t\ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD ENDOWMENT FUND //■"/,///, OJl/0•/.^ .1/^ Plcri'IiE r// iy/'m/ct:,*/^/- oyr/J^/ THE WORKS O F T H E RIGHT REVEREND WILLIAM WARBURTON, LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER. IN SEVEN VOLUMES* YOLUME THE FIRST. LONDON, PRINTED BY JOHN NICHOLS: AND SOLD BY T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND, MDCCLXXXVIII. [ lu 3 ^-.r v./ ADVERTISEMENT. ^ t ^ H E Reader will expe6l Ibme account of the Life, •*- JVritings, and Chara6ier of the Author to be jn-e- lixed to this complete edition of his Works. He is there- fore informed, that a Difcourfe to that effedl hath been prepared, and will be publiflied ; but not now, for rea- fons that will be feen hereafter. However, it may be proper to add, that the purchafer of this edition will be entitled to a Copy of the Difcourfe, whenever it comes out, on his producing a ticket, which for that purpofe will be delivered to him by the Bookfeller. All I have to fay, at prefent, of the Author's Works, is. That they have been printed carefully from his laft corredions and improvements ; and arranged in that order, which was judged molt convenient. Of the new trails, included in this edition, the mofl confiderable is. The ninth Book of the Divine Legation ; printed, fo far as it goes, by the Author himfelf, but Vol. I. a a left 8cr rj'ri'f'^'-*^ IV ADVERTISEMENT. left unfiniflied. This Difcourfe miift be interefting to the reader ; but will not appear to have all the novelty which he may expert. The reafon is, that the Author had laid afide all thoughts of compleating this book for many years, and had, in the mean time, employed fome parts of it in his other Works, From thefe, when he at length refumed that intention, he extra6ted-many paflages, which are now again inferted in their place. Thus much I thought fit to fay of this additional Boob, that the Reader may come the better prepared to the pe- rufal of it. For the reft, he is referred to the Author's Life, at large. Creat Ruffel-Streetj i^°"7XU. R. W O' R C E S T E R;. T H E. DISCOURSE, BY WAY OF GENERAL PREFACE TO THE QUARTO EDITION OF BISHOP WARBURTON'S WORKS. [cnteteD at ^tationets! i^ail*] CONTENTS OF THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. SECTION I. From his birth ^ in 1698, to his being appointed Preacher of Lincoln's Inn, in 1746. His family — birth — education — and preparatory Jiudies — en" trance into holy orders — and preferment of Brandt- Br ough- ton — extraordinary application to his Jiudies — Alliance betzveen Church and State — account of that zvork — and its reception. — Publijhes the Jirjl volume of the Divine Le- gation-^his friendjbip zvith the bijljops Hare and Sherlock — Vindication of himfelf againjl IVebJler — His acquaintance with Dr. Middleton — his conduS'i toivards him — Reco?7i- mendation of him by Bijljop Hare to flueen Caroline — death of that Princefs — Continuance of his Jiudies at Brandt- Broughton — Vindicates the Effay on Man againjl Croufaz — acquaintance zvith Mr. Pope — publijljes a Jecond edition of D. L. — Conneclion with Sir I'homas Hanmer — death of Bijhop Hare — and charadler — Publijljes the Jecond vo- lume of D. L. — idea of that zvork — further account of Dr. Middleton — intimate friend/ljip zvith Mf. Pope — ejfecis of it — Mr. Pope's death — Introduclion to Mr. Murray and Mr. Allen — chara£iers of thofe e?ninent perfons — defends theD.L. agaifijl Jeveral zvriters — declines going to Ireland zvith Lord Chejierjield — his marriage — and appointment to the PreacherJJjip of Lincoln'' s Inn. 4 SEC- SECTION II. To bis being projnotcd to the See oj Gloucejler^ in 1760. Pubii/Jjes Shake fpcafs ivorks — reception and charaBcr of that edition — Vindicates Mr. Pope againjl Lord BoUngbroke — DigreJJlon, on Mr. Addifons treatment of Mr. Pope — Pub- lij]jes his Julian — bozv received at home and abroad — P>eatb and charackr of Dr. Middleton — His edition of Mr. Pope's works — His fernwns at Lincoln'' s-lnn^ and charaSler of them— Some account of bis preferments — Death of Lord Boiin^broke — publication of bis pbilofopby — and refutation of it — His Jentiments of Mr. Hume s effayst and Natural Hiflory of Religion — bis animadverfions on the latter — a new and correB edition of the firfl volume of D. L. — anfwers fome objeBions of Abp. Seeker — cbaraBer of that Prelate — and of his friend BiJJjop Butler -^Promo- tion to the Deanery of Briftol^ and to the BiJJjoprick of Gloucejler, SECTION III. ?o bis Death f in 1777. RefleBions on hii advancement to the epifcopate — bis conduB in that flation — Sermon on the 30//6 of January — Cenfure of Lord Clarendons Hiflory — and Neafs Hiflory of the Puri- Puritans — and of 'Tindats CbriJIianity as Old as the Crea- tion — Revifes his Sermons — reprints his Difcourfe on the Lord's Supper — publifies his DoSlrine of Grace — nezv edition of the fecond'johime of D. L. addreffed to Lord Mansfield — remarkable appendix to this edition — character of BiJJjop Lozvth — AV:y edition of the Alliance — applies bimfelf to the completion of the ninth book of D. L. — account of this ivork — zjchy undertaken fo late, and left imjinijhed — founds his leciure on Prophecy — lofes his f on — decline of his health and parts — bis death. \ SECTION IV. His Chara£ler, Moral virtues — love of letters — idea of him., as a Writer ; particularly a controverfial writer ; vindication of him in that refped — and as a Divine, properly fo called — His companionable qualities — private friendflAps — Characters of Mr. town and Dr. Balguy — his foibles, of what fort, and to what owing-^Brief account of this edition — Con- clufion. Appendix to the Life* Containing Letter to Mr. Pope \^A\, to Mrs. Cockburn [b]. CORRECTIONS. P. 26. I. 17. for in read him. P. 108. note, laft line but one, for unica r. uiiico. P. no. 1. 14. iQX ■predecejfor's r. predetejfors. P. 125. 1. 4. for reprefenling r. repreffing. P. 143. 1. 2. for p. 24. r. p. 39. [ X ] THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. FIRST PRINTED IN 1794. VV ILLIAM WARBURTON was defcended from an antient and very confiderable family in Chefhire, at the head of which is the prefeut Sir Peter Warburton, baronet, of Arley, in that county. I leave the reft to the Genealogift ; and go no farther back in his pedigree than to his grandfather, of the fame name, who diftinguiflied himfelf in the civil wars of the laft century. He was of the Royal party, and fliewed his zeal and a6tivity in tliat caufe by ferving under Sir George Booth at the affair of Chefter. I mention this little cir- cumftance chiefly for the ufe I fliall make of it elfewhere. All that I know more of him, is, That he married Frances, daughter of Robert Awfield of Etfon, in the county of Nottingham, by whom he had three fons ; the fecond of whom, George, was Mr. Warburton's father. It feems probable that upon this marriage he removed into Nottinghamlliire. His refidence was at Shelton, a village about fix miles from Newark, where he died. B Mr. [ 2 ] Mr. George Warburton, the fecond fon, as I obferved, of William Warburton, Efq. of Shelton, was bred to the law. He fettled at Newark, where he pradifed as an attorney, and was particularly efteemed for his integrity in that profefllon. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William Hobman, Alderman of Newark, and had by this marriage five children, George, William, Mary, Elizabeth, and Frances. George died very young. William (the fubjc^^^ of this memoir) was born at Newark, Dsc. 24, i6g8. He was firft put to fchool there under Mr. Twells, whofe fon afterwards married his fifter, Elizabeth : but he had the chief part of his education at Okeham, in Rutlandfliire, under Mr. Wright. Here he continued till the beginning of the year i 7 14 ; when his coufin, Mr. Warburton (who alfo bore the name of William), being made head mailer of the fchool at Newark, he returned to his native place^ and was, for a fliort time, under the care of that learned and refpe(Slable perfon, of whom more will be faid pre- fently. I only now add ; that he was father to the reve- rend Mr. Thomas Warburton, the prefent very worthy Archdeacon of Norfolk, to whom I am indebted for the particulars here mentioned, concerning his family. I cannot, I confefs, entertain the reader of this narra- tive with thofe encomiums which are fo commonly laviflied on the puerile years of eminent men. On the beft en- quiry, [ 3 ] quiry, I have been able to make, I do not find that, du- ring his ftay at fchool, he diftinguiflied himfelf by any extraordinary efforts of genius or appUcation. My infor- mation authorizes me to go no further than to fay, That he loved liis book, and his play, juil as other boys did. And, upon reflexion, I am not difpleafed with this modeft teflimony to his merit. For I remember what the heft judges have thought of premature wits. And we all know that the mountain- oak, which is one day to make the ih-ength of our fleets, is of flower growth than tlie fap- lings, which adorn our gardens. But, although no prodigy of parts or induftry in thofe early years, with a moderate (hare of each, he could not fail of acquiring by the age of fixteen (the time when he left fchool) a competent knowledge of Greek and Latin under fuch marters, as thofe of Okeham and Newark. It had been his misfortune to lofe his father very early. He died in 1706 ; and the care of his family devolved, of courfe, upon his widow ; who, as we have feen, gave her fon the beft fchool-education ; and, in all refpe6ls, ap- proved herfelf fo good a woman, as well as parent, that her chiklren paid her all poflible refpeit : her fon, in particular (all whofe affedlions were naturally warm), gave her every proof of duty and obfervance, while flie lived, and, after her death, retained fo tender a regard to her memory, that he feldom fpake of her but with tears. B 2 The [ 4 ] The circumllances of the family could be but moderate ; and when Mr.'Warburton had now finiflied his education at fchool, he was deftined by his friends to that profeffion, which is thought to qualify men bcft for the management of their own aftairs, and which his father had followed with fo much credit in that neighbourhood. He was accordingly put out clerk to Mr. Kirke, an emi- nent attorney of Great Markham, in Nottinghamlhire, in April, 1 7 14, and continued with that gentleman five years, /. e. till the fpring of the year 1719. Tradition does not acquaint us, how he acquitted himfelf in his clerkfliip. Probably, with no fignal alTiduity. For now it was that the bent of his genius aj^peared in a paffionate love of -reading, which was not leffencd, we may believe, but in- creafed, by his want of time and opportunity to indulge it. However, in fpite of his fituation, he found means to perufe again and digeft fuch of the claffic authors as he had read at fchool, with many others which he underilood to be in repute with men of learning and judgement. By degrees he, alfo, made himfelf acquainted with the other elementary ftudies ; and, by the time his clerkfliip was out, had laid the foundation, as well as acquired a tafte, of general knowledge. Still, the opinion and expectation of his friends kept him in that profeffion, to which he had been bred. On the expiration of his clerkfliip, he returned to his family at Newark ; [ 3 ] Newark ; but whether he pradlifed there or elfewhere as an attorney, I am not certainly informed. However the love of letters growing every day ftronger in him, it was found advifea'ole to give v.'ay to his inclination of taking- Orders : the rather, as the ferioufnefs of his temper and purity of his morals concurred, with his unappeafible thirif of knowledge, to give the fareft prefages of future eminence in that profeffion. He did not venture, however, all at once to rulh into the church. His good underftanding, and awful fenfe of religion, fuggefted to him the propriety of making the beft preparation he could, before he offered himfelf a can- didate for the facred charadler. Fortunately for him, his relation, the Marter of Newark School, was at hand to give him his advice. And he could not have put himfelf under a better dire6lion. For, befides his claffical merit (which was great), he had that of being an excellent Divine, and was a truly learned as well as good man. To him then, as loon as his rcfoluiion was taken of going into Orders, he applied for affiiiance, which v/as afforded him very liberally. " My father (fays Mr. Arch- *' deacon Warburton in a letter to me) employed ail the " time he could fpare from his fchool in inftrudting him, *' and ufed to fit up very late at night with him to aiTift " him in his iludies." And this account I have heard confirmed by his pupil himfelf; who ufed to enlarge with pleafure [ 6 ] pleaftire on his obligations to his old tutor ; and has cele- brated his theological and other learning in a handfome Latin epitaph, which he wrote upon him after his death. At length he was ordained Deacon the 2 2d of December, 17 '2 3, in the cathedral of York, by Archbifliop Dawes: and even then he was in no hafte to enter into Priell's Orders, which he deferred taking till he was full twenty- eight years of age, being ordained Prieil: by Bifliop Gibfon in St. Paul's, London, March the 1 ft, 1726-7. Some will here lament that the precious interval of nine years, from his quitting fchool in 1 714 to his takingOrders, was not fpent in one of our univerfities, rather than his private ftudy, or an attorney's office. And it is certain, the difadvantage to moft men would have been great. But an induftry, and genius, like his, overcame all difficulties. It may even be conceived, that he derived a benefit from them. As his faculties were of no common lize, his own proper exertion of them probably tended more to his im- provement, than any affiftance of tutors and colleges could have done. To which we may add, that living by himfelf, and not having the faffiionable opinions of a great fociety to bias his own, he might acquire an enlarged turn of mind, and ftrike out for himfelf, as he clearly did, an original caft both of thought and compofition ; Fq/lidire lacus et rivos aufus apertos : while [ 7 ] while his fuperior fenfe, in the mean time, did the office of that authority, which, in general, is found fo DecefTary to quicken the diligence, and diredt the judgement, of young ftudents in our univerfities. The fadl is, that, without the benefit of an Academical education, he had qualified himfelf, in no common degree, for Deacon's Orders in 1723: and from that time till he took PrielVs Orders in the beginning of the year 1727, he applied himfelf diligently to complete his ftudies, and to lay in that fund of knowledge, which is requifite to form tlie confummate Divine. For to this charadter he reafon- ably afpired ; having that ardour of inclination, which is the earnetf of fuccefs, and feeling in himfelf thofe powers which invigorate a great niind, and pufli it on irrefiftibly in the purfuit of letters. The fruits of his indulhy, during this interval, appeared in fome pieces, compofed by him for tlie improvement of his talle and ityle, and aftervi'ards printed (moft of them without his name) to try the judgement of the j^^^blick. As he never thought fit to reprint or revife them, they arc omitted in this edition. But they are fuch as did him no difcredit ; on the contrary, they fliewed the vigour of his parts, and the more than common hopes, which might be entertained of fuch a writer. Among thefe blojfoms of his youth (to borrow an expref- fion from Cowley) were fome notes, communicated to Mr. [ 8 ] Mr. Theobald, and inferted in his edition of Shakefpear ; which feems to have raifed a general idea of his abilities, before any more important proof had been given of them. But of this fubjedl more will be faid in its place. It was, alfo, in this feafon of early difcipline, while his mind was opening to many literary projecfts, that he con- ceived an idea, which he was long pleafed with, of giving a new edition of Velleiiis Paterculus. He was charmed with the elegance of this writer ; and the high credit in which emendatory criticifm (of which Paterculus flood much in need) was held in the beginning of this century, occafioned by the da3zling reputation of fuch men as Bentley and Hare, very naturally feduced a young enter- prizing fcholar into an attempt of this nature. How far he proceeded in this work, I cannot fay : but a fpecimen of it afterwards appeared in one of our literary journals, and was then communicated to his friend, Dr. Middleton ; who advifed him very properly to drop the defign, as not worthy of bis talents and induftry^ zvbicbj as he fays, injlead of trifling on words, feems calculated rather to correB the opinions and manners of the world. Thefe juvenile effays of his pen, hafty and incorreil, as they were, contributed, no doubt, very much to his own improvement. What effeil; they had on his reputation, and how foon they raifed it to a conliderable height among his friends, will be feen from the following curious facTt. 4 In [ 9 ] III the year 1726, a difpute arofe among the lawyers about the judicial power of the Court of Chancery. It is immaterial to oblcrve on what points the controverfy turned, or with what views it was agitated. It oj^ened with a trail, called, T^he Hi/lory of the Chancery ; relating to the Judicial Power of that Court, and the Rights of the Mafler ; printed without a name ; but written, as was generally known, by a Mr. Burrough ; and fo well received by the Lord Chancellor King, that he rewarded the Author of it, the fame year, with a Mafterfliip in Chancery, To this book an anfwer prefently appeared, under the name of, A Difcoitrfe of the Judicial Authority of the Majler of the Rolls ; and fo well compofed, that they who favoured the caufe of the Hijlorian, faw it muft fuffer in his hands, if it ^yere not fupported by feme better writer than himfelf, who was evidently no match for the Difcourfer. In this exigency, he was advifed by one of his friends (I forget, or never heard, his name) to have recourfe to Mr. Warburton, as a perfon very capable of fupplying his defeds. Accordingly, when he had prepared the proper materials for a reply, he obtained leave to put them into Mr. Warburton's hands, and afterwards fpent fome time with him in the country ; where, by their joint labours, the whole was drawn out and digefted into a fizable volume, which came out in 1727, and was entitled. The Legal Judicature in Chancery JIated. This book was fo manifeilly C fuperior [ 'o ] liiperior to the HIJIory, that fuch of the profeflion as were not in the fecret, wondered at Mr. Burrough's proficiency in the art of writing ; and the Lord Chancellor King, as much as any body. The author of the Difcourje faw it concerned him to take notice of fuch an adverfary, and in 1728 re-printed his work " with large additions — together " with a Preface occafioned by a book entitled, The Legal <' Judicature in Chancery Jlated^ And with this reply, I believe, the difpute clofed. Many years afterwards (the fecret being now of no con- fequence) Mr, Warburton chanced to mention, in convcr- fation, to Mr. Charles Yorke, the part he had taken in this fquabble : when Mr. Yorke fmiled, and faid he fancied he was not aware who had been his antagonift ; and then named his father, the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, who, though Attorney General at the time, had undertaken to plead the caufe of his relation, Sir Jofeph Jekyll, then Mafter of the Rolls. — But I have dwelt, perhaps, too long on this little anecdote. Upon Mr. Warburton's taking Prieft's Orders, Sir Robert Sutton procured for him the fmall vicarage of Griefley, in . Nottinghamfliire ; and in 1728 prefented him to the rec- tory of Brand-Broughton, in the diocefe of Lincoln. He was, alfo, the fame year, and, I fuppofe, by the fame intereft, pyt upon the King's lift of Mafter of Arts, created on his Majefty's vifit to the univerfity of Cambridge, Brand- L >' ] Brand-Broughton was a preferment of Tome value, and, from its fituation in the neighbourliood of Newark, pleafed him very much. Here then he fixed himfelf, with his family, and fpent the bell part of his life, that is, from 1728 to 1746. They who are unacquainted with the enthufiafm which true genius infpires, will hardly conceive the poffibility of that intenfe application, with which Mr. Warburtoii purfued his ftudies in that retirement. Impatient of any interruptions, he fpent the whole of his time that could be fpared from the duties of his parifli, in reading and writing. His conftitvition was ftrong, and his temperance extreme. So that he needed no exercife but that of walk- ing ; and a change of reading, or fludy, was his only amufement. His mother and fifters, ^vho lived with him and were apprehenfive of the hurt he might do himfelf by this con- tinued induftry, would invite themfelves to drink coffee with him in his ftudy after dinner, and contrive to lengthen their flay with him as much as they could. But when, they had retired, they faw no more of him that evening; and his fifter, Mrs. Frances Warburton, told me, that he ufually fate up a great part of the night. What is moll extraordinary, the vigour of his parts was fuch, that his incefTant labour neither wearied his fpirits, nor affeiled his health. C 2 In [ 12 ] In this way it was, that he acquired that habit of deep thinking, with that extenfive erudition, whicli afterwards aftoniflied the reader in his works ; and made himfelf ac- quainted with the whole range of poUte and elegant learn- ing, in the way of diverfion, and in the interval of his graver ftudies. I exprefs myfelf with exadl: propriety. For it was his manner at this time (and the habit continued w.th him through life) to intermix his literary purfuits in fuch fort as to make the lighter relieve the more ferious ; and thefe again, in their turn, temper and corredl the other. He was paflionately fond of the more fublime poets, and (what is very uncommon) had almoft an equal rehfli for works of wit and humour. One or other of thefe books he had always lying by him, and would take up when he found himfelf fatigued with ftudy ; and, after fpending fome time in this fort of reading, was fo much refreflied by it, that he returned with new life to the work he was upon ; and fo made thefe amufements, which are apt to get the maftery of common minds and to exhauft their whole force, only fubfervient to his more important medi- tations. And this humour (to obferve it by the way) of aflb- ciating the fo different powers of reafon and fancy in the courfe of his ftudies, pafled into his ftyle, and indeed formed one diftindlive charadler of it. For in all his wri- 4 tings, [ 13 ] tings, on whatever fubjecft, you fee him, occafionally, ennoble his expreffion by pidlurefque imagery, or enliven it by ftrokes of wit : And this (though the pra6lice be againll: rule) with fo much eafe, and with fo little affec- tation, that none but a very captious, or very dull, reader can take offence at it. With that paffion for letters, which, as I obferved, tranfported Mr. Warburton at this time, the fobriety of his judgement is to be admired. The little tafte he had had of fame in the early publications, before alluded to, did not corrupt his mind, or feduce him into a premature ambition of appearing as an author in form, till he had fully qualified himfelf, by the long courfe of reading and meditation, now mentioned, to fuftain that character. It was not till the year 1736 that he publiflied the firft of thofe works, on which his great reputation is raifed This was, The Alliance betwixt Church and State : the occafion, and end, and fubftance of which work cannot be exprefTed in fewer or clearer terms, than his own. After a fhort hiftorical view of religious parties in Eng- land, from the Reformation downwards ; of the difcor- dant notions entertained of Religious eflablilliments ; and of the heats and animolities which thofe notions had pro- duced : he proceeds thus *' In this ferment, and in this embroiled condition, the " Author of the Alliance between Cburcb and State foimd " the [ -4 ] " the fentiments of men concerning religious Liberty and *< EftablifhmentSj when he i^ropofed his 'fbeory to their " confideration : a Theory, calculated to vindicate our pre- " fent happy Conftitution on a principle of right, by " adjuding the precife bounds of either Society ; by fhew- " ing how they come to aIr. Mafon's genius, in Tb^ G Monody,. [ 4» ] Monody, entitled Mufeus ; which gave fo fare a prefage of his future eminence in poetry, and fo advantageous a pic- ture of his mind, that Mr. Warburton, on the fight of it, " With open arms received one poet more.** Soon after Mr. Pope's death, Mr. Warburton received a letter from a learned and ingenious lady, Mrs. Cock- burne, lamenting that event, and making fome enquiry- after Mr. Pope's works ; but the real purpofe of the let- ter-writer was to draw Mr. Warburton into an explanation of his fyftem concerning Moral Obligation^ as delivered in the firft volume of the D. L., it being different from one efpoufed by herfelf, which was that of Dr. Samuel Clarke, His anfwer to this Lady is written with great civility and politenefs, and was fo well received, that, when, a year or two afterwards, fhe drew up her confutation of Dr.Ruther- forth's EiTay on Virtue, flie fent the manufcript to Mr. Warburton ; who was extremely pleafed with it, and wrote a fhort preface in recommendation of that work. His Letter may be feen in the Appendix [B]. But to return to what I v/as faying of Mr. Pope*s friends Ihip for Mr. Warburton. Next to the enjoyment itfelf of fuch a friendlliip, the chief benefit Mr, Warburton derived from it, was the being introduced by his means to his principal friends; particularly Mr. Murray, and Mr, Allen; two of the greateft [ 43 ] greateft and befl: men of the age. As I had myfelf the honour of being well acquainted with thefe excellent per- fons, and very much obliged to them, I may the rather be allowed to indulge myfelf in the recollection of their virtues. Mr. Murray, afterwards Earl of Mansfield and Lord Chief Juftice of England, was fo extraordinary a perfon, and made fo great a figure in the world, that his name muft go down to pofterity, with diftinguiflied honour, in the public records of the nation. For his fliining talents difplayed themfelves in every department of the ftate, as well as in the fupreme Court of Juftice, his peculiar pro- vince ; which he filled with a luftre of reputation, not equalled perhaps, certainly not exceeded, by that of any of his predeceflbrs. Of his condu(ft in the Houfe of Lords, I can fpeak with the more confidence, becaufe I fpeak. from my own obfervation. Too good to be the leader, and too able to be the dupe, of any party, he was believed to fpeak his own fenfe of public meafures ; and the authority of his judgement was fo high that, in regular times, the Houfe was ufually determined by it. He was no forward, of frequent fpeaker ; but referved himfelf, as was fit, for occafions worthy of him. In debate^ he was eloquent as well as wife ; or rather, he became eloquent by his wifdom. His countenance and tone of voice imprinted G 2 the [ 44 ] the Ideas of penetration, probity, and candour ; but what fecured your attention and aflent to all he faid, was his conflant good fenfe, flowing in apt terms and the cleared method. He afFeded no fallies of the invagination, or burfls of paflion ; much lefs would he condefcend to per- fonal abufe or petulant altercation. All was clear, candid reafon, letting itfelf fo eafily into the minds of his hear- ers as to carry information and convidion with it. hi a word, his public fenatorial charader refembled very much that of Meflala, of whom Cicero fays, addreffing himfelf to Brutus — " Do not imagine, Brutus, that, for worth, honour *' and a warm love of his country, any one is comparable *' to Meflala : So that his eloquence, in which he won- " derfully excells, is almoft eclipfed by thofe virtues. And *' even in his difplay of that faculty, his fuperior good *' fenfe fliews itfelf raoft: with fo much care and ilcill ** hath he formed himfelf to the trueft manner of fpeak- *' ing ! His powers of genius and invention are confefl- <* edly of the firft lize ; yet he almoft owes lefs to them, ** than to the diligent and ftudious cultivation of his judge- " ment^-.'*^ * " Cave putes probitate, conftantia, cura, ftudio reipublicae, quid^ *' quana illi fimile effe ; iit eloquentia, qua mirabiliter excellit, vix in eo *' locum ad laudandum habere videatur. Quanquam in hac ipfa fapient-a " plus apparct: ita gravi judicio multaque arte fe exercuit in veriffimo *' genere dicendi. Tanta autem induftria eft, tantumque evigilat in ftu- " dio, ut non maxime ingenio, quod in eo fummum cft> gratia habenda »' videatur." Cic. ad Brutum, I. 15. In [ 45 ] In the commerce of private life, he was eafy, friendly, and agreeable, extremely fenfible of merit in other men, and ready on all occalions to countenance and produce it. From his early youth, he had attraded the notice, and ob- tained the friendfhip and applaufc, of our great poet. Mr. Allen was a man of plain good fenfe, and the moft benevolent temper. He rofe to great confideration by farming the crofs-polls ; which he put into the admirable order in which we now find them ; very much to the public advantage, as well as his own. He was of that generous compoficion, that his mind enlarged with his fortune ; and the wealth he fo honourably acquired, he fpent in a fplendid hofpitaHty, and the moft extenfive charities. His houfe, in fo public a fcene as that of Bath, was open to all men of rank and worth, and efpecially to men of diftinguiflied parts and learning ; whom he ho- noured and encouraged ; and whofe refpedtive merits he was enabled to appreciate, by a natural difcernment and fnperior good fenfe, rather than any acquired ufe and knowledge of letters. His domeftic virtues were above all praife. With thefe qualities he ch"ew to himfelf an univerfal refpect ; and pofTeffed, in a high degree, the efteem of Mr. Pope, who, in one of his moral elTays, has done juftice to his modeft and amiable charadter. To thefe two incomparable perfons Mr. Pope was ef- j^ccially anxious to introduce -his friend ; and it was not 4 long [ 45 3 long before he experienced the moft fubftantlal benefits from this recommendation. In the mean time, his attention was turned towards that numerous hoft of anfwerers, which the D. L. of Mofes had brought down upon him. The extenfive argument, and mifcellaneous nature of that work, had led him to de- clare his fentiments on a multitude of queftions, on which he thought differently from other writers, and of courfe to cenfure or confute their opinions. Whole bodies of men, as well as individuals of the higheft reputation, were at- tacked by him ; and his manner was to fpeak his fenle of all with freedom and force. So that moll: writers, and even readers, had fome ground of complaint againtt him. Not only the free-thinkers and unbelievers, againit whom the tenour of his book was directed, but the heterodox of every denomination were treated without much ceremony ; and of the orthodox themfelves fome tenet or other, which till then they had held facred, was difcuffed and repro- bated by him. Straggling herefies, or embodied fyftems, made no difference with him ; as they came in his way, no quarter was given to either : " his end and manner of *' writing," as Dr. Middleton truly obferved, "being to pur- <' fue truth, wherever he found it, and, from the midft *' of fmoke and darknefs, to fpread light and day around « him -." * Letter VII. in Dr. Middleton's Works, vol. II. Such [ 47 3 Such a writer (independently of the envy, which ever attends fuperior genius) muft needs have mnumerable ene- mies. And as ah could not receive, nor the greater part deferve, his notice, he determined to fele6t a few of the more refpe6lable, out of the grofs body of affixilants, and to quit his hands of them at once, in a general compre- henfive anfwer. This was done by Remarks on federal occafional Reflexions^ in two parts ; \.\\e former publiflied in 1744, and ihQ fecond (which he llyles the lafl) in 1745 ; and both, executed in fuch a manner as was not likely to invite any frefli attacks upon him. Yet the rage of his anfwerers was not prefently fub- dued. Writing to a confidential friend from Prior-Park the year following [July 15, 1746] he tells him — " I have a deluge of writers againft me. But two great men have made me promife to anfwer none of them. They faid — ' You imagine the world takes as much notice of your anfwerers, as you yourfelf do. You are miftaken. The names of none of them were ever heard of in good company. And the world wonders you fliould fo mif- employ your time.' To this 1 faid, *' It was true. But that there 'was another body to which fome regard fhould he had, the inferior Clergy." They faid, if fuch writers milled them, it was in vain for me to think of them. And indeed I begin to think Ariftotle miftaken when he defined man to be a rational animal. Not but I know the fource r 48 ] iburce of all this oppofition is rather to be attributed to a bad heart, than a bad head. And you would be furprizetl at the inftances of envy I could give you. Had I the complaifance to die to-morrow, it would all be over, before the end of the week. I am in this condition of a dead man, already, with regard to the Indies, there being at this immenfe diftance no room for envy, as you will fee by the following extra<5l of a letter I received from one of the governors of Virginia :" '« I never had fo much profit from any book, except " the Bible, as from yours. The flood of infidelity has *' reached us. The blefling of God upon your excellent " pen will, I hope, preferve us from the evil influence; <' Pennfylvania feems to be over-run with Deifm. The *' Quakers are generally infeded, and it being their con- *' ftitution to have no eflabliflied religion, their too-uni- *' verfal toleration receives all without diftindlion. And *' they who worflnip God, and they who do not, are in •' the fame efteem. " Your firil and fecond volumes of the Divine Legation ** came over to their public library. I recommended it *' flrongly. It foon became the fubje6l of all converfa- ** tion. Never were fuch ftruggles about any book, who *' fliould firft read it. The reafonable were convinced ; *' the obftinate were aftoniflied. A friend of mine ** of learning and flation there fpoke of it with the ** warmeft [ 49 ] *' warmed praife : he faid, it had made him ten times *' more a Chrirtian, than he had ever been." — Thefe reflexions were confolatory to him, and made him bear witli more temper the petuhince of his adverfaries ; whom he fcems to have neglected, till one of high fame and confident pretenfions forced him again into the field of controverfy. But this was not till fome years after- wards. 1 now go on with my narrative from 1745. Mr. Pope had very early introduced his friend to the notice of Lord Chefterfield ; who going this year Lord Lieutenant to Ireland, was defirous of taking Mr. Warbur- ton with him, as his firft Chaplain. He had his reafons for declining this offer ; but he had a proper fenfe of the civility, and made his public acknowledgements for it in a dedication of the Alliance^ reprinted with many corrections and improvements in 1748. The ftyle of compliment in this piece will perhaps be cenfured as too high. But the truth is, that fpccious nobleman had the fortune to be better thought of, in his life-time, than he has been fince. The general opinion therefore (v»hich came confirmed to him by Mr. Pope) very naturally inflamed the expreflion of his gratitude, in that panegyrical epiftle. After an acquaintance of fome years, Mr. Allen hadj now, feen fo much of his friend, that he wiflred to unite him flill more clofely to himfelf by an alliance of marriage with an accompliflied Lady of his own family '••. * Mils Gertrude Tucker, Mr. Allen's favourite niece. H This [ ;» ] This event took place in the beginnuig of the year 17465: and foou after, the preacherrtiip of Lincohi's-Inn happen- ing to become vacant, Mr. Murray, then Solicitor General, eafily prevailed ^vith the learned Bench to invite fo eminent a perfon, as Mr, Warburton, to accept that office. II. From the time of his marriage, Mr. Warburton refided chiefly at Prior- Park. In fo agreeable, or, rather, fplen- did a retreat, he enjoyed health, aJiHuence, and leifure ; the beft company, when he chofe to partake of it ; and every other accommodation, which could be acceptable to a man of letters. His ambition was, alfo, gratified with the higheft perfonal reputation ; and, in due time, he fucceeded to the chief honours of his profefFion, All this he could not but be fenfible of. Yet, I have heard him fay, that the moft delicious feafon of his life was that which he had fpent at Newark and Brand-Broughton. So delightful are the fpringing hopes of youth ! and fo en- chanting the fcenes which open to a great genius, when he comes firft to know himfelf, and to make trial of his powers ! The impreffion, thefe left upon him, is very agreeably defcribed in .1 letter to Mr. C. Yorke, fo late as the year 175^. Mr. Yorke had acquainted him with an cxcuruon he had been making into Nottinghamfliire. In liis anfwer from P. P. 06I. 2, 1758, he fays — "I am [ 5' ] *^ glatl to undcrflaiul you have aiiiiifed youiTelf agreeably " with a ramble into Nottingham fliire. It would have -** been the greatell pleafure to have chopped upon you at *' Newark : And I would have done fO) on the leaft in- •*' timation. I could have led you through delicious walks, *' and picked off, for your amufement in our rambles, a *^ thoufand notions which I hung upon every thorn, as I " pafTed, thirty years ago.' But to return from this reflexion. The Preacherlliip of Lincoln's-Inn had been offered him in fo handfome a manner, that it could not be refufed. Otherwife, the thing was not agreeable to him. In a letter to Dr. Taylor * from Prior-Park, May 22, 1746, he fays— ** I think I told you in my lad, that the " Society of Lincoln's-Inn had made me an unanimous " offer of the Preacherlhip ; which therefore I could not *' refufe, though I would gladly have done it. For it will '' require five or fix months attendance. And the advan- " tagc of the thing itfelf you may judge of, by this : *' Mr. Allen would have me take a houfe, for which I pay ** as much rent, as the whole preacherfliip is worth. This ** only to you. And don't think I fpeak with any affeftation '^ \\hen I tell you in your ear, that nothing can be more * The phyfician—firft of Newark, afterwards of London; very eminent in Ills profeflion, snd from his early youth a friend of Mr. Warhurton's. H 2 "dif- [ 5^ 3 " (lifagreeable to me, than this way of Hfe. But I hope " and determine that it fhall not continue long. Don'e *' you pity me ? I fliall be forced to write fermons : and " God knows what will become of the D. L. But if I " can do any good in this new flation, I fliall know how *' to bear the difagreements of it, and that's all, Hov/ " capricious is the fate of mortals ! Any other clergyman " would think himfelf happy in fuch an honour as the *' Society has done me. I believe it is the firit * has been *' done to their Preacher. Yet I have no joy in it." The truth is, the attendance on the term broke in upon his leifure ; and, what was worfe, the necefiity he was under of compoling fermons, with which he was but flenderly provided, diverted him from other things, for which he judged himfelf better qualified, and which he had more at heart. The fruits of his induftry in this new office there will be occafion to fpeak of, and to appreciate hereafter. For the prefent, it is true, his greater defigns received fome interruption, and particularly, as he intimates, that of the D. L. ; although other reafons concurred to make him defer (indeed much too long) the profecution of that noble work. In the year 1747 appeared his edition of Shakefpeare's works, which he had undertaken at the inllance of Mr. * He means, by the unanimous offer of their preacherfhip. Pope. , [ S3 ] Pope. " He was defirous" — the editor fpeaks in his own perfon — " I fhoukl give a new edition of this poet ; and " that his edition lliould be melted down into mine. In *' memory of our friendfliip, I have therefore made it our ** joint edition ■•••." As the pubUc envy was now at its height, from the rifing fortune, as well as fame, of the author, this edition awakened a fpirit of criticifm, which haunted liim in every iliape of dull ridicule, and folemn confutation. Happen- ing to fpeak of this, in a letter written to him 1749 (for by that time I had the honour of being perfonally ac- quainted with him) he replies to me in the following • lively manner — " I have, as you fay, raifed a fpirit with- ** out defigning it. And, while I thought I was only con- ** jedturing, it feems I was conjuring. So that I had no *' fooner evoked the name of Shakefpeare from the rotten ** monument of his former editions, than a crew of ftrange " devils, and more grotefque than any he laughs at in *' the old farces, came chattering, mewing, and grinning ** round about me t." The outcry againft him was, indeed, pretty much what is here fo pleafantly defcribed. His illuftrations of the poet's fenfe were frequently not taken ; and his corre<5lions of the faulty text, not allowed. And, to fpeak candidly, * Preface to Shakefpeare. -J' Prior Park, Sept. 28, 1749. t 54 ] It could fcarce be otherwiic. For, though all pretend to be judges of poetry, few have any idea of poeticalcriti- cifm. And, as to what concerns the emendation of the text, the abler the critic, the more liable he is to fome extravagance of conjedure (as we fee in the cafe of Bent- ley himfelfj; it being dullnefs, and not judgement, that beft fecures him from this fort of imputation *. For the reft, fuch is the felicity of his genius in re- floring numberlefs paffages to their integrity, and in ex- plaining others which the author's fublime conceptions* or his licentious expreflion, had kept out of fight, that this fine edition of Shakefpeare muft ever be highly * The apology, which an eminent French writer makes for Jofeph. Scaliger, may ferve for all Commentators of his fize : " Je ne ffay fi on ne pourroit pas dire que Scaliger avoit trop d'efprit, " et trop de.fcience, pour faire un bon commentaire; car a force d'avoir ■^'de I'efpritj il trouvoit dans les auteurs qii'il commentoit, plus de finefTc " et plus de genie, qu'ils n'en avoient effect ivement ; et fa profonde lit5- ''• rature etoit eaufe qu'il voyoit mille rapports entre les penfees d'un auteur, " et que! que point rare d'antiquite. De forte qu'il s'imaginoit que fon " auteur avoit fait quelque allufron a ce point d'antiquiti, et fur ce pied-la il <•' corrigeoit un paffagc. Si on n'aime mieux s'imaginer que I'envie d'eclaircir " un miftere d'erudition inconnu aux autrcs critiques, Tengageoit a fuppofer " qu'il fe trouvoit dans un tei ou tel paflage. Quoiqu'jl en foit, les com- " mentaires qui viennent de lui, font pleins de conjecittures hardies, in-^ " ginieufes, et fojft ffavantes, mais il n'eft gueres apparent que les auteurs ■*' ayent fonge a tout c i qu'il leur fait dire. On s'eloigne de leur fens auili " bicn quand on a beaucoup d'efprit, que quand on n'en a pas, &c." Nouvelks de la Re^ttMi^ue des Lett res, Juin, 1684, A valued [ S5 3 valued by men of fenfe and tafte ; a fpirit, congenial to that of the author, breathing throughout, and eafdy atoning, with fuch, for the liLtle mifUkes and inadver- tencies, difcoverable in it. Mr. Warburton very properly negleded all attacks on his own critical fame. But of one, that \^as made foon after on the moral charader of his friend, he took more notice. In 1749 an infignificant pamphlet, under the name of A Patriot King^ was publiflied by Lord Bohng- broke, or by his direction, with a preface to it, refleding highly on Mr. Pope's honour. The provocation was fim- ply this. The manufcript of that trivial declamation had been intruded to the care of Mr. Pope, with the charge (as it was pretended) that only a certain number of copies fliould be printed. Mr. Pope, in his exceflive admiration of his Lordfliip (which was the chief foible of his cha- rader) took that opportunity, for fear fo invaluable a treafure of patriot- eloquence fliould be loft to the pub- lick, to exceed his commiflion, and to run off more co- pies, which were found, after his death, in the printer's warehoufe ; but with fo little fecrefy that feveral of his friends, and in particular Mr. Allen (as he told me) was apprized of it at the time, and by Mr. Pope himfelf. This charge, however frivolous, was aggravated beyond mea- fure ; and, notwithftanding the proofs Lord Bohngbroke had received of Mc^Pope's devotion to him, envenomed with \ [ 56 ] with the ulmoft malignity. Mr. Warbuiton thought it became him to vindicate his deceafed friend ; and he did it fo effedlually, as not only to filence his accufer, but to cover him with confulion. And here let me have leave to paufe a little, while, in emulation of this generous condudl of my friend towards one great man, I endeavour to perform the fame office towards another ; the moft amiable of his time ; who has fuffered, in the public opinion, by a charge of immoral meannefs brought againft him by Mr. Pope himfelf, and, as I am perfuaded, without the leaft foundation. The perfon I mean is Mr. Addifon, in whofe good name, as in that of Mr. Pope, Virtue herfelf has an intereft. He and Mr. Pope were, likewife, friends ; and this relation between them brings the two cafes into a ftill nearer referablance with each other. The charge, I allude to, is briefly this — Mr. Addifon had uniformly * advifed and encouraged Mr. Pope's tranf- lation of the IHad, from the year 171 3, when the deiign of that work was firft communicated to him. He had even been zealous to promote the fubfcription to it ; and in May, 1 7 1 6, Vv'hen a confiderable progrefs had been made in the tranllation, and fome parts of it publiflied, he fpeaks of it in the Freeholder, N° 4c, in the following manner : * See Letters to and from Mr. Addifon, in Mr. Pope's Works. " When [ 57 ] " When I confider myfelf as a Britifii freeholder, 1 am *' in a particular manner pleafed wich the labours of thofe <' who have improved our language with the tranflation *' of old Latin and Greek authors; and by that means " let us into the knowledge of what pafled in the famous *' governments of Greece and Rome. We have already *' moft of their hiftorians in our own tongue : and what " is flill more for the honour of our language, it has *' been taught to exprefs with elegance the greateft of their *' poets in each nation. The illiterate am.ong our coun- *' trymen may learn to judge from Dryden's Virgil of the *' moft perfect Epic performance : and thofe parts of Homer ** which have already been publiflied by Mr. Pope, give us ■** reafon to think the Iliad will appear in Englilh with as ** little difadvantage to that immortal poem." Notwithftanding all this, Mr. Pope believed, and his friends, as was natural, believed with him, that in 1 7 i 5 Mr. Addifon either tranflated himfelf, or employed Mr. Tickell to tranflate, the firll: book of the Iliad, in oppofition to him. If we alls: on what grounds this extraordinary charge is brought againft fuch a man as Mr. Addifon, we are only told of fome flight and vague fufpicions, without any thing that looks like a proof, either external or internal. What there is of the latter tends to confute the charge. For whoever is acquainted with Mr. Addifon's ftyle and I manner, [ 58 ] manner, miiil: be certain that the tranflation was not Jj'ts ozvn, though Steele in a peevifli letter, written againft Tickell *, has, it feems, infinuated fome fuch thing. And for external proof, we have abfolutely nothing bat a re- port from hear-fay evidence, that Mr. Addifon had expreffed himfelf civilly of Tickell's performance ; whence it is con- cluded that this tranflation was, at leaft, undertaken by Mr. Addifon's advice and authority, if not made by him- felf. Still, it will be owned, that fo generous a m.an as Mr, Pope muft believe he had fome proof of this charge againil his friend : and I think, I have, at length difcovered what it was. I have feen a printed copy f of Tickell's tranflation, in \vhich are entered many criticifms and remarks in Mr. Pope's own hand. And from two of thefe, compared together, I feem to collect the true ground of the fufpicion^ But the reader fhall judge for himfelf. * Dedication of the Drummer to Mr. Congreve. ■\ It was then in Mr. Warburton's hands. It was afterwards fold, by miftake, among the other books which he had at his houfe in town, to Mr. T. Payne, and came at length into the poffefllon of Ifaac Reed, Efq. of Staple-Inn ; who was fo obliging as to make me a prefent of it, to be kept in the library at Hartlebury (in which that of Mr. Pope is included), where it now remains. To [ 59 ] To the tranflation, are prefixed a Dedication, and Advertisement. The latter is in thefe words — " I muft *' inform the reader, that, when I hegan this firfl book, " I had fome thoughts of tranfiating the whole Ihad : but " had the pleafure of being diverted from that defign, by " finding the work was fallen into a much abler hand. " I would not therefore be thought to have any other view '• in publidiing this fmall fpecimen of Homer's Iliad, than *' to befpeak, if poflible, the favour of the Public to a *' tranflation of Homer's Odylfeis, wherein I have already " made fome progrefs." To the words in this advertifement — zdhen I began ibis frft book — Mr. Pope affixes this note — See the frjl line of the Dedication. Turning to the dedication, we find it begin thus ■ *' When I firft entered upon this tranflation I was am- " bitious of dedicating it to the late Lord Halifax. — Over againft which words is, likewife, entered, in Mr. Pope's hand, the following note. The iranflator was Jirjl known to bim [Lord Halifax] four montbs before bis death. He died in May, 17 15. Now, from comparing thefe two notes together, one fees clearly how Mr. Pope reafoned on the matter. He concluded from Tickell's faying — zvhen he Jlrjl entered on this tranflation J that is, began this firfl book, be thought of dedicating his work to Lord Halifax — that he could not have I 2 entertained [ «5° ] entertained this thought, if he had not at that time been f:nown to Lord Hahfax. But it was certain, it feems, that Mr. Tickell wzs^rfi known to that Lord only four fmnths before his death, in May, I715. Wlience it feemed to follow, that this firjt book had been written within, or lince, that time. Admitting this conclufion to be rightly made by Mr. Pope, it muft indeed be allowed that he had much rea- fon for his charge of infincerity on Mr. Addifon, who, as a friend that had great influence with the tranflator, would not have advifed, or even permitted, fuch a defign to be entered upon and profecuted by him at this jundlure. But there feems not the leafl: ground for fuch a conclufion. Lord Halifax was the great patron of wits and poets : and if Tickell had formed his delign of tranflating the Iliad long before Mr. Pope was known to have engaged in that work, he might very well be fuppofed to think of dedi- cating to this Maecenas, as much a ftranger as he then was to him. Nothing is more common than fuch inten- tions in literary men ; although Mr. Pope might be dif- pofed to conduit himfelf, in fuch a cafe, with more deli- cacy or dignity. I fee, then, no reafon to infer from the prem.ifes, that Mr. Tickell began his Jirjt book but four months before Lord Hallifax's death. For any thing that appears to the contrary, he might have begun^ or even fnijhed it, four years [ G' ] years before that event, and have only relinquiflied the thoughts of profecuthig his tranflatioii from the time that \iQ. found this work had fallen^ as he fays, into an abler ^ that is, Mr. Pope's, hand. Thefe pnffuges, however, of the Jdvertifement and Dedi- cation, reflevited upon and compared together, furniflied Mr. Pope, as 1 fuppofe, with the chief of thofe odd concur- ring circufujiancesy which, as we are told •-■■, convinced him that this tranflation of the firft book of the Iliad was publilhed with Mr. Addifon's participation, if not compofed by him. If the work had been begun hut four months before its appearance, it muil have been at leaft by his allowance and participation : if before that time (Mr. Tic- kell's acquaintance with Lord Halifax not being of fo early a date) it was, mod probably, his own compofition. And to this latter opinion, it feems, Mr. Pope inclined. How inconclufive thefe reafonings are, we have now Icen. All that remains therefore is to account for the publication at fvich a time. And for this, I fee not why Mr. Tickell's own reafon may not be accepted as the true one — that he had no other vie-zu in publijhing this Jpecimen, than to befpeak the favour of the publick to a tranflation of the Qdyjfeis^ in which he had madefome progrefs. The time, it muft be owned, was an unlucky onc» But if Mr. Addifon had reafon to believe his friend's * In the notes on Epiftle to Dr. Arbutlinot. motive r 6z ] motive to be that which he profcffcd, he might think it not fit to divert him from a work which was Ukely to ferve his intereft (poetical tranflation being at that time the mod lucrative employment of a man of letters), and though it had lefs merit than Mr. Pope's, to do him fome credit. And for the civiUty of fpeaking well of his tranf- lation afterwards, or even of affifting him in the revifal of it, this w^as certainly no more than Mr. Addifon's friend- fliip for the tranilator required. That Mr. Addifon had, in fixdt, no unfriendly inten- tion in the part he had taken in this affair, is certain from the paflage before cited from the Free-holder, where he fpeaks fo honourably, in May 1 7 1 6, of Mr. Pope's tranf- lation, after all the noife that had been made about Mr. Tickell's firft book in the fummer of 171 5. We may indeed impute this conduit to fear, or diflimulation : but a charge of this nature ought farely not to be made, but on the cleareft and beft grounds. I have the rather introduced thefe obfervations into the account of my friend's life, as he himfelf had been led by Mr. Pope's authority to credit the imputation on Mr. Ad- difon, and, on more occafions than one, had given a countenance to it. And it is but juftice to him to affure the reader that when, iome years before his death, I fliewed him this Vindication, he profeffed himfelf fo much fatif- fied [ <^3 ] fied with it, as to fay, if he hved to fee another edition of I\h'. Poi:)e's works, he would ftrike out the offenfive re- flexions on Mr. Addifon's charadter. To return now to our fubjedt. We left Mr. Warburton illuilrating the works of one of our great poets, and vindicating the moral characfter of another. But whatever amulcments, or friendly offices, might employ his pen, he never loft light of what he had moft at heart, the defence of religion. And a con- troverfy then carrying on, concerning the miraculous powers of the Chriftian Church, between Dr. Middleton and his opponents, and fo managed, on both fides, as to hurt the caufe of Chriftianity itfelf, gave him occafion to explain his own fentimcnts on the fubjedt in an admirable book, entitled Julian; or, A Difcour/e concerning the earthquake andjiery eruption zvbich defeated that emperofs attempt to rebuild the temple at Jerufalem, This work was publillied in 1750, and is written throughout in the ge- nuine fpirit of its author. It is introduced by an exquilite preface on the literary tharaffter of the Fathers, and on the condition of moral fcicnce before, and after, the appearance of Chriftianity. This excellent book had the fate of the author's other ■writings, to be cenfurcd at home. \\\ a letter from Prior- Park to Dr. Balguy, Jan. 17, 1751-2,— " They tell me," fays he, " there are fome remarks publiilied againft my " Julian, [ 64 ] <' Julian. I don't know the nature of them, nor ever " fliall. That matter interefts every clergyman, that is to «' fay, every Chriftian, in England, as much as myfelf. " Befides, I have long fince bid adieu to controverfy. I *< give my fentiments to the publick, and there's an end. " If any body will oppofe them, he has my leave. If any ** body will defend them, he has my thanks. I propound " them freely : I explain them as clearly and enforce them *' as ftrongly, as I can. I think I owe no more either to " myfelf or truth. I am fure I owe no more to the publick. *' Befides, I know a little (as you will fee by the new edi- " tion of the firffc and fecond volumes of D. L.) how to *' correct myfelf; fo have lefs need of this affiflance from *' others : which you will better underftand, when you *' fee that I have not received the lead affiflance from the *' united endeavours of that numerous band of anfwerers, *' who have fpared no freedoms in telling me of my faults." Again, fome months afterwards, writing to the fame friend — Bedford Row, May 12, 1752, he obferves, — " I think you judge rightly of the effecSts of Lord ** Bolingbroke's writings, as well as of their cliaradcr. As " to his difcourfe on the Canon of Scripture, 1 think it ** below all criticifm, though it had mine. He mentions *' (and 1 believe, with good faith) that foolifli rabbinical " fable of Efdras' reftoring the whole loll canon by Infpi- *' ration ; and argues from it. However the redoubtable *' pen [ 65 ] *' pen of Sykes, though now worn to the flumps, is drawn "upon him; or, at leaft, threatened to be drawn. lie *' threatened, too, to draw it upon poor JuHan, but he left *' the execution to another. And who do you think tliat '' other i:)roves ? Somebody or other, by far more curious '' than myfelf, would unearth this vermin ; And he is " found to be one Nichols, which your univerfity fonie *' time ago profecutcd for ftealing their books, or rather " fliould have profccuted. Have I not reafon to blame *' you for your ill-timed clemency ? Had they hanged " him, as Juftice called upon them to do, my book had *' been fafc. It is true, he has not fulfilled the old '' proverb, but rather contributed to a new one, " Save a *' rogue from the gallows, and he will endeavour to " fave his fellow. I had gibbeted up Julian, and he " comes by night to cut him down." — The pleafantry of thefe reflexions has drawn me into a citation of them. Otherwife, it was fcarce worth while to tell the reader what fome of our own prejudiced countrymen thought of Julian. For the learned abroad were generally much taken with this work. Among others, the prefident Montefquieu -, * " Quand vous verrcz Mr. le DocfVeur Waiburton, jc vous prie tic lui *' dire I'idec agrt'able que je me fuis dc fiiire plus ample connoiflance avec " lui ; d'aller trouver la fource du ffavoir, et de voir la lumiere de Tef- " prit : fon ouvrage fur Julien m'a enchante, quoique je n'aie que de tres " mauvais Ie<5leurs anglois, et que j'ai prefque oublie tout ce quej'cn " ffavois." K who, [ 66 ] who, it feems, was then meditating a vifit to his friends in Eno-land, writes thus to Mr. Charles Yorke from Paris, June 6, 1753 : "When you fee Dr. Warburton, pray let " him know the fatisfaaion I propofe to myfelf in rar.king <' a further acquaintance with him, and in taking a nearer " view of his great talents. His Julian charms me ; al- *' though I have but indifferent Englifh readers, and have, *' myfelf, forgotten a great deal of what I once knew of *' that language." And fpeaking of this work fome years afterwards, in a letter to me, Mr. Warburton fays, " My Julian has had a « great effed in France, where Free-thinking holds its head " as high as in England. This is a confolation to me, as " my fole aim is to reprefs that infernal fpirit." And again, — " It has procured me the good will of the beft and " greateft man * in France, while there is hardly a noble- *' man in England knows I have written fuch a book f ." - * Due de Noailles. — The intelligence was communicated to the author by his friend, M. de Silhouette : who was a great admirer of his writings, and tranflated fome of them. See Prefoce to Alliance. -^ In planning his treatife on Julian, he had propofcd, as the title-page fets forth, to enquire into the nature of that evidence, winch ivill demand the ejfent of every reafonable man to a miraculpm fa5l. But this part of his plan he referved for another difcourfe. The fubjeft was, in fadl, rcfumed, and has been fufficiently explained in the difcourfe on the Refurredtion, vol. V. P- 473- This C 67 ] This admirable work, as I obferved, took its rife from Dr. Middleton's Inquiry concerning the miraculous powers in the Chriftian Church. That ingenious man died to- wards the end of this year ; and although fome difference had arifen between them in 1741, and fcems to have kept them afunder for the reft of Dr. Middleton's life, yet no cliange appears to have been made, by this mifadven- ture, in Mr. Warburton's opinion or even efteem of him, (fo conftant was he in his friendfliips !) as the reader will lee in the following extra(5l from a letter, which he wrote to me juft before the Doctor's death : " Prior-Park, July i i, " 1750. — I hear Dr. Middleton has been at London (I fup- " pofc to confult Dr. Heberden •-'•■ about his health) and is *' returned in an extreme bad condition. — I am much con- *' cerned for the poor man, and wifli he may recover, " with all my heart. Had he had, I will not fay, piety, *' but greatnefs of mind enough, not to fufFer the pre- " tended injuries of fome Churchmen to prejudice him ** againft Religion, I fliould love him living, and honour t Dr. Heberden had been well known to Dr. Middleton at Cambridge, where he flourished in great reputation for fc\eral years, and then removed to London. He has now [1794], for fome time paft, declined allbufinefs ; but, through the whole courfe of his pradlice, was the moft univerlally efteemed, of any phyfician I have known, not only for liis fkill, but gene- rohty, in the exercife of his profefTion. — My own perfonal obligations to liim muft be my excufe for the liberty I take in paying this fmall tribute of refpcifl to his merit and charadler. K 2 " his [ 68 ] " his memory, when dead. But, good God, that man? *' for the difcourtefies done him by his miferable fellow- " creatures, fliould be content to diveit himfelf of the true " viaticum, the comfort, the folace, the afylum from all "the evils of human hfe, is perfedtly aftonifliing ! I *' -believe no one (all things confidered) has fuffered more *' from the low and vile paflions of the high and low " amongd our brethren, than myfelf. Yet God forbid, it " fliould ever fuffer me to be cold in the Gofpel-interefts! " which are indeed fo much my own, that without it I " fliould be difpofed to confider humanity, as the moll ** forlorn part of the creation." What this letter tenderly hints at, was the exa6t truth. Dr. Middleton was an elegant fcholar, and very fine writer: but, his vanity having engaged him early in religious controverfy on a fubjet^ which he did not underltand, he had given juft offence to fome confiderable Churchmen, and yet would not condefcend to recover their good opinion by rctratfling what he had haltily and unwarily advanced. Hence, the obftrudlion to his views of preferment ; which by degrees foured his temper fo much, that his beft friends (as j\Ir. Warburton found by experience) could not calm his refcntments, or keep them from breaking out into fome inihappy prejudices againft Religion itlelf. This mif- adventure was the effect of his paffion, not judgement : for his knowledge of theology was but flight, and his talents not [ 69 ] not thofc which qualilied him to exccll in that fcicnce. The bent of his genius and fludies lay another way, and had raifed him to great eminence in pohte Hterature ; of which his Letter from Romey and his Life of Cicero^ are fliining inftances. Ilis other works are of much lefs value, and will foon be forgotten. Nothing fliews the extent of Mr. Warburton's genius, and the command he had of it, more, than his being able to mix the lighteit with the moft ferious Itudies, and to pafs, as his friend fpeaks, *' From grave to gay, from lively to fevere," with fo much grace and facility : a flriking inltance of which power we have, here, in finding Julian between our two poets. For in the very next year [1751] he ap- peared again, as a critic and commentator, in the noble edition he gave of Mr. Pope's works. And, as here there was no room for emendatory criticifm, of all others tlie eaficlt to be mifapplied or mifconftrued^ lb the public found very little to cenfure on this occafion. Indeed the main object of the edition being to do judice to his friend, it was natural for him to exert his whole force upon it ; and as none can divine fo happily of a poet's meaning, as the well-exercifed critic, if he be at the fame time of a congenial fpirit with his author, it is no wonder that he made this (what I formerly faid of it, and ftill think it to be) the bejl edition that zvas ever given of any cla(fck. But, C 7° ] But, adaiirable as x\Ir. Warburton was in this elegant fpecies of literature, we arc now to take our leave of him under that charader ; his editions of Shakefpear and Pope being, as he himfelf exprefled it to nie, amufemenis, ivhicb bis fondm/s for the works of one poet, and for the perfon of another y had engaged him in. We are, henceforth, to lee him only in his proper office of Divine ; which he re- fumed, when Mr. Pope's volumes were out of his hands, and ennobled by a fet of Sermons, preached by him at Lincoln's-Inn, and entitled Principles of Natural and Re- vealed Religion^ in two volumes ; the former publiflied in 1752, and the other in 1754 ; to which he added 7\. third ift 1767, confifting chiefly of occafional difcourfes. • I bring his works of this fort together under one view, that I may confider them at once, and give the reader an idea of their true charailer. He had ufed himfelf very little to write fcrmons, till he came to Lincoln*s-Inn. His inrtrucftions to his parifli had either been delivered without notes, or extradled from the plaineft difcourfes of our beft preachers. In his prefent iituation, he found it neceflary to compofe his fcrmons, and with care ; his audience confifting wholly of men of education, and thofe accuftomed to reafoning and inquiry. Here was then a fcene, in which his learning and know- ledge might be produced with good efFed ; and it was in this kind of difcourfe, that his tatte and ftudies had qua- lified [ 7. ] lified him to excell. His fermons are accordingly, all of them, of this call ; not ilight harangues on ordinary fub- jccls, but clofe, weighty, methodical difcuurfes, on the moil: momentous doctrines of natural and revealed religion; opening the grounds of them, and fupporting them againft objedlions ; exprclTed in that ftyle of nervous eloquence, which was natural to him, and brightened occafionally^ but without affb6ration, by the livelieft ftrokes of imagina- tion. In fliort, they were written for the ufe of men of I-)arts and learning, and will only be relifhed by fnch. They are mafterly in their way ; but fitter for the clofet, than the church ; I mean,, thofe mixt auditories, that are ufually to be cxpedted in that place. Ther3 had been a friendfliip of long Handing between Mr. Warburton and Mr. Charles Yorke ; cultivated with great affedlioa and. efteem on both fides ; the fruit of which appeared in 1753, in the oSer of a prebend in the church of Gloucefter, by the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. In ac- knowledgement of this favour Mr. Warburton addrefled the firft volume of the D. L. to his Lordfhip, when he gave the next edition of that work. Some, who were curious in obferving coincidencies, and meant to do honour both to the patron and client^ took notice that the ilall, to which Mr. Warburton was preferred, was the fame in which the Lord Chancellor Nottingham, that great patron of all the learned Churchmen in his time, had placed Dr. Cud- worth : [ 7^ ] worth: Such a fimilitude was there- apprehended to be between the two Magiftratcs ; and, ftill more ftrikingly, between the two "Divines, authors of The Intellecliial Syjle^n^ and T'be Divine Legation •' But what idea of Dignity foever might be annexed to this prebend, he exchanged it, a year or two after, for one of more vahie in the church of Durham, which Bilhop Trevor (who did himfelf honour by the diipofal of his preferments) very obhgingly gave him at the requeft of Mr. Murray (now Attorney General) in 1755. He had been made Chaplain to the King, the year before; and that promotion, as well as the prefent, making it decent for him to take his DovStor's degree, the Archbifliop of Canterbury, Dr. Herring, very wifely took to himfelf the honour (which the Univerfity of Oxford had unhappily declined) of conferring that diftindlion upon him. But while his friends were vying with each other in their good offices and attempts to ferve him, a matter far more interefting to him, than any preferment, engaged his attention during the courfe of thefe two years. Lord Bolingbroke died in 1 751, and his philofophical works were publiflied in 1753. Every one knows the principles and prefumption of that unhappy nobleman. He was of that fed, which, to avoid a more odious name, chufes to diftinguifli itfelf by that of Naturalifm ; and had boafted in private, what feats he fliould be able to perform [ 73 ] perform, m the attack, he had long threatened, on a// our metapbyjics and theology ; in other words, on natural and re- vealed religion. Some had the (implicit y to believe him on his word ; and others, it may Ije, widied him fuccefs. All ferious men ftood aghaft at tlie loud vaunts of this Guliah of the infidel party ; and, prepoffeft with the ideas of confe- qnence, which the fond applaufes of his friends, and (what miift ever be lamented) of his tuneful friend, had thrown about him, waitccl with anxiety for the event. hi the mean time, as that friend faid divinely well (for furely, in this inftance, he prophelied, as well as fang) '' Heaven with loud laughter the vain toil furveys, *' And buries madmen in the heaps they raife." Dr. Warburton had very early penetrated the views of Lord Bolingbroke ; and, obferving fome tincture of his principles (but without the knowlerlge of the author, who could not be trufled with the fccrct) artfully inftillcd into the EJJay on Man, had incurred his immortal hatred by making the difcovery, and, in confequence of it, by reojoning Mr. Pope out of bis hands *. It was eafy to forefee what would follow from this vigilant and able Divine, when his Lordfliip's godlefs volumes lliould come forth ; and the dread of it feems to have kept them back, for the * Works, Vol. VII. p. 839. L remainder [ 74 ] remainder of his life. The interval, however, was made good ufe of, in feafoning them with poignant inve(Slives againft the Alliance and Divine Legation, and with whole pages of the grofleft perfonal abufe. So that, when they appeared. Dr. Warburton was provoked, as well as pre- pared, to give them a ftrid: examination, and was ani- mated to the undertaking by a juft refentment, as well as religious zeal. And thefe two principles (the moft operative in our nature) were never exerted to better purpofe, or with greater effecSl. He planned the View of his Philofophy in Four Letters to a Friend^, and in writing it has furpafled himfelf; the reafoning and the wit being alike irrefiftible, the ftrongeft and keeneft that can be conceived. He him- felf was not a little pleafed with this work, and fays in confidence to a friend t, " I have given to it all the finifh- *' ing in my power ; and reckon, if any thing of mine " lliould ftumble down to pofterity, it will have as good a *' chance as any. And now — Ccejlus artemque repono.'" Some of Dr. Warburton's friends (fuch of them, I mean, as had been the friends of Mr. Pope) had, of courfe, been acquainted with Lord Bolingbroke ; and were very natu- rally in the common opinion of his parts and abilities, without knowing much, or perhaps any thing, of his * Mr. Allen of Prior-Park. f Dr. Balguy. religious [ 75 ] religions fentiments. Thefc were likely to take offence at the freedom of the VieWy which was to fliew him in a light very different from that in which the world had hitherto feen him. The confequence to himfelf was clearly forefeen, and with no fmall concern. Writing from P. P. to Mr. G. Yorke, Aug. 24, I754» while thefe letters were drawing up, he fays — *' I am bufy " witli my fecond volume of Sermons, which I propofe to " publifh early in the winter. I amufe myfelf too with *• another thing, v»bich, were you here, you would be *' plagued with : becaufe I never like my things fo well *' as while you are reading them. I have a better reafon " for your reading them. But, to tell you the rruth, this *' flatters me moft. The thing will be without my name, *' and a fecret. I wifli it may in no degree difpleafe one " 1 have fo much reafon to value, as our friend ; nay, I *' would not have it difpleafe any of his friends, on his " account. You will ailc me then why I venture ujwn it ? " 1 will tell you fincerely. I think it my duty ; for I am *' a Chriltian. 1 think I was defigned to be the declared *' enemy of Infidelity ; for I am a little fanatical." In a letter alfo to me, Sept. 7, 1754, he fays — «' As to " my View of Bolingbroke, I tell it you in confidence, 1 " am apprehcnfive of difpleafing fome by it whom I mofl " honour, and at a critical time. So that I folemnly affure *' you, nothing but the fenfc of indifpcnfable duty, as a L 2 «' Chril^ian [ 76 3 " Chriitian and a Clergyman, could have induced me to *' run the hazard of doing myfelf fo much injury. But ^^ jacia eft aka. All other confiderations are now pall " with me ; and I let Providence take its courle without *' any folicitude on my part." And again, Dec. lo, 1754, Tome time after the two firft letters were publiihed, and while he was preparing the two laft — " I go on pufning this grand enemy of God «^ and Godlinefs. But vvhat I predicSted to you, I am forry *' to tell you, I have experienced to be true ; that I tread " per cineres dolofos. However, my duty tells me, this is <' a capital cafe, and I muft on." What he alludes to^ is an anonymous letter, fent him by the pofl:, and expoftulating with him, but in the friend- lieft term?, on the manner in which he had treated the fubjeifl of the Vkzv, in the parts already printed. He guelTed at the writer *, and had the higheft refpeft for him. He refolved, therefore, to make his apology to him, and (as he was denied the opportunity of a private explanation) in a public anfwer to his letter. Accordingly, in 1755, he printed the two concluding letters of the View, with an Apology for the two Jirft ; which now ftands in this edition, as it did in the fubfequent ones of the View in the author's life-time, as a prefatory difconrfe in vindication of the whole work. The occafion of the fubjedt fired the * Mr. Murray. writer. [ 77 1 writer. His very foul came out in every fentence, and is no where feen to more advantage than in this Apology ; which is written throughout with a peculiar glow of fen- timent and expreffion, and is, at once, the moft interefting, and the moll mafterly of all his works. It had the efTed:, which was natural, on the fo much re- fpccted letucr-writer ; who thought fit to preferve an in- violable filence in regard to this apology, but, by a fignal adl of friendfliip, done to the author very foon after, iliewed how entirely fatisfied he was with him. As to the View itfelf, it was univerfally read and ad- mired. The followers of Lord Bolingbroke and his philo- fophy hung their heads : the friends of religion took heart: and thefe big volumes of impiety funk immediately into utter contempt. After this complete triumph over the great Chieftain of his party, it would Icarce be worth while to celebrate his fuccefles againlT: inferior adventurers, if one of them had not publiflicd his own fliame ; and if what I owe to Dr. Warburton's memory did not require me to explain a tri- fling matter, in which I happened to be concerned. i\Ir. Hume had given an early fpecimen of his free- thinking philofophy in fome fuper-fubtile lucubrations of the metaphylical kind : which however did no great mif- chief to religion ; and, what chagrined him almoft as much, contributed but little to his own fame, being too fublime. [ 78 ] fiiblime, or too dark, for the apprehenfions of his readers. For fo good a purpofe as that of allifting in the common caufe of impiety, he thought fit to come out of the clouds, and to attempt a popular vein of writing, as the more likely to get himfelf read and talked of in the world. In 1749 he therefore gave the publick a hafli of his flale notions, ferved up in the taking form and name of Effays, and with a ftronger, at leaft a more undifguifed, mixture of Atheifm than before. Dr. Warburton, who was then fending his Julian to the prefs, faw thefe EfTays, and had thoughts of clofing that work with fome llriolures upon them. In a letter of Sept. a 8, of thiit year, to a friend at Cambridge, he fays, — " I am tempted to have a ftroke at Hume in parting. " He is the author of a little book called Philofophical ** EJfays : In one part of which he argues againft the being " of a God ; and in another (very needlefsly, you will fay) " againft the poffibility of miracles. He has crowned the *' liberty of the prefs. And yet he has a confiderable *' port under the government. 1 have a great mind to do *' juftice on his arguments againft miracles, which I think " might be done in few words. But does he deferve this "notice? Is he known amongft you ? Pray, anfwer me " thefe queftions. For if his own weight keeps him down, " I fhould be forry to contribute to his advancement to any *' place, but the pillory." No [ 79 ] No encouraging anfwer, I fuppofc, was returned to this letter ; and fo the author of the ElTays efcaped, for this time. His next effort was to difcredit Religion by what he calls, its natural hijlory. This book came out early in 1757, and falling into the hands of Dr. Warburton, pro- voked him, by its uncommon licentioufnefs, to enter on the margin, as he went along, fuch remarks as occurred to him. And when that was too narrow to contain them all, he put down the reft on loofe fcraps of paper, which he ftuck between the leaves, hi this ftate the book was fliewn to me (as I chanced at that time to be in London with the author) merely as matter of curiofity, and to give me an idea of the contents, how mifchievous and extravagant they were. He had then written remarks on about two thirds of the volume : And I liked them fo well^ that I advifed him, by all means, to carry them on through the remaining parts of it, and then to fit them \ip, in what way he thought befl, for public ufe, which I told him they very well deferved. He put by this pro- pofal flightly ; but, when 1 prefTed him again on this head, fome time after, in a letter from Cambridge, lie wrote me the following anfwer. " As to Hume, I had laid it afide ever lince you were *' here. I will now, however, finifli my fkeleton. It " will be hardly that. If then you think any thing can *' be made of it, and will give yourfelf the trouble, we " may [ So ] ' mriy perhaps between us do a little good, vv^bich I dare ' Hiy we fliall both think \vill be worth a httie pains. If ' I have any force in the firfl: rude beating out the mafs, * you are beft able to give it the elegance of iorm and ' fplendour of polilh. This will anfwer my purpofe, to ' labour together in a joint work to do a httie good. I ' v/ill tell you fairly, it is no more the thing it Ihoiild be, ' than the Dantzick iron at the forge is the gilt and painted ' ware at Birmingham. It will make no more than a ' pamphlet ; but you fliall take your own time, and make • it your fummer's amufement, if you wilL I propofe it ' bear fomething like this title — ' Remarks on Mr. Hume*s ' late ElTay, called, Ibe natural hijlory of Religion^ by a ' Gentleman of Cambridge, in a Letter to the Rev. Dr. ' Warburton.' — I propofe the addrefs fliould be with the ' drynefs and referve of a llranger, who likes the method ' of the Letters on Bolingbroke's philofophy, and follows ' it here, again ft the fame fort of writer, inculcating the ' fame impiety, Naturalifra, and employing the fame kind ' of arguments. The addrefs will remove it from me ; ' the author, a gentleman of Cambridge, from you ; and ' the fecrecy of printing, from us both." I faw by this letter, he was not difpofed to take much trouble about the thing. Accordingly his papers were foon after fent down to me at Cambridge, pretty much in fhe ftate I had feen them in at London, fo far as they then [ 8' ] then went, only with additional entries in the latter part of the book. However, in this carelefs detached form, I thought his obfervations too good to be loft. And the hint of the Addrefs fuggefted the means of prcTci ving them, without any injury to his reputation, and indeed without much labour to myfelf. Having, therefore, tran- fcribed the Remarks -•• with little alteration, I only wrote a (liort introdudlion and conclufion, merely to colour the propo fed fidion ; and in this form, fent them to the prefs. When Dr. Warburton fiiw the pamphlet, he faid, I Ihould have done much more, and worked up his hafty remarks in my own way. He doubted, alfo, whether the contrivance, as I had managed it, would not be feeii through. But in this he was millaken ; for the difguife, as thin as it was, anfwered its purpofe in keeping the real author out of fight. Mr. Hume in particular (underflanding, I fuppofe, from his bookfellcr, who was alfo mine, that the manufcript came from me) was the firft to fall into the trap. He was much hurt, and no v/onder, by fo lively an attack upon him, and could not help confeffing it in what he calls his ozmi Life ; in which he has thought fit to honour me v.ith greater marks of his refentmcnt, than any other of the * Thc-y are given in this edition [Vol. VI. p. 8.^7.] in their original form. M writers [ 82 ] writers againft him : nay the fpiteful man goes fo far as to upbraid me with being a follower (indeed a clofei', in this inftance, than he apprehended) of the IVarburtonian fchool This idle rtory wouloil:erity of his unwearied love of the Chriftian religion, and (for the fake of fo dear an in- terell) of the Church of England. With a third volume of Sermons, already alluded to, and printed in 1767, he clofed his hterary courfe : except that he made an effort towards publifliing the IXth and laft book of the Divine Legation ; on a fubjedl, he had much at heart ; which he had long and diligently confidered ; and which now, for fome years, he had been labouring to di- geft and explain in the heft manner he could. But of this matter it will be expe<5ted that I give the reader a more par- ticular account. The argument of the D. L. properly fo called, was completed in fix books : but the plan of it required three more ; in which the author propofcd, as he tells us, " To *' remove all conceivable objedions againft the conclufion, " and C 96 ] ** and to throw in every collateral light upon the pre' *' mifes *." But the argument itfelf was fo ill received and fo vio- lently oppofed by many of the clergy, that he grew dif- gufted at the treatment he met with, and could not be prevailed upon to finifh his defign in fupport of it. His letters are full of complaints on this head. In 1741, fome time before he publifhed the fecond volume, he fays to one of his friends — " I am ftill condemned to drudge ** in the mines of antiquity. I may well give it that flavifh " appellation, while I am fo ufed by my mafters, the ** clergy, for whofe eafe and profit I am working." And writing to another in 1754, when the two firft letters of the View were coming out, he obferves with indignation — " You will fee there is a continued apology for the clergy : *' yet they will neither love me the more, nor forgive me *' the fooner, for all I can fay in their behalf t." And fo on a hundred other occalions. The truth is, his refentment at the eftabliflied clergy for their long and fierce oppofition to his favourite work, was the greateft weaknefs I ever obfcrved in him. The number of books and pamphlets, that appeared againfl: him for twenty years together, was, indeed, very great. But, the nature of his work confidered, and his own freedoni in dilTcnting from all others, as occafion offered, what lefs could be expeded ? * Vol. III. p. 504. -}- MS Letters in my hands. And C 97 ] And when he had given two or three of his principal ad- verfaries, as he did, a complete anfwer, he flioiild not have fuffered tlie clamour of the reft to divert him from the great defign, he had projeded. But his condu6l in this inftance was not that which might have been expeded from his ufual magnanimity. When I fometimes expof- tulated with him upon it, his anfwer was — " I furely ** have reafon to think myfelf very ill ufed. The enemies " of Revealed Religion and of the Church of England I *' have treated as they deferved, and am neither furprized *' nor hurt at their refentments againft me. To their " cenfures or commendations I can be equally indifferent. ** But that my brethren, the eftablifhed clergy, the friends " of religion, and fellow- members of that fociety whofe *' caufe I am pleading, that thefe fliould fet themfelves *' againft me with fo much rancour, is what I cannot fo " well bear. If indeed the publilhed volumes of theD. L. ** be fo weak or fo mifchievous, as they fuppofe, I will not " add to the offence given them by adding any more." One fees what was at the bottom of the good man's mind. He loved the Church of England and its minifters, and had fliewn his zeal for them on all occalions. He was therefore hurt at not receiving that return of good-will from them, which his life and confcicnce told him, he might expcd, and had deferved. Yet, as much as he felt the injury, and complained of itj he was never moved O by [ 98 ] by it (as many others, with lefs provocation, and of lefs irritability, have been) to retra<£l his good opinion of them, or to alter his condtwSt towards them in any refpedt. He only withheld the fequel of his capital work from them ; and unhappily he perfifted in this refolution till time had foftened their paflions, and, of courfe, his own. At length, the orthodoxy of his fentiments feemed gra- dually to be acknowledged ; his own refentments propor- tion ably abated ; and, from the time he had given the Gorrefled edition of his D. L. in 1765, he was in earneft about refuming fo much at leaft of his long-neglefled work, as he had meant to comprize in the laft or IXth book. The Vllth and Vlllth (though the materials for them, too, were at hand) he had long fince defpaired of compofing : but this laft, being an attempt to give a rationale of Chriftianity, he anxioufly wifhed, for the im- portance of the fubjedl, to leave behind him complete. But the time was now paft. Not only the bufinefs of his ftation broke in upon his leifure : The infirmities of age came infenfibly upon him. Hi§ faculties, hitherto fo bright and vigorous, fufFered fome eclipfe and diminution of their force,, from his growing indifpofitions. '* I read " ftill," he would often fay to me, '* with the ufual plea- ** fare. But I compofe with lefs cafe, and with lefs fpirit." In a letter to me from Gloucefter, Sept. 4, 1769, he writes in the following manner^ *^ I have [ 99 ] '^ I have received yoar kind letter of advice -. — ■■ — You *' know, by experience, how difficult it is, when we have " once got into a wicked habit of thinking, to leave it off. " All I can promife is, if that will fatisfy you, to tbmk to *' «o purpofe : And this I know, by experience, I can do ; *' having done fo for many a good day. " I think you have heard me fay, that my delicious " feafon is the autumn ; the feafon, which gives moft life " and vigour to my mental faculties. The light mifts, or, " as Milton calls them, th^Jleams, that rife from the fields *' in one of thefe mornings, give the fame relief to the <* views, that the blue of the plumb (to take my ideas from <* the feafon) gives to the appetite. But I now enjoy little *' of this pleafure, compared to what I formerly had in an ** autumn-morning, when I ufed, with a book in my <* hand, to traverfe the delightful lawns and hedge-rows " round about the town of Newark, the untJj'mkmg place of ** my nativity." And again, July nth, 1770 — ** Hunter fent me his *' View of Lord Bolingbroke's characSler. He is a good " man ; but in this book, I think, he has fliewn himfelf " very abfurd and indifcreet : abfurd, in a florid declama- *' tion ; and indifcreet, as well as very injudicious, in the *' moft extravagant encomium of Bolingbroke's parts that * Not to purfue his fludlcs too clofely. O 2 *' ever [ 100 ] " ever was, even to fay — he reafoned with the pride of a *' fuperior fpirit, and I bad almojljaid with the faculties of " an angel, *' This difpofed me to look again into the reafoning of <' this fuperior fpirit, this angelic man, as I have coUedled " together the heft he has, in my View of his Philofophy. " 1 have done it juftice. But this retrofpecft is accom- " panied with a mortifying convidion, that the time is now " paft when I was able to write with that force. Expert to *' find in my future writings the marks of intelledual decay. *' But fo much for that matter." In my anfwer to this letter from Thurcafton, July the a 3d, to footh the mind of my friend under this unwelcome difcovery, and to prevail upon him, if 1 could, to relax thofe efforts in compofition, which, not being fo eafy to him as they had been, might affedl his health and fpirits, I MTote as follows — "As to what you fay of your not " writing with the force^ you formerly did, it may very " well be, and yet be no fubjedl: of mortification. For, *' befides that you can afford to abate fomething of your " antient force and yet have enough left, force itfelf has " not, in all periods of life, the fame grace. The clofe of " one of thefe long and bright days has not the flame and " heat of noon,- and would be lefs pleafing if it had. And " I know not why it may not be true, in the critical 2.% well 4' as moral fenfe of the poet's words, " Lenior et metior fis accedente fened-^." *'>But: [ '01 3 *' But what I would chiefly fay, on the fubje6t, is this, <' That, whether with force, or without it, I would only " wifli your future writings to be an amufement to you, *' and not a labour ; and this I think is the proper ufe to " be made of your obfervation, if it be ever fo well *' founded." In fliort, I continued to exprefs myfelf in this way to him and his family with fo little referve, that he faw my intention was to draw him off, by degrees, from writing at all ; which he takes notice of in a letter of the next year, June 2, 1 771, though with fome little chagrin, as was but too natural, at this plain dealing. "• 1 never believed I lliould feel fo tenderly for as *' I now do. A fuffering friend's good qualities, in fuch a ** condition, feparate themfelves, and rife fuperior to his *' failings, which we are infenfibly difpofed to forget. If this *' be the cafe of common acquaintance, in certain feafons, *' what muft be our conftant fentiments of a real friend, at ** all feafons ; who lofes no occalion of exprefiing every " mode of tendernefs towards thofe he loves 1 I fell into " this train of thinking by what my wife told me, with " much pleafure, a little before I left London. She faid " that Dr. Hurd afTured her, that I would write no more. I " received this news, which gave her fo much fatisfadlion, " with an approving fmile. I was charmed with the ten- ^ dernefs of friendlliip which conveyed, in fo inoflfenfive a *< manner, [ 102 ] <* manner, that fatal fecret which Gil Bias was incapable «' of doing, as he oiight, to his patron the Archbilhop of " Granada," I infert thefe extracts, chiefly in reference to the IXtli book of the D. L,, which twenty years before would have been finiflied in a few weeks, and with that flame of genius which irradiates the former books, but which now lay under his hands many years, was written by fnatches and with difficulty, and left incomplete by him at laft *. An unwelcome part this of the little hiftory I am writing ! yet not unufefal, if it may admonifli fuperior writers to place a juft confidence in themfelves, and little ones to treat them with fomething more refpedl. Cudworth and Warburton are memorable and inftrudtive inftances, to either purpofe. The misfortune, in the cafe of the latter, was, that al- though he had digefted in his own mind, long ago, the fubftance of the IXth book, and was perpetually meditating upon it, yet he had committed very little of it to paper ; his way being to put down in writing only fliort notes of what he intended to enlarge upon, and to work them up ■* Yet it may be concluded from the fubjedl, which is a general view of God's moral difpenfations from Adam to Chrift [See Vol. III. p. 505 and 612], that very little is wanting to complete the author's defign ; only^ what he had propofed to fay on the apocalyptic prophecies, and which may be fupplied from the difcourfe on Antichriil. 4 only [^03 1 only ^vhen he was preparing to fend his copy to the prefs. This, in his bed days, was fo eafy to him, that, in print- ing feme of his elaborate works, he had not in his hands two flieets together, but feiU the copy to his printer as fall as it was compofed. I know indeed that many perfons, from the compafs and variety of his learning, imagined that he drew the materials of it from a voluminous common- place. The fact was jull otherwife. His memory was fo tenacious, that he trufted every thing to it : or, if he may be faid to have kept a common-place, it was nothing more than a fmall interleaved pocket-almanack, of about three inches fquare ; in which he inferted now and then a reference to a curious faifl or paffage, that he met with in his reading,, but chiefly fliort hints of fentiments and reflexions, which occafionally ftruck him, and might fome time or other be put to ufe. At the end of every year, he tore out of his almanack fuch leaves as contained any of thofe refledlions, and put them together under general heads, that he might* recur to them, on occafion, the more readily. Of thefe papers, or rather colleflions of papers, I have many in my hands, relative to the fubje6ls of the three laft books of the D. L. ; and from thefe the IXth book, fuch as he left it, was compofed. Another inconvenience, attending the late compofition of this book, was, That he had occafionally delivered, in his [ 104 ] his fermons, and other printed works, fome of the leading principles contained in it. Thus, he had, in efFe6t, anti- cipated a good part of his fubjedt. Nor was this all. Finding the labour of compofing troublefome to him, he quoted from himfelf very freely. ; and fuch paflages, as had found a place elfewhere, when the purpofe of com- pleting the laft book was fufpended or laid afide, were now inferted in it, without much alteration, in order to carry on the thread and order of his difcourfe. From both thefe caufes therefore (his not having re- duced to form the materials he had provided for the IXth book, and his having already worked up fome part of them) it is eafy to fee the difadvantage with which he came, in the clofe of his long life, to the compofition of this work. His memory and invention were not what they had been ; his facility and variety of expreffion was not the fame ; and, what was worft of all, the grace of novelty in the fubjedt was in fome meafure gone off. It was therefore matter of deliberation with me, for fome time, whether I fhould infert the IXth book (though printed, fo far as it goes, by himfelf) entire and in its own form, or only fome fragments of it. But, on further con- fideration, I judged it right to give that work exadlly as the author left it : efpecially, as the fubje6t is highly interefting, and even new, unlefs where anticipated by himfelf; the method, clear and exa6t ; and the whole caft C 105 3 call of compofition, mafterly ; his reafonings being carried on, if not with the fplendid eafe and perfpicuity of his befV manner, yet with a force and fpirit, both in the fen- timent and expreffion, which may well excite our admira- tion, when the circumftances, under which he wrote, are confidered. In a word, this IXth book of the D. L. under all the difadvantages with which it appears, is the nobleft effort that has hitherto been made to give a Rationale of Chrif- tianity. How far it may fiitisfy thofe who have fo long and i = 7 ] " as 72ot to retain the refentnicnt ^of it long, and to forget *' injuries asjoon as any man *." As a Divine, properly fo called, he filled and adorned that chara6ler with the higheft ability. Strength of reafon, exquifite learning, a critical know- ledge of antiquity, an enlarged view of the fcheme of Revelation, a wonderful fagacity in difcovering the fenfe of Scripture, and in opening the probable grounds of its clearly revealed dodrines, with the profoundeft fubmillion of his underftanding to them, whether thofe grounds of reafon were apparent to him or not — Thefe rare and ad- mirable qualifications flione out in him with greater lufi:re, than in any other ornament of our church, Stillingfleet, and Barrow, and Taylor himfelf not excepted. To which I. muft add that firft and nobleft quality, of all, A perfe<5t lionefl:y of mind, and fincere love of truth, which governed his pen in all his religious inquiries \. After * " Quofdam, quia fie merebantur, irrisi verius quam confutavi, " nufquam non temperatior his a quibus laceffebar, ut mea quidem fer^ *' opinio; nam fieri et potcft et folet, ut meo judicio imponat aftedlus ; " atque isfum fatcor, qui poffem laceflitus incandefcere, fed nee irae pcr- " tinacis, et injuriarum obliviofus, ut fi quis alius." Ep. MXCIV. Ed. Cler. L. B. 1703. •\ Confidcring him in tliis view, I mean as a consummate Diyine, one cannot but lament the fate of a work he had projedled, but never R 4 executed. After mentioning to nne, in one of his letters :!•, fomfe- intereiting meditations, he was then engaged in, he ftops fl-iort,. executed, at leaft in the manner intended by hihi, On theoldgical Jladies, fur the ufe of young people: a plan of which he had digefted in his own. mind, and communicated to me, by letter, fo early as the year 1750. The principal heads were,, I. The right ftate and difpofition of mind to make proper improve- ments — in this were to be confidered the natures of fcepticifm,. dogmaticalnefs, enthufiafm, fuperftition, &c. >. The previous ftudies of morality and natural religion from their firft principles and foundations-; and of antiquity, critical, hifiorical, and philofophical. 3. The lludy of the Scriptures. 4. Fathers and modern Divmes.. 5. Ecclefiaftical hiftory. 6. Sermonizing, or the art of preaching. This work he referved for the amufement of his declining years^. But, as What is deferred fo long, is rarely executed at all, and never fo- well as at an earlier feafon, fo this noble defign, which required the exertion of his beft faculties in their full vigour, was not wholly ne- gledled * Jan. 12, 1757. C 129 ] fhort, and afl<.s — " But what is man ! A fit of the fpleen, '' a fit of ilhiefs, and laftly death, may wipe out all thefe *' glorious vifions, with which my brain at prefent is painted ** over : as Law faid, it once was with hieroglyphics. But " I hope the beft ; becaufe I only aim at the honour of " God and good of men. When I fay this I need not per- " haps add (as I do with the utmoft ferioufnefs) that I *''' J}3 all never wittingly advance one falfebood, nor conceal or " difguife one truibr So that thofe, if any fuch there were, who thought he wrote for a party, v.'ith the views of interell, for the fake glefted indeed, but flightly attempted by him, a few years before his death : as I find from a brief Iketch of it among his papers, which appears to have been drawn up haftily for the ufe of a friend, and was afterwards made to ferve by way of charge to his clergy. Such as it is, I have judged it worth preferving. The reader will be pleafed to fee the thoughts of fo great a man on this fubjeft ; and will, without doubt, make the proper allowances for their being laid before him in this imperfeil ftate ; without the detail, which was irttended, and without thofe embellifhments of ftyle and compofition, which, in his befi: time, he could fo eafily have beftowed upon them. This difcourfe, under the name of Dire^ions for the Study of Theology ^ will, be found in.volum.e V, page 60 1. of his Works. S ©f [ I30 ] of reputation, or, in fliort, from any other caufe than con- vidlion, and the purell zeal for the advancement of truth, knew nothing of his chara6ter, and did him great wrong. But to take him out of his ftudy, and to confider him in the common walks of life. He was of a chearful temper ; yet fubjedt, at times, to fits of abfence, and, if we may believe himfelf, even of melancholy. For fo he paints his own complexional habit in two remarkable letters, addreffed to a friend, and lately made puWic *. In one of thefe, dated Feb. i 4, 1742-3, he writes thus: — " We have all fomething to make us think lefs compla- " cently of the \Yorld. Religion will do great things^ It " will always make the bitter waters of Marah wholefome <' and palatable. But we muft not think it will ufually *' turn water to wine, becaufe it once did fo. Nor is it fit " it fliould, unlefs this were our place of reft, where we " were to expedt the Bridegroom. I do the beft I can, and " (hould, I think, do the fame, if I were a mere Pagan, " to make life paflable. To be always lamenting the *' miferies, or always feeking after the pleafures of it, " equally takes us off from the work of our falvation. And ** though I be extremely cautious what fedt I follow in ** religion, yet any in philofophy will ferve my turn, and * In the Colle6lion before mentioned, p. 77. " honeft [ 131 ] <' honeft Sancho Panca's is as good as any ; who on his " return from an important commiffion, when alked by " his mafter, whether they fliould mark the day with a ^ black or a white ftone ; replied, < Faith, Sir, if you will <« be ruled by me, with neither, but with good brozvn « ochre: What this philofopher thought of his comm.if- " fion, I think of human life in general, good broiim ochre <« is the complexion of it." The other letter, I hinted at, is dated Feb. 2, 17^0, and is of a ftill darker caft. For, fpeaking of what had made him delay fo long the fecond volume of his D. L., he proceeds in the following manner — " I would not have <» you think that natural indolence alone makes me thus " play the fool. Diftraaions of various kinds, infeparable « from human life, joined with a naturally melancholy habit, " contribute greatly to increafe my indolence, and force '« me often to feek in letters, nothing but mere amufe- " ment. This makes my reading wild and defultory : and « I feek refuge from the uneafinefs of thought from any « book, let it be what it will, that can engage my attcn- *' tion. There is no one whofe good opinion I more <« value than yours. And the marks you give me of it " make me fo vain, that I was refolved to humble myfelf " in making you this confeffion. By my manner of wri- *' ting upon fubjeds, you would naturally imagine they " afford me pleafure, and attach me thoroughly. I will S 2 " affurc [ 132 } *« affure you, No. -I have amufed myfelf much in human. *' learning, to wear away the tedious hours i?7feparable from " a melancholy habit. Bat no earthly thing gives me " pleafure, but the ties of natural relation, and the friend- " lliip of good men. And for all views of happinefs, 1 " have no notion of fuch a thing, but in the profpeds " which revealed religion affords us." Thefe letters appear to have been written, the latter of them efpecially, in a fplenetic moment. But what is faid of a melancholy habit means no more (for there was no gloom of melancholy in the tenour of his life or conver- fation) than that, being of an inventive turn, or, in the language of his friend Bifhop Hare, having an ingenious working head*, the driving of his thoughts fometimes wore his mind too much, and forced him to relieve it by changing the obje<51; of his attention. Hence the defultory reading ; which, however, ftored his memory with images of all forts, and, as I before obferved f, while it repaired the vigour of his mind, threw a richnefs and variety of colouring over all his writings. But to go on with what I propofed to fay of his compa- nionable qualities. In mixed companies he was extremely entertaining ; but lefs guarded than men of the world ufually are ; and difpofed to take to himfelf a fomewhat larger fliare of the * P. i6. f P. 13, 13. con- [ 133 3 converfation, than very exadl breeding is thought to allow. Yet few, I believe, wiflied him to be more referved, or lefs communicative, than he was. So abundant was the information, or entertainment, which his ready wit and extenfive knowledge afforded them! In private with his friends, he was natural, eafy, unpretending; at once the moil agreeable and moft ufeful companion in the world. You faw to the very bottom of his mind on any AibjeiSt of difcourfe ; and his various literature, j[>enetrating judge- ment, and quick recoUedion, made him fay the livelicd:, or the jufteft things upon it. In fliort, I was in thofe moments affe(5ted by his converfation, pretty much as Cato was by that of Maximus Fabius, and may fay, as he does in the dialogue on Old Age — *' / was Jo fond of bis difcourfe^ " and lijlened to it fo eagerly^ as ij I bad forefeen, what in- " deed came to pafs, tbat zvben I lofl bim, I /JjouM nc'ver *' again meet witb fo inflru&i've a companioii *." I fpoke of his private friendflnps. They were with men of learning and genius ; chiefly, with clergymen of the Eflablilhed Church ; and thofe, the moft conliderable of the time. It would be invidious to give a lift of thofe. I fliall only mention, by way of fpecimen, the learned Archdeacons of Stow and Winchefter. * " Ejus fermone ita turn cupide friiebar, quali jam divinarem id, quod " erenit, illo cxtindlo, fore, unde diiceremj nemincm." Cic. do Scncdute, C. IV. S 3 The [ 134 ] The former of thefe, Mr. Towne, was of his early ac- quaintance, when he Uved in Lincohiiliire, and much re- fpe<5led by him to his death. He was an ingenious and learned man, and fo converfant in the Bifliop's writings, that he ufed to fay of him, " He underftood them better than himfelf." He publifhed fome defences of the Divine Legation, in which, with a glow of zeal for his friend, he fliewed much logical precifion and acutenefs -••■. The latter, Dr. Balguy, was a perfon of extraordi- nary parts, and extenfive learning ; indeed of univerfal knowledge; and, what is fo precious in a man of letters, of the moft exadt judgement : as appears from fome valuable difcourfes t, which, having been written occafionally on important fubjecSls, and pub- * The following is, I believe, an exadl lift of them : 1. Critical Inquiry into the Pradlice and Opinions of the antient Phi- lofophers concerning the Soul, &c. Lond. 1748. 4. Expofition of the Orthodox Syftem of Civil Rights, and Church Power ; addrefled to Dr. Stebbing. 3. Argument of the D. L. fairly ftated. Lond. 1751. 4. Free and Candid Examination of Bifhop Sherlock's Sermons, and Difcourfes on Prophecy. Lond. 1756. 5. DifTertation on the antient Myfteries. Lond. 1766. 6. Remarks on Dr. Lowth's Letter to Bifhop Warburton. Lond. 1766. •f Thefe difcourfes, with fome others, were afterwards colledled into one volume in 1783, and prefented, with a handfome Dedication, to his Majefty. liQied C 135 3 liflied feparately by him, had raifed his reputation fo high, that his Majefty, out of his fingular love of merit, and without any other recommendation, was pleafed in 1 7 8 1 to make him the offer of the Bifhoprick of Gloucefter. Dr. Balguy had a juft fenfe of this flattering diftin6lion ; but was unhappily prevented by an infirm flate of health from accepting it. With thefe, and fuch as thefe, the Bifhop was happy to fpend his leifure hours. A general converfation he never affected, or rather took much pains to avoid, as what he juftly thought a waffe of time in one of his tem- per, talents, and profeffion. But to draw to an end of this long, and, as it may feem to thofe who knew little of him, too fond a charader of my friend. He had his foibles, no doubt ; but fuch as we readily excufe, or overlook, in a great charadter. With more referve in his writings and converfation, he had paflTed through the world with fewer enemies (though no pru- dence could have kept a genius, like his, from having many) ; and, with a temper lefs irritable, he would have fecured a more perfedl enjoyment of himfelf : But thefe w^ere the imperfections of his nature, or rather the ex- crefcences of his ruling virtues, an uncommon frankness OF MIND, and SENSIBILITY OF HEART. Tliefc qualities appear in all his writings, efpecially in his private letters ; 4 in in which a warm afFedion for his friends, and concern for their interefts, is every where exprelTed. But his ten- dernefs for his family, and, above all, his filial piety, ftrikes us with peculiar force. In a letter to me from Durham, July 12, 1757, he writes thus — " I am now got (through much hot weather " and fatigue) to this place. I hurried from the heat of *' London at a time, and under circumftances, when a " true Court Chaplain would never have forgiven himfelf <' the folly of preferring the company of his friends and " relations, to attendance on the Minifter. But every one '^ to his tafte. I had the pleafure of finding you well at " Cambridge; I had the pleafure of finding a fifier and a ** niece well at Broughton, with whom I fpent a few " days with much fatisfadlion. For, you muft know, I " have a numerous family : perhaps, the more endeared to " me, by their fole dependance on me. " It pleafed Providence that two of my fiftcrs fliould " marry unhappily : and that a third, on the point of ven- " turing, fliould efcape the hazard, and lb engage my " care only for herfelf, — I reckon this a lucky year : For " I have married a niece to a reputable grocer at York, " and have got a commiflion for a nephew in the regiment " of artillery. Thefe are pleafures," Sec. What [ 137 ] What his filbl piety was, will be feen from the follow- ing extrads. " I am extremely obliged to you" (fays he to a confi- dential friend ■*) " for your remembrance of my deareft, *' my incomparable mother, whom I do more than love, " whom I adore. No mortal can ever merit more of me, " than (he has done. — Her decline of life poffefles me with " anxiety ; and I have no fupport for this but in the <' thoughts of that laft meeting, which excludes all farther " chance of feparation. But I mufl: break off. You have *' had long experience what pain it is to me to fpeak of " fubjefts that affetft me moft." And, again, to the fame perfon, on occalTon of her death in 1748 — '* You fliould have heard from me fooner, " but that the afflictive news of my dear mother's death, " which met nie at this place f, made me incapable of " writing, or indeed of doing any thing but grieve for the '* lofs of the moft admirable woman that ever was. She " was the laft of her family ; and had in herfelf alone " more virtues than are generally poffeffed by whole fami- " lies throughout the whole courfe of their exiftence. " My extreme forrow for her death can only give place to <' my inceffant meditation on her virtues and adoration of " her memory. This is one of thofe loftes that nothing * Dr. Taylor. May 22, 1746. f Prior Park. T *' can I '38 ] ■*' can repair, and only time can ^leviate. For I fhall <* never enjoy that happinefs as in the days when you and " I were converfing together, while llie was giving us our ** coffee. At prefent, I can think of nothing," &:c. But I grow prolix again (for the reader's fake I will not fay, tedious) while I indulge myfelf in €Xtra6ting thefe tender paflages from his letters. To conclude at length, in one word. How differently foever men might think of him in his life- time, all are, or will be, agreed in their opinions of him, now he is dead. For, as a Divine of his own fize, and one after his own heart, faid excellently well — " When " great prelates are living, their authority is deprelTed by " their perfonal defaillances, and the contrary interefls of *' their contemporaries ; which difband, when they are ** dead, and leave their credit entire upon the reputation of " thofe excellent books and monuments of learning and " piety, which are left behind them -'••." What that credit of our great prelate is, this colledlion of his works will fhew ; and Will, if I miflake not, deliver hina down to poflerity as the ableft Divine, the gr .atefl Writer, and the firft Genius of his age. They arr truth- fully printed from the lafl editions of the aut'ior, and * Bifhop Taylor, L. P, p. aio. 8vo. Lond. 1709 thofc [ 139 1 thofe in many places corrected by his own hand. In one refpe<5t only, I have feme apology to make to the reader. Several of his friends had obferved to him (and he was, himfelf, convinced of it) that he had filled the margin of the Alliance and Divine Legation with too many notes ; and had fwelled thofe volumes too much by large extra(Sls under the name of Potlfcripts, or Appendices, from his controverfial trads. The longer notes occupy the reader too much, and divert him from the main argument, which, as it lies in the text of the Divine Legation efpecially, is drawn out to a fufEcient length t otherwife, they are in- finitely curious and learned, and deferve to be read with great care. They are now, therefore, printed together at the end of each book, and referred to in the text. By this difpofition, the reader's convenience is confulted, and the dignity of thofe capital works is preferved. As for fuch of the Postscripts, as are extra(5led from his con- troverfial works, thefe I ought, perhaps to have with- drawn : bur, as hereafter they may have their ufe in fepa- rate editions of the Alliance and Divine Legation, I have permitted them to keep their place. I did this the rather, becaufe thefe difcourfes are not merely repetitions, but have received many corredions and alterations from the author ; while the controverfial treatifes, from which they are taken, were never retouched by him, but left in their -original ftate. T 2 Thofe [ Uo ] Thofe CONTROVERSIAL PIECES themfelvcs could by no means be fuppreficd, or altered in the leaft, as they prefent the livelieft image of the writer's charadcr and genius, and derive a peculiar grace from being feen in that connexion of thought, and glow of colouring, which they took, in the heat of compofition, from his carelefs and rapid hand. Some of his private letters (fuch as had been printed in his life-time by himfelf, or others) conclude the laft volume ; and flievv how much he excelled in this fort of compofition, for which he was indeed fingularly qualified by the charadleriftic virtues both of his head and heart. The reader will therefore wifii for a larger colledion of them; and he may, in due time, be gratified with it, out of the Editor's long correfpondence with him. It may be proper to add, that this elegant edition of his works is given at the fole expence of his widow, now Mrs. Stafford Smith of Prior Park : who alfo eredled the .monu- ment, before fpoken of, to his memory in the church of Gloucefter. I have now, as I found myfclf able, and in the manner I judged moft fit, difcharged my duty to this incomparable man : a duty, which he feemed to expe6l would be paid to him by one or other of his furviving friends, when, in the clofe of his preface to Mr. Pope's works, he has thefe affe£ling words — "And I, when envy and calumny take " the fame advantage of my abfence (for, while I live, I " will [ 141 ] " will truft it to my life to confute them) may I find a " friend as careful of my honeft fame, as I have been of " his." — I have, I fay, endeavoured to do juftice to his memory ; but in fo doing I have taken, the reader fees, the beft method to preferve my own. For, in placing my- felf fo near to him in this edition of his immortal works, I have the fairefl-, perhaps the only chance of being known to pofterity myfelf. Envy and Prejudice have had their day : And when his name comes, as it will do, into dl mouths, it may then be remembered, that the writer of this life was honoured with fome fliare of his efteem ; and had the pleafure of living in the moft entire and unreferved friendftiip with him, for near thirty years. ''A:l7.f:Z' R. WORCESTER. C 143 1 APPENDIX TO THE LIFE. LETTER [A] P. 24. — " I HAVE known this Gentleman about twenty years. I have been greatly and in the moft generous manner obliged to him. So I am very capable, and you will rea- dily believe, very muchdifpofed to apologize for him. Yet for all that, if I did not really believe him to be an honeft man, I would not venture to excufe him to you. Nothing is more notorious than the great charadler he had acquired in the faithful and able difcharge of a long embafly at Conftanlinople, both in the public part, and the private one of the merchants affairs. The firft reflexion on his charadter was that unhappy affair of the Charitable-corpo- ration. I read carefully all the reports of the committee concerning it : And as I knew Sir Robert Sutton's temper -and character fo well, I was better able than mofl to judge of the nature of his condudt in it. And I do in my con- fcience believe that he had no more fufpicion of any fraud, carrying on by fome in the diredtion, than I had. That he was guilty of negle(5t and negligence, as a Diredlor, is certain : but it was only the natural effedt of his temper (where he has no fufpicion) which is exceedingly indolent. 4 And [ 144 ] And he fuffered fuiliciently for it, not only in his cenfare, but by the lofs of near £. 20,000. And at this very junc- ture he loft a confiderable fum of money (through his negligence) by the villainy of a land-fteward, who broke and run away. Dr. Arbuthnot knew him well ; and 1 am fully perfuaded, though I never heard fo, that he had the fame opinion of him in this affair that I have. But parties ran high, and this became a party matter. And the vio- lence of parties no one knows more of than yourfelf. And his virtue and integrity have been fince fully m^nifefted. Another prejudice againft him, with thofe who did not know him perfonally, was the charader of his brother, the General, as worthlefs a man, without queftion, as ever was created. But you will afk, why fliould a man in his Itation be engaged in any affair with fuch dirty people ? 'Tis a reafonable queftion ; but you, who know human nature fo well, will think this a fufficient anfwer. He wag born to no fortune, but advanced to that ftation in the Levant, by the intereft of his coufin Lord Lexington ; befides the ftraitnefs of his circumftances, the ufual and conflant bufinefs of that embaffy gave him, of courfe, a mercantile turn. He had feen in almoft every country, where he had been, focieties of this kind, fubliiling pro- fitably to th^mfelves, and beneficially to the public. For not to think he came amongft them with a view to his own profit principally, would indeed be abfurd. Yet I am fure with [ i4S ] with a view of an honefl: profit. For he is very far from an avaricious man. He lives up to his fortune, without being guilty of any vice or Uixury. He is an extreme good and faithful hufband, and with reafon indeed, for it is to one of the fineft women in England. He is a tender and indulgent father to very hopeful children ; a kind mafter, and one of the beft landlords to his tenants. I fpeak all this of my own knowledge. He has a good eftate in this place. My parifliioners are'good people. The times (till very lately) for this laft fifteen years have been extreme bad for the grafiers ; I got of him, for them, two abate- ments, in their rents, at two feveral times. I will only beg leave to give you one more inftance that relates to myfelf, and is not equivocal in his characfler. I chanced to know him, when 1 was very young, by means of my neighbourhood to Lord Lexington (whom I never knew) where he oft came. And, without any confideration to party or eledion-intereft, he feemed to have entertained an early efteem for me. He had two good livings, on eftates he had lately bought : and without the leafi intimation or folicitation he told me I fliould have the firft that fell. He was as good as his word. But this was not all. As foon as I became poffeiTed of the living, he told me, that (from what he had been informed by my prcdeceiTor, who at his death was going to commence a fuit for his juit dues) the Uving was much injured by a low and illegal compofition. That U he [ 146 ] he thought I ought to right myfelf, and he would join with me againll the other freeholders (for his eftate is fomething more than one half of the parifli). I replied, that as he paid all the tithes for his tenants, the greateft lofs, in my breaking the compofition, would fall upon himfelf, who muft pay me half as much more as he then did. He faid, he did not regard that ; I was his friend, and it was my due. I anfwered, that, however, I could not do it yet, for that the world would never conceive it to be done with his • confent, but would fay that I had no fooner got his living, than I had quarrelVl with him. But, when 1 came to my parifli, I found them fo good a fort of people, that I had as little an inclination to fall out with them. So (though .to my great injury) I have deferred the matter to this day. Though the thing in the opinion of Sir R. Raymond, who gave it on the cafe, as drawn up by the parifhioners them- felves, is clear and indifputable ; yet they won't give it np without a law-fuit. hi a word, there is nothing I am more convinced of than the innocence of Sir R. S. in the cafe of the Charitable Corporation, as to any fraud, or con- nivance at fraud. You, who always follow your judgement, free from prejudice, will do fo here. I have difcharged my ,duty of friendihip both to you and him."- — LET- ^ [ ^47 ] LETTER [b] p. 42. GOOD MADAM, Newark, Jan. a6, 1744-5. I HAD the honour of your obliging letter of the 25th of laft Aiiguft, fent me to Bath, where I then was. After fome Hay there, where my time was taken up more than I could have wifhed, i went to London, where I was ftill lefs in my own power. I am juft now returned home; and the firft thing I thought of was to make my acknow- ledgements for that favour. I do not wonder that the goodnefs of your heart, and your love of letters, fliould make you fpeak with fo much' tendernefs of poor Mr. Pope's death ; for it was a great lofs both to the literary and "moral world. In anfwer to your obliging queftion, what works of Mr. Pope have been publifhed with my commentaries and notes ? I am to inform you, they are l\iQ Dunciad m qvizno, and the Effay on Man and on Criticijm, in the fame fize. Which affords me an opportunity to beg the favour of you to let me know into whofe hands in London I can ronfign a fmalf parcel for you : For I have done myfelf the honour of ordering thefe two volumes to be fent to you, as I believed you would with difficulty get them of \our bookfellei-5 ^o far North ; and I hope you will forgive this liberty. U- 2 - Towards [ '48 ] Towards the conclufion of your letter, you have fent me one of the pohteft caitels imaginahle. I think, his anfwer was generally commended, who told the Emperor, when he piefftd him, that he never would difpute with a man who had twenty legions at his beck. And do you think I will enter the lifts with a lady, whofe writings have twenty thoufand charms in them ? If I confided in myfelf, and aimed at honour, I could not indeed do better : for the cafe is there, as in the works of the Ita- lian poets ; who have, with great decorum, when they introduced female warriors, made the overcoming one of them the higheft point of valour and addrefs in their heroes. Befides, to fpeak out of a figure, we differ in what is the true foundation of morality. I have faid all I "have to fay on the fubjedt. And though i^ be hard to guefs when a writer fo much the miftrefs of her fubjed: has faid all, yet \f I believed what you have faid was all^ I might perhaps be in fome meafure excufeable ; as I fee you fay fo much more than any writer of your fide the queftion had done before you. One thing, and only one, you will give me leave, Ma- dam, to obferve : that I am a little furprized at the con- fequence drawn from my pofition — " that, as without a God there could be no obligation, therefore the Atheift who believes there is none (and might deduce that truth concerning obligation from the principles of right reafon) would have no tye upon him." Hence [ 149 3 Hence I concluded, and I thought rightly, that Atheifm was highly injurious to fociety. But how any one could conclude from this (for this is the amount of what I faid on tliat fulijed) that, on my principles (for as to my opi- nion, I believe no one would queftion that) an athsiji is not accountable in a future Jlate for any enormities he. may commit here, I do not fee. And my reaifon for faying fo is this. It is a principle, I fuppofe, agreed on, " That " crimes committed upon wrong principles are equally pu- " nifliablc with thofe committed againjl right ; for that the *' falling into this wrong principle was oecafioned by fome " punilhable fault in the condud." Now I have not faid one fingle word, throughout the difcourfe, that tends to invalidate this principle : Confequently all I have faid cannot affed that truth, That an Jtheiji is accountable. I •3Sk. your pardon. Madam, for this trouble. It is what I have not given to any other; though feveral have made the fame objedion. They deferved nothing at my hands; and you dcferve every thing. You inquire with great civility concerning the third volume of the Divine Legation. Several offices of friend- fliip, feveral offices of domeftic piety and duty, wearinefs with contradiclion of Jimiers both againft fenfe and gram- mar (for fuch have been my adverfaries) have prevented me doing any thing at the laft volume, fince the publi- cation of the fecond. But now being juft upon the point 5 of, THE DIVINE LEGATION O F MOSES. IN NINE BOOKS. VOLUME THE FIRST: CONTAIHING BOOKS I, and II. Vol. I. DEDI. DEDICATION TO A NEW EDITION OF BOOKS I. n. III. ill 1754. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE PHILIP EARL OF HARDWICKE, LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF GREAT BRITAIN. MY LORD, YOUR Lordflilp having fo far approved of the good intentions of my endeavours for above twenty years pad, in the caufe of Religion, as to confer upon me a diftinguifliing mark of your favour, I am proud to lay hold of the firft public opportunity which I have had, of defiring leave to make my moft grateful acknow- ledgments. I take the liberty to iafcrlbe to your Lordfliip a new Edition of a work tending to Ihew and illuftrate, by a new argument, the Divine Legation of MoJ'es ; which in our own, as well as former times, the moft celebrated Champions of Infidelity have cunningly, for their own purpofes, laboured with all their might, to over- throw. If I have fucceeded, or as far as I have fucceedcd, or may here- after fucceed, in the further profecution of this attempt, I fliall ftrengthen one foundation of Chriftianity. As an author, I am not folicitous for the reputation of any lite- rary performance. A work given to the world, every reader has a right to cenfure. If it has merit, it will go down to pofterity : if it has none, the fooner It dies and is forgot the better. B- 2 But iv DEDICATION Ta LORD HARDWICKE. But I am extremely anxious that no good man (hould raiftake- thc view with which I write ; and' therefore eaiinot help feehng, perhaps too fenfibly, when it is mifreprefented. So far as any cenfure can, (hew that my poor labours are not cal- culated to promote Letters or Learning, to advance Truth, or, above all, to ferve the caufe of Religion, which I profefs as a Chriftian and a Member of the Church of England, I own, I have mifled my end ; and will be the firft to join with the cenfure which condemns, tliem. In the mean time, the firft book of this work, fueh- as it is, is here humbly commended to your Lordfhip's proteftion. For to- whom does it fo properly 'belong to patronize an argument fhew- ing the Utility of Religioa to Society, as to that great Magiftrate,, Legidator, and Statefman, who is beft able to reeomtnend and ap- ply the fubje£l, by his being convinced of the Truth of Religion;, and' by his giving the moft exemplary proof of his belief, in a fl:eddy regard to it's didates in his life and aftions ? It is this which makes me prefume on your Lordftiip's protedion,. Hot any thing extraordinary in the^ work itfelf. It is enough for your Lordfhip to fTnd in thofe you favour a real zeal for the in- terefts of Virtue and' Religion. The-effe6lual fervice of thofe in- terefts depends on fo many accidents, refpefting both the ability of the 'Writer and the difpofidon of the Reader, that your Lordfhip's humanity and candour, inlarged, and not (as it often happens) diminifhed, by your great knowledge of mankind, will always dil- pofe you to elHmate merit by a better rule than, the fuccefs.. I am. My Lord, With the utmofl' Gratitude, Your Lord(hip's moft obliged', and devoted Servant, W. Warburton^ DEDICATION TO THE FIRST EDITION OF BOOKS I. IL III. in 1738. T O THE FREE-THINKERS. Gentlemen, AS the following difconrfe was written for your ufe, you have the beft right to this addrefs. 1 could never approve the cuftom of dedicating books to men, whofe profeffions made them- ftrangers to the fubjed:. A difcourfe on the Ten Predicaments, to a leader of armies, or a fyftem of cafuiftry to a minifter of ftate, al- ways appeared to me a high abfurdlty. Another advantage I have in this addrefs, is that I fhall not He under any temptations of flattery ; which, at this time of day, when every topic of adulation has been exhauftcd, will be of equal eafe and advaiuage to us both. Not but I muft own you have been managed, even by fome of ©ur Order,, with very fingular complaifance. Whether it was that they affefted. the fame of moderation, or had a higher amlntion for the honour of your good word, I know not ; but J, who neither love your caufe, nor fear the abilities thatlupport it, while I pre- ftr.ve vi DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. ferve for your perfons that juftice and charity which my profeffion teaches to be due to all, can never be brought to think otherwife of your charader, than as the defpifers of the Mailer whom I ferve, and as the implacable enemies of that Order, to which I have the honour to belong. And as fuch, I fhould be tempted to glory ia your cenfures ; but would certainly refufe your commendations. Indeed, were it my defign, in the manner of modern dedicators, to look out for powerful protedors, I ragements attending the exerclfe of Free-thinking : and, in a pecu-^ liar ftrain of modefty and reafoning, employ this very liberty to per- fuade the world you fllU want it. In extolling liberty, we can join with you ; in the vanity of pretending to have contributed moi\ to its eflabllfhment, we can bear with you ; but in the low cunning of pretending ftlU to groan under the want of it, we can ncitheir join nor bear with you. There was indeed a time, and that witbiu ©ur own memories, when fuch complaints were feafonable and even iifeful ; but, happy for you. Gentlemen, you have out-lived it : ail the reft is merely Sir Martin * ; it is continui^^g to fumble on the Kite, though the mufick has been long over. For it is not a tiling to be difguifed, that what we hear from you, an this head, is but iin aukward, though envenomed imitation of an original work of one, whoever he was, who appears to have been amongil the * la a comedy of Dryden'c^ greatefl. vlii DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. greateft, and moft fuccefsful of your adverfaries. It was publifhcd at an important jundtnre, under the title of The difficulties and dij- cEDICATION TO rnt FREE-THINKERS. xl ihrow, and pierce no farther than the furface, yet ftickhig there, they more nitangle and incommode the combatant, than thofe arms, which fly Wronger, and ftrike deeper. However^ an abufe it is, and one of the moft pernicious too, of the liberty of the Prefs. For what greater affront to the feverity of reafon, the fubllmity of truth, and the fandity of religion, than to fubjeft them to the impure touch of every empty fcurrilous Buffoon ? The polltencfs of Athens, which you pretend fo much to admire, fliould be here a leflbn to you ; which committed all queftions of this nature, when they were to be examined, to their graveft and fevereft court, the Areopagus > whofe judges would not fuffer the advocates for either party to ap- ply to the paffions, fo much as by the common rules of the chafteil rhetoric *. But a prepofterous love of mirth hath turned you all into Wits, quite down from the fanguine writer of T/je InJependent JVhig^ to the atrabilaire blafpliemer of the miracles t« Though it would be but charity to tell you a plain truth, which Cicero told your illujlrious predecejfors long ago, when infedted with the fame diftem- per: " Ita falem iftum, quo caret vestra nAtio in irridendis *' nobis, nolitote confumere. Et mehercule, fi me audiatis, ne ex- " periamini quidem : non decet; non datum Est j non poteftis." However, if you will needs be witty, take once more your example from the fine author of The difficulties and difcouragementSy and learn from him the difference between Attic irony and elegance of wit, and your intemperate fcurrility and illiberal banter. What a nolfe, you will fay, for a little harmlefs mirth. Ah^ Gentlemen ! if that were all, you had my leave to laugh on : I would fay with the old comic, Utlnam male qui mihi volunt, fic rideant. But low and mean as your buffoon ry is, it Is yet to the level of the people ; who are as little follcltous, as capable, of the point of * Exemplo legis Attica-, Martiique judicii caufe Patronis denuntiat Prsco neqxic principia dicere, neque miferationem commovere. Apul. Lib. X. Afm. Aur. p. 827. Lvgd. 1587. 8vo. -f Woolfton. C 2 argu- xH DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. argument, fo they can but catch the point of wit. Amongft fuch, and to fuch, you write ; and it is inconceivable what havoc fiilfe wit makes in a fooliOi head : " The rabble of mankind," as an excellent writer well obferves, " being very apt to think, that every thing *' which is laughed at, with any mixture of wit, is ridiculous in " itfelf *." Few refted on what a great wit t has fo ingenuoufly owned, T^hat wh is generally falje reajoning. But one, in whom your party mofl: glories, hath written in deft-nee of this abufive way oi wit afid raillery^ on ferious fubjeds. Let us hear him then J : " Nothing is ridiculous, except what is deformed ; nor is any thing *• proof againft raillery, except what is handfome and juft ; and " therefore it is the hardefl thing in the world to deny fair honef-^ " ty the ufe of this weapon ; which can never bear an edge againft " herfelf. One may defy the world to turn bravery or generofity *' into ridicule : a man maft be foundly ridiculous, who, with all ** the wit imaginable, would go about to ridicule wifdom, or laugb " at honefty or good manners." Yes, ridiculous, indeed, to laugh, at bravery, generofity, wifdom, honefty, or good manners, as fuch : and I hardly think, gentlemen, as licentious as fame of you are> you will be ever brought to accept of his defiance^ And why need you, when it is but fhewing them, with overcharged and diftorted features, to laugh at your eafe ? Call them but temerity, prodiga- lity, gravity, frmplicity, foppery, and as you have often experienc- ed, the bulinefs is done, and the ridicule is compleat. And what fecurity will the nobk writer give us, that they (hall not be fo called ? 1 am perfuaded, if you are never to be thought ridiculous^ till you become fo, in the way this gentleman marks out, you may go fafely on in the freedom of wit and humour, till there be never a virtue left, to laugh out of counteioance. * Mr. Addifon's Worlcs, vol. iii. p. 293. Quarto. f Mr. Wycherley to Mr. Pope, Letter XVI. J Charadleriflics, vol. I. Effay oa the freedom of wit and humour. But DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS, xiii But he will fay, he means fuch clear virtue as hath no equivocal mark about her, which a prevaricator can lay hold on. Admit tiiis : the man of wit will then try to make her ridiculous in her equipage, if he cannot make her fo in her perfon. However, will he fay, it fhews at leaft, that nothing can be done againft her, till fhe be difguifed. A mighty confolation this to ex- piring Virtue, that flie cannot be deflroyed till you have put her on a fool's coat. As if it were as hard to get that o», as Hercules's off! The comparifon holds better in the converfe, that when once on, it flicks as clofe as the envenomed one of old, and often lafls her to her funeral. But if tliis noble writer means that truth cannot be obfcured, however difguifed ; nor confequently, be made ridiculous, however reprefented ; the two celebrated examples, which follow, feem to ihew he was miflaken. Where, in the firft, it is feen, that no- thing was ftronger than the ridicule, nor, at the fame time more open and tranlparent than the diiguife ; in the latter, nothing more clouded and obfcured than the beauty of the truth ridiculed, nor more out of fight than the fallacy in the reprefeutation. Which together n:.ay teach us, that any kind of difguife will ferve the turn ; nnd, that witty men will never be at a lofs for one. Of all the virtues that were fo much in this noble writer^s heart, and in his writings, there was not one he more revered than love of public liberty ; or which he would lefs fufpeft ihould become liable to the impreffions of buffoon ry. Methinks I hear him faj,. ♦' One may defy the world to turn the love of public liberty into ri- " dicule : a man muft be foundly ridiculous, Vi\\o, with all the " wit imaginable, would go about it." However, once on a time, a great Wit fet upon this talk ; he undertook to laugh at this very virtue ; and that too, fo fuccefsfully,. that he fet the whole nation a laughing with him. What mighty- engine, you will aflc, was employed, to put in motion fo large a body, and for fo extraordinary a caufe ? In truth, a very fimple one r a difconrfe, of which all the wit confifts iii the title ; and that too fculking^ jt\v DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. fculking, as you will fee, under one unlucky word. Mrs. Bull'f vindication of the indifpenjable duty of cuckoldom, incumbent upon tviveSf in cafe of the tyranny, infidelity y or infufficiency of hufbands *. Now had the merry reader been but wife enough to refledt, that rcafon was the teft of ridicule, and not ridicule the tejl of truth , he would have feen to reftify the propofition, and to ftateit fairly thus : The indifpenjable duty of vnvo'^Q.'E., etc. And then the joke had been over, before the laugh could have begun. And now let this noble writer tell us, as he does, that fair ho- nejly can never bear an edge againjl herjelf for that nothing is ridicu- lous but what is deformed; and a great deal to the fame purpofe, which his Platonic manners fupplied. But very often the change put upon us is not fo eafily difcerniblc. Sulpicius tells Cicero, that returning by fea from Aiia, and feeing in his courfe -^gina, Megara, the Piraeus, and Corinth in ruins, he fell into this very natural, and humane reflexion : *' And fhall ** we, fhort-lived creatures as we are, bear with impatience the ** death of our fellows, when in one fingle view we behold the car- *' cafes of fo many lately flourifliing cities -j- ?" What could be jufter or wifer than the piety of this reflexion ? And yet it could not cfcape the ridicule of a celebrated French buffoon. " If neither *' (fays he I) the Pyramids of Egypt, nor the CololTeum at Rome, ♦* could • Hiftbry of John Bull, parti, chap. xiii. f Ex Alia rediens, cum ab J£gm?i Megaram verfus navigarem, coepi regiones circum- circa profpicere. Pod me erat jEgina ; ante Megara; dextra Piraeeus ; finiftra Corin- thus : quae oppida quodam tempore florentilTima fuerunt, nunc proftrata, & diriita ante ociilos jacent. Coepi egomct mecum Cc cogitare : Hem! nos homunculi indiguamur, fi q«is noftrum interiit, aut occifuseft, quorum vita brevior efle debet, cum uno loco tot oppidum cadavera proje£la jaceant ? Sulpicius M. T. Ciceroni, lib iv. ep. J. J Superhts mtiiumcns de Vorgucil dci humains, Piramides, Tombeaux, dont la vaine ftruifture A temoigne que I'art, par I'aJreffe des mains Et I'aflidu travail, pent vaincre la nature ! Vienx palais ruinez, chef d'oeiivits des Remains, DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. xv ** could withftand the injury of time; why (hould I think much *' that my black waiftcoat is out at elbows ?" Here, indeed, the firft thing to be obferved is the fuperior refiftance of truth. The buffoon, before he could throw an air of ridicule on this ad- mirable fentiment, was forced to change the image; and in the place of ^glna, Megara, etc. to fubftitute the Pyramids and Colof- Jeum, monuments of human pride, and folly ; which, on that ac- count, readily fubmitted to the rude touch of buffoon ry : while thofe free cities, the' noblefl effort of human wifdom, the nurferies of arts and commerce, could not eafily be fet in a ridiculous or an idle light. But then, how few of his readers were able to deteft the change put upon them, when it is very probable the author himfelf did not fee it ? who, perplexed at the obftinate refiiliance of truth, in the various arrangement of his ideas turned the edge of his raillery, before he was aware, againlt the piiantafm, and was the firft that fell into his own deceit. Hence may be feen what the noble writer feems to have fpoken at random, at leafl;, not at all to the purpofe of the queftion he was ■upon, that fuch indeed is the inflexible nature of truth, that all the wit in the world can never render it ridiculous, till it be fo dif- torted as to look like error, or fo difguifed as to appear like folly. A circumflance which, though it greatly recommends the majefty of. •virtue, yet, as it cannot fecure it from inlult, doth not at all fhew the innocence oj riduule; which was the point he had to prove. Et les derniers efforts de leur architefture, Collifee, ou fouvent ces pcuples inhumainSy De s'oitt' ajfajjiner fe donnoicnt tablature. Par I'injure des ans vous cftes abolis, ,Ou du moins la plus part vous eAes demolis : ■; II n'eft point dc cimeiit que le temps ne diffoude, Si vos marbres fi durs ont feiitis fon pouvoir, Dois-je trouver maiivais, qu'un mefchant poiirpoint noir, Qui m'a dure deux ans, foit pcrcc par le coiidc ? SCARROX. 7 But xvl DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. But to fee what little good is to be expe£led in this way of w/V and humour, one may go further ; and obferve, that even the ridi- cule o{ falje virtue, which' furely deferves no quarter, hath been fometimes attended with very mifchievous efFcfts. The Spaniards have lamented, and I believe truly, that Cervantes's juft and ini- mitable ridicule of knight-errantry rooted up, with that foUy, a great deal of their real honour. And it was apparent, that Butler's fine fatire on fanatictjm contributed not a little, during the licen- tious times of Charles II. to hxm^ fober piety into dlfrepute. The reafon is evident : there are many lines of refemblance between Truth and its Counterfeits: and it is the province of ivit only to find out the Ukenejfes in things ; and not the talent of the common ad- mirers of it to difcover the differences. But you will fay, perhaps. Let Truth, when thus attacked, de- fend itfelf with the fame arms; for why, as your mafi:er afks, {[\o\AAfair hone/ly be denied the ufe of this weapon f Beit fo : come on then, and let us impartially attend the iflue. We have, upon record, the mofl illuftrious example of this contention that ever was. The difpute I mean, was between Socrates and Ariftophanes. Here truth had all the advantage of place, of weapons, and of judges : Socrates employed his whole life in the caufe of virtue : Ariftophanes, only a few comic fcenes againft it. But, heavens ! againft what virtue ! againft the pureft and brigbteft portion of it that ever enlightened the gentile world. The wit of the comic writer is well known : that of the philofopher was in a fupreme de- gree, juft, delicate, and forceable ; and fo habitual, that it pro- cured him the title of the Attic buffoon. The place was the politeft ftate in the politeft time, Athens in its glory ; and iht judges the grave fenators of Areopagus. For all this, the comic poet trium- phed : and with the coarfeft kind of buffoon ry, little fitted, one would think, to take fo polite a people, had the art to tarnifh all this virtue ; and, what was more, to make the owner refemble his direft oppofite, that chara»3^er he was moft unlike, tliat chamber he moft hated, that very chara(5lcr he had employed all his wit to dcteiSl, lay DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS, xvii lay open, and confound ; in one word, the sophist. The confe- quences are well known. Thus will raillery^ in defence of vice and error, be ftill an over- match for that employed on the fide of truth and virtue. Becaufe fair honejly ufes, though a (harp, yet an untainted weapon ; while knavery ftrlkes with one empoifoned, though much duller. The honeft man employs his wit as corredly as his logic : whereas the very definition of a knave's raillery is a fophifm. But, indeed, when a licentious buffoonry is once appealed to, and encouraged ; its efFeds have no dependance on the fit choice of its objeft. All chara<£lers fill alike before it. In the diflblute times of Charles II, this tveapon, with the fame eafe, and indeed in the fame hands, completed the ruin of the beft, and, of the very worft Mhiifler of that age. The hiftorians tell us, that Chancellor Hyde was brought into his mafter's contempt, by this court-argument. They mimicked his walk and gefture, with a fire-fliovel and bel- lows, for the mace and purle. The fame ingenious ftroke of hu- mour was repeated on Secretary Bennet, and, by the happy addi- tion of his black patch, with jufl the fame fuccefs. Thus, it be- ing the reprefentation, and not the objefl reprefented, which ftrikes the fancy. Vice and Virtue muft fall indifferently before it *. I hope * The author of a late book called Elements of Criticifm, fpeaking of men's various opinions concerning the uji cf ridicule, proceeds againft what is here faid, in the fol- lowing manner—" This difpute has produced a celebrated queftion, Whether Ridicule le, *« or he not, a tejl of Truth ? Which (fays he) dated in accurate terms, is, Whether *• the SENSE of Ridicule he the proper tcfl for diflinguijhing ridiculous oljcBsfrom thofe that are •• notfo? To anfiuer the quefion •voith PRECISION, I muft premife that Ridicule is not a *• fubjcil of reafoning but of sense or taste." Vol. ii. p. 55. The Critic having thus changed the queftlon, which he calls fating it in accurate terms ; and obfcured the anfwer, which he calls, giving it i':ith precifto?i, he concludes, that Ridicule is not only the bef, hut the only, tcf of Truth, But what is all this to the purpofe ? Is the Dealer in Ridicule now debarred the li- berty of doing what he has fo often done, putting his objecl in a falfc light ; and, by that means, making Truth appear like Error? As he is not, 1 inferred, againft Lord \ oL. I. D Shaftelbury, xvlli DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. I hope then. Gentlemen, you will in time be brought to own> that this method is the mofl unfair in itfelf, and moft pernicious in its confequences : that its natural effect is to miflead the judgment,. and to make the heart diilblute. It is a fmall matter, that the State requires of you, fobriety, de- cency, and good manners, to qualify you for the noble employment of thinking freely, and at your eafe. We have been told this, you- will fay, before : But, when it came to be explained ; By, fober writing was meant, writing in the language of the Magiftrate. It may be fo ; but then, remember, it was not till you yourfelvea Shaftefbury, That Ridicule is not a tefi of Truth. How does our Critic addrefs himfelf to prove the contrary ? Not by fhewing, that ridicule is fuch a teft : but that the taste of ridicule is the teji ofiuhat is ridiculous. Who doubts that ? It is the very thing complained of. For when our tafte for ridicule gives tis a fenfible pleafure in a ridiculous reprefenta- tion of any objeft, we do not ftay to examine whether that reprefentation be a true one, but conclude it to be fo, from the pleafure it affords us. His fecond change of the queflion is^ a new fiibftitution, viz. mdhcr Ridicule he a to,' lent to he iifed or employed at all? Of which he fuppofes me to hold the negative. What elfe is the meaning of thefe words? " To condemn a talent for ridicule, becaufe *' it may be converted to wrong purpofes, is not a little ridiculous. Could one forbear " tofmile if A TALENT POR REASONING was CONDEMNED, becaufe it alfo may be per- " verted ?" p. 57. He has no reafon tofmile fure, at his own mifreprefentation. I never condemned a talent for ridicule becaufe it may be abufed; nor for anylother reafon. Though others, perhaps, may be difpofed to fmlle at his abfurd inference, that we may as well condemn a talent for reafoning. As if reafon and ridicule were of equal importance for the conduct of human life. He may then perhaps a(k, <' If I do not condemn the ufe of Ridicule, on what em- *' ployment I would put it, when I have excluded it from being a tef of truth ?" Let him not be uneafy about that. There is no danger that the talent for ridicule fliould lie idle, for want of proper bufincfs. When reafon, the only tef of truth I know of, has per. formed its oflRce, and unmalked fypocrijy and formal error, then ridicule, I think, may be fairly called in, to quicken the operation. Thus, when Dr. S. Clarke had,, by fuperior reafoning, expofed the wretched fophiftry which Mr. Collin»had employed to prove the Soul to be only a quality of Body ; Dr. Arbuthnot, who very rarely mifemployed his inimitable talent for ridicule, followed the blow, and gave that foolifli and impious opi- nion up to the contempt and laughter it deferved, in a chapter of the Memoirs of Scrib- lerus. But to fet Ridicule on work before, would be as unfair, iiuieed as fcandalous, as to bellow the language dce'to convided Vice, on a charaifter but barely fufpeded. 7 had DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. xk Iiad led the way to the abufe of words ; and had called calumny, plahi dealing ; and a fcurril licence, urbanity, Happy for you, that you are in times wdien liberty is fo well underftood. Had you lived in the boafted days of claffic freedom, he amongft you who had efcaped beft, had been branded with a charafter, the ancient Sages efteemed moft infamous of all, an enemy to the RELIGION OF HIS COUNTRY. A vcry Candid and refpedable author, fpeaking of the ancient reJlrainU on free-thinking, fays, " Thefe ** were the maxims, thefe the principles, which the light of nature ** fuggefted, which reafon diftated *." Nor has this fine writer any caufe to be afhamed of his acknowledgment ; nor his adverfa- ries any pretence that he muft needs efteem it the meafure for the prefent times. For, as a great Ancient well obferves, *' It is one *' thing to fpeak of truth, and another to hear truth fpeak of her- *' felff." It was CHRISTIAN TRUTH and CHARITY, the truth and charity you fo much infult, which only could take off thofe reflraints ; and require no more of you than to be <7j free, but not ujing your liberty for a cloak of malicioufnefs |. I have now done with your bufFoonry ; which, like chewed bullets, is againft the law of arms ; and come next to your fcurrilities, thofe ftink-pots of your ofFenfive war. As the clergy of the eftabllfhed church have been more parti- cularly watchful in what is yet the common caufe of all, the in- tere{\.s o{ C/bri/I/'afiity, and moft fuccefsful in repelling the infults of its enemies, they have fallen under the heavieft load of your ca- lumny and flander. With unparalleled licence, you have gone on, reprefenting them as debauched, avaricious, proud, Tindlftive,^ am- bitious, deceitful, irreligious, and incorrigible. " An order of men profligate and abandoned to wickednefs, inconfiftent with the good of * Letter to Dr. Waterland, p. 52, &/ej. ■{■ "A^Xuj Tt{«7tf» l(^r,9i•'»; /Viy:!, »i aTmSsia iai/li» i(fiii\vtviit X I Pet. ii. j6, D z fociety. XX DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. foclety, Irreconcileable enemies to reafon, and confpirators againf^ the liberty and property of mankind *." To fill up your common place of (lander, the moft inconfiflent qualities have been raked together to deform them : qualities that could never ftand together but in idea; I mean, in the misfhapeii ideas of a Free-thinker. The Order is now reprefented as moft contemptible for their po- litics ; ever in the wrong, and under a fatality of continued blun- ders, attending them as a curfe : But anon, we are told of their deep-laid fchemes of a feparate intereft, fo wifely condu(R:ed, as to elude the policy of Courts, and baffle all the wifdom of Legif- latures. Now they are a fet of fuperftitious bigots, and fiery zealots, prompt to facrifice the rights of humanity to the interefts of Mo- ther-Church : but now again, they are 'Tartufes without religion i Atheijls and Apojlates with out faith or law. This moment, fo united in one common confederacy, as to make their own Church-policy the caufe of God : But, the next, lb divided, that every man's hand is againfl: his brother, tearing and worrying one another^ to the great fcandal of the charitable author «f the Difcourfe of Free-thinking. But it is to be hoped, as the evidence is fo ill laid together, the accufation may be groundlefs. But why do I talk of the Clergy, when Jhere is not one, how- ever otherwife efteemed by, or related to you, tliat can efcape your (lander, if he happen to difcover the leaft inclination for that caufe, againfl: which you are fo virulently bent ? Mr. Locke, the honour of this age, and the inftruftor of the future, (hews us» in the treatment he received from his friend and from his pupil,, what a believer is to expedl from you. It was enough to provoke their refentment, that he had (hewn ihereafonablenefs of Chr'fianity, and had placed all his hopei of happinefs in another life. * Rights of the Chriftian Church, antlChriAianity as old as the Creation, paffim. The DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. xxi The intimacy between him and Mr. Collins is well known. Mr. Collins feemed to idolize Mr. Locke while living ; and Mr. Locke was confident Mr. Collins would preferve his memory when dead*. But he chanced to be miftaken : For no looner was he gone, than Mr. Collins publickly -f infults a notion of his honoured friend con- cerning x\\Q pqjTibiUty of conceiving boix) matter might fuf be made and begin to be: And goes afFe6tedly out of the way to (hew his good will to his memory. The noble author of the Characleriftics had received J part of hi> education from that great philofopher : And it muft be owned, that this Lord had many excellent qualities, both as a man and a writer. He was temperate, chafte, honeft, and a lover of his country. In his writings he hath fhewn how largely he had im- bibed the deep fenfe, and how naturally he could copy the gracious manner of Plato. How far Mr. Locke contributed to the cultivating thefe qualities, I will not enquire : But that inveterate rancour which he indulged againft Chrijtianity, it is certain, he had not from his mafter. It was Mr. 'Lpcke's love of it that feems princi- pally to have expofed him to his pupil's bittereft infults. One of the moft: precious remains of the piety of that excellent man, are his laft words to Mr. Collins : " May you live long and happy,, " ^c. all the ufe to be made of it is, that this world is afcene of " vanity^ that foon pajjes away, and affords no folidfatisfadiion^ but " the confcioufnefs of well doing, and the hopes of another *' LIFE. This is what I can fay by experience, and what you *' will find when you come to make up your account |{." One would think, that if ever the parting breath of pious men, or the laft precepts of dying philofophers, could claim reverence of their furvivors, this noble monument of friendfliip, and religion, had * " I know you loved me living, and will preferve my memory now I am dead," fays he in his letter to be delivered to Mr. Collins at his death. f Anfvver to Dr, Clarke's third Defence of his Letter to Mr. Dodwell, at the end, X See Bibl. Choifie, torn. vi. p. 343. !1 Amongft his Letters piiblifived by Defn^aizeaux, been xxii DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. been I'ccure from outrage. Yet hear, in how unworthy, how cruel a manner, his noble dilciple apoftrophizes him on this occafion : " Philojopher! let me hear concerning life, what the right notion " is, and what I am to fland to upon occafion ; that 1 may not, *' when life feems retiring, or has run itfelf out to the very dregs *, " cry VANITV I condemn the world, and at the fame time com- " plain that life is short and passing. For why fo J}:ort in- *' deed, if not iouwA fweet ? Why do I complain both ways ? Is '■^vanity, mere vanity, a happinefs ; or can mifery ^^ a-w^jy too *' foon -t ?" Here the polite author had the noble pleafure of ridi- culing the philojopher and the Pfahniji J together. But I will leave the ftrange reflexions, that naturally arife from hence, to th© reader ; who, I am fure, will be before-hand with me in judging, that Mr, Locke had reafon to condemn a world that caft him upon fuch a friend 2ii\6. pupil \\. But * Mr. Locke was then in his 73'' year. f Charafterillics, vol. i. p. 302, 3'' ed. :j: Man is like to •vanity: His days are as a Jhadow that pajjeth away. PsAL. CxHv. 4. fi The noble writer did not difdain to take up with thofe vulgar calumnies which Mr, Lecke had again and again confuted. " Some even (feys he, CharaSl. vol. i. p. 80. 3"* ♦' ed.) of our moft admired modern philofophei-s had fairly told us, that virtue and •' vice had, after all, no other law or meafure than mere fafliion and vogue." The cafe was this .■ When Mr. Lode reafoned againft innate ideas, he brought it as one argu- ment againft them, that virtue and vice, in many places, were not regulated by the na- ture of things, which they inuft have been, were there fuch innate ideas; but by mere fafliion and vogue. Is this thtn fairly told oi our admired modern fhihfopher ? But it wa.? crime enough that he laboured to overthrow innate ideas ; things that the noble author underftood to be the foundation of his moral fcnfe. (See vol. iii. p. 214.) In vain did Mr. Locke inceflantly repeat, that " the divine law is the only true touchftone of moral rec- ♦' titude," This did .but increafe his pupil's refentment, who had all his faculties pof- fefled with the moral sense, as •• the only true touchftone of moral reftitude." But the whole Eflay itfelf, one of the nobleft, and moft original books in the world, could not efcape his ridicule : " In reality (fays he, vol. i. p. 299.) how fpecious a ftudy, how *' folemn an amufement, is raifed from what we call philofophical fpeculations ! The •' formation of ideas ! their compofuions, comparifons, agreement, and difagreement ! — ■ •• Why DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS, xxlii . But to go on, and confider the nature of this nbufe of the Clergy : It is not only an afFront to Religion, which, by your praftice, you feem to regard as one of the eflential branches of literary liberty ; but likevvife, an infult on civil Society, For while there is fuch a thing as a Church eftablified by law^ its Minifters muft needs bear a facred, that is, a public characfler, even on your own principles *. To abufe them, therefore, as a body, is infulting the State which protects them. It is highly injurious likewife, becaufe a Body- politic cannot preferve the reverence neceffary for the fupport of go- vernment, longer than its public officers, whether civil or reli- gious, are treated with the regard due to their rcfpedive flationst. And here, your apology, when accufed of ufing holy Writ irre- verently, is out of doors. You pretend that the Charge is difinge- nuous, becaufe it takes for granted the thing in difpute. But in the cafe before us, it is agreed, that the Minifters of the eftablifhed worfhip have zfacred, that is, a public character. Out of your own mouths likewife, are you condemned. A few inftances there are in the firft ages o{ Chrijtianity, of fomething re- fembling this mifcondudl ; where the intemperance of private 2eal now and then gave the afFront to the national religion. But who are they that fo feverely cenfure this diforder | ? that raife fuch tragic outcries againft the factious fplrlt of primitive Chrijtianity ? " Why do I concern myfelf in fpeculations about my ideas ? What is it to me, for in- *• fiance, to know what kind of idea I can form offpace? Divide a folid body, etc." and fo he goes on in Mr. Locke's own words : And left the reader fliould not take the fatire, a note at the bottom of the page informs us, that " thefe are the words of the particular *' author cited." But the invidious Remark on this quotation furpaffes all credit. Tl:>!u the atomijly or Epicurean. * They alfo that have authority to teach, etc, zrc pullic miKifters." Leviathan, p. 124. London, 1651.. 4to. Ant. Scrip. .apud Stob. de rep. Serm. 41. p. 270. Tiguri, 1559, fol. circa fineni. J " The lift of Martyrs confifted, I believe, of thofe who fuffered for breaking the *' Peace. TYitprimiti'ue clergy were, under pretence of Religion, a very Lawlcfs Tribe." L. Bolingbroke, vol. iv. p. 434, Who, xxlv DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. Who, Gentlemen, but Yourfelves ! The very men who, out of fpite and wantonnefs, daily pevfift in doing what a mifguided devotion, now and then, though rarely, betrayed a martyr to commit *. But would you read Chrlfttart antiquity with equal minds, yoo- would not want examples of a better conduct. For in general the Apologifts for the Chriftian faith obferved a decency and moderation becoming the truth and importance of the caufe they had to fup- port. We need only look into LaSiantius for the modefty of their condu£l in this refpeft. This eloquent Apologifl:, who wrote in an age which would have indulged greater liberties, giving in his divine inJiitutionSy the lad ftroke to expiring paganifm ; where he confutes the national Religion^ fpares as much as poffible the Priefts ; but in expofing their Philofophy, is not fo tender of their Sophijls : For thefe laft having no public chara£ler, the State was not concerned to have them ma- naged. Such, I fay, was the general behaviour of the firfl Chrif- tians. Nor can you plead, in yourexcufe, any other neceffity, than that infeparable from a weak caufe, of committing this violence. The difcovery of truth is fo far from being advanced by it, that, on the contrary, it carries all the marks of defign to retard the fearch, when you fo induftrioufly draw oif the reader's attention from the Caufe, by diverting him at the expence of the Advocate. It is true, that at what time the Clergy fo far forgot the nature of their office, and of the caufe they were appointed to defend, as to call in the fecular arm to fupport their arguments againfl: wrong opinions, we faw, without much furprife or refentment. You, Gentlemen, in like delufion, that any means were lawful in fup- * In the LXth canon of the co\inciI of Eliberis, held about twenty years before the council of Nice, it is decreed, that they who were flain by the Gentiles for breaking down their idols, fhould not be received by the church into the number of Martyrs, fince uei- their the precepts of the Gofpcl nor tlie praftice of the Apoftles gave any countenance to fuch licentious behaviour. ' port DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. xxV port of truth, falling without fcruple to affront the Public (then little dilpoled to give you an equal hearing) by the abufe of a Body, whofe private interefts the State had indifcreetly eipoufcd. For where was the wonder, when Government had aflumed too much, for thofe who were oppreiTed by it, to allow it too little ? You thought this a fair return ; and your candid enemies confefled, that fome indulgence was to be given to the paffions of men, raifed and enflamed by fo unequal a treatment. But now, that the State hath withdrawn its power, and confined the Adminiflration within its proper office ; and that this learned Body hath publicly dilclaimed its afliflance ; it will furely be expedled, that You, likewif'e, fhould return to a better mind, and forfake a pradlice infolently continued, without any reaibnable pretence of frefh provocation. Your lafl abufe. Gentlemen, of the liberty of the prefs, is a cer- tain difTolute habit of mind, regardlefs both of truth and falfhood, which you betray in all your attacks on Revelation. Who that had not heard of your Iblemn profeflions of the love of liberty^ of truths of virtue^ of your aim at the honour of God, and good of men, could ever believe you had any thing of this at heart, when they fee that fpirit of levity ^^nd difTipation which runs through all your writings ? That you may not fay 1 flander you, I will produce thofe marks in your works, on which I have formed my accufation of this il- liberal temper. 1. The firfl is an unlimited bufFoonry ; which fuffers no tefl or criterion to your ridicule, to fhew us, when you are in jefT;, and when in earneft. 2. An induftrious aff^e£lation in keeping your true character out of fight ; and in conftantly afTuming Ibme new and fidtitlous per- fonage. 3. To fupport your chicane, an unnatural mixture of the Sceptic and Dogmatifl. And here. Gentlemen, in illuflrating thefe three circumftances of your guilt, one might detcd all your arts of controverfy, and eafily reveal the whole myll:ery of modern Free'thlnking. But the Vol. I E limits xxvl DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. limits of this addrefs will only permit me in few words to defcribe the general nature of each ; in order to (hew, how certain an indi- cation they are of the turn of roind of which 1 accufe you. I. The illimited, undistingitishable irony, which affords no infight into the author's meaning, or fo much room as to guel'j what he would be at, is our firft note. This, which is your fa^ vourite figure of fpeech, your noble Apologiil owns to be " a dull " fort of wit which amufes all alike*." Nay, he even ventures to pronounce it " a grofs, immoral, and illiberal way of abufe, foreign *' to the character of a good writer, a gentleman, or man of worth f-" What pity, if he fhould chance to fall under his own eenfure I Yet this is certain, he hath fo managed his good humour^ that his ad- mirers may always find a handle either to charge us with credulity, or want of charity, determine as we will of Iiis true and real {ei\- timents. However, the noble writer hath not aggravated this folly, in the charafter he hath given of it : For, here forgetful of your own precepts, (your common- place topic againfl public in- ftrudtors) while you prefcribe ridicule to be (o managed, as to JJ:ew it tends to a ferious ifue ; you pradife it fo indifcrlminately, as to make one believe you were all the time in jefl. While yov direct it fo unmajk formal hypocrify\ you fuffer it to put fober truthout of countenance ; and while you claim its aid,, to Jind out iDhat is to be laughed at in every things you employ it to bring in every thing to. be laughed at. That a restraint on free inquiry, will force writers into this vicious manner, we readily allow. Under thefe circumftances, fucli a key to ridicule as juft writing demands being unfafe ; and the only way men have to efcape perfecution being to cover and intrench themfelves in obfcurity ; it is no wonder that ridicule fhould de- generate into the buffoonry which amufes all alike : As in Italy, which gave birth to this degenerate fpecies of writing, it is the only way, in which tht poor crampt thinking -wretches can difcharge a free thoughts * Charaft. vol. i. traft iu part i. § 2. t Vol, iii. mifcel. iv. c. 2. But DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS, xxvll Eut in Great Britain, happily for Truth, and You, philosophy is at her eafe ; and you may lead her fafely back to Paganifni, through all the ancient modes of doubting, objedling, and re- futing. It is difficult, therefore, to aflign any other likely caufe of this extravagance, than that vicious levity of fpirit I have charged upon you. For as Man is formed by nature v\ith an incredible appetite for Truth ; fo his ftronged: pleafure, in the enjoyment, arifes from the aiflual communication of it to others. Without this, it would be a cold purchafe, would abftradl, ideal, folitary Truth ; and poorly repay the labour and fatigue of the purfuit. Amongft the Ancients, who, you will allow, had high notions of this social SENSE, it was a faying recorded by Cicero with approbation, " that *' even heaven would be no happinefs, to him who had not fome '*' companion or facial Spirit to fhare with him in the pleafure of *' contemplating the great truths of nature there revealed unto him." " Si quis in coelum afcendiflet, naturamque mundi, et pulchritudi- *' nem fiderum perfpexiffet, infuavem illam admirationem ei fore ; *' quae jucundiffima fuiflet, fi aliquem, cui narraret, habuiffet*." Seneca goes yet further : " Ncc me ulla res dele£labit, licet ex- *' imia fit et {alutaris, quam mihi uiii fclturus fim. Si cum hac *' cxceptione detur fapientia, ut illam inclufam teneam, nee enun- *' ciem, rejiciam : nullius boni, fine socio, jucunda pofleffio eft f." Jt was this paffion which gave birth to writing, and brought lite- rary compofition to an art ; whereby the Public was made a fharer in thofe important truths, which particulars had with fo much toil excogitated for its ufe and entertainment. The principal objecSl therefore of an author, while his paffions are in their right ftate, muft needs be to deliver his fentiments and opinions with all pof- fible clearnefs ; fo that no particular caft of compofition, or turn of expreffion, which he held conducive to the embellifhment of his * De Amicitia. Edit. Oxon. 4to, T. III. p, 349 et 50. t Ep. vi. E 2 work, xxviil DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. work, be fuffcred to throw an ambiguity on his proportions, which might miflead the reader in judging of his real ientiments. To fuch a one, nothing can be a greater mortihcation than to find that this his principal purpofe was defeated. But when, on the contrary, we fee a writer, fo far from difcover- ing any thing of this care, that an air of negligence appears in every thing he delivers ; a vifible contempt of his reader's fatisfac- tion ; to which he prefers a dull malicious pleafure of mifguiding him in the obfcurity of an illimited ridicule ; we cannot pofHbly avoid concluding that fuch a one is far gone in this wretched de- pravity of heart. 2. Another mark, is Your perpetually affuming fome perso- nated CHARACTER, as the exigence of chicane requires. For the difpute is to be kept on foot ; and therefore, when in danger of coming to an iffue, a new perfonage is to be aflumed, that the trial of fkill may be fought over again with different weapons. So that the modern Free-thinker, is a perfeft Proteus. He is now a Diffenter, or a Paplft ; now again a Jew, or a Mahometan ; and, when clofely prefled and hunted through all the (hapes, he at length ftarts up in his genuine form, an Infidel confefled*. Indeed where the Magiftrate hath confined the liberty of free de- bate, to one or two Profeffions of belief, There an unliccnced writer hath no way of publishing his fpeculations, but under the cover of one of thefe authorized Se£ls. But to affedt this praftice when the neceffity is over, is licentious and immoral. For the perfonaied charafler, only arguing ad hominemy embroils, rather than direds us, in the fearch of truth ; has a natural tendency to promote fcepticifm ; and if not this, yet it keeps the difpute from ever coming to an iflue ; which is attended with great public incon- venlencies. For though the difcovery of fpeculative truth be of much importance to the perfeflion of man's nature, yet the ftudious lengthening out literary debates is pernicious to Society, as Societies * Mr.CoUins. DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS, xxix are gener,-illy formed. Therefore, though the good of mankind would fet an honeft man upon publilhing what he fuppofes to be difcoveries hi truth ; yet the fame motive would oblige him to take the faireft, and mofl: direft road to their reception. But I would not have it thought, by this, that I condemn the afluming z perfonated charaSter on all occafions whatfoever. There are feafons when it is fair and expedient. When the difpute is about the practical application of fome truth to the good of a particular fociety ; there it is prudent to take up a fuitable charader, and to argue ad hotn'mem. For there, the end is a benefit to be gained for that fociety ; and it is not of fo great moment on what princi- ples the majority is prevailed upon to make the fociety happy, as it is, that it fliould fpeedily become fo. But in the difcovery of ab- stract SPECULATIVE truth, the affair goes quite otherwife. The bufinefs here is demonJiraUony not perfuajion. And it is of the elTence of truth, to be made appear and fhine out only by its own luftre. A familiar example will fupport this obfervation. Our great Bri- tijlj philofopher, writing for religious liberiy, combats his intolerant adverfary, all the way, with his own Principles ; well knowiug that, in fuch a time of prejudices, arguments built on received opinions would have greateft weight, and make quickeft impref- (ion on the body of the People, whom it was his bufinefs to gain. But the method he employed in defending mere fpeculative truth was very different. A Prelate of great name, was pleafed to attack his EJay concerning humar. underjianding\ who, though confum- mate in the learning of the Schools, yet happened at that time to apply his principles fo very aukwardly, as gave our Philofopher the mod inviting opportunity of turning them againfl him. An advantage moft to the tafte of him who contends only for vidlory : but he contended for truth ; and was too wife to think of eflablifh- ing it on falfhood ; and too honeft to affed triumphing over Error by any thing but by its Oppofite. You fee then, Gentlemen, you are not likely to efcape by this diftindion; the difpute with you Is VihowX. fpeculative truth: Your- felves XXX DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. felves take care to give the world repeated information of it, as often as you think fit to feign an apprehenCion of the Magiftrate's relentment. But of as little ufe as this method, o^ t\\t perfonated charagter^ is, in itfelf, to the jufi: end of controverfy, you generally add a double (hare of dlfingenuity in conducing it. Common fenfe, as well as Common honefty, requires, that he who affumes ^perfonaied charatler fhould fairly ftick to it, for that turn, at leaft. But we (hall be greatly deceived, if wc prefume on fo much condefcenlion : the late famous author of The Grounds and Reafons of the Chnflian Religion, took it into his head to perfonate a Jfiv, in the interpre- tation of fome prophefies which he would perfuade us are not appli- cable to yfus. The learned Prelate, who undertook to anfwer hlm,- having fhewn that thofe prophelies had no completion under the yexvi/]} difpenfation, concludes very pertinently, that if they did not belong to Jefiis, they belong to no one. What fays our impoftor Jew to this ? One would be aflonifhed at his reply : Suppofe they do not, fays he, I am not anfwer able for their completion. What ! not as a few? whofe perfon he affumes, and whofe argument he borrows : which argument is riot founded on this, That the charadiers of completion, according to the Chrifum fclieme, do not coincide and quadrate ; to which, indeed, the above anfwer would be pertinent; but on this, that there are complete characters of the completion of the prophefies, under the fewif oeconomy ; and therefore, fays the few, you are not to look for thofe marks under the Chrijian. The only reafonable way then of replying to this argument, is to deny, that there are fuch marks under the feioifi oeconomy ; which if the few cannot prove, his objeJi ; ;•. ftroufly DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS, xxxl flroufly variegates your misfhapen works. I do not mean by ir, thr.t unreafonable temper of mind, which dlftinguiihes the whole clafs of Free-thinkers ; and fuffers you, at the fame time that you afFed much /cepiiafm in reje6ling Revelation, X.o dogmatize very pofitively on fome favourite points of civil tradition. The noble author, your Apologifl, could not forbear to ridicule his party for this foible *. " It muft certainly, fays he, be fomething elfe than incredulity ■" which fi^fhions the tafte and judgment of many Gentlemen, " whom we hear cenfured as Atheifts. Who, if they want a true " IfraelitiJJj faith, can make amends by a Chinefe or Indian one.— " Though Chrijlian miracles may not fo well fatisfy them, they " dwell with the higheft contentment on the prodigies of Moorijh '* and Pagan countries." This is ill enough ; but the perverfity, I fpeak of, is much worfe : and that is, when the fame writer, on different occafions, aflumes the Dogmaiiji and ■ Sceptic on the fame queflion ; and fo abufes both Charafters, in all the perverfity of felf-contradi6lion. For inflance, how common is it for one of Your writers, when he brings Pagan antiquity to contradidl and difcredit the Jewip, to cry up a Greek hiftorian as an evidence, to which nothing can be objedled ? An imperfect hint from Herodotus^ or Diodorus, though one lived a thoufand, and the other fifteen hundred years after the cafe in queflion, picked up from any lying traveller the one met wit.h in his rambles, or the other found in his colledions, fhall now : outweigh the circumftantial Hiftory of Mofes, who wrote of his own People, and lived in the times he wrote of. But now turn the tables, and apply tne teftimony of thefe Writers, and of others of the beft credit of the fame nation, to the confirmation of the Jewijb hijlory^ .and then nothing is more uncertain aud fallacious than claflical Antiquity. All is darknefs and coufufion : then we are fure to hear of, Quicquid Gr^ecla mendax Audet In hifloria. • * Charaftcriftics, vol. i. p. 345. edit, 3» Then xxxll DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. Then Herodotus is a lying traveller, and Diodorus Slculus a taile- lefs coWtdior. Again, when the choice and feparation of the Ifraelites for God's peculiar People, is to be brought in queftion, and made ridiculous, they are reprefented as the vileft, the mofl: profligate, and perverfc race of men : then every indifcreet paffage of a declamatory Divine is raked up with care to make them odious ; and even the hard fiite of the great hiftorian Jofephus pitied, that he had "no better a fub- " je£l than fuch an illiterate, barbarous, and ridiculous people*." But when the Scripture-account of the treatment, which the Holy Jefus met with from them, is thought fit to be difputed ; thefe Jews are become an humane and wife Nation ; which never Interfered with the teachings of feds, or the propagation of opi- nions, but where the public fafety was thought to be in danger by feditious dodlrines. But fo it is, even with the Bible itfelf, and its beft interpreter, HUMAN REASON. It is generally allowed that the Author of //6^ Dif- courje of Frce-thinkivg, and of the Grounds and Reafons of the Chrif- tian Religion, was one and the fame perfon. Now it being to this man's purpofe in the firft pamphlet, to blaft th^ credit of the book in general, as a rule of faith, the Bible is reprefented as a moft ob- fcure, dark, incomprehenfible colledion of multifarious trads. But in his difcourfe of The Grounds, etc. where -f he is to obviate the reafon of the difficulty in explaining ancient Prophefies, drawn from the genius of the Eaftern ftyle, fentiment, and manners ; this very book is, on a fudden, become fo eafy, plain, and intelli- gible, that no one can pofllbly miftake its meaning. Again, the fame Writer, where, in his EJfay concerning the XJfe of Reafon, he thinks fit to difcredit the dodfine of the ever blefTed Trinity, and other myfleries of the Chrifian Faith, reprefents hu- * Difcourfe of Free-thinking, p. 157. f Difcourfe of Free-thinkiug, p. 68. and of the Grounds and Reafons of tike Chridian Religion, p. 81, S2. man DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. xxxni man reafoii as omnlfcient, and the full meafure of all things : but when the proof of the immateriality of the Joul^ from the qualities of MATTER and SPIRIT, is to be obftinately oppofed, the fcene is fhifted, and we are prefented with a new face of things : then Reafon becomes weak, daggering, and impotent : then we know not but one quality may be another quality ; one mode, another mode ; Motion may be confcioufnefs ; and Matter fentient *. Thefe, Gentlemen, are the feveral ways in which you have abufed the liberty of the press. One might defy you, with all your good will or invention, to contrive a new one, or to go further in the old ; You have done your worft. It is time to think of grow- ing better. This is the only inference I would draw from your bad conduit. For I am not one of thofe who fay you fliould be disfran- chifed of the Rights you have fo wantonly and wickedly abufed. Natural rights were lefs precarioufly beflowed : the Civile indeed, are frequently given on the condition of the Receiver's good beha- viour. And this difference, in the fccurity of the poffcflion, is founded in the plaineft reafon. Natural rights are fo neceffiry to ■our Being, that, without them, Life becomes miferable ; but the C/t;/7 only contributing to our eafier accommodation, in fome cir- cumftances of it, m.ny be forfeited without injury to our common Nature. ^ In a word then, all that we defire is your amendment; without any finifter aim of calling upon the Magiftrate to quicken your pace. So I leave you, as I dare fiiy will He^ to yourfelves. Nor iet any good man be above meafure fcandalized at your faults ; or more impatient for your reformation, than mere charity demands. I do not know what panic the prefent growth of Infidelity may have thrown fome of us into : I, for my part, confide fo much in the goodnefs of our Caufe, that I too could be tempted to laugh in my turn, while I think of an old flory told us by Herodotus +, of ♦ See his Anfwers to Dr. Clarke. t Lib. ii. c. 14. Vid. Plutarch. Symp. 1. iv. Prob. 5. The learned Gale cannot be re- conciled to this kind of hulbandry. Ik is therefore for having the word 't<, ufed by He- VoL^L J'" radotus, ixxly DEDICATION to the FREE-THINKERS. of your favourite Egyptians ; of whom you are like to hear a great deal in the following work. With this tale I fhrJl beg leave to con- clude my long addrefs unto you. He tells us then, that at what time their Deity, the Nile, re- turns into his ancient channel ; and the hu{bandman hath com- mitted the ^oo J y?^^ to the opening glebe, it was their cuftom to turn in whole droves of Swine ; to range, to trample, root up, and deftroy at pleafure. And now nothing appeared but defolation, while the ravages of the obfcene herd had killed every chearful hope of future plenty. When on the ifliae, it was feen, that all their perverfity and dirty tafle had efFe£ted, was only this ; that the SEED took better root, incorporated more kindly with the foil, and at length (hot up In a more luxuriant and abundant harvefl.. I am. Gentlemen* etc. roJoius, not to iign\(y fnviKe, but cows or- heifers. His authority for this ufeof the word is Ilejychius. But Plutanh is a much better for the ot^j^r fignification, who in hh Symp^ quoted above, fpeaking to the queftion n»Ti{oiF ol 'louJaVoi atSojAttot tv» 5», etc. mentions, this very circumftance of tillage from Herodotus, and underftands by Zi^Jkvine, The truth of, the matter feems to be this, Hefychius found that tf^ in fome obfcure province or other, meant a Heifer, as x«V{©. amongft the Tyrrhenians, we are told, meant a goat, and fo put it down to inrJch his diftionary with an unufual fignification. POST- POSTSCRIPT TO THE DJEDICATIOl^ T O THE FREE-THINKERS, IN THE EDITION OF 1766. A POET and a Critic*, of equal eminence, have concurred, though they did not ftart together, to cenfure what was occafionally faid in this Dedication (as if it had been addrefled to them) of the ufe and abuje of Ridicule. The Poet was a follower of Lord Shaftefbury's fancies ; the Critic a follower of his own. Both Men of Taste, and equally anxious for the well doing of Ridi- cule. I have given fome account of the latter in a note of the Dedication f. The other was too full of the fubjed, and of him- I'elf, to be difpatched with fo little ceremony : he muft therefore undergo an examination apart. Since it is (fays he) beyond all contradidlion evident, that we have a natural fenfe or feeling of the ridiculous^ andjinccfo good a Rea/on may be ajfigned to jujlify the fupr erne Being for bejiowing it ; one can- KOT WITHOUT ASTONISHMENT reflect on the conduct of thofe Men •who imagine it for thefervice of true Religion to "vilify and blacken it WITHOUT DISTINCTION, and e7idcavour to perfuade us, that it is never applied but in a bad caufe |. The Reafon here given, to (hew, that * See Pleafures of Liiagination, and Elements of Cricicifm, f Page xvii. X Pleafures of Imagination, p. 105, 106. F 2 Ridicuh xxxvi POSTSCRIPT TO the DEDICATION Ridicule and Buffoonry may be properly employed on ferious and even facred fubjefts, is admirable: it is becaufe we have a natural Jenje or feeling of the ridiculous, and becaufe no fenfallon was given us in vain ; which would ferve juft as well to excufe Aduliery or Incef, For have we not as natural a fenfe or feeling of the voluptuous f Yes, he will fiy, but tins fenfe has its proper objedl, virtuous love^ not adulterous or incejiuous : And does he think, 1 will not fay the fame of h'lsfenfe of the ridiculous ? Its proper objefts are, not weighty and Sacred matters, but the civil cuftoms and common occurrences of life. For he ftretched a point when he told the Reader, I vili- fied and blackened it without diftinSiion, The thing I there oppofed, was the ahufive way of art and raillery on religious Subj^Sls, With as little regard to Truth did he fay, thzt I endeavcured to perfuade the Public, that it is never applied but in a had cau[e: For, ia that very place, I apologized, for an eminent writer v/lio had applied it In a good one. Ridicule (fays he) is not [i. e. ought not to be] concerned %viih- mere fpeculative Truth and Falfoood^ Certainly. And, for that very reafon I would exclude it from thofe Subjects. What need ? he will fay, for when was it fo employed ? When, does^ he afk ? — When his Mafter ridiculed the SubjeSi of Mr. Locke's Essay of Human Understanding, in the manner there mentioned. Whert the fame noble perfon ridiculed Revelation, in the merry Story of the travelling Gentlemen, who put a wrong bias on their Reafon. in order to believe right *. He goes on, It is not in abfiradi Fropofitions on Theorems, hut in. ASlions and Pajfiom, Good and Evil, Beauty and Deformity, that we- find Materials for it ; and all thefe Terms are relative, implying Ap^ probation or Blame. The reafon here given, why, not abfraSi Propoftions, &cc. but Actions and Pafions, &c. are the fubje£l of ridicule is, becaufe thefe latter are relative Terms implying Approba^ lion and Blame. But are not the former as much relative Terms, im~ * Charaft. vol. Ill, Mifc. 2. c. 3. p. 99, 7 . ■ P¥"S TO THE FREE-THINKERS. xxxvii plying AJfcnt and Denial f And does not an abfurd Piopofition as frequently afford materials for Ridicule as an abfurd A6lion ? Let the Reader determine by what he finds before him. — To nffz iheiit (fays he) whether Ridicule be aTeJl af truth, is, in ether •words, to ajk 'whether that which is ridiculous can be morally true ; can be jufl and becoming : or whether that -which is juji and becoming can he ridi- culous. A quejlion that does not deferve a ferioiis anfwer. However, in civility to his Mafler, or rather indeed to his Mafter's Mafters, the ancient Sophijls, who, we are told * in the CharaSleriJiics, faid fomething very like it, I fhall give it zferious anfwer. For how, I pray, comes it to pafs, that to alk, whether ridicule beatejl of truth y, is the fame thing as to afk whether that which is ridiculous can be morally true? As if, whatever thing the tejl of Ridicule was applied to, muft needs be ridiculous. Might not one afk. Whether the Cofel^ be ateji of gold, without incurring any abfurdity in queflion- ing. Whether the matter to which the Copel is applied be ftandard gold. But he takes a teft of truth and a deteSiion of error to be one and the fame thing ; and that nothing is brought to this tef but what was known "beforehand, whether it was true or fa If e. His Mafler feems much better verfed in the ufe of things ];. Now, what rule or meafure (fays he) is there in the world, except in confidcr- ing the real temper of things, to find 'whish are truly ferious, and which ridiculous ? And how can this be done, unlefs by applying the ridi- cule TO SEE WHETHER IT WILL BEAR ? But if the Reader be curious to fee to the bottom of this affair, he mufl go a little deeper. Lord Shaftefbury, v/e find, was wilUng to know, as every honefl man would. Whether thofe things,, which had the appearance of ferioufnefs and fandfity, were indeed what they appeared. The way of coming to this knowledge had been hitherto by the tefl ofreafon. But this was too dull and te- dious a road for this lively genius. He would go a (hotter and a * It was a faying of an ancient fage, " that humour was the only teft of ridicule."' Vol. I. p. 74. t CofcUa^ It. in Englifli, ^teft. \ Charaft, vol, I. p. \%. pleafanter xxxvHl POSTSCRIPT to the DEDICATION pleafanter way to work, and do the bufinefs by ridicule ; given us, as his Difciple tells us, to aid the tardy Jieps of reajon. This the noble Author would needs apply ^ to fee whether the appearances would hear the Touch. Now it was this ingenious expedient, to which I thought I had caufe to obje£t. For when, he had applied this Touchy and that that, to which it was applied, was found to endure it, what reparation could he make to Truth, for thus placing her in a ridiculous and idle light, in order only, as he pretended, to judge rightly of her ? Oh, for that, faid his Lordfhip, (lie has the amends in her own hands : Let her railley again ; for why Jhoiild fair Honejly be denied the ufe of his Weapon * ? To this fo wanton a liberty with facred Truth, 1 thought I had many good reafons to oppofe; and fo, it feems, thought our Poet likewife : Or why did he endeavour to excufe his Mafter, by putting another fenfe on the application er's |', and Ipoil'd too in the telling. The duhwfs of the Ridicule will fuf' ficiently atone for the abufe of it. * Page 49. t T'^ge 96. t Charaa. Vol. III. p. 336. PREFACE [ xllii J p R IE.. F ACE T O The first EDITION in MDCCXXXVIII. TH E following fheets make the Jir/l volume of a work, de- figned to prove the Divine origin of the Jewish reli- gion. As the author was neither indebted, nor engaged to the Public, he hath done his Readers no injury in not giving them more ; and had they not had ibis, neither he nor they, perhaps, had efteemed themfelves lofers. For writing for no Party, it is likely he will pleafe none ; and begging no Prote£lion, it is more likely he will find none : and he muft have more of the confidence of a modern Writer than falls to his fhare, to think of making much way with the feeble effort of his own reafon. Writers, indeed, have been oft betrayed into ftrange abfurd con- clufions, from I can't tell what obfolete claim, which Letters have to the patronage of the Great : a relation, if indeed there ever were any, long fince worn out and forgotten ; the Great now feeming reafonably well convinced, that it had never any better foundation than the rhetorical importunity of Beggars. But however this claim of Patronage may be underftood, there is aaother of a more important nature ; which is the Patronage of Religion. The Author begs leave to affure Thofe who have no time to fpare from their attejition on the Public, that the Protedion G 2 of xliv PREFACE TO THE; FIRST EDITION. of Religion is indifpenfably neceflary to all Governments ; and for his warrant he offers them the following volume ; which en^fea- vours to (hew the necefTity of,KEX.XGiON ia general, and of the doftrine of a future state in particular, to civil Society, from the nature of things and the univerfal confent of Mankind. The proving this, I make no queilionj, many Politicians will efteem Sufficient : But thofe who are folicitous to have Religion true as well as USEFUL, the author will endeavour to fatisfy in the follow- ing volumes. TPTE [ 45 1 THE DIVINE LEGATION O F M O S E S DEMONSTRATED. BOOK I. SECT. I. TH E Writers, In defence of revealed Religion, diftinguifh their arguments into two forts : the one they call tlie INTERNAL, and the other the external Evidence. Of thefe, the firfl is, in its nature, more fimple and perfe^l ; and even capa- ble of deraonftration : while the other, made up of very diflimllar materials, and borrowing aid from without, muft needs have fome parts of unequal ftrength with the reft ; and, confequently, lie open to the attacks of a willing adverfary. Befides, the intemal evidence is, by its nature, perpetuated ; and fo fitted for all ages and occa- fions : while the external^ by length of time, weakens and decays. For the nature and genius of the religion defended affording the proofs of the firft kind, thefe materials of defence are infeparable from its exiftence ; and fo throughout all ages the fame. But Time 46 THE DIVINELEGATION Book I. may, and doth, efface memorials independent of that exiftence ; out of which the external evidence is compofed : which evidence muft therefore become more and more imperfe£t, without being affefted by that whimfical and partial calculation, to which a certain Scotch- man * would fubje6l it f. - Nay, of fuch ufe is the internal evidence, that, even the very befl: of the external Cc^nnot fupport itfelf with- out it : for when (for inftance) the fupernatural fafts done by the founders of our holy faith, are unqueftionably verified by human teftimony, the evidence of their divinity will not follow till the nature of that dodtrine be examined, for whofe eftablifhment thty were performed. Indeed, in the inflance here given, they muft be inforced in conjun£llon before any conclufion can be drawn for the truth of the Revelation In queftion. But were there no other bene- fit arifing from the cultivation of the internal evidence than the gaining, by it, a more perfe(5l knowledge of God's word ; this, fure, would be enough to engage us in a vigorous profecution of It. That this is one of its fruits I need not tell fuch as are acquainted with. its nature. And it is not without occafion I take notice of this ad- vantage : for who, in this long controverfy between us and the Delfts, hath not applied to certain advocates of Revelation, what was formerly fald of Armbiiis and haSlantius, 'that they undertook the defence of Chriflianity before they underjiood it f A misfortune which * Craig, ThcologiK Chrift. Principia Mathematica, London, 1699, 4to. f This gradual weakening of the external evidence hath in faft adually happened ; and was occafioned by the lofs of feveral ancient teflimonies, both Pagan and Chriftian, for the triith of Revelation ; which learned men, on feveral occafions, have frequently- lamented. This is the only way, I fuppofe, the external evidence can weaken. — As it is of the nature of true Religion to fuffer by time, fo it is of the nature of the. fal/e to gaia by it. " L'Antiquite convient li la Religion (fays the learned Prefident de Montefjuieu) " parce que fouvent nous croyons plus les chofes a mefure qu'elles font plus reculees; " car nous n'avons pas dans la tele des idees acceflbires tirees de ces temps-la, qui puif- " fent les contradire." VEfprit des Loix, lib. xxvi. c. 2. For whatever Religion, thus cjrcumflanced, the Writer had then in his thoughts, he muft needs fuppofe it to be a falfe one ; it being nonfenfe to fuppofe the true flio'ild ever be attended with any external evidence which argued it of falfehood. probably. Sect.!. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 47 probably, the more careful ftudy of the internal evidence would have prevented ; becaufe no one, well verfed ill that, could have continued ignorant of fo important a principle, as that the doc- trine OF REDEMPTION IS OF THE VERY ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANI- TY. Notwithftandlng thefe fuperior advantages, it hath fo hap- pened, that the internal evidence hath been hitherto ufed as an in- troduftion only to the external: and vi'hile by the latter, men have proved our Religion a£lually divine, they have gone no further with the/ormer, than to fliew it worthy indeed of fuch original. What may have occafioned this negleft, is not fo eafy to fay. Perhaps it was becaufe Writers have, in general, imagined that the difficulties of profecuting the internal method to efFe6l, are not fo eafily furmounted as thofe which attend the other ; as fuppofing that the Writer on the external evidence hath only need of the ufual provifion of church-hiftory, common diligence, and judge- ment, to become mafter of his fubje^t ; while the reafoner on the internal proof, muft, befides thefe, have a thorough knowledge of human Nature, civil Policy, the univerfal hiftory of Mankind, an exa£l idea of the Mofaic and Chrijiian Difpenfations cleared from the froth and grounds of fchool-fubtilties, and church-fyflems ; luid, above all, fliould be blefled with a certain fngacity, to invefti- gate the relations of human aclions, through all the combinations of natural, civil, and moral complexities. What may fuggeft this conclufion is, their reflefting, that, in the external evidence, each circumftance, that makes for the truth of revealed Religion, is feeu to do fo, as foon as known : fo that the chief labour, here, is to fearch and pick out fuch, and to place them in their proper light and fituation ; but that, in profecuting the internal evidence, tlie cafe is widely different : a circumftance in the frame and compo- ikion of this Religion, which perhaps, fome time or other, maybe difcovered to be a Demon ftration of its divinity, fhall be fo far from being generally thought aflillant in its proof, that it lliall be efleem- cd, by mofl, a prejudice againfl it : of which, I fuppofe, the fub- je£t of the following difcourfe will afford a remarkable example. And 48 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book I. And no wonder, that a Religioti of divine original, conftituted to ferve many admirable ends of Providence, fhould be full of fuch complicated myfteries, as filled the learned Apoftle with aftonifh- ment. On the other hand, this Religion being for the ufe of man, we need not defpair, when we have attained a proper know- ledge of man's nature, and the dependencies thereon, of making flill growing difcoveries, on the internal evidence, of the divinity of its original. Now, though all this may be true ; and that, confequently, it would appear a childifh arrogance in an ordinary writer, after having ietn the difficulties attending this method, to hope to overcome them, by the qualities here faid to be required ; yet no modeft fearcher after truth need be difcouraged. For there are, in revealed Religion, befides thofe interior marks of truth, above defcrlbed, which require the delicate operation of a great Genius and Ma/ler- workman to bring out and polifh, others alfo, no lefs illuftrious, but more univocal marks of truth, which God hath been pleafed to imprefs upon his Dlfpenfations ; which require no great qualities, but humility, and love of truth, in him, who would from thence attempt to 'vindicate the ways of God to man. The Subje£l of this Dlfcourfe is one of thofe illuflrlous marks : from which, the difcoverer claims no merit from any long, learned, or laborious fearch. It is honour enough for him that he is the firfl who brings it out to obfervation ; if he be indeed the flrft. For the demonftration Is fo ftrong and beautiful, and, at the fame time, ap- pears to be {o eafy and fimple, that one cannot tell whether the pleafure of the difcovery, or the wonder that it is now to make, be the greater. The Medium, I employ, is the Omiffion of the doctrine of a future ftate of rewards and puhilhments, in the laws and religion Mofes delivered to the Jewip people. By this, I pretend to carry the internal evidence much further than ufual ; even to the height of which it is capable, moral demonftratlon. Why Sect. I. OF MO SES DEM O N STR ATED. 49 Why I chufe to begin with the defence of Mofes, is from ob- ferving a notion to have fpread very much of late, even amongft many who would be thought Chrifiians, that the truth of Chrlftia- nlty is independent of the jeivi/l: Difpenfation : a notion, which was, 'till now, peculiar to the Socinians ; who go fo far as to main- tain *, that the biowkdge of the Old Tejlament is not ahjolutely necej- fary for Chrifians : and, thofe who profefs to think more foberly, are generally gone into an opinion that the truth of xht jewifi Re- ligion is impodible to be proved, but upon the truth of the Chrtf- tlan. As to the firft fort of people, if they really Imagine Chrif- tianity hath no dependence on Judaifm, they deferve our compaf- fion, as being plainly ignorant of the very elements of the Reli- gion they profefs ; however fuitable the opinion may be to a modern fafliionable notion, not borrowed from, but the fame with, the So' c'lnian^ that Chrifilanity is only the republication of the religion of Na- ture, As for the more fober, it is reafonable to think, that they fell into the miftake from a view of difficulties, In thtjewijh Dif- penfation, which they judged too flubborn to be removed. I may pretend then to their thanks, if 1 fucceed, by coming fo feafona- bly to their relief; and freeing their reafonings from a vicious circle, which would firft prove the chriflian by the jcwifJ} ; and then the jeivifj, by the chriflian Religion. Why I chufe this inedlum, namely, the om^ffion of a future flat e in thejewifi Difpenfation, to prove 'ts divine original, Is, Firf, for the fake of the Deists : being' enabled hereby to fhew them, I. That this very circumftance of Oniijfion, which they pretend to be fuch an Iraperfeftlon, as makes the Difpenfation unworthy the Author to whom we afcrlbe it, Is, hi truth, a Demonftratlon that God only could give it. 2. That thofe feveral important paflliges of Scripture, which they charge with obfcurlty, Injuftlce, and con- tradiaion, are, Indeed, full of light, equity, and concord. 3. That their high notions of the antiquity of the Religion and Learning * Cuper, atlverf. Traa. Theol. Polit. lib. i. Vol. I. H of 50 THE DI V IN E LEGATION Book L of the Mgyptians, which they incefiantly produce, as their /^/w^ry argument, to confront and overturn the hidory of ?^IoJes^ do, in an invincible manner, confirm and fupport it. Secondly, For the fake of the Jews ; who will, at the fame time, be ftiewn, that the nature of thelHEOCR acy here deUvered, and the omission of the doctrine of a future llate in that Dilpenfa- tion, evidently obliges them to look for a more perfed revelation of God's Will. Th'irdh^ For the fake of the Socinians; who will find, that Chrijl'taruty agrees neither with Itfelf, nor with Judaljm ; neither with the Difpenfations of God, nor the declared purpofe of his. Son's Miflion, on their principle, of its being only a republicatiov^ of the religion of Nature, In this Demonftration, therefore, which we fuppofe very little (hort of mathematical certainty, and to which nothing but a mere phyfical poffibility of the contrary can be oppofed, we demand only this fingle Pojlulatim, that hath all the clearnefs of felf- evi- dence ; namely, " That a fkilful Lawgiver, eftabllfliing a Religion, and civil Po- " licy, adts with certain views,, and for certain ends ; and not " capricioufly, or without purpofe or defign." This being granted, we eredl our Demonjftratlon on thefe three very clear and fimple propofitions : 1. " That to inculcate the doctrine of a future state op *« rewards and punishments, is necessary to the well " being of civil society. 2. " That all mankind, especially the most wise and " learned nations of antiquity, have concurred in " believing and teaching, that this doctrine was of •* such use to civil society. »'3.That Sect. I. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 51 3. " That the doctrine of a future state of rewards and " punishments is not to be found in, nor did make *' part of, the mosiac dispensation." Propofitlons fo clear and evident, that, one would think, we might direftly proceed to our Conclulioii, That therefore the law of Moses is of divine original. Which, one or hoth of the two following syllogisms will evince, I. Whatfoever Religion and Society have no future flate for their fupport, muft be fupported by an extraordinary Providence. The JewiJJj Religion and Society had no future ftate for their fupport : Therefore, the Jexvip.i Religion and Society were fupported by an extraordinary Providence. And again, II. The ancient Lawgivers univerfally believed that fuch a Reli- gion could be fupported only by an extraordinary Providence. Moses, an ancient Lawgiver, verfed in all the wifdom oi Egypt y purpofely inllltuted fuch a Religion. Therefore, Mofes believed his Religion was fupported by an ex- traordinary Providence. But fo capricious are men's paffions, now for paradox, and now for system, that thefe, with all their evidence, have need of a very particular defence ; Libertines and Unbelievers denying the MAJOR propofitlons of both thefe Syllogifms; and many Bigots amongft Believers, the minor of the firfl. Thefe paffions, how- ever different with regard to the objefts that excite them, and to the fubjefts in which they are found, have this in common, that they never rife but on the ruins of Reafon. The bufinefs of the Reli- gioniil being to eftablifh, if his UndcrfTanding be too much nar- H 2 rowed. 52 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book I. rowed, he contrails himfel fin to ^^ly^d-w; and that of the Infidel, to overturn ; if his Will be depraved, he, as naturally, runs out into Paradoxes. Slavifh, or licentious thinking, the tvi^o extremes of free enquiry, {huts them up from all inftrudiive views, or makes them fly out beyond all -reafonable limits. And as extremes fall eafily into one another, we fometimes fee the oppofite writers change hands: the Infidel, to fliew fomething like coherence in his paradoxes, reprefents them as the feveral parts of zjyjletn ; and the Religionift, to give a reliih to Xnsfyjiem, powders it with pa- radoxes: in which arts, two late Hibernians^, the heroes of their feveral parties, were very notably praiStifed and diftinguiflied. It was not long then before I found, that the difcovery of this important truth would ingage me in a full dilucidation of the Pre- inijj'es of the two Syliogifms : the Major of both requiring a levere fearch into the civil Policy, Religion, and Philofophy of ancient times ; and the Minor, a detailed account of the nature and ge- nius ofthejewijlj Difpeufation. The prefent volume is deftined to the firft part of this labour; and the following, to the fecond. Where, in removing the objedions which lie in our way, on both fides, we fhall be obliged to flretch the inquiry high and wide. But this, always, with an eye to the direction of our great mafter of reafon t* ^^ endeavour, throughout the body of this dijcourje, that every former part may give Jlrength unto all that follow, and every latter bring fome light unto all before. SECT. II. THE firfl: propofition, that to inculcate the doctrine OF A FUTURE STATE OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS IS NE- CESSARY TO THE WELL BEING OF CIVIL SOCIETY, 1 fhall Cndea- * See the difcourfe called Nazarenus — An Epiftolary Difcourfe concerning the Immor- tality of the Soul,— — Differtationes CyprianicK, &c. t Hooker. vour Sect. 2. OF MOSES DE iM ON STR A TE D. 53 vour to prove, from the nature of man, and the genius of civil ibciety. The general appetite of felf-prefervatlon being moO: indifpenfable to every animal, nature hath made it the ftrongeft of all. And though, in the rational, this faculty alone might be fuppofed fuffi- cient to anfwer the end, for which that appetite is beftowed on the others, yet, the better to fecure that end, nature hath given man, likewlfe, a very coniiderable fhare of the fame inftindt, with which Ihe hath endowed brutes fo admirably to provide for their prefeiva- tion. Now whether it was fome plaftic Nature that was here ia fault, which Bacon fays, knows not how to keep a mean *, or, that it was all owing to the perverfe ufe of human liberty, certain it is,, that, borne away with the luft of gratifying this appetite, man, in a ftate of nature, foon ran into very violent excelles ; and never thought he had fufficiently provided for his own being, till he had deprived his fellows of the free enjoyment of theirs. Hence, all thofe evils of mutual violence, rapine, and flaughter, which, in a ftate of nature, where all are equal, muft needs be abundant.. Be- caufe, though man, in this ftate, was not without a law, which exafted punifhment on evil doers, yet, the adminiftration of that law not being in common hands, but either in the perfon offended, who being a party would be apt to inforce the punifliment to ex- cefs ; or eife in the hands of every one, as the offence was agalnft all, and affeded the good of each not immediately or diredtly, would be executed remiflly. And very often, where both thefe executors of the law of nature were difpofed, the one to be impartial, and the other not remifs in the adminiftration of juftlce, they would yet want fufficient power to enforce it. Which together would fo much inflame the evils above mentioned, that they would foon be- come as general, and as intolerable, as the Hobbeiji reprefents them in that ftate to be, were it not for the reftraining principle of RELIGION, which kept men from running into the confufion necel?- • * Mcdura tencre nefcia eft. Aiigm. Scient. farily 54 THEDIVINE LEGATION Book L farily coufequent on the principle of inordinate felf-love. But yet Religion could not operate with fufficient efficacy, for want, as we obferved before, of a common Arbiter, who had impartiality fairly to apply the rule of right, and power to enforce its operations. So that thefe two principles were in endlefs jar ; in which, Juf- tice generally came by the word. It was therefore found neceflary to call in the civil magistrate as the Ally oi Religion, to turn the balance. Jura invenla metu injujli, faieare neceffe ejl, Tempora Ji fajiofque velis evohere mwidi. Thus was Society invented for a remedy againil: injuflice ; and a Magi/Irate, by mutual confent, appointed, to give a fanftion *' to that common meafure, to which, reafon teaches us, that " creatures of the fame rank and fpecies, promilcuoufly born to *' the fame advantages of nature and to the ufe of the fame fa- *« culties, have all an equal right *." Where it is to be obferved, that though fociety provides for all thofe conveniences and accom- modations of a more elegant life, which man muft have been con- tent to have lived without, in a ftate of nature ; yet it is more than probable that thefe were never thought of when Society was firll: eftabliflied t ; but that they were the mutual violences and injuftices, at length become intolerable, which fet men upon contriving this generous remedy : Becaufe Evil felt hath a much Oronger influence on the mind than Good imagined ; and the means of removing the one is much ealier difcovered, than the way to procure the other. And this, by the wife difpofitioii of the Creator ; the avoiding pain * Locke. f Though the judicious Hooker thinks thofe advantages were principally intended, when man firli entered into fociety : this was the caitfc, fays he, of mens uniting themfelvei atfirjl into folitiipte focieties, Ecd. Pol. 1. i. § ro. pag. 25. I. 1. His mafter Ariftotle, though extremely concife, feems to hint, that this was but the fecondary end of civil fo- ciety, and that That was the firft, which we mjke to be fo. His words are : t'Ivo^/kd i^h «» rS ^r,i ?,iiti», vaa, it tS ui i^nu Pol, lib. i. cap. 2. p. 396. B, ToO). ill'. Paris. 1639. fol. being SrcT. 2. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 55 being neceffiry to our nature ; not fo, the procuring pleafure. Be- fides, the idea of thofe unexperienced conveniencies would be, at beft, very oblcure : and how unable men would be, before trial, to judge that Society would beftow them, we may guefs by obferving, how little, even now, tlie generality of men, who enjoy thefe bleffings, know or refleft that they are owing to fociety, or how it procures them ; becaufe it doth it neither immediately nor diredlly.. But they would have a very lively fenfe of evils felt ; and could fee that Society was the remedy, becaufe the very definition of the- word would teach them how it becomes fo. Yet becaufe civil So- ciety fo greatly improves human life, this improvement may be called, and not unaptly, the Jecondary end of that Convention.. Thus, as Arijiotle accurately obferves in the words below, that which was at firft conftituted for the fake of living, is carried oa for the fake of happy living. This is further feen from fad. For we find thofe favage na- tions *, which happen to live peaceably out of fociety, have never once entertained a thought of coming into it, though they perceive all the advantages of that improved condition, in their civilized neighbours, round about them. Civil Society thus eikblifhed, from this time, as the poet fings, ahfijlcre bello Oppida cccperunt munire, & ponere leges, Ne quisfur ejfet, neu latro, neu quis adulter. But as before bare religion was no prefervative againft moral diforders : fo now, society alone, would be equally unable to pre- vent ihem. I. I. For/r/?, its laws. can have no further efficacy than to re- train men from open tranfgreflion ; while what is done amifs in * See § V. iv. 2. where it is fliewn, how it might happen that men, in a flate of nature, might live together in peace ; though we have there given the reafons why they very rarely do. ^rivate^ 56 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book!, private, though equally tending to the public hurt, efcapcs their animadverfion ; and man, fince his entering into Society, would have greatly innproved his praftice in this fecret way of mifchief. For now an effectual iecurity being provided againft open violence^ and the inordinate principle of felf love being ftlll the fame, fecret craft was the art to be improved ; and the guards of Society invit- ing men to a carelefs fecurity, what advantages this would afford to thofe hidden mifchiefs which civil laws could not cenfure, is eafy to conceive. 2. But, fecondly, the influence of civil Laws cannot, in all cafes, be extended even thus far, namely, to reftrain open tranfgrefilon. It cannot then^ when the fevere prohibition of one irregularity threatens the bringing on a greater : and this will always be the cafe when the irregularity is owing to the violence of the fenfual appetites. Hence it hath come to pafs, that no great and opulent Community could ever ^\im{\\ fornication, in fuch a fort as its ill influence on Society was confefled to deierve : becaufe It was always found, that a fevere reftraint of this, opened the way to more fla- gitious lufts. 2. The very attention of civil Laws to their 'principal objeft oc- cafions a further inefficacy in their operations. To underhand this we muft confider, that the care of the State is for the whole, un- der which individuals are confidered but in the fecond place, as ac- cefTaries only to that nJohoJe ; the confequence of which is, that, for the fake of the Aggregate, individuals are fometimes left neg- lected ; which happens when general, rather than particular views ingrofs the public attention. Now the care oi Religion is for par- ticulars; and a Whole has but the fecond place in its concern. But this is only touched upon to fhew, in pafling, the natural re- medy far the defeats here explained. 4. But this was not all, there was a further inefficacy in human Laws : the Leglflature, in enquiring into the mutual duties of Citizens, ariling from their equality of condition, found thofe duties 7 t° Sect. z. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. ^1 to be of two kinds : the firft, they intituled the duties of per« FECT obligation; becaufe civil Laws could readily, ^and com- modioufly, and were, of neceffity, required to enforce their obfer- vance. The other they called the duties of imperfect obliga- tion ; not, that morality does not as ftrongly exad them, but be- caufe, civil Laws could not conveniently take notice of them ; and, that they were fuppofed not fo immediately and vitally to affed the being of Society. Of this latter kind are gratitude, hofp'ttallty, charity, &c. Concerning fuch, civil Laws, for thefe reafons, are generally filent. And yet, though it may be true, that thefe du- ties, which human Laws thus overlook, may not (b diredly affedl Society, it is very certain, that their violation brings on as fatal, though not fo fwift deftruftion, as that of the duties oi perfe£i obli' gation. A very competent judge, and who alfo fpeaks the fenti- ment of Antiquity in this matter, hath not fcrupled to fay : " Ut " fcias per fe expetendam cfle grati animi adfeSiionem, per fe fu- *' gienda res eft ingratum efle : quoniam nihil aeque concordiam hu- " mani generis difibciat ac diftrahit quam hoc vitium *." 5. But ftill further, befides thefe duties both oi perfeSl and imper^ J'cSi obligation, for the encouraging and enforcing of which civil Society was invented ; Society itfelf begot and produced a ?iewfet cf duties, which are, to fpeak in the mode of the Legiflature, of imperfeSl obligation : the firft and principal of which is that anti- quated forgotten virtue called the love of our country. 6. But /ajily. Society not only introduced a new fet of duties, but likewife increafed and inflamed, to an infinite degree, thofe in- ordinate appetites, for whofe correction it was invented and intro- duced : like fome kind of powerful medicines, which, at the very time they are working a cure, heighten the malignity of the dif- eafe. For our wants increafe, in proportion as the arts of life ad- vance. But in proportion to our wants, fo is our uneafuiefs ; — to our uneafinefs, fo our endeavours to remove it— to our endeavours, fo the weaknefs of human refraint. Hence it is evident, that in * Seneca de Eenef. lib. iv. cap. i8. Vol. I. I a state 58 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book I. a STATE OF NATURE, where little is confulted but the fupport of our being, our wants muft be few, and our appetites, in propor- tion, weak; and that in civil society, where the arts of life are cultivated, our wants muft be many, and our appetites, in proportion, ftrong. II. Thus far concerning the imperfeflion of civil Society, with regard to the adminiftration of that power which it hath, namely ol punijh'tng Tranfgreflbrs. We (hall next confKler its much greater imperfedlion with regard to that power which k wanteth ; namely oi rewarding the Obedient. The two great fan£lions of all Law and Command are rexvard- and PUNISHMENT. Thefe are generally called the two hinges, on which all kinds of Government turn. And fo far is certain, and apparent to the common fenfe of mankind, that whatever laws are hot enforced by both thefe fanftions, will never be obferved in any degree fufficient to carry on the ends of civil Society. Yet, I fliall now {hew, from the original conftitutioa and nature of this Society, that it neither had, nor could enforce, the sanc- tion OF REWARI>. But, to avoid miftakes, I defire it may be obferved, that by re- ivard, muft needs here be meant, fuch as is conferred on every one for obeying the laws of his country j not fucli as is beftowed on par- ticulars, for any eminent fervice : as by ■piinipment we underfland that which is infixed on every one for tranfgreffing the laws ; not that which is impofed on particulars, for negle64 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book I. common enemy : While one party is clofely preffed, the other comes up to its relief; difengages the firft ; gives it time to rally and repair its force : By this time the afiifting party is puftied in its turn, and needs the aid of that which it relieved ; which is now at hand to repay the obligation. From henceforth the two parties arov:' " JeKtia, a verum eft quod dicitur." 0/>cra, 1. x. c. 5. p. 446. Cufon, 160 J, 8vo. f Secundo, quia flante animi humani mortalitate, homo in nullo cafu, quantumcun- que urgentiffimo, dcberet eligere mortem : & fie lemoveretur fortitndo, qucB praclpit rontcmncre mortem, &: quod pro patria & bono publico dcbemuj mortem eiigere : ne- que pro amico debejemus exponere animam noflram ; imo quodcimquc fcelus & ncfas perpetrare magis quam mortem fubire : quod eft contra Arith 3 Ethic, & 9 ejufdem. r. 99. K 2 ' " what 68 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book. L ** what pleafures the pradlice of virtue can procure ; and what mi- *' fery attends ignorance and vice : — but men not underftanding the *' excellence of virtue, and deformity of vice, would commit any •' wickednefs rather than fubmit to death : To bridle therefore their *» unruly appetites, they were taught to be influenced by hope of "reward, and fear of punifliment*." — This is enough to flievr what Potnponatius thought of the neceflity of Religion to the State. He gives up fo much of the objedlion as urges the ill confequence of the doftrine of the mortality to mankind in general ; but in fu doing hath not betrayed the caufe he undertook : which was to prove that the belief of the mortality of the foul would have no ill influence on the pradice of a learned Peripatetic : he pretends not that it would have no evil influence on the grofs body of mankind. to the prejudice of Society. This appears from the nature and de- fign of the treatife ; written entirely on peripatetic principles, ta explain a point in that philofophy : by the force of which expla- nation, whoever was perfuaded of the mortality of the foul, muft give his aflent on thofe principles ; principles only fitted to in- fluence learned men. It was his bufinefs therefore to examine, what cffedts this belief would have on fucfa, and on fuch only. And this, it muft be owned, he hath done with dexterity enough. But that this belief would be moft pernicious to the body of man- khid in general, he confefles with all ingenuity. And as his own. words are the fuUeft proof that he thought with the reft of the world, concerning the influence of Religion, and particularly of the doftrine of a future ftate of rewards and punifhments, on So- ciety, I {hall beg leave to tranfcribe them at large. " There arc " fome men of fo ingenuous and well framed a nature, that they * Soli enim philofophi & ftudiofi, iit dicit — Ariff. 6 Ethic, fciunt quantam delefta- tionem generent virtutes^ & quantam miferiam ignorantia & vitia. — Sed quod homines non cognofcentes excellentiam virtutis & foeditatem vitii, omne fcelus perpetrarent, pii- i4fquam mori : quarc ad refraaandum diras hominum cupidjtates, data eft fpes primii & timor punitiorvis, P. 119. «^aEe Sect. 3- OF M O SE S DE MON S'l R AT ED. 69 *' are brought to the pradice of virtue from the fole confidcratioii *' of its dignity ; aud are kept from vice on the bare profpe^t of its " bafenefs : but fuch excellent perfons are very rare. Others there " are of a fomewhat Icfs heroic turn cf mind ; and thefe, befides " the dignity of virtue, and the bafenefs of vice, are woiked upon " by fame and honours, by infamy and difgrace, to fhun evil and " pcrfevere in good: Thefe are of the fecond ckfs of men. Others *■' again are kept in order by the hope of fome real benefit, or the. " dread of corporal punifhment ; wherefore that fuch may follow '^ virtue, the Politician hath contrived to allure them by dignities»^ *^' pofleffions, and things of the like nature ; inflidling mul£ls, de- " gradations^ mutilations, and capital punifhments, to deter them *•' from wickednefs. There are yet others of fo intraftable and '■' perverfe a fpirit, that nothing even of this can move them, as- *' daily experience fhews ; for thefe, therefore, it was, that the *'^ Politician invented the doSlrine of a future Jlate % where eternal re- ** wards are referved for the virtuous, and eternal punifhments, '* which have the more powerful influence of the two, for the *' wicked. For the greater part of thofe who live well, do fo, *' rather for fear of the punifhment, than out of appetite to the " reward : for mifery is better known to man, than that immea- •^ furable good which Religion promifeth ; And therefore as this '* laft contrivance may be dire the many admirable obfervations on the nature and genius of polytheifm, happen to be a full anfwer to all which the Author of ChriJlianUy as old as the Creation hath advanced againft the ufe of revelation. For a fkilful chemift, though difiip- pointed in his grand magiflerium, yet often difcovers, by the way,. fome ufeful and noble medicament j while the ignorant pretender to the art, not only lofes his labour, but fills all about him with, the poifonous fteams oijublimate. * Cap. xxxiii. ejufd. tra£l. f Penfees diverfes, ecrites a iin dofteur de Sorbonne i I'occafion de la coinete qui parut au mois de Deceitibre, i6So. & — Contiauation des Penfees diyerfes, &c, ou Re- ponfe a plufieurs difticultez, &c. The Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 75 The prnfejftd defign of Mr. Buyle's work is to enquire, which is leqfl hurtful to nmnkind, ajicient idolatry^ or modern atheifm : And had he confined himlelf to that lubjeft, we had had no concern with him, but (hould have left him in the hands of Mefl'. Jacquelot and Bernard. I freely own they are both ftark naught : All the difference is, that Atheifm diredly excludes and deftroys the true fenfe of moral right and wrong; and Polytheifm fcts up ^ falfe fpecies of it. But the more particular, though lefs avowed, purpofe of this elaborate treatife is to prove, that Atheifm is not defructive of Society ; and here he falls under our notice ; no diftincl anlwer, that I know of, having been yet attempted to this part of his performance. His arguments in fupport of this Paradox, are occafionally, and fo without any method, interfperfed throughout that large work : But, to give them all the advantage they are capable of, I have here colle£led and dllpofed them in fuch order, that they mutually fup- port, and come in to the aid of one another. It had been generally efteemed a proof of the deflruitive nature of Atheifm to Society, that this principle excludes the knowledge of moral good and evil; fuch knowledge being, as will be feen, pof- terior to the knowledge of a God. His firft argument therefore for the innocence of Atheifm is, I. " That an Atheill: may have an idea of the moral difference , *' between good and evil, becaufe Atheifts, as well as Theifts, may " comprehend the firft principles of morals and metaphyfics, from ** which this difference may be deduced. And in fa^fl (he fays) both •' the Epicurean atheiff, who denied the providence of God, and the ♦* Stratonic atheift, who denied his Being, had this idea *." This often repeated argument is fo loofely exprefled, that it is capable of many meanings ; in fome of which the afl'ertion is true, but not to the purpofe ; in others to the purpofe, but not true. * Voiez les Penfees diverfes, cap. clxxviii. &t fuiv. & I'addition a ces Penfees cap. IV. Reponfe a la lo & li, la 73 objeiQioils, & h Continuation des Penf. div, cap. cxliii. L 2 There- f6 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book T Therefore before any precife anfwer can be given to it, it will be " neceffary to trace up moral duty to its firfl: principles. And though an enquiry of this fort fliould not prove the moft amufing either KTmyfelf or my reader, it may be found however to deferve our pains. For a fpirit of difpiite and refinement hath To entangled and confounded all our conclufions on a lubjefl:, in itfelf, very clear •and intelligible, that I am perfuaded, were morality herfelf, of which the ancients made a Goddefs. to appear iii perfon amongil men, and be queflioned concerning her birth, fhe would be tempt- ed to anfwer as Homer does in Liiclan, that her commentators had io learnedly embarrafled the dlfpute, that fhe was now as much at a lofs as They to account for her original. To proceed therefore with all poffible brevity : Each animal hr.th its inJlinB implanted by nature to diredl it to its greateft good. Amongft thefe, man hath his ; to which modern philofophers have given the name of 1. The MORAL SENSE : whereby we conceive and feel apleafure iu right, and a diftafte and averfion to wrong, prior to all reflexion on their natures, or their confequences. This is the firft inlet to the adequate idea of morality ; and plainly, the moft extenfive of ail ;. the Atheift as well as Theift having it. When inflind had gone thus far, 2. The reafoning faculty improved upon its di(5tates : For, men led by reflexion to examine the foundation of this moral fenfe, foon. dlfcovered that there were real effential differences in the qualities of human adtions, eftabliihed by nature; and, confequently, that the love and hatred excited by the tyioral fenfe were not capricious in their operations ; for, that in the eflential properties of their objeds there was a specific pifference. Reafon having gone thus far (and thus far too it might condud the Stratonic atheift) it flopped ; and faw that fomething was ftill wanting wliereon to eftablifh the morality, properly fo called, of actions, that is, an OBLIGATION on men to perform fome, and to avoid others; and that, ?ECT. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. -j-j that, to find this fomething, there was need of calling in other principles to its affiftance : Becaufe nothing can thus oblige but, 3. hjiiperior will : And fuch a will could not be found till the being and attributes of God were eftablifhed ; but was difcovered with them. Hence arofe, and only from hence, a moral difference. From this time human anions became the fubje>St of o^%a^/o;7, and .not till now : For though instinct felt a difference in a£tions ; and REASON difcovered that this difference was founded in the nature of things ; yet it was will only which could make a com- phance with that difference a duty. On thefe three Principles therefore, namely the moral fenfe, the eJJ'cntial difference in human actions, and the ivill of God, is built the whole edifice of praJlical morality : Each of which hath its diftinct motive to enforce it; Compliance with the moral Jenfe exciting a pleafurable fenfation ; compliance with X.\it ejetitial tlifcrences of things promoting the order and harmony of the univerfe ; and compliance with the will of God obtaining an abundant reward. This, when attentively confidered, can never fail of affedllng us with the moft lively fenfe of God's goodnefs to Mankind, who, gracioufly refpe£ling the imbecillity of Man's nature, the flownefs of his reafony and the violence of his pajjlons, hath been pleafed to afford three different excitements to the pradice of Virtue; that men of all ranks, conflitutions, and educations, might find their account in one or other of them ; fomething that -vould hit their palate, fatisfy their reafon, or fubdue their -wi/L The firft princi- ple, which is the moral fenfe, would ftrongly operate on thofe, who, by the exa£l temperature and balance of the paffions, were difengaged enough to feel the delicacy of it's charms; and have aa elegance of mind to refpecTt the noblenefs of its diiEtates. The fecond, which is the effential difference^ will have its weight with the fpeculative, the abftracl and profound reafoners, and on all thofe who excel in the knowledge of human nature. And the third, which refolves itfelf into the ivill of God, and takes in all the yi THE DIVINE LEGATION Book T. the confequcuces of obedience and difobedience, Is principally adapt- ed to the great body of Mankind. It may perhaps be objected, to what is here delivered, i/jni the true principle of morality pouid have the worthieji motive to enforce it : Whereas the Will of God is enforced by the view of rewards and puni/ljmetits ; on which motive, virtue hath the fmall ft merit. This charafter of the true principle of morality is perfedlly right ; and agrees, we fay, with the principle which we make to be the true : For the legitimate motive to virtue, on that principle, is compliance iviih the Will of God \ a compliance which hath the hlgheft degree of merit. But this not being found of fufficient power to take in the Generality, the confequences of compliance or non-compliance to this Will, as far as relates to rewards and punifliments, were firft drawn out to the people's view. In which they were dealt with as the teachers of mathematics treat their pupils; when, to engage them in a fublime demonftration, they explain to them the ufe and fertility of the theorem. To thefe great purpofes ferve the three principles while in conjunftion : But now, as in the civil world and the affairs of men, our pleafure, in contemplating the wifdom and goodnefs of Provi- dence, is often diflurbed and checked by the view of fome human perverfity or folly which runs acrofs that Difpenfation ; fo it is here, in the intelleSiiial. This admirable provifion for the fupport of vir- tue hath been, in great meafure, defeated by its pretended advo- cates ; who, in their eternal fquabbles about the true foundation of morality, and the obligation to Its pradlice, have fiicrilegioufly un- twifted this threefold cord ; and each running away with the part he efteemed the ftrongefl:, hath affixed that to the throne of God, as the golden chain that is to unite and draw all unto it. This man propofes to illuftrate the doftrine of the moral sense; and then the morality of anions is founded only \vi^\h?Lt fetife : with him, metaphyfics and logic, by which the ejential difference^ in human actions, is demonflrated, are nothing but words, notions, vifions ; the empty regions andfcid'yws oj pbilofophy. The profcflbrs of Sect. 4. OF MOSES D E -M O N S T R A T E D. 79 of them are moon-blind ti-iis; and Locke himfelf is treated as a fchool-man *. To talk of reward and punlfhment, confequent 011 the ivill ofafuperior, is to make the pradtice of virtue mercenary and iervile ; from which, pure liumau uature is the moll: abhor- rent. Another undertakes to demonftrate THE essential differences OF THINGS, and their natural fitnefs and unfitnefs to certain ends ; and then morality is lolely founded on thofe differences ; and God and his Will have nothing to do in the matter. Then the Will of CJod cannot make any thing morally good and evil, juft and un- juft ; nor confequentiy be the caufe of any obligation on moral Agents : becaufe the cflences and natures of things, which confti- tute adions good and evil, are independent on that Will ; which is forced to fubmlt to their relations like weak Man's. And therefore, if there were no natural juftice ; that is, if the rational and inteU ledual nature were, of itfelf, undetermined and unobllged to any thing, and fo deftitute of morality properly fo called, it were not poffible that any thing fhould be made morally good or evil,- obli-i gatory or unlawful, or that any moral obligation Ihould be begotten; by any Will or pofitive command whatibever. — And then our knowledge of moral good and evil is iblely acquired by abftradt rea- foning : And to talk of its coming any other way into the mind,, is weak and fuperflitious, as m.aklng God a£l unneceffarily and fupeiBuoufly. A third, who propofes to place morallly on the will of a fhperior, which is its true bottom, a(5ls yet on the fame exterminating modeL He takes the other two Principles to be merely viiionary : The moral fenfe is nothing but the Imprefliou of education ; the love of the fpecies romantic ; and invented by crafty knaves, to dupe the young, the vain, and the ambitious. Nature, he fiith, hath confined us to the narrow fphere oi felf-love ; and our moft pompous pretences of pure dlfintereflednefs, but the more artful difgulfe of ♦ Cliaca^eiiftics, paffim. that So THE DIVINE LEGATION Book L that very paffion. He not only denies all jnoral difference in adllons, antecedent to the Will of God, which (as we (hall (hew anon) he might well do ; but likewife, TiW/pecific difference: will not fo much as allow it to be a rule to direft us to the performance of God's will ; for that the notions of fit and unfit proceed not from that difference, but from the arbitrary impofitions of Will only ; that God is the free caufe of Truths as well as Beings ; and then, con- lequently, if he fo wills, two and two would not make four. At length his fyftem (hrinks into a vile and abje6t felfiftinefs ; and, as he degrades and contrails his nature, he flips, before he is aware, quite befides his foundation, whicii he profeiTes to be the IVUl of God. Thus have men, borne away by a fondnefs to their own idle fyftems, prefumptuoufly broken in upon that triplk barrier*, with which God has been gracioufly pleafed to cover and fecure Virtue ; and given advantage to the cavils of Libertines and Infidels; who on each of thele three Principles, thus advanced on the ruins of the other two, have reciprocally forged a fcheme of Religion in- dependent on Morality + ; and a fcheme of Morality independent * St. Paul might have taught them better ; who, colleiling together and enforcing all the motives for tlie practice of virtue, exprefleth himfclf in this manner: '■^Finally, " brethren^ ivhatfoevcr things are true, ivhalfoever thin^^s are honeft, tvljat/ocver things arc «< jilll" — To Aoi5ro», aJAJioj, oVa iriv AAH0H, oV» SEMNA, iVa AlKAIA—li^))9i evidently re- lating to the ejjential difference of things ; o-s/xti (implying fomething of worth, fpleildour, dignity) to the moral fcnfe which men have of this difference ; and iUant^juJl, is relative to Will oi'L&w, The ApolHe proceeds — ^'^ -ivhatfoever things are ^MXt, •u.-hatfoever things ari *' lovely, whatfoever things are of good report"— oVa ay'ia,, oaa w^oa^t^ri, o^x eu^r.fia. In ihefe three latter charafters marking the nature of the three preceding : iy'i purr, re- ferring to ahflra^ truth; ■u^ipr^^'h^ lovely, amiable, ia innate or inflinHivc honr/ly ; and tiifr.fna. of good report, reputable, to the obfervation of W7// or Law. He concludes, " If f^ there beany virtue, and if there ie tiny praKc, thini of titfe things," it Tt( i.^s^h, "tj f" t»{ tVaiv®-, TaSra Jioyi^saSt. That is. If the moral fenfe and the eflential difference of things can make the practice of morality, a virtue ; or obedience to a Jupericr ]V:ll, matter of praife, think of thefe things. f See The Fable of the Bees, and confer the enquiry into the original of Mcrnl virtue, lad' t\\e fearch info the nature offoclety, with the body of the book. on Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. ?i on Religion * ; who, how different foever their employments may appear, are indeed but twifting the fame rope at different ends : the plain dclign of both being to overthrow religion. But as the Moralift's is the more plaufible fcheme, it is now become moft in fafliion : So that of late years a deluge of moral fyftems hath over- flowed the learned world, in which either the moral fenje, or the ejential difference, rides alone triumphant ; which like the chorus of clouds in y^;-//?o/i/'<7WJ, the Aevao* N£eX«<, the eternal rela- tions, are introduced into the fceiie, with a gaudy outfide, to fupplant "Jupiter, and to teach the arts of fraud and fophijlry ; but in a little time betray themfelves to be empty, obfcure, noify, im- pious Nothings. In n word, with regard to the feveral forts oi Separatijlsy thole, I mean, who are indeed friends to Religion, and who detefl the Infidel's abufe of their principles, I would recommend to their in- terpretation the following oracle of an ancient fage. OT TAP ESTIN EYPEIN THS AIKAI0SYNH2 AAAHN APXHN OTAE AAAHN TENESIN, H THN EK TOT AI02 KAI THS K0INH2 *YLT.X12. This noble truth, that the only true foundation and or'igmal of mo- ral'ily is the Will of God interpreted by the moral fenfe and ejfential difference of things, was a random thought of Cbryfppus the Stoic. 1 give it this term, i . Becaufe the ancient philofophy teaches no- thing certain concerning the true ground of moral obligation. 2. Becaufe Plutarch'' s quoting it amongft the repugnances of the' Stoics, (hews it to be inconfiftent with their other doclrine. And indeed, the following the ancient philofophers too fervilely, hath occafioned the errors of modern moralifls, in unnaturally feparating the three principles of pradical morality, Plato being the patron oi^ht moral Jenfe\ Arijlotk oi \\\q, effential differences \ and Zeno of arbitrary will. * Seethe fourth Treaiife of the Charaderiflics, intituled, *' An Enquiry conceniing Virtue and Merit." Vol. I. M And 82 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book L And now, to come more direftly to our Adverfary's argument : We lay then, 1 . That the Athelfl: can never come to the knowledge of the MORALITY of adilons properly fo called. 2. That though he be capable of behig affeded with the moral fenfe, and may arrive to the knowledge of the real ejjential differences in the qualities of human aftions ; yet X.\\\?, fenfe and thefe differences make nothing for the purpofe of Mr. Bay la's argument : becaufe thefe, even in conjunclion, are totally in- fufficient to influence fociety in the practice of virtue : which influence is the thing in queftion. Both thefe conclufions, Iprefume, have been clearly proved from^ what hath been faid above, oi the origin of Society ; and, juft before,. of the foundation of moral virtue : But that nothing may be wanting to the argument, I (hall crave leave to examine the matter with a little more exadlnefs. I. And firft, that an Atheiff, as fuch, can Jiex'^cr arrive to the knowledge of the morality of aSiions properly fo called, (hall be further- made good againfl: the reafoning which Mr. Bayle brings to prove,. that the Morality of human aSlions may be demonjlrated on the principles of a Stratonicean, or atheiflic Fatalift ; whom he perfonates in this manner : " The * beauty, fymmetry, regularity, and order, feeix *' in the univerfe, are the effefts of a bhnd iiiintelligent Nature ;, *' and though this Nature, in her workman(hip, hath copied after •' no ideas, (he hath neverthelefs produced an infinite number of *' fpecies, with each its diftind efTential attribute. It is not in *' confequence of our opinion, that fire and water differ in fpecies^ *' and that there is a like difference between love and hatred, affir- " mation and negation. Their fpecific difference is founded in *' the nature of the things themfelves. But how do we know * La beautc, la fymetne, la regularite, I'ordre que Ton voit dans I'linivers, font I'ouvrage d'une nature qui n'a point de connoiiTance, & qu'encore, &c. Contin. des Penfees diverfef, c. cli. " this ? Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 83 *' this ? Is it not by comparing the eiTential properties of one of *' thefe beings with the effential properties of another of them ? *' But we know, by the fame way, that there is a fpecific difference *' between truth and falfhood, between good faith and perfidiouf- " nefs, between gratitude and ingratitude, &c. We may then be *' aflured, that vice and virtue differ fpecifically by their nature, *' independent of our opinion." This, Mr. B-^jc/f calls their being natural'y feparated from each other : And thus much we allow. He goes on : " Let * us fee now by what ways Stratonic atheifts ** may come to the knowledge of vice and virtue's being morally *' as well as naturally feparated. They afcribe to the fame neceility *' of nature' the eftabllfhment of thofe relations which we find to *' be between things, and the eflabllfhment of thofe rules by *' which we diflinguifh thofe relations. There are rules of rea- *' foning independent of the will of man : It is not becaufe men " have been pleafed to fix the rules of fylloglfm, that therefore *' thofe rules are jufl and true : they are fo in themfelves, and all •' the endeavours of the wit of man againfl their eflence and their *' attributes would be vain and ridiculous." This likewife we grant him. He proceeds : *' If then there are certain and immutable *' rules for the operation of the underftanding, there are alfo fuch *' for the determinations of the will." But this we deny. He would prove it thus : " The t rules of thefe determinations are not *' altogether arbitrary' ; fome of them proceed from the neceffity of ♦' nature; and thefe impofe an indifpenflibls obligation. The moft " general of thefe rules is this, that man ought to will what is mojl *' conformable to right reafon : For there is no truth more evident " than this, that it is fit a reafonable creature fhould conform to " right reafon, and unfit tliat fuch a creature fhould recede from it." * Voions comment ils pouvoitnt fnvoir qu'elles etoient outre cela feparees morale- iment. I!s nttiibuoient, &c. Idem ibid. f Les regies de ces aftes-la ne foiU pas toutes arbitraires ; il y en a qisi emancnt, &;c. Idem ibid. M 2 This 84 T HE DIVINE LEGATION Book L This is his argument. To which I reply, that from thence, no moral difference can arife. He contends that things are both naturalh and morally Je par able. He fpeaks of thefe ideas as very different (as indeed they are) and proves the truth of them by difFereut ar- guments. The natural effdtitial difference of things then, if we mean any thing by the terms, hath this apparent property ; that it creates ^fitnefi in the agent to a£l agreeably thereto : As the movdt difference of things creates, befides this finefs, an obligation like- wife : When therefore there is an obligation in the agent, there is a moral difference in the things, and fo on the contrary, for they are infeparable. If then we fhew, that right reafon alone cannot properly oblige, it will follow that the knowledge of what is agree- able to right reafon doth not induce a moral difference : Or that a Stratonicean is not under any obligation to a oblige himfelf. If he fay, he means by reafon not every man's- particular reafon, but reafon in general ; I reply, that this reafon is a mere Sect.4. of MOSES demonstrated. 85 a mere abftra6l notion, which hath no real fubfirtence : and ho\T that which hath no real fubfiftence fhould oblige^ is ftill more diffi- cult to apprehend. 2. But farther, moral ohligntio?i, that is, the obligation of a free agent, implies a Law, which enjoins and forbids ; but a Law is the impofition of an intelligent fuperior, who hath power to exadt conformity thereunto. But blind unintelligent Nature is no law- giver, nor can what proceeds neceflarily from thence come under the notion of a Law : We fay indeed, in common fpeech, the laio of necejjity, and the law of reafon and nature ; but thefe are merely popular expreffions : By the firft, we mean only to infinuate, that necejfity hath, as it were, one property of a law, namely that of forcing ; and by the fecond, we mean the rule which the fupreme Lawgiver hath laid down for the judging of his Will. And while this light and diredion of renfon or nature is confidered as a rule only, given by the God of nature, the term may be allowed : Thofe who fo confidered the term were the firft who fo ufed it. After- writers retained the name ; but, by a ftrange abfurdity, feparated the Law-giver from his Law ; on a fancy of its being of virtue to oblige by its own intrinfic excellence, or by the good of which it is produftive. But how any thing except a Law, in the proper phi- Jofophic fenfe, can oblige a dependent reafonable Being endued with will, is utterly inconceivable. The fundamental error in Mr. Boyle's argument feems to be this : He faw the effential difference of things ; he found thofe differences the adequate objed of the iinderjlanding ; and fo too haftily concluded them to be the adequate objedt of the laill likewife. In this he was miftaken : they are indeed jthe ade- quate obje6l of the underftanding ; becaufe the under/landing is paf- five in its perceptions, and therefore under the fole direction of thefe neceflary ditferences. But the will is not paflive in its determinations : for inilance, that three are lefs than five, the underflanding is ne- ceffitated to judge, but the will is not neceffitated to chufe five be- fore three : Therefore the eJBTentlal differences of things are not the adequate 86 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book I. adequate objed of the will; the Law of a Superior muft be taken in to conftitute obligation in choice, or morality in adlions. Hobbes feems to have penetrated farther into this matter, than the Siratonicean of Mr. Bayle ; he appeared to have been fenfible that morality Implied obligation^ and obligation a Azw, and a law a Lawgiver: Therefore, having (as they fay) expelled the Legiflator of the univerfe, that morality of aftions might have fome founda- tion, he thought fit to underprop it with his earthly God, the Leviathan ; and to make him the creator and fupporter of moral right and wrong. But a favourer of Mr. Bayle s paradox may perhaps obje£t, that as he was allowed a fitnefs, and unfitnefi in actions, difcoverable by the cffential ditlerence of things ; and as this fitnefs and unfitnefs implies benefit and damage to the ador, and others ; it being in faft feen, that the pradice of virtue promotes the happinefs of the Indi- vidual, or at leafl: of the Species, and that vice obftruds it ; it may be faid, that this will be fufficient to make morality^ or obligation^ in the Stratonic fyftem ; if not in the (Irid fenfe of the word, yet as to the nature of the thing. To this I reply, that in that Syflem, whatever advanced human happinefs, would be only a natural good; and virtue as merely fuch, as food and covering : and, that which retarded it, a natural evil, whether it was vice, peftilence, or unkindly feafons. Natural, I fay, in contradlftindtion to tnoral, or fuch a good as any one would be obliged to feek or promote. For 'till it be made appear that Man hath received his being from the will of another ; and fo depending on that other, is accountable to him for it ; he can be under no moral obligation to prefer good to evil, or even life to death. From the nature of any adion, mora- lity cannot arife ; nor from its cjf'eSis: Not from the firft, be- ckufe, being only reafonable or unreafonable, nothing follows but a fitnefs in doing one, and an abjurdity in doing the other : Not from the f< cond, becaufe, did the good or evil produced make tlie adion moral, brutes, from whole adions proceed both good and evil, would have morality . If Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. g; If it be farther urged, that the obfervance of thefe eflential dif- ferences is promoting the perfeftion of a particular fyftem, which contributes, in its, concentration, to the perfection of the univerfe ; and that therefore a reafonable creature is obliged to conform thereto : I anfwer, firft, that (on the principles before laid down) to make a reafonable creature obliged in this cafe, he mufl firft be enforced by the Whole, of which he is part. This enforcement cannot here be by intentional command, whofe objedl is free agency, becaufe the Stratonic Whole, or univerfal Nature, is blind and un- intelligible. It mufl force then by the necefiity of its nature ; and this will, indeed, make men obliged as clocks are by weights, but never as free agents are, by the command of an intelligent Superior, which only can make actions moral. But fecondly> an uniform perfedl Whole can never be the effe6l of blind fate ; but is the plain image and impreffion of one intelligent felf-exiftent Mind. In a word, as it is of the nature of the independent firft Caufe of all things to be obliged only by his own wijdo-n ; fo it feems to be of the na- ture of all dependent intelligent beings lO be obliged only by the will of the firft Caufe. " All things therefore (fays the great Mafler of reafon) do work, *' after a fort, according to Law : All otlier things according to a " LAW, whereof, fome Superior, to whom they are fubjedl, is " Author; only the works and operations of God h.;vc him both *' for their worker, and for the Law whereby they are wrought. " The Being of God is a kind of Law to his working ; for that per- " feiSloii which God is giveth perfection to that he doth *." Nor does this contradifl what we have aflerted, and not only afferted, but proved, in fpeaking of moral obligation, that nothing, hut Will, can oblige: Becaufe our whole reafoning is confined to matCs obligation. And if there be any thing certain, in the firft principles of law or reafon, this muft be confefled to be of the (lumber, that a man can neither oblige him/elf, nor be obliged by names * Hooker's Eccl. Pol. B. T. Scft. 2. p. 3. circa fiiiem. a/ld S8 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book I. (ind jiotions ; lb that, to create an obligation, the Will of fome other being mult be found out. A principle, which the common con- ceptions of man, and the univcrfal pradice of human Ufe confirms. But, as in our difcourfe of God, the weaknefs of our intelleds con- ftralns us to exphain our conceptions of his nature by human ideas, tlierefore wlicn we fpeak of the morality of hh adions, finding them to be founded in no other, or fuperior Will, we fay, he is obliged only by his own ivijdom : Obligation, when applied to God, meaning no more than diredtion : for, that an independent being can be fubjed to obhgation in the fenfe that a dependent being is fubjed, is, by the very terms, an high abfurdity. Obligation, therefore, when applied to man, being one thing ; when applied to God another ; the ftrifteft rules of logic will allow different attributes to be predicated of each. It is confefled, we have a clear and adequate idea of obligation, as it relates to man ; of this obligation, we have affirmed Ibmething plain and evident : It is likewife confeffed we have a very obfcure and inadequate idea of obligation, as it relates to God : of ibis obligation, too, we have affirmed fomething, whofe evidence mufl needs partake of the imperfection of its fubjed. Yet there have been found Objeftors fo perverfe, who would not only have clear conceptions regulated on oh/cure', but what hjimply predicated of God, to deftroy what hath been proved o^ man. But to let this matter in a fuller light, I will jufl: mention two objedlions {jiot peculiar to the Stratoniceans) againfl morality's being founded in will. Obj. I. It is faid, " That, as every creature necelTarily purfues " happinefs, it is that which obliges to moral obfervance, and not " the Will of God ; becaufe it is to procure happinefs that we obey " command, and do every other adt : and becaufe, if that Will " commanded us to do what would make us unhappy, we fhould " be forced to difobey it." To this I anfwer, that when it is faid morality is founded on Will, it is not meant that every Will obliges, but that nothing but Will can oblige. It is plain the Will of an inferior Sect. 4, OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 89 inferior or equal cannot be meant by it * : It is not fimply Will then, but Will fo and fo circumftanced : And why it is not as much Will which obliges, when it is tlie Will of a fuperior feek- ing our good, as the Will of a fuperlor fimply^ I am yet to learn. To i7\y then that happinefs and not Will makes the obligation, feems like faying, that when in mechanics a weight is railed by an en- gine, the whceh and pullies are not the caufe, but that univerfal atfedion of matter called altraSlion. Obj. 2. If it be ftill urged, " that one can no more be called the obligerthan the other ; becaufe " though happinefs could not oblige without Will, on the other •' hand, Will could not oblige without happinefs ;" I reply, this is a miftake. Will could not indeed oblige to unhappinefs ; but it would oblige to what fhould produce neither one nor the other, though all confiderations of the confequence of obeying or difobeying were away. Obj. 3. It is faid, " That if, according to the modern notions of *' philofophy, the will of God be determined by the eternal relations of *' things, they are properly thofe relations (as Dr. Clarke would have " it) which oblige, and not the will of God. For if A impel B j and ** B, C, andC, D; it is A and not C that properly impels D." But here I fufpeft the objedlion confounds natural caife and effeSi with moral agent and patient ; which are two dlftinct things, as appears, as on many other accounts, fo from their effects ; the one implying natural neceffity, the other, only moral fitnefs. Thus, in the cafe before us, the eternal relations are, if you will, the natural canf, but the will of God is the moral agency : And our qucftion is, not of natural necejjlty that refults from the former, but, oi moral ft nefs that refults from the latter. Thus that which is not properly the natural caufe of my acting, is the moral caufe of it. And fo on the contrary. * «* Whence comes the rertraint [of the Law of Nature] ? From a higher Power; " nothing elfc can bind. 1 cannot bind my felfe, fori may untie my felie again; nor *' an equal cannot bind me, for we may untie one another. It muft be a fuperior " power, even God Almighty." Sllien's Table Talk, art. Law of Nature. Vol. I. ' N On 90 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book L On the whole, then, it appears, that Will, and IFill only, can con£xiiutQ obligation ; and, confequently, make aftions moral, i.e. fuch as deierve reward and punifitnent . Yet when men refle£l on the affedions of their own minds, and find there 2i fenfe of right and wrong (o ftrongly imprefled as to be attended with a confcioufnefs that the one deferves reward and the other punijhment, even though, there were no God; this fo perplexes matters, as to difpofe them,. In oppofition to all thofe plain deduBions, to place morality in tlie ejfential dijjerence of things. But would they conlider that that very fenfcJtion, which fo much mifleads us in judging of the true foun- dation of morality, is the plaineft indication of will, which, for the better fupport of virtue*, fo framed and conftituted the hu- man mind ; a confliitution utterly inconceivable on the fuppofitiou of no God; would they, I fay, but confider this, the difficulty would intirely vanifh. But fo it hath happened, this evident truth, that morality is^ founded in will, hath been long controverted even among Theifts.. What hath perplexed their difputes is, that the contenders for this. * We have explained above the admirable difpofition of things, by the God of naturej, for the fupport of virtue. And it was from this view that an able writer, who is for moderating in the difpute about moral oiligaiiort, calls the ejjential difference ofthi!^!, dif- coverable by reafon, t\\& internal obVgation, antani ?i'L'l a f/ie alienum puto, is the fame perfoft who coniniands his wife to expofe her new-born daughter, and falls into a palfion with her for having committed that hard talk to another, by which means the infant efcajjed death, — Ji mcum imperium exciui "joluiljis, intercmptam oporhtit. Hence even the divine Plato reckons the expofing of infants, if not amongft the diiflates of nature, yet amongft the prefcripts of right reafon : For in his hook of la-M, which he corapofed for the reformation of popular prejudices and abufes in human Policies, he decrees, that if the parents had children, after a certain age, they fliould expofe them ; and that fo effedually, he fays, that they fliouId not efcape dj'ing by famine. Chreraes therefore fpeaks both the ditStates of Philofophy and Cuftom, when he charaderizes fuch who had any dregs of this natural inflina remaining, as perfons — qi the mind : A machine fo ordered *' as to make the moft refpeftful gefticulations, and. to pronounce *' the cleareft articulate founds, in all the detours of flattery, would, ** never contribute to give vis a better opinion of ourfelves, becaule * II eft — fort certain, qu'un homrae deftitute de foi, pent etre foit fcnfible a I'hon. neur du monde, l^c, Penf. div«.c, 179. Sect. 5. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 99 *' we (hould know they were not figns of efleem In the muid ot *' another. On thefe accounts therefore, he, of whom I fpeak, might *' facrifice his avarice to his vanity, if he only thought lie (hould *' be fufpedled of having violated a trufl:. And though he might *' even believe himfelf fecure from all fufplclon, yet, ftill, he could *' eafily refolve to prefer the honourable part to the lucrative, for *' fear of falling into the inconvenience, which has happened to *' fome, of publifhing their crimes themfelves, while they flept, or *' in the tranfports of a fever. Lucretius ufes this motive to draw *' men, without Religion, to virtue." To this, I reply, i. That it is indeed true, that commendation and difgrace are ftrong motives to men to accommodate themfelves to the opinions and rules of thofe, with whom they converfe ; and that thofe rules and opinions, in a good meafure, correfpond, in moft civilized countries, with the unchangeable rule of right, what- ever Sextus Empiricus and MontaigJie have been pleafed to fay to the contrary. For virtue evidently advancing, and vice as vlfibly ob- ftrufting the general good, It is no wonder, that that aftlon Should be encouraged with efleem and reputation, wherein every one finds his account ; and that^ difcountenanced, by reproach and infamy, which hath a contrary tendency. But then we fay, that feeing this good opinion of the world may be almoft as furely gained, certainly with more eafe and fpced, by a well aded hypocrify than by a fin- cere pra6tice of virtue, the AthellT:, who lies under no reftraints with regard to the moral qualities of hisaftions, will rather chufe to pur- fue that road to reputation, which Is confiftent with an indulgence of all his other pafiions ; than that whereby they will be at conflant war with one another ; and where he will be always finding himfelf under the hard necefilty oi facnficlng, as Mr. Bayle well expreffesit, hh avarice to his vanity. Now this Inconvenience he may avoid by refolving to be honed only before company, which will procure him enough of reputation ; and to play the rogue In fecret, where he may fully indulge his avarice, or what other paffion he is moft dif- O 2 pofed loo THE DIVINE LEGATION Book L pofed to gratify. That this will be his fyftem, who has no motive, but popular reputation, to a£l virtuoufly, is fo plain, ihatMr.Bay/c was reduced to the hardefl: fhifts imaginable to invent a reafon why an Atheift, thus actuated by the love of glory, might poflibly behave himfelf honeflly, when he could do the contrary without fufpicion. — *' And though he might believe himfelf fecure from all fufpicion» •* yet flill he could eafily refolve to prefer the honourable part to the *' lucrative, for fear of falling into the inconvenience which hath *' happened to fome, of publlfhing their crimes themfelves, while; *' they flept, or in the tranfports of a fever." Lucretius, fays he,. ufes this motive to draw men, without religion, to virtue. It had been to the purpofe to have told us, what man, from the time of Lucre- tius to his own, had been ever fo dra"jvn. But they mufl: know little of human nature, who can fuppofe, that the coufideration of thefe remote, poflible indeed, but very unlikely accidents, hath ever any fliare in the determination of the Will, when men are de- liberating on actions of importance, and diftraded by the Shifting uncertain views of complicated Good an >«ft(iO/T»|v lf.it' apx?5) fz-^iT Tiva SiS» P. 171. torn. II. fol. 1599- Francof. t Diit. Ciit. & Hift. Art. Spinoza, Rem. (K.) This Sect.1. op MOSES demonstrated, h^ This truth, we beg the reader always to have m mind : So that Xvhen, hi the fequel of this dlfcourfe, he meets with ancient tefti- monies for the neceflity of religion to Society, he may be fure, that the doftrine of a future state of rewards and punifhments, was the chief idea inckided in that term. And on this account it is, that frequently, where the Ancients fpeak of theyo?^r<:^ of thofe utiHties, which can proceed only from the dodrine of -xfuturejiate^ they give it the common name of Religion : as, on the other hajid, they often call Religion by the reftri6tive name of a future Jlate :' On which account, I have not fcrupled, throughout this difcourfc, to ufe the fame liberty of applying the generic or fpecific term, one for the other, without any apprehenfion of being thought not to tinderftand my argument, or of being mifunderftood by my reader: Who, when he fees me bring fa£ls and opinions of Antiquity, which fliew the utility of Religion in general, to prove the utility of the dodrine of a future ftate in particular, will underhand that I fpeak home to my purpofe, and to the full proof of my fecond proportion. So th?.t, had I done no more than pvod\.\ce Jiic^ f^^s and opinions^ I had done all that was neceffary. But iince the bare neceJJ'ary is efteemed almoft as poor and unhandfome a thing in literature as in civil life, I have employed the greateft part of the prefent and fol- lowing books to fhew, from ancient fafts and opinions, the more than ordinary care and concern of nil the wife and learned for per- petuating the fpecific do£lrine of a future ftate of rewards and pu- nifhments. Having premifed thus much to prevent miltakes, I proceed in the firft place, I. To fhew, in general, the civil Magiflratc's care in this mat- ter. The popular doftrine of a Providence, and, confequently, of a future ftate of rewards and puiiifhmcnts, was, as we have faid, fo tiniverfally received in the ancient world, that we cauJiot find any Vol. 1. S civili/,cd iro THE DIVINE LEGATION Book IL civilized country where it was not of national belief. The moft ancient Greek poets, as Mufeeits *, Orpheus +, Homer, Hejiod, &c^ who have given fyfbems of theology and religion, on the popular creed of fuch nations, always reckon the doftrine of a future ftate of rewards and punifhmerits as a fundamental article : And all fuc- cecdlng writers have given teftimony to the fame concerted plaa. /Efchylus, SophocleSy Euripides, Arijiophanes, whofe profeflion it was to reprefent the manners and opinions of all civilized people, whe- ther Greeks or thofe whom the Greeks called Barbarians, are full and exprefs to the fame purpofe. Further, it is recorded in the works of every ancient hiftorian and philofopher, which it would be endlefs to recite. But Plutarch, the moft knowing of them all,. Ihall fpeak for the reH: : " Examine |," fays he, in his traft againft Colotes the Epicurean, " the face of the globe, and you may find " Cities unfortified, unlettered, without a regular Magiftrate, or " appropriated habitations ; without poffeflions, property, or the *' ufe of money, and unlkilled in all the magnificent and polite arts. *' of life : But a City without the knowledge of a God, or the prac- *' tice of Religion : without the ufe of vows, oaths, oracles, and " facrifices to procure good, or of deprecatory rites to avert evil, *' no man can or ever will find." And in his confolation to ^pol~ lonius, he declares it § was fo ancient an opinion that good men JJjould be recompenfed after death, that he could not reach either to the autloor or original of it. To the fame purpofe had Cicero and Seneca. * Plato Rep. lib. xi. p. 364. E. T. II. Edit. Steph. 1578. fol. t Plutarch, Vita Lucul. OPXOH, (*»iJe juatlfi'aij, fJHtSi Sua-iaij It' ayaSoij, fiiiJi aTrolfoTTaTi y.ay.ut, aJtij sr'i' iSt irai yiyovui ^tatlif. Edit. Francf. tol. T. II. p. 1 1 25. E,. § — Kat Tav9' BTw; apx""* "^ waXaia hm%XiT »t»8/*i(r|iieva liiap if/~» iiri to iira^a.irat ajsij oT^£» ail 1-5 p^ovs riv i-^Xfl' ^^^ '"''" •^'''* wgi^To*, iMa to» »W£ifo» cilSia, ■nfx,iy)iJt Sux, Tt^Bf aru taonKTfiita, Edit, otcpli. 8°, 157^. T. I. p. 201. declared Sect.!. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 131 declared themfelves before him. The firfl: in thefe words ; *' * As our hmate ideas dilcover to us that there are Gods, whofe " attributes we deduce from reafon ; fo, from the confent of all na- *' iiom and people, we conclude that the foul is immortal." The other thus : " When f we weigh the queftion of the immortahty of the *' foul, the confent of all mankind, in their fears and hopes of a future ^'■Jlate, is of no fmall moment with us." In a word, Sextus Empiricus, when he would difcredit the argu- ment for the being of a God, brought from univerfal confent, ob- ferves that it would prove too much ; becaufe it would prove the truth of the poetic fables of hell, in which there was as general a concurrence |. But of all nations, the Egyptian was moft celebrated for its care in cultivating Religion in general, and the doflrine of a future ftate in particular : infomuch that one of the moft ancient Greek hiftorians affirms. They were the fir jl ivho built altars and eredied flatues and temples to the Gods ^.—The firfi nvho taught that the foul ■cf man was immortal. hx\^ Lucian X.t\\% us ||, That they were f aid to be the frfl who had the knowledge of the Gods. Which only amounts to this, that they were the firft and wifeft civil-policied people : as will appear prefently. But, at prefent, to prove the Magif rate's care from hence. For this account of the antiquity and univerfality of Religion is not given to evince its truth ; for which purpofe other writers have * — Ut Deos efle natura opinamur, qualcfiiuc fint ratione cor^nifcirmu ; fic perma- neie animos arbitramur confenfu nationum omnium. Tiifcu!. Difp. 1. i. c. 16. in initio, Ed. Oxon. 4°. T. 11. p. 245. f Cum de animarum Kternitate difleiimus, non leve momentum ap;:d noshabct con- fenfus hominum, aut timentinm inferos, aut colcntium. Ep. 117. X Adv. Phyficos, 1. viii. c. 2. Comment. § B(u/xt! Ti >^ a-/aXfta7a >i. naf BioTtri aironTjAen c(pi«.; wfiraj. Herod, Euterpe, C. 4.— njaroi ii >C, Toih To» Aoyo' AiytVlic! e.Viv oi iiVo.Tij «; at^^u-a -^vxri aSaralc-'i Ift. Id. ib. C. 1 23. II nj^Toi (XM »>Gfa-i,» Wyizlii >.iyinx> Ss^y 'i i'noi.:. ^«?i^K. De Dea Syria, § z. Edit. Reitzii. S 2 often 132 THE DIVINE LEGATIQN Book IT. often and luccefsfully employed it ;. but to manlfeft its use ; whicb will be beft done by inquiring, what fhare the Magiftrate had; in it. I. Now though no civilized nation was ever witliout a Religioni in general, and this do6\rine in particular ; and though it was of general belief even before civil policy was inftituted amongft man- kind ; yet were there formerly, as now there are, many favage nations, that when firft difcovered, appeared to have long loft all traces of Religion : A facl which implies fome extraordinary care in the Mngiftrate for its fupport and prefervation'. For if Religion-, hath been fupported in all places, at all times,^ and under ail cir- cumftances, where there was a magiftrate and civil policy ; and fcarce in any place, or under any circumftance, where thefe were wanting ; what other caufe than the Magiftrate's care and contri- vance can be afligned for its fupport ? If it fhould be faid, which, I think, is the only plaufible thing can be faid, that the rcafon why the Citizen had religion, and the Savage none, might be, that, amongft the advantages of civil life,, the improvement and cultivation of the mind is one ; and this ne- ceflarily brings in the knowledge of God and religious obfervance : It is fnfficient to reply, that all the national Religions of the ancient and modern Gentile world are io grofs and irrational, that they could not be the produft of refledion or improved reafon, but were plainly of the Maglftrate's fitting up, adapted to the capacity of minds yet rude and uncultivated, which could bear nothing of a finer texture than what was made out of the ftuff he found, the- genius of the Nation and the nature of the Government. To give the proof of what we have been faying : The Mexicans and Peruvians in the South, and the people of Canada in Njfth Arnerica, were on a level with regard to fpeculative knowledge. Or, if there were any natural advantage, the Canadians had it. Thefe, when difcovered, feemed to have no rudiments of Religion : The Mexicans and Peruvians had one formed, digefted, and eftab- iilhed : but fuch a religion as difcovered fomething worfe than mere ignorance, Sect. I. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 133 ignorance, but never could be the refult of improved thinking : However a religion it was which taught the great articles of the worfliip of a God, a providence, and a future ftate. Now how happened it that thefe two great empires had a Religion, and the Canadians none, but'that the Lawgivers of the former faw it necef- fary to countenance, add to, and perpetuate what they found *, for the benefit of the ftate ? which advantage the Canadians wanting, they loft, in courfe of time, the very foot-fteps of Religion. If this will not be allowed, it will be difficult to affign a reafon. Let us fuppofe, according to the obje£lion, that genlile Religion owes its birth to the improved and cultivated mind. Now, if we make colleftions from the nature of things, it will be found more likely that thefe northern Savages (hould longer preferve the notions of God, and the pradices of Religion, than the fouthern Citizens, uninfluenced by their Magiftrates. The way of getting to the knowledge of a God, befl fuited to the common capacity of man, is that very eafy one, the contem- plation of the works of nature : For this employment the Savage would have fitter opportunities given him by his vacant and feden- tary life ; and by his coiiflant viev/ of nature, which all his labours, and all his amufements, perpetually prelented to him naked and unlbphifticated. The Comie de Boulainvilliers, a writer by no means prejudiced in favour of religion, gives this reafon why the Arabians preferved io long, and with (o much purity, their notions of the Divinity +• On the other hand, Nature, by which we come to the know- ledge of a firft Caufe, would be quite hid from the fouthern Citizen, bufied in the works of barbarous arts, and inhuman practices ; or taken up with the (lavifh attendance on the will, and a more flavifb imitation of the manners of a cruel and capricious Tyrant. * See Book ni. Scft. 6. II. i. and pag. antepenult. + La Vie de Mohammed, p, 147. Ed. Amft. 1731. Je reviens volontiers :\ la louange de lafolitude des Arabes. Eile a conferve chcz eiix plus longtems, & avec moins de me. lange, lefentimcnt naturel de la veritable diviiiite, of. Nor, 734 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II. Nor, it we may credit the relations of travellers, do the nor- lliern people any more neglefl to exercife their reafon than the fou- thern : It is conftant, they are obferved to have founder intelleds"^ than thofe nearer the fun : which, being owing to the influence of climes, is found to hold all the world over. Notwithftanding this, the iflue proved juft the contrary ; and, as we faid, the Peruvians and Mexicans had a Religion, the Canadians none at all. Who then can doubt but that this was owing to the care and contrivance of the Magiftrate ? But indeed (wliich makes this in- ftance the more pertinent) the faSt confirms the reafoning. The Founders of thefe two monarchies pretended to be the meflengers and offspring of the Gods ; and, in the manner of the Grecian, and other Legiflators (of whom more hereafter) pretended to infpiiation, ellabliihed Religion, and conftituted a form of worfhip. II. But not only the exijience, but the genius too of pagan Reli- gion, fhews the Magiftrate's hand in its fupport. Firf^ From the origin of their Gods. Seccndiy, From the attributes given to them ; and thirdly. From the mode of pub lick wcrjl.np. FirJ}, The idolatry of the gentile States was chiefly the worfhip of dead men; and thefe, Kings, Lawgivers, and Founders of civil policy. The benefit accruing to the State both from the cenjecration and the worjloip of fuch Gods, fhews it to be a contrivance of the Lawgiver. For, i. Nothing could be a greater excitement to good government than to fliew the Magiftrate that the public benefits, which he (hould invent, improve, or preferve, would be rewarded with an Immortality of fame and glory ? Cicero gives this as the original of the civil apotheofis. " It may be eafily underftood, that " the reafon, why moft Cities profccuted the memory of their va- " liant men with divine honours, was to fpur up their Citizens to *' virtue, that every the moft deferving of them might encounter " dangers with the greater chearfulnefs, in the fervice of his country. *' And for this very caufe it was that, at Athens, Ere»^heus and his ** daughters Sect. X. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 135 " daughters were received into the number of the Gods*." 2. No- thing could make the people fo obfervant of their Laws, as a belief that the makers, framers, and adminiftrators of them were become Gods ; and did difpenfe a peculiar providence for their protedioii and fupport. The records of antiquity fupport this reafoning. The Egyptians were the firfl people who perfeded Civil-policy, and eftablifhed Religion : And they were the firft, too, who deified their kings, lawgivers, and publick benefaftors t ; as we may colled from the paflage of Herodotus, quoted above, which fays, they were thejirfl who built altars, and eredted statues and temples to the Gods: For the &re&\ng Jlatues was, by this hiftorian, efleemed a certain mark that the worfhipers believed the Gods had human natures ; as ap- pears from the reafon he gives why the Perfians had no Jlatues of their Gods, namely, becaufe they did not belitve as the Greeks, that the Gods had human natures "^.^ that is, they did not believe the Gods were dead men deified : This, as we fay, was a pradlice, in- vented by the Egyptians ; who, in procefs of time, taught the reft of the world their myftery §. So when arts and civil policy were brought into Greece by Cadmus and Ceres (the firft, though a Pheni- dan by birth, being an inhabitant of Thebes in Egypt ; and the other, though coming immediately from Sicily, was yet a natural * Atque in pleiifqiie civitatibus ititelligi pr.tcft, aiigenda? vlrtntis gratia, quo ]i- bentiiis reipublicre caufa periculum adiret uptimus quilq\ie, virorum fortium memoriam honore deorum immortalitim confecratam. Ob cam enim ipfamcaufam Ercchtheiis Athenis filisque ejus in nvimero deoriuu funt. Nat. Deon 1. iii. c. 19. Edit. Ox. 410. T. IJ. p. 503. iw^rsffiai' mv^V-oTai t?; aOaiaffias w» s»itJ{ xj 0ao•l^!^5 yiyocmi x«ii rot A'iynflot. Diod. Sic. I. i, j;. a. Sieph. Ed. j 'Jl; (ni» lixol Joit(;i», on ix atipuirojlttixi ttif/.i!ra,i Tb,- 9i«5, xx^iirt^ cI'EX^rjy;; sTvai. Clio. L. 131, And fee note [A], at the end of this Book. § TTpiiJiafSfio-Ki ii atahcKt v^o^ rr,t at;6i5 aa^nniiai, xj tj)» tu-i ^tra juej©- ^iaJ»tiiTi>, oVi 01' •an- Xaioralei tui Ba^Qa^ut, i|aif i'tuj Je Oc'/ixt's te )t) AirYnTIOI, ma( u» xj tl ^mtoi tsa^iSaSot arSfuvot,, SiBS i»o'uifov fiiyWui Ta; Ta ■et^o; Ttit fiiulixriv Xf'"' 'ufo'las. 1 'C, xarec T» iS iroii^oitla; ta (9»i. it'.o- yirai Tirirei iCi'Bio^.tiUi aiTtUi »ya62y hybiiJ-SKi, ii^BiUi ■afoTixiikii, Philo BJbl. npudEufeb.Pra.-p. Lvang. 1, ii. c 9. Egyptian] 136 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book IL Egyptian) then, and not till then, began the cuftom of deifying dead men ; which foon over-ran all Greece and the reft of Europe *. 2. The attributes and qualities ajfigned to their Gods, always cor- refponded with the nature and genius of the government. If this was gentle, benign, compaffionate, and forgiving; goodnefs.and mercy were moft effential to the Deity : But if fevere, inexorable, captious, or unequal j the very Gods were Tyrants ; and expiations, atonements, luftrations, and bloody facrifices compofed the lydem of religious worfliip. In the words of the great Poet, " Gods partial, changeful, paffionate, unjuft, '• Whole attributes were rage, revenge, and luft, " Such as the fouls of cowards might conceive, *' And form'd like tyrants, tyrants would believe f." But 3. The mode of public worJJjip was alone fufficient to betray the Mover of the whole machine. The obje£l of what we call Re- ligion, being Gad, confidered as the creator and preferver of a fpecics of rational beings, the fubjeB of it muft needs be each individual of that fpecies. This is that idea of Religion, which our common reafon approves. But now, in ancient paganifm, Religion was a very different thing : It had for hsfubje^ not only the natural man, that is, each Individual ; but likewife the artificial man. Society ; by and for whom, all \.\\q public rites and ceremonies of it were in- ftituted and performed. And while that part of pagan Religion, whofe fubje£l were individuals, bore an inferior part, and was con- * Sir Ifaac Newton, who, probably, had not this matter in his thoughts, hath yet a emarkable paffage to this purpofe in his Chronology of the Greeks: " Idolatry (fays he) ' began in Chaldiea and Egypt .—T\\e. countries upon the Tigris and the Nile being ex- ' feeding fertile, were firft frequented by mankind, and grew firft into kingdoms ; and ' THEREFORE began firft to adore their dead kings and queens : — Every city fet up the ' woriliip of its own founder and kings, and by alliances and conquells they fpread this ' worfliip, and at length the Phcenlcians and Egyftians brought into Europe the pradicc ' of deifying the dead," Pag. 161. f Effay on Man. feffed Sect.i. of MOSES demonstrated. 137 fefled to be under an unequal Providence, the confideration of which brought in the doftrine of a future ftate for the fupport of God's government ; the other, whofe fubjedl was the artificial man, Society, taught a more equal Providence, adminiftred to the State. The confequence of which was, tliat ReHgion and Government ran into one another ; and prodigies and portents were as familiar as civil edicts ; and as conftantly bore their (hare in the public adnii- niftration : For the Oracles, without which nothing was proje6lcd or executed, always denounced them as rational diredlions, declara- tive of divine favour, or difpleafure; in which particuljrs, as fuch, were not at all concerned : So that to accept or to avert the omen ; to gratulate the mercy, or deprecate the judgment, the conflant method was the revival of old rites, or the inllitution o^ new. A reformation of manners, or enforcement of fumptuary laws, never made part of the ftate's atonement to the Gods. The oddnefs and notoriety of this fad fo forceably ftruck Mr. Bayles imagination, that, miftaking this for the whole of Paganifm, he too haftily concluded, that the worjloip offalfe Gods in the ancient •world, did not at all infuence morals*: And from thence formed an argument to fupport his favourite queftion in behalf of Athtifm, This was a ftrangc conclufion : For though it be indeed true, that the public part of pagan Religion had no influence on morals, it is utterly falfe that the private part had not : For in the dodrine of a future ftate, which was the foundation of, and infeparable from, this founder part of pagan Religion whofe fubjedt was the individual, the merit and demerit, to which rewards and punifhments were an- nexed, was virtue and vice only. This will be proved at large in the fourth feftion of the prefcnt book : Though I am ready to allow, that the nature and adminiftration of the public part of pagan Re- ligion did lead individuals into many wrong conclufions concerning the efficacy of exterior ads of worfliip. * Penfees diverfes fur un comete, &c. And Rcponfc aux Quertions d'un Provincial. And Continuation des Penfees diveri'ts, &c. Vol. I. T But 138 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II. But what feems to have occafioned Mr. Bayks's miftake (befides his following the Fathers, who in their declamations againft paga- nifm have laid a great deal to the fame purpofe *) was his Hot re- fle£ting that ancient Hiftory only prefents us with one part of the influence of Paganifm, that which it had on the Public as a body : The other, the influence it had on individuals, it paflTes over in filence, as not its province. Whoever now confiders the genius of Paganifm in this view, (and unlefs he confiders it in this view he will never be able to judge truly of it f) can hardly doubt but that the civil magiftrate had a great hand in modelling Religion, What it was which enabled him * Yet St. Auftin himfelf cannot but own that the Mysteries however (of which the Reader will hear a great deal in the 4th Seftion of this Book) were principally inftituted for the promoting of virtue and a good life, even where he is accufing Paganifm in general for its negleft of moral virtue : " Nee nobis nefcio quos fufurros paucifliniorum auribus *' anhelatos & arcana velut religione traditos jadent, quibus vitae probitas caftitafque " difcatur." — Civ. Dei, 1. ii. c. 6. — " lidem ipfi Dxmones — perhibentur in adytis fuis, *' fecretifque penetralibus dare quidam bona prscepta de moiibus quibufdam velut •' eleftis facratis fuis — Proinde malignitas dsmonum nifi alicubi fe, quemadmodum «' fcriptum in noftris litteris novimus, transfiguret in angelos lucis, non implet negotium " deceptionis. Foris itaque populis celeberrimo ftrepitu impietas impura circumfonat, " & intus paucis caftitas fimulata vix fonat : prsbentur propatula pudendis, & fecreta " laudandis ; deciis latet, &: dedecus patet." 5:c. c. 26, ■j- What is here faid of the genius of Paganifm well accounts for a circumftance in an- cient hiUory, which very much embarrafles the modern critics. They cannot conceive how it happened, that the beft ancient hillorians, who undeiftood fo well what belonged to the nature of a Compofition, and how to give every fort of work its due form, and were befides free from all vulgar fuperftition, fliould abound fo much in defcriptions of religious rites and -ceremonies; and in relations of omens, prodigies, and portents. Many an idle hypothecs hath been framed to give a folution of this difficulty; and many a tedious work compiled to juflify thefe ancient hiftorians, upon mere modern ideas. But now a plain and eafy anfwer may be given to it. This part of pagan Religion was fo interwoven with the tranfadlions of State, that it became ejfential to civil hiftory. And how much foever it may be fnppofed to have deformed ancient ftory, yet the Critic and Philoibpher gain by what difgufts the delicacy of the Politician; the Greek and Roman hiftory being the repofitory of all that concerns (ht public part of pagan religion. to Sect. I. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 1.39 to give this extraordinary caft to Paganlfm, is not difficult to dif- cover: It could be nothing but th^t popular difpojition arlling from, and the neceflary confequcnce of, thofe general notions, which, by his contrivance and encouragement, had overfpread the heathen world? I. That there were local tutelary Deities, who had taken upon themfelves, or were intrufted with, the care and protedlion of particular Nations and People ; (of which, more hereafter.) 2. That thofe great benefadlors of mankind, who had reduced the fcattered tribes and clans into civil Society, were become Gods. 3. and laftly, That their fyftems of Laws and civil Inftitutes were planned and digefted by the diredion of the legiflator's patron- Deity *. On the whole then, The foregoing confiderations of the prefer- vation of Religion in general ; the origine of the pagan Gods ; their attributes ', and the mode of public worjfoip^ will, I am perfuaded, incline the reader to think that, for the univerfality of religious belief the world was chiefly indebted to the civil Magiilrate ; how much foever the illegitimate or unnatural conftitution of particular States, or the defediv^e views of particular Lawgivers, con- tributed to deprave the true Religion of nature ; or, if you will, the patriarchal. The learned St. Aufii)!^ who excelled in the knowledge of antiquity, feems to have been determined by this way of thinking, when he gives it, as the refult of his enquiries ; that the civil Maglflrate had a large fliare in pagan fuperilitiou. His words are thefe f? " — Which indeed feems to have been done *' on no other account but as it was the bufinefs of princes, out of '* their wifdom and civil prudence, to deceive the people in their *• Religion — princes, under the name of religion, perfuaded the * See the beginniug of the next fedion. ^ —Quod utiqiie non aliam ob caufam fa£lum videtur, nifi quia hominiim princi- pum veliit pnidentium !t fapientium negotium fult populum in religionibus fillere — Homines principes ea, qui vana efle noverint, rcligionis nomine populis tanqiiam vera fuadebant : Hoc mode eos civili locietati velut ardius allignntes, quo fiibditos pofiiderent. De Civit. Dei, 1. iv. c. 32. T 3 ♦' people i^o THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II. " people to believe thofe things true which they themfelves knew ta *' be idle fables. By this means, for their own eafe in government^ *• tying them the more clofely to civil Society." But if now it fhould be objeded, that it was natural for the peo>- pie, left to themfelves, to run into thofe fuperftitions, we may rea- dily grant it without prejudice to the ai^gument : For they arc always fuch notions as are apt to be entertained and cherilhed by vulgar minds, whofe current the wife Magiftrate is accuftomed to turn to his advantage. For to think him capable of new modelling the human mind, by making men religious whom he did woljind fo, is, as will be fhewn hereafter, a fenfelefs whimfy, entertained by the Atheift to account for the origin of Religion . And, when it is feen that all thefe various modes of fuperftition concurred to pro- mote the Magiftrate's purpofe, it can hardly be doubted but he gave them that general direction. The particular parts of gentile Re- ligion, which further ftrengthen and confirm this reafoning, are not here to be infifled on. Their original will be clearly feen, when we come to fhew the feveral methods which the Magiftrate employed for this great purpofe. What thefe methods were, the courfe of the argument now leads us to confider, SECT. II. IT hath been fhewn in general, from the effect, that Lawgivers and founders of civil policy did indeed fupport and propagate Religion. We fliatl now endeavour to explain the causes of that efFe£t, in a particular enumeration of the arts they employed to that purpofe. ■ • I. The first ftep the Legiflator took, was to pretend a Miffion and revelation from fome God, by whofe command and direction he had framed the Policy he would eftablifh. Thus Amafis and Mneves,^ lawgivers of the Egyptians (from whence this cuftom fpread over Greece Sect. 2. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 141 Greece and yi/in) pretended to receive their laws froni Mercury; Zoroajier the lawgiver of the Ba£irtanSy and Zamolxis lawgiver of the Geies, from Fe/Ja ; Zathruujics the lawgiver of the Jlrimajp'i, from a good fpirit or genius ; and all thefe moft induftrioufly and profefledly propagated the dodrlne of a future flate of rewards and punifliments. Rhadamanthus and Minos lawgivers of Crete, and Lycaonoi A''cadia, pretended to an intercourfe with Jupiter; Trip- tolemits lawgiver of the Athenians, affeded to be infpired by Ceres ; Pythagoras and Zaleucus, who made laws for the Crotoniates and Locrians, afcribed their inftitutions to Mimrva : Lycurgus oi Sparta, profefled to acl by the dire6tiou of Apollo ; and Romulus and Numa of Rome put themfelves under the guidance of Confus, and the Goddefs Egeria'*. In a word, there is hardly an old Lawgiver on record, but what thus pretended to revelation, and the divine afllf- tance. But had we the loft books of Ltgijlators written by Hermippus, Iheophrajlus, and Apollodorus t, we fhould have had a much fuller lift of thefe infpired ftatefmen, and doubtlefs, many further lights on the fubjedt. The fame method was pradlifed by the founders o{\hQ great outlying empires , as Sir William Temple calls them. Thus the iirft of the Chinefe monarchs was called Fagjotir or Fanfur, the Jon of Heaven, as we are told by the jefults, from his pretenfions to that relation. The royal commentaries of Peru inform us, that the founders of that empire were Ma?igo Copac, and his wife and fifter Coya Mama, who proclaimed themfelves the fon and daughter of the Sun, fent from their father to reduce mankind from their favage and beftial life, to one of order and fociety. Tuifco the founder of the German nations pretended to be fent upon the fame meflage, as appears from his name, which fignifies the interpreter J, that is, of the Gods. Thor and Odin, the lawgivers of the Wejlern * Diod. Sic. 1. i. & V. Ephorus apud Strabonem, 1. x.— telle vetcri fcriptore apud Suidam in [Auitaai.] — Arift. apud Scliol. Find. ad. 01} mp. x. •}• Athen. 1. xiv. D. Laertius. J Vide Sheringham, De Anglonim gentis crigine, p. 86. Goths^ 142 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book It. Goths, laid claim likewife to infpiratlon and even to divinity *. The Revelations of Mahomet are too well known to be infifted on. But the race of thefe infpired Lawgivers feems to have ended in Gen^ gbizcan the founder of the Mogul empire +. Such was the univerfal cuflom of the ancient world, to make Gods and Prophets of their firfl kings and lawgivers. Hence it is, that Plato makes legijlation to have come from God, and not from man % : and that the conftant epithets to kings, in Homer, are AIOrENEIS born of the Gods, and AIOTPEof<.i to* Myt^tiy, a' t»v ^.tv ■aric^a Ajo;, Tov ^i- Taj' 'AtoXXui®' Ifna-a-na. ratU; nh-itfitai' k^ mat ETSfOis Jt roXfioJiv aOtttri ira^xJiJoTfH tSto to y'tt&- ■xn-, i~iyowij i7raj|ai, xj zaoXXut ayaijiv airjj» — Eire »c 1PP0S T»)v vwEPop^nv >y ovvx^i* rui* iv^sTv Xtyo^tvo'i', T«-- v&^yj a7riW/\o4'awa Ton op,^\oy, juaA^on iffaxao-EO-Gai JiaXaSovlaj. L. i. p. 59. Edit. Steph. * Quintilian L. VIII. C. 6. (pag. 415. Edit. Oxon. 1693, 4to). Jc Tropls, faya that Pafior Populi, though ufed by Homer, is fo poetical that he would not venture to- life it in an oration : and ranks it with Virgil's — f^olucres pettnis remigare. What could ixicafion fo ftrange a piece of Criticifm, but that when Quintilian wrote under the Tyranti of Rome, the People had loft the very idea of the Kingly Office ? + "Et» Je Ta «§o« T»5 Seas ^aUeifSai kil iS%^ovl» Jiaipijojlaj, riT\i> te ya^ ^cQiilcct, to ma^iTv tj- ■B>«f»vo(i6» iirJ Twv Toiaray, Jav SimSalfxiiia wj/Lil^uan iT»a» Toi ajjjovTa >^ JjodiC^iiv Ti«» SeJv ^ to~i; "i-WriTt itj to"; Bajtafoi;* ^o^lllXoJ yaf itTZf, bti arforaff**!®* "'"S {Hf"- Strabo, Geogr. 1. xvi. Edit. Cafaub. p. 524. lin. 16. Legiflators Sect.2. of MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 14.5 Legiflarors gave laws to a wili'mg people^ on the ftrength of their perfoual chara£l:er of virtue and wifdom; and were called upon to that office, in which nothing was wanting to beget the neceflaiy veneration to him who difcharged it. And though it might poffibly have happened to a people to be fo far funk into brutality, as to be difinclined towards the recovery of a reafonable nature, like thofe with whom it is faid Orpheus had to deal ; who {being favages, without the kno'wledge of morality or law) reduced them into fo- ciety, by rcommending to them piety to the Gods, and inj}ru^ing ihem in the ways of fuperfiltion * : yet this was not the cafe of the gene- rality of thofe with whom tliefe Lawgivers were concerned : and therefore if we would affign a caufe of this pretence to revelation as extenfive as the flidl, it muft be that which is here given. But, adly, we find, that where Religion was previoufly fettled, no in- fpiration was pretended. On this account neither Draco nor Solon, Lawgivers of Athens, laid claim to any : for they found Religion well fecured by the inflitutions of Triptolemus and Ion. And we know, that, had pretended infpiration been only, or principally, for the eafier introduction and reception of civil policy, the fanguinary laws of Draco had flood in more need of the fanClion of a revela- tion, than any other of antiquity. Indeed, Maximus Tyrius goes fo far as to fay, that Draco and Solon prefcribed nothing in their laws, concerning the Gods, and their worfliip t ; which, if true, would make as much againfl us, on the other hand. But in this he is mlftaken. Porphyry quotes an exprefs law of Draco's con- cerning the mode of divine worfhip. Let the Gods and our own country heroes be publicly worfl}ipped, according to the efuiblifjjed rites ; when privately, according to every niatCs abilities, with terms of the greatejt regard and reverence \ with thi firfl fruits of their labours, * — 'Oti 9ii{i;i«iij 0.1a,- THt a»6{i»rn;, >(J bti ("S^i, bti 'ioub;, iIJot*; ii'; ^fi7i?aiuo»/a» a-^ayif, k. \m\ti %iatZut c?»j«««Xic-a5. Heraclit. de Incred. c. 23. X^^nt ravra i^ild^mrn, hit So'>«ii 'i i:rip aiTr» yiyfapiv, vii cI Apxcil©- (7iu«; rouci. DiHert. sixiy. p. J83. Edit. Lus^d. i6_30, 8vo. Vol. I. U and 146 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book IT- and with annual libatiotts *. Audocides f quotes another of Solon, which provides for the due and regular celebration of the Eleusi- NIAN MYSTERIES. Athenaus does the fame. And how confider- able a part thefe were of divine worftiip, and of what importance to the very effence of religion, we fhall fee hereafter. 2. As to a provifionfor the perpetuity of national laws and injh~ lutions ; This entered not into the intention of the old Greek legif- latlon ; nor, If it had, could it have been obtained by giving them a divine original. Amongft the wild projefts of the barbarous eaftern policy, one might find, perhaps', fomething like a fyftem oi immutable \:i\\s; but the Grecian Lawgivers were too well ac- quainted with the nature of man, the genius of Society, and the viciffitude of human things, ever to conceive fo ridiculous a defign. Befides, the Egyptian legiflation, from which they borrowed all their civil wifdom, went upon very different principles. It direfted public laws to be occafionally accommodated to the variety of times, places, and manners. But had they aimed at perpetuity, the belief of a divine impolition would not have ferved the turn; for it never entered their heads, that civil inftitutes became irrevocable by their iffuing from the mouth of a God ; or that the divinity of the fanc- tion altered the mutability of their nature : the honour of this dif- covery is due to certain modern writers, who have found out that divine authority reduces all its commands to one and the fame fpecies. We have a notable inflance of this in the condud: of Lycurgus. He was the only exception to the general method, and' fingular in the idle attempt of mxiking his laws perpetuah For his whole fyftem being forced and unnatural, the. fenfe of that imper- fcdion, it is probable, put him upon the expedient of tying them * ©sai ti/aSv >^ "Hjwa; II^oipiss It %tntS, Ixofj-tux!; vs'/aoi; oralsloi;, iMa. xstli .hi)ia.jj.i» alt si^nixix >^ awa5X«~i ""?"'''>'& '^'^'*'''"5 ^"''''''"f' De Abft. 1. iv. § 22. (Edit.,Cantabr..«i^^^, >8vo;) ac- cording to the emendations of Petit and Valentinus. — The law is thus introduced, + Orat. Usft UvTr.(i.m, apud Decern Orat. . .on -Sect. j. OF MOSES D E M O N S T R A T E D. 1 47 on an utuvilling people. But then he did not apply divine authority to this purpofe ; for, though- he pretended to infpiration hke the reft, and had iiis revelations from Apollo, yet he well knew that the authority of -i^/xj//;" would not be thought fufficient to change the nature of pofitive laws : and therefore he bound the People by an oath, to obferve his policy till his return from a voyage, which = he had dttermined beforehand never to bring to that period. -' Having (hewn that there was no need of a pretence to revelation, for the eilabliniment of chil Folic) , it follows, that it was made for the fake of Religion. SECT. III. THE SECOND ftep the Legiflators took to propagate and eftab- lifti Religion, was to make the general dodrine of a Provi- dence (with which tliey prefaced and introduced their laws) the gr^at fanftion of their inftitutes. To this, Plutarch, in his traft againft Colotes the Epicurean, refers, where he obferves, that Coloies himjelf praijes it ; that, in civil Injlitutes, the firjl and 7noJi important article is the belief of the Gods. And fo it was (fays he) that, -with vows, caths, divinations, and omens, 1-ycurgus fanBified the Lace- demonians, Numa the Romans, ancient Ion the Athenians, and Deu- calion all the Greeks in general: And by hopes and fears kept up amongjl them the awe a?id reverence of religion *. On this pradtice was formed the precept of the celebrated Archpas the Pythagorean ; which feifl, as we fhall fee hereafter, gave itfelf up more profefl'edly to legiflation ; and produced the moffc famous founders of civil policy. This Lawgiver in the fragments of his work de lege, pre- ferved by Stobaus, delivers himfelf in this manner : The firji' law * — 'A^^a fciv ii% yi K, K«XuT»i5 Jirainr Jialafiu; t3» voftoiy, vrptiT^n Iftt i <»tft Sict» ^s'|a, >y jiiytrot. iut uy.a i^ sVo* Ta iBifi Sly; iC, Jalf^ovw; j^ yovs'w;, j^ o^«5 r» xaXa >tj tij*ik wfwT* Tifli^Sai, Stob. de Rep. Serm. xli. p. 269. 1. 13. Tiguri, fol. 1599* •f- Arift. 1. ii, c, 12. p. 449. Edit. Du Val. X Differt. on the Epiitles of Phalaris, with an Anfwer to the objeftions of Mr. Boyle. ever Skct. 3- OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 149 ever fuch a Lawgiver exiting. We {hall be the lefs furprifed at this paradox, when we come to know the charafter and ftudies of the man : he was by profeffion an hiftorian, but turned his talents to invent, to aggravate, and expole the faults and errors of all pre- ceding writers of name and reputation. Polybius, Strabo, and Dio- dorus Siculus, three of the wifeft and mofl: candid hlftorians of Greece, have concurred to draw him in the moft odious colours. The firft fpeaks of him in this manner: How he came to be placed amojigft the principal •writers of h'Jlory^ I know not. — He deferves neither credit nor pardon of a?iy one ; having fo manifejlly tranfgrejfed all the rules of decency and decorum in his excejjive calumnies, fpringing from an innate malignity of heart *. This envious rabid temper, joined to a perverfity of mind, delighting in contradiftion, gained him the title of EPITlMiEUS, the calumniator. And, what is a certain mark of a bafe and abje£t heart, he was as exceffive in his flattery ; as when he makes Timoleon greater than the greateji Gods +. He took fo much pleafure in contradiding the moft re- ceived truths, that he wrote a long treatlfe, with great fury and ill language, to prove that the bull of Phalarls was, a inere fable. And yet Diodorus and Polybius, who tell us this, tell us llkewlfe, that the very bull itfelf was exlftlng in their time : To all which, he was lb little folicitous about truth, that Suidas fays, he was nick- named rPAOSTAAEKTPIA, a compofer of old wives fables. Polybius informs us with what juftice it was given him. In cenfuring the faults of others J he puts on fuch an air of feveriiy and confidence^, as if he himf elf were exempt from failings, and flood in no need of indul- gence. Tet are his own hiflories /luffed with dreams and prodigies, ivitk the mofl wild and improbable fables. In port, full of old %vives vn tfWptiM aix^Mt. Excerpt, ex 1. xii. Hill. f Suidas in Timceo. Tir-at®- H i*iii" ^o'"' Tt,uoAie»l^ rit 'nfKpxnf^l*^v) @:u>, wonders. 150 THE DIVINE LEGx\TION Book II. ivonders, and of the loweft and bafcft fuperjlitwn *. Agreeable to all this, Clemens Alexandrinus gives him as the very pattern of a fa- bulovis and fatyrie writer. And he appeared in every refpedt of fo ill a character to Mr. Bayle, that this excellent Critic did not Icruple to fay, that, " iii all appearance, he had no better authority *' when he denied th-itZaleucus had given laws to the Locrians -f" To fay all in a word, he was the Oldmixon \ of ihs Greeks ; and yet this is the man whom the learned writer hath thought fit to oppofe to all antiquity, againft Zaleucus's legiflation and exigence. It appears the more extraordinary, becaufe he himfelf hath fur- nifhed his reader with a violent prefumption againft limaeus's au- thority, where he fays §, That Polybius charges him tvith falfe re- prefentations relating to the Locrians. He adds indeed that nothing is now extant that fiews Polybius thought Timzeus mijiaken concern- ing Zaleucus. But fmce Polybius quotes a law as a law of Zaleu- cus, it feems a proof, in fo exaft a writer, of his being well allured that, amongft Timseus's falftioods concerning the Locrians, one was his denying Zaleucus to be their Lawgiver. Timsus's reafons are not come down to us from Antiquity : But the fragments of Polybius ||, mentioning his outrageous treatment tjf Ariftotle concerning the origin of the Locrians, fpeak of one Echecrates a Locrian, from whom Tim^us boafted he had received information on certain points in queftion : Hence the learned Critic, as it would feem, concludes this to have been a part of the Lo- crian' s intelligence, that there was no fuch man as Zaleucus **. As if, * Out©- 7«f f» (*»» '*"« Tm* CTtXa; xaJn/oftatJ 'cro^xi^ \v\' h Jf raK JJi'ai; ■i7ro^i^ TtfotTiuv t^ fUi^Zt a:ri9«»uv, ;^ ffu?.^^€J^lv j^ JsKri^iftoyia; iiyi»»as >i, Ttfoltiat ; yt/vaixii^t sVi •Er^i?^l5■ Excerpt. de Virt. & Vit. ex 1 xii. + Et apparemraent il ne fut pas mienx fonde, quand il nia que Zaleucus eut donne des loix a ce people, [les Locriens.] Timee, Rem. F. % See Clarendon and Whitlock compared. § Diflert. upon Ph:;laris, p. 337. Jl Excerpta ex Pol) bio de Virt. & Vitiis, ex I. xii. ** P. 336. Differt. upon Phal.uis. becaufe Sect. 3- OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 15T becaufe Timieus relied on Echecrates's information in the difpute between him and Ariftotle, therefore Echecrates muft, of necel- fity, fupport all his paradoxes concerning that people. But admit Echecrates to have Seen of the fiame opinion with Timasus, in this matter ; Is he, who, for aught we know, might be as fingular and as whimfical, in his love of contradiftion, as Timaeus himfelf, aa evidence to be oppofed to Cicero's ? who tells us, that his Clients the Locrians had, in his time, a Tradition of Zakucui's legiflation *. And we may well prefume, that Cicero, Inquifitive, and even curious, as he was in matters of antiquity, would examine this point with care ; and, had their archives reclaimed it, he had hardiv thought it worth his while to mention their Tradition. But, fays the learned Critic, if Echecrates, in that age, did not believe there ivas any Zaleucus, he is certainly as credible as Cicero's Locrians, ivho came fo many generations afterwards, after fo many revolutions and changes in their Government -f. This reafoning has fmall force, becaufe, from the fame premifes, we may argue juft the other way, and fay, that if the Tradition kept its ground through all thofe changes and revolutions of State, it would feem to have had a very flrong foundation. The authority then of Timaeus againfl the exlftence and legifla- tion of Zaleucus in general, is of no weight. Let us next fee what the learned Critic hath to urge againft the authenticity of thofe laws which go under Zaleucus' s name. His arguments are of two forts : the one drawn from the dialeSl, and from the ufe of feveral -words, which are Indeed later than his time ; the other, from Zaleucus''s being no Pythagorean. i.Thfwords objedled to, are thcfe; Aeifldg ilj 'cs-ayj{ocg~l(TO}x.iXr,criov — Kca-iiov — Tpuf(fSiMc. This, and the fragments being written in the commoji dialect, Inftead of the Doric, are, in the Critic's opinion, fufficient evidence of the forgery. * De Legibus, 1. ii. c. 6. Edit. Ox. 4to. T. III. p. 141. t P. 336. Diffcrt. upon Pliahiris. He I5S THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II- He has employed a deal of good * learning, to prove the words \o be all later than the time of Za/eucus. I^et us fee then the moft that can be made of this fort of argu- ment. And becaufe it is the befl: approved, and readieft at hand, for the detetflion of forgery, and fuppofed by fome not a little to afFe6l the facred writings themfelves, we will enquire into its force in general. It muft be owned, that an inftrument offered as the writing of any certain perfon, or age, which hath words or phrafes pofterior to its date, carries with it the decifive marks of forgery. A public Deed, or Diploma, fo difcredited, is loll: for ever. And to fuch, was this canon of criticifm firft apphed with great fuccefs. This encouraged following critics to try it on writings of another kind ; and then, for want of a reafonable diftiniStion, they began to make very wild work indeed. For though in compofitions of abJiraSl Jpeculation, or of mere fancy and atnujenient ^ this touch might be applied with tolerable fecurity, there being, for the moft part, no occafion or temptation to alter the didlion of fuch writings, ef- pecially in the ancient languages, which fuffered fmall and flow change, becaufe one fort of thele works was only for the ufe of a few learned men ; and the principal rarity, and often the beauty, of the other fort, confifted In the original phrafe ; yet in public and pradical writings of Law and Religion, this would be found a very fallacious teft : It was the matter only which was regarded here. And, as the matter refpedled the whole people, it was of importance that the words and phrafes fhould be neither obfcure, ambiguous, nor equivocal : This would neceffitate alterations iu the ftyle, both as to words and phrafes. Hence it appears to me, that the anfwer, which commentators give to the like objecflion againft the Pentateuch, is founded in good fen fe, and fully juf- tlfied by the folotion here attempted. The Religion, Law, and * From p. 346 to 356 of the DiffcrtcUion. Hiftor/ Sect. 3- OF iMOSES DEMONSTRATED. ijj Hiftory of the Jews were incorporated ; autl confequcntly, it was the concern of every one to underftand the Scriptures. Nor doth the fuperflitious regard, well known to have been long paid to the nvords, and ev^en letters of fcripture, at all weaken the force of this argument : for that fuperftitien arofe but from the time when the maforet doftors fixed the reading, and added the vowel points. I have taken the opportunity, the fubjefl afforded me, to toucli upon this matter, becaufe it is the only argument of moment, urged by Spinofa, againfl the antiquity of the Pt';;/r7rf«c/6 j on wiiich antiquity the general argument of this work is fupported. The application of all this is very eafy to the cafe in hand : The fragment of Zaieucus was part of a body of Laws, which the people were obliged to underftand ; fo that a change of old words and obfolete phrafes would be neceflary : and to make this an argument againfl: the antiquity of the fragment, would be the fame good reafonlng as to fuppofe, that the remains of the Twelve Tables, or the earlier laws in our common Statute books, were the forgeries of later times, becaufe full of words unknown to the refpe61:ive ages in which thofe laws were compofed and enafted. But, indeed, the change of obfcure words, or obfolete phrafes, for others more clear and intelligible, was a common pradice amongfl: the Pagan writers. Porphyry, making a colle(5lion of heathen oracles, profefles to have given them juft as he found them, with- out the leaft alteration ; except, fays he, changing an obfcure word, now and then, for one more clear : a pradice, which, for its fairnefs and frequency, he ranks with amending a corrupted word, or reforming the metre *. But this licence was not confined to the Ancients ; for, being encouraged by the reafon of things, it was likely enough (as is, in fad, the cafe) that all times fliould * iTtii xdyu Ti S.-a? ftal^ufofwui^i,- aJtv bti ■srforiSjixa, UTf k^iTKoi rut %fr,78iM»i» »o>iftaTi'»' «i' fii o-s Xe'Iu V»''e'!^«''"" ^'^e^D'-^^, i nPOSTO SA*ErrEPON METABEBAHKA, S to ixil^ov ^^Xe^TO» it^wxifiirK, i Ti rSf /xi r,'os T^y ■srji9tonc, for that was the language of thel^ocn. — The Lawi c/^ Zaieucus therefore are cominentitious, becaife they are not in Doric %, What hath been faid above will fhew this argument to have fmall force ; but it is urged with a peculiar ill grace by the learned Critic, who, in his dijjertaiion upon Phalaris, hath difcovered, that Ocellus Lucanus wrote the treatife Of the nature of the univerfe in Doric § : and from thence rightly concludes, it ought to he acknozvledged for a genuine work, which hitherto learned men have doubted of, from this very bufnefs of its being zvrit in the common dialeSl. For we now fee that every word of the true book is faithfully preferved \ the Doric being only changed into the ordinary language, at the fancy of fame copier ||. Now, furely, the rafli fufpicions of thofe learned men in the cafe of Ocellus Lucanus, fhould have made him more cautious in indulging his own. He fliould have concluded, if this liberty was taken with books of mere fpeculation, it was more likely to be indulged in works fo neceflary to be underftood as a body of * Dennis Saiivage, Avcrtifement aux Leifleurs. t Rech. L. viii. c. 3. X P. 135, and 358. § P- 47. I P- 49. laws ; Sect. 3- OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 155 laws ; efpecially when he had obferved (after Porphyry) that the Doric is always clouded with obfcurity *. Hence, doubtlcfs, trans-dtale^ing was no rare praftice. For, be- fides this inftance of Ocellus Lucanus, we have another, in the poems going under the name of Orpheus : which, Jamblichus fays, were written in the 'Doric dialect. But now the fragments of thefe poems, left us by thofe who did not write in Dori€, are in the com- mon dialed. It is plain then, they have been tram-diak^led. 2. The learned Critic's other argument for the impofture runs thus : Tloe Report of Zalcucus being a Pythagorean, was gathered from fame pajfages in the fflem of laws afcribed to him, for where clfe could they meet with it f fo that, if it can be proved he was more ancient than Pythagoras, this falfe flory of his being a Pythagorean being taken from that fyficm, mufl conviSl it of being a cheat f. He then proceeds to prove him more ancient than Pythagoras ; which he does, on the whole, with great force of learning and reafoning, though his arguments are not all equally well chofen. As where, he brings this for a proof that Zalcucus was no fcholar of Pythago-. ras, " Becaufe he afcribed all his laws to Minerva, from whom he *' pretended to receive them in dreams : which (in the learned *' Critic's opinion) has nothing of a Pythagorean in it. For Py- *' thagoras's fcholars afcribed every thing to their mafler : it was " always ccvTcg e4 'ErfEjoyl/^a; tiiai (Mayac) tut ArytJrliUH" K, Sio xar' «£Tt)s ilwi if ?c*5) »7«6i» JcJfco.c, x; KAKON A.'IIMONA, Diog. Laert. Vit. Phil. Piooem. Seg. 9. Edit. Sect. J. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 159 tauch dlfputed, yet became at length the diftinguu'huig doclrhie of the Pythagoreans. Plutarch, fpeaking of Pythagoras's opuiion of the firfl: principle, fays, that that philofopher called the Monady God, and Duad^ the evil genius *. Which Duadxh^ Pythago- reans ufed extremely to vilify, as the caufe of all evil, under the name of the bad principle, as Plutarch would make us believe f. The application of this doftrine I fuppofe Pythagoras might borrow from ZaleuciiS^ and here again pofterity be miftaken only in the original author. However^ we may colled from the fame Plutarch, that that opinion was cultivated by all the ancient Lawgivers. For this learned nian, who favoured the notion of two principles, the one good, the other evil, affeds, I obferve, to draw every an- cient writer, who but mentions an evil daemon, into his own fe6t» In his treatife of Ifis and Ofiris, he fpeaks to this purpofe, *' That " it was a moft ancient opinion, delivered as well by Lawgivers *' as Divines, that the world was neither made by Chance, neither *' did one Caufe govern all tilings, without oppofition |." Edit.' Amftel. 1692, 410. Oi-i. JJ* |it5i TJTvnANY IIAAAinN rSt aroTwTa7o» ataynajdujiit- li tJ x«?ia> K, ix/faioi, iSl^^io^©• ixiitut ^0155(5 fiila Ti» Tt^6i/1i» li^fujm' Plut. Vica Dioms, ia initio. * ll;9«')'0(a5 tJ» MfX^' TV' fivi ftoviJa Sscv, it, t' i^aSov v;ti{ iri» ''i t2 £»o; ^i/5,-' rJiir a ai^ii-otoiaia, AAIMONA, ^ to KAKON, wt^l ^» \ri to u\ixoi trAnO©-. Dc PlaC. Phil. lib. i, G.;^;. p. 1624. E. S. (T..II. p. 881. D. Edit. Francof. 1 599, fol.) \ Oi jWEV Wv^a.yQPiy.oi 01a t^Aiir.'wy omfxcurui/ ;iaTr(|9pyi fj.\> MONAS xaji tw 'urirrUx k^ to /XE7fo» ^a/li£»»tTat• i Je Ava; xa5' iTTt^oo^iy >(J £',\Xii%l/i». Anon. de Vita Pythag. apud Photium. Edit. Hccfchelii, fol. 1612. pag. 1 3 14. J Aio K^ wafiXaXai®- cc'Ctvi xa-Ttia-tv Ik 0;oXayx> >^ N'OMO©ETnN — u; ar aisv )cj aXoyot >^ axw f/fvuloy aia^iiVai T« ayTof*aTai to wav, art itj iriv x^al!t xj «al!t9i/>»», oliririj oii»|i» S Ticri TiiSijiioi; :^«Xiv«r« XqV®^ Ibid, dc l.iaxotj.t\fUi, KaiixKtf' iT»«i, t^ ■z^fci^u )(J OTfCKijfVii Tor fti>iAo»1a tff-e»-5sti Sio^iXij- Jfc fii foCi.crOai ri; ti; jfpuara fiif»i'»; jtaiXXey Ta^» il; aiax^y'* Tti»oiT«i»' >|J ^oXiTr,y iif«ii>i>»a otoux^itt tin Tin B(ri«» ■Ff.it^not f»aAX«r t2 xa>.» ;jj Axaia* iVoi{ ii f*>l f a'J.oj WjC-: TarTa T^y op^iy •5Ti-iro-9ai, Tny i'i ^^tx^» 'X"'" 'i*'"^" »f ^i i^"ii«»f fcj' iy.:' laa^fyMu' «ra.tT«i.;, jj) CToXiTiai ><) Iosikoij fxifiiSySai Sii» i. Sv^y, i«J iiKKi [Vnri/tTofluy To',- aJ.'Kotf Jt) T.'5i?5ai w^o i/i/iaTay Toy Kocifov tStov, if a' y.'xTai to ti'X*- i«ar« T?5 aT«?.?.«y?t t5 ^y* roSs-i y«i tfiTiTln (*iTaf«»'?iti« Tors p.«?i?.B!Ti riXiurwi, /xi^tiifisyjtf wy aAxwaiTi, )^ offifl t5 ^»^lc79al «T«f'a ariTfap^jOai Jixai'w? auTor;' Aio iu ixaroy cra^' jxarry Wj-ajiy aii rvniKuSi To> xai»oy T«TM, it Ji arofoVIa* «T»» y«{ iy ftoAire t3 x»>.5 >t Ta JixaU* finHn'i' ii> J«' tm cr*f«r? AMMHN KAKOS t^/t«» WfJ,- iJ.x.'ay JislfiSiiy itjc; yoo.t it ^i>/*0''! "t "/"'■'^'' ip'tV'^a t^i iJ.-IxJ i; yi^^ara9ia ixB«/iiy®- irifi li^aiftoi©- 0i«, >^ x«x*y «>^5Jy Ti/iffi'a," .".« aK-cl^Vfl ri^y i;rx<..y •"{fwy. Apu'i Stobxuni, Serm. xlii. p. ^79. lin. i> Tiguri, fot. ijjg. Vol. I. Y Oor i6i THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II. One would wonder, that any man, who had attentively confi- dered this admirable fragment, could think it the forgery of a So-, phift. It is plain, the author of it underftood human nature and fociety at another rate. He hath not only given us an exaft por- trait of natural Religion ; but, in applying it to the State, hath ex-. plained the ufe and fubferviency of its parts to the three great qlafles of mankind. He hath recommended the intrinfic excellence of virtue, and compliance with the IVi/I and example of the Gods, to thofe who are of fo ingenuous and well framed a nature as to be always dlfpofed to embrace truth and right : to others, of a lefs heroic turn of mind, fuch who idolize their honour, he holds out feme and ignominy, as the infeparable attendants of good and evil a£tions : and, to the common run of more intradable and perverfe tempers, he preaches up the doftrine of future rewards and pun'ij}:- ments *. I will only obferve, it appears to have been from hence, that PoMPONATius borrowed the beautiful paflage, which is quoted at large, in the firft book of this difcourfe. Thus Zaleucus. And much in the fame fl^fhion does Cha- RONDAS introduce his Laws. In imitation of the pradlice, Plato likevvife, and Cicero both preface their Laws with the fandions of Religion. And though thefe two great men were not, ftriftly fpeaking, Lawgivers in form ; yet we are not to fuppofe that what they wrote in this fcience, was like the dreams of the Sophifts, for the amufement of the idle and curious. They were both well praclifed in affi\irs, and deeply con- verfant in human nature ; and they formed their fpeculative Infti- tutes on the plan, and in the fpirit and views of ancient legifla- tion : the foundation of Plato's being the Attic Laws ; and the foundation of Cicero's, the Twelve Tables : who himfelf takes care tp warn us of this particular. " In imitation of Plato, the moft «^ learned, and, at the fame time, the wifefl: of the philofophers, «» who wrote beft f of a republic, and likewife, feparately, of the *' laws * Ste no e C, at the end of this Bo 'k, t, I read here, with Turnebus, qui piiucefs de rep. confcripftt. La;Til:in objects to this reading, bccaufe we gather from Ariflotle, that Flato was not thefrjl who wrote of a rcpaiUc; he Srct. 3. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. t'6j ^ laws thereof, I think it will be proper, before I give the law it- <* felf % to fay fomewhat in recommendation of it : which, I ob- ** ferve, was the method of Zaleucus and Charondas. For their *' fyftem of laws was not an exercise of wit, or defigned for the ** amufement of the indolent and curious, but compofed for the ufc *' of the public in their feveral cities. Tbefe, Plato imitated-, as *' thinking this likewife to be the bufinefs of Law ; to gain fome- " what of its end by tiie gentler methods of perfuafion, and not *' carry every thing by mere force and fear of punifhment t." he fuppofing/nVc/i fignifiecl^r/z«w, whereas it means eptlmxs. This was Tally's opinioa of Plato, as may be gathered from many places in his writings. And in this fcnfci Turnebus, without doubt, underftood the word ; a fenfe familiar to his author, as in fir, lib. iv. cap. 49. •' in qua [^Patrla] multis virtutibus &: beneficiis floruit prikcepj." But the v,-nrd frimui itfelf is fometimes ufcd in Mj icnk o( frincfs ; as in Virgil, Prima quod ad Trojam * " Ut priufquam ipfam ic^ew recitem, de ejus legis laaJe dicani." This paflage it not without its difficulty. If by Lex be meant the whole fyftem of his laws, which the tenor of the difcourfe leads one to fuppofe ; then, by Laus, the rccommendatw': of it, we are to underftand his fliewing, as he does in the following chapter, that the Gods interefted themfclves very much in the obfervance of civil laws ; which implies, that they were indeed their laws : and fo Tully calls them, in the 4th chapter of this book : " Ita principem legem illam, & ultimam, mentem effe dicebant, omnia ratione aut co» •' gentis, aut vetantis Dei; ex qua ilia lex quam Dii humano generi dederunt, refter •' eft LAUDATA." And the fliewing that civil laws came originally from the Gods, was the higheft recommendation of them. But if by lex \\e are to undcrftand only the frji law of the fyftem, which begins, " Ad Divos adeunto cafte," &c. then by laus ii meant his fliewing, as he does likewife in the following chapter, the ufc and fervice of religion to civil fociety. f Sed, ut vir doftiflimus fecit Plato, atque idem gravillimus philofophorum omnium, qui princeps de republica confcripfit, idemque feparatim de legibus ejus, id mihi credo clTe faciendum ; ut priufquam ipfam legem recitem, de ejus legis laude dicam. Quod idem St Zaleucum & Charondam fecifle video ; cum quidem illi non ftudii & de!ea *i lii Ti rut Tfi5» «7«Vx''>'5 « tSto — — «x iyaf^^i '> "'" ^'^'H''^ oHx^, t ^fturll^.-u avS^w- Twv, 5 T^iTO*, tiTTafayLviiiTai tlvai, 9t«7.'ai5 Tf >c) tC^aTf crxjaJoftiSa-r- Ue Legg. lib. X, p. S85. B, Tom. II. Edit. H. Steph. fol. -j- Jiafif'fti J'' « cjutxfov «(*w^ a^tron vfteifxiet «» i>>i. Id. ibid. ** what Sect.3. of MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 165 *' what difpofitioii of mind, aiid with what degree of pietv he pcr- ** forms the afts and offices of religion ; and that, accordingly, they " nfiake a diftinftion between the good and bad. The mind being <' imbued with thefe opinions, will never deviate fi-om trutu *' and UTILITY. And what truth is more evident than this, that *' no one fliould be fo ftupidly arrogant, as to fnppole, there is " Mind and Reafon in himfelf, and yet none in the Heavens and *' the World ; or, that thofc things, whofe ules and direftions can *' fcarce be comprehended with the utmoft ftretch of human fa- *' culties, may yet perform their motions without an underftanding " Ruler r But, Hj whom the courfes of the heavenly bodies^ t4ie ** vicifiltudes of day and night, the orderly temperature of the ** feafons, and the various bleflings which the earth pours out for *' our fuflenance and plepcfure, will not excite, nay compel to gra- *' titude, is miflt even to be reckoned lu the number of men. And *' {ince things endowed with reafon, are more excellent than thofe *' which want it ; and that it is impiety to fay, any particular is *' more excellent than the univerfid Nature : we mufl: needs confefs " this Nature to be endowed with reafon. That thefe opinions are " likewifc ifjeful, who can deny, when he confiders what liability *■* is derived to the Public from within, by tlie religion of an oath ; *' and what fecurlty it enjoys from without, by thofe holy rites V which affirm national treaties and conventions : liow efficacious *' the fear of divine punifhment is, to deter men from wickednefs ; " and what purity of manners mufl reign hi that Society, where ** the immortal Gods themfelves are believed to interpofc both as *' judges and witnefles ? Here you have the Proem of the law ; for *'• fo Plato calls it *." An* • Sitigitur jam hoc a principioperfuafum civibus, doniinos efle omnium renim ac mo- deratores Decs, eaque qux gerantur, eonim geri, ditione, ac niimine, eofdomque op- time dc genere hominum mercri ; & qualis quifque fit, q\iid ag.it, quid in fe ndmittaf,. ^ua meme, qua pietate colat religioncs. intueri ; piorumquc & impionini habere ratio. Bern. i6(5 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book If. And then follow the laws themfelves; the firft of which is con- ceived in thefe words : " Let thofe who approach the Gods, be pure- ** and undefiled ; let their offerings be fealoned with piety, and all " oflentation of pomp omitted : the God himfelf will be his own *' avenger on tranfgreffors. Let the Gods, and thofe who were ever *' reckoned in the number of Celeftials, be worfhiped ; and thofe •' likewife, whom their merits have raifed to heaven ; fuch as Her- *' cuLES, Bacchus, -^sculapius. Castor, Pollux, and Ro- *« MULUS. And let chapels be erefted in honour to thofe quaUties, ** by whofe aid mortals arrive thither, fuch as Reason, Virtue, *' Piety, and Good-faith*." S E C T. IV. TH E NEXT ftep the Legiflator took, was to fupport and af- firm the general dodlrine of a Providence, which he had delivered in his laws, by a very circumftantial and popular method of inculcating the belief of z future jiate of re-wards and punifJjtnents, nem. His enim rebus imbutae mentes, baud fane abhorrebunt ab utili, & a vera fen- tentia. Quid eft enim verius, quain neminem effe oportere tam ftulte arrogantem, ut in fe rationem & mentem putet inelTe, in coelo mundoque non putet ? aut ut ea, qu» vix fumma ingenii ratione comprehendat, nulla latiqne moveri putet ? Quern vero aftrorum ordines, quern dierum nodiumque viciffitudines, quern menfium t^mperatio, quemquc ea, qui gignuntur nobis ad fruendum, non gratum effe cogant, hunc hominem omnino numerari qui decet ? Cumquc omnia, quae rationem habent, praeftent iis, qu* fmt ra- tionis expertia, nefafque fit dicere, ullam rem praeftare naturae omnium renim : rationem ineffe in ea confitendum eft. Utiles effe autem opiniones has, quis neget, cum intelligat^ quam multa firmentur jurejurando, quantae falutis fint facderum religiones, quiimmultos divini fupplicii metus a fcelere revocarit ; quamque fanfta fit focietas civium inter ipfos, Diis immoitalibus interpoGtis turn judicibus turn teftibus. Habes legis prooemium ; fie enim hoc appellat Plato. De Legg. lib. ii. c. 7. Edit. Ox. 4tn, T. III. p. i4t, 42. * Ad divos adeunto caftc ; pietatem adhibento ; opes amovento. Qui fecus fa>it, Deus ipfe vindex erit. Divos, & eos qui coeleftes femper habiti, colunto : & olios, quos endo coelo merita vocaverint, Herculem, Liberum, ^Efculapium, Caftorem, PoU iucem, Quirinum. Aft olla, propter qui datur homiiii adfcenfus in coclum, mentem, virtutem, pietatem, fidem, earumque laudum deiubra funto. De Legg. lib. w, c. 8, Hdit. Ox. 4to. T. III. p. 14*5 43- This Sect. 4. OF MOSES DE MO iJ^STR ATED. ^t^ This was by the iuftitution of the Mystkries, the moft facred part of pagan Rehgion ; and artfully framed to ftrike deeply aud forcibly into the minds and imaginations of the people. I propofe, therefore, to give a full and dillin(fl account of this whole matter : and the rather, becaufe it is a thing little known or attended to : the Ancients, who- wrote exprefly on the Mj^eries^ fuch as Melanthius, Menander, Hicefius, Sotades, and others, not being come down to us. So that the modern writers on this fub- je£t are altogether in the dark concerning their origine and end ; not excepting Meurfius himielf : to whom, however, I am much Indebted, for abridging my labour in the fearch of thofe paflages of antiquity, which make mention of the Eleusinian Myjleries, and for bringing the greater part of them together under one view *. To avoid ambiguity, it will be proper to explain the term. Each of \.\\t pagan Gods had (befides the public and operi) zfecret worfiip + paid unto him : to which none were admitted but thofe who had been felefted by preparatory ceremonies, called initiation. This fecret ijcorpip was termed the Mysteries. But though every God had, befides his open w'orfhip, the fecret llkewife ; yet this latter did not every where attend the former ; but only there, where he was the patron God, or in principal erteem. Thus, when in confequence of that intercommunity of paganifm, which will be explained hereafter, one nation adopted the Gods of another, they did not always take in at the fame time, the fecret ivorpjip or MyjKries of that God : fo, in Rome, the public and open worfhip of Bacchus was in ufe long before his Myjleries were admitted. Bur, on the other hand again, the worfliip of the ftrangc God was fometimes introduced only for the lake of his Myjler'us: • Eleufinia : five de Cereris Eleufinae facio. f Stiabo, in his tenth book of his Geography, p. 716, Gron. Ed. writes thus: Koi»o» J>) t5t«, ti. Tat 'EXX^wv >^ r^y 6a^<^x^u> irJ, to ra; ii{ow«iia{ /n/li iAriu; iopiarix?{ wotiVa-Sai, Tstf lilt (rill it^H^taajiu, T»,- Ji X''P'<' *• ''*'* >*" f*'^* f«»»tii;, T»,- ii f*n" KAt TAS MEM MTfSTl* kfiS, TAS AE EN iJ)ANEPn>- kJ Tt9' h f iV.-- btu; loraAfit'ii. i6-8 THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II. as, lu the fame city, that of Ifis and Ofiris. Thus ftood the cafe in general ; the particular exceptions to it, will be feen in the fe- >io-; wtfi tS Aiij i eWoIo;, AsTfiCtv. 'H Jf "lo-K StartiiSira j^ Jiar>Jff«o-» Ta ft-i^yi t«ut« tS cufJian;, a^ivoSx, -rm troftixt wafsV;;^!*. Pe If. &.-Olir^ Vol. I. pag. 670. Edit. Steph. 8vo. The moral of the fable is plainly ■this, as we fliall fee more ^plainly hereafter, That the first cause was kept unknown, till the Egyptian ATyfu-ries of Ifis revealed him amongft their aiop'pla ; which Myjltries were communicated to the Greeks, and, through them, to the reft of mankind. But the Image under which the fable is conveyed, was taken from the form of the Egj'ptian Statues of the Gods, wJiich the workmen made with their Legs undivided. When the Greek Artifts firft lliewed them how to form their Gods in a walking Pofture, the attitude fo alarmed their VVoriliipers, that they bound them with Chains, left they (hould defert their own Country. For the People imagined that their Gods, on the leaft ill humour or difguft, had a ftrange propenfity to fliew them a fair pair of heels. ■j- "On Jf 1x1 Amvaluv, >y rut lla»a9r,va.'i.)», k, fxi'rioi rut Sta-fj^o^i^iui, xj T»» 'EXcvanivt TU( TlXl- lir'Ogpii'!, a»fi; 'OifCcn;, tl; Ta,- "Afiira? i«o_uij«, ,^ si? AtrYIlTON atftKifJiU^, Ta tb; 'l^ Tl^s]a^ cj^orfjo* Wap AirTnTIOIS, ti} mor^a, <>fuii, >^ Ooinjl, >c5 Baft)\o»ioif, xaKw; firmttoYit*"* nelirt^^iVla ti ei,- EKAtivaj c»T« t5; 7up AirYnnnN X"?«>' i~^ Ka*,«» x} airu tS 'l»a7i9fVl®-, >C oi'xsJo^j-ail®- Tvt AI.V^Li*. Epiphan. adv. Hxt. lib. i. H«ref. iv, Caftor, Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 169 Caflor and Pollux ; in Lemnos to Vulcan, and fo to others, in other places, the number of which is incredible *. But their end, as well as nature, was the fame in all ; to teach the doctrine of a future state. In this, Origen and Celfus agree ; the two moft learned writers of their feveral parties. The firfl:, minding his adverfary of the difference between the future life promifed by the Gofpel, and that taught in Paganifm, bids him compare the Chriflian doctrine with what all the {i:^ 01 t»i I'l^ai ix.iitut I'lii/ijTai riXirai ft K, iivTctfxyoi, lib. viii. p. 408. And that nothing veiy heterodox was taught in the inyfteries concerning a future ftate, I colleft from the anfwer Origen makes to Celfus, who had preferred what was taught in the Myfteries of Bacchus on that point, to what the Chi'iftian Religion revealed concerning it — «tfl f" 5» t5» Bax^^ixJy rAili/t i'~: tU if «ri53:>s; Xoy®-, s'ti f^nJiij ToifT®-— lib. iv. p. 167. Vol. I. Z Euripides I/O THE DIVINE LEGATION Book II. Euripides makes Bacchus fay, in his tragedy of that name *, that the Orgies were celebrated by all foreign nations, and that he came to introduce them amongft the Greeks. And it is not improbable, but feveral barbarous nations might have learned them of the Egyptians long before they came into Greece. The Druids of Bri- tain, who had, as well as the Brachmans of India, divers of their religious rites from thence, celebrated the Orgies of Bacchus, as we learn from Dionyfius the African. And Strabo ha zing quoted Arte- midorus for a fabulous flory, fubjoins, " But what he fays of Ceres *' and Proferpine is more credible, namely, that there is an ifland " near Britain, where they perform the lame ritts to thofe two »' Goddefles as are ufed in Samothrace +•" But, of all the Mys- teries, thofe which bore that name, by way of eminence, the Eleusinian, celebrated at Athens in honour of Ceres, were by far the mod renowned ; and, in courfe of time, eclipfed, and almoft fwallowed up the reft. Their neighbours round about very early pradifed thefe Mvfieries to the negleft of their own : in a little time all Greece and Afia Minor were initiated into them : and at length they fpread over the tvhole Roman empire, and even beyond the limits of it. " I infift not," fays TuUy, " on thofe facred and *' auguft rites of Eleusis, where, from the remoteft regions, men ♦' came to be initiated |." And we are told in Zofimus, that " thefe moft holy rites were then fo extenfive, as to take in the " whole race of mankind §." Ariftides calls Eleufis, the common temple of the earth ||. And Paufanias fays, the rites performed there ♦ Aft. II. cKoie ToV; i» Xa^uoS^aKu •ETi^l jJi/An/^Jil^av >^ t)i» Ko^w* Uoo-aoiUTOLi. Strabonis Geogr. lib. iv. p 137. lin. 26. Edit. Cafaub, The nature of thef^ Samothracian rites is explained after- wards. X Omitto E1.EVSINAM fanftam illam & auguftam : ubi initiantur gentes orarum ul- tiinx. Nat. Deor. lib. i. c. 42. Edit, Ox, 4*. T. ii. p. 432. § Ti cvit-/j>i'o TO avO^i'TTdoy juiv®- kyiuTttia. fivrifta. lib. iv. !| 'Ons i Miit,'» Ti i?5 ySsTi'/itv©- T>i» 'E?.iuai» o k. IjxlpctUtit UWairn h tok tS Mi8f« ^^rn^lo^5. De Abft. lib. iv. § i6. Edit. Cantabr. 1655, Svo. t So TiiHy. Ex qiiibus humanas vits erroribus & xrumnis fit, ut interdum veteres i'li five vates, five in faeris Initiisque tradendis divine mentis interpretes, qui nos ob aliqua fcelera fufcepta in vita fuperiore, poenarum luendaium caiifla, natos efle dixerunt, aliqiiid vidifTe videantiir. Fragm. ex lib. dePhilofophia. 4^ t Plato in Phidone, p. 69. C, p. 81. A. t. I. Edit. Henr. Stephani. — Ariflides Eleufini'i, t.l. p. 454. Edit. Canteii, 8vo. & apud Stobceiim, Serai. 119, &c. Schol. Arid, in Ranis. Diog. Laert. in vita Diog. Cynici. " ii 'W o-fx^:- In Phxdone. They Sect. 4. OF M O S E S D EiMO N STR ATE D. 173 They contrived that every thing fliould tend to (hew the necefiity of virtue ; as appears from Epiclctus. " Thus the Myjleries become " ufeful ; thus we feize the true fpirit of them ; when we begin to " apprehend that every tiling therein was inflituted by the Ancients, *' for infl:ruclion and amendment of Hfe *." Porphyry gives us fome of thofe moral precepts, which were inforced iii the Myflerics, as to honour their parents^ to offer up fruits to the Gods, and to forbear cruelty towards animals +. For the accompUftiment of this purpofe, it was required in the Afpiranl to the Myfteries, that he fhould be of a clear and unblemifhed Character, and free even from the fuf- picion of any notorious crime |. , To come at the truth of his Charader, he was feverely interrogated by the Priefl or Hierophant, impreliing on him the fame fenfe of obUgation to conceal nothing, as is now done at the romau Confeflional §. Hence it was, that Avhen Nero, after the murkier of his mother, took a journey into Greece, ai\d had a mind to be prefent at the celebration of the Eleufumn Myjierics, the confcience of his parricide deterred him from attempting it II . On .the fame; account,, the good emperor . ri:_^'iu^ cl: rl ^ih v/v;[. ijoij^tjinl -jJ.V h:\i: ^ .^ 0M ^altrx&n aatia ravra awi rai) ma\at3>. ■Apiid' A'niari.' Diflcit. Ill), iii. cap. 2 1. My rea- ibn 'for craiillating. ffj' ?iai'Wix», ifi'tfiis ina■mler,•^V!as, 'becaufe 1 iihagined the author, in thiioljfcdreeJcpiciTitih,; alluded to^thcciiflom in; this Myfteries of calling thofe who were initiated only in the lefTer, Mtirai ; but thofe, in the greater, 'EtuV1«i. j- TonTi Tifif/, ©id," xafToV," iyaWfiv, ^S» fA-h trivsffOai. De Abft. lib. iv. ^^ 2 2. Edit. Cant. -.655, 8vo. . . • J Otroi y«{ TO T* ikXx xaSapT; eT»ai roTf f/iJraiS i» xonai CTfoafo^i^tfj-iy, Jtot Ta; X''?'*^ '''^'' ^"X^'' — iT/ai. 'Libaniu's Deci; xix.'p! 495! 'D.'E'dit'.' I\'loJe1li,'f6l. i6o6. § As appears from the repartee which Plutarch records, in his Laconic apophthegms of Lyfander, Edit. Francof. 1599. t: it. p.' 229. D. when he went to be initiated into the Samothracean myfleries ; '£► Js Sa/ioSpxii xfirvi'aioi^iyu airu i .'ifiu,-' i^.^^stal. ilwuv !, t! iio- ^»T«»icv cffof avTui It rZ 0iu CTiff^anlai ; croTfleries ; but that the Hierophant refufed to admit him, becaufe he efteemed the Afpirant to be no better than a Magician : for the Eleujinian flood open to none who did not approach the Gods with a pure and holy worftiip f- This was, originally, an indifpenfable condition of /wV/W/W, obferved in com- mon, by all the Myfteries ; and inftituted by Bacchus, or Oiiris himfelf, the firft in venter of them ; wlio, as Diodorus tells us, ini- tiated none but pious and virtuous men \. During the celebration of the Myfteries, they were enjoined the greatell landlity, and higlieft elevation of mind. " When you facrifice or pray (fays *' Epi(fletus in Arrian) go with a prepared purity of mind, and with *' difpofitions fo previoufly ordered, as are required of you when *' you approach the ancient rites and Myjleries §. And Proclus tells us that the Myfteries and the Initiations drew the fouls of men from a material, fenfual, and merely human life, and joined them in communion with the Gods || . Nor was a lefs degree of purity required of the Initiated for their future conduct **. They were * Jul. Capit. Vita Ant. Phil and Dion Cnfl". ■^- O iJi (ifopavI»5 HX. lQa\i\o ■tjaj/^^Eiv ra, ifji, /*» yij at oroli fiuSyai yor^a, ft>i it tJik Z\tv7'iix i.or|ai Kv^fwTii n>i xaflafw T» AaijKMw. DeVita ApoUonii Tyanenlis, l.iv. c. j8. Edir, Olearii, fol. SUtt.nitffiava.a-x.57t. Lib. iii. p. 138. St. Ed. § Kai f*fli 9«0-i«{ Jl, >^ fitr' tix^v, xj VfOrifnUMTa, jjJ ■c^^uhaxtlfi.nfov ri yiujin, oTi isjoTj Wferc ?i£i/o-i1ai >^ iifcTq ■ax'Kaiti'i'i. Arrian. Diflert. lib, iii. cap. 21. If Ta VI ftiTiJfia >(J Ta; TiXtli; ivayeiy fiXt a,xo tS; ivyAa JtJ 9»7ilo«j5s ^w?; to{ \<.)(li.i, xj (rvtivlnf 707; Siorf. In Remp. Plat. lib. i. ** Kat TtJt.ftvrr.fi'-..:!! a^ui$s]ilhiit.r,)f 7^ T^i muf' iiuif i.^trrii ^aiiivjitii. Quidam apud Sopa- truni, in Div. Quaft. obliged Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. 175 obliged by folemn engagements to commence a new life of ftricleft piety and virtue ; into which they were entered by a fevere courfe of penance, proper to purge the mind of its natural defilements. Cjregory Nazianzen tells us, that " no one could be initiated into the *' Mvfteries of Mkhras, till he [iad undergone all forts of mor- *' tifying triids, and had approved himfclf holy and impaffible *.'* The confideratlon of all this made Tertullian fay, that, in tlie JMxfieries, " Truth herfelf took on every fhape, to oppofe and *' combat Truth +." And St. Auftin, " That the devil hurried *' away deluded Ibuls to their deftruftion, when he promifed to **' purify them by thofe ceremonies, called initiations ];." The initiated, under this difcipliue, and with thefe promifes, were efteemed the only happy amongft men. Ariftophanes, who fpeaks the fenfe of the people, makes them exult and triumph after this manner : " On us only does the fun c^ifpenfe his bleffings; *' we only receive pleafure from his beams : we, who are initiatedy " and perform towards citizens and Grangers all a6ts of piety and "juftice§." And Sophocles, to the fame purpofe, "Life, only *' is to be had there : all other places are full of mifery and evil ||." •' Happy (fays Euripides) is the man who hath been initiated into " the greater Mv/?t77Vj, and leads a life of piety and religion**." * iJsij Ji JJ»aT6xi TE^^^3•0al tk: t3 MiTfa TiXflij, il ftii Jii ■aacZt Twir xcJiaciuv fMi^jXOoi, >,ti; iJ.vrni arifxrjrif®' rS mciXai fiilrs. Ariftidis in Orat. tntfl orafa^Gfy/^aTS-. t Lucian. Vit. Dem. t. II. p. 374, et feq. Edit. Reitzii, 4^^, Amlkl. 1743. X Met. lib. xi. pag. 959- Edit. Lugd. 1587, 8vo. § Phorm. aft. i. fc. i. And Donatus, ou the place, tells us, the fnme cuflom pre- vailed in the Samothracian myfteries : " Terentiiis Apollodorum fequitiir, apiid quem " legitur, in infula Samothracum a certo tempore pueros initiari, more Athenienfuim." celeflial Sect. 4. OF MOSES DEMONSTRATED. i;; *' celeftlal honour after death : and therefore all ran to be hii- *' tiated*." Their fondnefs for it became fo great, that at fuch times as the public Treafury was low, the Maglftrates could have recourfe to the Myjferies, as a fund to fupply the exigencies of the State. " Ariftogiton (fays the commentator on Hermogenes) in a great ♦' fcarcity of public money, procured a law, that in Athens every *' one fhould pay a certain fum for his iniliation^." Every thing in thefe rites was myfterioufly conduced, and under the moft folemn obligations to fecrecy ];. Which how it could agree to our reprefentation of the Myjleries, as an iiiftitution for the ufc of the people, wc fliall now endeavour to explain. They were hidden and kept fecret for two reafons : I. Nothing excites our cu iofity like that which retires from our obfervation, and feems to forbid our fearch. Of this opinion we find the learned Synefius, where he fays, " The people will de- ** fpife what is eafy and intelligible, and therefore they niuft always *' be provided with fomething wonderful and myderious in Religion, " to hit their tafte, and ftimulate their curiofity §." And again, " The ignorance of the myfteries preferves their veneration : for " which reafon they are entrufted only to the cover of night ||." f 'A^iroysiTiUV sir e-T(X»si y^^nyaxruv, yjapji vo'ft(i», vaf 'ASntaloK »*i«r95 fiu'c^cti. SyrianilS. X Cum ignotis hominibus Orpheus facrorum ceremonina aperiret, nihil aliud ab Iiis quos initiabat in primo veftibulo nifi jurisjurandi neceflfitatem, & cum terribili quadam auftoritate religionis, exegit, ne profanis auribus inventx- ac coropofitse religionis fecreta prodtreutur. Fermicus in limine lib. vii. Aftronom. — Nota funt hic Grxcx fuperfti- tionis Hierophantis, quibus inviolabili lege interdidum erat, ne ha;c atque hujufmodi Myfteria apud eos, qui his facris niinime initiati efTent, evulgarent. — Micetas in Gre- gorii Nazianzeni Orat. ti,- Ta ayix f ura. This obligation of the initiated to fecrecy was the reafon that the Egyptian hieroglyphic for them, was a grafs-hopper, which was fuppofcd to have no mouth. See Horapollo Hieroglyph, lib. ii. cap. 55. Edit. Pauw, 1727, 410. § To l\ f«ro» Ka'ayt^ayila. J Jja®-' ^rrai -/if T.ealilas. To the fame purpofe, Niccphorus Gregoras, Hift. lib. v. p. 73. Edit. Bafil. fol. 1562. Ti r«s tcVj wa^ TOO f4t/5-»gia h AAAHrOPIAIS XeVeIok, tt^o? £/-.7rX>i|iy «J (pfkr,),, urrxe^ It rKOTCi, j^ NYKXr tw.i Je JsJ i aX^>!yof(a tu ctkotm i^ tri vii»1i. Demet. Phalereus de Elocutione, § 1 10.. '§ Multa cffe vera, quae vulgo fcire non fit utile; multaque, quae, tametfi falfa fint, aliter exiftimare populum expediat. Et ideo Graecos Teletas ac Mysteria taciturnitate parictil)iif