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    of which is doubtful . He contends that history , t& $ worlc of fallible men , may be and often is erroneous , but that com * : pleted prophecy , which can only have been the work of God , must be infallible , and therefore that it is a species of evidences the best suited to accompany a revelation from the Deity , because , as it can proceed only from the operation of hi&

    omniscient power , a continued series of completed prophecies must produce on the mind of every serious and attentive inquirer ^ during every period of the Christian dispensation , the same conviction that was produced by miracles , on the eye-witnesses at its commencement . And such was the effect produced upon the mind of Mi \ E . by a long-continued study of the evidence from prophecy , that a belief in the Christian rev £ * lation was so far from being ; in him a mere speculative assent , or

    that wavering state of mind , the natural result of such a strange mixture as scepticism and enthusiasm , that it is well known to all who had the happiness of being intimately acquainted with him , that it produced such a lively and operative influence oh his mind , that it was hardly possible the eye-witnesses ^ of our Lord ' s miracles could have had a stronger conviction of the truth of his mission than Mr . E . constantly felt .

    The last charge is that Mr . E . was not only a sceptic , but an enthusiast , and the adage of extremes frequently meeting seems ? brought forward as the only proof of it ; and so short k the memory of this u Plain Christian , " that though in his second

    charge he accuses Mr . E . of an attack upon the authenticity of ae whole Scriptures , he here only charges him with rejecting the Diajor part ; closing the passage with an assertion which every unprejudiced reader of Mr , E .-s works will find to be un- * founded .

    He then proceeds to general observations on his works , afid says , that " instead of their being plain and intelli gible , they tend to perplex , confuse , and bewilder the plain and honest inquirer / 7 Mr . E . has often been called a bold and intrepid writer , in attacking long-established" doctrines and prejudices ^ but I never heard this charge before ; for on every point he has

    not only openly avowed his opinions , but given the reasons thai have led him to adopt them , in a manner so plain that I should have thought , how much soever we might differ from him , it

    was scarcely possible to misunderstand him , and where in his works this writer has found out any thing leading to confusion ; and perplexity , I am at a loss to discover . I had too great a regard for Dr . Priestley when living , andf now venerate his memory too much to bring his name umie * ccssariiy into this discussion ; I will only just say , that nothing

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    364 Vindication of Mn * + EvansorP $ ffl ^ meirs *

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1806, page 364, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1726/page/28/