Here we read that Jesus “called We are hardly prepared in the his twelve disciples together, same chapter to hear that the and gave them power and authority disciples had _not_ power to cast over _all_ devils, and to cure out devils, and cure diseases, [all] diseases.” for a man says to Jesus, “Master, a spirit taketh my son and teareth him; and I brought him to thy disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” John xix., 6. John xviii., 31. When Jesus was brought before the This is very strange, seeing the Roman procurator, Pilate said to Jews had just said to Pilate, “It the Jews, “Take ye him, and is not lawful for us to put any crucify him.” man to death.” Would any Roman procurator have told the Jews to crucify a criminal, knowing that it was strictly forbidden by the Roman senate? CONCLUSION. The apology that a certain degree of variance is a proof of independent testimony is quite beside the present question, and so is the argument of Dr. Whately about Napoleon. No doubt half-a-dozen correspondents describing any event in the late war would dwell on different incidents, and see matters from different stand-points; one would have a bias towards the French and another towards the Prussians, one would be cast in a Tory mould and another would have Radical proclivities, one would see with military eyes and another with the eyes of a civilian, one would look towards the end and another would limit his vision to the present action; but who claims for these correspondents divine inspiration? who believes that they are all baptized into one spirit, and that the spirit which guides them has guaranteed that they shall speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? They write as human beings, with fallible judgments, and all the prejudices of caste, education, interest, and special advocacy; with so many things to bias judgment, no doubt there will be considerable variety of statement, but all this in no wise applies to the Bible writers—they are not supposed to write from any of these motives, but to be guided and directed by one and the same motive, and all to be led by the Spirit of unerring truth. With such writers there may be considerable verbal difference, but no substantial variety; there may be shades of variety, and different incidents may strike different eye-witnesses, but there can be no positive contradiction, and the same incident cannot be described as two antagonistic facts. If Samuel was right when he affirmed that David took from the king of Zobah 700 horsemen, the chronicler was wrong when he said the number was 7000. If the chronicler was correct in saying that Jehoiachim was only eight when he ascended the throne, his brother chronicler was in error when he