268 
for the death of the male children when Moses was born. It 
was but a carrying out of the moral law, which sanctions the 
“ visiting of the sins of the fathers upon the children.” I 
would not be guilty of the impiety of calling in question the 
goodness of God ; but I may be permitted, in reply to an ob- 
jection sometimes urged against the miracles of the Old Tes- 
tament, to say, that the loss of life by earthquakes, storms, 
plague, and lightning at unknown and irregular periods, 
might be and has been brought against the book of nature 
with far greater force than anything said or done in the Bible 
can be urged against revelation. Yet no one who believes 
in God doubts that the earthquake and storm are parts of His 
work. 
Reason and Testimony. — Mr. Powell said, “ testimony can 
avail nothing against reason.” “ The question would remain 
the same if we had the evidence of our senses to an alleged 
miracle.” “ It is not the mere fact, but the cause or explana- 
tion of it, which is the point at issue.” 
By “ reason” I suppose we are here to understand the 
conclusions arrived at from physical science, against which 
“ testimony” is said to avail nothing. Yet this very science 
itself is built upon “ testimony ” and observation. The truth 
is, that all reasoning whatsoever must rest upon authority or 
testimony of some kind. The data of reason do not rest 
upon reason, but are of necessity accepted by it, on tlic 
authority of what is beyond itself, viz faith. But if it were 
true that “testimony” can avail nothing against “reason” 
where there is any antagonism, it must yet be proved that 
such antagonism exists when we accept miracles upon proper 
evidence. This proof, however, is not yet forthcoming, 
and we may wait with perfect calmness. In the general or 
abstract, reason itself depends upon faith and testimony for 
its data, and the postulate that “ testimony is but a blind guide” 
can hardly be a safe one. 
Objections drawn from Metaphysical Considerations. 
The objections of a metaphysical kind that have been urged 
are mostly such as are drawn from particular views of tlio 
Divine attributes, as the Wisdom, Power, and Unchangeable- 
ness of God. The Divine attributes are conclusions arrived 
at from natural and revealed religion. The Divine Sovereignty 
follows as an inference from recognized views of the Divine 
attributes, — it can scarcely be called an attribute of itself, ana 
I would prefer to speak of it as a prerogative contained in 01 
deducible from the Divine attributes. I would never appeal 
