do such works for the manifestation of his acceptance, and encouragement of others to the like: 2. Or, that their present perfection in glory makes them so pleasing to God, that he will thus manifest it: 3. Or, that their general supplications for their distressed brethren on earth, are heard and do obtain such particular deliverances; all which do imply no particular knowledge of all our particular cases, nor yet any warrant that we should pray to them.

Thirdly, But if it could be proved that the use of the cross, and the praying to martyrs at their graves, in subordination to Christ, were approved by miracles, we should have more reason to approve of such practices, than to question the miracles or doctrine of the Scriptures.

Obj. 15. But when you have made the best of it you can, you have but a moral certainty of the truth of the christian religion, which dependeth upon the credit of the witnesses, and therefore may deceive you, and strictly, is no certainty at all: for man's actions are contingent, and his nature, as you confess, exceedingly corrupt; and, therefore, your human testimony of these miracles may be false.

Answ. 1. If it were but a moral certainty, yet may it be so great that he were mad that would not so far believe it, as to venture all his hopes and happiness upon it. If, by the laws of nations, men's estates and lives shall stand or fall, upon the testimony of two ordinary witnesses, which afford scarcely a moral certainty, how much more credible may a fuller testimony be. If your own father, brethren, kindred, and honest neighbours, should all say and swear, that they saw such or such a thing with their eyes, or heard men speak such languages with their ears; would you not so far believe them, as to venture your life upon the truth of it; especially, if they would all die in the attesting of it; and, yet, more especially, if you must venture much more than your lives, by refusing to believe it.

2. But I say, that in our case we have not only a moral certainty, but a natural; or, that we may not quarrel about words, call it what you please, but it is a certainty as infallible as that of sense itself. This I have proved already, and for further clearing it I will consider the words of one that denieth it, and that shall be Peter Hurtad de Mendoza, in his 'Physic. Disput. 8. de Anima,' sec. 3, sec. 23-25, p. 570: (I have elsewhere examined the words of Rada and Rob. Baronius, denying faith to have evidence, in my 'Reply to Mr. Blake.') Hurtado asks this question: "To what species we must reduce the evidence

of a testimony?" and he answers, "To a moral certainty ; because though we have a physical evidence of the testimony, yet of the thing testified we have not simply evidence, but obscurity. But if we did evidently know the testimony of God, then we should evidently know the thing testified, because it is gathered from two evident principles, viz., That God cannot lie, and that he revealed that thing."

To this, I reply, We have infallible evidence that these miracles were done in confirmation of the christian faith; and consequently that it is revealed by God. For the further clearing of which, let us follow this author yet further: he next asketh, "What sort of evidence is that by which I believe that there is such a place as Rome, upon the witness of so many men attesting it?" Answ. It is physical; for it is impossible, even in a physical sense, that so many men in so many ages should so lie, so that I have no less evidence that there is a city called Rome than that all fire is heating.

Obj. Then human faith may have physical evidence?

Answ. I deny the consequence, because that it is not an act of faith, but of knowledge; for it resteth not upon human testimony, but on a physical repugnancy, by which I see that so many men could not combine to lie; but human faith resteth on the testimony of one or more men, who could physically combine to lie, and therefore it is obscure and uncertain. The reason is at hand; because that former assent ariseth from two principles, which suffer not any dissent. The first is this: It is impossible for so many men in so many ages to meet or combine to lie. The second is, So many men in so many ages do witness this. So far the author. But I infer that the same, or as infallible, physical evidence have we of the truth of the miracles by which the Holy Ghost did witness to the christian faith; for first, it is naturally impossible that so many churches in so many countries of the world, at such a distance, should combine to lie, in telling the world that the Holy Ghost was given, and tongues spoken, and miracles done among them for so many years, if it had not been so. 2. Consider well, that though man be a free agent, yet he hath a nature as well as a free will; and that voluntas ipsa est quædam natura; the understanding naturally inclines to truth; the will hath naturally good, as good, for its object; and evil, as evil, it shunneth. And though yet it be free, and its acts contingent as to the means, because of its own, and the understandings' intermination, yet its freedom is servato ordine finis, and his willing of

his own felicity as the end is with a freedom consistent with a necessity, and is natural, though not strictly per modum naturæ, as brutes desire their objects. Man, as well as brutes, hath a nature that cannot but love itself, and desire its own welfare, and abhor death and misery, temporal and eternal; and, therefore, though here and there a man, in some desperate passion, may make away himself, yet we are physically certain that it must be a thing which they do indeed believe, that must persuade cities and countries of people in their wits, to cast their estates and lives into the hands of bloody tyrants, and utterly ruin their worldly hopes. It is, therefore, a very natural impossibility that so many thousands, of so many parts of the world, should entertain a doctrine, which pretendeth to be underpropped by frequent miracles, and these done in their sight, and by. or upon themselves, and which promiseth to give the Holy Ghost to all that receive it, for the effecting of some extraordinary gifts, and to deliver this doctrine and the records of it to the world as true, and to forsake all worldly hopes, and cast themselves on apparent misery in the world, and lay down their lives in the attesting of these things, without any hopes of worldly advantages by it, if they did not believe or judge these things true; and they could not judge the objects of their own sight and hearing true, if they had not known them so to be; and especially, when they do all this in hope of a blessedness in the life to come, where it is impossible that so many men of reason should expect to be blessed for conspiring in a lie, but rather to be everlastingly cursed and miserable, by the justice of that God from whom they expect their reward. I conclude, therefore, that the case being resolved into man's natural principles and inclinations so clearly as it is, there is a natural evidence of the truth of these miracles. If it be a physical certainty that there is a city of Rome, it is also a physical certainty that there were such and such parliaments in England, and that they enacted such and such laws as now bear their names, and that there was such a man as Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Aristotle, who wrote such orations, poems, systems of sciences, &c.; and a much clearer, physical certainty have we (incomparably clearer) that the Holy Ghost was given, and such miracles wrought in attestation of the truth of the christian doctrine.

But Hurtado proceeds thus:

Obj. 2. "Then the testimony of the martyrs gives us a physical evidence of the mysteries of faith; because it is impossible that so many martyrs should combine to lie."

Answ. I deny the consequence; because they confess they know not evidently the things which they affirm. So that though it be evident that they all believed the mysteries for which they died, yet are not the mysteries themselves evident; because that which I testify cannot be more evident to him that heareth, by my testimony, than it is to me; but these mysteries were obscure to the martyrs, therefore to us. But in the former case of the question, where so many witnesses have evidence of the thing attested, and their testimony is evidently true, there the thing itself is evidently true to us.

To which I reply, that the latter is our very case, and his answer is not to the case that we have in hand; for the question should not be only of the martyrs, but of all the churches of the first age; and it should not be directly of the mysteries of faith, but of the miracles which they did or saw, which were matters of frequent public fact. Therefore, I say, 1. The martyrs had as full evidence, in the latter ages, that they received from their teachers and ancestors the records of christian doctrine and miracles both, as the witnesses which you mention have that they saw Rome; and, 2. The first churches had as good evidence that the Holy Ghost was extraordinarily given, and miracles wrought before their eyes, and strange languages spoken among them and by themselves, which they were never taught by man, as your witnesses are certain that they saw Rome. 3. And that these miracles, being the effects of God's power, are his own seal, which cannot be set to a lie, to lead the world into remediless delusion, this is a most evident consequent from the great principle, That there is a God; and that this God is merciful, just, wise, faithful, and the Ruler of the world. So that upon this philosopher's own grounds, it is clear that the first churches having evidence of the miracles, had thence evidence of the certainty of the doctrine; though the mysteries of that doctrine were not evident in itself; nor did these churches ever doubt of the truth of the miracles, much less profess that they had no evidence of them, as he saith they did of the mysteries, but contrarily, became churches by the cogency of that evidence.

In all this I have spoken nothing of those inherent evidences of its verity, which the christian doctrine containeth in itself; it being most evident that no good spirit would lie in the name of God, nor deceive the world by false pretending his authority: and that no evil spirit, either could do such miracles, without that commission, which the faithful and gracious Ruler of the

world would never grant; or would, if he could, by such extraordinary means promote a doctrine that reproacheth and disgraceth him, and destroyeth his kingdom, and tendeth wholly to bring man back to God, and restore man to the purity of his holy image, and to a blessed communion with him that made him.

Nor do I, in all this, make much mention of that evidence, à posteriore, even the Holy Ghost within the believer himself, and the blessed effects of this doctrine upon his soul; though every believer hath this witness in himself, whereby he is confirmed in the faith; because this is an evidence which unbelievers have not in themselves, nor can well discern in others; and we speak of those that even an infidel may behold, as also because I have spoken of this heretofore, on 1 John v. 10-12.

Obj. 16. But why have we not miracles still, as well as they heretofore?

Answ. Having said enough to this before, I will only add the words of Austin, in answer of this question, wherewith he begins the aforesaid cap. viii. lib. 22. de Civit. Dei. "I might say, that before the world believed, miracles were necessary that he might believe. He that yet asketh for miracles, or wonders, that he may believe, is himself a wonder, who believeth not when the world believeth. But they speak this, that it might be thought that no such miracles were ever wrought. Whence, then, is Christ, as taken up into heaven in the flesh, every where proclaimed with so great belief? Whence is it that in so learned times, which reject all impossibilities, the world did believe incredible things too miraculously, without any miracles? Will they say the things were credible, and therefore believed? Why, then, do they not themselves believe them? Our answer, therefore, in short, is this, Either an incredible thing which was not seen, was believed, because of other incredible things, which were done and seen; or else, certainly, a matter so credible that it needeth no miracles to evince it, doth convince these men of their great infidelity." So far Austin.

And Ambrose answereth the same question thus, in cap. xii. p. ad Corinth : "At the first, miracles were necessary, that the foundations of faith might be firmly laid: but now they are not necessary, because the people draw each other to the faith, by their simple preaching, and the sight of their good works."

See, also, how Chrysostome answers the same objection, in Homil, xxxiii, in Matt.