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word, or because the public, who are ignorant of astronomy, expressed themselves thus on the phenomenon which happened in Judea.

"Add to this," says M. Seigneux, "that the darkness which reigned in the middle of the day, and during three of the most luminous hours, was altogether sufficiently wonderful to strike the whole world with astonishment, who might learn the truth of this prodigy from thousands of witnesses. And this Phlegon had in view, and it is easy to see that the apologists for Christianity have cited them in this manner." Tertullian

tells the Pagans, "that in the hour when Jesus Christ expired, at the time when the sun was in the midst of his career, the day was darkened: this fact is preserved in your archives. Dies, medium orbem signante sole, subducta est, &c. Eum mundi casum in archivis vestris habetis." (Apolog. Cap. 21.)

"This prodigy," adds the learned translator, "has received the testimonies of two other celebrated Pagan authors in addition to that of Phlegon; we have that of Thales, (according to Euseb. Chron. Græc. page 77,) a Greek author who wrote the Syriac History in the first century of the Church; in his third book he mentions this miraculous darkness.

"Julius the African, the most ancient historian that the Christians have had, strengthens the proof given by these Pagan authors. He was born in Palestine: he lived in the third century. His work is lost, save what is preserved as a quotation by Eusebius concerning the miracle of which we speak, and the proof which Julius brought to establish the divinity of Jesus Christ according to Phlegon's evidence and that of Thales. To this may be added what Rufinus says in his ecclesiastical history concerning Lucian, a priest and martyr, who said to his judges:* Consulite annales vestros; invenietis Pilati temporibus, dum pateretur Christus, media die fugatum solem, et interruptum diem.'

Finally, as God could shake the earth without forming a new volcano, so he could arrest the light of the sun, and cause a sudden darkness without the interposition of the moon, and without deranging the planets. Grotius, and some other apologists for the Christian religion, endeavour to render this miracle more extraordinary than is needful, and thus have unfortunately given to some philosophers a pretext for rejecting it. dicious persons, like M. Seigneux, hold a just medium between incredulity which rejects the best attested facts, if they are extraordinary, and that passion for the marvellous which admits false miracles, or enlarges the true ones.

Here I will introduce the argument by which Mr. Ferguson has proved that Jesus Christ is the Messiah promised by the prophets. Daniel, in his prophecy, chap. ix, 25, thus expresses himself: "Know, therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks,—and after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself." I will here give an extract from Mr. Ferguson's Analysis of Astronomy and Physics, concerning this prediction.

Consult your annals, and ye shall find, that in the days of Pilate, while Christ was suffering, the sun withdrew at noon, and obscured the day with darkness.

"The darkness which accompanied the crucifixion of our Saviour could not be occasioned by a natural and regular eclipse of the sun; for it happened during the feast of the passover, which was always celebrated at the full moon, at a time when the earth is between the sun and that planet, and when the moon cannot pass between the earth and the sun, and, by consequence, when it was impossible for her to produce an eclipse of the sun.

"He was crucified on the preparation for the Jewish Sabbath; and this Sabbath being on a Saturday, the crucifixion took place on the Friday; therefore the full moon of the passover fell this year on the Friday.

"It appears from astronomical calculations, that from the twentieth to the fortieth year of our Saviour, the full moon never fell on a Friday but once; and this happened on the third of April, in the thirty-third year of our Saviour's life, computing his birth according to the common era; the thirty-third year of our Saviour's life was the 4746th year of the Julian era, and the fourth year of the 202d Olympiad. Phlegon, a Pagan author, informs us that in the fourth year of the 202d Olympiad, there was the greatest eclipse of the sun that was ever beheld; for the day was so completely changed into night that the stars were visible.

"The canon of Ptolemy fixes the year 4256 of the Julian era, for the time in which Artaxerxes Longimanus published his edict for Esdras to rebuild Jerusalem, and re-establish the Jews in their own country. And according to the prophecy of Daniel, Christ was to suffer death seventy weeks of years, or 490 years after this command. Add 490 years to 4256, and you have 4746, the same year of the Julian era in which the death of Christ took place, according to astronomical calculations. An event supported by a Pagan author, who regarded preternatural darkness as an eclipse of the sun, because he was no astronomer."

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Ar eighteen years of age I was a real enthusiast; for though I lived in the indulgence of many known sins, I considered myself a religious character, because I regularly attended public worship, made long prayers in private, and devoted as much time as I could spare from my studies to reading the prophetic writings and a few devotional books. My feelings were easily excited, but my heart was rarely affected; and, notwithstanding these deceitful externals, I was destitute of a sincere love to God, and consequently to my neighbour. All my hopes of sal

vation rested on my prayers, devotions, and a certain habit of saying, "Lord, I am a great sinner, pardon me for the sake of Jesus Christ." In the meantime I was ignorant of the fall and ruin in which every man is involved, the necessity of a Redeemer, and the way by which we may be rescued from the fall by receiving Christ with a living faith. I should have been quite confounded if any one had then asked me the following questions taken from the Holy Scriptures :-Do you know that you are dead in Adam? Do you live to yourself? Do you live in Christ and for Christ? Does God rule in your heart? Do you experience that peace of God which passeth all understanding? Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit? I repeat it, my dear brother, these questions would have astonished and confounded me, as they must every one who relies on the form of religion, and neglects its power and influence. Blessed be God, who, through his abundant mercy in Jesus Christ, did not then call away my soul, when, with all my pretended piety, I must have had my portion with hypocrites, those clouds without water, those corrupt, unfruitful, rootless trees, those wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

My religion, alas! having a different foundation to that which is in Christ, was built merely on the sand; and no sooner did the winds and floods arise than it tottered and fell to ruins. I formed an acquaintance with some Deists, at first with the design of converting them, and after. ward with pretence of thoroughly examining their sentiments. But my heart, like that of Balaam, was not right with God. He abandoned me, and I enrolled myself in their party. A considerable change took place in my external deportment. Before, I had a form of religion; and now I lost it. But as to the state of my heart, it was precisely the same. I did not remain many weeks in this state; my change was too sudden to be permanent. I sought for a reconciliation with my Saviour; or rather the good Shepherd sought after me, a wandering sheep. Again I became professedly a Christian, that is, I resumed a regular attendance at church and the communion, and offered up frequent prayers in the name of Jesus Christ. There were also in my heart some sparks of true love to God, and some germs of genuine faith: but a connection with worldly characters, and an undue anxiety to promote my secular interests, prevented the growth of these Christian graces. Had I now been asked on what I founded my hopes of salvation, I should have replied, that I was not without some religion; that so far from doing harm to any one, I wished well to all the world; that I resisted my passions; that I ab stained from pleasures in which I had once heedlessly indulged; and that if I was not so religious as some others, it was because such a degree of religion was unnecessary; that heaven might be obtained on easier terms; and that if I perished, the destruction of the generality of Christians was inevitable, which I could not believe was consistent with the mercy of God.

I was in this situation when a dream, in which I am constrained to acknowledge the hand of God, roused me from my security. On a sudden the heavens were darkened, the clouds rolled along in terrific majesty, and a thundering voice, like a trumpet, which penetrated to the bowels of the earth, exclaimed, "Arise, ye dead, and come out of your graves." Instantly the earth and the sea gave up the dead which they VOL. IV.

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contained; and the universe was crowded with living people, who appeared to come out of their graves by millions. But what a difference among them! Some convulsed with despair endeavoured in vain to hide themselves in their tombs; and cried to the hills to fall on them, and the mountains to cover them from the face of their holy Judge; while others rose with seraphic wings above the earth, which had been the theatre of their conflicts and their victory. Serenity was painted on their countenances, joy sparkled in their eyes, and dignity was impressed on every feature!

My astonishment and terror were redoubled, when I perceived myself raised up with this innumerable multitude into the vast regions of the air, from whence my affrighted eyes beheld this globe consumed by flames, the heavens on fire, and the dissolving elements ready to pass away. But what did I feel when I beheld the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, in all the splendour of his glory, crowned with the charms of his mercy, and surrounded with the terrors of his justice. Ten thousand thousands went before him, and millions pressed upon his footsteps. All nature was silent: the wicked were convicted and con. demned; and the sentence was pronounced: "Bind the tares and the chaff, and cast them into the lake of fire and brimstone!" In an instant the air gave way under the feet of those who surrounded me; a yawning gulf received them, and closed itself upon them. At the same time, he that sat upon the throne exclaimed, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, ye have suffered with me; come to participate in my glory; inherit the kingdom which I have prepared for you from the foundation of the world!" "Happy children of God," I cried, "you are exalted in triumph with your Redeemer; and my dazzled eyes will soon lose sight of you in the blaze of light which surrounds you. Wretch that I am! What words, what language can express the horror of my situation."

A fixed and severe look from the Judge as he departed pierced me to the heart; and my anguish and confusion were extreme, when a brilliant personage despatched from the celestial host thus addressed me: "Slothful servant," he exclaimed in a stern voice, "what dost thou here? Dost thou presume to follow the Son of God, whom thou hast served merely with thy lips, while thy heart was far from him? Show me the seal of thy salvation, and the earnest of thy redemption; examine thy heart, and see if thou canst discover there a real love to God, and a living faith in his Son? Ask thy conscience what were the motives of thy pretended good works? Dost thou not see that pride and self love were the source of them? Dost thou not see that the fear of hell, rather than the fear of offending God, restrained thee from sin?" After these words he paused; and, regarding me with a compassionate air, seemed to await my reply. But conviction and terror closed my mouth, and he thus resumed his discourse: "Withhold no longer from God the glory that is due to him. Turn to him with all thy heart, and become a new creature. Watch and pray, was the command of the Son of God: but instead of having done this by working out thy salvation with fear and trembling, thou hast slept the sleep of security. At this very moment dost thou not sleep in that state of lethargy and spiritual death, from which the word of God, the exhortations of his servants, and the strivings of his grace, have not been sufficient to deliver thee? My words will also probably be ineffect

ual; for he who has not listened to Jesus Christ speaking in the Gospel, will not be likely to listen to an angel of the living God. Beside, time is swallowed up in eternity. There is no more place for repentance. Thou hast obstinately refused to glorify God's mercy in Christ Jesus: go then, slothful servant, and glorify his justice."

Having uttered these words, he disappeared; and at the same instant the air gave way under my feet, the abyss began to open, dreadful wailings assailed my ears, and a whirlwind of smoke surrounded me. I considered myself on the brink of inevitable and eternal misery, when the agitation of my mind and body awoke me, of which nothing can equal the horror; and the mere recollection of which still makes me tremble. O how happy I felt on awaking, to find that I was still in the land of mercy, and the day of salvation! "O my God," I cried, "grant that this dream may continually influence my sentiments and my conduct! May it prove a powerful stimulus to excite me to prepare continually for the coming of my great Master!"

For some days I was so dejected and harassed in mind as to be unable to apply myself to any thing. While in this state I attempted to copy some music, when a servant (an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile) entered my chamber. Having noticed my employment, "I am surprised, sir," said he, with a Christian boldness, "that you who know so many things should forget what day this is, and that you should not be aware that the Lord's day should be sanctified in a very different manner."

The sterling character of the man, his deep humility, his zeal for the glory of God, his love to his neighbours, and especially his patience, which enabled him to receive with joy the insults he met with from the whole family for Christ's sake, and above all the secret energy which accompanied his words, deeply affected me, and convinced me more than ever of my real state. I was convinced, as it had been told me in my dream, that I was not renewed in the spirit of my mind, that I was not conformed to the image of God, and that without this the death of Christ would be of no avail for my salvation.

In a subsequent letter to his brother he gives a farther account of this change of heart:-I speak from experience. I have been successively deluded by all those desires, which I here so sincerely reprobate; and sometimes I have been the sport of them all at once. This will appear incredible, except to those who have discovered that the heart of unregenerate man is nothing more than a chaos of obscurity, and a mass of contradictions. If you have any acquaintance with yourself, you will readily subscribe to this description of the human heart and if you are without this acquaintance, then rest assured, my dear brother, that whatever your pursuit may be, you are as far from true happiness as the most wretched of men. The meteor you are following still flies before you; frequently it disappears, and never shows itself but to allure you to the brink of some unlooked-for precipice.

Every unconverted man must necessarily come under one or other of the following descriptions :-He is either a voluptuary, a worldly-minded person, or a Pharisaical philosopher : or, perhaps, like myself, he may be all of these at the same time: and what is still more extraordinary, he may be so not only without believing, but even without once sus

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