which confirms the accounts of St. Luke and St. Mark. And fince, in the 14th and 15th chapters of St. John, ver, 16. 26. the apostle declares, that Jefus foretold he would Send to them, his difciples, the Comforter or holy Spirit from the Father, after his afcenfion to heaven; and that the apostles demonftrated by miracles, after the death of their Lord, that they had received this Comforter or divine Spirit, it follows, that the afcenfion and glorification of Jefus is as much afferted and confirmed by the gospel of St. John, as if that apoftle, like Luke, had writ the hiftory of it. This is evident to me. I think it is not poffible to dispute it.

The fum of the whole is, that the preju dices of the pious, and the arts of the crafty and interested, have defaced the true gospel of Chrift, and fubftituted human notions and confequences in the place of divine revelation: but let us ftrip the facred records of the falfe gloffes and fyftems, with which the theorists have covered it, and allow the enemy, that the apoftles, fometimes wanting the unerring spirit of their Master, were liable to flight mistakes, and inadvertencies, in the reprefentation of ordinary events; that they did fometimes, by too great an affection for their Mafter's doctrine, ftrain fome things, and cite prophecies that did not relate to Jefus in any fenfe at all (44);

(44);-let this be done to remove incumbrances, to clear up difficulties, and to anfwer objections otherwise unanswerable, and the writings of the apoftles would appear to

be:

(44) Let us now fee (fays a great man and upright christian) what ufe the enemies of christianity have endeavoured to make of the prophecies, as the evange lifts apply them; and what answer the truth of the eafe will oblige us to give to them.

They affert that the foundation of the christian re ligion is laid by the evangelifts, on the proof of this point, that the mission and character of Jesus were foretold by the prophets; and that the validity of this proof depends intirely on the force of those particular pro phecies which the fame evangelifts have applied to the illustration of it, in their feveral gofpels. Upon this. hypothefis, the enemy undertakes to fhew, that the prophecies, fo applied by them, do not at all relate to Jefus, in their proper and literal fignification, but. only in a fecondary, typical, and figurative fenfe: but then this way of interpreting them is equivocal, precarious, and incapable of yielding any rational fa tisfaction and of confequence chriftianity has no foundation. Such is the use the enemy make of the prophecies applied by the evangelifts.

In truth, if we admit that christianity has no other foundation than what the enemy affign it, it might not perhaps be difficult for them to make good. thereft for upon that fuppofition, many objections are thrown in our way, which it is foarce poffible to get rid of. But while they fancy themselves to be demo❤ lishing foundations, they are battering only fuch parts of the edifice, as ferve for its ornaments rather than its fupport and had the enemy gone farther, and fhewn that some of the prophecies cited by Matthew did not relate to Jefus in any fenfe at all, they would

:

M. 5.

have

be a globe of light from heaven; to irradiate the human understanding, and conduct the fons of men to the realms of blifs. Their leffons are the dictates of the Spirit of God: their

have done no more than what fome of the primitive fathers, as well as modern critics had done before them, without defigning or doing the leaft hurt to christianity.

Jefus declared in general, that Mofes and the prophets had teftified of him: but fince the evangelists did not think it neceffary to give a precife account, cr deduction of the feveral prophecies, which were alledged by him in proof of that declaration; it is fufficient to take it, juft as we find it; without thinking ourfelves obliged to defend all the particular instances or applications, which were offered afterwards in fupport of it by fallible men. Mr. Whifton, in his Literal Accomplishment of the Scripture Prophecies, has produced 45 prophecies from the Old Teftament, which are cited in the New, in proof of the Meffiafhip of Jefus, and which he declares to have been clearly and directly fulfilled, without the least pretence of any reply from any author whatsoever. Now if any number of thefe, how fmall foever, are found to be as clearly accomplished, as he takes them to be, they are fufficient to fupport the authority of the gospel, tho' all the reft were thrown afide.

But to fay, the truth, the grounds of our faith, in these latter ages of the church, do not lie in the particular interpretations of prophecies, made by men, who might be mistaken, and who, as Jerome fays

more

*St. Jerome is one of the four great doctors of the Latin church, who fupport the magnificent bronze

chair

their fanctions are of fuch force, in a certainty of future judgment and retribution, that they incline a rational to have a serious regard to them. In

more than once, by trusting to their memories, in citing thefe very prophecies, were frequently mistaken in the words, and fometimes in the fenfe of them. Nor is the evidence of prophecy fo proper in thefe days, to con

vert

chair of St. Peter, in this faint's church in Rome.The other three doctors are St. Auguftin, St. Ambrofe, St. Gregory. Great might be the piety of thofe doctors, for any thing I can fay to the contrary: but this is certain, from their writings, that they did not understand christianity."

In my Memoirs of feveral Ladies of Great Britain, vol. I. p. 329. I gave an account of St. Auguftin's works, and obferved that this great faint was born in Africa, November 13, 354, in the reign of Conftance

and died Auguft 28, 430, at Hippo.-Etat. 76. St. Jerome was born at Stridon, in Dalmatia, in the year 340, and died in the year 420, aged 80.

There is a good edition of his works in 9 volumes folio, Paris 1623. But the later edition of Martianay, the Benedictin, is much finer and more valuable. St. Jerome was a hot, abufive man, and quarrelled even with St. Auguftin. In his difputes, he is more like a madman than a faint, and ever in the wrong. He writ comments on all the prophets, Ecclefiaftes, St. Matthew, and the epiftles to the Galatians, Ephefians, Titus, and Philemon; but they are fad ftuff in respect of fome modern performances. Compare them with the comments of Dr. Clarke, Mr. Locke, Dr. Benfon, and others of our country, and you will fee what a

M 6

poor

In a word, the religion of nature is per felt, but men are imperfect, and therefore it pleafed God to fend our Saviour into the world, to republish the law of reafon by his preaching,

vert men to the faith of Chrift, as to confirm those who have already embraced it: ferving chiefly, as St. Paul expreffes it, not to them, who believed not, who believe.

but to

them

The

poor creature this faint was in refpect of our English divines and philofophers. He tranflated the Old Teftament into Latin from the Hebrew; without underftanding the Hebrew well: and he corrected the antient Latin verfion of the New Teftament. This is far from being correct, tho' the church of Rome has decreed it to be infallible, and appointed it to be used in the church. The best and moft ufeful thing this faint writ is his treatife of illuftrious men; which contains a fummary of the lives and the titles of the books, written by ecclefiaftical authors, to his time. The next in worth to this, in my opinion, is his book of letters; in which, are feveral fine moral fentiments, and much good advice: tho' his criticifms on the Bible in this work are weak enough.

He will have it, that it was visdom, and not a young woman, that David took into bed to him, when he was old and cold; which is a mere fancy, that plainly contradicts the hiftory of that affair in the Bible. But Jerome abhorred a woman, as much as Mrs. Aftel did a man: and detefted and blackened matrimony and a wife, to extol and exalt that whim of his brain, virginity. With deteftation (he owns), he beheld every big-bellied woman, (the finest fight in the world) tho' rendered fo in the holy matrimonial bed, and could not bear looking at her, but as he

reflected,