that the difference of the cases, as well as their resemblance, may better appear, it ought likewise to be observed, that Jansenism, though not the ruling faction, was at that time the popular faction; that this popularity was not the effect of the miracles of the Abbé, but antecedent to these miracles; that, on the contrary, the Jesuits were extremely unpopular; and that many, who had no more faith in the miracles of Saint Medard than Mr Hume has, were well pleased to connive at a delusion, which at once plagued and mortified a body of men, that were become almost universally odious.

I shall only add, that nothing could more effeetually expose the folly of these pretensions, than the expedient by which they were made to cease. In consequence of an order from the King, the sepulchre was inclosed with a wall, and the votaries were debarred from approaching the tomb. The author says in relation to this*, No Jansenist was ever embarrassed to account for the cessation of the miracles, when the church-yard was shut up by the King's edict. Certain it is, that God ' is master of his own graces and works.' But it is equally certain, that neither reason nor the gospel leads us to think, that any human expedient will prove successful, which is calculated to frustrate the decrees of Heaven. Both, on the contrary, teach us, that men never more directly pro

*Page 198, in the note.

mote the designs of their maker, than when they intend directly to oppose them. It was not thus, that either Pharisees or Sadducees, Jews or Gentiles, succeeded in their opposition to the miracles of Jesus and his apostles. The opinion of Gamaliel* was undoubtedly judicious: If this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought; but if it be of God, ye CANNOT overthrow it; beware, therefore, lest ye be found fighting even against God. To conclude, Did the Jansenist cause derive any advantage from those pretended miracles? None at all. It even suffered by them. It is justly remarked by Voltaire †, that' the tomb of the Deacon Paris, proved in effect, in the minds of all people of sense, the tomb of Jan'senism.' How unlike in all respects the miracles recorded by the Evangelists!

THUS I have briefly inquired into the nature and evidence, first of the Pagan, and next of the Popish miracles, mentioned by Mr Hume; and have, I hope, sufficiently evinced, that the miracles of the New Testament can suffer nothing by the comparison; that, on the contrary, as, in painting, the shades serve to heighten the glow of the colours; and, in music, the discords to set off the sweetness of the harmony; so the value of these genuine miracles is enhanced by the contrast of those paltry counterfeits.

*Acts v. 38, 39.

+ Siecle de Louis XIV. chap. 33.

SECTION VI.

Abstracting from the evidence for particular facts, we have irrefragable evidence, that there have been miracles in former times; or such events as, when compared with the present constitution of the world, would by Mr Hume be denominated miraculous.

I READILY concur with Mr Hume in maintaining, that when, merely by the force of REASON, we attempt to investigate the origin of worlds *, we get beyond our sphere, and must infallibly bewilder ourselves in hypothesis and conjecture. REASON indeed (which vainly boasts her all-sufficiency) has sometimes pretended to carry men to this amazing height. But there is ground to suspect, that in such instances, the ascent of reason, as the author elegantly expresses it †, has been aided by the wings of imagination. If we will not be indebted to REVELATION, for our knowledge of this article, we must, for aught I can perceive, be satisfied to live in ignorance. There is, however, one question

Essay 12. Of the academical or sceptical philosophy, part 3. + Essay 11. Of a particular providence and future state.

distinct from the former, though akin to it, which, even from the principles of reason, we may with great probability determine. The question I mean is, Whether the world had an origin or not?

That there has been an infinite, eternal, and independent series of finite, successive, and dependent beings, such as men, and consequently that the world had no beginning, appears, from the bare consideration of the thing, extremely incredible, if not altogether absurd. The abstract argument used on this head, might appear too metaphysical and refined: I shall not therefore introduce it; but shall recur to topics, which are more familiar, and which, though they do not demonstrate, that it is absolutely impossible that the world has existed from eternity, clearly evince, that it is highly improbable, or rather, certainly false. These topics I shall only mention, as they are pretty obvious, and have been often urged with great energy by the learned, both ancient and modern. Such are the late invention of letters, and of all the sciences and arts by which human life is civilized; the known origin of most nations, states and kingdoms; and the first peopling of many countries. It is in our power at present to trace the history of every people backwards to times of the greatest barbarity and ignorance. Europe, though not the largest of the four parts into which the earth is divided, is, on many accounts, the most considerable. But what

a different face does Europe wear at present, from what it wore three thousand years ago? How immense the odds in knowledge, in arts, in policy, in every thing? How easy is the intercourse, and how extensive the acquaintance, which men can now enjoy with all, even the remotest regions of the globe, compared with what was, or could have been enjoyed, in that time of darkness and simplicity? A man differs not more from a child, than the human race now differs from the human race then. Three thousand years ago, appear indeed to mark a very distant epoch; and yet it is but as yesterday, compared with eternity. This, when duly weighed, every thinking person will acknowledge to be as strong moral evidence as the subject can admit (and that I imagine is very strong), that the world had a beginning.

I shall make a supposition, which will perhaps appear whimsical, but which will tend to elucidate the argument I am enforcing. In antediluvian times, when the longevity of man was such as to include some centuries, I shall suppose, that a few boys had been transported to a desert island, and there left together, just old enough to make shift to sustain themselves, as those in the golden age are fabled to have done, on acorns, and other spontaneous productions of the soil. I shall suppose that they had lived there for some hundreds of years, had remembered nothing of their coming into the island, nor of any other person whatsoever; and that thus they had never had occasion to know, or hear, of either

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