Note 4 — DIVERSITY OF OPINION VERY NATURAL.

The sceptic will sometimes endeavour to perplex and entangle the faith of an unlearned believer, by insinuating that, as he has never traced, through the medium of exact evidence, the origin of the different books of the Bible to their source, he cannot be assured that his belief is substantially a true belief—it may be, after all, nothing but the belief of a fiction. The following quotation from a distinguished writer, will, I think, prove as a shield of defence to the faith of the unlearned, and convince the sceptic himself, that his objection, plausible in appearance, is wanting in logical force:—"It is manifest that the concurrent testimony, positive or negative, of several witnesses, when there can have been no concert, carries with it a weight independent of that which may belong to each of them, considered separately. For though, in such a case, each of the witnesses should be even considered as wholly undeserving of credit, still the chances might be incalculable against all agreeing in the same falsehood. It is on this kind of testimony that the generality of mankind believe in the motions of the earth, and of the heavenly bodies, &c. Their belief is not the result of their own observations and calculations, nor yet again of their implicit reliance on the skill and good faith of any one or more astronomers; but it rests on the agreement of many independent and rival astronomers, who want neither the ability nor the will to detect and expose each other's errors. It is on similar grounds that the generality of men believe in the existence and in the genuineness of manuscripts of ancient books. It is not that they have themselves examined these, or that they rely implicitly on the good faith of those who profess to have done so; but they rely on the concurrent and uncontradicted testimony of all who have made, or who might make, the examination—both unbelievers and believers of various hostile sects, any one of whom would be sure to seize any opportunity to expose the forgeries or errors of his opponents."—Whately.

This observation is the more important because many persons are liable to be startled and dismayed, on its being pointed out to them that they have been believing something, as they are led to suppose, on very insufficient reasons, when the truth is, perhaps, that they have been merely mis-stating their reasons.