coveting pain, persecution, and death,-is false, and must be ridiculous.

Nor is it less opposed and dishonourable to what is called natural religion, of which the infidel affects to be so greatly enamoured. The Bible is the only book which claims the evidence of inspiration derivable from prophecy,―a species of evidence, which possesses the peculiarity of increasing in value, by the lapse of time. This claim is so plausibly made out, as to have won the belief of multitudes of wise and virtuous men. Nothing could have been more easy to God, than by a single intervention of his providence, to have in an instant, destroyed such a delusion, and for ever have prevented its recurrence; nor could any act have been more consistent with his attributes, or more likely to promote his glory, and the happiness of men. On the

contrary, he has allowed a system of falsehood to proceed from age to age, accumulating every evidence which the most ardent admirer of deceit and wickedness could desire. He has permitted thousands of his rational creatures, who above all things sought to know the truth and to do his will, to sacrifice, under this deception, all that men ordinarily hold dear and valuable, and ultimately to lay down their lives rather than their faith. Such is the character which infidelity attributes to the Just, the True, and the Holy One. It teaches us to believe, that He who made us is utterly careless of our welfare, and utterly regard

less of his own honour,-that the prosperity of falsehood is more acceptable to Him than the spread of truth; and that, on the most important subject, to which the faith of man can be invited, or by which his expectations may by elicited, He has practically dishonoured benevolence, justice, and purity!

Having now illustrated the nature of infidel · objections to the two leading evidences of the divinity of Christianity, we shall proceed to inquire more fully into what the preceding chapter has already suggested,-the character which infidelity attributes to the writers of the Bible, or rather, the conclusions upon this subject to which it necessarily leads.

CHAPTER V.

THE CONCLUSIONS OF INFIDELITY AS TO SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS.

If the Bible be untrue, its authors were impostors.-Moses could not have been deceived in what he relates-nor Christ, in the prediction of his resurréction-nor the apostles, in their supposed witness of it.-The imposture of the apostles on an important subject-dishonourable to God-differing from other religious frauds-productive of evil to themselves—and multitudes of others—maintained in profound secrecy, by an immense number of persons-no suspicion of it now among professing Christians -conducted in the most imprudent manner—and crowned with the most splendid success.-Christ and his apostles transcendently wicked men-yet they preached the purest doctrines-led exemplary lives-died heroically-and were the most perfect self-contradictions.-Extract from the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. -Sketch of the life and character of the apostle Paul.

If the Bible be untrue, its authors were either impostors, or themselves grossly imposed upon. Could it be proved that they were men of very weak, or excitable and enthusiastic minds, it would certainly afford a strong suspicion, that they might possibly have been themselves the subjects of delusion. Equally would this be the

case, could it be shown, that their prejudices were in favour of the doctrines which they promulgated. But if it can be rendered manifest, that they were distinguished by sobriety of observation and judgment, and that all their prepossessions were decidedly hostile to that order of things to which they subsequently attached themselves;-if above all, it is evident, that in some of the facts which they relate, they could not, from the nature of things, have been deceived,-it will be morally certain, according to the infidel's judgment,that they were impostors, and impostors too, deserving no ordinary infamy.

We will first notice the character of Moses, as he is the most prominent of the writers of the Old Testament. We readily concede, that he was a person of poetical temperament and power, but it does not follow that he was destitute of any of those qualities, which render a man, either a cool and correct observer, or an accurate and unexaggerating historian. If we consider his education, and the prospects of his youth, it will be sufficiently apparent, that he was far more likely to have cultivated the friendship of the Egyptian court, than to seek the troublesome, and far from honourable office of leader of a band of slaves. The accomplished scholar would not be ambitious of the association of rude and uncultured men; and the heir presumptive to the throne of Egypt, was not, according to human judgment, the person that would voluntarily place himself in a

posture of decided opposition to the monarch in whose throne he had the prospect of being seated. To connect himself therefore with the interests of the people of Israel, was an act contrary to all his probable prepossessions and habits. Nothing too, can be more obvious, than his unwillingness to take such a step. Every apology which he could devise was employed to excuse himself; and when each was met and answered, his reluctance, far from being overcome, assumed as nearly the shape of a positive refusal, as his reverence for God would allow.1

It would have been natural enough, for a person in the responsible situation occupied by Moses, to have represented the people whom he governed and led, in glowing colours; and to have spoken highly of their origin, and their general character for heroism and virtue. Let any one read the records of Xenophon, Cæsar, and others, both ancient and modern, in illustration and proof of this sentiment. Had Moses been a weak man, or an enthusiast, nothing less than the most exalted encomiums on himself and the Israelites, would have been in character. Now what is the fact? Their father, he says, was "a Syrian ready to perish." He details the instances of their ingratitude, perfidy, cowardice, and idolatry, without the slightest attempt to mitigate the harshness of the picture; and in fine, pronounces them a stiff-necked and rebellious

1. Exod. iv. 13.-2. Deut. xxvi. 5,