dience than they expected or defired. He efpecially who was to maintain the evidence of the Resurrection, began to excufe the neceffity he was under of disappointing their expectation, alleging, that he was not prepared; and he had perfifted in excufing himfelf, but that the ftrangers, who perceived what the cafe was, offered to withdraw, which the gentleman would by no means confent to: they infifting to go, he faid, he would much rather fubmit himself to their candour, unprepared as he was, than be guilty of fo much rudenefs, as to force them to leave the company. Upon which one of the company, fmiling, faid, It happens luckily that our number is increased when we were laft together, we appointed a judge, but we quite forgot a jury; and now, I think, we are good men and true, fufficient to make one. This thought was pursued in several allufions to legal proceedings, which created fome mirth, and had this good effect, that it difperfed the folemn air which the mutual compliments upon the difficulty before mentioned had introduced, and restored the ease and good humour natural to the converfation of gentlemen.

The judge, perceiving the difpofition of the company, thought it a proper time to begin, and called out, Gentlemen of the jury, take your places; and immediately feated himself at the upper end of the table: the company fate round him, and the judge called upon the counfel for Woolston to begin.

Mr. A. counfel for Woolfton, addreffing himself to the judge, faid,

May it please your Lordship; I conceive the gentleman on the other fide ought to begin, and lay his evidence, which he intends to maintain, before the

court: till that is done, it is to no purpose for me to object. I may perhaps object to fomething which he will not admit to be any part of his evidence; and therefore, I apprehend, the evidence ought in the first place to be diftinctly stated.

Judge. Mr. B. what say you to that?

Mr. B. counfel on the other fide:

My Lord, if the evidence I am to maintain were to support any new claim, if I were to gain any thing which I am not already poffeffed of, the gentleman would be in the right; but the evidence is old, and is matter of record, and I have been long in poffeffion of all that I claim under it. If the gentleman has any thing to say to difpoffefs me, let him produce it; otherwife I have no reason to bring my own title into queftion. And this I take to be the known method of proceeding in such cases; no man is obliged to produce his title to his poffeffion; it is fufficient if he maintains it when it is called in queftion.

Mr. A. Surely, my Lord, the gentleman mistakes the case: I can never admit myself to be out of poffeffion of my understanding and reafon; and fince he would put me out of this poffeffion, and compel me to admit things incredible, in virtue of the evidence he maintains, he ought to set forth his claim, or leave the world to be directed by common fense.

Judge. Sir, you fay right; upon fuppofition that the truth of the Chriftian religion were the point in judgment. In that cafe it would be neceffary to produce the evidence for the Chriftian religion; but the matter now before the court is, whether the objections produced by Mr. Woolfton are of weight

to overthrow the evidence of Chrift's refurrection. You fee then the evidence of the refurrection is fupposed to be what it is on both fides, and the thing immediately in judgment is the value of the objections, and therefore they must be fet forth. The court will be bound to take notice of the evidence, which is admitted as a fact on both parts. Go on Mr. A.

Mr. A. My Lord, I fubmit to the direction of the court. I cannot but obferve that the gentleman on the other fide, unwilling as he seems to be to ftate his evidence, did not forget to lay in his claim to prescription, which is, perhaps, in truth, though he has too much skill to own it, the very ftrength of his cause. I do allow that the gentleman maintains nothing but what his father and grandfather, and his ancestors, beyond time of man's memory, maintained before him I allow too, that prescription in many cases makes a good title; but it must always be with this condition, that the thing is capable of being prescribed for: and I infift, that prescription cannot run against reason and common fenfe. Customs may be pleaded by prescription; but if, upon fhewing the cuftom, any thing unreasonable appears in it, the prescription fails; for length of time works nothing towards the establishing any thing that could never have a legal commencement. And if this objection will overthrow all prescriptions for customs, the mifchief of which extends perhaps to one poor village only, and affects them in no greater a concern than their right of common upon a ragged mountain, fhall it not much more prevail, when the intereft of mankind is concerned, and in no lefs a point than

his happiness in this life, and in all his hopes for futurity? Befides, if prefcription must be allowed in this cafe, how will you deal with it in others? What will you fay to the ancient Perfians, and their firealtars? Nay, what to the Turks, who have been long enough in poffeffion of their faith to plead

Mr. B. I beg pardon for interrupting the gentleman: but it is to fave him trouble. He is going into his favourite common-place, and has brought us from Perfia to Turkey already; and if he goes on, I know we must follow him round the globe. To fave us from this long journey, I will wave all advantage from the antiquity of the refurrection, and the general reception the belief of it has found in the world; and am content to confider it as a fact which happened but last year, and was never heard of either by the gentleman's grandfather, or by mine.

Mr. A. I fhould not have taken quite fo long a journey as the gentleman imagines, nor, indeed, need any man go fo far from home to find inftances to the purpose I was upon. But fince this advantage is quitted, I am as willing to fpare my pains, as the gentleman is defirous that I should. And yet I fufpect some art even in this conceffion, fair and candid as it seems to be. For I am perfuaded, that one reafon, perhaps the main reason, why men believe this hiftory of Jefus, is, that they cannot conceive that any one should attempt, much lefs fucceed in fuch an attempt as this, upon the foundation of mere human cunning and policy; and it is worth the while to go round the globe, as the gentleman expreffed himself, to fee various inftances of the like kind, in

order to remove this prejudice. But I ftand corrected, and will go directly to the point now in judg

ment.

Mr. B. My Lord, the gentleman, in juftification of his firft argument, has entered upon another of a very different kind. I think he is fenfible of it, and, seeming to yield up one of his popular topics, is indeed artfully getting rid of another; which has made a very good figure in many late writings, but will not bear in any place, where he who maintains it may be asked questions. The mere antiquity of the refurrection I gave up; for if the evidence was not good at first, it cannot be good now. The gentleman is willing, he says, to spare us his history of ancient errors; and intimates, that upon this account he paffes over many inftances of fraud, that were like in circumftances to the cafe before us. By no means, my Lord, let them be paffed over. I would not have the main ftrength of his cause betrayed in complaifance to me. Nothing can be more material, than to fhew a fraud of this kind, that prevailed univerfally in the world. Chrift Jefus declared himfelf a prophet, and put the proof of his miffion on this; that he should die openly and publicly, and rife again the third day. This furely was the hardeft plot in the world to be managed: and if there be one instance of this kind, or in any degree like it, by all means let it be produced.

Mr. A. My Lord, there has hardly been an instance of a falfe religion in the world, but it has also afforded a like inftance to this before us. Have they not all pretended to infpiration? Upon what foot