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from any thing they had hitherto met with." He taught them," says the Evan

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gelist, as one that had authority, and "not as the Scribes."-Immediately follows the account of a very remarkable transaction, which is related in these words: "There was in their synagogue a "man with an unclean spirit, and he "cried out, saying, Let us alone, what "have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of "Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy "us? I know thee who thou art, the

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holy one of God. And Jesus rebuked "him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come “out of him. And when the unclean "spirit had torn him, and cried with a "loud voice, he came out of him. And

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they were all amazed, insomuch that

"they questioned among themselves, say"ing, What thing is this? What new doc"trine is this? For with authority com

“mandeth he even the unclean spirits, ❝and they do obey him."

There is no necessity, my brethren, to make any inquiry into the particular nature of that calamity here mentioned, and of which we hear so much in the Sacred Historians. To all outward appear ance, it seems to have borne a close resem blance to insanity; and the wicked spirits, who are described as being the agents in it, might only, on particular occasions, be permitted to manifest their presence. It is enough for us to know that it was a disease, which could not be removed in the manner represented in the text, without the exercise of a miraculous power; and it was the unexpected display of this power which struck the people with amazement, and immediately occasioned, we are told, "the fame of Jesus to be spread abroad throughout all the re "gion round about Galilee.'

Various other instances of miracles follow in this, and in the immediately succeeding chapters; and to these, and to the other miraculous incidents recorded in the Gospels, it has always been customary to appeal, as to undeniable proofs, of the divine mission of our Lord. It is at the same time remarkable, that even this evidence, however striking it appears, has, in every age, been eluded by those who were unwilling to become his disciples. In the age in which these miracles were performed, and for some time afterwards, as long as their publicity made it impossible to deny their reality, they were ascribed by the enemies of the Gospel to the power of evil spirits ;-in modern times it has been thought more convenient to deny that they ever took place; and it has even been ingeniously, though whimsically, argued, that, supposing they were performed, it is yet not in the power

of human testimony to establish the proof of incidents so contradictory to all experience.

I mean not, my brethren, to enter into this argument ;-the controversies of the schools have but little connection with divine truth; and I cannot but suspect that too much weight has been put upon the decision of this question. Take the history of our religion, as it is simply narrated by the Sacred Writers, and no doubt miraculous incidents accompanied its origin and progress. These incidents, as they were acts, not only of power, but of goodness, were undeniable evidences to every candid mind, of the source from which they originated; and our Saviour very justly reprobates, as quite incapable of conviction, and as guilty of what he calls blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, those who could witness such acts, and yet impute them to the agency of an im

pure spirit. It is very evident, however, that, from their nature, miracles were principally designed to influence the minds of those who witnessed them; and although it is going a great deal too far to say, that they are incapable of being proved by testimony; yet the proof is weaker, and is less directly aimed at those who live at a remote period from their occurrence, than at those who were either themselves spectators of these wonderful events, or who were in the daily habit of hearing them related.

In this distant age, it would perhaps be wise to contemplate the miracles of our Saviour less as evidences of his mission, than as very affecting instances of his heavenly benevolence and mercy. The proof of his divine authority arises more from a multitude of conspiring circumstances, than from the force of any one argument; and we are now,happily,in pos

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