the prejudices of an unbeliever. The argument from these prophecies seems inconclusive, because they prescribe no conditions, which man alone could not realize. They were, indeed, with the class of prophecies, to which they apparently belong, equally secured against premature fulfilment, with those which were placed beyond human power; but their safe-guard was in the disinclination, not in the inability of man to execute them. Be it that any descendant of David, who chanced to be born at Bethlehem, might undertake to preach good tidings to the poor, make a lowly entrance into Jerusalem, might be sold for thirty pieces of silver, be silent before his accusers, be judicially condemned, though guiltless, be "numbered with the transgressors," might "give his back to the smiters," nor "hide his face from shame and spitting," have his hands and his feet pierced, be mocked with vinegar and gall, and yet be mourned by those who pierced him, and have his tomb with the rich; supposing such things could severally and altogether be accomplished by human contrivance, yet these are not the characters by which any one would wish to be distinguished, or by which he would recommend himself to an ambitious people:-nor do we hear that more than one ever essayed to realize them. In the general system, therefore, this class of prophecies assumes an important though subordinate place. They contribute to vindicate prophecy from the groundless imputation of "compliance with the gross apprehensions of the Jews, of having more frequently represented the Messiah under the character of a king and a conqueror, than under that of a prophet and a martyr;" they add incalculably to the complexity of the scheme sketched in the Hebrew Scriptures, even while they harmonize with it, of the change in the religion of the world, emanating from the despised and exclusive people of Judea;—a change in which, though the phrases of conquest be sometimes used, the employment of human warfare is repeatedly and systematically disclaimed-a change exactly corresponding with the essential characters of Christianity, and whose author was to be chiefly recognised by his lowliness, piety, and mildness: and thus, while they tend to raise the completion of this description above the limits of human fore-sight, they illustrate the sober harmony of that character, which our Saviour alone attempted to support.

In this class would we rank the predicted office of the fore runner. It might be assumed by any; it was the object of the anxious wishes and prayers of the Jewish people, yet it offered

Gibbon, c. 15.

no temptations but to those who acknowledged the spiritual kingdom of the future deliverer. It aids, therefore, to deepen the lines of the originality of our Saviour's history, that he alone was preceded by any messenger; that he who alone, amid the mists of national prejudice, saw clearly developed in the page of prophecy the spiritual mission of the Messiah, was alone preceded by a spiritual precursor," in the spirit and power" "in of one of the most earnest of Israel's ancient teachers.

Compelled to differ decidedly from the author on these points, we advert with pleasure to his arguments in favour of John's sincerity, from the regrets and fears of his incensed but unwilling murderer,-from the unaffected and simple severity of John's own life,-from the deep respect which he impressed on the people he upbraided. The appeal in which the author repels the suspicion of any unworthy motive, also deserves notice: "What, we ask, were the motives, which influenced this singular conduct? It was not the desire of wealth, for he lived in the garb of poverty and mortification; nor was it the love of fame, for he remitted all glory to that unattended and unobserved person the latchet of whose shoes' he professed himself not worthy to unloose:' nor was it the pride of authority, for he required not of his followers to put on his raiment of camel's hair,' but exhorted them to bring forth fruits meet for repentance." P. 54. The argument from the regrets of Herod finds an interesting parallel in the deeper despair of Judas. P. 50.

I. 3. The object of the third Part has been stated in the preliminary remarks. The enquiry indeed is necessarily confined, few of the circumstances of John's life being recorded; yet each, if thoughtfully considered, will contribute a distinct presumption to the truth of our accounts, and to mark the absence of all collusion between the Author of our religion and his Fore-runner. It is scarcely possible, consistently with the conciseness necessary, to state even the heads of these valuable arguments, much less to display their force. Our aim must be merely to direct our readers to the source: satisfaction must be sought in the essay, or more fully in the work of Dr. Bell, The points, then, insisted upon are,

1. The incidental but distinct statement that " John did no miracles," so many, such various, and such great works being ascribed to Jesus. Had these miracles, it is argued, been the fruit of fraud either in the performance or the narrator, others would have been called in to strengthen John's evidence, increase his resemblance to Elias, and elevate still higher the dignity of Jesus.

2. The marked opposition of character between Christ and

his fore-runner; John's being formed in literal compliance with prophetic description; that of Jesus in opposition to its received meaning.

3. The only characteristic given by John of the Messiah,the baptism of the Holy Spirit, was not verified during the life of Jesus, and was in apparent contradiction to his baptizing with water equally with John.

4. The coming of Jesus to John's baptism of repentance, was calculated to diminish the opinion of his spotlessness and * superiority.

5. John's message from prison, however natural from human infirmity, would throw suspicions on his own veracity, and the authority of Jesus.

6. The objections of John's disciples to the authority of Jesus, and the milder discipline of his disciples, and their partial union with him.

7. John's neglect to vindicate, in reply to the Pharisees, his own claim to the character of Elias, which would have been the sole object of imposture.

8. John's repeated designation of Jesus as the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world,"-implying his violent death, and sufficient, considering the prejudices of the Jews, to ensure his rejection.

Such are the principal arguments adduced the proof will be found interesting and satisfactory: nor is it immaterial to observe in how small a portion of Christian history they are comprised, and what promise, therefore, of an abundant harvest they hold out to any one who should labour with similar patience in the parts hitherto unexplored. A Christian, indeed, must enter with repugnance on an enquiry, which even vindicates the character of his Saviour; yet the benefit of those, who acknowledging the excellence of Christianity, still account it only a benevolent imposture, will amply compensate the sacrifice.

II. The last portion of the essay considers the necessity of a fore-runner to the Messiah, and John's fitness for that office. The necessity is fully established by an energetic description of the "mass of prejudice and depravity, which then obstructed the passage of a pure and spiritual religion." The fitness of John is illustrated in his baptism and his preaching. His bap

A singular confirmation of this argument is supplied by a legend of later times, that Jesus subsequently baptized John. This account, obviously devised to repair the supposed loss of dignity in the first baptism, was contained in peritioribus libris according to the anonymous author of the imperfect work of St. Matthew published with Chrysostom. See Chrys. T. vi, p. 40, 41, ed Bened.

tism, requiring in addition to the confession of sins practised by the Jews," a complete regeneration of heart and spirit;" his preaching, founded on the necessity of repentance and amendment, and the insufficiency of the covenant with Abraham; and, in its adaptation to his various applicants, giving no slight evidence of his firmness, discrimination, and temperance. Some insight also into the Christian dispensation seems to have been given him; and his occasional hints of the pre-existence, and super-human nature of Jesus-of the reconciliation of the world through him to God, and the necessity of belief in him→ of the dwelling of the Spirit with him, and the future grant of that Spirit to his followers, (though we would not with the author allege them as "explicit and astonishing prophecies," must have greatly prepared the minds of his disciples for the full reception of the doctrines of the Gospel. p. 71-89.

The Essay, in conclusion, recalls the points of evidence; and mentions some causes of unbelief,-two of which are not perhaps generally appreciated. 1. The habit of creating in the mind an ideal form of revelation with reference to the perfections of its Author, not of the imperfections of the set of beings to whom it is addressed; and thus fixing an unreal standard of excellence. 2. A general restlessness induced by the unsatisfactoriness of all human pursuits, which indisposes minds, not carefully regulated to steady and continued enquiry. Mr. Jeremie closes with expressing the conviction established by daily experience, that "no one who reviews the whole evidence of Christianity with seriousness will be compelled to ask, 'Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?"

We have great pleasure in acknowledging the spirit of research, and elegance of mind and language evinced in this Essay: yet the author will, we trust, excuse us if we express an anxious wish, that he would weigh more carefully the validity, as well as the degree of evidence, in the arguments which he adduces; and distinguish the information or instruction which Scripture seems to have been originally intended to convey to us, from that which we may adapt to it ;-recollecting the involuntary prejudice which a single strained argument, or unsound application frequently creates against a whole system. His object too would be furthered, would he bear more closely in mind, that too great a profusion of rhetorical ornament frequently obscures the sentiment, and always appears to the majority of readers απίθανον πεπλᾶσθαι γὰρ δοκεί. These imperfections corrected, we should gladly see him at some future period illustrate the important distinction quoted in the commencement of his essay, that whereas all impostors have uniformly avoided

to impart their designs to more persons than was absolutely necessary, and, in the last great instance, Mohammed "consulted* in the case of Hera the spirit of fraud or of enthusiasm," admitting at most but one or two to the knowledge of his designs,"nothing more peculiarly distinguishes Christianity from the ordinary schemes of human artifice, than the remarkable number of persons, differing in professions, capacities, and interests, who jointly bore witness to its early revelations." Introd. p. 1, 2.

The Crisis: or, an Attempt to shew from Prophecy, illustrated by the Signs of the Times, the Prospects and the Duties of the Church of Christ at the present Period. With an Inquiry into the probable ·Destiny of England during the predicted Desolations of the Papal Kingdoms. By the REV. EDWARD COOPER, Rector of Hamstall Ridware, and of Yoxall, in the County of Stafford; and formerly Fellow of All-Souls College, Oxford. 8vo. 254 pp. 7s. London. Cadell. 1825.

MR. COOPER appears to have been actuated by the best motives in the publication of the work before us. He has been induced to take that step from a conviction of the vast importance of the subject he has discussed.

"On the supposition," he observes in his preface," that the conclusions to which he has arrived are really sound and legitimate, the consequences resulting from them are so very momentous, and the crisis in which the church of Christ now stands is so peculiarly awful, that he feels it a paramount duty not to withhold from the public the premises on which these conclusions are founded. He feels that he should be guilty of a culpable omission, if he failed to submit a case so interesting in itself and so strongly supported, as it appears to him, by Scriptural testimony and by the signs of the times' to the consideration of many, who in all respects are much more competent than himself to form a solid opinion on the subject, but to whom he has no other way of submitting it than that which the press affords." P. x.

He informs us, moreover, that the enquiry of which he now gives us the result, has long engaged his thoughts; that it has not been prosecuted without feelings of humility and diffidence, nor published without the advice of friends, "some of whom," he adds, " are much conversant in prophetical studies." So far * Gibbon, c. 50.