" "No remarks," as Dr. Beattie hath properly said, "are thrown in
to anticipate objections; nothing of that caution which never fails to
distinguish the testimony of those who are conscious of imposture; no
endeavour to reconcile the reader's mind to what may be extraordinary in
the narrative."
I beg leave to cite also another author, (Duchal, pp. 97, 98.) who has
well expressed the reflection which the examples now brought forward
were intended to suggest. "It doth not appear that ever it came into the
mind of these writers to consider how this or the other action would
appear to mankind, or what objections might be raised upon them. But
without at all attending to this, they lay the facts before you, at no
pains to think whether they would appear credible or not. If the reader
will not believe their testimony, there is no help for it: they tell
the truth and attend to nothing else. Surely this looks like sincerity,
and that they published nothing to the world but that they believed
themselves."
As no improper supplement to this chapter, I crave a place here for
observing the extreme naturalness of some of the things related in the
New Testament.
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