ted enthusiasts. What Paul said to Festus applies in
its full force to them and their writings: "I am not mad, most noble
Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." If any one
will condemn them as visionary, it must be on the sole ground that all
belief in the supernatural is visionary--a position that will be noticed
hereafter.

4. A further inquiry is, Were these men _competent as witnesses_? that
is, had they the requisite means of knowing the facts which they record?
With regard to the apostles Matthew and John, this matter need not be
argued. With regard to the other two, Luke states very fairly the
position which they occupied: "It seemed good to me also, having had
perfect understanding of all things," ("having accurately traced out all
things," as the original signifies,) "from the very beginning, to write
to thee, in order," etc. Luke had in abundance the means of accurately
tracing out all things relating to our Lord's life and works, for he was
the companion of apostles and others who "from the beginning were
eye-witnesses and ministers of the word;" and from them, according to
his own statement, he drew his information. The same is true of Mark
also.

5. We come now to consider the _character of the works_ which they
record, and the circumstances in which they were performed. Here it may
be remarked in the outset that it is not necessary to examine in detail
all the miracles recorded in the gospel history. Though they all
proceeded alike from the direct agency of God, they are not all alike
open to human inspection. If upon examination we find the supernatural
origin of many of them raised above all possibility of doubt, it is a
legitimate inference that the rest of them had the same divine origin.
Not to insist then upon the miracles ascribed to our Lord within the
sphere of inanimate nature, such as the conversion of water into wine,
the feeding of many thousands with a few loaves and fishes, and walking
upon the sea, all of which were done in such circumstances that there is
no room for questioning their reality, let us examine some that were
performed upon the persons of men. Palsy, dropsy, withered limbs,
blindness, the want of hearing and speech, leprosy, confirmed
lunacy--all these were as well known in their outward symptoms eighteen
hundred years ago as they are to-day. Persons could not be afflicted
with such maladies in a corner. The neighbors must have known then, as
they do now