at the bare mention of so utterly untenable an argument. At the same time, the occurrence of the argument to the clear and candid mind of Paley, serves to demonstrate the dangers to which even the best and most unbiassed judgments are liable, where the overthrow of a prevailing system is taken up as a set task. It would be easy to multiply instances of similar errors of judgment: but thus much, under the present head, may suffice to show, that causes have too frequently been assigned for the success of Mahomet, which have absolutely no connection with it. * Another line of argument has been unguardedly taken up to account for the success of Mahomet, in its nature highly hazardous and questionable; and in the adoption of which, the Christian advocate makes common cause, in the conduct of his reasoning, with the infidel. I allude to the assignment of causes merely human for the resolution of the phenomena, as contradistinguished from the operation of the special providence of God. In a celebrated argument, aimed against the received origin of Christianity, and the esta The reader, if desirous to examine authorities, may consult the elaborate argument of Hottinger, (Hist. Orient. pp. 274-339.) " De Causis Muhammedanismum conservantibus." It abounds with specimens of selfdestructive reasoning. blished belief respecting the success of the Gospel, a series of secondary causes has been assigned, which purports to instruct the reader how far he may rationally dispense with the PRIMARY.* The doctrine of a future life; the weakness of polytheism; the scepticism of the pagan world; and the peace and union of the Roman empire; are collectively urged, together with several circumstances more, in an artful recapitulation†, as fully sufficient to account for the astonishing success which attended the original promulgation of the Gospel. By an unexpected, and not certainly a judicious concurrence, the success of Mahomet has been investigated by a Christian controversialist, precisely on the same ground, and in nearly the same terms. The doctrine of a future life; the weak and corrupted condition of Christianity in the seventh century; the religious divisions and polytheism of Arabia; the scepticism of the Arabs respecting the soul's immortality; and the distracted and divided state of the Roman and Persian empires; are successively advanced, as furnishing the full and final solution of the original triumphant propagation of Mahometanism. ‡ Nay, so perfect is the coincidence of the *Decline and Fall, chap. xv. argu + Ib. vol. ii. pp. 353-358. + 1 ments, that, in some of the topics, the parallel statements read as if they had emanated from the same mind. "The ignorance, the errors, and the uncertainty of the ancient philosophers, with regard to the immortality of the soul," Mr. Gibbon points out as one principal cause, " that Christianity spread itself with so much success in the Roman empire."-" The ignorance, the doubts, and the uncertainty, which universally prevailed among the Arabians, with regard to the immortality of the soul," Professor White argues," was also a circumstance which had no inconsiderable influence in the establishment of Mahometanism." The Christian champion thus condescends to assail the pretensions of the Koran, with the identical missiles, which had been just before unsuccessfully launched by infidelity, against the claims of the Gospel. It must be added, too, with hardly better success. will this be thought singular, if it shall be made to appear, that the principle of the argument from secondary, or merely human causes, as applied finally to solve any of those great revolutions which have changed the face and history of the world, is unsound and unphilosophical. Nor Qualify it as men may, the foundation of this argument is unavoidably laid in the exclusion of the superintendence of a special, and even of an ordinary, providence. The sceptic, it is true, will not shrink from this consequence; but his indifference will not shield him from the monstrous absurdities and inconsistencies to which the argument from human causes leads. * When the successful propagation of Christianity is ascribed to the fortuitous concurrence of a variety of secondary causes, instead of weakening its general evidences, the unbeliever, in fact, sug * With inconsistencies springing from this source, the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire abounds. From among these, Mr. Gibbon's eloquent narrative of the fate of the Seven Churches of Asia, and of the preservation, conformably with one of the most remarkable predictions on record in Scripture, (see Rev. iii. 7—12.) of the single church of Philadelphia, may be selected as an example, and a memorable and melancholy example it is, of the irrational blindness induced by the "evil heart of unbelief." The miraculous survival, amidst surrounding desolation, of this one faithful church, here forces from the sceptical historian a testimony, and tribute of admiration, which are only heightened by the disgraceful and impotent effort to qualify them by a sneer. "The captivity or ruin of the Seven Churches of Asia was consummated; and the barbarous lords of Ionia and Lydia still trample on the monuments of classic and Christian antiquity. Philadelphia alone has been saved by prophecy, or courage. At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above fourscore years; and at length capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect; a column in a scene of ruins; a pleasing example, that the paths of honour and safety may sometimes be the same.' Decline and Fall, vol. xi. pp. 437, 438. In the estimate of Mr. Gibbon it is as nothing, that the happy fortunes of Philadelphia had been graphically foretold in a record, preceding, by more than fourteen centuries, the period of the event: with him, facts the most unquestionable and conclusive share the fate of fables, wherever they tend to vindicate the truth and honour of Revelation. The impression on his readers, however, may sometimes be very different from that contemplated by the historian. 39 gests fresh evidence of the existence and agency of a great PRIMARY CAUSE. The question irresist ibly arises in the mind, by what blind fortune, what mysterious chance, have so many independent and unconnected causes been brought thus to concur? By the admission of the unbeliever himself, the history of the world presents no period equally favourable to the progress of such a religion as Christianity, as that particular period at which Christianity arose. Now the advent, in the turning-point of such a crisis, of such a person as Jesus Christ, is an argument for the agency in this matter of a special providence, which, however the infidel may affect to depreciate, he can never hope to shake. The coincidence, taken in all its circumstances, is beyond the reach even of the speculative doctrine of chances. Now, surprising as it may be thought, it is not the less certain, that similar difficulties attend the case of Mahometanism, and the attempt to ascribe the rise and success of Mahomet to merely 44 human causes. If the sceptic has succeeded in making out, in the case of the Gospel, an extraordinary convergence of circumstances favourable to its promulgation, the advocates of Christianity have been equally successful in pointing out a convergence not less extraordinary, of cir |