of this Parable (for so I will call it) thro' all its Parts, nor to say what is meant by the Sea, that the _Swine_ are to be absorp't in; but leave our _Divines_ to chew upon this mystical Construction given them in part, and to consider, whether there's not a Necessity for such an Interpretation to make the Story credible. And thus have I given you the Opinion and Exposition of the Fathers upon this Miracle, which they turn all into Mystery. If our _Divines_ are still far adhering to the Letter of this Story, let them account for the Difficulties it is involv'd with. To cure Men violently distracted, and possess'd with _Devils_, is, whether it be miraculous or not, a good and great Work; but to send the _Devils_, who without _Jesus_'s Permission could not go into the _Herd of Swine_, was an Injury done to the Proprietors, and unbecoming of the Goodness of the holy _Jesus_. Neither is there any other Way to solve the Difficulty, than by looking upon the whole, with the Fathers, as Type and Figure. If this miraculous Story had been recorded of _Mahomet_, and not of _Jesus_, our _Divines_, I dare say, would have work'd it up to a Confutation of _Mahometanism_. _Mahomet_ should have been, with them, nothing less than a _Wizard_, an _Enchanter_, a _Dealer_ with familiar Spirits, a sworn _Slave_ to the Devil; and his _Mussulmen_ would have been hard put to it to write a good Defence of him. When our Saviour was brought before _Pilate_ to be arraign'd, try'd, and condemned, _Pilate_ put this Question to the _Jews_, saying, _What Evil hath Jesus done?_ If both, or either of the Stories above, had been literally true of _Jesus_, there had been no need of false Witnesses against him. The Merchants of the Temple were at hand, who could have sworn "that he was the Author of an Uproar and Riot, the like was never seen on their Market-Day; that they were great Sufferers, and Losers in their Trades; and, whether he or his Party had stolen any of their Goods or not, yet some were embezzled, and others damaged; and all thro' the outragious Violence of this unruly Fellow, against Law and Authority." If such Evidence as this was not enough to convict him of a capital Crime, then the _Swine-Herds_ of the _Gadarenes_ might have deposed, "how they believed him to be a _Wizard_, and had lost two thousand Swine through his Fascinations: That he bid the Devils to go into our Cattle, is not to be deny'd. And if he cured one or two of our Countrymen of a violent Possession, yet in as much as he did us this Injury in our Swine, we justly suspect him of diabolical Practices upon both." Upon such Evidence as this, _Pilate_ asks the Opinion of the _Jews_, saying, _What think you?_ If they all had condemn'd him to be guilty of Death, it is no wonder, since there is not a _Jury_ in _England_ would have acquitted any one arraign'd and accused in the like Case.