appealed as honest men to what they had seen. They had beheld not one or two wonders wrought, but a large number. Nor could they be deceived in them, for they were such as might be examined and tested. They knew the blameless life of their Master, and were sure he would not deceive them; and because they knew his miracles were real, they, without delay, went forth, and declared them to the world-in the same age and country in which they were wrought.

They also put the accounts into writing, and then placed them in the hands not only of friends, but of enemies, to be examined. And these enemies were men of learning and power; skilful to detect fraud, and powerful to expose it; and who were on the watch to find out any thing by which they might destroy the credit of their records. Instead of denying that these miracles were done, the Jewish opposers admitted that they were truly wrought; and the only explanation they attempted to give of them was, by saying they were the works of Satan-done by his power, and to accomplish his wicked designs!

The truth of the miracles, however, does not rest on the statements of the apostles only: there were thousands of witnesses; for these things were "not done in a corner." In the highway, and open street, in village, town, and city; in market-places, synagogues, and the temple: publicly, in open day-light, surrounded by multitudes, the Saviour wrought his miracles. Nor were the people mere spectators: in one instance, upwards of five thousand, and in another more than four thousand, shared in them. Large numbers were healed in the same evening, or at the same hour of the day.

Here were the blind, now in the full enjoyment of sight; the maimed, in the possession of their limbs; those once deaf, dumb, leprous, palsied, paralysed, dropsical, possessed by Satan, and dead-all witnesses of the reality of their miraculous cures.

There are persons who will not believe any thing unusual and strange, unless they see it for themselves. An emperor of Siam, when told by the ambassador from the Dutch, that in Holland the water became hard from the effect of cold, and that it then bore men, wagons, and horses, on its surface, replied, in anger: "It is false and impossible, for no such thing was ever seen in Siam!" Similar is the folly of those who disbelieve miracles, because they have never seen them wrought.

The young reader has never been to the arctic regions, where the sun does not rise for months together, and where perpetual snow covers the ground he has not seen the great wall of China; or the pyramids in Egypt; or Mount Hecla, in Iceland; yet he does not doubt that there are such places and objects. He may

never have looked through a telescope powerful enough to show him that the sun has, on its surface, spots much larger than the earth; or that the planet Saturn is encircled by an immense ring, many thousand miles broad; or that the whitish spots seen at night in a clear sky, are the reflection of thousands of sparkling suns; or that the stars are of many different and beautiful colours. The accounts of these things, when first heard, are to us wonderful: we have not seen them with our own eyes, yet we credit the

word of those who state these facts, because they are persons of good character, and have no interest in telling us a falsehood. Julius Cesar once ruled the Roman empire, and gained many victories; Alfred the Great was king of England, and was a wise and good king; Napoleon Buonaparte reigned over the French, and at length died in the island of St. Helena. How do we know that such persons ever lived, and did the actions recorded of them? From the records of history; and a man would be thought very ignorant, or else quite insane, who would not believe such testimony. In the same way, we receive the accounts of the miracles; they are undoubtedly matters of history, and we judge of them as we should of any other historical records; and it has been shown that they are supported by far surer evidence than that which we have for any other history in the world.

"A miracle," says Dr. Bogue, "to those who see it, is an object of sense. To those who have not seen it, the evidence must arise from testimony: the testimony of the person who performed the miracle, the testimony of those on whom it was performed, or the testimony of the people who were eye witnesses of it. All these may be combined with such force in proof of a miracle, that if their united testimony be rejected, we can have no certainty of any thing whatever. There are no ancient events which have such a weight of evidence in their favour, as the miracles of Christ and his apostles."

If it be asked, Why do we not see miracles now? it may be replied, For this simple reason: they have fulfilled the end for which they were

designed, and are not now necessary. They were intended to confirm a revelation from God. While that revelation was being made, through a number of ages, they were wrought; but now it is completed, they are withdrawn. The will of God is clearly declared in the Bible; that holy book contains all that is necessary for us to know and believe; and, therefore, as there is no further revelation, there is no occasion for any more signs and wonders to confirm it. "It is probable, if they were continued, they would be of no use, because those persons who refuse to be convinced by the miracles recorded in the New Testament, would not be convinced by any new ones: for it is not from want of evidence, but from want of sincerity, and out of passion and prejudice, that any man rejects the miracles related in the Scripture; and the same want of sincerity, the same passions and prejudices, would make him resist any proof, any miracle whatever. A perpetual power of working miracles, would in all ages lead to numerous impostures, while it would unsettle all the laws of Providence."*

Signs and wonders are now wrought; but they are moral, not physical miracles-mind is operated on, not matter. When the wicked are turned from sin to holiness, and unbelievers are brought to live a life of faith, then are seen proofs of the power of God.

The recorded miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ claim our frequent study. They are related in the Gospels with great simplicity and brevity, and form a most interesting and instructive part of the

Bishop Newton; Rev. T. H. Horne.

word of God. No human comment can add to their beauty, or render them more impressive: yet it has been thought, that by placing them in the form of a continuous narrative, and pointing out some of the lessons they teach, the young in families, and the elder scholars in schools, might be led to turn to the sacred page more frequently, and with increased profit and delight. A few illustrations, drawn from the manners, customs, and topography of the east, are added as notes.