Our  first  proposition  was,  "  That  there  is  satisfac-
tory evidence  that  many,  'pretending  to  be  origi-
nal tpitnesses  of  the  Christian  miracles,  passed


their  lives  in  labours,  dangers,  and  sufferings,
voluntarily  undertaken  and  undergone  in  at-
testation of  the  accounts  which  they  delivered,
and  solely  in  consequence  of  their  belief  of  the
truth  of  those  accounts ;  and  that  they  also
submitted,  from  the  same  motives,  to  new
rules  of  conduct."

Our  second  proposition,  and  which  now  remains
to  be  treated  of,  is,  "  That  there  is  not  satisfac-
tory evidence,  that  persons  pretending  to  he
original  witnesses  of  any  other  sinnlar  mira-
cles, have  acted  in  the  same  manner,  in  attest-
ation of  the  accounts  which  they  delivered,
and  solely  in  consequence  of  their  belief  of  the
truth  of  those  accounts."

I  ENTER  upon  this  part  of  my  argument,  by
declaring  how  far  my  belief  in  miraculous  accounts
goes. If  the  reformers  in  the  time  of  Wicklifle,
or  of  Luther :  or  those  of  England,  in  the  time  of
Henry  the  Eighth,  or  of  queen  Mary ;  or  the
founders  of  our  religious  sects  since,  such  as  were
Mr. Whitfield  and  Mr. Wesley  in  our  own  times ;
had  undergone  the  life  of  toil  and  exertion,  of
danger  and  sufferings,  which  we  know  that  many
of  them  did  undergo,  J^or  a  miraculous  story  ;  that
is  to  say,  if  they  had  founded  their  public  ministry
upon  the  allegation  of  miracles  wrought  within
their  own  knowledge,  and  upon  narratives  which
could  not  be  resolved  into  delusion  or  mistake ;
and  if  it  had  appeared,  that  their  conduct  really
had  its  origin  in  these  accounts,  I  should  have
believed  them. Or,  to  borrow  an  instance  which
will  be  familiar  to  every  one  of  my  readers,  if  the
late  Mr. Howard  had  undertaken  his  labours  and
journeys  in  attestation,  and  in  consequence  of  a
clear  and  sensible  miracle,  I  sliould  have  believed
him  also. 