"Compare, for instance, the clear and sober-minded spirit of the New Testament epistles, or the quiet sublimity of the Gospel of John, with the epistles of Ignatius, the enthusiasm of which degenerates into a well-nigh fanatic desire for martyrdom; or with the Pastor of Hermas, and the value ascribed by him to ascetic rigour; or with the epistles by Clement of Rome, which tell the fable of the phœnix as a fact; or, again, with the Epistle of Barnabas, which delights in insipid allegories, and gives the most absurd typical interpretations of the Old Testament, justifying Neander's remark, that here we encounter quite another spirit than that of an apostolic man."[65] [65] Ibid. p. 541. Our author produces such a mass of evidence from the early writers, confirmatory of the truths of the Gospel, that his criticism tends to opposite conclusions. Supposing he can prove that the canon of Scripture is not _un_assailable, he has not accomplished much. It is of more value to have confirmation of the facts and principles of Divine truth, than to be assured that the authorship, construction, compilation, or arrangement of the Scriptures, are just what the Church of Rome authoritatively pronounced. Because we cannot positively settle certain questions of little comparative importance, are we to surrender our faith in essentials? Are we to let the conjectures and queries of German cavillers, with their "Yea, hath God said," destroy our cherished faith and hope? God forbid! It is not the preservation or infallibility of the apostolic writings which makes His incarnation, death, and resurrection, facts in the history of our race. The facts make the history, not the history the facts. Europe was saved from Oriental despotism by Leonidas at Thermopylæ, and the valour and patriotism of the Greeks; by Charles Martel in the eighth century; and again by Prince Eugene in the seventeenth century; but it is not because history has truly or imperfectly recorded these facts that we enjoy to this day the great benefits resulting to civilisation from their heroism.