established, has continued to this day, and continually advances in every part of the globe.

EDWARD.

The collected force of this is indeed very great; for the evidence is unexceptionable, the prophecies being in the hands of enemies, and their fulfilment matter of fact known unto all, as we before ascertained.

MR. 6.

And of these facts these very prophecies form a most irresistible confirmation; for from the beginning the facts were alleged as fulfilments of the prophecies, and be denied.

will deny the

yet neither the one nor the other could But if these are acknowledged, who application of the other prophecies to our Lord? Who can doubt that of him alone David wrote, when he said, "They pierced my hands and my feet; they stand staring and looking upon me: they parted my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots:—all they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him—they gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink?"

BEATRICE.

All those beautiful and affecting Psalms become

of infinitely greater importance and interest when thus explained by the event.

MR. B.

Of whom also but our Lord did the Psalmist write, when he rejoiced that "his soul would not be left in hell;" and that the Lord would "not suffer his Holy One to see corruption?" Whose triumph did he celebrate, if not that of the risen Son of God, in the words, "Thou hast ascended up on high-thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts for men, even for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them?" We have in the testimony of prophecy to our Lord, not the agreement of a few particulars, or the accomplishment of vague and indeterminate predictions; but the prophecies are such as could not possibly be foreseen by human knowledge, such as could not possibly be fulfilled by human artifice: in detail they are unexceptionable, and in the mass irresistible.

CONVERSATION XV.

EDWARD.

THE prophecies you brought forward in our last conversation have so strongly impressed my mind with the certainty of the argument thence derived in favour of the divine origin of the Scriptures, that I should conceive their evidence irresistible, had I not heard that the interpretation of the prophecies was very doubtful in all cases, and that many eminent men had given up the arguments derived from them.

MR. B.

That some eminent men may have doubted respecting them may be true; but this proves little, for the majority have acknowledged the force of the argument. Those who have studied the subject of the prophecies most carefully have generally been the most zealous advocates.

BEATRICE.

But there may be something in the subject calculated to carry away the mind from fact to supposition; and those who have studied this subject most, perhaps have not given decided proofs of their acuteness in others.

MR. B.

In making this assertion, you are falling into the very fault you condemn; for the facts of the case are altogether against your hypothesis. Bacon, Newton, and Warburton, names not easily equalled, stand pre-eminent among the advocates for prophecy. Yet of these, the first most strenuously recommends the study of it, as calculated to throw light upon history; the second himself wrote upon it; and the last founded a lecture, for the purpose of keeping the public attention fixed upon it, and calling forth the labours of the learned in its elucidation.

EDWARD.

Was there not a Bishop Newton, who wrote upon the prophecies, as well as Sir Isaac?

MR. B.

Bishop Newton's work is one of the most useful books which we have upon the subject, and is not less interesting in itself than important for the immense body of proof which it contains. He takes the prophecies in chronological order, and brings forward such a number of testimonies to their fulfilment, from profane as well as sacred authors, that little more need be desired on the subject.

EDWARD.

But has it not been conjectured, that some of the prophecies must have been written after the events, from the accuracy of the fulfilment?

MR. B.

Porphyry maintained an opinion of this kind with regard to the book of Daniel. He found no difficulty in applying it to the historical events which had occurred; but, being determined to reject the conclusion to which this agreement would naturally lead, he argued that it must have been written subsequently; whereas, there is nothing more certain than that the book was in existence prior to the events in question.

BEATRICE.

His opposition has then become advantageous to the cause which he sought to overthrow?

MR. B.

In this case, as in the arguments of Celsus against the miracles of our Lord, the evidence of our adversaries is of the greatest consequence, as proving the facts; for it is not very difficult to overthrow their false reasoning.

EDWARD.

What other prophecies are generally brought forward in defence of the Scriptures, besides those relating to our Lord Jesus Christ?

MR. B.

They are principally those relative to the Jews, those relative to the Christian church, and those relative to the destruction of great cities and em