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contradiction ; the very absurdity , which Mr . H . charges on the abettors of miracles . A miracle then , we must admit in the first instance , is capable of being proved by the senses : and the subsequent establishment of its
proof by testimony , is no contradiction ; indeed , why , its being registered and recorded , as a testimony of its truth to others ^ should alter its nature , and as it were by . enchantment , annihilate its previous capacity of proof , a wiser head than even Mr . Hume ' s
is requisite to determine . It must be conceded however , that the veracity of testimony is not uniform , and here it is , tha £ we meet the difficulty in its dullest force ; had he confuted < himse { f to this single point , Mr . Hume ' s
objection would have had considerable weight , though it \\ 6 uld by no means have been insuperable ; but by blendrng with it , the utter incapacity of testimony to prove at all in the case , he bas effectual h' defeated his own purpose :
A TESTIMONY THAT PROVES NOTHING CANNOT LIE . The acknowledged ! want of an uniform veracity in testimony , supposes two cases , both the existence of
a false testimony , and a true one ; werq there not a . capacity in testimony to record truth , as well as falsehood , At . I , testimony must of course be false ; in that case too it would also be
uniform ^ and therefore might still be believed , its implying cm ahso- « lute contradiction , making no difference upon Mr . Hume ' s principles , since he contends thiU an
yMFOHM experience , is every thing "that is requisite to establish the proof of any-fact , or in Pther words that without it , the
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existence of no fact whatever can be proved .. Much stress has been laid bjr Mr . Hume and others , on the natural improbability of miracles ,
from the rarity of their occurrence , but with little reason ; the too frequent repetition ot them , would inevitably destroy their effect : improbability moreover , has no relation to testimony ,
but only to opinion : where testimony begins , improbability ends : to give testimony to any event , supposes that we have already a s * certained . the fact either directly , bv the observation of our own
senses ; or indirectly through the medium of the senses of others : in either case , improbability is wholly out of the question . Tho CAPACITY OF TESTIMONY to
record truth , even though that truth should be of a miraculous nature , can no longer be denied , as the futility of its supposed incompbtency , it is presumed , . has been fully shewn . I bave directed roy
observations . more immediately to this point of the abjection , because it is the point which appears to me , in most of the an * swers that I have seen , to be the least attended to . Human nature *
it has often been observed , having been found the same in all ages , ( an important circumstance , which Mr . Hume accedes to , ) we have ftjirm basis , on which ' to ground our belief in the representations of others , when they record
to us the experience of thoir senses ( o . nd a miracle let it be remarked , must in the first instance , be always an appeal to \\ us senses . ) Many persons have laid a peculiar stress on tfie consideration , that the subsequent effects ir * the Christian world can be accounted for
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Mr . Hume ' s Objection , to "Miracles considered . 147 *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1809, page 147, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1734/page/27/
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