible with them, and by that power must be received, would be saying too much, as it would

be putting it upon higher ground than the authority of Christ's and the apostle's testimony, with the aid of Moses, and the prophets; for when Christ came to the Jews he had all the aid Moses and the prophets could give him, and the advantage also of the Jews' believing their testimony; and yet he condescended to add miracles to them; and shall it be expected, that the record of those transactions alone shall be sufficient for the heathen? I think it could not be expected unless the heathen have something beyond that book, and what the messengers can testify of it. I therefore conclude that they have the testimony of that Spirit to which Barclay bears testimony, or missionaries will be of little use to them. But he says, page 107, "We must be allowed to reject every new revelation beyond the scriptures." I by no means object to that, and the Quakers would join him in it. He can no where find in their writings, that they pretend to be wise beyond what is written in the scriptures of truth, but they believe it necessary, that they should have the aid of the Spirit, to give them an understanding of what is there written. Rand has abundantly admitted the necessity of this as before noticed, notwithstanding he denies to Wickliff, Huss, Calvin, Luther, and all the reformers, the sensible aid of the Spirit, which he, to answer his own purposes, calls new revelations, inspiration, &c. under which names he thinks to alarm his readers, and make them suppose that some great innovation is attempted to be made upon the established doctrines of the gospel of Christ. It seems however by reading their writings, especially Calvin's, that if Rand had lived in that age, they and he would have differed very much in their opinions.

It might be well for Rand to attend to his own exclamation. "Presumptuous men! did they not know that there is no work, nor council, nor might, against the Lord."

I pass over a great deal of what I call fallacious reasoning, and such as he could easily get rid of, if he would come up to the point, and admit what he finds very difficult to deny, viz. the testimony of the Spirit, SECTION 3.

"Of the evidence necessary to prove a revelation to persons in distant places, or future generations."

This section commences with an inquiry which to me appears very unimportant, and accompanied with information of what he expects to show, viz. that the sacred writers are sent or commissioned of God. I doubt whether his production will be likely to fall into the hands of any in this country, who are not as fully satisfied of the fact now as they will be after perusing his performance. I should not think it strange however if some should doubt the truth of his assertion, when he says, "Yea we have a more sure word than Peter had in the holy mountain," which undoubtedly was the word of God..

Now since his reasoning from the 113th to 116th page seems to be such as to induce us to believe that he has been acquainted. with a set of unbelievers, such at least as I know nothing about: I pass over them until I come to page 116, where he says, 66 And thus though God has ceased for seventeen hundred years to send his prophets and messengers," &c. On this I observe, that I hear daily much said about messengers of bis own profession; and see much printed also of their

going to and fro, that the knowledge of God may be increased and extended even to heathen lands. I ask, whose messengers are they? for surely if they are not God's messengers, there is but two chances more for them, either of which would be (in my opinion) very unimportant as to real usefulness. I shall therefore leave the subject after saying that I think it must appear that he has a very inadequate idea of prophecy.

CHAPTER V.

Remarks on Rand's fifth chapter.

I conceive that a complete and conclusive answer to Rand's fifth chapter may be made in a few words. The title of the chapter is as follows: "No evidence from scripture that inspiration is to be expected in the present or any subsequent age." The reader will here see he has undertaken to prove a negative, which of all positions is the most difficult to prove. The affirmative is on my side, which I shall clearly shew by à few pertinent passages from the sacred writings, first premising, that if I shall produce any proef from scripture that the influence of the Holy Spirit upon the hu man mind is promised to be continued, then inspiration is promised to be continued. One of the offices of the Holy Spirit upon the human mind doubtless is to en lighten it, to instruct it. "For if we walk in the light, then are we children of the light." But if the human mind is enlightened, then is light infused into it; it is then inspired for inspiration is an infusion of any thing into the mind by a superior power.

Before I proceed to my quotations, I will remark