ld proceed upon
your common basis of a miraculously confirmed revelation, grossly infested
with errors and falsehoods; he might say that he believed the
authentication of the doctrine of 'atonement' in virtue of the evidence,
because, though transcendental to his reason, it was not repugnant to
it; but that he rejected the doctrine of the 'resurrection,' though
equally established by the evidence, because contrary to the plainest
conclusions of his reason."

"I cannot in candor deny," said the other, "the possibility of such a
case."

"And in such a case, we might say, he does the very opposite of what
you do."

"Neither can I help admitting that."

"The miracles, then, and other evidence, not only play the part of
equally supporting truth and falsehood, but, what is still more
wonderful, convert the same things, in different men, into truth and
falsehood alternately. Miracles they must verily be if they can do
that! A wonderful revelation it certainly is, which thus accommodates
itself to the varying conditions of the human intellect and
conscience, and demonstrates just so much as each of you is pleased
to accept, and no more. No doubt the whole 'corpus dogmatum,' so
supported, will, by the entire body of such believers, be eaten up;
just as was the Mahometan hog, so humorously referred to by Cowper;
but even that had not all its 'forbidden parts' miraculously shown
to be 'unforbidden' to different minds! I do not wonder that such
a revelation should need miracles; that any should be sufficient, is
the greatest wonder of all; if indeed we except two;--the first, that
Supreme Wisdom should have constructed such a curious revelation, in
which he has revealed alternately, to different people, truth and
falsehood, and has established each on the very same evidence; and
the second (almost as great), that any rational creature should be
got to receive such a revelation on such evidence as equally applies
to which he says it does not prove, and to points which he says it
does; these points, however, being, it appears, totally different
in different men! But I will now go to your friend, who has got a
point further in his belief, and graciously accepts all the 'religious
elements' in this revelation."

"Excuse me," said the last; "before you go to him, permit me to mention
a difficulty which occurred to me while we were speaking."

"By all means; but I do not promise to solve it. Perhaps I on this
occasion shall prov