TESTIMONIES 
 
 L&y e n K6"g ; 
 
 TO THE TRUTHS 
 
 OF NATURAL AND REVEALED 
 RELIGION, 
 
 EXTRACTED FROM THE 
 
 WORKS 
 
 REV. JAMES BREWSTER, 
 
 i\ 
 
 MINISTER OP CRAIG, AND AUTHOR OF " LECTURES ON 
 CHRIST'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT." 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 PRINTED FOR WAUGH AND INNES; 
 
 CHALMERS & COLLINS, GLASGOW ; AND OGLE, DUNCAN & CO. 
 LONDON. 
 
 1822. 
 

 
TO 
 
 THE REVEREND 
 
 SIR H. MONCREIFF WELLWOOD, 
 
 BARONET, 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 WITH SENTIMENTS OF HIGH ESTEEM, 
 
 AND WITH A SENSE OF MANY OBLIGATIONS, 
 
 BY 
 HIS FAITHFUL HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
HE, who collects, is laudably employed ; for, though he exerts no 
 great talents in the work, he facilitates the progress of others ; 
 and, by making that easy of attainment, which is already writ, 
 ten, may give some mind more vigorous, or more adventurous 
 than his own, leisure for new thoughts and original designs. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
 
 Facile est autem docere, pene universam veritatem, per philosopho- 
 rum sectas esse divisam. Non enim philosophiara sic nos ever- 
 timus, ut Academic! solent, quibus ad omnia respondere propo- 
 situm est, quod est potius calumniari et illudere. Sed docemus. 
 nullam sectam fuisse tam deviam, nee philosophomm quenquam 
 tarn inanem, qui non viderit aliquid ex vero. Quod si extitisset 
 aliquis, qui veritatem sparsam per singulos, per sectasque dif. 
 fusam, colligeret in unum, et redigeret in corpus, is profecto non 
 diisentiret a nobis. Lactantii Institutionet, lib. viii. c. 7. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 INTHODUCTION, v 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE IRRATIONAL NATURE AND 
 INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF ATHEISM, SCEPTICISM, 
 AND IRRELIGION. 
 
 SECT. 1. Atheism, ..,.,.. 1 
 
 2. Scepticism, . . . . 9 
 
 3. Irreligion, 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS, AND 
 THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUE. 
 
 SECT. 1. Moral Distinctions, 24 
 
 2. Connexion of Morality with Religion, . . 27 
 
 3. Morality Founded on the Will of God, . . 29 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL 
 RELIGION. 
 
 Page 
 SECT. 1. Existence and Agency of God, ... 36 
 
 2. Perfections of God, 43 
 
 3. Providence of God, *41 
 
 4. A Future Life, *4& 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF 
 RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V: 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR USES OF RE- 
 LIGION. 
 
 SECT. 1. As a Bond of Society, . 75 
 
 2. As a Rule of Conduct, .... 8* 
 
 3. As a Source of Consolation, ... 87 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE CONNEXION OF RELIGIOUS 
 SENTIMRNTS AND VIRTUOUS CONDUCT WITH 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 SECT. 1. Happiness not in things external, . . 95 
 
 2. Happiness in Virtue and .Religion, . . 100 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE EVIDENCES AND EXCEL- 
 LENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Page 
 
 SECT. 1. The Need of a Divine Revelation, . . 1I3T 
 
 2. Evidences of Christianity, .... 122 
 
 3. Excellencies of the Scriptures, . . . 139 
 
 4. Excellencies of Christianity, . , . 145 
 
 5. The Beneficial Tendency of Christianity, . 157 
 
 6. Personal Testimonies to the Truth and Excellence 
 
 of Christianity, 164 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL DOCTRINES OF 
 CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 SECT. 1. The Insufficiency of Reason in Religion sr .- 167 
 
 2. Faith in the Doctrines of Revelation, . 174 
 
 3. The Mysteries which Faith receives, . . 181 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR DOCTRINES OF 
 REVELATION. 
 
 SECT. 1. The Existence of Spiritual Beings, . . 196 
 
 2. The Doctrine of the Trinity, . . . 199 
 
 3. The Doctrine of Human Depravity and Misery, 204 
 
 4. The Evil and Penalty of Sin, . . . 212- 
 
 5. Man's Incapability of Claiming Merit with God, 218 
 
 6. The Mediation and Atonement of Christ, 225 
 
 7. Salvation by the Grace of God, . . . 243 
 
 8. Repentance and Conversion,, ..... 251 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TESTIMONY TO THE DUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Page 
 
 SECT. 1. Attention to the Concerns of the Soul .' . 265 
 
 2. General Duties towards God 276 
 
 3. Love towards God, 286 
 
 4. Submission to God, 297 
 
 5. Devotion, 30* 
 
 6. Public Worship 31 S 
 
 7. The Sabbath, 326 
 
 8. Principles of Duty, . . . . - . 329 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1. Traditionary and Historical Testimonies to the 
 
 Truth of Scripture History, ... 345 
 
 2. Physiological and Geological Testimonies to the 
 
 Mosaic Account of Creation, . . . 350 
 
 3. Miscellaneous Extracts, .... 361 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE plan of the following compilation was first 
 suggested to my mind, about ten years ago, when I 
 had occasion to call the attention of a young friend 
 (with whose religious education I had been entrusted) 
 to the serious study of the Christian faith; and, in order 
 to recommend the subject more effectually to his con- 
 sideration, had begun to adduce the religious opinions 
 of various distinguished individuals in public life, 
 and in the annals of literature. In preparing to note 
 down, for his use, a few references to the recorded sen- 
 timents of these eminent characters, there occurred in 
 their writings so many impressive testimonies to the 
 great principles of revealed religion, that I was in- 
 sensibly led to conceive the design of arranging a 
 selection of these passages for the press. In the 
 course of collecting extracts for this purpose, I con- 
 templated, at one time, a much more extensive work 
 than the present ; and conceived the practicability 
 of tracing, through the wide range of modern lite- 
 rature, the decided homage which has been render- 
 A 3 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ed to the claims of religion, by the most prominent 
 names in the various departments of polite learn- 
 ing, and scientific research. But I very soon dis- 
 covered, that this was an undertaking, which requir- 
 ed a larger portion of leisure, and a readier access to 
 books, as well as a greater variety of acquirements, 
 than what I was able to bring to the task. I was, 
 therefore, constrained to limit my labours to the 
 small number of authors more immediately within 
 my reach. Even in this narrow field, the materials 
 have been so abundant, that it has become neces- 
 sary to abridge very much the original plan ; and 
 the present volume scarcely comprises one half of 
 what had been transcribed for publication, or mark- 
 ed for extraction. I do not make this remark for 
 the sake of magnifying my "own diligence \ b'ut 
 merely for the purpose of shewing, how small a pro- 
 portion this compilation bears to the mass of similar 
 testimonies, which might be gathered and assorted 
 even in a very limited circle of study. I have restricted 
 my views, therefore, to the instruction of those, who 
 have but newly entered on the paths of knowledge, or 
 who have no means of pursuing them far ; and, ex- 
 cluding all the more abstruse and lengthened discus- 
 sions which fell in my way, I have selected only those 
 passages, which seemed most adapted for general 
 use, or most applicable to youthful readers. The 
 volume contains nothing, that can be new to persons 
 of extensive reading ; and all the service which it can 
 pretend to render them, is that of calling to their 
 recollection, and bringing within their reach, what 
 they may remember to have perused, and mayjiot 
 
INTRODUCTION- VII 
 
 be unwilling to reconsider. The present publica- 
 tion, in short, is nothing more than a specimen of 
 what may be executed to better purpose, and to 
 greater extent, by those who are placed in situa- 
 tions more favourable for such researches. It is a 
 contribution comparatively trivial -a mite cast into 
 the armoury of Christian truth. But the compiler of 
 these pages will be well pleased to make such an ex- 
 hibition of his poverty, provided he may be instru- 
 mental in stimulating others to bring forward a 
 richer offering out of their abundance. 
 
 The extracts, here given, are neither restricted to 
 a mere statement of the opinion of every particular au- 
 thor from whom they are taken, which would have prov- 
 ed a very dry detail ; nor are they so far extended as to 
 present a full exposition of that author's sentiments 
 on the subject to which they refer, which would 
 have occupied too great a space in the compass of 
 one volume ; but such passages have been chosen, 
 as might at once indicate the opinion of each writer, 
 and furnish, at the same time, some useful argu- 
 ment or illustration, on the topic under discus- 
 sion. Neither are these passages presented to the 
 reader, as always conveying the most complete and 
 most scriptural views of the truths, to which they re- 
 fer ; but only as favourable, in their general tenour, 
 to the great principles of religion. As it was not so 
 much my object to establish particular points of doc- 
 trine, as to confirm the leading principles of the 
 Christian faith, hence it will be found, that quo- 
 tations are sometimes brought forward in support of 
 these principles, from the advocates of very opposite 
 systems in philosophy and theology. But whenever 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION 
 
 this occurs ; when a citation, for instance, is made 
 from the pages of Euler, in vindication of prayer, 
 on the scheme of philosophical free-will, and ano- 
 ther from the pages of Hartley, on the principle of 
 philosophical necessity, the conclusion meant to be 
 deduced from these concurring testimonies, is not 
 the truth of this or that author's mode of explana- 
 tion, but the testimony given by both, on their re- 
 spective systems, to the importance of devotional du- 
 ties. 
 
 The passages, here brought together, it may also 
 be proper to observe, are of two very different descrip- 
 tions ; the one class consisting of the concessions of 
 deistical writers, and the other containing the tes- 
 timonies of avowed believers in Christianity. It was 
 once intended to have distributed them in separate 
 divisions. But this plan, besides having an iinvi- 
 dious appearance, would have been attended with 
 various inconveniences ; and, particularly, would 
 have required a complete repetition of nearly the 
 same heads of chapters and sections. With regard 
 to the arrangement of the extracts, as they now 
 stand, it will be obvious, that their place in the vo- 
 lume was necessarily regulated by the principal sub- 
 ject, on which they touched; and that it would 
 have been impossible, without greatly mangling a 
 passage, and weakening its impression, or even al- 
 tering its import, to have excluded every sentence, 
 which referred to other topics. Many of these pas- 
 sages, therefore, might have been placed, with al- 
 most equal propriety, under different titles or sec- 
 tions ; but it is hoped, that they are in general so 
 distributed, as to carry on a series of illustrations, 
 
INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 and to form as natural a connexion, in a sort of sys- 
 tem, as detached portions of different works could 
 well be expected to preserve. 
 
 These passages, it ought also to be noticed, are 
 not generally taken from publications exclusively 
 devoted to religious subjects, except in the case of a 
 few authors, whose works are not commonly known, 
 or easily accessible ; and there are many of the 
 ablest and most valuable writers on the evidences, 
 doctrines, and duties of the Christian religion, 
 from whom very few, and others from whom no, 
 extracts have been made; partly because their 
 sentiments are sufficiently indicated by the mere 
 titles of their respective publications, and part- 
 ly because it would have required a number of vo- 
 lumes to contain the ample arguments and illustra- 
 tions, which these works would have afforded. In 
 order, in some measure, to remedy this unavoidable 
 omission, the reader is referred to a list of a select 
 number of the more valuable and accessible of these 
 lay- authors, who have treated almost exclusively on 
 some religious subject, and whose works may deserve 
 an entire perusal. It will be obvious, from a slight 
 inspection of this brief catalogue*, that a very com? 
 plete and correct exposition of Christian doctrines, 
 as well as the most powerful and persuasive exhor- 
 tations to Christian duties, might easily be compil- 
 ed from the writings of eminent laymen, and ex- 
 pressed entirely in their own language. 
 
 But where, it may be asked, is the peculiar good 
 purpose to be promoted by these extracts from lay- 
 authors, and from the perusal of their works on re- 
 
 * See page xxii. 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ligious subjects, farther than their own merits may 
 warrant ? Is the truth of any religion, or religious te- 
 net, to rest on the mere authority of great names ; 
 and are we to count voices to determine our belief? 
 To this question, which, indeed, brings to the proof 
 the utility of the present publication, I would brief- 
 ly reply, in the words of a philosopher, pre-eminently 
 qualified to direct the most legitimate and conclu- 
 sive mode of argumentation. " I am well aware, 
 " that authorities are not arguments ; but when a 
 u prejudice, to which authority alone has given cur- 
 " rency, is to be combated, what other refutation is 
 likely to be effectual *?" 
 
 The truth of Christianity, especially, does not 
 rest upon any human authority ; nor does it require 
 the aid of any names, however distinguished, to re- 
 commend its excellencies, provided that mankind 
 would come, with unbiassed minds, to the examina- 
 tion of its sacred claims. But let it be recollected, 
 that, besides the power of a depraved nature, ex- 
 citing, in the hearts of men, an aversion to all the 
 restraints of religion, an indifference to its most ear- 
 nest expostulations, and a readiness to embrace every 
 plea that might justify this aversion and neglect ; 
 there is a disposition sufficiently prevalent, especi- 
 ally among the half-learned, to exalt the energy of 
 human reason, as adequate for every case of their 
 duty ; to reject the aid of revelation, as altogether 
 unnecessary in the world ; to ridicule its humiliat- 
 ing tenets, as utterly irrational in their nature, as 
 
 * Stewart's Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, 
 ii. 469. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xl 
 
 well as injurious in their tendency ; and to despise 
 the serious belief of their heavenly origin, or of their 
 importance to man, as nothing less than the cha- 
 racteristic of a timid spirit, a feeble intellect, or a 
 melancholy temperament. They have rashly as- 
 sumed the position, that reason and genius, learn- 
 ing and science, knowledge of life and intrepidity 
 of character, are all arranged on the adverse side to 
 genuine Christianity * ; and they have entrenched 
 themselves in this conviction, by the authority and 
 example of persons who have united, in their cha- 
 racter, many of the above qualities, with the disbe- 
 lief of revealed religion, with hostility to its influ- 
 
 * " We have so often seen, in our days, weakness united to a 
 large portion of virtue, that we have been accustomed to believe in 
 the energy of immorality." " The German philosophers," this 
 writer adds, (and her words may be considered as certifying the 
 general testimony, rendered by the learned laity in that country to 
 the principles of religion ;) '* the German philosophers, and let 
 *' them receive the glory of the deed, have been the first in the 
 " eighteenth century, who have ranged free-thinking on the side of 
 " faith, genius on the side of morality, and character on the side 
 < of duty." De Stud's Germany, iii. 256. 
 
 A publication at Paris in 1816, of which I have seen only the 
 title ; viz. ** Les Apologistes Involontaires ; ou, la Religion Chre- 
 tienne prouvee el defendue par les ecrits de philosophesj* seems to 
 intimate, that similar testimonies may be drawn from the literature 
 of that country. 
 
 But the idea of adducing the concessions of adversaries, and the 
 testimonies of unbiassed judges, in support of revealed religion, is 
 of a more ancient date, than to admit of any modern author laying 
 claim to the invention. * Sed omittamus sane testimonia proplieta- 
 rum, ne minus idonea probatio videatur esse ab his quibus non cre- 
 ditur. Veniamus ad auctores, et eos ipsos ad veri probationem cite- 
 mut t quibus contra nos uti tolcnt." Lactantii Institutiones, lib L 
 cap. 1. 
 
Xil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ence, or at least with a disregard of its injunctions- 
 Now, this is nothing less than disbelieving, or, at 
 l3ast, justifying disbelief, on the ground of human 
 authority^ and from submission to great names ; 
 and this is a prejudice so inveterate and irrational, 
 that it can be combated only on its own principles. 
 There is no want, indeed, of irrefragable argu- 
 ment, in defence of Christianity, from many profes- 
 sional teachers of its truths, who may be justly ranked 
 in the highest class of human authorities, in respect 
 oi' genius, learning, and intellect*. But the anti- 
 religious prepossession, in question, extends, in all 
 its antipathy, to the clerical advocates of divine truth, 
 however eminent in human attainments; and all 
 their appeals in its behalf are stigmatized and turned 
 aside, as the mere dictates of personal interest, or of 
 professional prejudice. There might be some mean- 
 ing (whatever there might be of truth) in this jea- 
 lousy of ecclesiastical authors, if they were merely 
 uttering dogmas ex cathedra, or offering testimo- 
 nies in the character of witnesses ; in which cases, 
 they might be conceived to speak under the strong 
 bias of education, or the secret bribery of self-inte- 
 rest ; but, in as far as they place the points at issue 
 upon the ground of fair argument, and challenge 
 an examination of the evidences which they adduce, 
 or the reasonings which they advance, it matters no- 
 thing to the decision of the question, what profes- 
 
 * " The celebrated men produced by the church" (meaning, pro- 
 bably, the church of Rome, but equally true of Protestant com- 
 munities) " form nearly two-thirds of the distinguished characters 
 in modern times." Chateaubriand" s Beauties of Christianity, iii. 
 153. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIII 
 
 sional office the authors may bear, or whether it be 
 known at all who the authors have been. The dis- 
 cussion stands upon its own merits. The nature 
 of the argument, and not the name of the author, 
 is to be considered. And no man, who appeals to 
 reason as the umpire, can, with any degree of can- 
 dour or consistency, allege the possible motives of 
 the writer or speaker, as a sufficient cause for setting 
 aside the force of his argumentation. It is only, in 
 fact, the very weakness of resting upon authorities, 
 more than upon reasons^ that can account for this 
 reluctance to allow their full weight to the state- 
 ments of the professional teachers of religion ; and 
 the only effectual mode of counteracting these latent 
 objections, (for they are such as many are ashamed to 
 acknowledge, while they are acting under their influ- 
 ence) is to produce that very species of authority, which 
 they are so much disposed to follow, the authority 
 of great names. We must try to remove a prejudice 
 resting upon authority, by shewing that authority 
 is still stronger on the side of truth than of error, of 
 virtue than of vice, of faith than of infidelity, of piety 
 than of profaneness; and, since great names, or 
 names supposed to be great, have been thrown into 
 the one scale, to place also in the other names equally, 
 or even more unquestionably great, and to which no 
 professional stigma or suspicion can possibly be at- 
 tached. " There is unfortunately in many men, (says 
 an eminent prelate, who united all the acuteness of 
 science with the belief of Christianity,) a strange pre- 
 possession against every thing written by churchmen, 
 in defence of the Christian religion. That 6( priests 
 of all religions are the same;" that " they defend 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 altars on which their lives depend," with a hun- 
 dred other expressions of similar tendency, are 
 frequent in the mouths of unbelievers. We sincerely 
 forgive them this wrong ; but, as the charge of self- 
 ishness and hypocrisy cannot, with any shadow of 
 propriety, be brought against Mr. Addison, and 
 such other laymen as have written in support of 
 Christianity, we entreat them to give a sober atten- 
 tion to what these unprejudiced writers have ad- 
 vanced on the subject. Surely eternal life is too im- 
 portant a concern to be jested away in sarcastic wit- 
 ticisms, and frothy disputations *." 
 
 Distinguished laymen themselves have not only 
 admitted the existence of such a prejudice against 
 the writings of the clergy, but have pleaded its 
 inveterate influence on many minds, as an apology 
 for their own productions on the subject of religion. 
 
 (t It is, I am aware, extremely ridiculous for those, 
 who adopt the prescriptions of their physicians, and 
 act upon the advice of their lawyers, although they 
 are professional, to object to defences of Christianity 
 from the pens of clergymen, because they are profes- 
 sional; yet, absurd and uncandid as the objection is, 
 it is often advanced. It is therefore proper to meet 
 it ; and at times to shew, that there are those, who 
 cannot, on such occasions, be actuated by any love of 
 worldly applause, or any thirst after emolument, but 
 who feel sufficiently interested about religion, and 
 are sufficiently convinced of its powerful tenden- 
 cy to improve the conduct of individuals, and 
 
 Bishop Watson's Note, in the contents of his Theological 
 Tracts, voL v, 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 to augment the general stock of happiness, to step 
 for a little while out of their own appropriate pro- 
 vince to plead its cause " " There are many per- 
 sons, from whom the claims of Christianity receive 
 a more respectful attention, when they are urged 
 by one, who is neither a clergyman, nor a metho- 
 distV 
 
 " What he may presume to offer on the subject 
 of religion, may, perhaps, be perused with less jea- 
 lousy, and more candour, from the very circum- 
 stance of its having been written by a layman, 
 which must at least exclude the idea, (an idea some- 
 times illiberally suggested to take off the effect of 
 the works of ecclesiastics,) that it is prompted by 
 motives of self-interest, or of professional preju- 
 dicef" 
 
 " As to religious books, in general those which 
 have been written by laymen, especially by gentle- 
 men, have (cceteris paribus) been better received 
 and more effectual, than those published by clergy- 
 men J." 
 
 A selection, therefore, such as that which is here 
 offered to the reader, may serve, at least, to neutra- 
 lize this prejudice against the claims of religion ; 
 and, by shewing, that its divine authority has been 
 venerated and vindicated by the greatest names in 
 every department of literature, and in every field of 
 human research, may bring the inquirer to the 
 
 * Dr. Olmthus Gregory's Letters on the Evidences, Doctrines, 
 and Duties of Christianity. Preface. 
 
 t Wilberforce's Practical View of Christianity. Preface, 
 
 ^ Honourable Robert Boyle. _ j(-1 
 
 3 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 subject, with a mind more fairly balanced for exer- 
 cising his own judgment. 
 
 It may do more. It may furnish a very power- 
 ful reason, for entering upon the inquiry with the 
 utmost degree of attention, by suggesting the obvi- 
 ous reflection, that those sentiments, which have 
 been avowed and advocated by men of so great cele- 
 brity, are at least worthy of being seriously consi- 
 dered ; and that, whether they may be ultimately 
 found to be true, or be rejected as false, yet, hav- 
 ing been held and cherished by persons of minds 
 so exalted, of learning so extensive, and of charac- 
 ters so independent, they are not to be lightly spoken 
 against, as if they were the pure errors of ignorarice, 
 weakness, or timidity. 
 
 It may accomplish something farther still. It 
 may be considered as adducing ample and undenia- 
 ble evidence, that the scheme of a revelation, and 
 of the redemption which it promises, is not, as has 
 been often so confidently alleged, contradictory in 
 its general bearings to the dictates of enlightened 
 reason ; since so many masters of reason, (and that 
 not of any peculiar cast of mind, but of all descrip- 
 tions of intellectual vigour,) men exercised in the 
 most profound inquiries ; men acquainted with the 
 most rigid processes of demonstration ; men accus- 
 tomed to the most cautious forms of experiment ; 
 men, who, in many cases, had shewn themselves fully 
 emancipated from the trammels of old opinions ; and 
 who had, in some instances, avowedly encountered 
 the power of prevailing prejudices, have never- 
 theless distinctly declared the belief of a revelation 
 from heaven, and of the doctrines which it unfolds, 
 
IKTRODUCTIOX. XV11 
 
 to be altogether congenial with the reflections of 
 their own comprehensive minds, with the results of 
 their profound investigations into the works of na- 
 ture, with the deductions of their enlightened ob- 
 servation of human life, and their enlarged experi- 
 ence of human feelings. This, their belief, though 
 not infallibly right, merely because it is theirs ; yet, 
 because it is theirs, is not, and cannot be said to be, 
 incompatible in its nature with sound reason. The 
 reason of such men, (the soundest that the world 
 has ever known,) has embraced that belief; and 
 henceforth, therefore, the principle of such belief is 
 secured effectually from the stigma of irrationality. 
 That I may act in full conformity with these 
 views, I must not leave these remarks to rest upon 
 my own reasonings ; and I gladly appeal once more 
 to the opinion of distinguished laymen themselves, 
 for the utility of thus adducing their authority, and 
 detailing their sentiments, in support of religious 
 truth. 
 
 " In matters of eternal concern, the authority of 
 the highest human opinion, has no claim to be ad- 
 mitted as a ground of belief; but it may, with 
 strictest propriety, be opposed to that of men of in- 
 ferior learning and penetration; and, whilst the 
 pious derive satisfaction from the perusal of senti- 
 ments according with their own, those, who doubt 
 or disbelieve, should be induced to weigh, with can- 
 dour and impartiality, arguments which have pro- 
 duced conviction in the minds of the best, the wis- 
 est, and most learned of mankind. 
 
 Among such as have professed a steady belief in 
 the doctrines of Christianity, where shall greater 
 
XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 names be found than those of Bacon and Newton ? 
 Of the former, and of Locke, it may be observed, 
 that they were both innovators in science ; disdain- 
 ing to follow the sages of antiquity, through the 
 beaten paths of error, they broke through preju- 
 dices, which had long obstructed the progress of 
 sound knowledge, and laid the foundation of science 
 on solid ground ; whilst the genius of Newton carried 
 him, " extra jlammant'ia moenia mundi" These 
 men, to their great praise, and, we may hope, to 
 their eternal happiness, devoted much of their time 
 to the study of the Scriptures. If the evidence of 
 revelation had been weak, who were better qualified 
 to expose its unsoundness ? If our national faith 
 were a mere fable, or political superstition, why 
 were minds, which boldly destroyed prejudices in 
 science, blind to those in religion ? They read, 
 examined, weighed, and believed ; and the same 
 vigorous intellect, that dispersed the mists which 
 concealed the temple of human knowledge, was it- 
 self illuminated with the radiant truths of divine 
 revelation. 
 
 Such authorities, and let me .now add to them 
 the name of Sir William Jones, are deservedly en- 
 titled to great weight : let those, who supercili- 
 ously reject them, compare their intellectual pow- 
 ers, their scientific attainments, and vigour of ap- 
 plication, with those of the men whom I have nam- 
 ed ; the comparison may perhaps lead them to sus- 
 pect, that their incredulity, (to adopt the idea of a 
 profound scholar,) may be the result of a little 
 smattering in learning, and great self-conceit, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. *$ f 
 
 v * x ^ 
 that, by hard study and a humbled mind, they may 
 
 regain the religion which they have left *." ^^$ 
 " Newton was a Christian ; Newton, whose mind 
 burst forth from the fetters fastened by nature upon 
 our finite conceptions ; Newton, whose science was 
 truth, and the foundation of whose knowledge of 
 it was philosophy : not those visionary and arrogant 
 presumptions, which too often usurp its name, but 
 philosophy resting upon the basis of mathematics, 
 which, like figures, cannot lie. Newton, who carried 
 the line and rule to the uttermost barriers of creation ; 
 and explored the principles by which all created 
 matter exists, and is held together. But this ex- 
 traordinary man, in the mighty reach of his mind, 
 overlooked, perhaps, the errors which a minuter in- 
 vestigation of the created things on this earth might 
 have taught him. What shall then be said, of the 
 great Mr. Boyle, who looked into the organic struc- 
 ture of all matter, even to the inanimate substances, 
 which the foot treads upon ? Such a man, may be 
 supposed to have been equally qualified with Mr. 
 Paine, to ' look up through nature, to nature's 
 4 God.' Yet the result of all his contemplations, 
 was the most confirmed and devout belief in all, 
 which the author (Paine) holds in contempt, as 
 despicable and drivelling superstition. But this 
 error might, perhaps, arise from a want of due at- 
 tention to the foundations of human judgment, and 
 the structure of that understanding which God has 
 given us for the investigation of truth. Let that 
 question be answered by Mr. Locke, who, to the 
 
 * Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir William Jones, p. 300. 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 highest pitch of devotion and adoration, was a 
 Christian. Mr. Locke, whose office was to detect 
 the errors of thinking, by going up to the very 
 fountains of thought, and to direct into the proper 
 tract of reasoning the devious mind of man, by 
 shewing him its whole process, from the first per- 
 ceptions of sense, to the last conclusions of ratioci- 
 nation ; putting a rein upon false opinion, by prac- 
 tical rules for the conduct of human judgment. 
 
 But these men, it may be said, were only deep 
 thinkers, and lived in their closets, unaccustomed to 
 the traffic of the world, and to the laws which prac- 
 tically regulate mankind. Gentlemen ! in the place, 
 where we now sit to administer the justice of this 
 great country, the never-to-be-forgotten Sir Matthew 
 Hale presided ; whose faith in Christianity is an 
 exalted commentary upon its truth and reason, and 
 whose life was a glorious example of its fruits ; whose 
 justice,' drawn from the pure fountain of the Chris- 
 tian dispensation, will be in all ages a subject of the 
 highest reverence and admiration. But it is said 
 by the author, that the Christian fable is but the 
 tale of the more ancient superstitions of the world, 
 and may be easily detected by a proper understand- 
 ing of the mythologies of the Heathens. Did Mil- 
 ton understand these mythologies ? Was he less ver- 
 sed than Mr. Paine in the superstitions of the world ? 
 No, they were the subject of his immortal song ; 
 and, though shut out from all recurrence to them, 
 he poured them forth from the stores of a memory, 
 rich with all that man ever knew, and laid them in 
 their order, as the illustration of real and exalted 
 faith, the unquestionable source of that fervid ge- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 nius, which has cast a kind of shade upon all the 
 other works of man. The result of his thinking 
 was nevertheless not quite the same as the author's 
 before us. The mysterious incarnation of our bles- 
 sed Saviour (which this work blasphemes in words 
 so wholly unfit for the mouth of a Christian, or 
 for the ear of a court of justice, that I dare not, 
 and will not give them utterance,) Milton made 
 the grand conclusion of his Paradise Lost; the 
 rest from his finished labours, the ultimate hope, 
 expectation, and glory of the world. 
 
 Thus you find all that is great, or wise, or splen- 
 did, or illustrious amongst created beings ; all the 
 minds gifted beyond ordinary nature, if not inspir- 
 ed by its universal Author for the advancement 
 and dignity of the world, though divided by distant 
 ages, and by clashing opinions, yet joining, as it 
 were, in one sublime chorus to celebrate the truth 
 of Christianity, and laying upon its holy altars, 
 the never fading offerings of their immortal wis- 
 dom *" 
 
 Eiskine's Speeches, ii. 196. 
 
XXII 
 
 SELECT LIST OF LAY AUTHORS, 
 
 Who have treated directly on religious subjects, and whose 
 works deserve to be fully perused, especially those distin- 
 guished by an asterisk. 
 
 ADDIS ON'S Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 * AINSLIE'S Father's Gift, 2 parts. 
 
 * BABINGTON on the Religious Education of Youth. 
 BACON'S, Lord, Confession of Faith. 
 BARRINGTON, Lord, on the teaching of the Holy Spi- 
 rit. 
 
 BATES' Christian Politics. 
 Rural Philosophy. 
 
 * BEAT-TIE'S Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 * BOWDLER'S Theological Tracts. 
 
 * BOYLE'S, Hon. Robert, Theological Works. 
 BROWNE'S, Sir Thomas, Religio Medici. 
 
 * BRYANT on the Authenticity of Scripture. 
 BURN'S, Major General, Christian Officer. 
 CHATEAUBRIAND'S Beauties of Christianity. 
 CUMBERLAND'S Plain Reasons for being a Christian. 
 
 * CUNINGHAME on the Prophecies. 
 
 * DALRYMPLE'S Answer to Gibbon. 
 Remains of Christian Antiquity. 
 
 * DALRYMPLE, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections. 
 DE MORN AY, Earl of Plessis, on the Truth of Christian- 
 ity. 
 
 ERASMUS'S Paraphrases. 
 
 Exposition of the Creed, Decalogue, and 
 Lord's Prayer. 
 
 * ERSKINE, Thomas, Esq. on the Internal Eyidence of 
 
 Christianity. 
 
 EULER'S Letters to a German Princess. 
 FELTHAM'S, Owen, Resolves. 
 
 * FORBES, President, on Incredulity. 
 
 ' Thoughts on Religion. 
 
SELECT LIST OF LAY AUTHORS. XXlll 
 
 * GREGORY, Olinthus, Letters on the Evidences, &c. of 
 
 Christianity. 
 
 * GROTIUS on the Truth of Christianity. 
 HALDANE on the Authority of Revealed Religion. 
 HALE, Sir Matthew, on the Origination of Mankind. 
 
 * Contemplations. 
 
 * HALLER'S, Baron, Letters to his Daughter. 
 
 * HARTLEY on the Evidences of Christianity, vol. ii. of 
 
 his Works. 
 
 JENYNS, Soame,on the Internal Evidence of Christianity. 
 KING, Sir Peter, on the Creed. 
 On the Primitive Church. 
 
 * LOCKE on the Reasonableness of Christianity. 
 
 * LYTTLETON, Lord, on the Conversion of Paul. 
 MEDE, Dr. on the Diseases mentioned in Scripture. 
 
 * MORE'S, Mrs. Hannah, Works. 
 
 * NAPIER, Lord, on the Apocalypse. 
 
 NELSON'S Fasts andFestivals of the Church of England. 
 
 * NEWTON, Sir Isaac, on the Prophecies. 
 NIEWENTYTE'S Religious Philosopher. 
 ROBINSON'S Christian Philosophy. 
 
 * PASCAL'S Thoughts. 
 
 PERCEVAL, Earl of Egmont, on the Importance of a 
 Religious Life. 
 
 * RAY'S Wisdom of God in the Creation. 
 SELDEN de Legibus Hebraeorum. 
 
 * SERLE'S Horse Solitariae. 
 
 * . Christian Remembrancer. 
 
 * SHARP, Granville, on the Divinity of Christ. 
 WEST on the Resurrection. 
 
 * WILBERFORCE'S Practical View of Christianity. 
 * On the Religion of the Great. 
 
 ; * SINCLAIR'S, Miss, Letter on the Principles of the 
 Christian Faith. 
 
NATURAL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE IRRATIONAL NATURE AND 
 INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF ATHEISM, SCEPTICISM, 
 AND IRRELIGION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 ATHEISM. 
 
 ABSURDITY OF ATHEISM. Scepticism is the incredu- 
 lity of scientific men, or it is the credulity of absurd 
 principles ; and this arises from the want of proper 
 principles in those, who will philosophise, or draw ge- 
 neral conclusions beyond their science. But atheism, 
 so far as this is an assertion that there is no first cause, 
 is an expression, which has not properly a meaning ; 
 for they, who are to make this assertion, must either 
 found the negative proposition upon some principle, 
 or they only persuade themselves that they believe 
 what they cannot comprehend. But, if atheism is to 
 be founded upon some principle, I confess myself ig- 
 
2 ATHEISM. 
 
 norant of what this principle may be. It is evident, 
 that the conclusion of evil in the constitution of things 
 leads not to atheism, but to daemonism ; and the al- 
 lowing of both good and evil leads to polytheism, or 
 to different principles in the first cause. But I be- 
 lieve no man of rational understanding can find any 
 principle for concluding, that there is no first cause ; 
 for this necessarily implies, that he understands how 
 things could be produced without a cause. Now, if 
 a man has seen this truth, that things may be produ* 
 ced without a cause, he has but to reveal it, that so it 
 may be believed by other men ; but to deny the ex- 
 istence of a first cause from no other reason than this, 
 that to him thejirst cause is unknown, would be equal- 
 ly absurd as to deny his own existence, because he 
 knows not how he had a being. Huiton's * Investiga- 
 tion, iii. 135. 
 
 FOLLY OF ATHEISM. I had rather believe all the fa- 
 bles in the Legend, and the Talmud, and the Alco- 
 ran, than that this universal frame is without a mind. 
 And therefore God never wrought a miracle to con- 
 vince atheism, because his ordinary works convince 
 it. It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth many 
 minds to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth 
 many minds about to religion ; for, while the mind 
 of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may 
 sometimes rest in them and go no further ; but when 
 it beholdeth the chain of them confederate and linked 
 together, it must needs fly to providence and deity. 
 Nay, even that school which is most accused of 
 atheism, does most demonstrate religion ; that is, the 
 school of Leucippus, and Democritus, and Epicurus. 
 For it is a thousand times more credible, that four mu- 
 
 * The ingenious author of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth. 
 
ATHEISM. J3 
 
 table elements, and one immutable fifth essence, duly 
 and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army of 
 infinite small portions, or seeds unplaced, should have 
 produced this order and beauty without a divine mar- 
 shal. The Scripture saith, " the fool hath said in his 
 heart there is no God ;" it is not said " the fool hath 
 thought in his heart," so as he rather saith it by rote 
 to himself, as that he would have, than that he can 
 thoroughly believe it, or be persuaded of it; for none 
 deny there is a God, but those for whom it maketh 
 that there were no God. It appeareth in nothing 
 more that atheism is rather in the lip than in the 
 heart of man, than by this, that atheists will ever be 
 talking of that their opinion, as if they fainted in it 
 within themselves, and would be glad to be strength- 
 ened by the consent of others. Nay more, you shall 
 have atheists strive to get disciples, as it fareth with 
 other sects. And, which is most of all, you shall have 
 of them that will suffer for atheism, and not recant ; 
 whereas, if they did truly think that there were no 
 such thing as God, why should they trouble them- 
 selves ? They that deny a God destroy man's nobility, 
 for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body, 
 and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a 
 base and ignoble creature. It destroys likewise mag- 
 nanimity, and the raising of human nature ; for take 
 an example of a dog, and mark what a generosity and 
 courage he will put on when he finds himself main- 
 tained by a man, who to him is instead of a God, or 
 te melior nalura ;'* which courage is manifestly such, 
 as that creature, without the confidence of a better na- 
 ture than his own, could never attain. So man, when 
 he resteth and assureth himself upon divine protec- 
 tion and favour, gathereth a force and faith, which 
 human nature could not attain. Therefore, as atheism 
 is in all respects hateful, so in this, that it depriveth 
 B 2 
 
ATHEISM. 
 
 human nature of the means to exalt itself above hu- 
 man frailty. Bacon's Essays, p. 50. 1755. 
 
 GLOOMY VIEWS OF ATHEISM. How happens it then, 
 that some pretend, that atheism frees us from every 
 kind of terror about futurity ? I cannot perceive that 
 such a conclusion flows from this fatal system. A 
 God, such as my heart delineates, encourages and mo- 
 derates all my feelings ; I say to myself, he is good 
 and indulgent, he knows our weakness, he loves to 
 produce happiness, and I see the advances of death 
 without terror, and often with hope. But every fear 
 would become reasonable, if I lived under the domi- 
 nion of an insensible nature, whose laws and revolu- 
 tions are unknown ; I seek for some means to escape 
 from its power ; but even death cannot afford me a re- 
 treat, or space an asylum. I reflect, if it is possible, to find 
 compassion and goodness; but here is no prime intel- 
 ligence, no first cause; a blind nature surrounds us 
 and governs imperiously ; I in vain demand what is to 
 be done with me ? it is deaf to my voice. Devoid of 
 will, thought, and feeling, it is governed by an irre- 
 sistible force, whose motion is a mystery never to be 
 unfolded. What a view for a human mind, to antici- 
 pate the destruction of al 1 our primitive ideas of order, 
 justice, and goodness ! Shall I further say, when even, 
 in every system, the entrance of the future was un- 
 known, I should be less unhappy and forlorn if it 
 was to a father, a benefactor, that I committed the 
 deposit of life which I held from him ; this last com- 
 munication with the Master of the world would miti- 
 gate my pains ; my eyes when closing would perceive 
 his power ; that I should not lose all, I might still 
 hope that that God remained with those I loved, and 
 find some comfort in the thought, that my des- 
 tiny was united to his will that my existence, and 
 
ATHEISM. O 
 
 the employments I devoted myself to, formed one 
 of the indelible points of his eternal remembrance; 
 and that the incomprehensible darkness I was going 
 to plunge into, is equally a part of his empire. But 
 when a feeling and elevated soul, which sometimes en- 
 joys a sentiment of its own grandeur, should certainly 
 know, that dragged by a blind motion, it was going to 
 be dissipated, to be scattered in that dreary waste, 
 where all that is most vile on earth is indifferently 
 precipitated ; such a thought would blight the no- 
 blest actions, and be a continual source of sadness and 
 clesponf 1 "ncy. Neclcers Religions Opinions, p. 379- 
 
 STRANGE ZEAL OF ATHEISM. After having treated of 
 these false zealots in religion, I cannot forbear men- 
 tioning a monstrous species of men, who one could 
 not think had any existence in nature, were they not 
 to be met with in ordinary conversation ; I mean the 
 zealots in atheism. One would fancy that these men, 
 though they fall short in every other respect of those 
 who make a profession of religion, would at least out- 
 shine them in this particular, and be exempt from that 
 single fault which seems to grow out of the impru- 
 dent fervours of religion. But so it is, that infidelity 
 is propagated with so much fierceness and contention, 
 wrath and indignation, as if the safety of mankind de- 
 pended upon it. There is something so ridiculous 
 and perverse in this kind of zealots, that one does not 
 know how to set them out in their proper colours. 
 They are a sort of gamesters, who are eternally upon 
 the fret, though they play for nothing. They are 
 perpetually teasing their friends to come over to them, 
 though, at the same time, they allow, that neither of 
 them shall get any thing by the bargain. In short, 
 the zeal of spreading atheism is, if possible, more ab- 
 surd than atheism itself. 
 
 3 
 
6 
 
 ATHEISM. 
 
 Since I have mentioned this unaccountable zeal, 
 which appears in atheists and infidels, I must farther 
 observe, that they are likewise, in a most particular 
 manner, possessed with the spirit of bigotry. They 
 are wedded to opinions full of contradiction and im- 
 possibility; and, at the same time, look upon the 
 smallest difficulty in an article of faith, as a sufficient 
 reason for objecting to it. Notions, that fall in with 
 the common reason of mankind, that are conformable 
 to the sense of all ages and all nations, (not to men- 
 tion their tendency for promoting the happiness of 
 societies, or of particular persons,) are exploded as 
 errors and prejudices ; and schemes erected in their 
 stead, that are altogether monstrous and irrational, 
 and require the most extravagant credulity to em- 
 brace them. I would fain ask one of these bigoted 
 infidels, supposing all the great points of atheism, 
 as the casual or eternal formation of the world, the 
 materiality of a thinking substance, the mortality of 
 the soul, the fortuitous organization of the body, the 
 motions and gravitation of matter, with the like par- 
 ticulars, were laid together, and formed into a kind 
 of creed, according to the opinions of the most cele- 
 brated atheists ; I say, supposing such a creed as this 
 were formed, and imposed upon any one people in 
 the world, whether it would not require an infinitely 
 greater measure of faith, than any set of articles which 
 they so violently qppose. Let me, therefore, advise 
 this generation of wranglers, for their own and for 
 the public good, to act at least so consistently with 
 themselves, as not to burn with zeal for irreligion, 
 and with bigotry for nonsense. Addison, Spectator, 
 No. 185. 
 
 CRIMINALITY OF ATHEISM. Amongst connate obli- 
 gations, are such as are planted as it were in our being ; 
 
ATHEISM. 7 
 
 the most eminent is that which lies on all men with 
 respect to almighty God, the supreme governor of 
 the world ; by virtue of which, we are bound to adore 
 his majesty, and to obey his commandments and his 
 laws. Whosoever wholly violates and breaks through 
 this obligation, stands guilty of the most heinous 
 charge of atheism ; because he must, at the same 
 time, deny either the existence of God, or his care of 
 human affairs. Which two sins, with regard to their 
 moral consequences and effects, are equivalent to each 
 other, and either of them overthrows all religion, re- 
 presenting it as a frightful mockery, introduced to 
 awe the ignorant vulgar into some decency and duty. 
 Therefore we ought in justice to dread and explode, 
 as most foul and scandalous, the notion of Hobbes, in 
 which he would rank atheism among the faults of im- 
 prudence or ignorance, as if it were not properly a 
 sin, but a mistake, a folly more worthy of pardon 
 than of punishment. Puffendorf's Law of Nature 
 and Nations, Book III. ch. iv. sect. 4. 
 
 My dear Marquis, there is nothing good in atheism. 
 This system is very bad, both in physics and in mo* 
 rals. An honest man may inveigh against supersti- 
 tion and fanaticism, and may detest persecution : he 
 renders a service to mankind, if he diffuses the prin- 
 ciples of toleration ; but what good can he do, if he 
 disseminates those of atheism ? Will men be more 
 virtuous for not acknowledging a God, who enjoins 
 the practice of virtue ? Assuredly not. I would have 
 princes and their ministers to acknowledge a God ; 
 nay more, a God who punishes and who pardons. 
 Without this restraint, I should consider them as fero- 
 cious animals, who, to be sure, would not eat me just 
 after a plentiful meal, but certainly would devour me, 
 were I to fall into their clutches when they are hun- 
 gry ; who, after they had picked my bones, would 
 B 4 
 
8 ATHEISM. 
 
 not have the least idea that they had done any thing 
 wrong. Voltaire's Correspondence, xii. 349, quoted by 
 Chateaubriand. 
 
 If neglect and breaches of the social and moral du- 
 ties are criminal, even in the eyes of freethinkers, 
 what must be the guilt of neglecting the only duty, 
 properly speaking, to God, of denying him the only 
 return which he expects, because it is the only return 
 he has qualified us to make, reverence, love, and gra- 
 titude ? Ingratitude to men is marked with the black- 
 est stain ; what must then that vice be, when it has 
 for its object the source of all goodness ? And what 
 chance is there, that it shall pass unpunished ? It is 
 astonishing that men, who justly look with such hor- 
 ror and detestation on murder and parricide, should 
 think so coolly on the abnegation of the Deity ; which 
 denying him his tribute of reverence and gratitude is. 
 But the instances of punishment, which the magis- 
 trate, for the preservation of the society, inflicts, helps 
 to keep up the idea of horror that attends the first ; 
 and the forbearance of vengeance in the latter, is, by 
 weak pretenders to reason, made an argument to con- 
 clude that no offence is given. 
 
 It is a strange imagination, to admit that men are 
 formed with ideas of right and wrong, with a sense of 
 duty, and the contrary, and with full physical liberty 
 to act as they shall best like; and yet to maintain 
 that it is absolutely indifferent to the Deity, who gave 
 them that rule of conduct, whether they conform to 
 or transgress it, whether they do right or wrong ; 
 and, consequently, that it is indifferent to them, (if 
 they escape punishment from their fellow-creatures,) 
 whether they have or have not conformed themselves 
 to the rule of their Creator and Sovereign Lord. P/-e- 
 sident Forbes on Incredulity. 
 
SCEPTICISM. 9 
 
 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 SCEPTICISM. 
 
 IRRATIONALITY OF SCEPTICISM. This doctrine, (that 
 is pyrrhonism,) if it go no farther than to discounten- 
 ance reasoning upon words, to which wecan affix noclear 
 and precise ideas; than to proportion our belief in any 
 proposition to the degree of probability it bears; than to 
 ascertain, as to every species of knowledge, the bounds 
 of certainty we are able to acquire this scepticism is 
 then rational ; but, when it extends to demonstrated 
 truth ; when it attacks the principles of morality, it 
 becomes either weakness or insanity. Condorcet's 
 Historical View, p. 105. 
 
 Upon a comparison of the writings of modern 
 sceptics, it will appear, that they have adopted this 
 method of philosophising upon very different grounds, 
 and for very different purposes ; but, in whatever 
 form scepticism appears, or from whatever cause it 
 springs, it may be confidently pronounced hostile to true 
 philosophy ; for its obvious tendency is to invalidate 
 every principle of human knowledge, to destroy every 
 criterion of truth, and to undermine the foundation of 
 all science, human and divine. Brucker's History of 
 Philosophy, by Enfield, ii. 480. 
 
 CREDULITY OP SCEPTICISM. That implicit credulity 
 is a mark of a feeble mind, will not be disputed, but it 
 may not perhaps be as generally acknowledged, that 
 the case is the same with unlimited scepticism : on 
 the contrary, we are sometimes apt to ascribe this dis- 
 position to a more than ordinary vigour of intellect. 
 Such a prejudice was by no means unnatural at that 
 B 5 
 
10 
 
 SCEPTICISM. 
 
 period in the history of modern Europe, when reason 
 first began to throw off the yoke of authority, and 
 when it unquestionably required a superiority of un- 
 derstanding, as well as of intrepidity, for an individual 
 to resist the contagion of prevailing superstition. But, 
 in the present age, in which the tendency of fashion- 
 able opinions is directly opposite to those of the vul- 
 gar, the philosophical creed, or the philosophical scep- 
 ticism, of by far the greater number of those, who 
 value themselves on an emancipation from popular 
 errors, arises from the very same weakness with the 
 credulity of the multitude : nor is it going too far to 
 say with Rousseau, that " he who, in the end of the 
 " eighteenth century, has brought himself to abandon 
 " all his early principles without discrimination, would 
 11 probably have been a bigot in the days of the 
 " league." In the midst of these contrary impulses 
 of fashionable and of vulgar prejudices, he alone 
 evinces the superiority and the strength of his mind, 
 who is able to disentangle truth from error, and 
 to oppose the clear conclusion of his own unbiassed 
 faculties to the united clamours of superstition and 
 of false philosophy. Such are the men, whom nature 
 marks out to be the lights of the world, to fix the 
 wavering opinions of the multitude, and to impress 
 their own character on that of their age. 
 
 There is, I think, good reason for hoping, that the 
 sceptical tendency of the present age will be only a 
 temporary evil. While it continues, however, it is an 
 evil of the most alarming nature ; and, as it extends in 
 general, not only to religion and morality, but, in 
 some measure, also to politics, and the conduct of life, 
 it is equally fatal to the comfort of the individual and 
 to the improvement of society. Stewart's Philosophy 
 of the Human Mind, vol. i. p. 33. 
 
SCEPTICISM. 11 
 
 DOGMATISM OF SCEPTICS. I cannot comprehend 
 how any man can be sincerely a sceptic on principle. 
 Such philosophers either do not exist, or they are cer- 
 tainly the most miserable of men. To be in doubt about 
 things which it is important for us to know, is a si- 
 tuation too perplexing to the human mind ; it cannot 
 long support such incertitude ; but will, in spite of it- 
 self, determine one way or other, rather deceiving 
 itself, than content to believe nothing of the matter. 
 In this situation, I consulted the philosophers ; I turn- 
 ed over their books, and examined their several opi- 
 nions ; in all which, I found them vain, dictatorial, 
 and dogmatical, even in their pretended scepticism ; 
 ignorant of nothing, yet proving nothing ; ridiculing 
 one another, and in this last particular only, wherein 
 they were all agreed, they seemed to be in the right. 
 Affecting to triumph whenever they attacked their op- 
 ponents, they wanted every thing to make them ca- 
 pable of a vigorous defence. If you examine their 
 reasons, you will find them calculated only to refute ; 
 if you number voices, every one is reduced to his own 
 suffrage : they agree in nothing but in disputing. 
 
 But were the philosophers even in a situation to 
 discover the truth, which of them would be interest- 
 ed in so doing ? Each of them knows very well, that 
 his system is no better founded than those of others ; 
 he defends it, nevertheless, because it is his own. There 
 is not one of them, who, really knowing truth from 
 falsehood, would not prefer the latter, of his own in- 
 vention, to the former discovered by any body else. 
 Where is the philosopher, who would not readily de- 
 ceive mankind, to increase his own reputation ? Where 
 is he, who secretly proposes any other object, than that 
 of distinguishing himself from the rest of mankind ? 
 Provided he raises himself above the vulgar, carries 
 
SCEPTICISM. 
 
 away the prize of fame from his competitors, what 
 doth he require more ? The most essential point is to 
 think differently from the rest of the world. Among 
 believers he is an atheist, and among atheists he affects 
 to be a believer*. Rousseau's Emilius, vol. ii. p. 124. 
 Edit. Ed. 1773. 
 
 MISCHIEVOUS EFFECTS OF SCEPTICISM. Avoid all 
 those, who, under pretence of" explaining natural causes* 
 plant the most destructive doctrines in the hearts 
 of men, and whose apparent scepticism is a hundred 
 times more dogmatical and affirmative, than the deci- 
 sive tone of their adversaries. Under the haughty 
 pretext of being the only persons who are truly en- 
 lightened, honest, and sincere, they subject us impi- 
 ously to their magisterial decisions ; and give us, for 
 the true principles of things, only unintelligible sys- 
 tems, which they have raised in their own imagina- 
 tions. Add to this, that, while they overturn, des- 
 troy, and trample under feet every thing that is res- 
 pectable among mankind, they deprive the afflicted of 
 the last consolation in their misery, take from the rich 
 and powerful the only check to the indulgence of their 
 passions ; they eradicate from our hearts the remorse 
 of guilt and the hopes of virtue, absurdly boasting 
 themselves, at the same time, the friends and bene- 
 factors of mankind. The truth, say they, can never 
 be hurtful. So far I am of their opinion, and this is 
 to me a great proof, that what they teach cannot be 
 true. Young man, be sincere without vanity : while 
 you acquiesce in your ignorance, you neither deceive 
 
 * There may be a little of the exaggeration of satire in the 
 above representation ; but its general applicableness to the scepti- 
 cal contemporaries of the author is sufficiently confirmed by the 
 letters of De Grimm. 
 
IRRELIGIOX. 13 
 
 yourself nor others. If ever you cultivate your ta- 
 lents so far as to enable you to publish your senti- 
 ments to the world, speak from the dictates of your 
 own conscience, without troubling yourself about ap- 
 plause. The abuse of knowledge produces incredu- 
 lity. The man of science disdains the sentiments of 
 the vulgar, and would even be singular in his own. 
 The van'ty of philosophy leads to infidelity, as a 
 blind devotion leads to fanaticism. Avoid both ex- 
 tremes : remain ever firm in the way of truth, or in 
 that which appears so to you in the simplicity of your 
 heart, without ever being drawn aside by pride or 
 weakness. Be not afraid to acknowledge God among 
 philosophers, nor to stand up an advocate for huma- 
 nity among persecutors. You may perhaps be thought 
 singular ; but you will carry about with you the innate 
 testimony of a good conscience, which will enable you 
 to dispense with the approbation of men. Whether 
 they love or hate you, whether they admire or des- 
 pise your writings, it is no matter : speak what is 
 true; do what is right; for the object of greatest 
 importance is to discharge our duty. Our private 
 interest, my child, deceives us ; but the hope of the 
 just cannot be deceived. Rousseau s Emilius, vol. ii. 
 226. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 IRRELIGION *. 
 
 SENSELESSNESS OF IRRELIGION. If they have the 
 least reserve of common sense, it will not be difficult to 
 
 * This title is meant to express practical impiety. 
 
IRRELIGION. 
 
 make them apprehend, how miserably they abuse 
 themselves, by laying so false a foundation of applause 
 and esteem. For this is not the way to raise a cha- 
 racter even with worldly men, who, as they are able 
 to pass a shrewd judgment on things, so they easily 
 discern that the only method of succeeding in our 
 temporal affairs, is to prove ourselves honest, faithful, 
 prudent, and capable of advancing the interest of 
 friends ; because men naturally love nothing but that, 
 which some way contributes to their use and benefit. 
 But now what benefit can we any way derive from 
 hearing a man confess, that he has eased himself of 
 the burden of religion ; that he believes no God as 
 the witness and inspector of his conduct ; that he 
 considers himself as absolute master of what he does, 
 and accountable for it only to his own mind ? Will he 
 fancy, that we shall be hence induced to repose a greater 
 degree of confidence in him hereafter ? or to depend on 
 his comfort, his advice, or assistance, in the necessities 
 of life ? Can he imagine us to take any great delight or 
 complacency, when he tells us, that he doubts whether 
 our very soul be any thing more than a little wind 
 and smoke ? Nay, when he tells it us with an air of 
 assurance, and a voice that testifies the contentment 
 of his heart ? Is this a thing to be spoken of with plea- 
 santry ? or ought it not rather to be lamented with 
 the deepest sadness, as the most melancholic reflection 
 that can strike our thoughts ? 
 
 If they would compose themselves to serious consi- 
 deration, they must perceive the method, in which 
 they are engaged, to be so very ill chosen, so repug- 
 nant to gentility, and so remote even from that good 
 air and grace which they pursue ; that, on the contra- 
 ry, nothing can more effectually expose them to the 
 contempt and aversion of mankind, or mark them out 
 for persons defective in parts and judgment. And 
 
IRRELIGION. 15 
 
 indeed, should we demand from them an account of 
 their sentiments, and of the reasons which they have to 
 entertain this suspicion in religious matters, what they 
 offered would appear so miserably weak and trifling, as 
 rather to confirm us in our belief. This is no more 
 than what one of their own fraternity told them, with 
 great smartness, on such an occasion: ' If you con- 
 tinue," says he, te to dispute at this rate, you will in- 
 fallibly make me a Christian." And the gentleman 
 was in the right ; for who would not tremble to find 
 himself embarked in the same cause with so forlorn, so 
 despicable companions? Pascal's Thoughts. 
 
 MADNESS OP IRRELIGION. I am ignorant of the 
 being, who has placed me in the world. I know neither 
 what is meant by the world, nor what is meant by 
 myself. I am in a dreadful state of ignorance con- 
 cerning all things. I am ignorant of the nature of 
 my own body, my own senses, and my own soul. 
 Even that part of me which gives birth to what I 
 now utter, and which reflects upon itself and upon 
 every thing around it, is as unknown to me as all the 
 rest. I behold this fearful expanse of the universe 
 which surrounds me, and find myself restricted to a 
 nook in this immensity of space, without knowing 
 why I am fixed in one spot rather than in another, 
 nor why the particle, allotted for my earthly existence, 
 is singled out at the present rather than at any other 
 period of that eternity, which is to follow me. On 
 every side I behold an infinity, which swallows me 
 up like an atom, or like a passing shadow, enduring 
 but for a moment. All I understand is, that it will 
 soon be my lot to die. But I know least of all in what 
 this death, which I am unable to escape, consists. As 
 I know not whence I came, so neither do I know 
 5 
 
16 IRRELIGION 
 
 whither I am going. I only know, that upon leav- 
 ing this world I fall for ever into a state of annihila- 
 tion, or into the hands of an incensed God, without 
 comprehending, to which of these two states I am to 
 look forward, as my eternal heritage. 
 
 Behold, then, my condition replete with wretched- 
 ness, weakness, and obscurity ! Nevertheless, upon 
 the review of all this, I conclude that I have nothing 
 to do, but to pass my days, without giving myself any 
 concern about my future destiny. I conclude that 1 
 have nothing to do, but to follow my own incli- 
 nations, without reflection or solicitude ; doing by this 
 means all I can to incur eternal misery, if what is said 
 concerning it should prove ultimately true. Perhaps 
 it would be possible for me to obtain some satisfac- 
 tion upon the subject of my doubts ; but I am deter- 
 mined not to be at this trouble, nor to take a single 
 step in search of it : and, in short, treating with con- 
 tempt all who concern themselves about this subject, 
 I am determined to go on without precaution or alarm. 
 I am determined to risk this important stake, and to 
 glide smoothly along the stream, till death finds me 
 in a state of uncertainty respecting my future ever, 
 lasting lot. Pascal's Thoughts. 
 
 WORTHLESS CHARACTER OF IRRELIGIOUS SCOFFERS. 
 Nevertheless, the bold and frivolous discourses, 
 which are permitted against religion in general, hare 
 made such a progress, that at present the persons who 
 most respect these opinions, without ostentation or se- 
 verity, find themselves obliged to conceal or moderate 
 their sentiments, lest they should be exposed to a kind 
 of contemptuous pity, or run the risk of being sus- 
 pected of hypocrisy. We are at liberty to speak on 
 every subject, except the most grand and interesting 
 
IRIIELIGION. 17 
 
 which can occupy man. What strange authority gave 
 rise to this imperious legislation, which is termed fa- 
 shionable ! What a miserable conspiracy, that of 
 weakness against Omnipotence ! Men are proud of 
 knowing at what hour the king wakes, goes to the 
 chace, or returns ; they are very eager to be informed 
 of the vile intrigues, which successively debase or ex- 
 alt his courtiers ; they pass, in short, their whole lives 
 in panting after objects of vanity and badges of sla- 
 very ; they are continually brought into conversation ; 
 and they proscribe, under the dreadful name of vul- 
 garity, the most remote expression which would recal 
 the idea of the harmonious universe, and the Being 
 who has bestowed on us all the gifts of the mind ; 
 what is most excellent in our nature we overlook, to 
 dwell only on the inflations of vanity. Ungrateful 
 that we are ! Our intelligence, our will, all our senses, 
 are the seal of an unknown power ; and is it the name 
 of our Master and Benefactor, that we dare not pro- 
 nounce ? It is from your modern philosophers that 
 this false shame arises ; you who spread derision over 
 the most respectable sentiments j and, employing in 
 the dispute the frivolous shafts of ridicule, have given 
 confidence to the most frivolous of men : you have for 
 your followers a numerous race, which is taken pro- 
 miscuously from every rank and age. 
 
 We now reckon amongst those, who oppose a con- 
 temptuous smile to religious opinions, a multitude of 
 young people, often incapable of supporting the most 
 trivial arguments, and who, perhaps, could not con- 
 nect two or three abstract propositions. These pre- 
 tended philosophers artfully, and almost perfidiously, 
 take advantage of the first flight of self-love, to per- 
 suade beginners, that they are able to judge at a glance 
 of the serious questions, which have eluded the pene- 
 
18 IRRELIGIOX. 
 
 tration of the most exercised thinkers. In short, such 
 is, in general, the decisive tone of the irreligious men 
 of our age, that in hearing them so boldly murmur 
 about the disorders of the universe, and the mistakes 
 of Providence, we are only surprised to see how much 
 they differ in stature from those rebellious giants, men- 
 tioned in the heathen mythology. Necher's Religious 
 Opinio?is, 392. 
 
 Respecting this new, or rather revived system of 
 philosophy, soi disante telle, it may perhaps be con- 
 fessed, that it may possibly have done some good ; but 
 then it has certainly done much more mischief to 
 mankind. On the one hand, it may perhaps be al- 
 lowed, that to its prevalence we owe the general sys- 
 tem of toleration which seems to prevail*, which is, I 
 fear, the only speck of white that marks the present 
 day. Yet even this solitary virtue, if infidelity be its 
 basis, is founded on a false principle. Christian cha- 
 rity, which includes the idea of universal philanthropy, 
 and which, when really Christian, is the true founda- 
 tion on which virtue should be erected, and not the 
 opinion that all religions should be tolerated, because 
 all are alike erroneous. But even allowing this boast- 
 ed benefit its full weight, to the same cause we are, 
 I doubt, on the other hand, indebted for that profli- 
 gacy of manners, or, to call it by the most gentle 
 name, that frivolity which every where prevails. To 
 this cause we owe that total disregard, that fastidious 
 dislike to all serious thought, for every man can be a 
 deist without thinking ; he is made so at his toilette, 
 and, whilst his hair is dressing, reads himself into an 
 adept ; that shameful and degrading apathy to all that 
 
 * The persecutions of Christians by the heathen philosophers 
 in ancient times, and by the infidel rulers of France in later times, 
 are not favourable to this supposition. 
 
IRRELIGION. 19 
 
 is great and noble ; in a word, that perfect indiffer- 
 ence to right or wrong, which enervates and charac- 
 terises this unmeaning and frivolous age*. Earl of 
 Charlemont ; see Life, i. 237- 
 
 I mean that you should by no means seem to ap- 
 prove, encourage, or applaud these libertine notions 
 which strike at religion equally, and which are the 
 poor thread-bare topics of half-wits and minute philo- 
 sophers. Even those, who are silly enough to laugh 
 at their jokes, are still wise enough to distrust and 
 detest their character ; for, putting moral virtues at 
 the highest and religion at the lowest, religion must 
 still be allowed to be a collateral security at least to 
 virtue ; and every prudent man will sooner trust to 
 two securities than to one. Whenever, therefore, you 
 happen to be in company with these pretended esprils 
 forts, or with thoughtless libertines, who laugh at all 
 religion to show their wit, or disclaim it to complete 
 their riot, let no word or look of yours intimate the 
 least approbation : on the contrary, let a solemn gra- 
 vity express your dislike; but enter not into the sub- 
 ject, and decline such unprofitable and indecent con- 
 troversies. Depend upon this truth, that every man 
 is the worse looked upon, and the less trusted, for be- 
 ing thought to have no religion, in spite of all the 
 pompous, specious epithets he may assume of esprit 
 forty freethinker, or moral philosopher, and a wise 
 atheist (if such a thing there is) would, for his own 
 interest and character in this world, pretend to some 
 religion. 
 
 Your moral character must be not only pure, but, 
 like Caesar's wife, unsuspected. The least speck or 
 blemish upon it is fatal. Nothing degrades and vilifies 
 
 * It is not known when this passage was written, but the no 
 ble author died in the year 1799. 
 
*V IRBELIGIOX. 
 
 more, for it excites and unites detestation and con- 
 tempt. There are, however, wretches in the world, 
 profligate enough to explode all notion of moral good 
 and evil, to maintain that they are merely local, and 
 depend entirely upon the customs and fashions of dif- 
 ferent countries. Nay, there are still, if possible, more 
 unaccountable wretches ; I mean those, who affect to 
 preach and propagate such absurd and infamous no- 
 tions, without believing them themselves. These are 
 the devil's hypocrites. Avoid, as much as possible, 
 the company of such people, who reflect a degree of 
 discredit and infamy upon all who converse with them. 
 But, as you may sometimes by accident fall into such 
 company, take great care that no complaisance, no 
 good humour, no warmth of festal mirth, ever make 
 you seem even to acquiesce, much less to approve or 
 applaud such infamoas doctrines; on the other hand, 
 do not debate nor enter into serious argument upon a 
 subject so much below it ; but content yourself with 
 telling these apostles, that you know they are not se- 
 rious ; that you have a much better opinion of them, 
 than they would have you to have ; and that you are 
 very sure they would not practise the doctrine they 
 preach. But put your private mark upon them, and 
 shun for ever afterwards. Chesterfield's Letters to his 
 Son, vol. ii. p. 228. 
 
 I might take this opportunity to add, that ridicule 
 is not always contented with ravaging and destroying 
 the works of man, but boldly and impiously attacks 
 those of God; enters even into the sanctuary, and 
 profanes the temple of the Most High. A late no- 
 ble writer has made use of it to asperse the characters, 
 and destroy the validity, of the writers of both the 
 Old and New Testament ; and to change the solemn 
 truths of Christianity into matter of mirth and laugh- 
 ter. The books of Moses are called by him fables and 
 
IRRELIGION. 21 
 
 tales, fit only for the amusement of children : and 
 St. Paul is treated by him as an enthusiast, an idiot, 
 and an avowed enemy to that religion which he pro- 
 fessed. One would not surely think, that there was 
 any thing in Christianity so ludicrous, as to raise 
 laughter, or to excite contempt; but, on the contrary, 
 that the nature of its precepts, and its own intrinsic 
 excellence, would at least have secured it from such in- 
 dignities. Nothing gives us a higher opinion of 
 those ancient heathens, whom our modern bigots are 
 so apt to despise, than that air of piety and devotion 
 which runs through all their writings ; and, though the 
 Pagan theology was full of absurdities and inconsis- 
 tencies, which the more refined spirits among their 
 poets and philosophers must have doubtless des- 
 pised, rejected, and contemned ; such was their re- 
 spect and veneration for the established religion of 
 their country, such their regard to decency and seri- 
 ousness, such their modesty and diffidence in affairs of 
 so much weight and importance, that we very seldom 
 meet with jest or ridicule on subjects, which they held 
 thus sacred and respectable. 
 
 The privilege of publicly laughing at religion, and 
 the profession of it ; of making the laws of God, and 
 the great concerns of eternity, the objects of mirth and 
 ridicule, was reserved for more enlightened ages, and 
 denied the more pious heathens ; to reflect disgrace 
 and ignominy on the Christian aera. It hath indeed 
 been the fate of the best and purest religion in the 
 world, to become the jest of fools j and not only, with 
 its Divine Founder, to be scourged and persecuted, 
 but with him to be mocked and spit at, tramped on 
 and despised. But to consider the dreadful conse- 
 quences of ridicule on this occasion, will better be- 
 come the divine than essayist ; to him therefore shall 
 I refer it, and conclude this essay by observing, that, 
 
35G IRRELIGIOX. 
 
 after all the undeserved encomiums, so lavishly be- 
 stowed on this child of wit and malice, so universally 
 approved and admired, I know of no service the per- 
 nicious talent of ridicule can be of, unless it be to 
 raise the blush of modesty, and put virtue out of 
 countenance ; to enhance the miseries of the wretch- 
 ed, and poison the feast of happiness ; to insult man, 
 affront God ; to make us, in short, hateful to our fel- 
 low-creatures, uneasy to ourselves, and highly dis- 
 pleasing to the Almighty. Smollett. 
 
 Having mentioned common-place observations, I 
 will particularly caution you against either using, be- 
 lieving, or approving them. They are the common 
 topics of witlings and coxcombs; those who really 
 have wit have the utmost contempt for them, and 
 scorn even to laugh at the pert things that those 
 would-be wits say upon such subjects. 
 
 Religion is one of their favourite topics : it is all 
 priestcraft ; and an invention contrived and carried 
 on by priests of all religions, for their own power 
 and profit. From this absurd and false principle flow 
 the common-place insipid jokes and insults upon the. 
 clergy. With these people, every friend of every re- 
 ligion is either a public or a concealed unbeliever, 
 drunkard, and whoremaster; whereas, I conceive 
 that priests are extremely like other men, and neither 
 the better nor the worse for wearing a gown or sur- 
 plice ; but, if they differ from other people, probably 
 it is rather on the side of religion and morality, or at 
 least decency, from their education and manner of 
 life. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, vol. i. p. 276. 
 
 Persons of vicious dispositions are not at all adapt- 
 ed for any laudable employment whatever, Rous- 
 seau's Emilius, i. 48. 
 
 Freethinkers are almost always unsteady charac- 
 
IRRELIGION. 23 
 
 ' ters. The affectation of irreligion is, independent of 
 its foolish impiety, always the mark of a bad taste. 
 Eugene's Memoirs by himself*, p. 36. Mudford's Trans* 
 lation. 
 
 * This work has been ascribed to the pen of the Prince de 
 Ligne, field-marshal in the Austrian service, who died in De- 
 cember, 1795, at a very advanced age; and who is pronounced by 
 Madame de Stael to have been a man of the most brilliant conver- 
 sation in all Europe, and a great personal favourite with most of 
 the crowned heads of the age. It is very obvious that it equally 
 answers the purpose of these extracts, whether the above-cited 
 passage be considered as from the pen of Prince Eugene, or from 
 that of the Prince de Ligne. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS, 
 AND THE FOUNDATION OF VIRTUE. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 MORAL DISTINCTIONS. 
 
 REALITY OF MORAL DISTINCTIONS. Those, who have 
 refused the reality of moral distinctions, may be rank- 
 ed among the disirgenuous disputants. The only way 
 of converting an antagonist of this kind is to leave him 
 to himself; for, finding that nobody keeps up the con- 
 troversy with him, it is probable he will, at last, of 
 himself, from mere weariness, cotre over to the side of 
 common sense and reason. Humes Inquiry concerning 
 the Principles of Morals. 
 
 CLEARNESS OF MORAL DrsTiNCTioNS. Pray, let no 
 quibbles of lawyers, no refinements of casuists, break 
 into the plain notions of right and wrong, which every 
 man's right reason and plain common sense suggests 
 to him. To do as you would be done by, is the plain, 
 sure, and undisputed rule of morality and justice. 
 Stick to that, and be convinced that whatever breaks 
 into it in any degree, however speciously it may be 
 
MORAL DISTINCTIONS. 
 
 turned, and however puzzling it may be to answer it, 
 is, notwithstanding, false in itself, unjust, and crimi- 
 nal. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, ii. 34. 
 
 SOURCES OF MORAL DISTINCTIONS. If it be true (as 
 some theologians have presumed to assert) that bene- 
 volence is the sole principle of action in the Deity, we 
 must suppose that the duties of veracity and justice 
 were enjoined by Him, not on account of their intrin- 
 sic rectitude, but of their utility ; but still, with res- 
 pect to man, there are sacred and indispensable laws, 
 laws which he never transgresses without incurring 
 the penalty of self-condemnation and remorse. And 
 indeed, if, without the guidance of any internal moni- 
 tor, he were left to infer the duties incumbent on him 
 from a calculation and comparison of remote effects, 
 we may venture to affirm that there would not be 
 enough of virtue left in the world to hold society to- 
 gether. 
 
 To those, who have been accustomed to reflect on 
 the general analogy of the human constitution, and 
 on the admirable adaptation of its various parts to that 
 scene in which we are destined to act, this last consi- 
 deration will, independently of any examination of 
 the fact, suggest a very strong presumption a priori 
 against the doctrine to which the foregoing remarks 
 relate. For is it at all consonant with the other ar- 
 rangements so wisely calculated for human happiness, 
 to suppose, that the conduct of such a fallible and 
 short- sighted creature as man would be left to be re- 
 gulated by no other principle than the private opi- 
 nion of each individual concerning the expediency of 
 his own actions ? or, in other words, by the conjec- 
 tures which he might form on the good or evil, result- 
 ing, on the whole, from an endless train of future con- 
 tingencies. Were this the case, the opinions of man- 
 
MORAL DISTINCTIONS. 
 
 kind, with respect to the rules of morality, would be as 
 various as their judgments about the probable issue of 
 the most doubtful or difficult determinations in poli- 
 tics. Numberless cases might be fancied, in which a 
 person would not only claim merit, but actually pos- 
 sess it, in consequence of actions which are generally 
 regarded with indignation and abhorrence ; for unless 
 we admit such duties as justice, veracity, and grati- 
 tude, to be immediately and imperatively sanctioned 
 by the authority of reason and of conscience, it follows 
 as a necessary inference, that we are bound to violate 
 them, whenever, by doing so, we have a prospect of 
 advancing any of the essential interests of society j or 
 (which amounts to the same thing) that a good end 
 is sufficient to sanctify whatever means may appear to 
 us to be necessary for its accomplishment. Even men 
 of the soundest and most penetrating understandings 
 might frequently be led to the perpetration of enor- 
 mities, if they had no other light to guide them, but 
 what they derived from their own uncertain anticipa- 
 tions of futurity. And when we consider how small 
 the number of such men is, in comparison of those, 
 whose judgments are perverted by the prejudices of 
 education and their own selfish passions, it is easy to 
 see what a scene of anarchy the world wouH become. 
 Of this, indeed, we have too melancholy an experi- 
 mental proof in the history of those individuals, who 
 have in practice adopted the rule of general expediency, 
 as their whole code of morality ; a rule, which the most 
 execrable scourges of the human race have, in all ages, 
 professed to follow, and of which they have uniform- 
 ly availed themselves, as an apology for their devia- 
 tions from the ordinary maxims of right and wrong. 
 
 Fortunately for mankind, the peace of society is not 
 thus entrusted to accident ; the great rules of a vir- 
 tuous conduct being confessedly of such a nature, as 
 
CONNECTION OF MORALITY WITH RELIGION. 27 
 
 to be obvious to every sincere and well disposed 
 mind. And it is in a peculiar degree striking, that 
 while the theory of ethics involves some of the most 
 abstruse questions, which have ever employed the hu- 
 man faculties, the moral judgments and moral feel- 
 ings of the most distant ages and nations, with respec 
 to all the most essential duties of life, are one and the 
 same.- Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, 
 vol. ii. 478. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 CONNECTION OF MORALITY WITH RELIGION. 
 
 BAYLE states a question, whether a people may not 
 be happy in society, and be qualified for good govern- 
 ment, upon principles of morality singly, without any 
 sense of religion. The question is ingenious, and may 
 give opportunity for subtle reasoning ; but it is use- 
 less, because the fact supposed cannot happen. The 
 principles of morality and of religion are equally root- 
 ed in our nature : they are indeed weak in children 
 and in savages ; but they grow up together, and ad- 
 vance toward maturity with equal steps. Where the 
 moral sense is entire, there must be a sense of reli- 
 gion ; and, if a man, who has no sense of religion, 
 live decently in society, he is more indebted for his 
 conduct to good temper, than to sound morals. Lord 
 Kames' Sketches of Man, vi. 344. 
 
 They that cry down moral honesty, cry down that 
 which is a great part of religion, my duty toward God, 
 and my duty toward man. What care I to see a man run 
 after a sermon, if he cozens and cheats as soon as he 
 comes home. On the other side, morality must not 
 
28 CONNECTION OF MORALITY WITH RELIGION. 
 
 be without religion ; for, if so, it may change as I see 
 convenient. Religion must govern it. He that has 
 riot religion to govern his morality, is not a dram bet- 
 ter than my mastiff dog. So long as you stroke him, 
 and please him, and do not pinch him, he will play 
 with you as finely as may be ; he is a very good moral 
 mastiff ; but if you hurt him, he will fly in your face* 
 and tear out your throat. Selden's Table Talk, 1 12. 
 
 Philosophy, on its own principles,, cannot be pro- 
 ductive of any virtue, which does not flow from re- 
 ligion; and religion is productive of many virtues, to 
 which philosophy is a stranger. As to practice, it is 
 another thing, and remains to t>e examined. There is 
 no man who practises in every particular the doctrine 
 of his religion, when he has one, that is true ; the great- 
 er part of mankind have hardly any religion at all, and 
 practise nothing of what little they have : this also is 
 very true ; but, after all, some people have religion, and 
 practise it at least in part, and it is incontestible that 
 motives of religion prevent them often from falling in- 
 to vice, and excite to virtuous and commendable ac- 
 tions, which they had not performed but for such mo- 
 tives. Let a priest be guilty of a breach of trust, what 
 does this prove, but that a blockhead had confided in 
 him ? If Pascal himself had done it, this would have 
 proved Pascal a hypocrite; nothing more. Rous- 
 seau's Emilius, vol. ii. p. 227, note. 
 
 In effect, the immortality of heaven has no rela- 
 tion to the rewards and punishments, of which we 
 form an idea on this earth. The sentiment, which 
 makes us aspire to immortality, is as disinterested as 
 that which makes us find our happiness in devoting 
 ourselves to the happiness of others ; for the first of- 
 fering to religious felicity is the sacrifice of self ; and 
 it is thus necessarily removed from every species of 
 selfishness. Whatever we may attempt, we must re- 
 
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 29 
 
 turn to the acknowledgment, that religion is the true 
 foundation of morality ; it is that sensible and real ob- 
 ject within us, which can alone divert our attention 
 from external objects. If piety did not excite sublime 
 emotions, who would sacrifice even sensual pleasures, 
 however vulgar they might be, to the cold dignity of 
 reason ? We must begin the internal history of man 
 with religion, or with sensation ; for there is nothing 
 animated besides. De Stael's Germany* iii, 209. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 AMONGST the opinions, then, which it highly con- 
 cerns all men to settle and to embrace, the chief are 
 those which relate to Almighty God, as the great Crea- 
 tor and Governor of the universe. That there is real- 
 ly existing a Supreme Being, from whom all other 
 things derive their original, and the principle of their 
 motion, not as from a dull and senseless power, (as 
 the weight, for example, in a block,) but as from a 
 cause endowed with understanding and with freedom 
 of choice. That this Eternal Being exercises a sove- 
 reignty, not only over the whole world, or over man. 
 kind in general, but over every individual human 
 person, whose knowledge nothing can escape ; who, 
 by virtue of his imperial right, hath enjoined men 
 such certain duties by natural law, the observance of 
 which will meet with his approbation, the breach or 
 the neglect with his displeasure; and that he will, for 
 this purpose, require an exact account from every 
 man of his proceedings, without corruption and with- 
 out partiality. 
 
 c3 
 
30 MORALITY FOUNDED OX THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 Now, as the main parts of human duty turn on this 
 belief, so it is the only foundation of the sweet tran- 
 quillity and acquiescence of mind, which men inward- 
 ly enjoy, and the very fence and bulwark of all that 
 probity, which we are to exercise towards our neigh- 
 bour ; without which no man can seriously and hear- 
 tily do a good action himself, or give sufficient cau- 
 tion and security of his honest intentions to others. 
 And, although it appears from the ordinances of the 
 Christian religion, that God is not so far pleased with 
 every kind of worship which men pay him, as to em- 
 brace them with peculiar favour, and to give them a 
 title to eternal life; which good effects do follow only 
 that institution and way of service, which he hath re- 
 vealed in a singular manner to the world. Yet a se- 
 rious persuasion concerning the divine existence and 
 providence, under whatever particular apprehension 
 or particular worship, hath, however, thus much of 
 force and efficacy, as to render men more observant of 
 their duty. To prove this assertion, we need only 
 consider, that there have been of old, and still are, 
 men professing religions, which we must own to be 
 destructive to salvation, as suppose Mahometans or 
 Pagans, who nevertheless, by virtue of their persua- 
 sion of God's providence, have shewn no inconside- 
 rable concern and care for honesty ^and justice, so asnot 
 to be outdone by many Christians, at least as to exter- 
 nal performances. As this persuasion, and whatever 
 else we are able to learn concerning the worship ot 
 God, either from reason or revelation, is, first of all, to 
 be implanted in a rightly cultivated mind ; so are the 
 opinions contrary to these truths most carefully to be 
 barred off and excluded. And here we would not only 
 be understood of atheistical and Epicurean principles, 
 but of all those numerous notions which appear to 
 be destructive of true religion, of good manners, and 
 
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 31 
 
 of human society, which it is in an high manner the 
 interest of mankind to see absolutely rooted up and 
 banished out of the world. Puffendorf's Law of Na- 
 ture and Nations, Book ii. chap. iv. sec. 3. 
 
 To judge of the rectitude of actions, the first rule is, 
 the divine law, whereby I mean that law which God 
 hath set to the actions of men. whether promulgated 
 to them by the light of nature, or the voice of reve- 
 lation. That God has given a rule, whereby men 
 should govern themselves, I think there is nobody so 
 brutish as to deny. He has a right to do it : we are 
 his creatures : he has goodness and wisdom to direct 
 our actions to that which is best ; and he has power 
 to enforce it by rewards and punishments, of infinite 
 weight and duration, in another life ; for nobody can 
 take us out of his hands. This is the only true touch- 
 stone of moral rectitude ; and, by comparing them to 
 this law, it is, that men judge of the most considera- 
 ble moral good or evil of their actions ; that is, whe- 
 ther as duties, or sins, they are like to procure them 
 happiness or misery from the hands of the Almighty. 
 Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, vol. ii. 
 book ii. chap. 28. 
 
 The regard to those general rules of conduct, is 
 what is properly called a sense of duty, a principle of 
 the greatest consequence in human life, and the only 
 principle by which the bulk of mankind are capable 
 of directing their actions. Without this sacred regard 
 to general rules, there is no man whose conduct can 
 be much depended upon. It is this which consti- 
 tutes the most essential difference between a man or 
 principle and honour, and a worthless fellow. The 
 one adheres, on all occasions, steadily and resolutely 
 to his maxims, and preserves, the whole of his life, one 
 even tenor of conduct. The other acts variously and acci- 
 dentally, as humour, inclination, or interest, chance to 
 c 4 
 
32 MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 to be uppermost. This reverence (for these general rules 
 of moral conduct) is still farther enhanced by an opi- 
 nion, which is first impressed by nature, and afterwards 
 confirmed by reasoning and philosophy, that those im- 
 portant rules of morality are the commands and laws 
 of the Deity, who will finally reward the obedient, 
 and punish the transgressors of their duty. These 
 natural hopes and fears and suspicions were propa- 
 gated by sympathy, and confirmed by education ; and 
 the gods were universally represented and believed to 
 be the rewarders of humanity and mercy, and the 
 avengers of perfidy and injustice. And thus religion, 
 even in its rudest form, gave a sanction to the rules 
 of morality, long before the age of artificial reasoning 
 and philosophy. That the terrors of religion should 
 thus enforce the natural sense of duty, was of too 
 much importance to the happiness of mankind, for 
 nature to leave it dependent upon the slowness and 
 uncertainty of philosophical researches*. These re- 
 searches, however, when they came to take place, 
 confirmed those original anticipations of nature. Up- 
 on whatever we suppose that our moral faculties are 
 founded, whether upon a certain modification of rea- 
 son, upon an original instinct, called a moral sense, 
 or upon some other principle of our nature, it can- 
 not be doubted that they were given us for the direc- 
 tion of our conduct in this life. Since these, therefore, 
 were plainly intended to be the governing principles 
 of human nature, the rules which they prescribe are 
 to be regarded as the commands and laws of the Dei- 
 
 * There is an obvious vagueness in the language of Dr. Smith, 
 on this subject of what nature teaches ; and either he must have 
 considered the idea of a Deity to be innate in the human mind, or 
 it must follow (on his principle of that idea having been so preva- 
 lent and powerful, previous to the influence of reasoning and phi- 
 losophy) that it had been imparted by some original revelation, and 
 preserved by means of human tradition. 
 
, MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 33 
 
 ty, promulgated by those vicegerents which he has 
 set up within us. All general rules are commonly 
 denominated laws : thus the general rules, which bo- 
 dies observe in communication of motion, are called 
 the laws of motion. But these general rules, which 
 our moral faculties observe in approving or condemn- 
 ing whatever sentiment or action is subjected to their 
 examination, may much more justly be denominated 
 sirch. They have a much greater resemblance to what 
 are properly called laws, those general rules, which 
 the sovereign lays down to direct the conduct of his sub- 
 jects. Like them they are rules to direct the free ac- 
 tions of men ; they are prescribed, most surely, by a 
 lawful superior, and are attended too with the sanc- 
 tion of rewards and punishments. Those vicegerents 
 of God within never fail to punish the violation of 
 them by the torments of inward shame and self-con- 
 demnation ; and, on the contrary, always reward 
 obedience with tranquillity of mind, with content- 
 ment, and self-satisfaction. There are, besides, many 
 other reasons, and many other natural principles, 
 which all tend to confirm and inculcate the same sa- 
 lutary doctrine. When the general rules, which deter- 
 mine the merit and demerhVof actions, come thus to be 
 regarded as the laws of an all-powerful Being, who 
 watches over our conduct, and who, in a life to come, 
 will reward the observance, and punish the breach of 
 them, they necessarily acquire a new sacredness from 
 this consideration. That our regard to the will of the 
 Deity ought to be the supreme rule of our conduct, 
 can be doubted of by nobody who believes his exist- 
 ence. The very thought of disobedience appears to 
 involve in it the most shocking impropriety. How vain, 
 how absurd, would it be for man, either to oppose or 
 to neglect the commands, that were laid upon him by 
 infinite wisdom and infinite power ! How unnatural, 
 
34 MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF SOD. 
 
 how impiously ungrateful, not to reverence the pre- 
 cepts, that were prescribed to him by the infinite good- 
 ness of his Creator, even though no punishment was to 
 follow their violation ? The sense of propriety too is 
 here well supported by the strongest motives of self- 
 interest. The idea, that, however we may escape 
 the observation of men, or be placed above the reach 
 of human punishment, yet we are always acting un- 
 der the eye and exposed to the punishment of God, 
 the great avenger of injustice, is a motive capable of 
 restraining the most headstrong passions, with those 
 at least, who, by constant reflection, have rendered it 
 familiar to them. 
 
 It is in this manner, that religion enforces the na- 
 tural sense of duty ; and hence it is, that mankind are 
 generally disposed to place great confidence in the 
 probity of those, who seem deeply impressed with re- 
 ligious sentiments. Such persons, they imagine, act 
 under an additional tie, besides those which regulate 
 the conduct of other men. The regard to the pro- 
 priety of action, as well as to reputation, the regard 
 to the applause of his own breast, as well as to that of 
 others, are motives which they suppose have the same 
 influence over the religious man, as over the man of 
 the world. But the former lies under another restraint, 
 and never acts deliberately, but as in the presence of 
 that great Superior, who is finally to recompense him 
 according to his deeds. A greater trust is reposed, upon 
 this account, in the regularity and exactness of his 
 conduct. And wherever the natural principles of re- 
 ligion are not corrupted by the factions and party 
 zeal of some worthless cabal ; wherever the first duty 
 which it requires, is to fulfil all the obligations of mo- 
 rality ; wherever men are not taught to regard frivo- 
 lous observances as more immediate duties of religion, 
 than acts of justice and beneficence ; and to imagine 
 that by sacrifices and ceremonies, and vain supplica- 
 
MORALITY FOUNDED ON THE WILL OF GOD. 35 
 
 tions, they can bargain with the Deity for fraud, and 
 perfidy, and violence, the world undoubtedly judges 
 right in this respect, and justly places a double con- 
 fidence in the rectitude of the religious man's beha- 
 viour. Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. i. p. 
 402, &c. 
 
 It was extremely simple to rise from the study of 
 nature to the inquiry after its Author. As soon as 
 we attained this point, we perceived that we had gain- 
 ed a considerable ascendant over our pupil, and found 
 new ways to address ourselves to his heart. Then on- 
 ly does he find it his interest to be virtuoo*, to do good 
 actions without any regard to man, and, without being 
 compelled by the laws, to be just between God and 
 himself; to discharge his duty even at the expense of 
 his life ; and even to bear the image of virtue imprint- 
 ed in his heart, not only from the love of order, to which 
 every man prefers that of himself; but from the love 
 of his Creator, which is mingled with the love of him. 
 self, to the end that he may enjoy that lasting felicity 
 in the other life, of which a good conscience, and the 
 contemplation of a Supreme Being, are sure pledges 
 in this. If I depart from this point, I see nothing left 
 but injustice, falsehood, and hypocrisy ; self-interest, 
 prevailing over every other competition, teaches every 
 man to disguise his vices under the cloak and mask of 
 virtue. Let the rest of mankind do my business at 
 their own expense; let every thing be referred to 
 me alone as its ultimate end ; let all mankind perish 
 in pain and misery, to save me a moment's uneasiness, 
 or a little hunger ; such is the language, which the 
 atheist and the unbeliever makes use of to himself. 
 Yes, I shall maintain it all my life, whoever says in 
 his heart there is no God, and makes use of a differ- 
 ent language, is either a liar or madman. Rous- 
 seau's Emilius, vol. ii. p. 230. 
 c 6 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL 
 RELIGION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE BELIEF OF A GOD. That 
 there is a God ! How is it possible to avoid being 
 penetrated with an awful respect in uttering these 
 words ? How reflect on them without the deepest 
 humility, and even an emotion of surprise, that man, 
 this weak creature, this atom dispersed in the immen- 
 sity of space, undertakes to add some weight to 
 a truth, of which all nature is the splendid witness ? 
 
 However, if this truth is our supreme good,' if we 
 are nothing without it, how can we banish it from 
 our minds ? Does it not constrain us to dwell conti- 
 nually on the subject ? Compared with it, all other 
 thoughts are insignificant and uninteresting : it gives 
 birth to, and sustains all the sentiments on which the 
 happiness of an intelligent creature depends. Neck~ 
 er's Religious Opinions, p. 278. 
 
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 37 
 
 THE BELIEF OF A GOD FOUNDED IN REASON. As 
 every inquiry, which regards religion, is of the utmost 
 importance, there are two questions, in particular, 
 which challenge our attention, to wit, that concern- 
 ing its foundation in reason, and that concerning its 
 origin in human nature. Happily, the first question, 
 which is the most important, admits of the most 
 obvious, at least the clearest solution. The whole 
 frame of nature bespeaks an intelligent author ; and 
 no rational inquirer can, after serious reflection, sus- 
 pend his belief a moment with regard to the primary 
 principles of genuine Theism and Religion. Hume's 
 Essays, vol. ii. 401. Edit. 1800. 
 
 Every thing well weighed on both sides, (of the 
 atheistical and theistical arguments,) I must declare, 
 without prejudice, (as far as I can be without preju- 
 dice, ) that the system of the existence of a God, or 
 of a supreme intelligent being, architect of the 
 universe, and of all that it contains, sovereign legisla- 
 tor of nature, who has endued us with an understand- 
 ing above that of all the other creatures known to us, 
 and with a liberty of thinking and comparing what 
 is good and what is evil relatively to our being ; that 
 this system, I say, appears to me infinitely more rea- 
 sonable than that of our author * : I say more, it is 
 impossible for me to doubt of it. Sir James Stetiart's 
 Works ', vi. p. 64. 
 
 THE BELIEF OF A GOD CONFIRMED BY SCIENCE. I 
 am saying nothing here, that I am not accustomed to 
 urge at much greater length, in the course of my pro- 
 fessional dutyt. And I do not think, that I am justly 
 
 Mirabaud's " Systeme de la Nature." 
 f The author was professor of natural philosophy in the univer- 
 sity of Edinburgh. 
 
38 EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 
 
 chargeable with vanity, when I suppose, that many 
 years of delightful study of the works of God have 
 given me somewhat more acquaintance with them, 
 than is probably attained by those who never think 
 of the matter, being continually engaged in the 
 bustle of life. Should one of this description say, that 
 all is fate or chance, and that the same thing happens 
 to all, &c. as is but too common, I should think that 
 a prudent man will give so much preference to my 
 assertion, as at least to think seriously about the 
 thing, before he allow himself any indulgence in 
 things, which I affirm to be highly dangerous to his 
 future peace and happiness. Robison's Proofs of a 
 Conspiracy, 492. 
 
 But surely to us, the scholars of Newton, the futi- 
 lity of this attempt is abundantly manifest. As the 
 worthy pupils of our accomplished teacher, we will 
 join with him in considering universal gravitation as 
 a noble proof of the existence and superintendance of 
 a supreme mind, and a conspicuous mark of its tran- 
 scendent wisdom. Robison's Elem. of Mechan. Phil. 
 vol. i. p. 694. 
 
 Of the various distinctions, which characterize 
 philosophy, there are none, which deserve so much 
 your attention, as those which separate what is true- 
 from what is false : from these you will learn, that 
 those men, who assume the name of philosophers to 
 countenance infidelity and licentiousness, are not less 
 enemies to philosophy, than to divinity. The mind 
 of that man, who conceives so falsely of the divine 
 oracles, as to believe that they oppose true and use- 
 ful learning, has been debauched by sophistical rea- 
 sonings, or debased by grovelling and unworthy pur 
 suits. Sacred writ arms us indeed against vain 
 philosophy, and all the empty fictions of the human, 
 imagination, which bring forth neither pleasure nor 
 
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 39 
 
 profit, but then it invites you, in the sublimest strains, 
 to consider the works of God, whose counsels and 
 perfections, as they are displayed in the creatures, 
 will ever be best understood by those, who study them 
 with humility and attention. 
 
 Learning and philosophy never shone more bright, 
 than when they met with faith and religion in the 
 mind of the excellent Lord Bacon ; whose opinion it 
 was that the wonderful works of God do minister a 
 singular kelp and preservation against wjidelity and 
 error. If there be any philosophers so void of under- 
 standing as to regard the science of nature only as a 
 tower of state for a proud mind to raise itself upon, 
 and to esteem themselves licentiates in infidelity, 
 because they make some figure in philosophy, it 
 may possibly do them some good to look back upon 
 the example of this great man, who preserved a 
 mind unstained with the pride of heresy and infideli- 
 ty ; and was not more to be admired for his extensive 
 learning and experience in the ways of nature, than 
 for his theological skill and penetration into the wis- 
 dom of the sacred writings. " There are/ 5 says he, 
 " two books, or volumes of study, laid before us, if 
 "we will be secured from error ; first, the scriptures, 
 " revealing the will of God, and then the creatures, 
 " expressing his power ; whereof the latter is a key 
 " unto the former : they are both written by the 
 " finger of the one eternal God." 
 
 In these we are taught, that the same God who 
 created the world in wisdom, upholds it in mercy j 
 that in him we live, and move, and have our being. 
 If the sun gives us light and warmth, it is his sun, 
 which he maketh to rise on the evil and the good. 
 If the clouds pour down their water upon our fields, 
 to nourish and bring forward the fruits of the earth, 
 it is he that sendeth rain on the just and unjust. To 
 
40 EXISTENCE AND AGEXCY OF GOD. 
 
 him, therefore,, the blessings, that are dispensed to us 
 in the ordinary course of nature, are to be devoutly 
 ascribed, as to the primary source of all life and 
 motion. This conclusion will be equally true, whe- 
 ther God is supposed to distribute the benefits of 
 nature from his own hand immediately, or by the me- 
 diation of secondary causes of his own appointing ; 
 for, either way, the real government of the whole 
 can only terminate in himself. Adams' Lectures on 
 Natural Philosophy, i. 24-0. 
 
 AGENCY OF DEITY IN NATURE. After what has 
 been said, it is hardly necessay to take notice of the 
 absurdity of that opinion, or rather of that mode of 
 speaking, which seems to refer the order of the uni- 
 verse to general laws, operating as efficient causes. 
 Absurd, however, as it is, there is reason to suspect 
 that it has, with many, had the effect of keeping the 
 Deity out of view, while they were studying his 
 works Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, if. 
 212. 
 
 MARKS OF DESIGN IN CREATION. A purpose, an 
 intention, a design, strikes every where the most 
 careless, the most stupid thinker ; and no man can be 
 so hardened in absurd systems, as at all times to 
 reject it. That nature does nothing i?i vain, is a max- 
 im established in all the schools, merely from the 
 c ontemplation of the works of nature, without any 
 religious purpose; and from a firm conviction of 
 its truth, an anatomist, who had observed a new 
 organ or canal, would never be satisfied till he had 
 also discovered its use and intention. One great 
 foundation of the Copernican system is the maxim, 
 That nature acts by the simplest methods, and chooses 
 the most proper means to any end ; and astronomers 
 
EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD, 41 
 
 often, without thinking of it, lay this strong founda- 
 tion of piety and religion. The same thing is obser- 
 vable in other parts of philosophy : And thus all the 
 sciences lead us almost insensibly to acknowledge a 
 first intelligent author ; and their authority is often 
 so much the greater, as they do not directly profess 
 that intention. Humes Posthumous Dialogues. 
 
 These is a certain character or style, (if I may use 
 the expression,) in the operations of Divine Wisdom ; 
 something, which every where announces, amidst an 
 infinite variety of detail, an inimitable unity and har- 
 mony of design ; and, in the perception of which, 
 philosophical sagacity and genius seem chiefly to con- 
 sist. I shall only add to what has been now stated 
 on the head of analogy, that the numberless referen- 
 ce? and dependencies between the material and the 
 moral worlds, exhibited within the narrow sphere of 
 our observation on this globe, encourage and even 
 authorise us to conclude, that they both form parts 
 of one and the same plan ; a conclusion congenial to 
 the best and noblest principles of our nature, and 
 which all the discoveries of genuine science unite in 
 confirming. Nothing, indeed, could be more incon- 
 sistent with that irresistible disposition, which prompts 
 every philosophical inquirer to argue from the known 
 to the unknown, than to suppose that, while all the 
 different bodies, which compose the material universe, 
 are manifestly related to each other, as parts of a con- 
 nected whole, the moral events, which happen on our 
 planet are quite insulated; and that the rational 
 beings, who inhabit it, and for whom we may reason- 
 ably presume it was brought into existence, have no 
 relation whatever to other intelligent and moral na- 
 tures. The presumption unquestionably is, that 
 there is one great moral system, corresponding to the 
 material system ; and that the connexions, which we 
 
42 EXISTENCE AND AGENCY OF GOD. 
 
 at present trace so distinctly among the sensible objects 
 composing the one, are exhibited as so many intima- 
 tions of some vast scheme, comprehending all the 
 intelligent beings, who compose the other. In this 
 argument, as well as in numberless others, which 
 analogy suggests in favour of our future prospects, 
 the evidence is precisely of the same sort with that 
 which first encouraged Newton to extend his physical 
 speculations beyond the limits of the earth. Stewart's 
 Philosophy of the Human Mind, ii. 395, 398. 
 
 GLORY OP GOD THE END OF CREATION. First, 
 the testimony of Scripture makes God, in all his 
 actions, to intend and design his own glory mainly, 
 Prov. xvi. 4. God made all things for himself. How ! 
 for himself? he hath no need of them ; he hath no 
 use of them. No ; he made them for the manifesta- 
 tion of his power, wisdom, and goodness, and that he 
 might receive from the creatures, that were able to 
 take notice thereof, his tribute of praise. Ps. 1. 14. 
 Offer unto God thanksgiving ; and, in the next verse, 
 / will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. And 
 again, in the last verse, Whoso offereth praise glorifieth 
 me ; so praise is called a sacrifice, and the calves oj 
 the lips. Hos. xiv. 2. Isa. xlii. 8. / am the Lord, 
 that is my name; and my glory will I not give to 
 another. Isa. xlviii. 2. And I will not give my glory 
 to another. The Scripture calls upon the heavens and 
 earth, and sun, moon, and stars, and all other crea- 
 tures, to praise the Lord, that is, by the mouth of 
 man, (as I shewed before, ) who is hereby required 
 to take notice of all those creatures, and to admire 
 and praise the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, 
 manifested in the creation and designation of them. 
 Secondly, it is most reasonable that God Almighty 
 should intend his own glory; for he being infinite 
 
PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 43 
 
 in all excellencies and perfections, and independent 
 upon any other being, nothing can be said or thought 
 of him too great, and which he may not justly chal- 
 lenge as his due ; nay, he cannot think too highly of 
 himself, his other attributes being adequate to his 
 understanding; so that, though his understanding 
 be infinite, yet he understands no more than his 
 power can effect, because that is infinite also. And, 
 therefore, it is fit and reasonable, that he should own 
 arid accept the creature's acknowledgments and cele- 
 bration of those virtues and perfections, which he hath 
 not received of any other, but possesseth eternally and 
 originally of himself.- Ray's Wisdom of God in the 
 Creation, part i. p. 16'9. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF GOD'S PERFECTIONS. This most 
 beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could 
 only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an 
 intelligent powerful Being. This Being governs all 
 things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over 
 all ; and on account of his dominion he is wont to 
 be called Lord God, ffavrnt^uru^ an universal ruler, 
 for God is a relative word, and has a respect to ser- 
 vants ; and deity is the dominion of God, not over 
 his own body, as those imagine, who fancy God to be 
 the soul of the world, but over servants. The su- 
 preme God is a being, eternal, infinite, absolutely 
 perfect ; but a being, however perfect, without do- 
 minion, cannot be said to be Lord God ; for we say, 
 
44r PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 
 my God, your God, the God of Israel, the God of 
 Gods, Lord of Lords ; but we do not say, my eternal, 
 your eternal, the eternal of Israel, the eternal of Gods 
 we do not say, my infinite or my perfect. These are 
 titles which have no respect to servants. The word 
 God usually signifies Lord ; but every lord is not a 
 god. It is the dominion of a spiritual being, which 
 constitutes a god ; a true, supreme, or imaginary 
 dominion makes a true, supreme, or imaginary god. 
 And from his true dominion, it follows that the true 
 God is a living, intelligent, and powerful being ; and 
 from his other perfections, that he is supreme, and 
 most perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent 
 and omniscient ; that is, his duration reaches from 
 eternity to eternity, his presence from infinity to in- 
 finity : he governs all things, and knows all things 
 that are or can be done. He is not eternity or infini- 
 ty, but eternal and infinite. He is not duration or 
 space, but he endures and is present. He endures 
 for ever, and is every where present ; and by exist- 
 ing always and every where, he constitutes duration 
 and space. Since every particle of space is always, 
 and every indivisible moment of duration is every 
 tvhere, certainly the maker and Lord of all things 
 cannot be never or no where. Every soul that has 
 perception, is, though in different times, or different 
 organs of sense and motion, still the same indivisible 
 person. There are given successive parts in duration, 
 co- existent parts in space ; but neither the one nor 
 the other in the person of a man, or his thinking 
 principle ; and much less can they be found in the 
 thinking substance of God. Every man, so far as he 
 is a thing that has preception, is one and the same man 
 during his whole life, in all and each of his organs of 
 sense. God is the same God always, and every where. 
 He is omnipresent, not virtually only, but also substan- 
 
PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 45 
 
 iially\ for virtue cannot subsist without substance. In 
 him are all things contained and moved ; yet neither 
 affects the other : God suffers nothing from the mo- 
 tion of bodies j bodies find no resistance from the 
 omnipresence of God. It is allowed by all, that the 
 supreme God exists necessarily ; and by the same 
 necessity he exists always and every where. Whence 
 also he is all similar, all eye, all ear, all brain, all arm, 
 all power to perceive, to understand, and to act ; but 
 in a manner not at all human, in a manner not at all 
 corporeal, in a manner utterly unknown to us. As a 
 blind man has no idea of colours, so have we no idea 
 of the manner by which the all wise God perceives, 
 and understands all things. He is utterly void of all 
 body and bodily figure ; and can, therefore, neither be 
 seen, nor heard, nor touched ; nor ought he to be 
 worshipped under the representation of any corporeal 
 thing. We have ideas of his attributes ; but what the 
 real substance of any thing is we know not. In bo- 
 dies, we see only their figures and colours, we hear 
 only the sounds, we touch only their outward sur- 
 faces, we smell only the smells, and taste the savours ; 
 but their inward substances are not to be known, either 
 by our senses, or by any reflex act of our minds: much 
 less then, have we any idea of the substance of God. 
 We know him only by his most wise and excellent con- 
 trivances of things and final causes ; we admire him 
 for his perfections ; but we reverence and adore him 
 on account of his dominion ; for we adore him as his 
 servants ; and a God without dominion, providence, 
 and final causes, is nothing else but fate and nature. 
 Blind metaphysical necessity, which is certainly the 
 same always, and every where, could produce no va- 
 riety of things. All that diversity of things, which we 
 find suited to different times and places, could arise 
 from nothing but the ideas and will of a Being ne- 
 
46 PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 
 cessarily existing. But, by way of allegory, God is 
 said to see, to speak, to laugh, to love, to hate, to de- 
 sire, to give, to receive, to rejoice, to be angry, to fight, 
 to form, to work, to build ; for all our notions of God 
 are taken from the ways of mankind, by a certain 
 similitude, which, though not perfect, has some like- 
 ness however. Newton's Principia, ii. 311. 
 
 Wisdom, as an attribute of God, may be said to be 
 infinite; the proper meaning of this expression being, 
 that the wisdom of God is perfect, that is to say, 
 without any mixture, alloy, or participation of either 
 ignorance or folly, as is always the case with human 
 wisdom, which is imperfect. Therefore the infinite 
 wisdom of God is not to be compared with the wis 
 dom of man, although our conception or idea of the 
 one is only founded on that of the other. In like 
 manner, the goodness or benevolence of God is an at- 
 tribute, which may be considered as infinite ; which 
 expression will then mean, that this attribute is perfect 
 in the Being which thus possesses this quality, with- 
 out any of the opposite. This will also appear to be a 
 thing perfectly different from that attribute or quality 
 in a human mind, which is occasionally more or less 
 subject to malevolence, or the willing of evil. 
 
 Power, which is an attribute of God, may be con- 
 sidered as infinite ; not that, in consequence of this 
 power, God can be supposed to do that which is im- 
 possible ; it is only meant, that God must have power 
 to do whatever is possible to be done. In this case, 
 possible and impossible mean no more than conceiva- 
 ble and inconceivable. But here a distinction must 
 be made with regard to two different expressions, 
 which by inattention might be confounded, impossi- 
 ble means that which we cannot conceive. This, 
 however, must be distinguished as very different from 
 that which we do not conceive. We can conceive 
 
PEEFECTIONS OF GOD. 47 
 
 much more than we do; indeed, we conceive but 
 little of that which is possible ; but, we must neces- 
 sarily consider as impossible, that which we are con- 
 scious is inconceivable, as implying a contradiction or 
 absurdity. Consequently, that power which is attri- 
 buted to God, although this be conceived from the 
 power of which we are conscious, it differs from the 
 power of man toto ccelo, that is, perfectly ; the one is 
 finite, the other is infinite. Hwtfow'tf Investigation, iii. 
 651. 
 
 FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. It is agreed, I believe, 
 upon all hands, that in the universe, there is no such 
 thing as actual evil. It is also agreed, that God go- 
 verns the universe by fixed and determinate laws ; the 
 absolute perfection of which he has from all eternity 
 foreseen. Nothing happens without a cause ; no cause 
 can exist without producing an effect. The perspi- 
 cuity with which God discerns the connexions and 
 relations between causes and their effects, conveys the 
 idea of his sublime omnipotence, and of his foreknow- 
 ledge. This reflection ought to abolish the childish 
 d'fficulties we start to ourselves, concerning the pos- 
 sibility of his foreseeing the actions of free agents, 
 What action can possibly exist, which does not enter 
 into the great succession of causes and effects ? In 
 consequence of this principle of universal dependence 
 between causes and their effects, it may be said, that 
 happiness is an effect of virtue, that unhappiness is the 
 effect of vice. It is not here advanced, that this hap- 
 piness or unhappiness are to be ranged in the class of 
 immediate consequence. It is sufficient they be cer- 
 tain ; and as certain it is, that did we see into the more 
 sublime operations of the divine economy, with the 
 same perspicuity, that we behold and feel the fami- 
 liar consequences of moral actions in this world, we 
 
 1 
 
48 PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 
 should clearly perceive the natural connexion between 
 the whole suit of human actions, from the creation of 
 the species to the extinction of it ; and the rewards 
 and punishments, which God has prepared for them. 
 *Szr James Steuart's Works, vol. vi. p. 90. 
 
 THE UNSEARCHABLENESS OF GOD'S PERFECTIONS. 
 That Being, whose will is his deed, whose principle 
 of action is in himself; that Being, in a word, what- 
 ever it be, that gives motion to all the parts of the 
 universe, and governs all things, I call GOD. To this 
 term I annex the ideas of intelligence, power, and will, 
 which I have collected from the order of things ; and 
 to these I add, that of goodness, which is a necessary 
 consequence of their union : but I am not at all the wiser 
 concerning the essence of the Being, to whom I give 
 these attributes ; he remains at an equal distance from 
 my senses, and my understanding. The more I think 
 of him, the more I am confounded. I know, of a cer- 
 tainty, that he exists, and that his existence is inde- 
 pendent of any of his creatures. I know also, that 
 my existence is dependent on him, and that every 
 thing I know is in the same situation with myself. 
 I perceive the Deity in all his works, I feel him with- 
 in me, and behold him in every object around me ; 
 but I no sooner endeavour to contemplate what he is in 
 himself; I no sooner inquire where he is, and what is 
 his substance, than he eludes the strongest efforts of 
 my imagination ; and my bewildered understanding is 
 convinced of its own weakness. God is intelligent; 
 but in what manner ? Man is intelligent by the act of 
 reasoning ; but the supreme intelligence lies under no 
 necessity to reason. He requires neither premises 
 nor consequences ; not even the simple form of a pro- 
 position. His knowledge is purely intuitive. He be- 
 
9 
 
 PERFECTIONS OF GOD, 4? 
 
 holds equally what is and what will be. All truths 
 are to him as one idea, as all places are but one point, 
 and all times one moment. Human power acts by the 
 use of means; the divine power, in and of itself. 
 God is powerful, because he is willing, his will con- 
 stituting his power. God is good ; nothing is more 
 manifest than this truth. Goodness in man, however, 
 consists in a love to his fellow- creatures ; the good- 
 ness of God in a love of order : for it is on such order 
 that the connexion and preservation of all things de- 
 pend. Again, God is just; this I am fully convinc- 
 ed of, as it is the natural consequence of his goodness. 
 The injustice of men is their own work, not his ; and 
 that moral disorder, which, in the judgment of some 
 philosophers, makes against the system of providence, 
 is in man the strongest argument for it. Justice in 
 man, indeed, is to render every one his due ; but the 
 justice of God requires, at the hands of every one, an 
 account of the talents, with which he has entrusted 
 th?m. In short, the greater efforts I make to contem- 
 plate his infinite essence, the less I am able to con- 
 ceive it ; but I am certain that he is, and that is suf- 
 ficient: the more he surpasses my conception, the 
 more I adore him. I humble myself before him, and 
 say, " Being of beings, I am, because thou art : to me- 
 ditate continually on thee, is to elevate my thoughts 
 to the fountain of excellence. The most meritorious 
 use of my reason is to be annihilated before thee : 
 it is the delight of my soul to feel my weak faculties 
 overcome by the splendour of thy greatness." Rons- 
 seau's Emilius, ii. 145. 164-. 
 
 That there is a God every thing indicates, and 
 loudly announces ; but I cannot discover either the 
 mysteries of his essence, or the intimate connexion of 
 his various perfections. I plainly see in a crowd the 
 monarch encircled by his guards ; I know his laws - 
 
50 PEHFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 
 I enjoy the order he has prescribed ; but I assist not 
 at his counsels, and am a stranger to his deliberations. 
 I even perceive, that an impenetrable veil separates 
 me from the designs of the supreme Being ; and I do 
 not undertake to trace them. I commit myself with 
 confidence to the protection of that Being, whom I be- 
 lieve good and great, as I would rely on the guidance 
 of a friend during a dark night ; and whilst I have 
 my foot on the abyss, I will depend on him to snatch 
 me from the danger, and calm my terrors. Necker's 
 Religious Opinions, 35Q. 
 
 What we have said may be sufficient to shew the 
 high veneration our intellects owe to God, since he 
 may have other attributes and perfections we know 
 not of; and since we have but a dim and shallow 
 knowledge of those attributes of his, viz. his wisdom 
 and power, and may discern that there is an unbound- 
 ed extent of perfection beyond our abilities to per- 
 ceive ; and therefore such imperfect creatures ought 
 not to talk hastily and confidently of God, consider- 
 ing our inestimable inferiority to such a Being ; and 
 therefore our ignorance ought to teach us devotion, 
 that ignorance proceeding from the number and in- 
 comprehensibleness of his excellencies, so that oui 
 knowledge only helps us the more to admire his per- 
 fections. Therefore it must be the highest presump- 
 tion to talk of God's knowledge, as if we were able 
 to look through and measure it ; whereas we ought 
 when we mention his attributes, to be aware lest we 
 misrepresent them, and not to entertain a fond opi 
 nion of our sufficiency, the notions we have of Goc 
 being rather suited to our limited faculties, thai 
 equal to his boundless perfections. Those intellectua 
 beings, the angels, though their minds are illuminat 
 ed with extensive knowledge, are desirous to pry inti 
 the mysteries of the gospel ; whence it appears the; 
 
PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 51 
 
 are far from prying (penetrating) into the depths of 
 God, or from comprehending his nature. And, thus, 
 in the majestic vision before Isaiah, they are repre- 
 sented as attendants about God's throne, covering 
 their faces with their wings, as not able to behold the 
 dazzling brightness of his majesty. How then should 
 we mortals, infinitely beneath him, degenerated by 
 sin, and the imperfections of our inferior nature, talk 
 irreverently of the divine essence and perfections, not 
 regarding the immense difference betwixt God and 
 us, being unable to search into his adorable nature. 
 We had much better, with the Psalmist, confess, 
 ( ' such knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, 
 I cannot attain unto it;'' and celebrate that God, 
 whose glorious name is exalted above all blessing and 
 praise. Hon. Robert Boyle's Theological Works. 
 
 I own freely to you the weakness of my under- 
 standing, that, though it be unquestionable that there 
 is omnipotence and omniscience in God, our maker, 
 and I cannot have a clearer perception of any thing 
 than that I am free ; yet I cannot make freedom in 
 man consistent with omnipotence and omniscience in 
 God, though I am as fully persuaded of both, as of 
 any truth I most firmly assent to. And, therefore, 
 I have long given up the consideration of that ques- 
 tion, resolving all into this short conclusion, that if it 
 be possible for God to make a free agent, then man is 
 free, though I see not the way of it, Locke 's Works, 
 viii. 305. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OP THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. The 
 first part of piety is, to form right notions of God, as 
 the greatest, wisest, and best of Beings. All men, 
 who are capable of reflection, must be sensible that 
 this is a matter of infinite importance ; for, if our opi 
 nions concerning him are erroneous, our sentiments of 
 
5& PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 
 
 the duty we owe him must be so too, and our whole 
 moral nature must be perverted. Every considerate 
 person, therefore, will be careful to obtain the fullest 
 information possible, with respect to the divine exist- 
 ence and attributes. To be indifferent about this, 
 which is beyond comparison the most important part 
 of knowledge, is inexcusable ; and the ignorance is 
 criminal, which proceeds from such indifference. And, 
 if ignorance of God was without excuse in some an- 
 cient heathen nations, as the Scripture warrants us to 
 believe, it must.be highly criminal in us, who, both 
 from reason and from revelation, have the best means 
 of knowing who God is, and what he requires us to 
 believe concerning him. Seattle's Elements of Moral 
 Science, ii. 79. 
 
 The whole world may be divided into these three 
 ranks and orders of men ; those who, having found 
 God, resign themselves up to his service ; those who, 
 having not] yet found him, do indefatigably search 
 after him ; and, lastly, those who have neither found 
 him, nor are inclined to seek him. The first are 
 happy and wise : the third are unhappy and fools : the 
 second must be owned to be wise, as they own them- 
 selves to be unhappy. M. Pascal's Thoughts, page 
 237. 
 
PROVIDENCE OF GOD. *4l 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 
 
 GENERAL PROVIDENCE OF GOD. The doctrine of 
 providence, general and particular, may be consider- 
 ed as a consequence from the foregoing attributes and 
 appellations of the divine nature. By .general provi- 
 dence, I mean the adjusting all events to the greatest 
 good of the whole ; by particular, the adjusting all to 
 the greatest good of each individual ; and, consequent- 
 ly* by both together, the adjusting the greatest good 
 of the whole, and of each individual to each other ; so 
 that both shall fall exactly upon the same point. How- 
 ever difficult this may seem, I take it to be the genu- 
 ine consequence of the foregoing proposition. Infi- 
 nite power, knowledge, and goodness, must make our 
 most kind and merciful Father both able and willing 
 to effect this : it does, therefore, actually take place, 
 though we cannot see it. However, that there are 
 many marks both of general and particular providence, 
 as thus explained, is sufficiently evident, and acknow- 
 leged by all : both these appear also to be asserted in 
 the Scriptures. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 44. 
 
 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE OF GOD. I wonder at 
 this, but I cannot therefore part with the comforta- 
 ble belief of a Divine Providence ; and the more I see 
 the impossibility, from the number and extent of his 
 crimes, of giving equivalent punishment to a wicked 
 man in this life, the more I am convinced of a future 
 state, in which all, that here appears to J)e wrong, 
 shall be set right, all that is crooked made straight. 
 
PROVIDENCE OF COD. 
 
 In this faith let you and I, my dear friend, comfort 
 ourselves. It is the only comfort in the present dark 
 scene of things that is allowed us. Franklin's Private 
 Correspondence, i. 116. 
 
 Why should I not now speak as I really think, or 
 why be guilty of ingratitude, which my heart dis- 
 claims ? I escaped by the providence and protection of 
 heaven ; and so little store do I set upon the advantage 
 of my own experience, that I am satisfied, were I 
 to attempt the same journey again, it would not avail 
 me a straw, or hinder me from perishing miserably, 
 as others have done, though perhaps in a different 
 \vay. Bruce's Travels in Abyssinia, Introduction, 
 i.77. 
 
 God, therefore, who is every where present, and 
 " who filleth the heavens and the earth, whose eyes 
 are upon the righteous, and his countenance against 
 them that do evil," was therefore, by Orpheus, call- 
 ed an infinite eye, beholding all things ; and cannot 
 therefore be esteemed as an idle looker-on, as if he 
 had transferred his power to any other, for it is con- 
 trary to his own word ; "I will not give my glory 
 to another." God, therefore, who could only be the 
 cause of all, can only provide for all, and sustain all ; 
 so as to absolute power, to every- where-presence, to per- 
 fect goodness, to pure and divine love, this attribute, 
 transcendent liability of providence, is only proper and 
 belonging. Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World, 
 But, after all, on what is this important proposi- 
 tion, that the Almighty has absolutely abandoned all 
 sublunary things to the direction of chance, found- 
 ed ? Why, just on this, that none of our wise men 
 have seen any miracles wrought of late times : and 
 they are not disposed to think it possible, that any 
 could have been wrought in the more early ; and it 
 is a truth, not to be contested, that the unjust succeed 
 in this world, fully as well as the just. But, if they 
 
PROVIDENCE OF GOD. *43 
 
 were to be asked, whether they are certain, that no 
 cause has interposed in the producing any event, but 
 what they have observed ? and whether they are sure, 
 that there are no secret springs in providence, unseen 
 and unthought of by them, to which important events 
 are owing ? if they would not be laughed at, they must 
 answer in the negative ; which is enough to destroy 
 the certainty of their position. President Forbes's Re* 
 flections on Incredulity. 
 
 EXISTENCE OP EVIL CONSISTENT WITH THE PRO- 
 VIDENCE OP GOD. Therefore, in philosophy, it is no 
 paradox to say, that evil is good, although such an ex- 
 pression, in common sense, would be absurd. It is 
 the difference betwixt the consideration of generals 
 and particulars, that forms this apparent inconsist- 
 ency. On the one hand, it is only the particular, 
 which is properly or truly evil ; the general of evil 
 is truly good. Thus, for example, it is evil for me, 
 when the fire happens to burn my hand, or when my 
 conscience punishes me in repentance ; but it is good 
 for me ai.d every other animal, that fire should give 
 pain in burning; this is the general, and it is good. 
 In like manner, it is good for me and all mankind, 
 that conscience should give misery in remorse. There- 
 fore, the general of evil is always good. On the other 
 hand, the particular of good is always good ; even 
 when evil happens, in being the improper conse- 
 quence ; and sophistry itself cannot make the gene- 
 ral of good appear evil. Hidton's Investigation, iii. 
 459. 
 
 There remains only one objection more to be consi- 
 dered, namely, that it would have been better not to 
 create such spirits, as God foresaw they must sink into 
 criminality. But this far surpasses human under- 
 standing ; for we know not whether the plan of the 
 world could subsist without them. We know, on the 
 
*44 PROVIDENCE OF GOD . 
 
 contrary, by experience, that the wickedness of some 
 men frequently contributes to the correction and 
 amendment of others, and thereby conducts them to 
 happiness. This consideration, alone, is sufficient 
 to justify the existence of evil spirits. And, as God 
 has all power over the consequences of human wick- 
 edness, every one may rest assured, that, in conform- 
 ing to the commandments of God, all events which 
 come to pass, however calamitous they may appear 
 to him, are always under the direction of Providence, 
 and finally terminate in his true happiness. 
 
 This providence of God, which extends to every 
 individual, in particular, thus furnishes the most sa- 
 tisfactory solution of the question respecting the per- 
 mission and the origin of evil. This likewise is the 
 foundation of all religion, the alone object of which is 
 to promote the salvation of mankind. Eiders Let- 
 ters to a German Princess, i. 390. 
 
 Almost all the moral good, which is left among us, 
 is the apparent effect of physical evil. Goodness is 
 divided by divines into soberness, righteousness, and 
 godliness. Let it be examined how each of these du- 
 ties would be practised, if there were no physical 
 evil to enforce it. 
 
 Sobriety, or temperance, is nothing but the for- 
 bearance of pleasure ; and, if pleasure was not follow- 
 ed by pain, who would forbear it ? We see every 
 hour those, in whom the desire of present interest 
 overpowers all sense of past, and all foresight of fu- 
 ture misery. In a remission of the gout, the drunk- 
 ard returns to his wine, and the glutton to his feast; 
 and, if neither disease nor poverty were felt or dread- 
 ed, every one would sink down in idle sensuality, 
 without any care of others or of himself. To eat and 
 drink, and to lie down to sleep, would be the whole 
 business of mankind. 
 
PROVIDENCE OF GOD. *45 
 
 Righteousness, or the system of social duty, may 
 be subdivided into justice and charity. Of justice, one 
 of the heathen sages has shewn, with great acuteness, 
 that it was impressed upon mankind only by the in- 
 conveniences which injustice had produced. " In the 
 ' first ages/' says he, "men acted without any rule but 
 " the impulse of desire; they practised injustice upon 
 " others, and suffered it from others, in their turn ; 
 " but in time it was discovered, that the pain of suf- 
 " fering wrong, was greater than the pleasure of do- 
 " ing it ; and mankind, by a general compact, sub- 
 " mitted to the restraint of laws, and resigned the 
 " pleasure to escape the pain." Of charity it is su- 
 perfluous to observe, that it could have no place, if 
 there were no want ; for, of a virtue that could not be 
 practised, the omission could not be culpable. Evil 
 is not only the occasional, but the efficient cause of 
 charity ; we are invited to the relief of misery by the 
 consciousness, that we have the same nature with the 
 sufferer, that we are in danger of the same distresses, 
 and may sometimes implore the same assistance. 
 
 Godliness, or piety, is elevation of the mind to- 
 wards the Supreme Being, and extension of the 
 thoughts of another life. The other life is future, and 
 the Supreme Being is invisible. None would have 
 recourse to an invisible power, but that all other sub- 
 jects had eluded their hopes. None would fix their 
 attention upon the future, but that they are discon- 
 tented with the present. If the senses were feasted 
 with perpetual pleasure, they would always keep the 
 mind in subjection. Reason has no authority over 
 us, but by its power to warn us against evil. 
 
 In childhood, while our minds are yet unoccupied, 
 religion is impressed upon them, and the first years 
 of almost all, who have been well educated, are pass, 
 ed in a regular discharge of the duties of piety. But, 
 as we advance forward into the crowds of life, innu- 
 
*46 A FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 merable delights solicit our inclinations, and innume- 
 rable cares distract our attention ; the time of youth 
 is passed in noisy frolics ; manhood is led on from 
 hope to hope, and from project to project ; the disso- 
 luteness of pleasure, the inebriation of success, the ar- 
 dour of expectation, and the vehemence of competition, 
 chain down the mind alike to the present scene, nor 
 is it remembered how soon this mist of trifles must 
 be scattered, and the bubbles that float upon the ri- 
 vulet of life be lost for ever in the gulf of eternity. 
 To this consideration, scarce any man is awakened, 
 but by some pressing and resistless evil. The death 
 of those, from whom he derived his pleasures, or to 
 whom he destined his possessions; some disease, 
 which shews him the vanity of all external acquisi- 
 tions ; or the gloom of age, which intercepts his pros- 
 pects of long enjoyment, forces him to fix his hopes 
 upon another state ; and, when he has contended 
 with the tempests of life till his strength fails him, he 
 flies at last to the shelter of religion. 
 
 That misery does not make all virtuous, experience 
 too certainly informs us ; but it is no less certain, 
 that, of what virtue there is, misery produces far the 
 greater part. Physical evil may be therefore endur- 
 ed with patience, since it is the cause of moral good ; 
 and patience itself is one virtue, by which we are 
 prepared for that state, in which evil shall be no 
 more. Johnson's Idler, No. 89. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 A FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE SOUL. Our inquiries about 
 the nature of the soul, must be bound over at last to 
 
A FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 religion, for otherwise they still lie open to ^ 
 rors. For, since the substance of the soul was not de- 
 duced from the mass of heaven and earth, but imme- 
 diately from God, how can the knowledge of the rea- 
 sonable soul be derived from philosophy ? It must 
 be drawn from the same inspiration, from whence its 
 substance first flowed. Lore? Bacon's Advancement of 
 Learning) b. iv. ch. 3. 
 
 IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. The system of 
 this world is doubtless great, compared with the 
 lesser parts of which it is made up, or which it 
 comprehends ; but, could such a limited system 
 reflect pleasure and contentment, to a Being pos- 
 sessed of omnipotence, and capable of nothing that is 
 finite or imperfect ? Even the mind of man, who is 
 but a step removed from the brute, is not satisfied 
 with this inferior order of sublunar things ; he looks 
 up with insatiable desire to the starry firmament, he 
 attempts to sound the extent of boundless space, to see 
 the limit of light, and to read the book, of which he 
 only has made out a sentence ; in the midst of ani- 
 mal enjoyment he will abstract himself, that he may 
 seek to know the author of his knowledge, the cause 
 of this his present existence, and the fountain of his 
 future hope. Endless is this book of knowledge, 
 which man has been made to understand ; infinite is 
 this field of refined enjoyment, which he has been 
 made to enter; and must he then be made only to 
 know the character, without being suffered to read 
 the work, only to see the means of fulfilling his de- 
 sire, without being suffered to quench his thirst, in 
 drinking at this source of intellectual delight ? Must 
 he just taste this fruit, delicious in itself, and made for 
 his enjoyment, only to regret his loss, only to know 
 that his desire shall not be satisfied ? Consult the 
 heart,' and say if this supposed conduct is reconcile. 
 
 3 
 
*48 A FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 able with human equity ? But is there any other 
 equity ? No justice is equally perfect, whether sub- 
 ordinate or supreme : from the first equation to the 
 last, justice is unchangeable, like truth. The wis- 
 dom and power of God are infinite; because, these 
 attributes are immeasurable. His justice is no less 
 unlimited ; but the infinite of equity is surely not to 
 be unequal. Hutton's Investigation) iii. 199- 
 
 Had I no other proof of the immateriality of the 
 soul, than the oppression of the just, and the triumph 
 of the wicked in this world, this alone would prevent 
 my having the least doubt of it. So shocking a dis- 
 cord amidst general harmony of things, would 
 make me naturally look out for the cause. I should 
 say to myself, we do not cease to exist with this life ; 
 every thing reassumes its order after death. I should, 
 indeed, be embarrassed to tell where man was to be 
 found, when all his perceptible properties were des- 
 troyed. At present, however, there appears to me no 
 difficulty in this point, as I acknowledge the existence 
 of two different substances. It is very plain, that, du- 
 ring ray corporeal life, as I perceive nothing but by 
 means of my senses, whatever is not submitted to their 
 cognisance must escape me. When the union of the 
 body and the soul is broken, I conceive that the one 
 may be dissolved, and the other preserved entire. 
 Why should the dissolution of the one necessarily 
 bring on that of the other ? On the contrary, being 
 so different in then* natures, their state of union is a 
 state of violence, and when it is broken they both re- 
 turn to their natural situation : the active and living 
 substance regains all the force it had employed, in giv- 
 ing motion to the passive and dead substance to which 
 it had been united. Alas ! my failings make me but 
 too sensible, that man is but half alive in this life, and 
 that the life of the soul commences at the death of the 
 body. Rousseau's Emilius, ii, 158. 
 
A FUTURE LIFE. *49 
 
 But though man is thus employed to alter that 
 distribution of things, which natural events would 
 make, if left to themselves ; though, like the gods of 
 the poets, he is perpetually interposing, by extraor- 
 dinary means, in favour of virtue, and in opposition 
 to vice, and, like them, endeavours to turn away the 
 arrow that is aimed at the head of the righteous, but 
 to accelerate the sword of destruction that is lifted 
 up against the wicked; yet he is by no means able 
 to render the fortune of either quite suitable to hfs 
 own sentiments and wishes. The natural course of 
 things cannot be entirely controlled by the impotent 
 endeavours of man : the current is rapid, and too 
 strong for him to stop it ; and though the rules which 
 direct it, appear to have been established for the 
 wisest and best purposes, they sometimes produce 
 effects, which shock all his natural sentiments. That 
 a great combination of men should prevail over a 
 small one; that those, who engage in an enterprise 
 with forethought and all necessary preparation, should 
 prevail over such as oppose them without any ; and 
 that every end should be acquired by those means 
 only, which nature has established for acquiring it, 
 seems to be a rule, not only necessary and unavoid- 
 able in itself, but even useful and proper for rousing 
 the industry and attention of mankind. Yet, when, 
 in consequence of this rule, violence and artifice pre- 
 vail over sincerity and justice, what indignation does 
 it not excite in the breast of every human spectator ? 
 What sorrow and compassion for the sufferings of the 
 innocent; and what furious resentment against the 
 success of the oppressor ? We are equally grieved 
 and enraged at the wrong that is done, but often find 
 it altogether out of our power to redress it. When 
 we thus despair of finding any force upon earth, which 
 can check the triumph of injustice, we naturally ap- 
 
*50 A FUTURE LIFE, 
 
 peal to heaven, and hope, that the great Author of 
 our nature will himself execute hereafter what all the 
 principles, which he has given us for the direction of 
 our conduct, prompt us to attempt even here ; that 
 he will complete the plan, which he himself has thus 
 taught us to begin; and will, in a life to come, render 
 to every one according to the works, which he has 
 performed in this world. And thus we are led to the 
 belief of a future state, not only by the weaknesses, 
 by the hopes and fears of human nature, but by the 
 noblest and best principles, which belong to it, by 
 the love of virtue, and by the abhorrence of vice and 
 injustice. Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, i. 
 421. 
 
 FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS. It is in 
 vain, some will say, to endeavour to prove the existence 
 of a God, as a real support of the laws of morality ; all 
 this system will fall to pieces, if we are not informed, 
 at the same time, in what manner this God rewards 
 and punishes. I shall observe, first, that such an ob- 
 jection cannot make a very deep impression, but 
 when it is connected in our minds with some doubt 
 of the existence of a Supreme Being ; a question that 
 I shall not yet treat ; for, supposing an internal con- 
 viction of this last truth ; supposing, in all its force, 
 the idea of a God present to our thoughts ; I ask, 
 xvhether, in order to please him, we should have need 
 of knowing precisely the period, when we could per- 
 ceive distinct signs of his approbation and benefi- 
 cence ? I ask again, whether, to avoid incurring his 
 displeasure, it would be equally necessary for us to 
 know how, and in what manner, he would punish 
 us ? Undoubtedly not ; for, in taking a comprehen- 
 sive view of the rewards and punishments, which may 
 proceed from a Supreme Being ; struck with his gran* 
 
A FUTURE LIFE. *51 
 
 deur, and astonished by his power, the vague idea 
 of infinity would obtrude ; and this idea, so aw- 
 ful, would suffice to govern our sentiments, and fix 
 our principles of conduct. We should be careful 
 not to propose conditions to Him, who has drawn us 
 out of nothing ; and we should wait with respect for 
 the moment, when, in his profound wisdom, he may 
 think proper to make us better acquainted with his 
 attributes. Men may say to each other, secure my 
 wages ; I want them on such a day, I demand them 
 on such an hour ; they barter things of equal value, 
 and during a short space of time ; but, in the inter- 
 course of man with the Deity, what a difference ! the 
 creature and the Creator, the child of dust, and the 
 Source of life, a fleeting moment, and Eternity, an 
 imperceptible atom, and the infinite Being ; our un- 
 derstanding is struck by the contrast ! How then, should 
 we adapt to such disproportion the rules and notions, 
 which we have introduced into our trivial transac- 
 tions ?Necker's Religious Opinions, 24-1. 
 
 FUTURE HAPPINESS OF GOOD MEN. It is proba- 
 ble, that the future happiness of the good will be of 
 a spiritual nature ; but the future misery of the 
 wicked may be both corporeal and mental. 
 
 These are points, in which the Scriptures have not 
 been explicit. It is therefore our duty to beware of 
 vain curiosity, and to arm ourselves with a deep hu- 
 mility. We are not judges, what degree of know- 
 ledge is most suited to our condition. That there will 
 be a future state at all, has not been discovered, with 
 certainty, to a great part of mankind ; and we may 
 observe in geaeral, that God conceals from us all par- 
 ticular things of a distant nature, and only gives us 
 general notices of those that are near ; and sometimes 
 not even so much as this, where a peculiar duty, or 
 
A FUTURE LIFE. 
 
 design of providence, requires otherwise. However, 
 as we are obliged to read and meditate upon the 
 Scriptures, to examine our own natures, and to com- 
 pare them with the Scriptures, we seem authorized 
 to make some inquiry into this high and interesting 
 point. 
 
 Now, it appears from the foregoing theory, as welJ 
 as from other methods of reasoning, that the love of 
 God, and of his creatures, is the only point, in which 
 man can rest ; and that the first, being generated by 
 means of the last, does afterwards purify, exalt, and 
 comprehend it. In like manner, the Scriptures place 
 our ultimate happiness in singing praises to God, and 
 the Lamb ; in becoming one with God, and members 
 of Christ, and of each other ; which phrases have a 
 remarkable agreement with the foregoing deductions 
 from reason ; and we seem authorized to conclude 
 from both together, that the future happiness of the 
 blessed will consist in contemplating, adoring, and 
 loving God ; in obeying his commands ; and, by so 
 doing, ministering to the happiness of others ; rejoic- 
 ing in it, and being partakers of it. 
 
 It seems probable, also, both from some passages 
 of the Scriptures, and from the analogy of our na- 
 tures, that our attachments to dear friends and rela- 
 tions, for whom we are " not to sorrow as they that 
 " have no hope," and our esteem and affection for 
 eminently pious persons in former ages, for Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, and the spirits of other "just men 
 " made perfect," will still subsist on our arrival at 
 the true mount Sion, and the heavenly Jerusalem. 
 Hartley's Observations on Man, ii, 397. 
 
53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF 
 RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 
 
 RELIGION OUR CHIEF BUSINESS. Man is a religious 
 as well as a social creature, made to know and adore 
 his Creator, to discover and to obey his will. Greater 
 powers of reason t and means of improvement have 
 been measured out to us, than to other animals, that 
 we might be able to fulfil the superior purposes of our 
 destination, whereof religion is the chief. Boling- 
 brokes Works, v. 470. 
 
 From whence it is obvious to conclude, that since 
 our faculties are not fitted to penetrate into the inter- 
 nal fabric and real essences of bodies, but yet plain- 
 ly discover to us the being of a God, and the know- 
 ledge of ourselves, enough to lead us to a full and 
 clear discovery of our duty, and great concernment, 
 it will become us, as rational creatures, to employ those 
 faculties we have about what they are most adapted 
 to, and follow the direction of nature, where it seems 
 to point us out the way. For it is rational to con- 
 clude, that our proper employment lies in those in- 
 quiries, and in that sort of knowledge which is most 
 suited to our natural capacities, and carries in it our 
 D 3 
 
54* THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 greatest interest, i. e. the condition of our eternal es- 
 tate. Hence I think I may conclude, that morality is 
 the proper science and business of mankind in gene- 
 ral, (who are both concerned and fitted to search 
 out their summum bonum,} as several arts, conversant 
 about several parts of nature, are the lot and private 
 talent of particular men, for the common use of hu- 
 man life, and their own particular subsistence in this 
 world. Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding 
 vol. iii. book iv. chap. 12. 
 
 Religion, I said, is either true or false. This is the 
 alternative ; there is no medium : if it be the latter, 
 merely an idle system, and a cunningly devised fable, 
 " let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." The 
 world is before us, let us take all due advantage, and 
 choose what may seem best For we have no pros- 
 pect of any life to come, much less any assurances. 
 But, if religion be a truth, it is the most serious truth 
 of any with which we can be engaged ; an article of 
 the greatest importance. It demands our most dili- 
 gent inquiry to obtain a knowledge of it, and a fixed 
 resolution to abide by it when obtained. For religion 
 teaches us that this life bears no proportion to the 
 life to come. Bryant on the Authenticity of the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 RELIGION CONNECTED WITH OUR NOBLEST 
 THOUGHTS. Reflect, then, with attention, on the 
 different consequences which would be the fatal train 
 of the annihilation of religious opinions ; it is not a 
 single idea, a single view, that men would lose ; it 
 would be, besides, the interest and the charm of all 
 their desires and ambition. There is nothing indiffer- 
 ent, when our actions and designs can be in any re- 
 spect attached to a Deity ; there is nothing indiffer- 
 ent, when the exercise and the improvement of our 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 55 
 
 faculties appear the commencement of an existence 
 whose termination is unknown : but, when this pe- 
 riod offers itself on all sides to our view, when we ap- 
 proach it every moment, what strong illusion would 
 be sufficient to defend us from a sad despondency ? 
 Strictly circumscribed in the space of life, its limits 
 should be in such a manner present to our mind, 
 to every sentiment and enterprise perhaps, that we 
 should be tempted to examine what it is which can 
 merit, on our part, an assiduous research ; what it is 
 which deserves close and painful application. We de- 
 ceive ourselves then, I think, when we accuse reli- 
 gion of necessarily rendering the business and the 
 pleasures of the world uninteresting ; its chief plea- 
 sures, on the contrary, are derived from religion, from 
 those ideas of eternity which it presents to our mind, 
 which serve to sustain the enchantments of hope, 
 and the sense of those duties of which our moral na- 
 ture is ingeniously composed. 
 
 Religious opinions are perfectly adapted to our na- 
 ture, to i>ur weaknesses and perfections ; they come 
 to our succour in our real difficulties, and in those 
 which the abuse of our foresight creates. But in what 
 is grand and elevated in our nature, it sympathizes 
 most : for, if men are animated by noble thoughts ; 
 if they respect their intelligence, their chief orna- 
 ment; if they are interested about the dignity of 
 their nature, they will fly, with transport, to bow be- 
 . fore religion, which ennobles their faculties, preserves 
 their strength of mind, and which, through its sen- 
 timents, unites them to Him, whose power astonishes 
 their understanding. It is then that, considering 
 themselves as an emanation of the Infinite Being, the 
 commencement of all things, they will not let them- 
 selves be drawn aside by a philosophy, whose sad les- 
 sons tend to persuade us, that reason, liberty, all this 
 D 4 
 
56 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 immaterial essence of ourselves, is the mere result of 
 a fortuitous combination, and an harmony without in- 
 telligence. Neckcr's Religious Opinions, 127. 
 
 RELIGION FOUNDED IN THE NATURE OF MAN. 
 Judging that a knowledge of the symmetry of nature, 
 and the beautiful adjustment of all the operations, 
 would produce a firm belief of a wisdom and power, 
 which is the source of all this fair order, the author 
 and conductor of all, and therefore the natural object 
 of admiration and love. A good heart is open to this 
 impression, and feels no reluctancy, but, on the con- 
 trary, a pleasure in thinking man the subject of his 
 government, and the object of his care. This point 
 being once gained, I should think, that the salutary 
 truths of religion will be highly welcome. I should 
 think, that it would be easy to convince such minds, 
 that, in the midst of the immense variety of the works 
 of God, there is one great plan, to which every thing 
 seems to refer, the crowding this world to the utmost 
 degree of possibility with life, with beings that enjoy 
 the things around them, each in its own degree and 
 manner. Among these, man makes a most conspi- 
 cuous figure, and the maximum of his enjoyments 
 seems a capital article in the ways of Providence. It 
 will, I think, require little trouble to shew, that the 
 natural dictates of religion, or the immediate results 
 of the belief of God's moral government of the uni- 
 verse, coincide, in every circumstance of sentiment, 
 disposition, and conduct, with those that are most 
 productive of enjoyment (on the whole) in social life. 
 The same train of thought will shew, that the real 
 improvements in the pleasures of society, are in fact 
 improvements of man's rational nature, and so many 
 steps towards that perfection, which our own con- 
 sciences tell us we are capable of, and which religion 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 5| 
 
 encourages ns to hope for in another state of being, 
 And thus will the " ways of wisdom appear to be 
 ways of pleasantness, and all her paths to be peace." 
 Robiso?i's Proofs of a Conspiracy, p. 490. 
 
 RELIGION A MATTER OF UNIVERSAL CONCERN. Be- 
 sides his particular calling for the support of this life, 
 every one has a concern in a future life, which he is 
 bound to look after. This engages his thoughts in re- 
 ligion ; and here it mightily lies upon him to under- 
 stand and reason right. Men, therefore, cannot be ex- 
 cused from understanding the words, and framing the 
 general notions, relating to religion, right. The one 
 day of seven, besides other days of rest, allows, in the 
 Christian world, time enough for this, (had they no 
 other idle hours,) if they would but make use of those 
 vacancies from their daily labour, and apply them- 
 selves to an improvement of knowledge, with as much 
 diligence as they often do to a great many other 
 things that are useless, and had but those, that would 
 enter them, according to their several capacities, in a 
 right way, to this knowledge. The original make of 
 their minds is like that of other men; and they would 
 be found not to want understanding fit to receive the 
 knowledge of religion, if they were a little encouraged 
 and helped in it, as they should be. For there are in- 
 stances of very mean people, who have raised their 
 minds to a great sense and understanding of re- 
 ligion ; though these have not been so frequent as 
 could be wished, yet they are enough to clear this 
 condition of life from a necessity of gross ignorance, 
 and to show that more might be brought to be ra- 
 tional creatures and Christians, (for they can hardly 
 be thought really to be so, who, wearing the name, 
 know not so much as the very principles of that re- 
 ligion,) if due. care were taken of them, But if it shall 
 D 5 
 
58 THE GENEEAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 be concluded, that the meaner sort of people must 
 give themselves up to a brutish stupidity in the things 
 of their nearest concernment, which I see no reason 
 for, this excuses not those of a great fortune and edu- 
 cation, if they neglect their understandings, and take 
 no care to employ them as they ought, and set them 
 right in the knowledge of those things, for which 
 principally they were given them. At least, those 
 whose plentiful fortunes allow them the opportunities, 
 and helps of improvements, are not so few, but that 
 it might be hoped great advancements might be made 
 in knowledge of all kinds, especially in that of the 
 greatest concern and largest views, if men would make 
 a right use of their faculties, and study their own un- 
 derstandings. Locke on the Conduct of the Understand- 
 ing, sec. viii. 
 
 THE USES OF RELIGION. True religion is the great- 
 est improvement, advantage, and privilege of human 
 nature ; and that which gives it the noblest and high- 
 est pre-eminence above other visible creatures. 
 
 We may observe in many brute beasts and birds, 
 admirable instincts, dexterities, and sagacities ; and in 
 some of them some dark resemblance of reason or ra* 
 tiocination ; but religion is so appropriate to the hu- 
 man nature, that there are scarce any sort of men 
 but have some religion : nor do the most subtle or sa- 
 gacious brutes afford any signs thereof, as communi- 
 cated to their natures. 
 
 It is one of the chiefest mercies and blessings, that 
 almighty God hath afforded to the children of men, and 
 that which signally manifests his providential care to- 
 wards and over them, that, in all ages, and among all 
 nations, he hath given unto them some means and helps 
 to discover unto them, though in different degrees, 
 some principal sentiments of true religion. 1. By the 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 59 
 
 secret characters, impressions and structures there- 
 of in their minds and consciences. 2. By his glorious 
 and admirable works, commonly called the works of 
 nature. 3. By signal providences, and providential 
 regiment of the world. 4-. By raising up men, in all 
 ages, of great wisdom, and observation, and learning, 
 which did instruct the more ignorant in this great con- 
 cernment, the rudiments of natural religion. 5. By 
 traditionary transmission of many important truths 
 and directions of life, from ancestors to their posterity 
 and others ; though, in process of time, evil customs 
 and evil men, did, in a great measure, impair and cor- 
 rupt the sentiments and practices of men, notwith- 
 standing these helps. Therefore the same mercy and 
 goodness of God for the preservation and propagation 
 of the true religion, was pleased to substitute a more 
 fixed and permanent means, namely, the Holy Scrip- 
 tures or divine revelations, committed to writing in 
 the books of the Old and New Testament. Though 
 the religion delivered in both Testaments be in sub- 
 stance the same, yet the true religion was more fully, 
 plainly, and distinctly delivered by Christ and his 
 Apostles in the New Testament, together also with 
 some additional instructions, for the better preserva- 
 tion and propagation thereof to mankind ; and divers 
 additional evidences to prove and manifest the truth 
 of this religion, to procure its belief and acceptation ; 
 as the birth, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascen- 
 sion of Jesus Christ, the great reformer of the Jewish, 
 and great institutor of the Christian religion, so called 
 from Christ, that taught and asserted it. The Christ- 
 ian religion is the most perfect rule of our duty to 
 God, ourselves, and others ; and was designed prin- 
 cipally for these great ends : 
 
 1. To restore to the glorious God the honour, duty, 
 and obedience of his creature man ; teaching him to 
 00 
 
60 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 know, to glorify, and to serve his Creator, to be thank- 
 ful to him, to submit to his will, to obey his law and 
 command, to be thankful for his mercies, to acknow- 
 ledge him in all his ways, to call upon him, to wor- 
 ship him, to depend upon him, to walk sincerely in 
 his sight, to admire and adore his greatness and good- 
 ness in all his works, especially in the great work of 
 the redemption of mankind by his son Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. To enable man to attain everlasting happiness, 
 the perpetual vision of the glorious God, and to fit 
 and prepare him to be a partaker of the inheritance 
 of the saints in light and glory. 
 
 3. To compose and settle mankind in such a de- 
 cent and becoming rectitude, order, and deportment 
 in this world, as may be suitable to the existence of a 
 reasonable nature, and the good of mankind, which 
 consists principally in a double relation, (1) to a man's 
 self, sobriety ; (2) to others, which consists in those 
 two great habits or dispositions, beneficent to man- 
 kind, viz. righteousness or justice, charity or love, and 
 beneficence. Sir Matthew Hales Contemplations, 
 ii. 321. 
 
 THE!MPORTANCE OF CHERISHING A SENSE OF RE- 
 LIGION. Our time here passes apace. Would it not 
 be prudent, therefore, to have our follies and our 
 weaknesses, if possible, die before us ? But the thought 
 of death and eternity, it will be said, disarms plea- 
 sure of all its allurements. Be it so. It also disarms 
 pain of all its terrors. Repeat the words Death and 
 eternity ! Pause a while. See how all the glories of 
 the world shrink into nothing ! And think you, you 
 shall escape the afflictions of diseases ; of a debilitated 
 frame; and, ultimately, of the departing pangs of hu- 
 manity ? The day, be assured, will come, when the 
 further gratification of the corporeal appetites shall 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 61 
 
 have eternally bade you adieu; and when, on the 
 bed of sickness, these questions shall work incessant- 
 ly on your mind What am I ? Whence came I ? 
 Who gave me my being ? How have 1 conducted my- 
 self since I came into the world ? I am now about to 
 leave it ; but to what place, into what region, am I to 
 be removed ? Where, O ! where, am I to make my 
 unalterable, my eternal abode ? Sullivan's View of 
 Nature, vi. 36?. 
 
 VARIETY ep RELIGIOUS OPINIONS A PROOF OP RE- 
 LIGION Similar observations are applicable, and, in- 
 deed, in a still more striking degree, to the opinions 
 of mankind on the important questions of religion 
 and morality. The variety of systems, which they 
 have formed to themselves concerning these subjects, 
 has often excited the ridicule of the sceptic and the 
 libertine ; but if, 011 the one hand, this variety shews 
 the folly of bigotry, and tke reasonableness of mutual 
 indulgence ; the curiosity which has led men in eve- 
 ry situation to such speculations, and the influence 
 which their conclusions, however absurd, have had 
 on jtheir character and their happiness, prove, no less 
 . clearly, on the other, that there must be some princi- 
 ples from which they all derive their origin, and in- 
 vite the philosopher to ascertain what are these origi- 
 nal and immutable laws of the human mind. 
 
 " Examine" (says Mr. Hume)" the religious princi- 
 " pies, which have prevailed in the world. You will 
 " scarcely be persuaded, that they are any thing but 
 " sick men's dreams ; or, perhaps, will regard them 
 " more as the playsome whimsies of monkeys in hu- 
 " man shape, than the serious, positive, dogmatical 
 '* asseverations of a being, who dignifies himself with 
 {t the name of rational." <f To oppose the torrent of 
 " scholastic religion by such feeble maxims as these. 
 
62 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 " that it is impossible for the same thing to be and 
 " not to be ; that the whole is greater than a part; 
 " that two and three make five ; is pretending to stop 
 " the occean with a bulrush." But what is the in- 
 ference to which we are led by these observations ? 
 Is it, to use the words of this ingenious writer, " that 
 " the whole is a riddle, an aenigma, an inexplicable 
 " mystery; and that doubt, uncertainty, and suspense 
 " appear the only result of our most accurate scrutiny 
 " concerning this subject ?" Or should not rather the 
 melancholy histories, which he has exhibited of the 
 follies and caprices of superstition, direct our atten- 
 tion to those sacred and indelible characters on the 
 human mind, which all these perversions of reason 
 are unable to obliterate ; like that image of himself, 
 which Phidias wished to perpetuate, by stamping it 
 so deeply on the buckler of his Minerva ; " ut nemo 
 " delere posset aut devellere, qui totam statuam non 
 " imminueret*." In truth, the more striking the con- 
 tradictions, and the more ludicrous the ceremonies, to 
 which the pride of human reason has thus beenrecon 
 ciled, the stronger is our evidence, that religion has 
 a foundation in the nature of man. When the great- 
 est of modern philosophers declares, that " he would 
 rather believe all the fables in the Legend, and the 
 Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal 
 frame is without mindt ;" he has expressed the same 
 feeling, which, in all ages and nations, has led good 
 men, unaccustomed to reasoning, to an implicit faith 
 in the creed of their infancy ; a feeling which af- 
 fords an evidence of the existence of the Deity, in- 
 comparably more striking, than if, unmixed witherr or 
 and undebased by superstition, this most important of 
 
 * Select Discourses, by John Smith, p. 119. Cambridge, 16 13. 
 f Lord Bacon, in his Etsayi. 
 
 4 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 63 
 
 all principles had commanded the universal assent of 
 mankind. Where are the other truths, in the whole 
 circle of the sciences, which are so essential to human 
 happiness, as to procure an easy access, not only for 
 themselves, but for whatever opinions may happen 
 to be blended with them ? where are the truths so 
 venerable and commanding, as to impart their own 
 sublimity to every trifling memorial, which recals 
 them to our remembrance ; to bestow solemnity and 
 elevation on every mode of expression, by which they 
 are conveyed ; and which, in whatever scene they 
 have habitually occupied the thoughts, consecrate 
 every object which it presents to our senses, and the 
 very ground we have been accustomed to tread ? To 
 attempt to weaken the authority of such impressions, 
 by a detail of the endless variety of forms, which they 
 derive from casual associations, is surely an employ- 
 ment unsuitable to the dignity of philosophy. To the 
 vulgar, it may be amusing, in this, as in other instan- 
 ces, to indulge their wonder at what is new or un- 
 common; but to the philosopher it belongs to per- 
 ceive, under all these various disguises, the workings 
 of the same common nature ; and in the superstitions 
 of Egypt, no less than in the lofty visions of Plato, to 
 recognize the existence of those moral ties, which 
 unite the heart of man to the author of his being. 
 Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, ii. 358. 
 
 THE ABUSES OF RELIGION NO OBJECTION TO ITS 
 TRUTHS. Do you think, that by relating the differ- 
 ent abuses of authority, we could prove the advantage 
 of anarchy ? Could we decry every species of juris- 
 prudence, by recounting all the ills, which have been 
 produced by chicane ? Should we be able to throw 
 an odium on the sciences, by recalling all the fatal 
 discoveries, which are owing to our researches ? Would 
 
64 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 it be proper to stifle every kind of self-love and acti- 
 vity, by reciting the different crimes, which covetous- 
 ness, pride, and ambition have given rise to ? And 
 ought we, then, to desire to annihilate religion, be- 
 cause fanaticism has made an instrument of it to dis- 
 tress the human species? All these questions are si- 
 milar, and all should be resolved in the same manner : 
 thus we may say with respect to them, that, in all 
 our interests and passions, it is by acquired know, 
 ledge, and the light of reason, that right is separated 
 from wrong ; but we ought never to confound their 
 proximity with a real identity. 
 
 Fanaticism and religion have not any connexion, 
 though very often these ideas are found united. It 
 is not the worship of the common Father of men ; it 
 is not the morality of the gospel, whose precepts lead 
 to goodness and forbearance, which inspires the spi- 
 rit of persecution ; we should attribute it to a blind 
 madness, resembling all those vile errors and crimes, 
 which dishonour humanity. But since, at present, 
 the excesses td which men abandon themselves, do 
 not induce us to condemn, as a misfortune, all the 
 sentiments of which the criminal passions are only 
 the extreme, why do we wish to refuse religion the 
 gratitude which is its due, because sometimes it has 
 given birth to hatred and unhappy divisions? It 
 would be necessary rather to remark, that intolerant 
 zeal is, of all the errors of the human mind, that, on 
 which the progress of our knowledge appears to have 
 had most influence. In fact, whilst fanaticism, gradu- 
 ally weakened, seems to be now verging to its de- 
 cline, the disorders connected with the common pas- 
 sions of ambition, love of wealth, and thirst of plea- 
 sure, remain in all their force. However, what sen- 
 timent, what predominant idea, has a greater claim 
 to pardon for its mistakes than devotion ? By what 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 65 
 
 an infinite number of benefits the pure spirit of reli- 
 gion makes amends for the abuses, which spring from 
 the false interpretation of its precepts ! 
 
 It is to this spirit, as we have shown, that men owe 
 the stability of public order and the firm principles of 
 justice : it procures the indigent the succours of cha- 
 rity, and virtue its encouragement ; oppressed inno- 
 cence its only refuge, and sensibility its dearest hopes. 
 Yes, the pure spirit of religion surrounds us on every 
 side, it makes the charm of solitude, the band of so- 
 ciety, the invigorator of intimate affections ; and can 
 we calumniate it and wish to destroy it, on recollect- 
 ing the tyrannic opinions of some priests and sove- 
 reigns, whose principles and conduct we now de*- 
 test ? 
 
 I shall further remark, and ask, why men denounce 
 a sentence of reprobation against religion, and give 
 as the motive, the ancient wars of which it has been 
 the origin, whilst they never contest the importance of 
 commerce, though rivers of blood have been continu- 
 ally shed for the smallest advantage on this account ? 
 Can they be so mistaken in their judgment, as to 
 compare a few pecuniary advantages, which one po- 
 litical state never enjoys, but at the expense of ano- 
 ther, with those, as precious as they are universal, of 
 which religion is the origin and support lNecker*s 
 Religious Opinions, IQl. 
 
 Religion, you say, has produced thousands of crimes ; 
 say rather the superstition, which pervades our 
 wretched globe, and which is the most inveterate ene- 
 my of the pure adoration, that we owe to the Su- 
 preme Being. Let us detest this monster, which has 
 always preyed upon the vitals of its mother. Those 
 who attack it, are the benefactors of mankind : it is a 
 serpent, which entwines religion : we must crush its 
 
66 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 head, without wounding her, whom it infects and de- 
 vours. 
 
 You are apprehensive, lest the adoration of God 
 should soon lead to superstition and fanaticism. But 
 is it not to be feared, that, by denying him, you will 
 open a door to the most baleful passions, and the 
 most atrocious crimes ? You affirm, that there is but 
 one step from adoration to superstition. There is an 
 infinite distance for well constituted minds ; and such 
 are always the most numerous : they are at the head 
 of nations, they influence public morals. 
 
 I will briefly reply to what you say. If rve pre- 
 sume a connexion between man and that incomprehensi- 
 ble Being, rve must erect altars to him, and make pre- 
 sents if rve can form no conception of that Being, rve 
 must have recourse to priests, fyc. Where is the great 
 harm of assembling in harvest to bless God for the 
 bread, which he has given us ? Where is the harm of 
 appointing a citizen to return thanks to the Deity, in 
 the name of the other citizens ? The priestly charac- 
 ter is a curb, which enforces decorum. 
 
 A weak priest inspires contempt, a vicious one ex- 
 cites abhorrence; but a good priest, meek, pious 
 without superstition, charitable, tolerant, is entitled 
 to our love and respect. You are afraid of the abuse, 
 and so am I. Let us therefore join to prevent it ; but 
 let us not condemn the use, when it is beneficial to 
 society. Voltaire's Quest. Encyclop. as quoted in Cha- 
 teaubriand 1 s Beauties of Christianity, iii. 277. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF INSTILLING RELIGION INTO 
 THE MINDS or YOUTH. Young persons duly initiated 
 in the comforts of religion, hold their Maker to be 
 their firr jest friend, and their most powerful protec- 
 tor. They retire to private devotion with the alacri- 
 ty of one, who goes to visit his bosom friend ; and 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 67 
 
 the hours, that pass in that exercise, are remembered 
 with entire satisfaction. In every difficulty they ap- 
 ply to their Maker ; they pray to him in affliction ; 
 and in prosperity they pour out their grateful heart 
 to him. Parents, attend, above all other concerns, to 
 the education of your children : riches and honour 
 are as nothing in comparison. It is in your power to 
 stamp on their ductile mind so deep an impression of 
 a benevolent Deity, as to become their ruling principle 
 of action. What praise do you not merit, if success- 
 ful ; what reproach, if negligent ? I have a firm con- 
 viction, that, if a due impression of the Deity be not 
 sufficient to stem the tide of corruption in an opu- 
 lent and luxurious nation, it is vain to attempt a re- 
 medy. Lord Kames on the Culture of the Heart. 
 
 RELIGION RECOMMENDED TO YOUTH. Preserve 
 your mind, my son, always in a state to wish there 
 should be a God, and you will never doubt of his ex- 
 istence. As for the rest, whatever religion you may 
 embrace, remember that its real duties are independ- 
 ent of human institutions; that an upright heart is 
 the temple of the Divinity ; and that, in every coun- 
 try, in every sect, to love God above all things, and 
 thy neighbour as thyself, is the summary of the law. 
 Remember that no religion upon earth can dispense 
 with the obligations of morality; that nothing is truly 
 essential but these, that the heart-felt adoration of the 
 Deity is the first of those obligations, and that with- 
 out faith there can be no virtue Rousseau's Emilius, 
 vol. ii. p. 225. 
 
 The summum bonum, which is only able to make 
 thee happy, as well in thy death as in thy life, I 
 mean the true knowledge and worship of thy Creator 
 and Redeemer ; without which, all other things are 
 
68 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 vain and miserable Lord Burleigh's Advice to his 
 Son. 
 
 Neither would I have you only fixed and constant 
 in your religion, but also very devout in the practice 
 of it ; that, as heretofore, your ancestors have been 
 eminent for honour, you, that come short of them by 
 this deliquium or eclipse of it in me, may nevertheless 
 exceed them in the true way to it, by your zeal and 
 piety ; and remember this, that he, that is not truly 
 religious, will hardly be esteemed such, since nothing 
 is of less continuance than hypocrisy and dissimula- 
 tion ; and, if your religion be such, such will your 
 greatness and honour be, a feigned thing, and a mere 
 shadow. The observance of religion and the exercise 
 of good manners, do become none so much as illustri- 
 ous persons. Other glories have lifted them beyond 
 the pitch and reach of men, but this is a ray of the 
 Divinity, which advanceth them near to the Deity, 
 and, like the diamond, outshines the lustre of all other 
 jewels. A religious heart and a clear conscience will 
 make you truly conspicuous : it is as the mother of 
 all other virtues Marquis of Argyles Instructions to 
 his Son. 
 
 The first thing to be considered is religion. It 
 must be the chief object of your thoughts, since it 
 would be a vain thing to direct your behaviour in the 
 world, and forget that which you owe to him who 
 made it. In the strict sense, it is the only thing ne- 
 cessary. You must take it into your mind, and from 
 thence throw it into your heart, where you are to em- 
 brace it so close, as never to lose the possession of it. 
 Religion is exalted reason, refined and sifted from the 
 grosser parts of it. It dwelleth in the upper region 
 of the mind, where there are fewest clouds or mists to 
 darken or offend it. It is both the foundation and 
 the crown of all virtues. It is morality improved and 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 69 
 
 raised to its height, by being carried nearer heaven, 
 the only place perfection resideth. It cleareth the 
 understanding, and brusheth off the earth that hang- 
 eth about our souls Savile, Marquis of Halifax's Ad- 
 vice to his Daughter. 
 
 It was the wisest saying of the wisest man ; " The 
 fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Holiness, 
 then, is the introduction of all wisdom ; so it shall 
 be the first of my advice, Fear God ; and if holiness 
 give knowledge, knowledge will give thee happiness, 
 long life, riches, and honour. " Length of days is 
 in the right hand of Wisdom, and in her left hand 
 are riches and honour," said the wise king. How 
 exalted a thing, then, is religion, which is the mother 
 of so great blessings! And who will pity thy com* 
 plaints for the want of any ot these, if they be obtain- 
 ed by the pleasure of that, which will also crown thee 
 with heaven, and holy life ? Be pious, and thou art all 
 these : fear God, and thou shall not fear man or de- 
 vil, for it will set thee above the reach of fortune or 
 malice William Lord Russel's Advice to his Son. 
 
 I come now to the part of the advice, which I 
 have to offer to you, which most nearly concerns 
 your welfare, and upon which every good and honour- 
 able purpose of your life will assuredly turn ; I mean 
 the keeping up in your heart the true sentiments of 
 religion. If you are not right towards God, you can 
 never be so towards men. The noblest sentiment of 
 the human breast is here brought to the test. Is gra- 
 titude in the number of a man's virtues ? if it be, the 
 highest benefactor demands the warmest returns of 
 gratitude, love, and praise. Ingratum qui dixerit, 
 cmnia dixit. If a man wants this virtue, where 
 there are infinite obligations to excite, and quicken it, 
 he will be likely to want all others towards his fellow 
 creatures, whose utmost gifts are poor, compared to 
 
70 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 those he daily receives at the hands of his never fail- 
 ing almighty Friend. " Remember thy Creator in 
 the days of thy youth," is big with the deepest wis- 
 dom. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of 
 wisdom, arid an upright heart, that is understanding." 
 This is eternally true, whether the wits and rakes of 
 Cambridge allow it or not : nay, I must add of this 
 religious wisdom, " Her ways are ways of pleasant- 
 ness, and all her paths are peace," whatever your 
 young gentlemen of pleasure think of a whore and a 
 bottle, a tainted health and battered constitution. 
 
 Hold fast, therefore, by this sheet-anchor of hap- 
 piness, religion. You will often want it in the times 
 of most danger ; the storms and tempests of life. 
 Cherish true religion as preciously, as you will fly 
 with abhorrence and contempt superstition and 
 enthusiasm. The first is the perfection and glory of 
 the human nature ; the two last the depravation and 
 disgrace of it. Remember the essence of religion is, 
 a heart void of offence towards God and man ; not 
 subtle speculative opinions, but an active vital prin- 
 ciple of faith. Earl of Chatham's Letters to his Ne- 
 phew, p. 25. 
 
 PERSONAL TESTIMONIES TO THE WORTH OF RELI- 
 GION. Love my memory ; cherish my friends ; their 
 faith to me may assure you that they are honest; but, 
 above all, govern your will and affections by the will 
 and word of your Creator, in me beholding the end 
 of this world, with all its vanities Sir Philip Sydney. 
 
 I have hardly had time to sin ; but I have set bad 
 examples ; perhaps of scandal without knowing it, by 
 neglectig the practices of religion, in which, however, 
 I have always believed, and which I know very well. 
 I have been too thoughtless as a soldier, and lived 
 as a philosopher. I wish to die as a Christian. I 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 71 
 
 have never been fond of boasters either in war or re- 
 ligion, and perhaps it was from having seen, on the 
 one hand, frivolous impieties, like those of the French, 
 which I have mentioned, and, on the other, Spanish 
 bigotry, that I have always kept myself distant from 
 both. I have often seen death near enough to be fa- 
 miliar with it. But now it is no longer the same 
 thing. I once sought it, now I wait for it; and in 
 waiting I live tranquilly. I love the eloquence of the 
 pulpit. When Bourdaloue fills me with fear, Massil- 
 IOP fills me with hope, Bossuet astonishes, Fenelon 
 touches me. Eugene's Memoirs by Himself, Mud- 
 ford's Translation, p. 234-. 
 
 Religion, my honoured madam, has not only been 
 all my life my chief dependance, but my dearest en- 
 joyment. I have indeed been the luckless victim of 
 way ward follies ; but, alas ! I have ever been " more 
 fool than knave." A mathematician without religion 
 is a probable character, an irreligious poet is a monster. 
 With all my follies of youth, and, I fear, a few vices 
 of manhood, still I congratulate myself as having had 
 in early days, religion strongly impressed on my 
 mind. I have nothing to say to any one, as to which 
 sect he belongs tp, or what creed he believes ; but I 
 look on the man, who is firmly persuaded of infinite 
 wisdom and goodness superintending and directing 
 every circumstance, that can happen in his lot I fe- 
 licitate such a man as having a solid foundation for 
 his mental enjoyment ; a firm prop, and sure stay, in 
 the hour of difficulty, trouble, and distress; and a ne- 
 ver failing anchor of hope, when he looks beyond the 
 grave. Letters of Robert Burns, Nos. 41 and 151. 
 
 For the benefit of all those, whom I may have drawn 
 into sin by my example and encouragement, I leave 
 to the world this my last declaration, which I deliver in 
 the presence of the great God, who knows the secrets 
 
72 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 of all hearts, and before whom I am now appearing to 
 be judged: That from the bottom of my soul, I de- 
 test and abhor the whole course of my former wicked 
 life : that I think I can never sufficiently admire the 
 goodness of God, who has given me a true sense of 
 my pernicious opinions and vile practices, by which 
 I have hitherto lived without hope, and without God 
 in the world ; have been an open enemy to Jesus 
 Christ, doing the utmost despite to the Holy Spirit 
 of grace ; and that the greatest testimony of my cha- 
 rity to such, is, to warn them, in the name of God, 
 as they regard thewelfare of their immortal souls, no 
 more to deny his being or his providence, or despise 
 his goodness ; no more to make a mock of sin ; or 
 contemn the pure and excellent religion of my ever 
 blessed Redeemer, through whose merits alone, I, 
 one of the greatest of sinners, do yet hope for mercy 
 and forgiveness. Amen. 
 
 Declared and signed in the presence of Ann Ro- 
 chester, Robert Parsons, June 19, 1680. 
 
 J. ROCHESTER. 
 
 Bishop Burnet's Life of the Earl of Rochester. 
 
 To Dr. Barlow Dear Doctor, I always looked 
 upon you as a man of true virtue ; and know you to 
 be a person of sound judgment. For, however I 
 may act in opposition to the principles of religion, or 
 the dictates of reason, I can honestly assure you, 
 I had always the highest veneration for both. The 
 world and I may shake hands, for I dare affirm 
 we are heartily weary of each other. O doctor, what 
 a prodigal have I been of the most valuable of 
 all possessions time ! I have squandered it away 
 with a persuasion it was lasting ; and now, when a 
 few days would be worth a hecatomb of worlds, 
 I cannot flatter myself with a prospect of half 
 a dozen hours. 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 73 
 
 How 'despicable is that man, who never prays to 
 his God, but in the time of his distress! In 
 what manner can he supplicate that omnipotent being 
 in his affliction with reverence, whom in the tide of 
 his prosperity, he never remembered with dread ? 
 Do not brand me with infidelity, when I tell you, I 
 am almost ashamed to offer up my petitions to the 
 throne of grace ; or of imploring that divine mercy in 
 the next world, which I have so scandalously abused 
 in this. Shall ingratitude to man be looked upon as 
 the blackest of crimes, and not ingratitude to God ? 
 Shall an insult offered to the king be looked on in the 
 most offensive light, and yet no notice taken when 
 the King of kings is treated with indignity and 
 disrespect. 
 
 The companions of my former libertinism would 
 scarce believe their eyes, were you to shew them this 
 epistle. They would laugh at me as a dreaming 
 enthusiast, or pity me as a timorous wretch, who was 
 shocked at the appearance of futurity. They are 
 more entitled to my pity than my resentment. A 
 future state may very well strike terror into any man, 
 who has not acted well in this life ; and he must have 
 an uncommon share of courage indeed, who does not 
 shrink at the presence of God. 
 
 You see, my dear Doctor, the apprehensions of 
 death will soon bring the most profligate to a proper 
 use of their understanding. I am haunted by 
 remorse, despised by my acquaintance, and, I fear, 
 forsaken by my God. There is nothing, my dear 
 Doctor, so dangerous as extraordinary abilities. I 
 cannot be accused of vanity now, by being sensible 
 that I was once possessed of uncommon qualifications, 
 as I sincerely regret, that I was ever blessed with any 
 at all. My rank in life still made these accomplish- 
 ments more conspicuous ; and, fascinated with the 
 
 
 
74 TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL^ &C. 
 
 general applause which they procured, I never con- 
 sidered about the proper means, by which they should 
 be displayed. Hence, to purchase a smile from a 
 blockhead, whom I despised, I have frequently treat- 
 ed the virtuous with disrespect, and sported with the 
 holy name of heaven, to claim a laugh from a parcel 
 of fools, who were entitled to nothing but my con- 
 tempt. 
 
 Your men of wit, my dear Doctor, look upon them- 
 selves as discharged from the duties of religion ; and 
 confine the doctrines of the gospel to people of mean- 
 er understandings ; and look on that man to be of a 
 narrow genius, who studies to be good. What a pity, 
 that the holy writings are not made the criterion of 
 true judgment ! Favour me, my dear Doctor, with a 
 visit as soon as possible. Writing to you gives me 
 some ease. I am of opinion, this is the last visit I 
 shall ever solicit from you. My distemper is power- 
 ful. Come and pray for the departing spirit of the 
 unhappy BUCKINGHAM *. 
 
 * George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, born in 1627, was 
 a distinguished person in the reign of Charles II. He possessed 
 great talents, which had been highly improved by education ; and 
 had a peculiar faculty of turning serious things into ridicule. His 
 uncommon vivacity of wit made his company be greatly courted in 
 the gay world ; but he is represented as having been destitute of 
 every principle of friendship, virtue, or religion. 
 
75 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR USES OF 
 RELIGION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 AS A BOND OF SOCIETY. 
 
 THOSE princes and republics, who wish to maintain 
 themselves free from all corruption, ought, above all 
 things, to preserve religion in its purity, and respect 
 the sanctity of its ceremonies ; for there is not so 
 sure a sign of the ruin of a state, as the contempt of 
 divine worship. MachiaveVs Prince } Introd. xvii. 
 Byerley's Translation. 
 
 In fact, men do not reason after that manner, and 
 they draw many consequences from the belief of 
 a divine existence, and suppose that the Deity will 
 inflict punishments on vice, and bestow rewards on 
 virtue, beyond what appears in the ordinary course 
 of nature. Whether this reasoning of theirs be just 
 or not, is no matter ; its influence on their life and 
 conduct must still be the same. And those, who at- 
 tempt to disabuse them of such prejudices, may, for 
 aught I know, be good reasoners, but I cannot allow 
 t hem to be good citizens and politicians : since they 
 E 2 
 
76 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 free men from one restraint upon their passions ; and 
 make the infringement of the laws of equity and 
 society in one respect more easy and secure. Hume's 
 Philosophical Essays, p. 231, as quoted by Leland. 
 
 Mr. Bayle has pretended to prove, that it is better 
 to be an Atheist, than an idolater ; that is, in other 
 words, that it is less dangerous to have no religion at 
 all, than a bad one. 4<r I had rather," said he, " it should 
 " be said of me, that I had no existence, than that I 
 " am a villain." This is only a sophism, founded on 
 this, that it is of no importance to the human race 
 to believe, that a certain man exists ; whereas it is 
 extremely useful for them to believe the existence of 
 a God. From the idea of his non existence, immedi- 
 ately follows that of our independence ; or, if we 
 cannot conceive this idea, that of disobedience. To 
 say, that religion is not a restraining motive, because 
 it does not always restrain, is equally absurd as to 
 say, that the civil laws are not a restraining motive. 
 It is a false way of reasoning against religion, to col- 
 lect in a large work a long detail of the evils it has 
 produced ; if we do not give at the same time an enu- 
 meration of the advantages, which have flowed from 
 it. Were I to relate all the evils that have arisen in 
 the world from civil laws, from monarchy, and from 
 republican government, I might tell of frightful 
 things. Was it of no advantage for subjects to have 
 religion, it would still be of some if princes had it, 
 and if they whitened with foam the only rein which 
 can restrain those who fear not human laws. A 
 prince, who loves and fears religion, is a lion, who 
 stoops to the hand that strokes, or to the voice that 
 appeases him. He, who fears and hates religion, is 
 like the savage beast that growls and bites the chain 
 that prevents his flying on the passenger. He, who 
 has no religion at all, is that terrible animal, who per- 
 
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY. 77 
 
 ceive his liberty only, when he tears in pieces, and 
 when he devours. The question is not to know, 
 whether it would be better that a certain man or a 
 certain people had no religion, than to abuse what 
 they have ; but to know which is the least evil, that 
 religion be sometimes abused, or that there be no such 
 
 restraint as religion on mankind. Montesquieu's * 
 
 Spirit of Laws, book xxiv. chap. 2. 
 
 Hence, every effort of governing wisdom, ought to 
 be exerted in order to preserve the morals of a peo- 
 ple ; for, these being lost, the very source of govern- 
 ment is corrupted ; and, to suppose that a corrupted 
 government should correct itself, or make immoral peo- 
 ple virtuous, would be no less erroneous than to sup- 
 pose, that water, when at liberty, should not flow in de- 
 scending to the lowest place. Hutton's Investigation, 
 iii. 530. 
 
 We know, and, what is better, we feel inwardly, 
 that religion is the basis of civil society, and the 
 source of all good and of all comfort. We know, and 
 it is our pride to know, that man is, by his constitu- 
 tion, a religious animal ; that Atheism is against not 
 only our reason, but our instincts, and that it cannot 
 prevail long. But if, in the moment of rest, and in 
 
 * * What his real sentiments with regard to religion were, (says 
 the Earl of Charlemont of Baron Montesquieu,) I cannot exactly 
 say. He certainly was not a papist ; but I have no reason to be- 
 lieve that he was not a Christian. In all our conversations, which 
 were perfectly free, I never heard him utter the slightest hint, the 
 least word, which savoured of profaneness ; but, on the contrary, 
 whenever it came in his way to mention Christianity, he always 
 spoke of its doctrines and its precepts with the utmost respect and 
 reverence ; so that, did I not know, that he had too much wisdom 
 and goodness to wish to deprecate the ruling religion, from his ge- 
 neral manner of expressing himself, I should make no scruple 
 freely to declare him a perfect Christian." Hardy's Life of the 
 Earl of .Charlemont, i. 71. 
 
 E 3 
 
78 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 a drunken delirium, from the hot spirit drawn out of 
 the alembick of hell, (which in France is now so furi- 
 ously boiling,) we should uncover our nakedness by 
 throwing off that Christian religion, which has hitherto 
 been our boast and comfort, and one great source of 
 civilization among us, and among many other nations ; 
 we are apprehensive (being well aware that the 
 mind will not endure a vail) that some uncouth, per- 
 nicious, and degrading superstition, might take place 
 of it. Burkes Works, v. iii. p. 128. 
 
 It is then, if I may be permitted so to express my- 
 self, because the laws find men in a healthy state, 
 prepared by religious instruction, that they can re- 
 strain them ; but, if a system of education, .merely 
 political, was ever to prevail, new precautions and 
 new chains would become absolutely necessary ; and, 
 after having freed us from the mild ties of religion, 
 the projectors of such a system would increase our 
 civil slavery, would bend our necks under the hard- 
 est of all yokes, that which is imposed by our fellow 
 creatures. Religion, whose influence they wish us to 
 reject, is better appropriated than they think, to the 
 mixture of pride and weakness, which constitutes our 
 nature ; and for us, such as we are, its action is far 
 preferable to that of the penal laws. It is not, before 
 his equals, armed with the rod of vengeance, that the 
 culprit is made to appear ; it is not to their ignorance, 
 or to their inexorable justice, that he is abandoned ; 
 it is at the tribunal of his own conscience, that reli- 
 gion informs against him ; before a God, sovereign of 
 the world, that it humbles, and in the name of a ten- 
 der and merciful Father that it comforts him. Alas ! 
 while you at once take from us both our consolation 
 and our true dignity, you wish to refer every thing to 
 private interest and public punishment ; but permit 
 me to listen to those commands, which come from on 
 
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY- 79 
 
 high / leave me to divert my attention from the me- 
 nacing sceptre, which the potentates of the earth wield 
 in their hand ; leave me to account with Him, before 
 whom they shrink into nothing ; leave me, in short, 
 to address myself to him, who pardons, and who, at 
 the moment I have offended, permits me still to love 
 him, and rely on his grace. Alas ! without the idea 
 of a God, without this connexion with a Supreme 
 Being, author of all nature, we should only listen to 
 the vile counsels of selfish prudence, we should only 
 have to flatter or adore the rulers of nations, and all those 
 who, in an absolute monarchy, are the numerous repre- 
 sentatives of the authority of the prince ; yes, talents, 
 sentiments, ought to bend before these distributors of 
 so much good and evil, if nothing exists beyond 
 worldly interest : and when once every one cringes, 
 there is no more dignity in the character, men be- 
 come incapable of any great action, and unequal to 
 
 any moral excellence Neckers Religious Opinions, 
 
 p. 65. 
 
 Piety and religion have an essential influence on 
 the happiness of nations. Nothing is so proper as 
 piety to strengthen virtue, and give it its due extent. 
 By the word piety, I mean a disposition of soul, that 
 leads us to direct all our actions towards Deity, and 
 to endeavour to please him in every thing we do. 
 To the practice of this virtue all mankind are indis- 
 pensably obliged : it is the purest source of their fe- 
 licity : and those, who unite in civil society, are under 
 still greater obligations to practise it. A nation ought 
 then to be pious. The superiors, entrusted with the 
 public affairs, should constantly endeavour to deserve 
 the approbation of their divine Master ; and whatev- 
 er they do, in the name of the state, ought to be re^ 
 gulated by this grand view. The care of forming 
 pious dispositions in all the people should be constant- 
 is 4 
 
80 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 ly one of the principal objects of their vigilance, and 
 from this the state will derive very great advantages. 
 A serious attention to merit, in all our actions, the 
 approbation of an infinitely wise being, cannot fail of 
 producing excellent citizens. Enlightened piety in 
 the people is the support of a lawful authority ; and 
 in the sovereign's heart it is the pledge of the peo- 
 ple's safety, and excites their confidence. Ye lords 
 of the earth, who acknowledge no superior here be- 
 low, what security can we have for the purity of your 
 intentions, if we do not conceive you to be deeply 
 impressed with respect for the common Father and 
 Lord of men, and animated with a desire to please 
 him? Faff el's Law of Nations, b. i. ch. xii. 
 
 Were there but one man upon earth, he would not, 
 it is allowed, stand in need of any prescribed form of 
 worship. His would be an inward devotion. But, 
 as a social animal, the surest bond to hold the differ- 
 ent members of society to their respective duties, is 
 the sacred bond of religion. Even the heathens found 
 government and society could not subsist without it. 
 Plutarch styles it, "the cement of all community, and 
 the chief basis of all legislative power." Had it not 
 been for this, together with our natural impressions 
 concerning justice and probity ; instead of those well 
 ordered governments and cities, which are now in the 
 world, mankind must have lived either wild and so- 
 litary in caves, or else in troops of robbers, subsisting 
 upon the spoil and rapine of such as were weaker 
 than themselves. " Piet.ite sublata, fides etiam, et 
 societas humani generis, et una excellentissima virtus 
 justitia tollitur*." And hence, in addition to such 
 unavoidable eradication of good faith and justice, the 
 civil law made the abuse of religion a common inju- 
 ry. " Religio contaminata ad omnium pertinet inju- 
 riara." Sullivan's View of Nature, vol. vi. 189 
 
 * Cicero. 
 
AS A BOND OF SOCIETY. 81 
 
 This excellent purpose may be greatly forwarded by 
 a national establishment * for moral instruction and 
 admonition ; and if the public instruction should add 
 all the motives to virtuous moderation, which are sug- 
 gested by the consideration of genuine religion, every 
 advice would have a tenfold influence. Religion and 
 moral instructions are, therefore, in their own nature, 
 unequivocal supports to that moderate exertion of the 
 authority arising from civil subordination, which th e 
 most refined philanthropist, or cosmopolite, acknow- 
 ledges to be necessary for the very existence of a 
 great and cultivated society. I have never seen a 
 scheme of Utopian happiness, that did not contain 
 some system of education ; and I cannot conceive any 
 system of education, of which moral instruction is 
 not a principal part. Such establishments are dictates 
 of nature, and obtrude themselves on the mind of eve- 
 ry person, who begins to form plans of civil union. 
 And, in all existing societies, they have indeed been 
 formed, and are considered as the greatest corrector 
 and soother of those discontents, that are unavoidable 
 in the minds of the unsuccessful and the unfortunate. 
 The magistrate, therefore, whose professional habits lead 
 him frequently to exert himself for the maintainance 
 of public peace, cannot but see the advantages of such 
 stated remembrancers of our duty. lie will therefore 
 support and cherish this public establishment, which 
 so evidently assists him in his beneficent and impor- 
 tant labours. Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy, p. 
 56. 
 
 Infidelity must dispose men to shake off the yoke 
 of authority, to unbounded licentiousness ; and, re- 
 
 * This passage is cited as expressing this author's conviction of 
 the importance of religious instruction in a state, and not as an ar- . 
 gument for a national establishment, in any peculiar sense, 
 E 5 
 
82 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 ciprocally, is itself the natural consequence of every 
 degree of licentiousness. Those, who do not regard 
 the supreme authority, can be little expected to re- 
 garpl any of his vicegerents : those who do not fear 
 God, will not honour the king. If the infatuation of 
 princes was not of the deepest kind, they could not but 
 see, that they hold their dominions entirely by the 
 real Christianity, that is left amongst us ; and that, if 
 they do succeed in taking away this foundation, or 
 weakening it much farther, their governments must 
 fall, like houses built upon sand. Besides the great 
 influence which Christianity has, to make men hum- 
 ble and obedient, it is to be considered, that our ances- 
 tors have so interwoven it with the constitutions of the 
 kingdoms of Europe, that they must stand or fall to- 
 gether. Christianity is the cement of the buildings. 
 Hartleys Observations on Man, ii. p. 14-6. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 AS A RULE OF CONDUCT. 
 
 IT is no doubt a great encouragement to virtue, 
 that glory is its promised recompense. It is doubtless 
 a high consolation, and a solid support, firmly to be- 
 lieve that all our actions are witnessed by an incor- 
 ruptible and supreme Judge, infallible, and sovereign- 
 ly good, at whose tribunal all human acts of injustice 
 will be repaid, and good actions meet with a cer- 
 tain recompense. Theism, therefore, is the most su- 
 blime, the most useful, the most affecting speculation, 
 to which philosophy has ever raised the mind. Mi- 
 rabeau's Inquiry Concerning Lettres de Cachet, i. 54. 
 
AS A RULE OF CONDUCT ^ 
 
 If there be a belief or conception of a Deity, who 
 is considered as worthy and good, admired and rever- 
 enced as such, being understood to have, besides ' 
 power and knowledge, the highest excellence of na- 
 ture, such as render him justly amiable to all; and 
 if, in the manner this sovereign and mighty being is 
 represented, or as he is historically described, there 
 appears in him a high or eminent regard to what is 
 good and excellent, a concern for the good of all, and 
 an affection of benevolence and love towards the 
 whole: such an example must undoubtedly serve, 
 (as above explained,) to raise and increase the af- 
 fection towards virtue, and help to submit and subdue 
 all the other affections to that alone. Nor is this good 
 effected by example merely ; for where the theistical 
 belief is perfect, there must be a steady opinion of 
 the superintendency of a Supreme Being, a witness 
 and spectator of human life, and conscious of whatso- 
 ever is felt or acted in the universe : so that, in the 
 perfectest recess or deepest solitude, there must be 
 one still presumed remaining with us, whose presence 
 singly must be of more moment, than that of the most 
 august assembly on earth. In such a presence it is evi- 
 dent, that, as the shame of guilty actions must be the 
 greatest of any ; so must the honour be of well-doing, 
 even under the unjust censure of a world. And in 
 this case, it is very apparent how conducive a perfect 
 theism must be to virtue, and how great deficiency 
 there is in atheism. Shaftesbury's Characteristics, 
 ii. 56. 
 
 That virtue is her own reward, is but a cold prin- 
 ciple, and not able to maintain our variable resolu- 
 tions in a constant and settled way of goodness. I 
 have practised that honest artifice of Seneca ; and, in 
 my retired and solitary imaginations, to detain me 
 from the foulness of vice, have fancied to myself the 
 
 E6 
 
84 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 presence of my dear and worthiest friends, before 
 whom I should lose my head rather than be vicious ; 
 yet, herein I found that there was nothing but mo- 
 ral honesty ; and this was not to be virtuous for his 
 sake, who must reward us all at the last. I have tri- 
 ed if I could reach that great resolution of his to be 
 honest, without a thought of heaven or hell ; and in- 
 deed I found, upon a natural inclination and inbred 
 loyalty unto virtue that I could serve her without a 
 livery, yet not in that resolved and venerable way, 
 but that the frailty of my nature, upon easy tempta- 
 tion, might be induced to forget her. The life, there- 
 fore, and spirit of all our actions is the resurrection, 
 and a stable apprehension that our ashes shall enjoy 
 the fruit of our pious endeavours. Brown's Religio 
 Medici. 
 
 I have read your manuscript with some attention; 
 By the argument it contains against a particular pro- 
 vidence, though you allow a general providence, you 
 strike at the foundations of all religion. For, without 
 the belief of a Providence, that takes cognizance of, 
 guards and guides, and may favour particular per- 
 sons, there is no motive to worship a Deity, to fear 
 its displeasure, or to pray for its protection. I will 
 not enter into any discussion of your principles, 
 though you seem to desire it. At present I shall only 
 give you my opinion, that, though your, reasonings 
 are subtle, and may prevail with some readers, you 
 will not succeed so as to change the general senti- 
 ments of mankind on that subject, and the consequence 
 of printing this piece will be, a great deal of odium 
 drawn upon yourself, mischief to you, and no benefit 
 to others. He that spits against the wind, spits in his 
 own face. But were you to succeed, do you imagine 
 any good would be done by it ? You yourself may 
 find it easy to live a virtuous life, without the assist- 
 
AS A RULE OF CONDUCT. 85 
 
 ance afforded by religion ; you having a clear percep- 
 tion of the advantages of virtue, and the disadvan- 
 tages of vice, and possessing a strength of resolution 
 sufficient to enable you to resist common temptations. 
 But think how great a portion of mankind consists of 
 weak and ignorant men and women, and of inexpe- 
 rienced inconsiderate youth of both sexes, who have 
 need of the motives of religion to restrain them from 
 vice, to support their virtue, and retain them in the 
 practice of it till it becomes habitual, which is the 
 great point for its security. And perhaps you are in- 
 debted to her originally, that is to your religious edu- 
 cation, for the habits of virtue, upon which you now 
 justly value yourself. You might easily display your 
 excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous 
 subject, and thereby obtain a rank with our most 
 distinguished authors. For among us it is not neces- 
 sary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be 
 raised into the company of men, should prove his 
 manhood by beating his mother. I would advise, you, 
 therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but 
 tmrn this piece before it is seen by any other person, 
 whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mor- 
 tification from the enemies it may raise against you, 
 and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. 
 If men are so wicked with religion, what would they 
 be if without it? Franklins Correspondence, i. 279. 
 Merely because it is his duty, a good man will 
 sometimes do good : he will relieve distress, when 
 perhaps his compassion is not very strong ; he may 
 be regular in his religious performances, when his 
 devotion is not so fervent as it ought to be. Nothing 
 surely is more laudable, than to do what we know to 
 be our dirty, But, if we can, at the same time, call 
 up the correspondent good affection, the devotion, for 
 example, or the compassion ; we shall, by so doing, 
 
86 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 both improve our moral nature, and give double force 
 to the virtuous motive. Yet, let not a man be dis- 
 couraged, if, on some occasions, the good affection 
 is not so lively as he wishes it to be; let him do the 
 good action notwithstanding, if conscience commands 
 it : for whatever is thus done is virtue ; and frequent 
 repetitions of the action, from this principle, will 
 in time produce, or strengthen the good affection 
 which he is anxious to cultivate. In like manner, 
 when we act in compliance with a good affection; 
 when we relieve distress, because pity impels us; 
 requite a favour when prompted by gratitude ; do 
 good to another from a desire of seeing him happy ; 
 still let the performance be enforced by this conside- 
 ration, that such is our duty. But even this is not 
 all. To constitute true Christian virtue, good affec- 
 tions, disposing to good actions, and accompanied too 
 with a sense of duty, are not sufficient without the 
 aid of another principle, and that is piety. The love 
 of God ought continually to predominate in the mind, 
 and give to every act of duty grace and animation. 
 Christians do what is right not only because good af- 
 fections prompt them to it, and because their con- 
 science declares it to be incumbent ; but also because 
 they consider it as agreeable to the will of God, to 
 please whom is ever their supreme desire. Seattle's 
 Elements of Moral Science, ii. 120. 
 
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 87 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 
 
 WERE we totally ignorant of a Deity, this world 
 would appear to us a mere chaos. Under the govern- 
 ment of a wise and benevolent Deity, chance is 
 excluded ; and every event appears to be the result 
 of established laws : good men submit to whatever 
 happens, without repining ; knowing that every 
 event is ordered by divine providence : they submit 
 with entire resignation, and such resignation is a so- 
 vereign balsam for every misfortune. Lord Kames' 
 Sketches of the History of Man, iv. 203. 
 
 And now, last of all, there remains for us to consi- 
 der a yet further advantage to virtue, in the theistical 
 belief above the atheistical. The proposition may at 
 first sight appear over-refined, or of a sort which is 
 esteemed too nicely philosophical. But, after what 
 has been already examined, the subject perhaps may 
 be more easily explained. There is no creature, ac- 
 cording to what has been already proved, who must 
 not of necessity be ill in some degree, by having an 
 affection or aversion in a stronger degree than is suit- 
 able to his own private good, or that of the system to 
 which it is joined, For, in either case, the affection 
 is ill and vicious. Now, if a rational creature has 
 that degree of aversion, which is requisite to arm him 
 against any particular misfortune, and alarm him 
 against the approach of any calamity ; this is regular 
 and well. But if, after the misfortune has happened, 
 his aversion continues still, and his passion rather 
 grows upon him ; whilst he rages at the accident, 
 and exclaims against his private fortune or lot ; this 
 
88 THE PARTICULAR USES OF BELIGION 
 
 will be acknowledged both vicious in present and for 
 the future ; as it affects the temper, and disturbs that 
 easy course of the affections, on which virtue and 
 goodness so much depend. On the other side, the 
 patient enduring of the calamity, and the bearing up 
 of the mind under it, must be acknowledged immedi- 
 ately virtuous and preservative of virtue. Now, accor- 
 ding to the hypothesis of those who exclude a ge- 
 neral mind, it must be confessed there can nothing 
 happen in the course of things to deserve either our 
 admiration and love, or our anger and abhorrence. 
 However, as there can be no satisfaction, at the best, 
 in thinking upon what atoms and chance produce ; so, 
 upon disastrous occasions, and under the circumstan- 
 ces of a calamitous and hard fortune, 'tis scarcely 
 possible to prevent a natural kind of abhorrence and 
 spleen, which will be entertained and kept alive by 
 the imagination of so perverse an order of things. But 
 in another hypothesis (that of perfect theism] it is 
 understood, " That whatever the order of t/ie world pro- 
 duces is in the main bo! k just and good." Therefore, 
 in the course of things in this world, whatever hard- 
 ship of events may seem to force from any rational 
 creature a hard censure of his private condition or 
 lot ; he may, by reflection, nevertheless come to have 
 patience, and to acquiesce in it. Nor is this all. He 
 may go farther still in this reconciliation ; and, from 
 the same principle, may make the lot itself an object 
 of his good affection ; whilst he strives to maintain 
 this generous fealty, and stands so well disposed to- 
 wards the laws and government of his higher country. 
 Such an affection must needs create the highest 
 constancy in any state of sufferance, and make us in 
 the best manner support whatever hardships are to 
 be endured for virtue's sake. And, as this affection 
 must of necessity cause a greater acquiescence and 
 
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 89 
 
 complacency with respect to ill accidents, ill men, 
 and injuries ; so, of course, it cannot fail of produc- 
 ing still a greater equality, gentleness, and benignity 
 in the temper. Consequently the affection must be a 
 truly good one, and a creature the more truly good 
 and virtuous by possessing it. For whatsoever is the 
 occasion or means of more affectionately uniting a ra- 
 tional creature to his PART in society, and causes him 
 to prosecute the public good, or interest of his species 
 with more zeal and affection than ordinary ; is un- 
 doubtedly the cause of more than ordinary virtue in 
 such a person, 
 
 Hence we may determine justly the relation which 
 VIRTUE has to PIETY; \hejirst being not complete 
 but in the latter ; since where the latter is wanting 
 there can neither be the same benignity, firmness, nor 
 constancy ; the same good composure of the affections 
 or uniformity of mind. And thus the perfection and 
 height of VIRTUE must be owing to the belief of a 
 GOD. Shaft esbury's Characteristics, ii. 72. 1714*. 
 
 This univeral benevolence, how noble and gener- 
 ous soever, can be the source of no solid happiness to 
 any man, who is not thoroughly convinced, that all 
 the inhabitants of the universe, the meanest as well as 
 the greatest, are under the immediate care and protec- 
 tion of that great, benevolent, and all-wise being, 
 who directs all the movements of nature, and who is 
 determined by his own unalterable perfections, to 
 maintain in it, at all times, the greatest possible 
 quantity of happiness. To this universal benevolence, 
 on the contrary, the very suspicion of a fatherless 
 world must be the most melancholy of all reflections ; 
 from the thought, that all the unknown regions of in- 
 finite and incomprehensible space may be filled with 
 nothing but endless misery and wretchedness. All 
 the splendour of the highest prosperity can never en 
 
90 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 lighten the gloom, with which so dreadful an idea 
 must necessarily overwhelm the imagination ; nor, in 
 a wise and virtuous man, can all the sorrow of the 
 most affecting adversity ever dry up the joy, which 
 necessarily springs from the habitual and thorough 
 conviction of the truth of the contrary system. 
 Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, ii. 114. 
 
 Those, who seem to have a more pressing and con- 
 stant need of the assistance of religion, have been 
 left by the misfortunes of their parents to the wide 
 world, devoid of property, and deprived also of 
 those resources which depend on education. This 
 class of men, condemned to hard labour, are, as it 
 were, confined in a rough and uniformly barren path, 
 where every day resembles the last, where they have 
 not any confused expectations, or flattering illusion 
 to divert them ; they know that there is a wall of se- 
 paration between them and fortune; and, if they 
 carried their views in life forward, they would only 
 discover the dreadful state any infirmity would re- 
 duce them to ; and the deplorable situation to which 
 they might be exposed, by the cruel neglect which 
 attends old age. With what transport, in this situa- 
 tion, would they not catch at the comfortable hopes, 
 which religion presents ! With what satisfaction 
 would they not learn, that after this probationary 
 state, where so much disproportion overwhelmed 
 them, there would come a time of equality ! What 
 would be their complaints, if they were to renounce 
 a sentiment which still conforms itself, for their ad- 
 vantage, to a general idea, the only one in short, of 
 which they can make use in all events and circum- 
 stances of life. It is God's will, they say to them- 
 selves, and this first thought supports their resigna- 
 tion ; God will recompense you, God will return it 
 to you, say they to others, when they receive alms ; 
 
*AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 91 
 
 and these words remind them, that the God of the 
 rich and powerful is also theirs ; and that, far from 
 being indifferent to their fate, He deigns Himself to 
 discharge their obligations. Necker's Religious Opi- 
 nions, p. 133. 
 
 To persons in such unfortunate circumstances, 
 (that is, innocent persons condemned by the world as 
 guilty,) that humble philosophy, which confines its 
 views to this life, can afford, perhaps, but little conso- 
 lation. Every thing, that could render either life or 
 death respectable, is taken from them. They are con- 
 demned to death, and to everlasting infamy. Religion 
 can alone afford them any effectual comfort. She 
 alone can tell them, that it is of little importance what 
 man may think of their conduct, while the all-seeing 
 Judge of the world approves of it. She alone can 
 present to them the views of another world ; a world 
 of more candour, humanity and justice than the pre- 
 sent ; where their innocence is in due time to be de- 
 clared, and their virtue to be personally rewarded ; 
 and the same great principle, which can strike ter- 
 ror into triumphant vice, affords the only effectual con- 
 solation to disgraced and insulted innocence. Smith's 
 Theory of Moral Sentiments, vol. i. p. 303. 
 
 These are the occasions, which force the mind to 
 take refuge in religion. When we have no help in 
 ourselves, what can remain, but that we look up 
 to a higher and greater power ? And to what hope 
 may we not raise our eyes and hearts, when we con- 
 sider that the greatest power is the best ? Surely there 
 is no man, who, thus afflicted, does not seek succour 
 in the gospel, which has brought life and immortality 
 to light. The precepts of Epicurus, who teaches us 
 to endure what the laws of the universe make neces- 
 sary, may silence but not content us. The dictates 
 of Zeno, who commands us to look with indifference 
 
92 THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION 
 
 on external things, may dispose us to conceal our sor- 
 row, but cannot assuage it. Real alleviation in the 
 loss of a friend, and rational tranquillity in the pros- 
 pect of our own dissolution, can be received only 
 from the promises of him, in whose hands are life and 
 death ; and from the assurance of another and better 
 state, in which all tears will be wiped away from the 
 eyes, and the whole soul shall be filled with joy. Phi- 
 losophy may infuse stubbornness, but religion only 
 can give patience. Johnson's Idler, No. 41. 
 
 It is this way of thinking, it is these melancholy 
 truths, that make religion so precious to the poor mi- 
 serable children of men. If it is a mere phantom, 
 existing only in the heated imagination of enthusiam, 
 
 " What truth on earth so precious as the lie !" 
 
 My idle reasonings sometimes make me a little 
 sceptical, but the necessities of my heart always give 
 the cold philosophizings the lie. Who looks for the 
 heart weaned from earth ; the soul affianced to her 
 God ; the correspondence fixed with heaven ; the pi- 
 ous supplication and devout thanksgiving, constant 
 as the vicissitude of even and morn ; who thinks to 
 meet with these in the court, the palace, in the glare 
 of public life ? No, to find them in their precious 
 importance and divine efficacy, we must search among 
 the obscure recesses of disappointment, affliction, po- 
 verty, and distress. Letters of Robert Burns, No. 54. 
 
 Whatever be our doubts, fears, or anxieties, whe- 
 ther selfish or social, whether for time or eternity, 
 our only hope and refuge must be in the infinite 
 power, knowledge, and goodness of God. And, if 
 these be really our hope and refuge ; if we have a true 
 practical sense and conviction of God's infinite abili- 
 ty and readiness to protect and bless us ; an entire, 
 peaceful, happy resignation will be the result, not- 
 
AS A SOURCE OF CONSOLATION. 93 
 
 withstanding the clouds and perplexities wherewith 
 we may sometimes be encompassed. He, who has 
 brought us into this state, will conduct us through 
 it : he knows all our wants and distresses : his infi- 
 nite nature will bear down all opposition from our 
 impotence, ignorance, vice, or misery : he is our cre- 
 ator, judge, and king, our friend, and father, and God. 
 And though the transcendent greatness and glori 
 ousness of this prospect may, at first view, make our 
 faith stagger, and incline us to disbelieve through 
 joy : yet upon farther consideration, it seems rather 
 to confirm and establish itself on that account ; for, 
 the more it exceeds our gratitude and comprehension, 
 the more does it coincide with the idea of that abso- 
 lutely perfect being, whom the several orders of im- 
 perfect beings perpetually suggest to us, as our only 
 resting place, the cause of causes, and the supreme 
 reality. 
 
 However/ on the other hand, it must be acknow- 
 ledged, that the evils, which we see and feel, are 
 strong arguments of the possibility of still greater 
 evils, of any finite evils whatever, and of their con- 
 sistency with the divine attributes. All finites are 
 equally nothing in respect of infinite ; and if the in- 
 finite power, knowledge, and goodness of God can 
 permit the least evil, they may permit any finite de- 
 gree of it how great soever, for any thing that we 
 know to the contrary. And this most alarming con- 
 sideration cannot but compel every thinking person to 
 use his utmost endeavours, first for his own preser- 
 vation and deliverance ; and then, in proportion to his 
 benevolence, for the preservation and deliverance of 
 others. 
 
 Nor can such a person long hesitate what method 
 to take in the general. The duties of piety, benevo- 
 lence, and self government, considered in the general, 
 
9* THE PARTICULAR USES OF RELIGION, &C. 
 
 have had such a stamp set upon them by all ages 
 and nations, by all orders and conditions of men; ap- 
 prove themselves so much to our frame and constitu- 
 tion ; and are so evidently conducive to both public 
 and private happiness here ; that one cannot doubt of 
 their procuring for us not only security, but our sum- 
 mum bonum, our greatest possible happiness, during 
 the whole course of our existence, whatever that be. 
 
 These are the genuine dictates of what is called 
 natural religion. But we, who live in Christian coun- 
 tries, may have recourse to far clearer light, and to a 
 more definite rule : the Christian revelation is attested 
 by such evidences, historical, prophetical, and moral, 
 as will give abundant comfort and satisfaction to all 
 who seek them earnestly. A future life, with inde- 
 finite, or even infinite, rewards and punishments, is 
 set before us in express terms, the conditions declar- 
 ed, examples related both to encourage our hopes and 
 alarm our fears, and assurances of assistance and 
 mercy delivered in the strongest and most pathetic 
 terms, Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 7. 
 
95 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE CONNEXION OF RELIGIOUS 
 SENTIMENTS AND VIRTUOUS CONDUCT WITH 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 ^ 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 HAPPINESS NOT IN THINGS EXTERNAL. 
 
 HAPPINESS NOT IN RICHES. I cannot call riches 
 better than the baggage of virtue ; the Roman word 
 is better, " impedimenta :" for, as the baggage is 
 to an army, so is riches to virtue. It cannot be 
 spared, nor left behind ; but it hindereth the march, 
 yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or dis 
 turbeth the victory. Of great riches there is no 
 real use, except it be in the distribution; the rest 
 is but conceit: so saith Solomon, " Where much 
 is, there are many to consume it ; and what hath the 
 owner, but the sight of it with his eyes ?" The per- 
 sonal fruition in any man cannot reach to feel great 
 riches : there is JL custody of them, or a power of dole 
 and donative of them, or a fame of them, but no solid 
 use to the owner. Do you not see what feigned prices 
 are set upon little stones and rarities ? and what 
 works of ostentation are undertaken, because there 
 
96 HAPPINESS NOT IN THINGS EXTERNAL. 
 
 might seem to be some use of great riches ? But then 
 you will say they may be of use to bring men out of 
 dangers or troubles ; as Solomon saith, " Riches are 
 as a strong hold in the imagination of the rich man." 
 But this is excellently expressed, that it is in imagi- 
 nation, and not always in fact : for certainly great 
 riches have sold more men, than they have bought 
 out. Seek not proud riches, but such as thou may- 
 est get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and 
 leave contentedly : yet have no abstract nor frierly 
 contempt of them ; but distinguish, as Cicero saith 
 well of Rabirius Posthumus ; In studio rei amplifican- 
 doz apparebat, non avarilice prcedam, sed ijislrumen- 
 tum bonitatis, qutzri. Hearken also to Solomon, and 
 beware of hasty gathering of riches, Quifestinat ad 
 divitias non erit insons.* Bacon's Essays, No. 34-. 
 
 HAPPINESS NOT IN MIRTH. We are too apt to judge 
 of happiness by appearances ; we suppose it to be 
 where it very rarely exists ; we seek it where it can- 
 not be found. Mirth is a very equivocal sign of hap- 
 piness. A merry fellow is often in reality an unhap- 
 py mortal, who, by laughing, endeavours to conceal 
 and to forget his misery. Those gentlemen, who, 
 in a polite circle, appear so good humoured, so open, 
 so serene, are generally morose and peevish at home ; 
 their domestics feel the want of that good nature, 
 which they lavish upon their companions. True con- 
 tentment is never extremely gay or noisy ; its posses- 
 sor, ever careful of so pleasing a sensation, will not 
 suffer it to evaporate, but enjoys the invaluable bless- 
 ing with deliberate taste and reflection. The man, 
 who is really happy, speaks little, and seldom laughs: 
 he, as it were, contracts the circle of felicity round 
 his heart. Solitude and silence are friends to true 
 pleasure. Tender emotions and tears are the com- 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 97 
 
 panions of enjoyment, and even excessive joy more 
 frequently produces tears than laughter*. Rousseau's 
 Emilius, ii. 43. 
 
 HAPPINESS NOT IN WORLDLY HONOURS AND ENJOY- 
 M ENxs.I have run the silly rounds of business and plea, 
 sure, and I have done with them all. I have enjoyed all 
 the pleasures of the world ; and consequently know 
 their futility, and do not regret their loss. I appraise 
 them at their real value, which is, in truth, very low ; 
 whereas those who have not experienced, always 
 overrate them. They only see their gay outside, and 
 are dazzled with their glare. But I have been behind 
 the scenes ; I have seen all the coarse pullies, and 
 dirty ropes, which exhibit and move the gaudy ma- 
 chine. I have seen and smelt the tallow candles, 
 which illuminate the whole decoration, to the asto- 
 nishment and admiration of an ignorant multitude. 
 When I reflect back upon what I have seen, and what 
 I have heard, and what I have done, I can hardly per- 
 suade myself, that all that frivolous hurry, and bustle, 
 and pleasure of the world had any reality ; but I look 
 uponallthat has passed as one of those romantic dreams, 
 which opium commonly occasions ; and I do by no 
 means desire to repeat the nauseous dose, for the sake 
 of the fugitive dream. Chesterfields Letters* 
 
 HAPPINESS NOT IN Vicious PLEASURES. The cha- 
 racter, which most young men first aim at, is that 
 of a man of pleasure ; but they generally take it upon 
 trust ; and, instead of consulting their own taste and 
 inclinations, they blindly adopt whatever those, with 
 
 * These admissions may be alleged in reply to the charge of- 
 ten brought against seriousness in religion, as tending to impart a 
 gloomy habit to the mind. 
 
 T 
 
98 THE GENERAL IMPORTANCE 
 
 whom they chiefly converse, are pleased to call by the 
 name of pleasure ; and a man of pleasure, in the vul- 
 gar acceptation of that phrase, means only a beastly 
 drunkard, an abandoned whoremaster, and a profli- 
 gate swearer and curser. As it may be of use to you, 
 I am not unwilling, though at the same time asham- 
 ed to own, that the vices of my youth proceeded much 
 more from my silly resolution of being what I heard 
 called a man of pleasure, than from my OWD inclina- 
 tions. I always naturally hated drinking ; and yet I 
 have often drunk, with disgust at the time, attended 
 by great sickness the next day, only because I then 
 considered drinking as a necessary qualification for a 
 fine gentleman, and a man of pleasure. The same as 
 to gaming. I did not want money, and consequently 
 had no occasion to play for it ; but I thought play 
 another necessary ingredient in the composition of 
 a man of ^easure, and accordingly I plunged into it 
 without desire at first ; sacrificed a thousand real plea- 
 sures to it ; and made myself solidly uneasy by it, for 
 thirty, the best years of my life. I was even absurd 
 enough, for a little while, to swear, by way of adorn- 
 ing and completingthe shining character which laffect- 
 ed ; but this folly I soon laid aside, upon finding both 
 the guilt and the indecency of it. Thus seduced by fa- 
 shion, and blindly adopting nominal pleasures, I lost 
 real ones ; and my fortune impaired, and my consti- 
 tution shattered, are, I must confess, the just punish- 
 ment of my errors. I have not mentioned the plea- 
 sures of the mind (which are the solid and permanent 
 ones) because they do not come under the head of 
 what people commonly call pleasures ; which they 
 seem to confine to the senses. The pleasure of vir- 
 tue, of charity, and of learning, is true and lasting 
 
OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 99 
 
 pleasure, which I hope you will be well and long 
 acquainted with. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son, 
 vol. i. p. 203. 
 
 HAPPINESS NOT IN ANY CREATED THING. So that 
 these diversions of men, which are found to constitute 
 their happiness, are not only mean and vile, but they 
 are false and deceitful : that is, we are in love with 
 mere airy shapes and phantoms, such as must be in- 
 capable of possessing the heart of man, had he not 
 lost the taste and perception of real good, and were 
 he not filled with baseness, and levity, and pride, to- 
 gether with an infinite number of other vices, such as 
 can no way relieve us under our present miseries, but 
 by creating others, which are still more dangerous, 
 in being more substantial. For these are the things, 
 which chiefly bar us from our own thoughts, and 
 which teach us to give new wings to our time, and 
 yet to remain insensible of its flight. Without these, 
 we should indeed be under a continued weariness and 
 perplexity, yet such as might prompt us to seek out 
 a better method for its cure. Whereas these, which 
 we call our diversions, do but amuse and beguile us ; 
 and, in conclusion, lead us down blindfold into our 
 grave. Mankind, having no infallible remedy against 
 ignorance, misery, and death, imagine that some res- 
 pite, some shelter, may at last be found, by agreeing 
 to banish them from their meditation This is the 
 only comfort they have been able to invent under their 
 numerous calamities ; but a most miserable comfort 
 it proves, because it does not tend to the removal of 
 these evils, but only to the concealment of them for 
 a short season and because, in thus concealing them, 
 it hinders us from applying such proper means as 
 should remove them. Thus, by a strange revolution 
 in the nature of man, that grief and inward disquiet, 
 which he dreads as the greatest of sensible evils, is in 
 ff 2 
 
100 HAPPINESS IN 
 
 one respect his greatest good, because it might contri- 
 bute, more than all things besides, to the putting him 
 in a successful method of recovery. On the other 
 hand, his recreation, which he seems to prize as his 
 sovereign good, is indeed his greatest evil, because it 
 is of all things the most effectual in making him negli- 
 gent under his distemper ; and both the one and the 
 other are admirable proofs, as of man's misery and cor- 
 ruption, so of his greatness and dignity. For the rea- 
 son, why he grows sick and weary of every object, 
 and engages in such a multitude of pursuits, is, be- 
 cause he still retains the idea of his lost happiness ; 
 which, not finding within himself, he seeks it through 
 the whole circle of external things ; but always seeks 
 without success, because it is indeed to be found not 
 in ourselves, nor in the creatures, but in God alone. 
 M . Pascal's Thoughts, p. 203. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 HAPPINESS IN VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 
 
 HAPPINESS IN VIRTUE. Having explained the mo- 
 ral approbation attending merit or virtue, there re- 
 mains nothing but briefly to consider our interested 
 obligation to it, and to inquire whether every man, 
 who has any regard to his own happiness and wel- 
 fare, will not best find his account in the practice of 
 every moral duty. 
 
 Treating vice with the greatest candour, and mak- 
 ing it all possible concessions, we must acknowledge, 
 that there is not in any instance the smallest pretext 
 
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 101' 
 
 for giving it the preference above virtue, with a view 
 to self interest, except perhaps in the case of justice, 
 where a man, taking things in a certain light, may 
 often seem to be a loser by his integrity. And, 
 though it is allowed, that, without a regard to pro- 
 perty, no society could subsist ; yet, according to the 
 imperfect way in which human affairs are conducted, 
 a sensible knave, in particular incidents, may think 
 that an act of iniquity or infidelity will make a con- 
 siderable addition to his fortune, without causing any 
 considerable breach in the social union or confeder- 
 acy. That honesty is the best policy may be a good 
 general rule ; but is liable to many exceptions ; and 
 he, it may perhaps be thought, conducts himself with 
 most wisdom, who observes the general rule, and takes 
 advantage of all the exceptions. 
 
 I must confess, that, if a man think that this rea- 
 soning much requires an answer, it will be a little 
 difficult to find any, which will to him appear satis- 
 factory and convincing. If his heart rebel not against 
 such pernicious maxims ; if he feel no reluctance to 
 the thoughts of villany or baseness, he has indeed 
 lost a considerable motive to virtue ; and we may ex- 
 pect that his practice will be answerable to his 
 speculation. But, in all ingenuous natures, the anti- 
 pathy to treachery and roguery is too strong to be 
 counterbalanced, by any views of profit or pecuniary 
 advantages. Inward peace of mind, consciousness of 
 integrity, a satisfactory review of our own conduct ; 
 these are circumstances very requisite to happiness, 
 and will be cherished and cultivated by every honest 
 man, who feels the importance of them. 
 
 Such a one has, besides, the frequent satisfaction 
 of seeing knaves, with all their pretended cunning 
 and abilities, betrayed by their own maxims ; and, 
 
102 HAPPINESS IN 
 
 while they propose to cheat with moderation and se- 
 crecy,, a tempting incident occurs, nature is frail, and 
 they give into the snare ; whence they can never 
 extricate themselves without a total loss of reputation, 
 and the forfeiture of all future trust and confidence 
 with mankind. But, were they ever so secret and 
 successful, the honest man, if he has any tincture of 
 philosophy, or even common observation and reflection, 
 will discover, that they themselves are, in the end, 
 the greatest dupes, and have sacrificed the invaluable 
 enjoyment of a character, with themselves at least, 
 for the acquisition of worthless toys and gewgaws. 
 How little is requisite to supply the necessities of na- 
 ture ? And, in a view to pleasure, what comparison 
 between the unbought satisfaction of conversation, 
 society, study, even health, and the common beauties 
 of nature, but, above all, the peaceful reflection on one's 
 own conduct : what comparison, I say, between these, 
 and the feverish empty amusements of luxury and ex- 
 pense? These natural pleasures, indeed, are really 
 without price ; both because they are below all price 
 in their attainment, and above it in their enjoyment. 
 Hume's Essay's vol. ii. p. 330. 334-. 
 
 Virtue * alone is happiness. The happiness of a 
 brute, that spends the greater part of his life in list- 
 les sness and sleep, is but one remove from the hap- 
 piness of a plant, that is full of sap, vigour, and nu- 
 trition. The happiness of a man, who pursues licen 
 tious pleasure, is momentary ; and his intervals of 
 weariness and disgust perpetual. He speedily wears 
 himself out in his specious career ; and every time 
 
 * By virtue this author seems to understand a disinterested en- 
 deavour to promote the general good, and an indefatigable appli- 
 cation to discover and employ the best means for advancing that 
 end. 
 
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 103 
 
 that he employs the means of delight, which his cor- 
 poreal existence affords him, takes so much from his 
 capacity of enjoyment. But the virtuous man has a 
 perpetual source of enjoyment. It is impossible that 
 any situation can occur, in which virtue cannot find 
 room to expatiate. In society there is continual op- 
 portunity for its active employment. I cannot have 
 intercourse with any human being, who may not be 
 the better for that intercourse. If he be already just 
 and virtuous, these qualities are improved by com- 
 munication. If he be imperfect and erroneous, there 
 must always be some prejudice I may contribute to 
 destroy, some motive to delineate, some error to 
 remove. If I be prejudiced and imperfect myself, it 
 cannot however happen, that my prejudices and im- 
 perfections shall be exactly coincident with his. I 
 may, therefore, inform him of the truths that I know ; 
 and even by the collision of prejudices, truth is elicited. 
 It is impossible, that I should strenuously apply my- 
 self to his mind with sincere motives of benevolence, 
 without some good being the result. Nor am I more 
 at a loss in solitude. In solitude I may accumulate 
 the materials of social benefit. No situation can be so 
 desperate, as to preclude these efforts. Another ad- 
 vantage of virtue, in this personal view, is, that, 
 while sensual pleasure exhausts the frame, and 
 passions often excited become frigid and callous, vir- 
 tue has exactly the opposite propensities. Passions, in 
 the usual acceptation of that term, having no absolute 
 foundation in the nature of things, delight only by 
 their novelty. But the more we are acquainted with 
 virtue, the more estimable it will appear ; and its 
 field is as endless as the progress of mind. If an 
 enlightened love of it be once excited in the mind, it 
 is impossible that it should not continually increase. 
 
104 HAPPINESS IN 
 
 By its variety, by its activity, it perpetually renovates 
 itself, and renders the intellect, in which it resides, 
 ever new and ever young. All these reasonings are 
 calculated to persuade us, that the most precious boon 
 we can bestow upon another is virtue, that the high- 
 est employment of virtue is to propagate itself. But, 
 as virtue is inseparably connected with knowledge in 
 my own mind, so can it only by knowledge be com- 
 municated to others. How can the virtue we have 
 just been contemplating be treated, but by infusing 
 comprehensive views, and communicating energetic 
 truths ? Now that man alone is qualified to give these 
 views, and communicate these truths, who is himself 
 pervaded with them *. Godwin's Political Justice, i. 
 233. 1793. 
 
 We are now to consider man, the intellectual being, 
 a person knowing and practising virtue, to have still 
 another step to make in order to arrive at the perfec- 
 tion of his nature. Now, this perfection he has to at- 
 tain by study ing himself as well as other people's senti- 
 ments, by acquiring a view of his proper nature, and 
 loving virtue for its own sake, that is to say. loving 
 virtue as the work of God, the end of his creation, 
 and the cause of human happiness. If this be a thing 
 merely chimerical, how comes it that the most en- 
 lightened men have always entertained those ideas ? 
 If, again, this be the real opinion of rational men, and 
 actually proves a motive for their conduct, it must ap- 
 pear that we have now described the steps, in which 
 human intellect had proceeded on that occasion. 
 
 Here, man, instead of being simply rational, be- 
 
 * This passage is a complete philosophical commentary and 
 commendation of the Christian zeal and duty (so often denoun. 
 ced as fanatical) to edify one another, and to extend the knowledge 
 of revealed truth. 
 
VIETtJE AND RELIGION. 105 
 
 comes refined ; here, man rises in the scale of beings, 
 above the rank of vulgar men ; and her,e, man, who 
 is naturally lord of the animal creation, becomes a ru- 
 ler in the world of opinion, and acquires a just domi- 
 nion in the mind of man. Here, wisdom has attained 
 its end, in making man benevolent as well as power- 
 ful ; here, man has arrived at the proper end of his 
 creation, in being happy as well as being wise ; and 
 here, we may see the excellency of the system, in 
 which man, the animal, is made to transform himself 
 into the image of his maker. Here, man finds the 
 approbation of his own mind to be the will of the 
 Supreme Being, and the sting of a guilty conscience 
 to be the necessary punishment of vice and crime. 
 He finds that he is independent of every thing, but 
 the laws of his Creator ; and that he has the means of 
 making himself either most happy in the enjoyment 
 of his nature, or most miserable in departing from the 
 known path, in which he had been designed to pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 Man, arrived at this state, is as perfect as the nature 
 of his being will admit. Like a God, he knows him- 
 self ; and, as a virtuous man, he knows the will of 
 God. He is wise in knowing what concerns him 
 most ; and he is happy in having nothing to allay 
 the pleasure of his enjoyments. He is independent 
 of fortune ; he is pleased with his species ; he is sa- 
 tisfied in himself; and he is confident in his Creator, 
 Hutton's Investigation, iii. 488. 
 
 HAPPINESS IN THE HOPE OF FUTURITY. For, as 
 Aristotle says, " That young men may be happy, but 
 no otherwise than by hope ;" so must we all, being so 
 taught by the Christian faith, acknowledge ourselves 
 to be but children and minors, and think of no other 
 
106 HAPPINESS IN 
 
 felicity, than that which is in hope of a future world. 
 Bacon's Essays. 
 
 . But whatever false notions, or shameful neglect of 
 what is in their power, may put men out of their 
 way to happiness, and distract them, as we see, into 
 so different courses of life ; this yet is certain, that 
 morality, established upon its true foundations, can- 
 not but determine the choice in any one that will but 
 consider ; and he that will not be so far a rational 
 creature, as to reflect seriously upon infinite happi- 
 ness and misery, must needs condemn himself, as not 
 making that use of his understanding he should. The 
 rewards and punishments of another life, which the 
 Almighty has established, as the enforcements of his 
 law, are of weight enough to determine the choice, 
 against whatever pleasure or pain this life can shew, 
 when the eternal state is considered but in its bare 
 possibility, which nobody can make any doubt of. 
 He that will allow exquisite and endless happiness to 
 be but the possible consequence of a good life here, 
 and the contrary state the possible reward of a bad 
 one, must own himself to judge very much amiss, if 
 he does not conclude, that a virtuous life, with the 
 certain expectation of everlasting bliss, which may 
 come, is to be preferred to a vicious one, with the 
 fear of that dreadful state of misery, which it is very 
 possible may overtake the guilty ; or, at best, the ter- 
 rible uncertain hope of annihilation. This is evi- 
 dently so, though the virtuous life here had nothing 
 but pain, and the vicious continual pleasure ; which 
 yet is, for the most part, quite otherwise, and wick- 
 ed men have not much the odds to brag of, even in 
 their present possession ; nay, all things rightly con- 
 sidered, have, I think, even the worst part here. But, 
 when infinite happiness is put in one scale, against 
 infinite misery in the other, if the worst that comes 
 
 1 
 
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 107 
 
 to the pious man, if he mistakes, be the best that the 
 wicked can attain to, if he be in the right, who can, 
 without madness, run the venture ? Who, in his wits, 
 would choose to come within a possibility of infinite 
 misery, which, if he miss, there is yet nothing to be 
 got by that hazard ? Whereas, on the other side, the 
 sober man ventures nothing against infinite happi- 
 ness to be got, if his expectation comes to pass. If 
 the good man be in the right, he is eternally happy ; 
 if he mistakes, he is not miserable, he feels nothing. 
 On the other side, if the wicked be in the right, he is 
 not happy ; if he mistakes, he is infinitely miserable. 
 Must it not be a most manifest wrong judgment, 
 that does not presently see, to which side, in this 
 case, the preference is to be given ? I have forborn 
 to mention any thing of the certainty or probability 
 of a future state, designing here to shew the wrong 
 judgment, that any one must allow he makes upon 
 his own principles, laid how he pleases, who prefers 
 the short pleasures of a vicious life upon any consi- 
 deration, whilst he knows, and cannot but be certain, 
 that a future life is at least possible. Locks s Essay 
 on the Human Understanding, vol. i. book ii. ch. 21. 
 
 But, upon stricter examination, I found that this 
 aversion to home, this roving and restless disposi- 
 tion, proceeded from a cause, no less powerful than 
 universal, from the native unhappiness of our 
 frail and mortal state, which is incapable of all com- 
 fort, if we have nothing to divert our thoughts, and 
 to call us out of ourselves. 
 
 I speak of those alone, who survey their own na- 
 ture, without the views of faith and religion. Tis 
 only one of the miracles of Christianity, that, by re- 
 conciling man to God, it restores him to his own good 
 opinion ; that it makes him able to bear the sight of 
 p 6 
 
108 HAPPINESS IN 
 
 himself; and in some cases, renders solitude and 
 silence more agreeable, than all the intercourse and 
 action of mankind. Nor is it by fixing man in his 
 own person, that it produceth these wonderful effects ; 
 it is by carrying him to God, and by supporting him 
 under the sense of his miseries, with the hopes of an 
 assured and complete deliverance in a better life. 
 M. Pascal's Thoughts, p. 192. 
 
 The pleasures of life are enjoyed by this man with 
 as much, perhaps with more relish, than by the lib- 
 ertine. But then they do not pervert the heart. The 
 only emotion they are capable of exciting there, is, 
 gratitude and thankfulness to the beneficient Donor. 
 The acquisition of knowledge is tasted by him with 
 as much delight as it is by the philosopher, though 
 it produces in them very different effects. The one 
 it puffs up with pride and presumption ; the other it 
 fills with humility, and reverence for the Most High. 
 
 The man, who has fixed his heart upon the proper 
 object, does not cease to taste with pleasure the com- 
 mon blessings of this life ; neither does he fail to be- 
 stow the proper industry to acquire, and to preserve 
 them. But then he considers them only as so many 
 sugar plums given by the Creator to make his con- 
 finement to his prison of clay more palatable ; which 
 must have an end when his enlargement begins. He 
 laments the unhappy condition of those, who seek af- 
 ter them as their chief good. He would neither 
 acquire nor preserve them at the expense of doing 
 one single act, that might forfeit the favour of his 
 Maker and Benefactor : neither does he repine at the 
 privation of them ; knowing, that it could not happen 
 without the will and pleasure of his Lord and Master, 
 the Sovereign of the universe, to which his heart and 
 will cheerfully submit. 
 
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 109 
 
 Compare the happiness of this man with that of 
 the greatest favourite of fortune, who has set his heart 
 on other objects, and who has had the full gratifica- 
 tion of all his appetites, so far as the course of hu- 
 manity will permit ; but who must die, and leave 
 those enjoyments, uncertain what is to happen here- 
 after. This man enjoys, in common with the wise 
 and the voluptuous of his rank in the world, all the 
 sensual and mental pleasures in which they delight, 
 without the alloy that must torture their minds, when 
 they think of parting with them. But, then, he has 
 in himself a constant source of unalloyed joy, to which 
 they are utter strangers. The abundant goodness 
 of the Giver of all those blessings, fills his soul with 
 gratitude and thankfulness, and disposes him with 
 joy to do what appears to him to be his duty ; and 
 consciousness of that happy disposition produces the 
 most firm confidence and reliance on the favour and 
 good will of his Omnipotent Benefactor ; from which 
 he is to look hereafter for joys of a different nature 
 from those which in this life he slights, when they 
 stand in the way of his duty. Every act of duty 
 performed fills his soul with a placid, still satisfaction, 
 that is sensibly felt, though not easily expressed. 
 
 A mouthful of meat bestowed on a hungry beggar, 
 gives the heart of the donor more real satisfaction 
 than the relish of the food gives pleasure to the cra- 
 ving stomach, or the most delicious dainty gives to 
 the vitiated palates of the voluptuous. And the par- 
 ticular excellency of these enjoyments is, that no ex- 
 cess can surfeit or pall the appetite, no accident can 
 deprive him of them. 
 
 To a man possessed of such an incorruptible stock 
 of happiness, the pleasures of this life appear but 
 mere baubles ; and the privation of them a trifling 
 
110 HAPPINESS IN 
 
 loss. Life itself he is disposed to resign with will- 
 ingness, because to him death has no sting. Forbes's 
 Re/lections on Incredulity. 
 
 Real happiness is to be found only in God himself; 
 all other delights are but an empty shade, and are 
 capable of yielding only a momentary satisfaction. 
 Accordingly we see, that those who enjoy them in 
 the greatest abundance, are quickly satiated ; and 
 this apparent felicity serves only to inflame their de- 
 sires, and to disorder their passions by estranging 
 them from the supreme good, instead of bringing 
 them nearer to him. But true felicity consists in a 
 perfect union with God, which cannot subsist with- 
 out a love and a confidence in his goodness transcend- 
 ing all things ; and this love requires a certain dispo- 
 sition of soul, for which we must be making prepara- 
 tion in this life Eider's Letters to a German Prin- 
 cess, i. 504. 
 
 Lei us learn to know our nature better, and through 
 the delirium of our blind passions discover its wants : 
 it is a God we feel the want of, a God, such as reli- 
 gion presents ; a God, powerful and good, the first 
 source of happiness, and who only can secure it to 
 the kuman race : let us open all our faculties to that 
 splendid light, that our hearts and minds may wel- 
 come it, and find pleasure in widely diffusing. Let 
 us be penetrated in our youth, by the only idea ever 
 necessary to our peace ; let us strengthen it when in 
 our full vigour, that it may support us in the decline 
 of life. Ravishing beauties of the universe, what 
 would ye be to us without this thought ? Majestic 
 power of the human mind, astonishing wonders of 
 the thinking faculty, what could it represent if we 
 separated it from its noble origin ? Souls affection- 
 ate and impassioned, what would become of you 
 without hope ? Pardon, O master of the world, if, 
 
VIRTUE AND RELIGION. Ill 
 
 not sufficiently sensible of my own weakness, and 
 abandoning myself only to the emotions of my heart, 
 1 have undertaken to speak to men of thy existence, 
 thy grandeur, and thy goodness ! Pardon me if, 
 lately agitated by the tumultuous waves of passion, 
 I dare to raise my thoughts to the realms of eternal 
 peace, where Thou more particularly exhibitest Thy 
 glory and sovereign power. Ah ! I know more than 
 ever that we must love Thee, we must serve Thee. 
 Neckers Religious Opinions', p. 452. 
 
 I conclude, therefore, and say there is no happi- 
 ness under the sun, nor any crambe in that repeated 
 verity and burden of all the wisdom of Solomon, 
 " all is vanity and vexation of spirit." There is no 
 felicity in that the world adores. That, wherein 
 God himself is happy, the holy angels are happy, in 
 whose defect the devils are unhappy ; that dare I 
 call happiness. Whatsoever conduceth unto this, 
 may, with an easy metaphor, deserve that name. 
 Whatsoever else the world terms happiness is to me 
 a story out of Pliny, a tale of Boccace or Malispini, an 
 apparition or neat delusion, wherein there is no more 
 of happiness than the name. Bless me in this life 
 with but peace of my conscience, command of my 
 affections, the love of thyself, and my dearest friends, 
 and I shall be happy enough to pity Caesar. These 
 are, O Lord, the humble desires of my most reason- 
 able ambition, and all I dare call happiness on earth ; 
 wherein I set no rule or limit to thy hand of provi- 
 dence. Dispose of me according to the wisdom of 
 thy pleasure. Thy will be done, though in my own 
 undoing. Brown's Religio Medici. 
 
 Upon the whole matter, I therefore conclude that 
 the happiness of mankind is not to be found in this 
 life, but is a flower that grows in the garden of eter- 
 nity, and to be expected only in its full complement 
 
HAPPINESS IN VIRTUE AND RELIGION. 
 
 and fruition in that life, which is to succeed after our 
 bodily dissolution : that, although peace of conscience, 
 tranquillity of mind, and the sense of the favour of 
 God, that we enjoy in this life, like the bunches of 
 grapes brought by the spies from Canaan, are the 
 prelibations and anticipations of our happiness ; yet 
 the complement of our happiness consists in the bea- 
 tific vision of the ever-blessed God to all eternity, 
 where there is a vita perfecla ; a perfect life, free from 
 pain, from sorrow, from cares ; vita perfecta, a perfect 
 life of glory and immortality, out of the reach or dan- 
 ger of death, or the loss of that - happiness which we 
 shall then enjoy in the presence of the ever-glorious 
 God, in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at 
 whose right hand are pleasures for evermore. Sir 
 Matthew Hale's Contemplations, ii. 1 2. 
 
113 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO TH# EVIDENCES AND EXCEL- 
 LENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 THE NEED OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 
 
 THE prerogative of God comprehends the whole 
 man; and extends as well to the reason as to the will of 
 man ; to the end that man may renounce himself whol- 
 ly, and draw near unto God. Wherefore, as we are to 
 obey the divine law, though we find a reluctance in our 
 will , so are we to believe the word of God, though we 
 find a reluctance in our reason. But that " faith, which 
 '* was accounted to Abraham for righteousness," was of 
 such a point as that at which -Sara A laughed; who there- 
 in was an image of natural reason. For, if we consider 
 the thing aright, it is more worthy to believe than to 
 know, as we now know ; since in knowledge man's 
 mind suffers from sense ; but in belief it suffers from 
 spirit, and such an one as it holds far more authoriz- 
 ed than itself, and so suffers from the worthier agent. 
 The case is otherwise in the state of glory ; for then 
 " faith shall cease, and we shall know as we are 
 " known." 
 
114 
 
 EXCELLENCE OP CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Wherefore we may conclude, that sacred theology 
 must be drawn from the word of God, not from the 
 light of nature, or the dictates of reason. For it is 
 written, The heavens declare the glory of God :" 
 but we find it no where written, the heavens de- 
 clare the will of God. Of this it is pronounced, 
 Ad legem et testimonia ; si nonfecerint secundum ver- 
 bum illud. Nor does this hold only in those great 
 mysteries of the Deity, of the creation, of the redemp- 
 tion, but appertains also to the moral law, truly in- 
 terpreted. For it must be confessed, that a great 
 part of the moral law is of that perfection, whereunto 
 the light of nature cannot aspire. Though men have, 
 even from the light and law of nature, some notions 
 of virtue, vice, justice, wrong, good and evil, the 
 light of nature is to be understood in two senses : 
 first, as it springs from sense, induction, reason, argu- 
 ment, according to the laws of heaven and earth : 
 secondly, as it is imprinted and shines upon the spi- 
 rit of man, by an inward instinct, according to the 
 law of conscience, which is a kind of spark and re- 
 lic of his former and primitive purity : in which lat- 
 ter sense chiefly, the soul participates of some light 
 to behold and discern the perfection of the moral law ; 
 which light, however, is not altogether clear, but of 
 such sort as rather to check the vice, than fully to in- 
 form the duty ; so then the doctrine of religion, as 
 well moral as mystical, depends upon divine revela- 
 tion. Bacon's Essays, p. 331. 
 
 At the time of Christ's appearance, mankind, in ge- 
 neral, were in a state of gross ignorance and dark- 
 ness, with respect to the knowledge of God, and of 
 themselves, and of all those moral relations and obli- 
 gations, we stand in to the Supreme Being, and to 
 one another. They were under great uncertainty con- 
 cerning a future state, and the concern of Divine Pro- 
 
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 115 
 
 vidence in the government of the world ; and, at the 
 same time, were filled with a proud and a vain con- 
 ceit of their own natural abilities and self-sufficiency. 
 Our Saviour's doctrines on these heads, though they 
 appeared to be the true and genuine principles of na- 
 ture and reason, when he had set them in a proper 
 light ; yet were such as the people had never heard or 
 thought of before, and never would have known, with- 
 out such an instructor, such means and opportunities 
 of knowledge. They, who would judge uprightly of 
 the strength of human reason in matters of morality 
 and religion, under the present corrupt and degene- 
 rate sate of mankind, ought to take their estimate from 
 those parts of the world, which never had the bene- 
 fit of revelation ; and this perhaps might make them 
 less conceited of themselves, and more thankful to 
 God for the light of the gospel. If the religion of na- 
 ture, under the present pravity and corruption of man- 
 kind, was written with sufficient strength and clear- 
 ness upon every man's heart, why might not a Chi- 
 nese or an Indian draw up as good a system of natu- 
 ral religion as a Christian ; and why have we never 
 met with any such ? Let us take Confucius, Zoroas- 
 ter, Plato, Socrates, or the greatest moralist that ever 
 lived, without the light of revelation, and it will ap- 
 pear, that their best systems of morality were inter- 
 mixed and blended with so much superstition, and so 
 many gross absurdities, as quite eluded and defeated 
 the main design of them. Morgan's Moral Philoso- 
 pher, i. 144, Mo. 
 
 Though the works of nature, in every part of them, 
 sufficiently evidence a Deity, yet the world made so 
 little use of their reason, that they saw him not, where, 
 even by the impressions of himself, he was ever to be 
 found. Sense and lust blinded their minds in some, 
 and a careless inadvertency in others, and fearful ap- 
 
116 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 prehension in most, (who either believed there were, 
 or could not but suspect there might be, superior, un- 
 known beings, ) gave them up into the hands of their 
 priests, to fill their heads with false notions of the 
 Deity, and their worship with foolish rites, as they 
 pleased : and what dread or craft once began, devo- 
 tion soon made sacred, and religion immutable. In this 
 state of darkness and ignorance of the true God, vice 
 and superstition held the world. Nor could any help 
 be had or hoped for from reason ; which could not 
 be heard, and was judged to have nothing to do in 
 the case; the priests, every where, to recover their 
 empire, having excluded reason from having any 
 thing to do in religion. And in the crowd of wrong 
 notions, and invented rites, the world had almost lost 
 the sight of the one only true God. The rational and 
 thinking part of mankind, it is true, when they sought 
 after him, they found the one supreme, invisible God ; 
 but if they acknowledged and worshipped him it was 
 only in their own minds. They kept this truth locked up 
 in their own breasts as a secret, nor ever durst venture 
 it amongst the people, much less amongst the priests, 
 those wary "guardians of their own creeds and profitable 
 inventions. Thence we see, that reason speaking ever so 
 clearly to the wise and virtuous, had never authority 
 enough to prevail on the multitude; and to persuade the 
 societies of men that there was but one God, that alone 
 was to be owned and worshipped. The belief and wor- 
 ship of one God, was thenational religion of the Israelites 
 alone : and, if we will consider it, it was introduced 
 and supported amongst the people by revelation. They 
 were in Goshen, and had light, whilst the rest of the 
 world were in almost Egyptian darkness, ft without 
 " God in the world." There was no part of mankind 
 who had quicker parts, or improved them more ; that 
 had a greater light of reason, or followed it farther in 
 
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 117 
 
 all sorts of speculations, than the Athenians ; and yet 
 we find but one Socrates amongst them, that oppos- 
 ed and laughed at their polytheism, and wrong opi- 
 nions of the Deity ; and we see how they rewarded 
 him for it. Whatsoever Plato,, and the soberest of the 
 philosophers, thought of the nature and being of the 
 one God, they were fain, in their outward professions 
 and worship, to go with the herd, and keep to the 
 religion established by law ; which, what it was, and 
 how it had disposed the minds of these knowing and 
 quick-sighted Grecians, St. Paul tells us, Acts xvii. 
 2229. Locke on the Reasonableness of Christianity, 
 Works, vi. 135. 
 
 Deism, or the principles of natural worship, are on- 
 ly the faint remnants or dying flames of revealed re- 
 ligion in the posterity of Noah ; and our modern phi- 
 losophers, nay, and some of our philosophizing di- 
 vines, have too much exalted the faculties of our souls, 
 when they have maintained, that by their force, man- 
 kind has been able to find out that there is one su- 
 preme agent, or intellectual being, which we call 
 God; that praise and prayer are his due worship; 
 and the rest of those deducements, which I am 
 confident are the remote effects of revelation, and un- 
 attainable by our discourse, I mean as simply consi- 
 dered, and without the benefit of divine illumination. 
 So that we have not lifted up ourselves to God by 
 the weak pinions of our reason, but he has been 
 pleased to descend to us ; and what Socrates said of 
 him, what Plato writ, and the rest of the heathen phi- 
 losophers of several nations, is all no more than the 
 twilight of revelation, after the sun of it was set in 
 the race of Noah. That there is something above us, 
 some principle of motion, our reason can apprehend, 
 though it cannot discover what it is by its own vir- 
 tue. And indeed 'tis very improbable, that we, who, 
 
118 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 by the strength of our faculties, cannot enter into 
 the knowledge of any being, not so much as our 
 own, should be able to find out by them that supreme 
 nature, which we cannot otherwise define than by 
 saying, it is infinite ; as if infinite -were definable, or 
 infinity a subject for our narrow understanding. They, 
 who would prove religion by reason, do but weaken 
 the cause which they endeavour to support. It is to take 
 away the pillars from our faith, and prop it only 
 with a twig ; it is to design a tower like that of 
 Babel, which, if it were possible, as it is not, to reach 
 heaven, would come to nothing by the confusion of 
 the workmen. For every man is building a several 
 way ; impotently conceited of his own model, and of 
 his own materials. Reason is always striving, always 
 at a loss ; and of necessity it must so come to pass, 
 while it is exercised about that which is not its pro- 
 per object. Let us be content at last to know God by 
 his own methods ; at least so much of him as he is 
 pleased to reveal to us in the sacred Scriptures. To 
 apprehend them to be the word of God, is all our rea- 
 son has to do ; for all beyond it is the work of faith, 
 which is the seal of heaven impressed upon our hu- 
 man understanding. Dryden's Preface to his Relig. 
 Laid. 
 
 What a forsaken and disconsolate creature is a man 
 without religion ! Reader, whosoever thou art, de- 
 ceive not thyself; let not passion, or prosperity, or 
 wit, or wantonness, seduce thy reason to an attempt 
 against the truth. If thou hast the faculties of a 
 man, thou wilt never bring thyself to a fixed persua- 
 sion, that there is no God. Struggle how thou wilt 
 against the notion, there will be a moment when the 
 glaring conviction will burst upon thy mind. Now 
 mark what follows if there is a God, the govern- 
 ment of the world is in that God ; and this once ad 
 
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 119 
 
 mitted, the necessity of a future state follows of con- 
 sequence. Ask thyself then what can be the pur- 
 poses of that future state ; what but those of justice 
 and retribution, to reward the good, and to punish 
 the evil ? Our present life then is a life of probation, 
 a state of trial and of discipline, preparatory to that 
 future state. Now see what is fallen upon thee, and 
 look well to thyself for the consequences. Thou hast 
 let the idea of a God into thy mind, because indeed 
 thou couldst not keep it out, and religion rushes 
 through the breach. It is natural religion hitherto, 
 and no more. But no matter ; there is enough even 
 in natural religion to make thee tremble. Whither 
 wilt thou now resort for comfort, whither fly for re- 
 fuge from the wrath to come ? Behold the asylum is 
 open ; Christianity is thy salvation and redemption. 
 That, which natural religion hath shadowed out to 
 thee in terrors, Christianity will reveal in glory. It 
 will clear up thy doubts, disperse thy fears, and turn 
 thy hopes into certainty. Thy reasonings about a 
 future state, which are but reasonings, it will not only 
 verify by divine authorities, but by positive proof, 
 by visible example, attested by witnesses, confirmed 
 by the evidence of the senses, arid uncontradicted by 
 the history of ages. Now thou wilt know, to thy 
 comfort, that there is a mediator gone before thee, 
 who will help out thy imperfect atonement*, when 
 thou art brought to judgment in a future state. Thou 
 wilt, indeed, be told for certain, that this life is a 
 state of probation, and that thou shalt be brought to 
 account for thine actions ; but thou wilt be taught an 
 easy lesson of salvation ; thou wilt be cheered with 
 
 * This expression is obviously unscriptural, but the general 
 strain of the passage is strongly expressive of the importance of 
 redemption to human beings. 
 
120 EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 the mercies of thy God, and comforted with the assu- 
 rance of pardon, if thou wilt heartily turn to repent- 
 ance. Thou wilt find, that all this system of religion 
 is conformable to those natural notions, which reason 
 suggested to thee before, with this advantage, that it 
 makes them clearer, purifies, refines, enlarges them ; 
 shuts out every dismal prospect, opens all that is de- 
 lightful, and points a road to heaven through paths of 
 peace and pleasantness. -Cumberland's Observer, (iii. 
 309.) No. 91. 
 
 The whole world, as is well known, was at that 
 time drowned in impiety, profaneness, and ignorance, 
 fallen into the last irregularity and dregs of licentious- 
 ness, giving themselves over to all manner of unclean- 
 ness and abominations, by which sins they w r ere ne- 
 cessarily fallen under insupportable loads of guilt, 
 and bound over to the inevitable punishment and ven- 
 geance of the Almighty, when he should come in his 
 majesty and glory, to render a righteous reward unto 
 every man according to his works. Of which the 
 very heathens themselves were convinced, having 
 found out by their natural ratiocinations that they 
 were sinners, and obnoxious to the divine anger, as 
 appears by their sacrifices and other rites. But now 
 this was that which surpassed their most raised intel- 
 lects, how their sins should be forgiven, and their ob- 
 ligation to punishment by reason of them be cancell- 
 ed and annulled. They had, indeed, some general 
 hopes of God's mercy, founded on the common boun- 
 ty of his providence towards them, in giving them 
 rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their 
 hearts with food and gladness, and the like, which 
 they endeavoured to increase by their sacrifices, and 
 other religious rites and ceremonies. But they had 
 no positive assurance of the remission of their sins, 
 and of the divine reconciliation of their .persons, being 
 
EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 being still obscured and bewildered in their notions 
 and apprehensions concerning it, never arriving unto 
 any certain conclusion, that though the goodness of 
 God did now attend them, yet that his justice, anger, 
 and vengeance should not overtake and seize them 
 another day, and severely punish them for all those 
 innumerable and abominable sins, which they them- 
 selves were sensible they had most daringly corn* 
 mitted against him. And as the heathens knew 
 not how their sins could be forgiven, and their per- 
 sons absolved from the guilt thereof; so neither 
 had the Jews any perfect and certain apprehensions 
 thereof. The mosaical law had appointed sacrifices 
 for sins of ignorance, and for small and ordinary trans- 
 gressions, by the regular and conscientious offering 
 whereof those sins were remitted, and the anger of 
 God appeased ; but, as for greater and capital sins, 
 such as murder, adultery, and the like, there was a sen- 
 tence of death denounced against them, for the rever- 
 sing of which the law had made no provision. This 
 being then the condition of the world, at the time of 
 our Saviour's appearing therein ; they being all, both 
 Jew and Gentile, concluded under sin, and not know- 
 ing which way to free themselves from the guilt and 
 condemnation thereof, the apostles were sent forth 
 with full power and authority to invite them both to 
 come into the Christian church, which they were now 
 founding; assuring them, that they should therein 
 receive a complete and perfect remission of all their 
 crimes, though never so innumerable and abominable. 
 The entrance whereunto was by baptism, supposed 
 to be accompanied with faith and repentance ; when, 
 for the sake of Christ, all the sins of the baptized per- 
 son should be entirely obliterated and forgotten. 
 Chnncdior Sir Peter King on the Creed. 
 The same persons who treat the Christian religion 
 
 6 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 and its advocates with so much scorn, will probably 
 (some of them at least) profess a regard to natural re- 
 ligion, and it may seem hard to question their sin- 
 cerity. However, as far as has occurred to my ob- 
 servation, these persons either deceive themselves, or 
 attempt to deceive others in this : there appears in 
 them no love or fear of God, no confidence in him, 
 no delight in meditating upon him, in praying to him 
 or praising him, no hope or joy in a future state. 
 Their hearts and treasures are upon this earth, upon 
 sensual pleasures or vain amusements, perhaps of phi- 
 losophy or philology, pursued to pass the time, 
 upon honour or riches. And indeed there are the 
 same objections, in general, to natural religion as to 
 revealed, and no stronger evidences for it. On the 
 contrary, the historical and moral evidences for the 
 general truth of the Scriptures, which these persons 
 deny, are more convincing and satisfactory to philoso- 
 phical as well as to vulgar capacities, than the argu- 
 ments, that are usually brought to prove the existence 
 and attributes of God, his providence, or a future 
 state : not but that these last are abundantly sufficient 
 to satisfy an earnest and impartial inquirer. Hart* 
 ley's Observations on Man, ii. p. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY". 
 
 GENERAL EVIDENCES. Their disputes with the de- 
 ists are almost at an end, since they can have no more 
 than victory, and that they are already possessed of; 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 123 
 
 as their antagonists have been driven into a confes- 
 sion of the necessity of revelation, or an open avowal 
 of atheism. Goldsmith's Essays, No. 1?> of ed. 1767. 
 And here I must observe to those who think the 
 whole of Christianity to have been a fiction, and the 
 founder a deceiver, that the deceit must have been 
 the most extraordinary that ever was imposed upon 
 the world. No impostor ever formed a scheme that 
 was riot to be discovered (made known) till after his 
 death. Our Saviour, at this rate, went through a life 
 of trouble, want, and persecution, to carry on a de- 
 sign, from which no emolument could ensue, and 
 which was to be brought to light after his decease 
 by persons who were not acquainted with it, and who 
 were knowingly to undergo the same persecutions. 
 Accordingly, upon the feast of Pentecost, when they 
 met in full assembly, the Holy Ghost came upon them, 
 with an ample effusion ; and they were gifted with 
 that salutary knowledge, to which they were before 
 strangers ; and with the gift of tongues, by which 
 they were enabled to convey it to the most distant 
 countries. By these means the gospel of Christ tri- 
 umphed over the learning of Greece and Rome, and 
 the ignorance of other nations. These were two 
 formidable obstacles, which could not, but by a mira- 
 cle, be surmounted. Bryant on the Authenticity of 
 Scripture, 209. 
 
 These and a great many more instances may be al- 
 leged to shew, that a man needs not quit his reason to 
 fulfil the conditions of the gospel, though it wanted 
 demonstrative arguments. For the probability of ob- 
 taining inestimable blessings, and more than a proba- 
 bility of enduring unspeakable torments for their ne- 
 glect, may reasonably induce a man to fulfil the con- 
 ditions ; and, it will justify his prudence, if it does 
 but appear, that it is more probable some religion 
 G 2 
 
124 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 should be true, than that so many attested mira- 
 cles, alleged by the ancient Christians, should be 
 false; and that God, who hath made the world and 
 man, should leave him, whom he hath so fitted, and 
 by internal laws obliged to worship him, undirected 
 how to perform it. And that, if any religion be true, 
 the excellence of its doctrines and promises, as also 
 prophecies and miracles, that bear witness of it, make 
 the Christian most likely ; the records of it being 
 made by honest, plain men, who practised, as well as 
 taught, the strictest virtue, and knew that lying was 
 condemned by their religion ; and who freely joined 
 their doctrines and relations with their blood ; which 
 was so evidently true in the times it was performed, 
 that the evidence converted whole nations, many of 
 which were considerable and prudent persons, who 
 were both concerned and had opportunities to exa- 
 mine the truth of them ; and whose education so 
 much indisposed them to embrace Christianity, that, 
 to profess it sincerely they were obliged to forsake 
 both their former religion and vices, and expose their 
 lives and fortunes for it. Honourable Robert Boyle's 
 Theological Works. 
 
 AUTHENTICITY OF SCRIPTURE. Disquisitions con- 
 earning the manners and conduct of our species, in 
 early times, or indeed at any time, are always curious 
 at least, and amusing ; but they are highly interest- 
 ing to such as can say of themselves, with Chremes 
 in the play, * We are men, and take an interest in all 
 ' that relates to mankind/ They may even be of so- 
 lid importance in an age, when some intelligent and 
 virtuous persons are inclined to doubt the authentici- 
 ty of accounts delivered by Moses, concerning the 
 primitive world ; since no modes or sources of reason- 
 ing can be unimportant, which have a tendency to re- 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 125 
 
 move such doubts. Either the first eleven chapters of 
 Genesis, (all due allowances being made for a figura- 
 tive eastern style,) are true, or the whole fabric of our 
 national religion is false ; a conclusion, which none of 
 us, I trust, would wish to be drawn. I, who cannot 
 help believing the Divinity of the Messiah, from the 
 undisputed antiquity, and manifest completion of 
 many prophecies, especially those of Isaiah, in the only 
 person recorded by history, to whom they are appli- 
 cable, am obliged of course to believe the sanctity of 
 the venerable books, to which that sacred person re- 
 fers as genuine. Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir W* 
 Jones, 276. 
 
 The divine legate, educated by the daughter of a* 
 king, and in all respects highly accomplished, could' 
 not but know the mythological system of Egypt, but 
 he must have condemned the superstitions of that 
 people, and despised the speculative absurdities of 
 their priests, though some of their traditions concern- 
 ing the creation and the flood, were founded on truth. 
 Who was better acquainted with the mythology of 
 Athens, than Socrates ? who more accurately versed 
 in the rabbinical doctrines, than Paul ? Who pos- 
 sessed clearer ideas of all ancient astronomical sys- 
 tems, than Newton ; or of scholastic metaphysics, 
 than Locke? In whom could the Romish church 
 have had a more formidable opponent, than in Chil- 
 lingworth, whose deep knowledge of its tenets ren- 
 dered him so competent to dispute them ? In a word, 
 who more exactly knew the abominable rites and 
 shocking idolatry of Canaan, than Moses himself? 
 Yet the learning of those great men only incited them 
 to seek other sources of truth, piety, and virtue, than 
 those in which they had long been immersed. There 
 is no shadow then of a foundation for an opinion, that 
 Moses borrowed the first nine or ten chapters of Ge 
 G 3 
 
126 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 nesis from the literature of Egypt ; still less can the 
 adamantine pillars of our Christian faith be moved by 
 the result of any debates on the comparative antiqui- 
 ty of the Hindus and Egyptians, or of any inquiries 
 into the Indian theology. Lord Teignmouth's Life of 
 Sir W. Jones, 280. 
 
 It is out of dispute, that we have in our hands the 
 gospels of Matthew and John, who give themselves 
 out for eye and ear witnesses of all that Christ did 
 and taught. Two channels were as sufficient as four 
 to convey those doctrines to the world, and to pre- 
 serve them in their original purity. The manner too 
 in which these evangelists recorded them was much 
 better adapted to this purpose, than that of Plato, or 
 even of Xenophon, to preserve the doctrines of So- 
 crates. The evangelists did not content themselves 
 to give a general account of the doctrines of Christ in 
 their own words; nor presumed, in feigned dia- 
 logues, to make him deliver their opinions in his own 
 name. They recorded his doctrines in the very 
 words in which he taught them ; and they were care- 
 ful to mention the several occasions, in which he de- 
 livered them to his disciples or others. If therefore 
 Plato and Xenophon tell us, with a good degree of 
 certainty, what Socrates taught ; the evangelists seem 
 to tell us, with much more, what the Saviour taught 
 and commanded them to teach. Bolingbroke's Works, 
 vol. iv. p. 390. 
 
 PROBABILITY OF CHRIST'S MISSION. That there 
 was such a person as Jesus Christ, and that he in the 
 main did and taught as is recorded of him, appears to 
 be probable, because it is improbable that Christiani- 
 ty should take place, in the way and to the degree 
 that it did, or at least that we are told it did, suppos- 
 ing the history of Christ's life and ministry to be a 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 127 
 
 fiction. If such power attended Jesus Christ in the 
 exercise of his ministry, as the history sets forth, then, 
 seeing his ministry and the power that attended it, 
 seems at least in general to have terminated in the 
 public good, it is more likely, that God was the pri- 
 mary agent in the exercise of that power, than any 
 other invisible being. And then it is probable, that 
 Jesus Christ, upon whose will the immediate exercise 
 of that power depended, would not use that power to 
 impose upon and mislead mankind to their hurt, see- 
 ing that power appears to have been well directed 
 and applied in other respects, and seeing he was ac- 
 countable to his principal for the abuse of it. From 
 these premises, and from this general view of the 
 case, I think this conclusion follows, viz. it is proba- 
 ble Christ's mission was divine ; at least it appears so 
 to me, from the light or information I have received 
 concerning it. 
 
 It may perhaps be a piece of justice due to Christ- 
 ianity, (could it be certainly intended what it is, and 
 could it be separated from every thing that hath been 
 blended with it,) to acknowledge, that it yields a 
 much clearer light, and is a more safe guide to man- 
 kind, than any other traditionary religion, as being 
 better adapted to improve and perfect human na- 
 ture. Chubb' s Posth. Works, vol. ii. p. 41. 4,9. 39*. 
 297*. 
 
 FROM MIRACLES. I may form this par- 
 ticular conclusion, that, according to the ordinary 
 course of nature, the dead do not rise ; but, I cannot 
 
 * It is to be recollected, that this author is deservedly count- 
 ed among the deistical writers ; and hence the importance of these 
 admissions from his pen. They rest the question on the point of 
 fact. 
 
128 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 logically affirm, that there is not a secret dispensa- 
 tion of the physical order, of which the resurrection 
 of the dead might be the result ; and to affirm in ge- 
 neral the impossibility of the resurrection of the dead, 
 would be still more repugnant to sound logic. Were 
 it even demonstrated further, that miracles can only 
 be the result of an immediate act of omnipotence, that 
 act would not imply a violation of physical order ; 
 because the legislator of nature does not violate his 
 laws, whenever he suspends or modifies these laws, 
 He does not act by a new will. Supreme intelligence 
 beheld at once the whole series of things, and mira- 
 cles enterec) from eternity into that series, as a condi- 
 tion of the greatest good. 
 
 This idea is clearly set forth by the author of the 
 Essay on Psychology ; although his style, often too 
 concise, does not bring it within the comprehension 
 f all readers : " Whenever," he says, " the course of 
 " nature appears suddenly altered, or interrupted, 
 " that interruption is termed a miracle, and is sup- 
 " posed to be an effect of an immediate act of God. 
 " uch a judgment may be proved false, and the mi- 
 '* racle may be the result of second causes, or of a 
 ff pre-established arrangement. The essential good, 
 " which was to result from it, might require this ar- 
 tf rangement or exception to the ordinary laws ; but 
 " if there are miracles which imply an immediate act 
 " of God, this act became part of the plan, as a ne- 
 " cessary means for happiness ; in both cases the effect 
 " is the same with respect to faith." Bonnet's Enqui- 
 ries concerning Christianity, 43. 
 
 These means were MIRACLES ; for nothing could be 
 better adapted to prove to mankind, that the author of 
 nature had spoken, than miracles. But, had miracles 
 been wrought in every place and in every time, they 
 would have fallen into the ordinary course of nature,, and 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 would no longer have been sufficient to ascertain, that 
 the supreme author of nature had spoken. It became 
 therefore necessary, that miracles should be wrought 
 in certain places, and at certain times. They were; 
 then, to be submitted to the rules of testimony, as 
 are all other facts. Reason, therefore, was to apply 
 these rules, and by this application to judge of the 
 reality of the facts. And because these facts were 
 miraculous, and because, to obtain belief, miraculous 
 facts require a greater number of testimonies, and 
 testimonies of superior force, it was agreeable to 
 the nature of this species of proof, that it should 
 be given by witnesses who united, in the highest de- 
 gree, those conditions that establish in the eye of rea- 
 son, the credibility of any fact whatever ; I say of 
 any fact whatever, because it seems very evident to 
 me, that miracles are not less facts, although those facts 
 are not comprised within the sphere of the common 
 laws of nature. I have already observed elsewhere, 
 that reason will acquiesce in those proofs of facts 
 which the miracles afford, if, after applying to those 
 proofs the rules of sound criticism and exact logic,- 
 they appear to be established on a solid basis. Bon~ 
 net's Enquiries concerning Christianity, 274. 
 
 Besides, amidst these proofs, are there not some 
 that may be easily comprehended by the most limit- 
 ed capacities ? How admirably calculated is the mo- 
 ral excellence of Christ, to make deep impressions 
 on virtuous and feeling minds ! How much does the 
 character of the institutor himself excite the admira- 
 tion and veneration of every sincere friend to truth 
 and virtue ! Much of the same sublimity of character 
 appears in the conduct of the first disciples. What a 
 life ! What morals ! What excellent models ! What 
 benevolence ! What charity ! Are such things be-* 
 yond the reach of the multitude ? And are thesa 
 G 5 
 
130 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 things destitute of power to influence their minds ? 
 They will not believe, perhaps, on the authority of 
 so many proofs as a divine ; but they will believe on 
 those proofs, which are most within their comprehen- 
 sion ; nor will their belief on that account be the less 
 rational, the less practical, or the less comfortable. 
 Bonnet's Enquiries concerning Christianity, 277. 
 
 Celsus, it is well known, was a very learned man, 
 and wrote in the time of Adrian, or some thing later : 
 this was not above fifty years after the date of Christ's 
 miracles. Celsus did not controvert the accounts of 
 them, who were witnesses of the miracles, nor at- 
 tempt to shew any inconsistence or chicanery in the 
 facts themselves ; he takes up, at second hand, the old 
 pharisaical argument of ascribing them to the power 
 of the devil. In short, they were performed, he can- 
 not deny it ; there was no trick or artifice in the per- 
 formance, he cannot discover any ; the accounts of 
 them are no forgeries, he cannot confute them ; they 
 are recent histories, and their authenticity too notorious 
 to be called into question ; he knows not how the 
 miracles were performed, and therefore they were 
 done by the invocation of the devil j he cannot pati- 
 ently look on, and see that learning, so long the glory 
 of all civilized nations, and which he himself was to an 
 eminent degree possessed of, now brought into disgrace 
 by a new religion professing to be a divine revelation, 
 and originating among the meanest and most odious 
 of all the provincial nations, and propagated by dis- 
 ciples, who were as much despised and hated by 
 the Jews in general, as the Jews were by all other 
 people. Unable to disprove the account, and at a 
 loss how to parry it from hearsay, or from what he 
 finds in former writers, he has no other resource but 
 to bring forward again those cavilling pharisees, and 
 roundly to assert in general terms (which he does 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 131 
 
 more than once) that these miracles are all the tricks 
 of a sorcerer, and for this he expects the world should 
 take his authority. 
 
 I have said that Celsus adduces neither oral nor 
 written authority against Christ's miracles ; but I am 
 well aware it may be said (and modern cavillers will af- 
 fect to say it with triumph) that authorities are silent 
 on the subject ; there are none which make mention of 
 those miracles, at least none have come to our times. 
 
 If this silence implies a want of collateral evidence, 
 which in the opinion of our modern disbelievers viti- 
 ates the authenticity of the gospel, how much strong, 
 er would the argument have been in Celsus's time 
 than in ours ! Why does he not avail himself of it ? 
 And why does he take such pains to controvert 
 accounts, of which no man had ever spoken either 
 in proof or disproof? May it not be fairly presum- 
 ed, that he forbears to urge it from plain convic- 
 tion, that it would operate the contrary way to what 
 he wished ; and that the reason why contemporary 
 writers were silent, was not because they were igno- 
 rant of the facts, but because they could not confute 
 them ? Here then we will leave the case for the pre- 
 sent ; the heathen writers, contemporary with Christ, 
 make no mention of his miracles ; they are interested 
 to disprove them, and they do not disprove them ; 
 modern unbelievers think this a reason that those mi- 
 racles were never performed ; Celsus writes fifty 
 years after the time ; never urges this silence as an 
 argument for their non-existence ; but virtually, nay 
 expressly, admits Christ's miracles, by setting up 
 Pythagoras' s in competition with them. Cumber- 
 land's Observer, No. 12. 
 
 CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST. To insist upon the 
 miracles relative to Christ, would be to insist upon that, 
 which would have but little effect upon the minds of 
 
 G 6 
 
EVIDENCES OF CH1USTIANITY. 
 
 anti-christians, who, if they believe not the religion, 
 will certainly give no credit to the relation of the 
 facts. But I may be permitted to insist upon the un- 
 deniable truth, that in the history of mankind, Christ 
 is the only founder of a religion, who has been 
 proved to have been totally regardless of interested 
 and selfish considerations. All others, Numa, Ma- 
 hommed, and even Moses himself, blended their reli- 
 gious institutions with their civil, and by them ob- 
 tained dominion over their respective people ; but 
 Christ never aimed at, nor would accept of any con- 
 sequence or power ; he rejected every object, which 
 all other men pursue, and made choice of all those, 
 which all other men fly from, and are afraid of: he 
 refused authority, riches, honour, and pleasure ; and 
 courted poverty, ignominy, torture, and death. Who 
 ever, before or after him, made his own sufferings 
 and death a necessary part of his original plan, and 
 fundamentally and absolutely essential to the success 
 of his mission ? 
 
 Christ did not, like the philosophers of the hea- 
 thens, content himself with scholastic speculations 
 and reasonings about virtue and religion, and then 
 leave the noble cause to fight for itself. He did not 
 pretend to philosophize, where he dared not under- 
 take. But after he had introduced and recommend- 
 ed his divine system to the world, and that not only 
 by the intrinsic sublime energy of his doctrines, upon 
 the hearts and consciences of men, but by his imma- 
 culate and exemplary life, he died a martyr in its de- 
 fence, and sealed its verity with his blood. Here 
 then, surely, I might put the authority of Christ, and 
 the credit of Christianity, to issue. Let any nation 
 upon earth, besides Christians, make it appear, that 
 the authors and founders of any of their several reli- 
 gions, did not in many instances give up the cause of 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 135 
 
 virtue, to comply with the prevailing prejudices of 
 the people, and to guard themselves in safety ; nay, 
 that they did not intermix and blend the grossest ab- 
 surdities in belief, with the grossest immoralities 
 in practice ; let them do this, and the name of Christ 
 shall stoop to give place to any other name under 
 heaven, that can plead a better title to the universal 
 honour, love, and veneration of our species. Sulli- 
 van's View of Nature, vol. vi. letter xc. 
 
 I will confess to you farther, that the majesty of the 
 Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of 
 the gospel hath its influence on my heart. Peruse the 
 works of our philosophers, with all their pomp of dic- 
 tion, how mean, how contemptible are they, com- 
 pared with the Scripture ! Is it possible that a book, 
 at once so simple and sublime, should be merely the 
 work of man ? Is it possible that the sacred personage, 
 whose history it contains, should be himself a mere 
 man ? Do we find that he assumed the air of an en- 
 thusiast or ambitious sectary ? What sweetness, what 
 purity in his manners ! What an affecting graceful- 
 ness in his delivery ! What sublimity in his maxims ! 
 What profound wisdom in his discourses ! What pre- 
 sence of mind, what subtilty, what truth in his re- 
 plies ! How great the command over his passions ! 
 Where is the man, where the philosopher, who could 
 so live, and so die, without weakness and without os- 
 tentation ? When Plato described his imaginary good 
 man, loaded with all the shame of guilt, yet meriting 
 the highest rewards of virtue, he describes exactly the 
 character of Jesus Christ : the resemblance was so 
 striking, that all the fathers perceived it. 
 
 What prepossession, what blindness must it be, to 
 compare the son of Sophroriiscus to the son of Mary ! 
 What an infinite disproportion there is between them ! 
 Socrates, dying without pain or ignominy, easily sup- 
 
134 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 ported his character to the last ; and if his death, 
 however easy, had not crowned his life, it might have 
 been doubted whether Socrates, with all his wisdom, 
 was any thing more than a vain sophist. He invent- 
 ed, it is said, the theory of morals ; others, however, 
 had before put them in practice : he had only to say, 
 what they had done, and reduce their examples to 
 precepts. Aristides had been just, before Socrates de- 
 fined justice ; Leonidas gave up his life for his coun- 
 try, before Socrates declared patriotism to be a duty ; 
 the Spartans were a sober people, before Socrates re- 
 commended sobriety ; before he had even defined 
 virtue, Greece abounded with virtuous men. But 
 where could Jesus learn, among his compatriots, that 
 pure and sublime morality, of which he only hath gi- 
 ven us both precept and example ? The greatest wis- 
 dom was made known amidst the most bigoted fa- 
 naticism ; and the simplicity of the most heroic vir- 
 tues did honour to the vilest people on the earth. The 
 death of Socrates, peaceably philosophizing with his 
 friends, appears the most agreeable that could be 
 wished for; that of JESUS expiring in the midst of ago- 
 nizing pains, abused, insulted, cursed by a whole na- 
 tion, is the most horrible that could be feared. So- 
 crates, in receiving the cup of poison, blessed, indeed, 
 the weeping executioner who administered it; but 
 JESUS, in the midst of excruciating tortures, prayed 
 for his merciless tormentors. Yes, if the life and death 
 of Socrates are those of a sage, the life and death of 
 JESUS are those of a God. Shall we suppose the evan- 
 gelic history a mere fiction ? Indeed, my friend, it 
 bears not the marks of fiction ; on the contrary, the 
 history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt, 
 is not so well attested as that of JESUS CHRIST. Such 
 a supposition; in fact, only shifts the difficulty, 
 without removing it : it is more inconceivable that a 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 135 
 
 number of persons should agree to write such a his- 
 tory, than that ene only should furnish the subject of 
 it. The Jewish authors were incapable of the dic- 
 tion, and strangers to the morality contained in the 
 gospel, the marks of whose truth are so striking and 
 inimitable, that the inventor would be a more asto- 
 nishing character than the hero. Rousseau's Emilius, 
 vol. ii. p. 215*. 
 
 INTERNAL EVIDENCES. Though it has pleased 
 the merciful wisdom of God to scatter proofs of his 
 revelation over all the ancient nations, and to preserve 
 documents of them down to our days, for the convic- 
 tion of obstinate infidels, and for the confirmation of 
 the faith of the inquisitive, who believe ; yet, happily 
 for the bulk of mankind, who have neither time nor 
 talents for such inquiries, revelation is so calculated) 
 as to require nothing of man, that his conscious soul 
 does not see to be his duty ; and to promise him no- 
 thing, that does not appear to his most inward sense, 
 to be the necessary consequence of doing it. By it he 
 is acquainted with his forlorn condition; which he 
 needs do no more to discover to be truth, than to turn 
 his eyes inward upon himself. And a remedy is point- 
 ed out adequate to the disease, which tends to mag- 
 nify the mercy, the wisdom, and the goodness of the 
 Creator ; and to tie the creature to him, by still strong- 
 er bonds of duty and gratitude. In this system there 
 is such harmony between duty and interest, and there- 
 fore such a propensity in every sober-thinking per- 
 son to wish it to be true, that, from the declared opi- 
 
 * ** Rousseau is not what you think him," said Mr. Hume to 
 the Earl of Charlemont ; * he has a hankering after the Bible ; 
 and, indeed, is little better than a Christian in a way of his own.'* 
 Hardy's Life of the Earl of Charkmont* i. 230. 
 
 4 
 
136 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 nions of others, better qualified to judge of the evi- 
 dence, and to determine, it gains belief; and that ve- 
 ry belief, influencing the practice, brings real tran- 
 quillity and happiness in this life, springing from 
 confidence of the favour of the Almighty ; a sure ear- 
 nest of future felicity. By the debauched and the 
 giddy, who have delivered themselves over, soul and 
 body, to their lusts, and to their vanity, this aptitude, 
 this harmony is not discovered. Their fears make 
 them wish it may not be true. Objections are rife in 
 every corner ; and if any inquiry is made into the 
 proofs, it is with an intent to object, and to find them 
 insufficient. President Forbes's Reflections on Incre~ 
 duliiy. 
 
 Many of the objections to Christianity are owing 
 to misrepresentations of it. Let the New Testament 
 be consulted. Does it ascribe to God a character wor- 
 thy of the Creator of the universe, and the Father of 
 men ? Does it clear and extend the view of his wis- 
 dom and benevolence ? Does it make the way to com- 
 munion with him more plain and pleasant? Is the 
 appointment of a Mediator analagous to the ways of 
 Providence, expressive of divine condescension, and 
 suited to human nature? Is it consoling to the heart, 
 under a sense of guilt, to be assured of pardon ? 
 Does moral excellence, made perfect by suffering^ 
 seem to be a sacrifice which God will accept ? Is it 
 natural to the mind of man to feel admiration and 
 ]ove at the view of moral excellence, and yield to its 
 transforming influence ? Take a view of man in his 
 low estate. Think if it be godlike to send glad tid- 
 ings to the poor, if it be godlike to console the mise- 
 rable, and if the sympathy of an affectionate and 
 powerful friend be a strong consolation? Does the 
 doctrine of a resurrection fall in with our predilec- 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 137 
 
 tion for these bodies, and open, as it were, to the eye 
 of sense, the prospect of immortality ? And does the 
 doctrine of judgment accord with the natural feeling, 
 that we are accountable ? Do the sufferings of Christ, 
 and the glory which followed, illustrate and ratify his 
 important doctrine of a state of trial, preparatory to 
 a state of retribution ? 
 
 Judge Christianity by its effects. Does it kindle 
 love to God and man, and establish the authority of 
 conscience, and reconcile you to your lot ? If your 
 child be satisfied that Christ is a teacher sent from 
 God, and is willing to be his disciple, it is meet to 
 confess him before men. The celebration of his death, 
 is a proper testimony of regard. Such a benefactor 
 deserves to be had in everlasting remembrance. 
 Lord Kames on the Culture of the Heart. 
 
 What opinion will be formed of this association (of 
 the illuminati) by the modest, the lowly minded, the 
 candid, who acknowledge that they too often feel the 
 superior force of present and sensible pleasures, by 
 which their minds are drawn off from the contempla- 
 tion of what their consciences tell them to be right, 
 to be their dutiful and filial sentiments and emotions- 
 respecting their great and good parent, to be their 
 dutiful and neighbourly affections and their proper 
 conduct to all around them, and which diminish their 
 veneration for that purity of thought and moderation 
 of appetite, which becomes their noble natures ? What 
 must they think of this order. Conscious of frequent 
 faults, which would offend themselves, if committed 
 by their dearest children, they look up to their Maker 
 with anxiety, are grieved to have so far forgotten 
 their duty, and fearful that they may again forget it. 
 Their painful experience tells them, that their reason 
 is often too weak, their information too scanty, or its 
 light is obstructed by passions and prejudices, whick 
 
158 EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 distort and discolour every thing, as it is unheeded du- 
 ring their attention to present objects. Happy should 
 they be, if it should please their kind parent to re- 
 mind them of their duty from time to time, or to in- 
 fluence their mind in any way, that would compensate 
 for their own ignorance, their own weakness, or even 
 their indolence and neglect. They dare not expect 
 such a favour, which their modesty tells them they 
 do not deserve, and which they fear may be unfit to 
 be granted ; but, when such a comfort is held out to 
 them, with eager hearts they receive it, they bless 
 the kindness that granted it, and the hand that brings 
 it. Such amiable characters have appeared in all 
 ages, and in all situations of mankind. They have 
 not in all instances been wise ; often have they been 
 precipitate, and have too readily caught at any thing 
 which pretended to give them the so much wished 
 for assistances ; and unfortunately there have been 
 enthusiasts or villains, who have taken advantage of 
 this universal wish of anxious men ; and the world 
 has been darkened by cheats, who have misrepresent- 
 ed God to mankind, have filled us with vain terrors, 
 and have then quieted our fears by fines, and sacrifi- 
 ces, and mortifications, and services, which they said 
 were more than sufficient to expiate all our faults. 
 Thus was our duty to our neighbours, to our own dig- 
 nity, and to our Maker and parent, kept out of sight, 
 and religion no longer came in aid to our sense of 
 right and wrong ; but, on the contrary, by these su- 
 perstitions, it opened the doors of heaven to the worth- 
 less and the wicked. But I wish not to speak of those 
 men, but of the good, the candid, the MODEST, the 
 HUMBLE, who know their failings, who love their du- 
 ties, but wish to know, to perceive, and to love them 
 still more. These are they, who think and believe 
 that " the gospel has brought life and immortality to 
 
EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 139 
 
 light," that it is within their reach. They think it 
 worthy of the father of mankind, and they receive it 
 with thankful hearts, admiring above all things the 
 simplicity of itsmorality, comprehended in one sentence, 
 " do to another what you can reasonably wish that 
 " another should do to you ;" and THAT PURITY OF 
 
 THOUGHT AND MANNERS, WHICH DISTINGUISHES IT 
 FROM ALL THE SYSTEMS OF MORAL INSTRUCTION THAT 
 
 HAVE EVER BEEN OFFERED TO MEN. Here they find 
 a ground of resignation under the troubles of life, and 
 a support in the hour of death quite suited to the 
 diffidence of their own character. ~Robison's Proofs 
 of a Conspiracy, p. 239 * 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 IT is impossible to imagine a chaster language than 
 that of the Bible ; and this is because every thing is 
 mentioned there with great simplicity. Rousseau's 
 Emilius, ii. p. 251. 
 
 These objections are but the conclusions and falli- 
 ble discourses of man upon the word of God, for such 
 do I believe the Holy Scriptures, yet, were it of man, 
 I could not choose but say, it was the singularest 
 and superlative piece, that hath been extant since the 
 creation. Were I a pagan, I should not refrain the 
 lecture of it. Browns Religio Medici. 
 
 * See particularly on this subject, ^Mr. Erskine's Remarks on 
 the Internal Evidence for the Truth of Revealed Religion." 
 
140 EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCEIPTUEES. 
 
 This book appears to me unexampled, and abso- 
 lutely inimitable. The sublimity of thought, the ma- 
 jesty and simplicity of expression ; the beauty, the 
 purity, I could almost say, the homogeneity of the doc- 
 trine ; the importance, the universality, and the ex- 
 pressive brevity and paucity of the precepts; their ad- 
 mirable appropriation to the nature and wants of man ; 
 the ardent charity, which so generously enforces the 
 observation of them j the affecting piety, force, and gra- 
 vity of the composition ; the profound and truly phi- 
 losophical sense, which I discover in it ; these are the 
 characters which fix my attention to the book I exa- 
 mine, and which 1 do not meet with, in the same de- 
 gree, in any production of the human mind. I am 
 equally affected with the candour, the ingenuousness, 
 the modesty, I should have said the humility, of the 
 writers, and that unexampled and constant forgetful- 
 ness of themselves, which never admits their own re- 
 flections, or the smallest eulogium in reciting the ac- 
 tions of their master. Bonnet's Enquiries concerning 
 Christianity, 89. 
 
 How extraordinary, how interesting the work, that 
 begins with Genesis, and ends with the Revelations ; 
 which opens in the most perspicuous style, and con- 
 cludes in the most figurative ! May we not justly as- 
 sert, that, in the books of Moses, all is grand and sim- 
 ple, like that creation of the world, and that inno- 
 cence of primitive mortals, which he describes ; and 
 that all is terrible and supernatural in the last of the 
 prophets, like those civilized societies, and that con- 
 summation of ages, which he has represented ? 
 
 The productions most foreign to our manners, the 
 sacred books of the infidel nations, the Zendavesta of 
 the Parsees, the Vidam of the Bramins, the Coran of 
 the Turks, the Edda of the Scandinavians, the Sans- 
 crit poems, the maxims of Confucius, excite in us no 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 141 
 
 surprise; we find in all these works the ordinary chain 
 of human ideas ; they have all some resemblance to 
 each other both in tone and ideas. The Bible alone 
 i* like none of them : it is a monument detached from 
 all the others. Explain it to a Tartar, to a Caffre, to 
 an American Savage ; put it into the hands of a bonze 
 or a dervise, they will be all equally astonished by 
 it, a fact which borders on the miraculous. Twenty 
 authors, living at periods very distant from one ano- 
 ther, composed the sacred books ; and, though they are 
 written in twenty different styles, yet these styles, 
 equally inimitable, are not to be met with in any 
 other performance. The New Testament, so diffe- 
 rent in its spirit from the Old, nevertheless partakes 
 with the latter of this astonishing originality. 
 
 But this is not the only extraordinary thing, which 
 men unanimously discover in the Scriptures : those, 
 who will not believe in the authenticity of the Bible, ne- 
 vertheless believe, in spite of themselves, that there is 
 something more than common in this same Bible. 
 Deists and atheists, small and great, all attracted by 
 some hidden magnet, are incessantly referring to that 
 work, which is admired by the one, and despised by 
 the others. There is not a situation in life, for which 
 a text, apparently dictated with an express reference 
 to it, may not be found in the Bible. It would be a 
 difficult task to persuade us, that all possible contin- 
 gencies, both prosperous and adverse, had been fore- 
 seen, with all their consequences, in a book formed 
 by the hand of man. Now, it is certain, that we find 
 in the Scriptures, the origin of the world, and the pre- 
 diction of its end the groundwork of all the human 
 sciences : all the political precepts from the patriar- 
 chal government to despotism ; from the pastoral ages 
 to the ages of corruption: all the moral precepts 
 applicable to all the ranks and to all the incidents of 
 life; finally, all sorts of known styles, styles which, 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 forming an inimitable work of many different parts, 
 have nevertheless no resemblance to the styles of men. 
 Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, ii. 1Q3. 
 
 Theological inquiries are no part of my present sub- 
 ject ; but I cannot refrain from adding, that the col- 
 lection of tracts, which we call, from their excellence, 
 the Scriptures, contain, independently of a divine 
 origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beau- 
 ty, purer morality, more important history, and fin- 
 er strains both of poetry and eloquence, than could be 
 collected, within the same compass, from all other 
 books that ever were composed in any age, or in any 
 idiom. The two parts of which the Scriptures con- 
 sist, are connected by a chain of compositions, which 
 bear no resemblance in form or style to any that can 
 be produced from the stores of Grecian, Indian, Per- 
 sian, or even Arabian learning ; the antiquity of those 
 compositions no man doubts, and the unstrained ap- 
 plication of them to events long subsequent to their 
 publication, is a solid ground of belief, that they were 
 genuine compositions, and consequently inspired. 
 Lord Tdgwnoutlis Life of Sir W. Jones, 288. 
 
 The language of the inspired writings is, on this 
 as on other occasions, beautifully accommodated to 
 the irresistible impressions of nature ; availing itself 
 of such popular and familiar words, as upwards and 
 downwards, above and below, in condescension to the 
 frailty of the human mind, governed so much by 
 sense and imagination, and so little by the abstrac- 
 tions of philosophy. Hence the expression of fallen 
 angels, which, by recalling to us the eminence from 
 which they fell, communicates, in a single word, a 
 character of sublimity to the bottomless abyss: 
 ' How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, 
 son of the morning." /SVewar/V Philosophical Es- 
 says, p. 376. 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 143 
 
 My friend, Sir William Russel, was distantly re- 
 lated to a very accomplished man, who, though he 
 never believed the gospel, admired the Scriptures as 
 the sublimest composition in the world, and read them 
 often. I have been intimate myself with a man of 
 fine taste, who has confessed to me, that though he 
 could not subscribe to the truth of Christianity itself, 
 yet he never could read St. Luke's account of our Sa- 
 viour's appearance to the two disciples going to Em- 
 maus, without being wonderfully affected by it ; and 
 he thought, that, if the stamp of divinity was any 
 where to be found in Scripture, it was strongly mark- 
 ed and visibly impressed upon that passage. If these 
 men, whose hearts were chilled with the darkness of 
 infidelity, could find such charms in the mere style of 
 the Scriptures, what must they find there, whose eye 
 penetrates deeper than the letter, and who firmly be- 
 lieve themselves interested in all the invaluable pri- 
 vileges of the Gospel ? " He that believeth on me, is 
 passed from death unto life," though it be as plain a 
 sentence as words can form, has more beauties in it 
 for such a person, than all the labours antiquity can 
 boast of. If my poor man of taste, whom I have just 
 mentioned, had searched a little further, he might 
 have found other parts of the sacred history as strong- 
 ly marked with the character of divinity as that he 
 mentioned. The parable of the prodigal son, the most 
 beautiful fiction that ever was invented ; our Saviour's 
 speech to his disciples, with which he closes his earth- 
 ly ministration, full of the subliraest dignity and ten- 
 derest affection, surpass every thing that I ever read, 
 and, like the spirit by which they were dictated, fly 
 directly to the heart. If the Scripture did not disdain 
 all affectation of ornament, one should call these, and 
 such as these, the ornamental parts of it ; but the 
 
144 EXCELLENCIES OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 matter of it is that, upon which it principally stakes 
 its credit with us; and the style, however excellent 
 and peculiar to itself, is only one of those many ex- 
 ternal evidences, by which it recommends itself to our 
 belief. Camper's Letters, in his Life by Hayley, Let- 
 ter vii. 
 
 But, notwithstanding what we have said, in de- 
 fence of the coherence and method of the Scriptures, 
 yet I cannot deny, but that there are some things, 
 "which my reason cannot give a satisfactory account 
 of; but, when I consider how many things I once 
 thought incoherent, which I afterwards discerned 
 the connexion of; and, when I consider the ends of the 
 Scripture, and the author ; and, when I consider the 
 symmetry, which omniscience already does, and fu- 
 ture ages will discover in the Scriptures, I cannot but 
 check my inclinations, that would pretend to know all 
 the ends of omniscience, or to judge of the fitness of 
 his means for ends unknown to me; nor can I ques- 
 tion the wisdom of the author, nor an interest so un- 
 biassed, that it would choose none but the fittest me- 
 thod. Nor is it less a fault to consider only the sense 
 of particular sections, though each part of it shews its 
 heavenly extraction; but he that considers the whole 
 body of those canonical writings, and shall compare 
 them with one another, the contexture will appear'so 
 admirable, that it will manifestly appear to be the 
 work of the same wisdom, that composed the books of 
 nature, and the fabric of the world. The books in 
 Scripture expound one another ; Genesis and the Re- 
 velations being reciprocal comments, and, like the 
 mariner's compass, though the needle stand north, 
 yet it discovers both east and west ; and so do some 
 texts help to explain one another, though much dis. 
 tant in the Bible, and seem to be so in sense. It is a 
 very great satisfaction to see how the sacred writers 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 145 
 
 supply one another's omissions, according to the de- 
 grees and seasons, that God dispenses the knowledge 
 of his truths and mysteries in the different ages of the 
 church, (at the first vouchsafing but a light shining 
 in a dark place, until the day dawning, 2 Pet. i. 89.) 
 and to find so much harmony betwixt writers, sepa- 
 rated by so much time and space ; their differences 
 serving only to shew the sincerity and uprightness of 
 the writers. Hon. Robert Boyle's Theological Works. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 GENERAL EXCELLENCIES. This mild usage of the 
 enemies of Christianity (which is however what is 
 but in justice due to them) will make it more indis 
 pensably incumbent on those of them, who are not at 
 the same time enemies to all virtue, to consider Christ- 
 ianity, not as laid down in the system of its profes- 
 sors, but in the Scriptures ; not in the spirit of cavil- 
 ling and pride, but of judgment and candour : And 
 then see whether it does not consist of a scheme of 
 doctrines every way fit for a rational creature to en- 
 tertain ; of precepts tending to make every man as 
 happy in himself, and as useful and agreeable to 
 others, as this state of things will admit ; as giving 
 proper encouragements to the practice of these pre- 
 
146 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 cepts, by condescending to assure guilty men, in a 
 method the most suited to remove ail their bodings 
 and suspicions, that their past sins shall be pardoned 
 on repentance ; that they shall be powerfully assisted 
 to practise the precepts of religion better for the fu- 
 ture, if they will do all that is in their own power to- 
 wards it ; that they shall be supported under all dif- 
 ficulties and trials, and eternally rewarded for their 
 self-denials and sufferings * with manly gratifications 
 and inconceivable glory in the life to come. And that 
 all this is evidenced by the resurrection and ascen- 
 sion of Christ (testified by eye and ear witnesses, who 
 were far from being forward to believe or attest it ;) 
 and likewise by his exaltation at the right hand of 
 God or to all power, testified together with his re- 
 surrection and ascension by the Holy Ghost, or these 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost given to these witnesses in a 
 superior degree, and to others in a less, in an instant, 
 according to our Saviour's precise prediction, and 
 with the peculiar circumstances which have been 
 mentioned : And then let them consider who act the 
 most rationally, they who believe such a religion on 
 this evidence, or they who disbelieve it, purely be- 
 cause the connexion, the New Testament is said to 
 have with some parts of the Old, cannot now be made 
 out so as to be free from all exceptions. This testi- 
 mony of the Apostles and of the Spirit is the impreg- 
 nable work, on which Christianity is built and whose 
 foundations cannot be shaken. For the truth of this 
 religion is founded on facts ; namely the resurrection 
 and ascension of Christ, attested by eye and ear wit- 
 nesses, and (together with his exaltation ) attested by 
 other facts, namely, the gifts of the spirit, which prove 
 
 * Not as thereby meriting eternal rewards ; but as thereby 
 made meet for a heavenly life. 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 147 
 
 the truth of the first beyond all possibility of excep- 
 tion ; and the truth of these last facts is proved by 
 the best and only evidence they are capable of. And 
 as this proof is a proof of a very few plain facts, and 
 the evidence of these facts clear and easy, it must be 
 allowed to be a proof of the Christian religion level to 
 the meanest capacity. Lord Harrington's Essay on 
 the teaching and witness of the Holy Spirit, apud fi- 
 nem. 
 
 The knowledge of this pure religion requires no 
 metaphysical reasoning, either with regard to the na- 
 ture of God, or to the essence of our thinking princi- 
 ple ; it is adapted to the common understanding of 
 mankind ; and it is founded upon the rational princi- 
 ples of human nature. It is impossible to refuse our 
 assent, to a religion, which exacts no more than every 
 man, in his dispassionate moments, is heartily dis- 
 posed to contribute ; and it is impossible to refuse 
 giving adoration to a God, who asks no more of man 
 than that he should learn to make himself most hap- 
 py. Here is the second epoch in the reformation of 
 the original barbarous * religion of the Hebrews ; 
 and here we may congratulate mankind upon the 
 happy event, of a pure religion introduced into the 
 world, in a form, which to common sense is plainly 
 intelligible, and in a spirit, which is consonant to 
 perfect virtue and philosophy. The most evident 
 marks of divine approbation appeared upon this oc- 
 casion. For, this new doctrine of benevolence cor- 
 responding with its type, (the law of God, which is 
 
 * The divine authority of the Old Testament must be ad- 
 mitted by all who believe that of the New Testament ; but it may 
 no doubt be allowed, that the former dispensation, though by no 
 means deserving the epithet barbarous, was less spiritual in its 
 nature, and less calculated for an advanced state of society. 
 w 9 
 
 11 <v 
 
148 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 written in the heart of man,) made a conquest upon 
 opinion, in opposition to force and the most rooted 
 superstition ; and it was received by the nations as 
 the immediate gift of Heaven, sent to make those 
 happy who embraced it. Hutton's Investigation t iii. 
 665. 
 
 If my religion be false, it is, I must own, the most 
 artful snare that could possibly be devised : it is im- 
 possible to avoid falling into it, and being caught. 
 What majesty, what magnificence in its mysteries ! 
 what coherency, what connexion in all its doctrines. 
 What sound reason ! what candour ! what innocence 
 of morals ! what an invincible and overwhelming 
 body of evidence is given successively, and for three 
 whole centuries, by millions of the most learned and 
 most moderate persons then in the world, and whom 
 the conviction of one and the same truth supported in 
 exile, in fetters, at the approach of death, and under 
 the most cruel torments. La Bruyere, as quoted in 
 Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, ii. 289. 
 
 It is indeed impossible to understand the doctrines of 
 our religion, and not to wish at least, that they may be 
 true ; for they exhibit the most comfortable views of 
 God and his providence ; they recommend the purest 
 . and most perfect morality ; and they breathe nothing 
 throughout, but benevolence, equity, and peace. And 
 one may venture to affirm, that no one ever wished 
 the gospel to be true, who did notjind it so. Its evi- 
 dence is even more than sufficient to satisfy those, who 
 love it. And every man, who knows it, must love 
 it, if he be a man of candour and a good heart. Beat' 
 tie's Elements of Moral Science, i. 402. 
 
 Here I invite that reader, who can elevate his mind 
 to the contemplation of the ways of Providence, to 
 meditate with me on the admirable methods of divine 
 wisdom in the establishment of Christianity ; a reli- 
 gion, the universality of which was to comprehend all 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 149 
 
 ages, all places, nations, ranks, and situations in life ; 
 a religion, which made no distinction between the crown- 
 ed head and that of the lowest subject ; formed to dis- 
 engage the heart from terrestial things, to ennoble, to 
 refine, to sublime the thoughts and affections of man ; 
 to render him conscious of the dignity of his nature* 
 the importance of his end, to carry his hopes even to 
 eternity, and thus associate him with superior intelli- 
 gences ; a religion, which gave every thing to the 
 spirit, and nothing to the flesh ; which called its dis- 
 ciples to the greatest sacrifices, because men who are 
 taught to fear God alone, can undergo the severest 
 trials; a religion, in short, (to conclude my weak con- 
 ceptions on so sublime a subject,) which was the per- 
 fection or completion of natural law, the science of 
 the truly wise, the refuge of the humble, the conso- 
 lation of the "wretched ; so majestic in its simplicity, 
 so sublime in its doctrine, so great in its object, so 
 astonishing in its effects. Bonnet's Enquiries COM- 
 cerning Christianity, b. v. ch. 6. 
 
 Every religion has its mysteries ; all nature is" a se- 
 cret. The Christian mysteries are the most sublime 
 that can be ; they are the archetypes of the system 
 of man and of the world. Faith is a force, charity a 
 love, hope complete happiness, or, as religion expresses 
 it, a complete virtue. The laws of God constitute the 
 most perfect code of natural justice. The fall of our 
 first parents is an universal tradition. A new proof 
 of it may be found in the constitution of the moral 
 man, which is contrary to the general constitution of 
 beings. The prohibition to touch the fruit of know- 
 ledge was a sublime command, and the only one 
 worthy of the Almighty. All the proofs of the anti- 
 quity of the earth alleged by profane writers may be 
 contested. The doctrine of the existence of a God is 
 demonstrated by the wonders of the universe; a 
 
150 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 design of Providence is evident in the instincts of ani- 
 mals. Mortality of itself proves the immortality of 
 the soul : man feels a desire of happiness, and is the 
 only creature who cannot attain it ; there is conse- 
 quently a felicity beyond the present life; for we 
 cannot wish for what does not exist. The system of 
 atheism is founded solely on exceptions ; it is not the 
 body that acts upon the soul, but the soul that acts 
 upon the body. Man is not subject to the general 
 laws of matter ; he diminishes where the animal in- 
 creases. Atheism cannot be beneficial to any class of 
 people; neither to the unfortunate, whom it bereaves 
 of hope, nor to the prosperous, whose joys it renders 
 insipid, nor to the soldier, of whom it makes a cow- 
 ard, nor to the wife, whose beauty it blasts and whose 
 sensibilities it extinguishes, nor to the mother, who has 
 a son to love, nor to the rulers of men, who have no 
 surer pledge of the fidelity of their subjects than reli- 
 gion. The punishments and rewards, which Christi- 
 anity denounces or promises in another life, are con- 
 sistent with reason and the nature of the soul. In 
 literature the character appears more interesting, and 
 the passions more energetic under the Christian dis- 
 pensation, than they were under polytheism. The 
 latter exhibited no dramatic part, no struggles be- 
 tween natural desires and virtue. Mythology con- 
 tracted nature, and for this reason the ancients had 
 no descriptive poetry ; Christianity restores to the 
 wilderness both its pictures and its solitudes. The 
 Christian marvellous may sustain a comparison with 
 the marvellous of fable : the ancients founded their 
 poetry on Homer, and the Christians on the Bible ; 
 and the beauties of the Bible surpass the beauties of 
 Homer. To Christianity the fine arts owe their revi- 
 val and their perfection. In philosophy, it is not hos- 
 tile to any natural truth. If it has sometimes oppos- 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 151 
 
 ed the sciences, it followed the spirit of the times 
 and the opinions of the greatest legislators of antiqui- 
 ty. In history we should have been inferior to the 
 ancients but for the new character of images, reflec- 
 tions, and thoughts, to which Christianity has given 
 birth : modern eloquence furnishes the same observa- 
 tion. To Christianity mankind is indebted for the wor- 
 ship of God ; the more Jinn establishment of the doc- 
 trine of the existence of that Supreme Being, and the 
 more thorough conviction of the immortality of the soul, 
 and also of a future stale <f rewards and punishments ; 
 a more enlarged and active humanity ; a whole and 
 perfect virtue, and which alone is equivalent to all the 
 others Charity ; a political law and the laiv of na- 
 tions unknown to the ancients, and above all, the abo- 
 lition of slavery. Who is there but must be convinc- 
 ed of the beauty and the grandeur of Christianity ? 
 Who but must be overwhelmed with this stupendous 
 mass of benefits ? Chateaubriand's Beauties of Chris- 
 tianity, iii. p. 24,9. 
 
 As A SOURCE OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. You 
 ask me '< what is the shortest and surest way for a 
 " young gentleman to attain a true knowledge of the 
 " Christian religion, in the full and just extent of it ?" 
 For so I understand your question ; if I have mistaken 
 it, you must set me right. And to this I have a 
 short and plain answer. Let him study the Holy 
 Scriptures, especially the New Testament. Therein 
 are contained the words of eternal life. It has God 
 for its author; salvation for its end; and truth with- 
 out any mixture of error, for its matter. So that it 
 is a wonder to me how any one professing Christianity, 
 that would seriously set himself to know his religion, 
 should be in doubt where to employ his search, and 
 lay out his pains for his information ; when he knows 
 H 4 
 
152 EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 a book, where it is all contained pure and entire . 
 and whither at last every one must have recourse to 
 verify that of it, which he finds any where else. 
 Locke's Work!?, ix. 306. 
 
 As A CODE OF MORALITY. As to " a treatise of mo- 
 rals," I must own to you, that you aVe not the only 
 person, who have been for putting me upon it ; nei- 
 ther have I wholly laid by the thoughts of it. Nay, 
 I so far incline to comply with your desires, that I 
 every now and then, lay by some materials for it, as 
 they occasionally occur, in the rovings of my mind. 
 But, when I consider that a book of offices, as you 
 call it, ought not to be slightly done, especially by 
 me, after what I have said of that science in my Es- 
 say ; and that * nonwnque prematur in annum" is a 
 rule more necessary to be observed in a subject of 
 that consequence, than in any thing Horace speaks 
 of; I am in doubt whether it would be prudent in 
 one of my age and health, not to mention other dis- 
 abilities in me, to set about it. Did the world want 
 a rule, I confess there could be no work so necessary 
 or so commendable. But the gospel contains so per- 
 fect a body of ethics, that reason may be excused 
 from that inquiry, since she may find man's duty 
 clearer and easier in revelation than in herself. Think 
 not this the excuse of a lazy man, though it be per- 
 haps of one who, having a sufficient rule for his ac- 
 tions, is content therewith ; and thinks he may, per- 
 haps with more profit to himself, employ the little 
 time and strength he has in other researches, wherein 
 he finds himself more in the dark. Locke's Works, 
 viii. 377. 
 
 The most distinct characteristic of Christianity is 
 the spirit of charity and forbearance, which pervades 
 all its precepts. The ancients, undoubtedly, respect- 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 153 
 
 ed the beneficent virtues ; but the precept, which 
 commends the poor and the weak to the protection 
 of the opulent, belongs essentially to our religion. 
 With what care, with what love, the Christian legis- 
 lator returns continually to the same sentiment and 
 interest ! The tenderest pity lent to his words a persua- 
 sive unction ; but I admire, above all, the awful lesson 
 he has given, in explaining the close union established 
 between our sentiments towards the Supreme Being, 
 and our duties towards men. Thus, after having termed 
 the love of God, the first commandment of the law, the 
 Evangelist adds: and the second, which is like unto it, 
 is to love thy neighbour as thyself. The second, which 
 is like unto it? what simplicity, what extent in that 
 expression ! Can any thing be more interesting and 
 sublime, than to offer continually to our mind the 
 idea of a God, taking on himself the gratitude of the 
 unfortunate ? Where find any principle of morality, 
 of which the influence can ever equal such a grand 
 thought ? The poor, the miserable, however abject 
 their state, appear surrounded with the symbol of 
 glory, when the love of humanity becomes an ex- 
 pression of the sentiments which elevate us to God ; 
 and the mind ceases to be lost in the immensity of 
 his perfections, when we hope to maintain an habi- 
 tual intercourse with the Supreme Being, by the ser r 
 vices which we render to men ; it is thus that a sfn- , 
 gle thought spreads a new light on our duty, and 
 gives to metaphysical ideas a substance conformable 
 to our organs. Neckers Religious Opinions, p. 417. 
 
 There are no persons so well instructed in the mo- 
 tives for a holy life, as the professors of Christianity. 
 They are perfectly known even to persons of a com- 
 mon understanding ; and, in comparison of the cer- 
 tainty of their persuasion, the conjectures and reason- 
 ings of the ancient philosophers were alike shadows, 
 
 H5 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 which were too transient and inefficacious to make 
 any impressions. Every Christian can consult the 
 oracles of revelation ; and, by the favour of this di- 
 vine light, can penetrate into these mysteries, which 
 were unknown to the worl.l before the coming of 
 the Mediator sent by God. Amongst the most illi- 
 terate, those who are constantly occupied by manual 
 labour in providing for their daily wants, we may 
 nevertheless discover some sentiments of religion, not 
 unmixed with zeal ; and also a contentment both in 
 life and in death, which is unknown to those, whose 
 hearts are not illuminated by the light of the doctrine 
 of Christ. Baron Halter's Letters to his Daughter, 
 let. 13. 
 
 Is it bigotry to believe the sublime truths of the 
 gospel with full assurance of faith ? I glory in such 
 bigotry : I would not part with it for a thousand 
 worlds ; I congratulate the man who is possessed of 
 it ; for, amidst all the vicissitudes and calamities of 
 the present state, that man enjoys an inexhaustible 
 fund of consolation, of which it is not in the power 
 of fortune to deprive him. 
 
 There is not a book on earth so favourable to all 
 the kind, and all the sublime affections, or so un- 
 friendly to hatred and persecution, to tyranny, injus- 
 tice, and every sort of malevolence, as the gospel. 
 It breathes nothing throughout but mercy, benevo- 
 lence, and peace. 
 
 Poetry is sublime, when it awakens in the mind 
 any great and good affection, as piety, or patriotism. 
 This is one of the noblest effects of the heart. The 
 Psalms are remarkable beyond all other writings, for 
 their power of inspiring devout emotions. But it is 
 not in this respect only that they are sublime ; of the 
 Divine nature they contain the most magnificent de- 
 scriptions that the soul of man can comprehend. The 
 
EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 155 
 
 hundred and fourth psalm, in particular, displays 
 the power and goodness of Providence, in creating 
 and preserving the world, and the various tribes of 
 animals in it, with such majestic brevity and beauty, 
 as it is in vain to look for in any human composition. 
 Such of the doctrines of the gospel as are level to 
 human capacity, appear to be agreeable to the purest 
 truth and the soundest morality. All the genius and 
 learning of the heathen world ; all the penetration of 
 Pythagoras, Socrates, and Aristotle, had never been 
 able to produce such a system of moral duty, and so 
 rational an account of providence and of man, as is 
 to be found in the New Testament. Compared, in- 
 deed, to this, all other moral and theological wisdom 
 
 " Loses, discountenanced, and like folly shews." 
 
 Bcaltie's Elements of Moral Science. 
 
 This is the natural consequence of that purity of 
 heart, which is so much insisted on in the Christian 
 morality. In the instructions of the heathen philoso- 
 phers, it is either not mentioned at all, or at most it 
 is recommended coldly, as a thing proper and wor- 
 thy of a mind attentive to great things. But, in 
 Christianity, it is insisted on as an indispensable du- 
 ty, and enforced by many arguments peculiar to it- 
 self. Robisons Proof's of a Conspiracy, p. 26'7. 
 
 AUTHORITY OF CHRISTIAN PRECEPTS. When a 
 revelation hath all the authenticity of human testimo- 
 ny ; when it appears consistent in all its parts ; and 
 when it contains nothing inconsistent with any real 
 knowledge we have of the Supreme All-Perfect-Be- 
 ing, and of natural religion ; such a revelation is to 
 be received with the most profound reverence, with 
 the most entire submission, and with the most un- 
 ii G 
 
156 -EXCELLENCIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 feigned thanksgiving. Reason has exercised her 
 whole prerogative then, and delivers us over to faith. 
 To believe before all these trials, or to doubt after 
 them, is alike unreasonable. When persons have re- 
 ceived the Christian revelation for genuine, after suf- 
 ficient examination of its external and internal proofs, 
 and have found nothing that makes it inconsistent 
 with itself, nor that is repugnant to any of these di- 
 vine truths, which reason and the works of God 
 demonstrate to them ; such persons will never set 
 up reason in contradiction to it, on account of things 
 plainly taught, but incomprehensible as to their man- 
 ner of being. If they did, their reason would be 
 false and deceitful ; they would cease to be rea- 
 sonable men. Bolingbroke's Works, iv. 279- v. 38 4, 
 as quoted by Leland. 
 
 The authority of emperors, kings, and princes, is 
 human. The authority of councils, synods, bishops, 
 and presbyters is human. The authority of the pro- 
 phets is divine, and comprehends the sum of religion, 
 reckoning Moses and the apostles among the pro- 
 phets ; and " if an angel from heaven preach any other 
 *' gospel than what they have preached, let him be ac- 
 cursed." Their writings contain the covenant between 
 God and his people, with instructions for keeping 
 this covenant ; instances of God's judgments upon 
 them that break it ; and predictions of things to 
 come. While the people of God keep the covenant, 
 they continue to be his people ; when they break 
 it, they cease to be his people or church, and become 
 < the synagogue of God who say they are Jews and 
 are not." And no power on earth is authorized to 
 alter this covenant. Sir Isaac Newton on the Praphe* 
 cict, part i. 16. 
 
THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY, &C. 157 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 WE may add, that if, in the commencement of 
 the Christian dispensation, the religion had been 
 maintained on the principles of its founder, the states 
 and republics of Christendom, would be more united 
 and more happy than they are. Machiavel's Prince, 
 p. xx. Introd. 
 
 Avoid those who, under the pretence of explaining 
 nature, sow mischievous doctrines in the hearts of men, 
 and whose apparent scepticism is a hundred times as 
 positive and dogmatic, as the decisive tone of their 
 adversaries. Under the arrogant pretext, that they 
 alone are enlightened, true, and sincere, they imperi- 
 ously subject us to their peremptory decisions ; and 
 presume to give us, as the general principles of things, 
 the unintelligible systems, which they have erected in 
 their imaginations. Overthrowing, destroying, tramp- 
 ling under foot all that is respected by men, they be- 
 reave the afflicted of the last consolation in their mise- 
 ry ; they take .from the rich and the powerful, the only 
 curb of their passions ; they eradicate from the heart 
 the remorse consequent on guilt, the hopes inspired 
 by virtue ; and still they boast of being the benefac- 
 tors of the human race. Never, say they, can truth 
 be hurtful to man. I think so too ; and this in my 
 opinion is a strong proof that what they teach is not 
 the truth. 
 
 One of the sophisms most familiar to the philoso- 
 phic party, is to contrast a supposed nation of good 
 
158 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY 
 
 philosophers with one of bad Christians ; as if it were 
 easier to form a nation of genuine philosophers, than 
 a nation of genuine Christians. I know not, if, among 
 individuals, one of these characters is more easy to 
 be found than the other ; but this I know, that, when 
 we come to talk of nations, we must suppose that 
 there are such as will make a bad use of philosophy 
 without religion, just as ours abuses religion without 
 philosophy ; and this seems to me to make a material 
 alteration in the state of the question. It is an easy 
 matter to make a parade with fine maxims in books ; 
 but the question is, whether they agree with sound 
 reason, and necessarily flow from it. And this has not 
 hitherto appeared to be the case with those of which 
 we are speaking. It remains also to be ascertained, 
 whether philosophy, at its ease, and upon the throne, 
 would be capable of controlling the love of glory, the 
 selfishness, the ambition, the little passions of men ; 
 and whether it would practise that engaging huma- 
 nity, which, with pen in hand, it so highly com- 
 mends. 
 
 By principles philosophy can do no good, which re- 
 ligion would not far surpass ; and religion performs 
 much, that philosophy cannot accomplish. Rous- 
 seau's Emilius, ii. 228. 
 
 Modern governments are undoubtedly indebted to 
 Christianity for their most solid authority, and the 
 rarity of revolutions. It has even rendered them less 
 sanguinary ; this is proved by comparing them with 
 the ancient governments. Religion better under- 
 stood, hath, by banishing fanaticism, given a greater 
 mildness to Christian manners. This alteration is not 
 the effect of letters, for we do not find that wherever 
 literature hath flourished, humanity hath been at all 
 the more respected. The cruelty of the Athenians, 
 of the Egyptians, of the Roman emperors, and the 
 
 5 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 159 
 
 Chinese, are evidences of this. On the other hand, 
 what deeds of mercy and charity have been effected 
 by the gospel ! How many restitutions and repara- 
 tions hath the practice of confession brought about 
 among the catholics ! Among us, how many recon- 
 ciliations are effected, how many alms are distribut- 
 ed before an approaching communion ? Rousseau's 
 Emilius, ii. 228. Note. 
 
 No religion ever appeared in the world, whose na- 
 tural tendency was so much directed to promote the 
 peace and happiness of mankind, as Christianity. 
 No system can be more simple and plain, than that 
 of natural religion as it stands in the gospel. Besides 
 natural religion, there are two other parts, into which 
 Christianity may be analyzed, duties superadded to 
 those of the former, and articles of belief, that reason 
 neither could discover nor can comprehend. Both the 
 duties required to be practised, and the propositions 
 required to be believed, are concisely and plainly 
 enough expressed in the original gospel, properly so 
 called, which Christ taught, and which his four evan- 
 gelists recorded. No institutions can be imagined more 
 simple, nor void of all those pompous rites, and thea- 
 trical representations, that abounded in the religious 
 worship of the heathens and Jews, than these two 
 were in their origin, (that is, the Christian sacraments 
 of baptism and the Lord's supper.) They were not 
 only innocent but profitable ceremonies, because they 
 were extremely proper to keep up the spirit of true 
 religion, by keeping up that of Christianity, and to 
 promote the observance of moral duties, by maintain- 
 ing a respect for the revelation, which confirmed 
 them. I will not say, that the belief that Jesus was 
 the Messiah, is the only article of belief necessary to 
 make men Christians. There are other things doubt- 
 less contained in the revelation he made of himself, 
 
160 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY 
 
 dependent on, and relative to, this article, \vithout 
 the belief of which, I suppose our Christianity would 
 be very defective. But this I say, that the system of 
 religion, which Christ published, and his evangelists 
 recorded, is a complete system to all the purposes of 
 religion, natural and revealed. Christianity, as it 
 stands in the gospel, contains not only a complete, 
 but a very plain system of religion. Supposing Christ- 
 ianity to have been a human invention, it has been 
 the most amiable and the most useful invention, that 
 was ever imposed on mankind for their good. Christ- 
 ianity, as it came out of the hands of God, if I may 
 use the expression, was a most simple and intelligi- 
 ble rule of belief, worship, and manners, which is 
 the true notion of a religion. As soon as men pre- 
 sumed to add any thing of their own to it, the human 
 alloy corrupted the divine mass, and it became an ob- 
 ject of vain, intricate, and contentious science. The 
 gospel is, in all cases, one continued lesson of the 
 strictest morality, of justice, of benevolence, of uni- 
 versal charity. The theology contained in the gos- 
 pel lies in a narrow compass. It is marvellous indeed, 
 but it is plain, and it is employed throughout to en- 
 force natural religion. The charge, which the ene- 
 mies of religion bring against Christianity on this ac- 
 count (that is, of persecution for opinions) is unjustly 
 brought. These effects have not been caused by the 
 gospel, but by the system raised upon it ; not by the 
 revelations of God, but by the inventions of men. 
 The Christian system of faith and practice was reveal- 
 ed by God himself; and it is absurd and impious to 
 assert that the divine Logos revealed it incompletely 
 or imperfectly. Its simplicity and plainness shewed, 
 that it was designed to be the religion of mankind, 
 and manifested likewise the divinity of its original. 
 Bolingbroke's Works, iv. 281. 290. 29*. SOI. 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 161 
 
 314. 316. 394. 349. iii. 451, as quoted by Le- 
 land. 
 
 Jesus Christ may, therefore, with strict truth, be 
 denominated, in a material sense, that SAVIOUR OF 
 THE WORLD, which he is in a spiritual sense. His 
 appearance upon earth was, humanly speaking, the 
 most important event that ever occurred among men, 
 since it was by the gospel dispensation that the face 
 of the whole world began to be entirely changed. 
 The gospel has changed mankind in every point, and 
 enabled them to take an immense step towards per- 
 fection. Consider it as a grand religious cause, which 
 has regenerated the human race ; then all petty ob- 
 jections, all the cavils of impiety fall to the ground. 
 Christianity is the religion, that is adapted to a nation 
 matured by time ; it is, if we may venture to use the 
 expression, the religion congenial to the present age 
 of the world, as the reign of types and emblems was 
 suited to the cradle of Israel. 
 
 With respect to the morality of the gospel, its beau- 
 ty is universally admired. The more it is known and 
 practised, the more the eyes of men will be opened to 
 their real happiness and their true interest. The sci- 
 ence of politics is extremely circumscribed: the highest 
 degree of perfection, which it is capable of attaining> 
 is the representative system, the offspring, as we have 
 shewn, of Christianity. But a religion, which is at 
 the same time a moral code, is an institution, which is 
 incessantly furnishing new resources, which provides 
 for every contingency, and which, in the hands of 
 saints and sages, is an universal instrument of feli- 
 city. Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, iii. 
 270. 
 
 In this state of darkness and error, in reference to 
 the " true God," our Saviour found the world. But 
 the clear revelation he brought with him, dissipated 
 
162 THE BENEFICIAL TENDENCY 
 
 this darkness ; made the " one invisible true God" 
 known to the world : and that with such evidence 
 and energy, that polytheism and idolatry have no- 
 where been able to withstand it : but wherever the 
 preaching of the truth he delivered, and the light of 
 the gospel, hath come, those mists have been dispelled. 
 And, in effect, we see, that, since our Saviour's time, 
 the " belief of one God," has prevailed and spread it- 
 self over the face of the earth. For even to the light 
 that the Messiah brought into the world with him, 
 we must ascribe the owning and profession of one 
 God, which the Mahometan religion hath devised 
 and borrowed from it. So that in this sense it is cer- 
 tainly and manifestly true of our Saviour, what St. 
 John says of him, 1 John iii. 8. " For this purpose 
 " the Son of God was manifested, that he might des- 
 " troy the works of the devil." This light the world 
 needed, and this light is received from him : that there 
 is but ft one God," and he " eternal, invisible.;" not 
 like to any visible objects, nor to be represented by 
 them, Locke on ike Reasonableness of Christianity, 
 Works, vi. 137- 
 
 THE INEXCUSABLENESS OF REJECTINGCHRISTIANITY. 
 The evidence for the Christian religion seems to be 
 so clear and strong in all Christian countries, and 
 that with respect to all ranks and conditions of men, 
 that no person, who is previously qualified by bene- 
 volence, piety, and the moral sense, can refuse his as- 
 sent to it. This I take to be a plain matter of obser- 
 vation, supported by the universal testimony of those 
 persons that attend to it ; meaning by the Christian 
 religion, the belief of the divine mission of Moses and 
 the prophets, of Christ and his apostles, or the truth 
 of the scriptures. Whoever, therefore, conducts him- 
 self by the foregoing rule, (of benevolence, piety, 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 165 
 
 and the moral sense,) must believe revealed religion, 
 as well as natural, if born in a Christian country. 
 All unbelievers, where there is so much evidence, I 
 had almost said, all doubters, seem to be culpable in 
 a very high degree. 
 
 If any unbeliever thinks this censure too severe, 
 let him examine his own heart. Is he previously qua- 
 lified, by love to God, and to all the world, by a 
 sincere regard for, and observance of natural religion ? 
 Is he chaste, temperate, meek, humble, just, and cha- 
 ritable? Does he delight in God, in contemplating 
 his providence, praying to him, and praising him ? 
 Does he believe a future state, and expect it with 
 hope and comfort ? Is he not so fond of the praise of 
 men, or so fearful of censure and ridicule, as to be 
 ashamed to own Christ ? If the Christian religion be 
 true, it must be of great importance, and if of great 
 importance, it is a duty of natural religion to inquire 
 into it. The obligation, therefore, to examine seri- 
 ously, subsists, in some degree, as long as there is any 
 evidence for, or doubt of the truth of revelation. For, 
 if true, it must be of importance, whether we see that 
 importance or not. He, who determines that it is of 
 no importance, determines at once that it is false. 
 But it is too evident to all impartial observers, that 
 those who disbelieve, or affect to disbelieve, have not 
 made a serious, accurate inquiry ; such a one as they 
 would make about a worldly concern of moment ; 
 but content themselves, and endeavour to perplex 
 others, with general objections, mixed, for the most 
 part, with ridicule and raillery, things that are mani- 
 fest hindrances in the search after truth. Hartley's 
 Observations on Man, ii. 34? 349. 
 
TRUTH AND EXCELLENCE 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 PERSONAL TESTIMONIES TO THE TRUTH AND EXCEL- 
 LENCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 The more 1 learn Christianity from Scripture, the 
 more I grow convinced how unjust those objections 
 are, with which it is charged. I find for instance, 
 that all that Voltaire says of the intolerance of Christ- 
 ians, and of bloodshedding caused by Christianity, 
 is a very unjust charge laid upon religion. It is easy 
 to be seen, that those cruelties, said to be caused by 
 religion, if properly considered, were the production 
 of human passions, selfishness, and ambition, and 
 that religion served in such cases only for a cloak. 
 I am fully convinced of the truth of the Christian reli- 
 gion, and I feel its power in quieting my conscience, 
 and informing my sentiments. I have examined it 
 during a good state of health, and with all the reason 
 I am master of. I tried every argument, I felt no fear, 
 I have taken my own time, and I have not been in 
 haste. I own with joy, I find Christianity the more 
 amiable, the more I get acquainted with it. I never 
 knew it before. I believed it contradicted reason 
 and the nature of man, whose religion it was design- 
 ed to be. I thought it an artfully contrived and am- 
 biguous doctrine, full of incomprehensibilities. When- 
 ever I formerly thought on religion in some serious 
 moments, I had always an idea in my mind, how it 
 ought to be ; which was, it should be simple and ac- 
 commodated to the abilities of men in every condition. 
 I now find Christianity to be exactly so : it answers 
 entirely that idea, which I had formed of true reli- 
 
OF CHRISTIANITY. 165 
 
 gion. Had I but formerly known it was such, I should 
 not have delayed turning Christian till this time of 
 my imprisonment. But I had the misfortune to be 
 prejudiced against religion, first through my own pas- 
 sions, and afterwards likewise by so many human in- 
 ventions, foisted into it, of which I could see plainly 
 that they had no foundation, though they were styl- 
 ed essential parts of Christianity. Count Stmensee, 
 quoted in Simpson s Plea for Religion. 
 
 After all my troubles and toilings in the world, 
 said Oxenstiern, Chancellor of Sweden, I find that 
 my private life in the country has afforded me more 
 contentment, than I ever met with in all my public 
 employment. I have lately applied myself to the 
 study of the Bible, wherein all wisdom, and the great- 
 est delights are to be found. I therefore counsel 
 you (the English Ambassadors) to make the study 
 and practice of the word of God your chief content- 
 ment and delight ; as indeed it will be to every soul, 
 who savours the truths of God, which infinitely excel 
 all worldly things. Chancellor Oxenstiern t quoted in 
 Simpsons Plea for Religion. 
 
 I will not say that the truth of Christianity has been 
 demonstrated * ; this term, though adopted and re- 
 peated by the best apologists, would, I conceive, be 
 somewhat too strong. But I have no hesitation in 
 saying plainly and explicitly, that the facts, which es- 
 tablish the truth of Christianity, carry with them, to 
 my apprehension, so exceedingly high a degree of pro- 
 bability, that were I to reject them I should do viol- 
 ence to the clearest principles and rules of sound lo- 
 gic, and even to the most obvious dictates of reason 
 and of common sense. 
 
 # The author states that he uses this word in its most literal 
 sense, as implying mathematical certainty. 
 
166 TRUTH AND EXCELLENCE, &C. 
 
 I have endeavoured to explore the inmost recesses of 
 my heart, and, having discovered no secret motive 
 there, which should induce me to reject a reli- 
 gion so well calculated to supply the defects of my 
 reason, to comfort me under affliction, and to advance 
 the perfection of my nature, I receive this religion as 
 the greatest blessing, that Heaven in its goodness 
 could confer upon mankind. And I should still re- 
 ceive it with gratitude, were I to consider it only as the 
 very best and most perfect system of practical philo- 
 sophy. Bonnet's Enquiries concerning Christianity, 
 297. 
 
 For my own part, gentlemen, I have been ever 
 deeply devoted to the truths of Christianity : and my 
 firm belief in the Holy Gospel is by no means owing 
 to the prejudices of education (though I was religi- 
 ously educated by the best of parents) but has arisen 
 from the fullest and most continued reflections of my 
 riper years and understanding. It forms at this mo- 
 ment the great consolation of a life, which, as a sha- 
 dow passes away : and without it, I should consider 
 my long course of health and prosperity (too long 
 perhaps, and too uninterrupted to be good for any 
 man) only as the dust which the wind scatters, and 
 rather as a snare than as a blessing. Lord Erskim's 
 Speeches, ii. 188. 
 
167 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE GENERAL DOCTRINES 
 OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 THE INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN DECIDING ON THE 
 TRUTHS OF REVELATION. 
 
 LIMITED POWER OF THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING. 
 One of the most valuable effects of genuine philoso- 
 phy, is to remind us of the limited powers of the hu- 
 man understanding ; and to revive those natural feel- 
 ings of wonder and admiration, at the spectacle of the 
 universe, which are apt to languish, in consequence 
 of long familiarity. The most profound discoveries 
 which are placed within the reach of our researches, 
 instead of laying open to our view the efficient causes 
 of natural appearances, lead to a confession of human 
 ignorance ; for, while they flatter the pride of man, 
 and increase his power, by enabling him to trace the 
 simple and beautiful laws by which physical events 
 are regulated, they call his attention, at the same time, 
 to those general and ultimate facts, which bound the 
 narrow circle of his knowledge ; and which, by evin- 
 cing to him the operation of powers, whose nature must 
 for ever remain unknown, serve to remind him of the 
 insufficiency of his faculties to penetrate the secrets 
 
168 INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN 
 
 of the universe. Wherever we direct our inquiries ; 
 whether to the anatomy and physiology of animals, to 
 the growth of vegetables, to the chemical attractions 
 and repulsions, or to the motions of the heavenly bo- 
 dies, we perpetually perceive the effects of powers, 
 which do not belong to matter. To a certain length 
 we are able to proceed ; but in every research, we 
 meet with a line, which no industry nor ingenuity can 
 pass. It is a line too, which is marked with sufficient 
 distinctness ; and which no man now thinks of pass- 
 ing, who has just views of the nature and object of 
 philosophy. It forms the separation between that 
 field, which falls under the survey of the physical in- 
 quirer, and that unknown region, of which, though 
 it was necessary that we should be assured of the ex- 
 istence, in order to lay a foundation for the doctrines 
 of natural theology, it hath not pleased the author of 
 the universe to reveal to us the wonders, in this in- 
 fant state of our being. Stewart's Elements of the 
 Philosophpy of the Human Mind, i. 88. 
 
 THE USE OF REASON IN REGARD TO REVELATION. 
 One use of reason in things, which by the testimony 
 of men are supposed to come from God, is to endea- 
 vour to find out such a sense of a supposed divine re- 
 velation, as is agreeable to the discoveries of our rea- 
 son, if the words under any kind of construction will 
 bear it, though at first view they may seem repugnant 
 to reason and to one another. This is certainly a great 
 piece of justice, and what is due to words, that, upon 
 the least evidence can be supposed to come from God ; 
 especially since expressions, that do not literally qua- 
 drate with the maxims of reason and philosophy, are 
 necessary to make a revelation have any effect upon 
 common people's minds. For, was not God to be re- 
 presented by expressions, which, literally understood, 
 
DECIDING ON REVELATION. 169 
 
 attribute to him human passions and actions ; they 
 who, by their occupations in the world, are incapable 
 of those more just ideas, which men of thought know 
 to belong to that being, would perhaps think him in- 
 capable of taking cognizance of their actions. And, 
 therefore, to make a revelation useful and credible in 
 itself, it must consist of words, whose literal meaning 
 is false, but whose real meaning is consistent with 
 the justest notions of reason and philosophy. And 
 therefore, we ought to examine whether the words, 
 under any construction, will bear a reasonable sense *. 
 Collinses Essay concerning the use of Reason, fyc. as 
 quoted by Leland. 
 
 Divine philosophy, or natural theology, is that 
 knowledge, or rudiment of knowledge concerning 
 God, which may be obtained by the contemplation of 
 his creatures ; which knowledge may be truly termed 
 divine, in respect of the object ; and natural in res- 
 pect of the light. The bounds of this knowledge are, 
 that it suffices to convince atheism, but not to inform 
 religion; and, therefore, there was never miracle 
 wrought by God to convert an atheist, because the 
 light of nature might have led him to confess a God ; 
 but miracles have been wrought to convert idolaters 
 and the superstitious, because no light of nature ex- 
 tends to declare the will and true worship of God. 
 For as all works do shew forth the power and skill of 
 the workman, and not his image, so it is of the works 
 which show the omnipotence and wisdom of the maker, 
 but not his image ; and, therefore, therein the heathen 
 opinion differs from the sacred truth, for they sup- 
 posed the world to be the image of God, and man to 
 be an extract or compendious image of the world ; but 
 
 * This observation is applied by the author to those passages 
 of Scripture, where God is said to rest, repent, be angry, &c. 
 
 I 
 
1 70 INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN 
 
 the Scriptures never vouchsafe to attribute to the world 
 that honour, as to be the image of God, but only the 
 work of his hands ; neither do they speak of any other 
 image of God, but man : wherefore, by the contem- 
 plation of nature, to induce and enforce the acknow- 
 ledgement of God, and to demonstrate his power, pro- 
 vidence, and goodness, is an excellent argument, and 
 has been well handled by many. But, on the other 
 side, out of the contemplation of nature, or ground 
 of human knowledge, to induce any verity or persua- 
 sion concerning the point of faith, is, in my judg- 
 ment, not safe : Dafdei quce jidei sunt, for, the hea- 
 thens themselves conclude as much, in that excellent 
 and divine fable of the golden chain : " That men 
 ' ' and gods were not able to draw Jupiter down to the 
 " earth ; but, on the contrary, Jupiter was able to 
 (: draw them up to heaven." So as we ought not to 
 attempt to draw down or submit the mysteries of God 
 to our reason ; but, on the contrary, to raise and ad- 
 vance our reason to the divine truth ; so as in this 
 part of knowledge touching divine philosophy, I am 
 so far from noting deficiency, that I rather note an 
 excess ; whereunto I have digressed, because of the 
 extreme prejudice which both religion and philosophy 
 have received, and may receive, by being commixed 
 together ; as that undoubtedly will make an heretical 
 religion, and an imaginary and fabulous philosophy. 
 Bacon's Essays. 
 
 The use of human reason, in matters pertaining to 
 religion, is of two sorts : the one, in the conception 
 and apprehension of the mysteries of God revealed 
 to us ; the other, in the inferring and deriving of 
 doctrine and direction from them. As to the concep- 
 tion of the mysteries, we see God vouchsafes to des- 
 cend to the weakness of our capacity, so expressing 
 and unfolding his mysteries, as they may best be 
 
DECIDING ON REVELATION. 171 
 
 comprehended by us ; and grafting, in a manner, his 
 revelations, and holy doctrine, upon the conceptions 
 and notions of our reason ; and so applying his in- 
 spirations to open our understanding, as the form of 
 the key is fitted to the ward of the lock. In which 
 respect, notwithstanding, we ought not to be wanting 
 to ourselves ; for since God himself makes use of the 
 means of our reason in his illuminations, we ought 
 also to exercise and turn the same every way, by 
 which we may become more capable to receive and 
 imbibe the holy mysteries ; with this caution, that 
 the mind be dilated, according to its model, to the am- 
 plitude of the mysteries ; and not the mysteries strait- 
 ened and contracted to the narrowness of the mind. 
 As for inferences, we ought to know, that there is al- 
 lowed us a use of reason and argumentation in mys- 
 teries secondary and respective, though not original 
 and absolute ; for after the articles and principles of 
 religion are once placed, and wholly exempted from the 
 examination of reason, it is then permitted unto us to 
 make deductions and inferences from them, and accord- 
 ing to the analogy of them, for our better direction. 
 In things natural, indeed, this holds not ; for both the 
 principles themselves are examinable by induction, 
 though not by syllogism : and, besides, those princi- 
 ples, or first positions have no repugnancy with that 
 reason which draws down and deduces the inferior po- 
 sitions. The case is otherwise in religion, where both 
 the first positions are their own supporters, and sub- 
 sist by themselves ; and again, they are not regulated 
 by that reason which deduces the consequent propo- 
 sitions. Nor does this hold in religion alone, but in 
 other sciences also, both of greater and smaller na- 
 ture ; namely, wherein there are not only positions, 
 but acts of authority ; for in such also there can be 
 no use of absolute reason : so in human laws, there 
 I 2 
 
172 INSUFFICIENCY OF REASON IN 
 
 are many grounds and maxims, which are placita 
 Juris positive upon authority and not upon reason; and 
 therefore not to be disputed ; but what is most just, 
 not absolutely but relatively, and according to the 
 analogy of those maxims, which affords a large field 
 of disputation. Such, therefore, is that secondary 
 reason that has place in divinity, which is grounded 
 upon the placits of God. 
 
 And as there is a double use of human reason in 
 divine matters, so in the same use also there is a 
 double excess : the one, when too curious an inquiry 
 is made into the manner of the mystery ; the other, 
 when as great authority is attributed to inferences as 
 to principles. We have an instance of the first in 
 Nicodemus, who obstinately inquires, " how can a 
 " man be born when he is old ?" Of the second, in 
 those who arrogantly vouch their opinions by anathe- 
 mas : it would therefore be a wholesome and very 
 useful course, if a sober and diligent treatise was 
 compiled, which might give directions concerning the 
 true limits and use of reason in spiritual things ; and 
 would be a kind of opiate medicine, not only to quiet 
 and lay asleep the vanity of curious speculations with 
 which the schools labour, but likewise to calm and 
 mitigate the fury of controversies, wherewith the 
 church labours. For it cannot but open men's eyes 
 to see, that many controversies do merely relate to 
 that which is either not revealed or positive ; and that 
 many others do grow upon weak and obscure infer- 
 ences or deductions. So it is a thing of great mo- 
 ment and use, well to define what, and of what lati- 
 tude those points are, which discorporate men from 
 the body of the church, and exclude them from the 
 communion and fellowship of the faithful. Now, if 
 any one thinks this has been done long ago, let him 
 well consider with what sincerity and moderation. 
 
t-C3,^>^ 
 5* J^ X 
 . 
 fy)r> 
 r _ - 
 
 senger, Is it peace, Jehu ?" " What hast thou to 
 do with peace ? Turn, and follow me." Peace is not 
 the thing that most people love, but party. Bacon's 
 Essays, p. 336. 
 
 But there being many things, wherein we have 
 very imperfect notions, or none at all ; and other 
 things, of whose past, present, or future existence, 
 by the natural use of our faculties, we can have no 
 knowledge at all ; these, as being beyond the disco- 
 very of our natural faculties, and above reason, are, 
 when revealed, the proper matter of faith. Thus, 
 that part of the angels rebelled against God, and 
 thereby lost their first happy state ; and that the 
 dead shall rise, and live again : these, and the like, 
 being beyond the discovery of reason, are purely mat- 
 ters of faith ; with which reason has nothing to do. 
 Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding book 
 iv. chap. 18. 
 
 But, finding in myself nothing to be truer than what 
 the wise Solomon tells me : As Ihou Jenowesl not what 
 is the way of the spirit ; nor how the bones grow in the 
 womb of her that is with child : even so thou kncwest 
 not the works of God, who maJcest all things : I grate- 
 fully receive and rejoice in the light of revelation, 
 which sets me at rest in many things, the manner 
 whereof my poor reason can by no means make out 
 to me : omnipotency, I know, can do any thing that 
 contains in it no contradiction ; so that I readily be- 
 lieve whatever God has declared, though my reason 
 find difficulties in it, which it cannot master. Locke's 
 Essay on the Human Understanding, book iv. chap. 3. 
 
174 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES OF REVELATION. 
 
 BELIEF IN TESTIMONY. Superstition *, under the 
 guidance of philosophy, is natural, and is good. It is 
 impossible for mankind, in general, to see those truths 
 of science, which require the investigation of many 
 steps ; for, mankind must not consist of theoretical 
 philosophers, no more than of kings and judges. But 
 though mankind cannot see those truths, which are 
 above the degree of their proper science, they may 
 believe them when revealed. For example, the sys- 
 tem of the heavenly bodies is here generally believed 
 by those, who read or converse with men of science, 
 although there are but few of those, who see the evi- 
 dence of that truth which they then believe : and there 
 is nothing so incredible but what will be believed, if 
 coming from an authority that is not suspected, and 
 if not opposed by the prejudices of the person, whose 
 faith is thus to be formed in superstition and not in 
 science. Hutlon's Investigation, iii. 626. 
 
 FAITH ATTAINED BY PRAYER. As reason is a re- 
 bel unto faith, so passion unto reason. As the pro- 
 positions of faith seem absurd unto reason, so the 
 theorems of reason unto passion, and both unto reason ; 
 yet a moderate and peaceable discretion may so state 
 and order the matter, that they may be all kings, and 
 yet make but one monarchy, every one exercising his 
 prerogative in a due time and place, according to the 
 
 * By superstition this author means belief on the authority of 
 others. 
 
OF REVELATION. 175 
 
 restraint and limit of circumstance. There is, as in 
 philosophy, so in divinity, sturdy doubts and boister- 
 ous objections, wherewith the unhappiness of our 
 knowledge too easily acquainteth us. More of these no 
 man hath known than myself, which I confess I con- 
 quered, not in a martial posture, but on my knees. 
 Brown's Religio Medici. 
 
 NATURE OF FAITH. As touching the act itself (of 
 faith) it is no other than a sound, real, and firm be- 
 lief of those sacred truths. Therefore, it seems that 
 they that perplex the notion of faith with other intri- 
 cate and abstruse definitions or descriptions, either ren- 
 der it very difficult or scarce intelligible, or else take 
 into the definition, or but description of it, those 
 things that are but the consequents and effects of it. 
 He that hath this firm persuasion will most certainly 
 repent of his past sins, will most certainly endeavour 
 obedience to the will of God, which is thus believed 
 by him to be holy, just, and good ; and upon the obe- 
 dience or disobedience whereof depends his eternal 
 happiness or misery ; will most certainly depend up- 
 on the promises of God for this life and that to come ; 
 for those are as natural effects of such a firm persua- 
 sion, as it is for the belief of a danger to put a man 
 upon means to avoid it, or for the belief of a benefit 
 to put a man upon means to attain it. Some things 
 are of such a nature, that the belief or knowledge of 
 them goes no farther, but it rests in itself, as the be- 
 lief of bare speculative truths ; but some things are 
 of such a nature, as being once truly and firmly be- 
 lieved or known, carry a man out to action ; and such 
 are especially the knowledge and belief of such things, 
 as are the objects of our fears or of our hopes. The 
 belief of objects doth naturally, and with a kind of 
 moral necessity, carry a man out to action, to the avoid- 
 i 4 
 
176 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES 
 
 ing of such fears and the attaining of such hopes; 
 and, therefore,, faith and belief, in reference thereunto, 
 comes often in the Scripture under the names of hope 
 and fear, as being the proper effects of it, 2 Cor. v. 
 10, 11. 1 John, iii. 2, 3. 
 
 Faith, therefore, is a firm assent to the sacred truths, 
 whether the truths relate to things past, as that God 
 made the world, that Christ the Messiah is come in 
 the flesh, &c. ; or to things present, as that Almighty 
 God beholds all I do, and knows all I think, or that 
 he is a reconciled father to me in Christ Jesus ; or 
 things to come, which principally excite those two 
 great movers of the soul, hope and fear, in relation 
 to the future life of rewards and punishments. Sir 
 Matthew Bale's Contemplations, i. 262. 
 
 EXCELLENCE OF FAITH. Faith, in this sense, is 
 the Christian virtue, next in excellency to love ; and, 
 as love makes the pleasure and glory of God the last 
 end, so faith gives the resolution for pursuing all the 
 means towards that end, and towards the next subor- 
 dinate end, the tranquillity of the mind, trusting in 
 God for direction in all the means towards these ends ; 
 that, as the natural man trusts to, and rests on, natu- 
 ral means for obtaining his ends, so the spiritual trusts 
 to, and depends upon, the conduct of the Holy Ghost, 
 by supernatural means especially. Therefore the 
 Apostle Paul saith, and gives warrant to all, who walk 
 Christianly, to say, " The life that I now live is by 
 " the faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and 
 " gave himself for me." Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, 
 on the Divine Perfections, 321. 
 
 This faith in the promises of God, this relying and 
 acquiescing in his word and faithfulness, the Almighty 
 takes well at our hand, as a great mark of homage, 
 paid by us frail creatures, to his goodness and truth, 
 
OF REVELATION. 177 
 
 as well as to his power and wisdom ; and accepts it 
 as an acknowledgment of his peculiar providence and 
 benignity to us. And, therefore, our Saviour tells 
 us, John xii. 4$4, " He that believes on me, believes 
 " not on me, but on him that sent me." The works 
 of nature show his wisdom and power ; but it is his 
 peculiar care of mankind, most eminently discovered 
 in his promises to them, that shows his bounty and 
 goodness ; and consequently engages their hearts in 
 love and affection to him. This oblation of an heart, 
 fixed with dependence on, and affection to him, is the 
 most acceptable tribute we can pay him, the founda- 
 tion of true devotion, and life of all religion. What a 
 value he puts on this depending on his word, and rest- 
 ing satisfied in his promises, we have an example in 
 Abraham, whose faith " was counted to him for right- 
 eousness," as we have before remarked out of Ro- 
 mans iv. And his relying firmly on the promise of 
 God, without any doubt of its performance, gave him 
 the name of the Father of the Faithful ; and gained 
 him so much favour with the Almighty, that he was 
 called the "friend of God;" the highest and most 
 
 glorious title that can be bestowed on a creature 
 
 Locke on the Reasonableness of Christianity, Works t 
 vi. 129* 
 
 DIFFERENT DEGREES OF FAITH.-*! believe there 
 is no degree of faith necessary to salvation, which is 
 not suitable to the evidence, if men, through laziness, 
 prejudices, vice, passions, interest, or some other de- 
 fect, are not wanting to themselves. Nor is the same 
 degree of faith necessary to all persons, since men's 
 capacities, education, and their opportunities of in- 
 forming themselves, may dispose them to be diffident 
 and apt to hesitate. And, in some cases, a degree of 
 iaith,*not exempt from doubts, may, through God's 
 I 5 
 
178 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES 
 
 goodness, be accepted ; and even the apostles made it 
 their prayer that our Saviour would " increase their 
 faith." And he who solicited him to help his son, 
 cried out, tf Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief;" 
 and was so mercifully accepted by that high priest, 
 who is sensibly touched with our infirmities, that his 
 request was granted, though it could not be done 
 without a miracle. And our Saviour's disciples, when 
 they were ready to perish, and were saved by their 
 master, he, at the same time, gave them the epithet of 
 ' ' men of little faith." The faith, then, that is as ne- 
 cessary under the gospel, as the genuine fruit of it is 
 obedience, so it is not such a faith as excludes doubts, 
 but refusals. Indeed, the attainment of a higher de- 
 gree of faith is always a blessing, and cannot be too 
 much prized or aimed at ; but there are degrees in 
 some kind of virtues and graces, that, though it be a 
 happiness to reach them, yet the endeavouring after 
 them is an indispensable duty, How. Robert Boyle's 
 Theological Works. 
 
 CONNEXION OF FAITH WITH SALVATION. God was 
 inclined to save mankind, not from the righteousness 
 of man himself, or from any merit of his own, but 
 only through the redemption which is in Christ. It 
 is by faith that he is justified, not by the accomplish- 
 ment of the law. This is the invariable doctrine of 
 revelation, as preached both by St. Paul, and by our 
 Saviour himself. " Without me, ye can do nothing." 
 " This is life eternal, that they believe in him whom 
 God hath sent." Man, justified by the grace which 
 is in another, hath no cause for pride or vanity. 
 Baron Holler 's Letters to his Daughter, Letter 13. 
 
 The saving act of faith is not ordained to be man's 
 part of the covenant of grace, upon consideration of 
 its own worth and value, but as it relates to, and re- 
 
OF REVELATION. 179 
 
 lieth on, the mercy and faithfulness of God, and the 
 merits and satisfaction of Christ. It useth to be call- 
 ed the eye of faith looking to these, the hand of faith 
 laying hold upon them, or the instrument of the soul, 
 whereby it obtains salvation. There are sharp dis- 
 putes, under which of these considerations it justifies ; 
 but I like it better to be conceived only as the man- 
 ner which God hath freely chosen, whereby to com- 
 municate grace and glory to the elect. I like it not 
 properly to be called an instrument, which is an in- 
 ferior cause, having some influence with the princi- 
 pal agent, whereas God and Christ are the only cause 
 of grace and glory. Neither yet to be properly a con- 
 dition, upon which God is to give grace and glory, 
 seeing a condition must be uncertain to him who 
 makes it a condition. The being an eye or hand are 
 certainly metaphorical ; without doubt, causa conditio 
 et modus are different. There is least to be attributed 
 to the saving act of faith, as it is only the manner 
 how God is pleased to save, which is not a necessary 
 manner, for God might have exerted all his dispensa- 
 tions with creatures, without giving them the honour 
 to enter into covenant with him, and, therefore, he 
 freely chose the way of a covenant, and so the man- 
 ner of it ; and, to magnify his grace, and to exclude 
 all glorying of man in himself, he hath chosen the 
 manner of the covenant of grace, wherein there could 
 not be less of man in a covenant. If God had pro- 
 ceeded only by mercy to save men, there could have 
 been no place for a covenant, and man had not been 
 so much dealt with as a rational creature, proceeding 
 by reason, deliberation, and choice, as by a covenant. 
 Dalrympk, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections. 
 
 FAITH PRODUCTIVE OP GOOD WORKS. 'Twas an 
 unhappy division, that has been made between faith 
 i 6 
 
180 FAITH IN THE DOCTRINES 
 
 and works. Though in my intellect, I may divide 
 them, just as in the candle I know there is both light 
 and heat ; but yet put out the candle, and they are 
 both gone ; one remains not without the other ; so 
 'tis betwixt faith and works. Nay, in a right concep- 
 tion "Jides est opus ;" if I believe a thing, because I 
 am commanded, that is " opus."Selden's Table 
 Talk, p. 61. 
 
 But here I would have it observed, that though 
 faith be the grand condition of God's grant of eternal 
 life, I would not ascribe any thing to a barren lazy 
 faith, in opposition to that active one called " faith 
 operating by love;" since, according to St. James, 
 faith and works are as necessary to devotion as a union 
 of soul and body is to life. But though true faith 
 (which, like Rachel) cries " give me children, or else 
 I die," produces good works ; yet those works are 
 not the cause, but the effect of God's first love to men. 
 " Thou art good, and doest good," says the Psalmist, 
 it being the greatness of his goodness that makes it 
 ours ; he not doing good to us, because we are, but 
 because he is good himself; for, as he is necessarily 
 kind, he is not the less obligingly so to us ; and, 
 though some kind of communicativeness be essential 
 to his goodness, yet his extension of it to us is arbi- 
 trary. Honourable Robert Boyle's Theological Works. 
 
 Lest the best of men, in considering the number 
 and greatness of their sins, and comparing them with 
 the purity of the Scripture precepts, and the perfec- 
 tion of God, should not dare to look up to him with 
 a filial trust and confidence in him ; lest their hearts 
 should fail, Christ our Saviour is sent from heaven, 
 God manifest in the flesh, that whosoever belie veth in 
 him should not perish, but have everlasting life ; that 
 though our sins be as scarlet, they should by him, by 
 means of his sufferings, and our faith, be made as 
 
OF REVELATION. 181 
 
 white as wool ; and the great punishment which must 
 otherwise have been inflicted upon us, according to 
 what we call the course of nature, be aveited. Faith 
 then in Christ the righteous, will supply the place of 
 that righteousness, and sinless perfection, to which we 
 cannot attain. 
 
 And yet this faith does not make void the law, and 
 strict conditions above described ; but, on the con- 
 trary, establishes them. For no man can have this 
 faith in Christ, but he who complies with the condi- 
 tions. To have a sense of our sins, to be humble and 
 contrite, and in this state of mind to depend upon 
 Christ as the mediator between God and man, as able 
 and willing to save us, which is true faith, argues such 
 a disposition as will shew itself in works. And, if our 
 faith falls short of this, if it does not overcome the 
 world, and shew itself by works, it is of no avail ; it 
 is like that of the devils, who believe and tremble. Men 
 must labour, therefore, after this faith as much as af- 
 ter any other Christian grace, or rather as much as af- 
 ter all the others, else they cannot obtain it. For it 
 contains all the other Christian graces ; and we can 
 never know that we have it, but by our having the 
 Christian graces which are its fruits. Hartley's Ob* 
 servations on Many ii. 408. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 THE MYSTERIES WHICH FAITH RECEIVES. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES. It has been objected to 
 the gospel, that it contains many things which are 
 
182 THE MYSTERIES WHICH 
 
 hard to be conceived ; and some which seem con- 
 trary to reason. And it is undoubtedly attend- 
 ed with some difficulties, otherwise there would 
 have been no occasion for teachers and interpre- 
 ters. But, though there may be some things above 
 reason, yet there will never be found any which are 
 contrary; and even the difficulties, upon a due exami- 
 nation of the context, often vanish, and shew that the 
 fault is not in the doctrine, but in our want of appre- 
 hension. Many articles, in what we style natural re- 
 ligion, are equally difficult to be explained. For in- 
 stance, we often see vice triumphant and virtue de- 
 pressed, for which we cannot account from any light of 
 nature, nor from the religion supposed to be founded 
 on it, as that system can afford neither reason nor re- 
 medy, both which are to be obtained from revelation. 
 The like occurs in natural philosophy. We find it 
 abound with phenomena, which we see and know, 
 but cannot explain ; for instance, gravity, magnetism, 
 and electricity. If then we meet with many things 
 in common life, and worldly science, which seem 
 difficult to comprehend, and some beyond our reason; 
 we must expect to find others above our reason in that 
 grand system of life and immortality, which Provi- 
 dence has laid before us. And it is our duty to ac- 
 quiesce, and to trust to the word of God, which can- 
 not deceive. Bryant on the Authenticity of Scripture. 
 What grounds, therefore, have I to be astonished 
 at the obscurities, in which certain doctrines of reli- 
 gion are involved ? Is not this obscurity itself greatly 
 increased by that darkness, which envelopes so many 
 of the mysteries of nature? How unphilosophical 
 would it be, were I to complain, that God has not be- 
 stowed on me the eyes and intelligence of an angel, 
 that I might penetrate into all the secrets of nature 
 and of grace ? Have I the presumption to think, that, 
 
FAITH EECEIVES. 183 
 
 in order to satisfy an idle curiosity, God ought to 
 have disturbed the universal harmony of nature., and 
 placed me one step higher in the immense scale of 
 beings ? Is not my extent of knowledge sufficient to 
 guide me safely in the path, which is traced out for 
 me ? Have I not sufficient motives to pursue it stea- 
 dily, and sufficient hopes to animate my efforts, and 
 to excite me in the pursuit of my proper end ? Even 
 natural religion itself, that religion which I believe 
 to be the result, and which I consider as the glory of 
 my reason, that very system which seems to me so 
 harmonious, so connected in all its parts, so perfectly 
 philosophical ; with how many impenetrable myste- 
 ries does it abound ! The sole idea of a necessarily- 
 existent being, of a being existing by itself, how un- 
 fathomable is such a thought, even to an archangel ! 
 Nay, even without reverting so far back as that first 
 great Being which absorbs all comprehension, the 
 soul itself, that soul which natural religion sooths with 
 the hopes of immortality, how many insuperable dif- 
 ficulties does it present to me ? Bonnet's Enquiries 
 concerning Christianity, 2 89. 
 
 In favour of those, who believe those abstruse arti- 
 cles revealed in Scripture, on the account of divine re- 
 velation, we shall add, that it appears from the contra- 
 dictory opinions of the divisibility of quantity, some 
 doctrine must be true, though attended with difficul- 
 ties, above the reach of our reason ; and since God's 
 perfect knowledge can distinguish which of those 
 opinions is true, and can declare that to men, it would 
 be a precarious ground to reject a revealed article, be- 
 cause attended with difficulties and liable to objec- 
 tions. And that a truth may be assented to, upon 
 positive evidence, as important to religion in genera^ 
 and the Christian in particular, though witty and in- 
 genious men may make objections not easily answer- 
 
 1 
 
184 THE MYSTERIES WHICH 
 
 ed, may appear from the following instance : And first, 
 by our walking and moving from place to place, -we 
 are convinced that there is local motion ; though Ze- 
 no and his followers urged arguments against it, which 
 puzzled and nonplussed the ancient philosophers, as 
 well as those moderns, that have pretended to give 
 clear solutions of them. Honourable Robert Boyle's 
 Theological Works. 
 
 Nor do they, who reject the Christian religion because 
 of the difficulties which arise in its mysteries, consider 
 how far that objection will go against other systems 
 both of religion and of philosophy, which they them- 
 selves profess to admit. There are in deism itself, 
 the most simple of all religious opinions, several dif- 
 ficulties, for which human reason can but ill account; 
 which may therefore be not improperly styled arti- 
 cles of faith. Such is the origin of evil, under the 
 government of an all- good and all-powerful God; a 
 question so hard that the inability of solving it in a 
 manner satisfactory to their apprehensions has driven 
 some of the greatest philosophers into the monstrous 
 and senseless opinions of manicheism and atheism. 
 Such is the reconciling the prescience of God with 
 the free-will of man, which, after much thought on 
 the subject, Mr. Locke fairly confesses he could not 
 do, though he acknowledged both ; and what Mr. 
 Locke could not do, in reasoning upon subjects of a 
 metaphysical nature, I am apt to think few men, if 
 any, can hope to perform. Such is also the creation of 
 the world at any supposed time, or tlie eternal pro- 
 duction of it from God ; it being almost equally hard, 
 according to mere philosophical notions, either to ad- 
 mit that the goodness of God could remain unexert- 
 ed through all eternity, before the time of such a 
 creation, let it be set back ever so far, or to conceive 
 an eternal production, which words so applied, are 
 
FAITH RECEIVES. 185 
 
 inconsistent and contradictory terms ; the solutio 
 commonly given, by a comparison to the emanation 
 of light from the sun, not being adequate to it or just, 
 and naturally emanating from it ; whereas, matter is 
 not a quality inherent or emanating from the divine 
 essence, but of a different substance and nature, and 
 if not independent and self-existing, must have been 
 created by a mere act of the divine will ; and if cre- 
 ated, then not eternal, the idea of creation implying 
 a time when the substance created did not exist. But 
 because of these difficulties, or any other, that may oc- 
 cur in the system of Deism, no wise man will deny 
 the being of a God, or his infinite wisdom, goodness, 
 and power, which are proved by such evidence as 
 carries the clearest and strongest conviction, and can- 
 not be refuted without involving the mind in far 
 greater difficulties, even in downright absurdities and 
 impossibilities. The only part, therefore, that can be 
 taken, is to account in the best manner, that our weak 
 reason is able to do, for such seeming objections ; and, 
 where that fails, to acknowledge its weakness, and 
 acquiesce under the certainty, that our very imper- 
 fect knowledge or judgment cannot be the measure 
 of the divine wisdom, or the universal standard of 
 truth. So likewise it is with respect to the Christian 
 religion. Some difficulties occur, in that revelation, 
 which human reason can hardly clear ; but, as the 
 truth of it stands upon evidence so strong and con- 
 vincing, that it cannot be denied without much greater 
 difficulties, than those that attend the belief of it, 
 we ought not to reject it upon such objections, how- 
 ever mortifying they may be to our pride. That in- 
 deed, would have all things made plain to us : but 
 God has thought proper to proportion our knowledge 
 to our wants, not our pride. All that concerns our 
 duty is clear, and as to other points, either of natu- 
 
186 THE MYSTERIES WHICH 
 
 > 
 
 ral or revealed religion, if he has left some obscurities 
 in them, is that any reasonable cause of complaint ? 
 Not to rejoice in the benefit of what he hath gracious- 
 ly allowed us to know, from a presumptuous disgust 
 at our incapacity of knowing more, is as absurd as 
 it would be to refuse to walk, because we cannot fly. 
 Indeed, not even in heaven itself, not in the highest 
 state of perfection to which a finite being can ever at- 
 tain, will all the counsels of Providence, all the height 
 and the depth of the infinite wisdom of God be ever 
 disclosed or understood. Faith, even then, will be ne- 
 cessary ; and there will be mysteries which cannot be 
 penetrated by the most exalted archangel, and truths 
 which cannot be known by him, otherwise than by 
 revelation, or believed upon any other ground of as- 
 sent, than a submissive confidence in the divine wisdom. 
 What then shall man presume that his weak and nar- 
 row understanding is sufficient to guide him into all 
 truth, without any need of revelation or faith ? Shall 
 he complain, that " the ways of God are not like his 
 ways, and past his finding out I" True philosophy, as 
 well as true Christianity, would teach us a wiser 
 and modester part. It would teach us to be con- 
 tent within those bounds which God has assigned to 
 us, casting down imaginations, and every high thing 
 that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and 
 bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience 
 of Christ. Lord Lyttlelon on the Conversion of Paul. 
 
 CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES IN STRICT ANALOGY WITH 
 THE COURSE OF NATURE. The mutual instrumentali- 
 ty of beings to each other's happiness and misery, un- 
 folded in the Scriptures, is an argument of their di- 
 vine authority. The Scripture account of the fall of 
 man, his redemption by Christ, and the influences 
 exerted upon him by good and evil angels, is so far 
 
FAITH RECEIVES. 187 
 
 from affording an objection against the Christian re- 
 ligion, that it is a considerable evidence for it, when 
 viewed in a truly philosophical light. God works in 
 every thing by means, by those which, according to 
 our present language and short-sightedness, are termed 
 bad and impious, as well as by the good and evident- 
 ly fit ones ; and all these means require a definite 
 time, before they can accomplish their respective 
 ends. This occurs to daily observation in the course 
 and constitution of nature. And the Scripture doc- 
 trine concerning the fall, the redemption by Christ, 
 and the influences of good and evil angels, are only 
 such intimations concerning the principal invisible 
 means that lead man to his ultimate end, happiness 
 in being united to God, as accelerate him in his pro- 
 gress thither. According to the Scriptures, Adam 
 hurts all through frailty; Christ saves all from his 
 love and compassion to all ; evil angels tempt through 
 malice ; and good ones assist and defend, in obedi- 
 ence to the will of God, and his original and ultimate 
 design of making all happy. These things are in- 
 deed clothed in a considerable variety of expression, 
 suited to our present way of acting, conceiving, and 
 speaking ; (which ways are however all of divine ori- 
 ginal, God having taught mankind in the patriar- 
 chal times, the language, as one may say, in which he 
 spake to them then and afterwards ;) but these ex- 
 pressions can have no greater real import, than that 
 of signifying to us the means made use of by God ; 
 he being, according to the Scripture, as well as reason, 
 the only real agent, in all the transactions that relate 
 to man, to angels, &c. And to object to the method 
 of producing happiness by this or that means, be- 
 cause of the time required to accomplish the end, of 
 the mixture of evil, &c. is to require that all God's 
 creatures should at once be created infinitely happy, 
 
188 THE MYSTERIES WHICH 
 
 or rather, have existed so from all eternity, z. e. should 
 be gods and not creatures. -Hartley's Observations on 
 Man, ii. ] 82. 
 
 'Tis upon this very foundation, that wicked and 
 profane men are wont to build their blasphemous 
 calumnies against the Christian religion, only be- 
 cause they misunderstand it. They imagine, that it 
 consists purely in the adoration of the Divinity, con- 
 sidered as great, powerful, and eternal. This is pro- 
 perly deism, and stands almost as far removed from 
 Christianity as atheism ; which is directly opposite to it. 
 Yet hence they would infer the falsehood of our re- 
 ligion ; because, ( say they, ) were it true, God would 
 have manifested himself under its dispensation by so 
 visible tokens, that it should have been impossible 
 for any man not to know him. 
 
 But let them conclude what they will against de- 
 ism, they will be able to draw no such conclusion to 
 the prejudice of Christianity ; which acknowledges, 
 that, since the fall, God does not manifest himself to 
 us with all the evidence that is possible ; and which 
 consists properly in the mystery of a Redeemer, who, 
 by sustaining at once the divine and human nature, 
 has recovered men out of the corruption of sin, that 
 he might reconcile them to God in his divine person. 
 
 True religion, therefore, instructs men in these two 
 principles, that there is a God, whom they are capa- 
 ble of knowing and enjoying ; and that there are 
 such corruptions in their nature, as render them un- 
 worthy of him. There is the same importance in 
 apprehending the one as the other of these points : 
 and it is alike dangerous for man to know God, with- 
 out the knowledge of his own misery, and to know 
 his own misery without the knowledge of a Redeem- 
 er, who may deliver him from it. To apprehend 
 one without the other, begets either the pride of 
 
FAITH RECEIVES. 189 
 
 philosophers, who know God, but not their own mi- 
 sery ; or the despair of atheists, who know their own 
 misery, but not the author of their deliverance. 
 
 And as it is of equal necessity to man, that he should 
 obtain the knowledge of both these principles, so is it 
 equally agreeable to the mercy of God, that he should 
 afford the means of such a knowledge. To perform 
 this, is the office, and the very essence of Christianity. 
 
 Upon this foot let men examine the order and eco- 
 nomy of the world, and let them see whether all 
 things do not conspire in establishing these two fun- 
 damentals of our religion. 
 
 If any one knows not himself to be full of pride 
 and ambition, of concupiscence and injustice, of weak- 
 ness and wretchedness, he is blind beyond dispute. 
 And if any one who knows himself to labour under 
 these defects, at the same time desires not to be res- 
 cued from them, what can we say of a man who has 
 thus abandoned his reason ? What remains then but 
 that we preserve the highest veneration for a religion, 
 which so well understands the infirmities of mankind ? 
 and that we profess the heartiest wishes for the truth 
 of a religion, which en gage th to heal those infirmi- 
 ties by so happy, so desirable a relief? Pascal's 
 Thoughts, p. 25. 
 
 CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES WORTHY TO BE RECEIVED. 
 When we have, from the purity of its doctrines, and 
 the external evidence of miracles, prophecy, and hu- 
 man testimony, satisfied ourselves of the truth of the 
 Christian revelation, it becomes us to believe even 
 such parts of it, as could never have been found out 
 by human reason. And thus it is, that our natural 
 notions of God and his providence are wonderfully 
 refined and improved by what is revealed in holy 
 writ : so that the meanest of our people, who has 
 had a Christian education, knows a great deal more 
 
190 THE MYSTERIES WHICH 
 
 on these subjects, than could ever be discovered by 
 the wisest of the ancient philosophers. That many 
 things in the divine government, and many particu- 
 lars relating to the divine nature, as declared in scrip- 
 ture, should surpass our comprehension, is not to be 
 wondered at; for we are daily puzzled with things 
 more within our sphere : we know that our own soul 
 and body are united, but of the manner of that union 
 we know nothing. A past eternity we cannot 
 comprehend ; and a future eternity is an object by 
 which our reason is astonished and confounded : yet 
 nothing can be more certain than that one eternity is 
 past, and another to come. Beaitie's Elements of Mo- 
 ral Science, i. 376. 
 
 CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES NOT TO BE EXPLAINED 
 AWAY. To several learned and ingenious writers, 
 some doctrines of the Christian religion have appeared 
 so contradictory to all the principles of reason and 
 equity, that they cannot assent to them, nor believe 
 that they can be derived from the fountain of all truth 
 and justice. In order therefore to satisfy themselves 
 and others, who may labour under the same difficul- 
 ties, they have undertaken the arduous task of recon- 
 ciling revelation and reason ; and great would have 
 been their merits, had they begun at the right end ; 
 that is, had they endeavoured to exalt the human 
 understanding to the comprehension of the sublime 
 doctrines of the gospel, rather than to reduce those 
 doctrines to the low standard of human reason ; but. 
 unfortunately for themselves and many others, they 
 have made choice of the latter method, and as the 
 shortest way to effect it, have with inconsiderate rash- 
 ness expunged from the New Testament- every di- 
 vine declaration, which agrees not exactly with their 
 own notions of truth and rectitude ; and this they 
 have attempted by no other means, than by absurd ex- 
 
FAITH RECEIVES. 191 
 
 planations,or by bold assertions that they are not there, 
 in direct contradiction to the sense of language, and the 
 whole tenour of those writings ; as some philosophers 
 have ventured, in opposition to all men's senses and 
 even to their own, to deny the existence of matter, 
 for no other reason, but because they find in it pro- 
 perties which they are unable to account for. Thus 
 they have reduced Christianity to a mere system of 
 ethics, and retain no part of it but the moral, which, in 
 fact, is no characteristic part of it at all, as this, though 
 in a manner less perfect, makes a part of every reli- 
 gion which ever appeared in the world. Soame Jen- 
 tiyns' Works, iii. 24-5. 
 
 CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES PROVED BY THEIR ENE- 
 MIES. Libertines and ungodly men, who devote 
 themselves blindly to their own passions, without 
 either knowing God, or giving themselves the trou- 
 ble to search after him, do yet verify by this their 
 conduct, one of those foundations of our faith, which 
 they particularly oppose, that the present state of 
 human nature is a state of corruption. Again, the 
 Jews, who with so obstinate a spirit resist the evi- 
 dences of Christianity, confirm in like manner the 
 other great foundation of our faith, which they prin- 
 cipally endeavour to destroy, that Jesus Christ is the 
 true Messias, that he came to redeem mankind, and 
 to retrieve us from the misery and corruption, into 
 which we were fallen. Arid this, as well by the 
 estate to which we see them at present reduced, and 
 which was foretold in their own prophecies them- 
 selves, which are still in their hands, and which, with 
 the utmost caution they preserve inviolable, as con- 
 taining the proper marks and character of their Mes- 
 sias. Thus may the chief evidences, both of the cor- 
 ruption of human nature, and of the redemption by 
 
192 THE MYSTERIES WHICH 
 
 Jesus Christ^ which are the two leading articles esta- 
 blished by the Christian faith, be drawn from the 
 libertines, who cast off the care of all religion ; and 
 from the Jews, who are irreconcilable enemies to the 
 truth. Pascal's Thoughts. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL CHRISTIAN DOC- 
 TRINES. If Christianity is to be learned out of the 
 New Testament, and words have any meaning affixed 
 to them, the fundamental principles of it are these. 
 That mankind came into this world in a depraved and 
 fallen condition ; that they are placed here for a while, 
 to give them an opportunity to work out their salvation, 
 that is, by a virtuous and pious life to purge off their 
 guilt and depravity, and recover their lost state of hap- 
 piness and innocence in a future life ; that this they 
 are unable to perform without the grace and assist- 
 ance of God ; and that, after their best endeavours, 
 they cannot hope for pardon from their own merits, 
 but only from the merits of Christ, and the atone- 
 ment made for their transgressions by his sufferings 
 and death. This is clearly the sum and substance of 
 the Christian dispensation ; and so adverse is it to all 
 the principles of human reason, that, if brought be- 
 fore her tribunal, it must inevitably be condemned. 
 If we give no credit to its divine authority, any at- 
 tempt to reconcile them is useless ; and, if we believe 
 it, presumptuous in the highest degree. To prove 
 the reasonableness of a revelation is in fact to destroy 
 it ; because a revelation implies information of some- 
 thing which reason cannot discover, and therefore 
 must be different from its deductions, or it would be 
 no revelation. Soame Jenyns* Works, iii. 248. 
 
 The tracts contained in the book, which in dis- 
 tinction, we term the Bible, unquestionably develop 
 the most singular history and most original system 
 
WHICH FAITH RECEIVES. 193 
 
 of philosophy ever promulgated. With the history I 
 have no concern at present. The sum of its philoso- 
 phy, if I understand it rightly, is this : The world, 
 that is, men generally, without noticing degrees, 
 is declared to be ignorant and corrupt, corrupt in 
 ignorance, ignorant because corrupt, and wretched 
 alike in both. This wretchedness is not described as 
 light or transitory, but is depicted in the strongest 
 colours. Bondage, darkness, and death, are the gloo- 
 my images by which it is generally represented ; and 
 though a nice accuracy of expression is plainly avoid- 
 ed, there are numerous passages of Scripture, which 
 concur with the analogy of natural things, to make 
 it probable, that this unhappy state is likely to endure 
 through endless ages, and to become as it advances 
 darker and more desperate. In order that we may 
 escape from so sad a condition, the Scriptures call 
 upon us to come to God by faith, which in substance 
 I understand thus : Man trusting in his own strength 
 and wisdom, has gone on from age to age in misery 
 and sin. He neither understands what it is that con- 
 stitutes happiness, nor could attain to it if he did. 
 He sees not, that to be alienated from God is to be 
 wretched ; or, if a few among the wisest, perceiving 
 the vanity of earthly things, begin to suspect this, 
 they know so little what God is, or how his favour 
 is to be secured, that their philosophy ends at last in 
 rhapsody and mysticism. The Almighty, pitying his 
 creatures, tells them, that they are not only in a very un- 
 happy condition, which they a little (though but a little) 
 suspected ; but that they are exceedingly blind and 
 foolish, which for the most part they suspected not 
 at all ; that, if they would be happy, they must come 
 to him, and laying aside for ever their own silly con- 
 ceits of what is good, learn the way of life, and walk 
 in it. This coming to God, (or however else we 
 K 
 
194 THE MYSTERIES 
 
 please to express it,) and taking his word for our 
 rule of conduct, in the full conviction that it will is- 
 sue greatly to our advantage ; as it is obviously the 
 strongest expression of faith, so it is, I apprehend, 
 what is, primarily and principally meant by that word 
 in both Testaments. 
 
 Struck with such an invitation, and touched by 
 the preventing grace of God, many are led to in- 
 quire more particularly into the nature of that which 
 promises so much. On examination it appears, that 
 what God declares to be needful for happiness, is 
 wholly different from all the things which a majori- 
 ty of mankind are pursuing. He does not give us 
 rules for lengthening our existence, fortifying our 
 health, improving our fortunes, or advancing our 
 stations in this life ; for quickening or multiplying 
 the common sources or objects of enjoyment, nor even 
 (at least properly, and for their own sake) does he 
 teach us how our affections may become more lively, 
 or our understandings acquire strength and elevation. 
 The word of God, condemning many, neglecting the 
 residue, of these things, calls on all who will listen, 
 to labour assiduously for the attainment of a certain 
 character, or nature of mind, which is composed of 
 many particular qualities, and is usually denominat- 
 ed by the term holiness, or some equivalent expres- 
 sion. This character, it is declared, will most nearly 
 assimilate us to God ; make us capable here of en- 
 joying a portion of that felicity which he possesses 
 without measure ; and, by securing to us his favour, 
 bring us, after this life is ended, to a state far more 
 perfect and glorious, than at present we can either 
 enjoy or conceive. 
 
 All this, we see, might have been known, without 
 our having any apprehension of the doctrine of a 
 Redeemer ; but the value of that doctrine cannot be 
 
WHICH FAITH RECEIVES. 195 
 
 understood, without a just apprehension of the state of 
 things, for which it was provided. I speak particu- 
 larly of the doctrine. The value of redemption as a 
 fact, is quite a different matter from the value of the 
 knowledge of that fact. This is called " the know- 
 ledge of salvation ; good tidings of great joy." It is 
 indeed a joyful thing to hear that salvation is attain- 
 able ; but how much more joyful to be taught the 
 means, and furnished with the most pressing motives 
 for attaining it. For the present purpose, salvation 
 and holiness may be considered as the same ; and for 
 the promotion of holiness the doctrine of the atone- 
 ment is, above all rivalry, most efficient. Works of 
 John Bawdier, jun. * ii. 181. 
 
 * Mr. Bowdler ' was possessed of an amiable character and 
 uncommon talents. He gave, particularly, great promise of dis- 
 tinction in his professional pursuits. He had applied himself with 
 singular success to the noble study of eloquence ; and possessed a 
 style of speaking, unusually nervous, manly, and original. With 
 this great excellence, with knowledge foreign to the habits of most 
 lawyers, and with^technical acquirements which hardly any one, so 
 gifted as he was in other respects, ever brought to the bar at his 
 outset in life, his rapid attainment to the heights of his profession 
 was a matter of certainty, had life only been accorded," Edin. 
 Review, vol. xxviii. p. 336. 
 
196 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE PARTICULAR DOCTRINES 
 OF REVELATION 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 THE EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS. 
 
 RELIGION is the most important of all things, the 
 great point of discrimination, that divides the man from 
 the brute. It is our special prerogative, that we can 
 converse with that which we cannot see, and believe 
 in that, the existence of which is reported to us by none 
 of our senses. Such is the abstract and exalted nature 
 of man. This it is, that constitutes us intellectual, 
 and truly entitles us to the denomination of reason- 
 able beings. All that passes before the senses of the 
 body is a scenic exhibition ; and he, that is busied 
 about these fantastic appearances, " walketh in a vain 
 " shew,and disquieteth himself in vain." Invisible 
 things are the only realities ; invisible things alone 
 are the things that shall remain. Godwin's Mande- 
 ville. 
 
 Lastly, if this notion of unmaterial spirit may have 
 perhaps some difficulties in it, not easy to be explain- 
 
EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS 197 
 
 ed, we have therefore no more reason to deny or 
 doubt the existence of such spirits, than we have to 
 deny or doubt the existence of body ; because the 
 notion of body is cumbered with some difficulties 
 very hard, and, perhaps, impossible to be explained, 
 or understood by us. For I would fain have instanc- 
 ed any thing in our notion of spirit more perplexed, 
 or nearer a contradiction, than the very notion of body 
 includes in it ; the divisibility in infinitum of any fi- 
 nite extension, involving us, whether we grant or 
 deny it, in consequences impossible to be explicated, 
 or made in our apprehensions consistent ; consequen- 
 ces that carry greater difficulty, and more apparent 
 absurdity, than any thing that can follow from the no- 
 tion of an immaterial knowing substance. Which we 
 are not at all to wonder at, since we, having but some 
 few superficial ideas of things, discovered to us only 
 by the senses from without, or by the mind, reflect- 
 ing on what it experiments in itself within, have no 
 knowledge beyond that, and much less of the inter- 
 nal constitution, and true nature of things, being des- 
 titute of faculties to attain it. And therefore experi- 
 menting and discovering in ourselves knowledge, 
 and the power of voluntary motion, as certainly as 
 we experiment, or discover in things without us, the 
 cohesion and separation of solid parts, which is the 
 extension and motion of bodies, we have as much 
 reason to be satisfied with our notion of immaterial 
 spirit, as with our notion of body ; and the existence 
 of the one, as well as the other. For it being no 
 more a contradiction, that thinking should exist, se- 
 parate and independent from solidity, than it is a con- 
 tradiction, that solidity should exist, separate and in- 
 dependent from thinking, they being both but simple 
 ideas, independent one from another ; and having as 
 lear and distinct ideas in us of thinking, as of soli- 
 
198 EXISTENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS. 
 
 dity, I know not why we may not as well allow a 
 thinking thing without solidity, i. e. immaterial, to 
 exist, as a solid thing without thinking, i. e. matter, 
 to exist ; especially since it is no harder to conceive 
 how thinking should exist without matter, than how 
 matter should think. For whensoever we would 
 proceed beyond these simple ideas we have from sen- 
 sation and reflection, and dive farther into the nature 
 of things, we fall presently into darkness and obscu- 
 rity, perplexedness and difficulties ; and can discover 
 nothing farther but our own blindness and ignorance. 
 Locke's- Essay on the Human Understanding , Book ii. 
 chap. 23. 
 
 We cannot form a competent idea of the Supreme 
 Being : he is superior to every image, which derives 
 its origin from the senses. It is however certain, 
 that he is omnipotent, all-wise, and infinite in eve- 
 ry perfection. We have every possible reason to 
 think, that, betwixt this Being and man, there are 
 other creatures, who approach nearer to God in sanc- 
 tity, virtue, and perfection ; and who are far superi- 
 or to maTi, I know, that, in strict propriety of speech, 
 there cannot be an uniform gradation between finite 
 and infinite ; but the distance between God and fee- 
 ble mortals is so immense, that we may suppose with 
 the highest probability, that, in the celestial habita- 
 tions, are beings of a much more excellent nature 
 than man, whose understanding is so much limited, 
 and whose heart is exceedingly depraved. Baron 
 Holler's Letters to his Daughter, let. 2. 
 
 All the ideas that man can form of the ways of 
 Providence, and of the employments of angels and 
 spirits, must ever fall short of the reality ; but still it 
 is right to think of them, and to raise his ideas as 
 high as he can. He glorifies the inhabitant of hea- 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 199 
 
 ven, and at the same time gives a proof of human 
 greatness, when he raises the idea of perfection to the 
 highest degree, that we are capable of conceiving. 
 What can have a more exalting influence on the 
 earthly life, than, in these first days of our existence, 
 to make ourselves conversant with the lives of the 
 blessed, with the happy spirits, whose society we 
 shall hereafter enjoy, and with the future glories of 
 the virtuous. By these ideas, the mind is prepared 
 and formed to step forth with more confidence on the 
 great theatre of the world. We should accustom 
 ourselves to consider the spirits of heaven as always 
 around us, observing all our steps, and witnessing 
 our most secret actions. Whoever is become fami- 
 liar with these ideas will find the most solitary place 
 peopled with the best society. Klopstock's Letters, 
 translated by Miss Smith, p. 217. Note. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 
 
 THE Deity distinguished in three persons, (although 
 essentially inseparable,) every person is said in the 
 Scriptures to help one another ; as the Father by the 
 Son created the world, (Col. i. 16. John i. 3.) the 
 Son by the Spirit redeemed the world, (Luke iv. 
 43. ) the Holy Spirit, sent both from the Father and 
 the Son, comforteth, defendeth, and regenerated! his 
 elect of the world. Lord Napier of Merchi&ton on 
 the Apocalypse. 
 
 K 4 
 
200 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 
 
 Faith contains the doctrine of the nature of God, 
 the attributes of God, and of the works of God. The 
 nature of God consists of three persons in unity of 
 Godhead. The attributes of God are common to the 
 Deity, or respective to the persons. The works of 
 God summary are two, that of the creation, and that 
 of the redemption : and both these works, as in total 
 they appertain to the unity of the Godhead ; so in 
 their parts they refer to the three persons : that of the 
 creation in the mass of the matter, to the Father ; in 
 the disposition of the form, to the Son ; and in the 
 continuance and conservation of the being, to the 
 Holy Spirit, so that of the redemption, in the elec- 
 tion and counsel, to the Father ; in the whole act and 
 consummation, to the Son; and in the application, to 
 the Holy Spirit, for by the Holy Ghost was Christ 
 conceived in flesh ; and by his operation are the elect 
 regenerated in spirit. Bacon's Essays, p. 347. 
 
 What the Scripture acquaints us with, is this, and 
 no more : That what it characterises the Father, the 
 avenger of wrong, and rewarder of right, is God ; 
 that what it characterises the Son, the Word, the Cre- 
 ator of the world, the Redeemer of mankind sent for 
 that purpose by the Father, is God; that the Holy 
 Spirit, the correspondent with, and Comforter of the 
 spirits of men, is God; and that, nevertheless, the Dei- 
 ty, the Self-existent Being, is but One. That these 
 matters are so, Scripture expressly declares ; and the 
 manner in which it expresses the last proposition, 
 Dent. vi. 4. is worth attending to. Our translators 
 render it, Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one 
 Lord. The original says, Jehovah our God is one 
 Self- existent Being ; for so the word translated Lord 
 signifies. Now, what is there in our knowledge, in 
 our conceptions, or in our reason, that can qualify us 
 to determine the modus of the existence, or of the ac- 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 201 
 
 tion of the invisible Deity ? That we have no sort of 
 idea of the substance of that soul which acts in us, or 
 of the manner of its existence or actions, is an agreed 
 point ; what imprudence then must it be in us, to 
 pretend to determine, from our conceptions, or rather 
 inability to conceive, the condition, or manner of ex- 
 istence and acting of the Supreme Being, the least of 
 whose works are in very deed beyond our compre- 
 hension ? President Forbes' s Refactions on Incredu- 
 lity. 
 
 Where shall we fix our eyes, dazzled with the mag- 
 nificent objects presented to our view ? Is it before 
 the incomprehensible Trinity, the mysterious incarna- 
 tion, or the divine sacrifice of love made by the son of 
 God, that we shall humble our insignificance? The 
 Trinity opens an immense field for philosophic stu- 
 dies, whether we consider it in the attributes of God, 
 or collect the vestiges of this dogma diffused through- 
 out the ancient East. For, so far from being the 
 invention of a modern age, it bears the stamp, which 
 imparts exquisite beauty to every thing upon which 
 it is impressed. It is a pitiful mode of reasoning to re- 
 ject whatever we cannot comprehend. Were we to be- 
 gin with the most simple things in life, it would be 
 easy to prove that we know absolutely nothing ; and 
 shall we then pretend to penetrate into the depths of 
 divine wisdom ? Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christ- 
 ianity, i. 20. 
 
 Both of which doctrines (the unity of God and the 
 acknowledgment of three divine persons) are ine- 
 vitable and indispensable while we profess to regu- 
 late our faith by the testimonies of the holy Scriptures 
 as handed down to us, without presuming to exercise 
 the Socinian expedient of lopping off or altering (as 
 a supposed corruption or interpolation ) every text of 
 Scripture, that opposes the system, or set of notion?, 
 K 5 
 
202 THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 
 
 that we happen to have adopted. And therefore the 
 true Unitarian Christian, who acknowledges but one 
 God, one Jehovah, one divine nature (0e<mj$) or God" 
 head, and at the same time, nevertheless, is convinced, 
 that three Divine persons are really revealed to us un- 
 der the title of Jehovah in the Old Testament, and un- 
 der the the title of 0w? or God in the New Testament, 
 and that the supreme attributes of the DIVINE NATURE 
 are applied to each in both Testaments, will of course 
 be aware also, that each of these divine persons must 
 necessarily be the great God, and the only potentate ; 
 as there is but one God, one only supreme power or 
 Godhead. Our Lord has delivered this doctrine of 
 his unity with the Father in various modes of expres- 
 sion ; and yet the true nature and manner of that un- 
 ity must still remain a mystery ; because a perfect 
 knowledge of that eternal BEING, which in every way 
 is infinite, cannot possibly fall within the compre- 
 hension of our finite'understanding. Granville Sharpe 
 on the Divinity of Christ. 
 
 In the disputes concerning the Trinity, and incarna- 
 tion of Christ, if the words person, substance, nature, 
 &c. be used as in other cases, or any way defined, the 
 most express contradictions follow : yet the language 
 of the Scriptures is most difficult, sublime, and mys- 
 terious, in respect to the person of Christ ; so that 
 one cannot fall short of paying all that honour to 
 Christ, which the most orthodox beKeve to be require 
 ed. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii, 357. 
 
 This article of the Creed hath been coeval with 
 Christianity, and was wont to be demanded at bap- 
 tism, of the persons who came to be baptized, as ap- 
 pears from the form of the celebration of baptism, 
 which is in the name of the Son, as well as of the Fa- 
 ther and the Holy Ghost, wherein is necessarily sup- 
 posed a belief of Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. 
 
 it being in itself impossible to be baptized in the name 
 of the Son, without acknowledging the person, in 
 whose name he is baptized, to be that Son : Which 
 appellation of the Son of God denotes his divine na- 
 ture, as that of the Son of man implies his human. 
 Chancellor Sir Peter King on the Creed. 
 
 I think, however, that the words of our Saviour 
 himself oblige me to believe, and with a full aquies- 
 cence of faith, that Jesus was not a simple man, nor 
 even a mere angelic being ; but that the Author and 
 Creator of all things, hath united himself in an in- 
 comprehensible manner to beings which are not 
 pure spirits, to the human soul of Christ ; that in this 
 soul were visibly manifested divine qualities and per- 
 fections ; and that this union of the divine with hu- 
 man nature was in Jesus so intimate, that he both 
 thought and acted as God thinks and acts ; and that 
 it was with justice therefore, that divine honours 
 were paid him, and that he was called God. 
 
 In a word, such a Redeemer must be more than 
 mere man ; because a man is always exposed to er- 
 ror and to vice. But the divinity, with which Jesus 
 was invested, rendered his wisdom complete ; banish- 
 ed every passion ; directed his miraculous powers ; 
 spoke through him in a manner not to be imitated 
 by all the eloquence of man ; conducted him con- 
 stantly in a right course of action, without deviating 
 from the great design, which was the object of his 
 heavenly mission. This Jesus, who from the begin- 
 ning had been with God, who was come from God, 
 was alone capable of revealing his counsels to men. 
 He, to whom the Father had committed all judgment, 
 could alone inform men what the divine justice had 
 prepared against the workers of iniquity. This 
 union of God with Christ was doubtless a mark of 
 goodness worthy of our admiration, without which 
 K 6 
 
204 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN 
 
 the coming of Jesus into the world had been of no 
 effect. Baron Haller's Letters to his Daughter, let. 
 xi. 
 
 SECTION III 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. 
 
 Who can without horror consider the whole earth 
 as the empire of destruction ? It abounds in wonders ; 
 it abounds also in victims; it is a vast field of car- 
 nage and contagion ! Every species is without pity ; 
 pursued and torn to pieces, through the earth, and air, 
 and water. In man, there is more wretchedness, than 
 in all other animals put together. He smarts conti- 
 nually under two scourges, which other animals ne- 
 ver feel, anxiety and listlessness in appetence which 
 make him weary of himself. He loves life, and yet 
 he knows that he must die. If he enjoy some tran- 
 sient good, for which he is thankful to heaven, he 
 suffers various evils, and is at last devoured by worms. 
 This knowledge is his fatal prerogative : other ani- 
 mals have it not. He feels it every moment rankling 
 and corroding in his breast. Yet he spends the tran- 
 sient moment of his existence, in diffusing the misery 
 that he suffers ; in cutting the throats of his fellow 
 creatures for pay ; in cheating and being cheated ; 
 in robbing and being robbed ; in serving that he may 
 command ; and in repenting of all that he does. The 
 bulk of mankind are nothing more than a crowd of 
 wretches, equally criminal and unfortunate ; and the 
 globe contains rather carcases than men. I tremble, 
 
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. S05 
 
 upon a review of this dreadful picture, to find that it 
 implies a complaint against providence ; and I wish 
 that I had never been born. Voltaire, as quoted in 
 Simpson's Plea for Religion. 
 
 But when I come afterwards to take a view of the 
 particular rank and relation, in which I stand as an in- 
 dividual among the fellow creatures of my species ; 
 to consider the different ranks of society, and the 
 persons by whom they are filled ; what a scene is 
 presented to me ! Where is that order and regularity 
 before observed ? The scenes of nature present to my 
 view the most perfect harmony and proportion ; those 
 of mankind nothing but confusion and disorder. The 
 physical elements of things act in concert with each 
 other, the moral world alone is a chaos of discord. Mere 
 animals are happy ; but man, their lord and sovereign, 
 is miserable. Where, supreme wisdom, are thy laws ? 
 Is it thus, O providence ! thou governest the world ? 
 What is become of thy power, thou Supreme Bene- 
 ficence, when I see evil prevailing on the earth ? In 
 meditating on the nature of man, I conceived that I 
 discovered two distinct principles ; the one raising 
 him to the study of eternal truths, the love of justice 
 and moral beauty, bearing him aloft to the regions 
 of the intellectual world, the contemplation of which 
 yields the truest delight to the philosopher ; the other 
 debasing him even below himself, subjecting him to the 
 slavery of sense, the tyranny of the passions, and ex- 
 citing these to counteract every noble and generous 
 sentiment inspired by the former. When I perceiv- 
 ed myself hurried away by two such contrary pow- 
 ers, I naturally concluded that man is not one simple 
 individual substance. I will, and I will not ; I per- 
 ceive myself at once free and a slave ; I see what is 
 good, I admire it, and yet I do the evil ; I am ac- 
 tive when I listen to my reason, and passive when 
 
306 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN 
 
 hurried away by my passions ; while my greatest 
 uneasiness is to find, when fallen under temptations, 
 that I had the power of resisting them. Rousseau's 
 JEmilius, ii. 150. 
 
 Now whereas it is thought by some of the Fathers, 
 as by St. Augustine, with whom St. Ambrose joineth, 
 that, by sin the perfection of the image is lost, and 
 not the image itself; both opinions, by this distinc- 
 tion may be well reconciled ; to wit, that the image 
 of God in man may be taken two ways ; for, either 
 it is considered in regard to natural gifts, and consist - 
 eth therein, namely, to have a reasonable and under- 
 standing nature; and in this sense, the image of 
 God is more lost by sin, than the very reasonable and 
 understanding nature is lost, (for sin doth not abo- 
 lish and take away these natural gifts;) and the 
 image of God is considered according to supernatu- 
 ral gifts, namely, of divine grace and heavenly glory, 
 which is indeed the perfection and accomplishment 
 of the natural image ; and this manner of similitude 
 and image of God is wholly blotted out and destroy- 
 ed. Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World. 
 
 But it is the corruption, that I bear within me, not 
 the contagion of commerce (intercourse) without 
 me. Tis that unruly regiment within me, that will 
 destroy me ; 'tis I that do infect myself, I feel that 
 original canker corrode and devour me, and there- 
 fore, " defenda me Dios de me, lf Lord deliver me 
 from myself," is a part of my litany, and the first 
 voice of my retired imaginations. Brown's Religio 
 Medici. 
 
 The same causes (that is, different customs, methods 
 of education, instruction, habits, and contrary examples) 
 often concur to corrupt the manners of men, though 
 our depravation in our present state cannot wholly be 
 ascribed to them. For such is the present condition 
 
 
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. 07 
 
 of mankind, that none seem to be born without some 
 weaknesses or diseases of the soul, of one kind or 
 other, though in different degrees. Every one finds 
 in himself the notion of a truly good man, to which no 
 man ever comes up in his conduct. Nay, the very 
 best of mankind must acknowledge, that in innume- 
 rable instances, they come short of their duty, and of 
 that standard of moral goodness they find within 
 them. And, although nature has given us all some 
 little sparks, as it were, to kindle up the several vir- 
 tues, and sown, as it were, some seeds of them ; yet, 
 by our own bad conduct and foolish notions, we sel- 
 dom suffer them to grow to maturity. But a full and 
 certain account of the original of these disorders, and 
 of the effectual remedies for them, in all the different 
 degrees in which they appear in different persons, 
 will never be given by any mortal without a divine 
 revelation. Hutcheson's Introduction to Moral Philo- 
 sophy, b. i. chap. i. 17. 
 
 There are some, I know, who extricate themselves 
 from this difficulty very concisely by asserting, that 
 there is in fact no such original depravity, no such 
 innate propensity to vice in human nature ; but, as 
 this assertion is directly contrary to the express de- 
 claration of the Scriptures, to the opinion of the phi- 
 losophers and moralists of all ages, and to the most 
 constant and invariable experience of every hour, I 
 think they no more deserve an answer, than they 
 who would affirm, that a stone has no tendency to the 
 centre by its natural gravity, or that flame has no 
 inclination to ascend. Soame Jenyns' Works, iii. 93. 
 
 It is not amongst the champions of vice alone, that 
 we are to look for instances of this depravity of man- 
 kind. Turn your eyes, my dear child, unto yourself, 
 and examine your own heart, that heart filled with 
 sweetness and beneficence, which hath never given 
 
208 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN 
 
 the least disquietude to your parents, your husband, 
 or your friends ; that heart so compassionate and sus- 
 ceptible of the tenderest and most benevolent senti- 
 ments, which rejoices to see virtue recompensed though 
 in a stranger, whose affliction also it can sooth and mol- 
 lify. Compare your thoughts and actions with the per- 
 fect and invariable laws of God, and see how far you 
 are removed from that perfection, which alone can ren- 
 der you acceptable to the Supreme Being. Baron 
 Halter's Letters to his Daughter, let. ii. 
 
 This is the just account of human nature, and hu- 
 man strength, in respect of truth and happiness. We 
 have an idea of truth, not to be effaced by all the 
 wiles of the sceptic ; we have an incapacity of argu- 
 ment, not to be rectified by all the power of the dog- 
 matist. We wish for truth, and find nothing in our- 
 selves but uncertainty. We seek after happiness, 
 and are presented with nothing but misery. Our dou- 
 ble aim is, in effect, a double torture ; while we are 
 alike unable to compass either, and to relinquish ei- 
 ther. These desires seem to have been left in us, 
 partly as a punishment of our fall, and partly as an in- 
 dication and remembrance whence we are fallen. 
 
 If man was not made for God, why is God alone 
 sufficient for human happiness? If man was made 
 for God, why is the human will, in all things, re- 
 pugnant to the divine ? Man is at a loss where to 
 fix himself, and how to recover his rank in the world. 
 He is unquestionably out of his way ; he feels within 
 himself the small remains of his once happy state, 
 which he is now unable to retrieve. And yet this is 
 what he daily courts and follows after, always with 
 solicitude, and never with success ; encompassed with 
 darkness, which he can neither escape nor penetrate. 
 Pascal's Thoughts. 
 
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. 209 
 
 We behold, in the first place, the doctrine of ori- 
 ginal sin, which explains the whole nature of man, 
 springing from this mystery. Unless we admit this 
 truth, known by tradition to all nations, we shall be 
 involved in impenetrable darkness. Without origi- 
 nal sin, how shall we account for the vicious propen- 
 sity of our nature, continually combated by a secret 
 voice, which whispers that we were formed for vir- 
 tue ? Without a primitive fall, how shall we explain 
 the aptitude of man for affliction; that sweat which 
 fertilizes the rugged soil ; the tears, the sorrows, the 
 misfortunes of the righteous ; the triumphs, the un- 
 punished success of the wicked ? It was because they 
 were unacquainted with this degeneracy, that the 
 philosophers of antiquity fell into such strange er- 
 rors, and invented the notion of reminiscence. Cha- 
 teaubriand's Beauties of Christianity, i. 28. 
 
 Tis in vain, O men, that you seek from yourselves 
 the remedy of your miseries. All your lights extend to 
 no farther discovery than this, that you cannot, from 
 your own stores, be supplied with happiness or truth. 
 The philosophers, who promised all things, could 
 perform nothing in your behalf; they neither appre- 
 hended your true estate, nor your real good. What 
 possibility was there of your receiving benefit from 
 their prescriptions, who had not skill enough to un- 
 derstand your disease ? Your chief infirmities are 
 pride, which alienates you from God ; and concupis- 
 cence, which fastens you down to earth ; and their 
 constant employment was to caress and entertain one 
 or the other of these disorders. They, who presented 
 God to you as the sole object of your contemplation, 
 did but gratify your pride, by vainly insinuating, 
 that your nature was constituted under a parity with 
 the divine ; and as for those, who saw the extrava- 
 gance of such pretensions, what did they but set you 
 
210 THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN 
 
 upon the other precipice, by tempting you to believe 
 that your nature was of a piece with that of the beasts ; 
 and by inclining you to place all your good in sensual 
 delight, the portion of irrational creatures ? These 
 could never be the means of discovering to you the 
 injustice of your proceedings. Do not therefore ex- 
 pect instruction or consolation from men : It was I 
 that first made you to be ; and 'tis I alone, which can 
 teach you the knowledge of your own being. You 
 are not now in the estate, under which you were form- 
 ed by my hand : I created man holy, innocent, and 
 perfect : I replenished him with light and understand- 
 ing: I communicated to him my wonders and my 
 glory : Then it was that the eye of man beheld the 
 majesty of God. He did not then labour under that 
 darkness, which blinds him under this mortality, and 
 these miseries, which afflict and oppress him ; but he 
 was unable to sustain so great degrees of splendour, 
 without falling into presumption ; he was disposed 
 to make himself the centre of his own happiness, and 
 altogether independent from the divine succours ; and 
 when he had withdrawn himself from my dominion, 
 and affected an equality with me, by presuming to 
 find all his happiness in himself, I abandoned him to 
 his own guidance ; and, causing a general revolt 
 amongst the creatures that were his subjects, I made 
 them his enemies ; man himself is now become like 
 unto the beast, and removed to such a distance from 
 me, as scarce to retain some scattered rays and con- 
 fused notices of his authority ; so far have all his dis- 
 cerning powers been either extinguished or disturb- 
 ed ; his senses, being never the servants, and very of- 
 ten the masters of his reason, have driven him on the 
 pursuit of unwarrantable pleasures. All the creatures 
 with which he is surrounded, either grieve or torment, 
 or tempt and seduce him ; thus ever maintaining a 
 
DEPRAVITY AND MISERY. 
 
 sovereignty over him, either as they subdue him by 
 their strength, or as they melt him with their charms, 
 which is the more imperious, and more fatal tyran- 
 ny. Pascal's Thoughts. 
 
 For 'tis beyond doubt, that nothing appears so 
 shocking to our reason, as that the transgression of the 
 first man should derive a guilt on those, who, being so 
 vastly distant from the fountain, seem incapable of 
 sharing in the impure tincture. This transfusion is 
 looked upon by us not only as impossible, but as un- 
 just, could we suppose it to be possible. Certainly 
 nothing strikes our judgment with more harshness and 
 violence, than such a doctrine. And yet, without this 
 incomprehensible mystery, we are ourselves incom- 
 prehensible to our own mind. The clue, which knits 
 together our whole fortune and condition, takes its 
 turns and plies, in this amazing abyss, in so much 
 that man will appear no less unconceivable without 
 this mystery, than this mystery appears unconceiv- 
 able to man. Original sin is foolishness to men. 'Tis 
 granted to be so : wherefore reason ought not to be 
 accused as defective in this knowledge; because it 
 pretends not to be such as reason can ever fathom. 
 For my own part, I cannot but declare, that so soon 
 as the Christian religion discovers to me this one 
 principle, that human nature is depraved, and fallen 
 from God, this clears up my light, and enables me to 
 distinguish throughout the characters of so divine a 
 mystery .Pascal's Thoughts. 
 
212 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 
 
 THE EVIL OF SIN. The aggravation of all crimes 
 is to be estimated either from the persons injured or 
 offended, or from the intrinsic malice,, from whence 
 those injuries and offences proceed. All offences are 
 against either our Maker, our neighbour, or ourselves. 
 Offences against our Maker have this particular ag- 
 gravation, that they are committed against the person 
 to whom we have the greatest obligations, and con- 
 sequently do more immediately contradict the light of 
 our own conscience. The obligations of our original 
 being, and of our constant preservation during the 
 whole course of our lives, which takes in all the bless- 
 ings that we daily receive from him, are so peculiarly 
 due to God, that they are not communicable to any 
 earthly being. For, though we may and do, hourly, 
 receive advantages from our fellow- creatures, yet 
 those advantages are ultimately to be referred to God, 
 by whose good providence those fellow-creatures are 
 enabled to do us good. And, besides, the good they 
 do us is as much for their sakes as for ours ; since 
 the advantages they receive from us, and those we re- 
 ceive from them, are reciprocal. But though our Cre- 
 ator is always doing good to us, we can do none to 
 him ; and, upon that score, he has a title to our obe- 
 dience, and that implicit, when once we are satisfied 
 it is he that commands. This makes idolatry to be 
 so crying a sin, because it is a communication of that 
 honour to the creature (whether inanimate or ani- 
 
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 
 
 mate, it matters not) to which it can have no possible 
 title, and is due to the Creator only. Upon this ac- 
 count also, irreligion and atheism are still worse, be- 
 cause they tear up all religion by the roots ; and all 
 service and worship is denied to him, to whom the 
 utmost service and worship is justly due. This is so 
 plain that it needs neither enlargement nor proof. 
 Sir Richard Steele's Lover, No. 32. 
 
 Of all the wonderful things, which constitute, or 
 are intimately connected with, the dispensation of 
 grace, perhaps there is none, of which we have so 
 inadequate a conception, as sin ; its essential deformi- 
 ty, and most fatal tendency, When we talk to a 
 careless liver of the guilt of his ordinary conversation 
 in the world, and describe sin in the fearful language 
 of the Bible, we seem to him as dreamers. Even the 
 most humble and advanced Christian finds it difficult 
 to fix in his mind such a sense of the sanctity of 
 God's law, and the terrible profaneness of violating 
 it, as corresponds, in any tolerable degree, with the 
 measure of those things in holy writ. Yet, certainly, 
 it most nearly concerns us to appreciate them justly. 
 Now it is impossible to conceive any truth so calculat- 
 ed to penetrate us with a just horror of sin in gene- 
 ral, and with the deepest confusion for our own of- 
 fences, as the doctrine of the cross. It stamps upon 
 evil a character of darkness and horror, which no 
 tongue can utter : it bears in its amazing mercy the 
 most awful testimony to the majesty and justice of 
 God ; and while it pours gladness into the bosom of 
 the penitent, speaks death to the presumptuous rebel. 
 It is worth observing in this place, that an objection 
 sometimes made to revelation, on account of the asto- 
 nishing costliness of the sacrifice, which it declares to 
 
214 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 
 
 have been provided as an atonement for guilt, admits 
 of the same reply, which may be offered to the com- 
 mon argument against the moral character of God, 
 from the extent and intensity of suffering allowed to 
 prevail in the world. Both are calculated to attest 
 visibly, and to all ages, the dreadful consequences of 
 sin. Can it be said, that the apprehensions, entertain- 
 ed of this by mankind, are generally such, that we 
 can think the evidence has been more than suffici- 
 ent? Works of John Borvdler,jun. ii. p. 185. 
 
 THE PUNISHMENTS OF SIN. The rewards which 
 Christianity promises to virtue, and the punishments 
 with which it threatens guilt, produce at the first 
 glance a conviction of their truth. The heaven and 
 hell of Christians are not devised after the manner of 
 any particular people, but founded on the general 
 ideas, that are adapted to all nations, and to all classes 
 of society. What can be more simple and yet more 
 sublime, than the truths conveyed in these few words ; 
 the felicity of the righteous in a future life will con- 
 sist in the full possession of God : the misery of the 
 wicked will arise from a knowledge of the perfec- 
 tions of the Deity, and from being for ever deprived 
 of their enjoyment Chateaubriand's Beauties of 
 Christianity, i. 23?. 
 
 It is probable, that the future misery of the wicked 
 may be both corporeal and mental. The punish- 
 ments of the wicked in a future state may be corpo- 
 real, though the happiness of the blessed should not 
 be so. For sensuality is one great part of vice, and 
 a principal source of it It may be necessary there- 
 fore, that actual fire should feed upon the elementary 
 body, and whatever else is added to it after the re- 
 
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 
 
 surrection, in order to burn out the stains of sin *. 
 The destruction of this world by fire, spoken of both 
 in the Scriptures and in many profane writings ; the 
 phenomena of comets, and of the sun, and fixed stars, 
 those vast bodies of fire, which burn for ages ; the 
 great quantity of sulphureous matter contained in the 
 bowels of the earth ; the destruction of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah by fire and brimstone, alluded to in the 
 New Testament j the representation of future punish- 
 ment under the emblem of the fire of Gehenna ; and, 
 above all, the express passages of Scripture, in which 
 it is declared that the wicked shall be punished by 
 fire, even everlasting fire, confirm this position con- 
 cerning the corporeal nature of future punishment, 
 as well as give light to one another. But, if the pu- 
 nishment of another world should be corporeal in 
 some measure, there is still the greatest reason to be- 
 lieve that they will be spiritual also ; and that by sel- 
 fishness, ambition, malevolence, envy, revenge, cruel- 
 ty, profaneness, murmuring against God, infidelity, 
 and blasphemy, men will become tormentors to them- 
 selves and to each other ; deceive and be deceived ; 
 infatuate and be infatuated ; so as not to be able to 
 repent and turn to God, till the appointed time comes, 
 if that should ever be. Hartley's Observations on 
 Man, ii. 399- 
 
 ETERNITY OF FUTURE PUNISHMENTS. This lake, 
 burning with fire and brimstone, are torments endur- 
 ing for evermore, as saith St. John, Apoc. xx. 10, 
 and are the second death of the soul, Apoc. xx. 14 ; 
 
 * This refers to a peculiar hypothesis of this celebrated author 
 respecting universal restoration ; but the truth or falsity of which 
 does not affect his testimony to the Scripture doctrine of the nature 
 of future punishment. 
 
 2 
 
2J6 THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 
 
 and therefore is it neither a temporal punishment, 
 neither the fire of purgatory, but the eternal flaming 
 fire of Gehenna, out of the which there is no redemp- 
 tion. Lord Napier of Merchiston on the Apocalypse. 
 
 From the same source springs another objection, of 
 equal validity as to revelation, founded on the doc- 
 trine of the perpetuity of punishment. Here again 
 the incomprehensible, the infinitely perfect Being, is 
 measured by the span of the low, blind, grovelling 
 creature, that makes the objection ; who, because he 
 cannot comprehend why this justice is suited to the 
 divine nature, concludes at once, that the doctrine is 
 impossible, and therefore false ; and, in consequence, 
 rejects the revelation which is said to assert it, with- 
 out giving himself the trouble to examine the evi- 
 dence that supports that revelation, or to inquire whe- 
 ther the matter that thus shocks him, is really reveal- 
 ed. A careful inquiry might possibly satisfy him, 
 that the perpetuity of punishments is not absolutely 
 affirmed ; and that no more is necessarily to be infer- 
 red from revelation, than that the misery of the dam- 
 ned is to endure for ages. But such an inquiry 
 would give him competent satisfaction, that the reve- 
 lation he wantonly rejects, is in very deed the word 
 of God ; and would dispose him to believe whatever 
 it clearly declares concerning the Deity and his ways, 
 without considering how far that might or might not 
 tally with his conceits. President Forbes 's Reflections 
 on Incredulity. 
 
 Punishments, it has been said, ought not to be 
 eternal ; because they must tend to the reformation 
 of men. But will the punishments of a limited time, 
 as a few years for instance, or even for ages, produce 
 in man an eternal obedience, since, in comparison of 
 eternity, any duration, which we may assign to these 
 pains, will be but infinitely short ? would that impa- 
 
THE EVIL AND PENALTY OF SIN. 217 
 
 tience, that murmuring, that restlessness under the 
 judgments, which their limited sufferings produce, 
 be removed by new afflictions ? and from this mode 
 of reasoning would there not be required a prolonga- 
 tion of chastisements ? The knowledge, which we have 
 of the human heart, will not permit us to hope, that, 
 through the means of punishment, vice will be chan- 
 ged into virtue. And God, who perfectly knows us, 
 knows also, that this limited punishment must in the 
 end terminate in that which is eternal. Baron Hal- 
 ter's Letters to his Daughter, let. 13. 
 
 The idea generally entertained of the goodness of 
 God, to which this doctrine is supposed so repugnant, 
 has been, an unlimited disposition to promote the 
 happiness of all his creatures. With this extensive at- 
 tribute, thus unqualified, not only the eternity of fu- 
 ture punishments, bat the smallest degree of existing 
 evil, is to our limited understandings irreconcilable ; 
 but then they are each equally so : infinite benevo- 
 lence cannot admit of" majus or minus," it is one 
 and immutable. The most transient headach, and the 
 damnation of all mankind, are in this view involved 
 in the same mystery. Actual evil does exist, and can- 
 not be inconsistent with the moral perfections of God : 
 it is evident, therefore, either that we are mistaken in 
 supposing such an attribute inherent in the Almighty, 
 or that, being utterly in the dark upon the subject, 
 we can neither affirm nor deny any thing concerning 
 it. To maintain then, that such must be the nature 
 of divine benevolence, and thence infer the impossi- 
 bility of infinite vengeance, is to talk ignorantly and 
 at random, Works of John Bawdier, jitn. ii. 123. 
 
18 MAN'S INCAPABILITY OF 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 MAN'S INCAPABILITY OF CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD. 
 
 SUCH is the mercy of God, that these good works, 
 that we acknowledge to be done by his Holy Spirit 
 working in us, he imputes them to be our works. 
 But, certainly, let the presumptuous man assure him- 
 self, that, if he esteem these good works to be of 
 himself, God, in his judgment, shall let him find, to 
 his confusion, that only God is good, and that no 
 goodness is in man, and that all flesh is subdued to 
 sin. Woe, therefore, to him, who otherwise presump- 
 tuously judgeth. Lord Napier of Merchislon on the 
 Apocalypse. 
 
 Repentance and penitence is not sufficient for him 
 that hath fled from his sovereign's banner : he must 
 first do some valiant act, before, by the law of arms, 
 he can be restored to his former bearing. Repent- 
 ance helps not when sin is renewed ; not to do good is 
 to commit evil, at least by omission of what I ought 
 to do. Before I come to the constant practice of pie- 
 ty, I am sure, I cannot be sure of complete glory. If 
 I did all strictly, I were yet unprofitable; and, if 
 God had not appointed my faith to perfect me, mise- 
 rable. If he were not full of mercies, how unhappy 
 a creature were man ! Felt ham's Resolves, No. 80. 
 
 For God is merciful unto all, because better to the 
 worst, than the best deserve ; and to say, he punish- 
 eth none hi this world, though it be a paradox, is no 
 absurdity. To one that hath committed murder, if 
 
CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD. 219 
 
 the judge should only ordain a fine, it were madness 
 to call this a punishment, and to repine at the sen- 
 tence, rather than admire the clemency of the judge. 
 Thus, our offences, being mortal, and deserving not 
 only death, but damnation, if the goodness of God be 
 content to traverse and pass them over with a loss, 
 misfortune, or disease ; what frenzy were it to term 
 this a punishment, rather than an extremity of mercy, 
 and to groan under the rod of his judgments, rather 
 than admire the sceptre of his mercies. Therefore to 
 adore, honour, and admire him, is a debt of gratitude 
 due from the obligation of our nature, states, and 
 conditions ; and, with these thoughts, he that knows 
 them best, will not deny that I adore him. That I 
 obtain heaven and the bliss thereof is accidental, and 
 not the intended work of my devotion ; it being a fe- 
 licity I can neither think to deserve, nor scarce in 
 modesty expect. Brown's Religio Medici. 
 
 You will see in this my notion of good works, 
 that I am far from expecting to merit heaven by 
 them. By heaven we understand a state of happiness, 
 infinite in degree, and eternal in duration : I can do 
 nothing to deserve such rewards. He that, for giv- 
 ing a draught of water to a thirsty person, should ex- 
 pect to be paid with a good plantation, would be mo- 
 dest in his demands, compared with those, who think 
 they deserve heaven for the little good they do on 
 earth. Even the mixed, imperfect pleasures we en- 
 joy in this world, are rather from God's goodness 
 than our merit : how much more such happiness of 
 heaven ! For my part, I have not the vanity to think 
 I deserve it, the folly to expect it, nor the ambition to 
 desire it; but content myself in submitting to the 
 will and disposal of that God who made me, who has 
 hitherto preserved and blessed me, and in whose fa- 
 
220 MAN'S INCAPABILITY OF 
 
 therly goodness I may well confide, that he will 
 never make me miserable ; and that even the afflic- 
 tions I may at any time suffer, shall tend to my be- 
 nefit. 
 
 The faith you mention has certainly its use in the 
 world : I do riot desire to see it diminished, nor would 
 I endeavour to lessen it in any man ; but I wish it 
 were more productive of good works than I have ge- 
 nerally seen it. Franklin's Correspondence, i. 2. 
 
 In estimating our own merit, in judging of our own 
 character and conduct, there are two different stand- 
 ards, to which we may naturally compare them. The 
 one is the idea of exact propriety and perfection, so 
 far as we are each of us capable of comprehending 
 that idea. The other is that degree of approxima- 
 tion to this idea, which is commonly attained in the 
 world, and w^hich the greater part of our friends 
 and companions, of our rivals and competitors, may 
 have actually arrived at. So far as our attention is 
 directed towards the first standard, the wisest and 
 best of us all, can, in his own character and con- 
 duct, see nothing but weakness and imperfection, 
 can discover no ground for arrogance and pre- 
 sumption, but a great deal for humility, regret, and 
 repentance. So far as our attention is directed to- 
 wards the second, we may be affected either in one 
 way or in the other, and feel ourselves either really 
 above, or really below, the standard to which we 
 compare ourselves. 
 
 The wise and virtuous man directs his principal at- 
 tention to the first standard ; the idea of exact pro- 
 priety and perfection. There exists in the mind of 
 every man an idea of this kind, gradually formed from 
 his observations upon the character and conduct both 
 of himself and of other people. It is the slow, gra- 
 dual and progressive work of the great demigod with- 
 
CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD. 
 
 in the breast, the great judge and arbiter of conduct*. 
 This idea is in every man, more or less accurately 
 drawn, its colouring is more or less just, its outlines 
 are more or less exactly designed according to the de- 
 licacy and acuteness of that sensibility, with which 
 those observations were made, and according to the 
 care and attention employed in making them. In the 
 wise and virtuous man they have been made with the 
 most acute and delicate sensibility ; and the utmost 
 care and attention have been employed in making 
 them. Every day some feature is improved ; every 
 day some blemish is corrected. He has studied this 
 idea more than other people, he comprehends it more 
 distinctly, he has formed a much more correct image 
 of it, and is much more deeply enamoured of its ex- 
 quisite and divine beauty. He endeavours, as well as 
 he can, to assimilate his own character to this arche- 
 type of perfection. But he imitates the work of a 
 divine artist, which can never be equalled. He feels 
 the imperfect success of all his best endeavours ; and 
 sees, with grief and affliction, in how many different 
 features the mortal copy falls short of the immortal 
 original. He remembers, with concern and humili- 
 ation, how often, from want of attention, from want 
 of judgment, from want of temper, he has, both in 
 words and actions, both in conduct and conversation, 
 violated the exact rules of perfect propriety ; and has 
 so far departed from that model, according to which 
 he wished to fashion his own character and conductf. 
 
 * The Christian reader cannot fail to recollect that such a stan- 
 dard is provided for all in the pattern and precepts of the divine 
 Saviour. 
 
 f How much more will all this be felt, if the standard m view- 
 be that divine law, which extends its requisitions to the thoughts 
 and desires of the heart ! 
 
 L3 
 
When he directs his attention towards the second 
 standard, indeed, that degree of excellence which his 
 friends and acquaintances have commonly arrived at, 
 he may be sensible of his own superiority ; but, as his 
 principal attention is always directed towards the first 
 standard, he is necessarily much more humbled by the 
 one comparison, than he ever can be elated by the 
 other. lie is never so elated, as to look down with in- 
 solence even upon those who are really below him. 
 He feels so well his own imperfection, he knows so 
 well the difficulty with which he attained his own 
 distant approximation to rectitude, that he cannot re- 
 gard with contempt the still greater imperfection of 
 other people. Far from insulting over their inferiority, 
 he views it with the most indulgent commiseration; and 
 by his advice as well as example, is at all times 
 willing to promote their further advancement. If, in 
 any particular qualification, they happen to be superi- 
 or to him, (for who is so perfect as not to have many 
 superiors in many different qualifications?) far from 
 envying their superiority, he, who knows how diffi- 
 cult it is to excel, esteems and honours their excel- 
 lence, and never fails to bestow upon it the full mea- 
 sure of applause which it deserves. His whole mind, 
 in short, is deeply impressed, his whole behaviour 
 and deportment are distinctly stamped with the cha- 
 racter of real modesty ; with that of a very moderate 
 estimation of his own merit, and, at the same time, 
 of a full sense of the merit of other people. Smith's 
 Theory of Moral Sentiments, ii. 146. 
 
 And although there is none of human race, who are 
 not involved in manifold weaknesses and disorders of 
 soul, none who, upon reflection, won't find them- 
 selves entangled in many errors and misapprehen- 
 sions about matters of the greatest importance to the 
 true happinessof life, and in the guilt of manifold crimes 
 
CLAIMING MERIT WITH GOD. 
 
 committed against God, and our fellow creatures, on 
 account of which they may justly dread the divine 
 justice, and apprehend some impendent punishments ; 
 yet such is the divine goodness and clemency, with 
 such long suffering and mercy has he continued for 
 many ages, to exercise his gracious providence about 
 weak, corrupted mortals, that such as sincerely love 
 him, and desire, as far as human weakness can go, 
 to serve him with duty and gratitude, need not en- 
 tirely lose hopes of his favour. Nay, they have some 
 probable ground to expect, that God will be found 
 propitious and placable to such as repent of their sins, 
 and are exerting their utmost endeavours in the pur* 
 suit of virtue, and that his infinite wisdom and good- 
 ness will find out some method of exercising his mer- 
 cy toward a guilty world, so as not to impair the 
 authority of his laws, and the sanctity of his moral 
 administration, though human wisdom should never 
 particularly discover it. Hulcheson's Introduction to 
 Moral Philosophy, b. i. chap. iv. 2. 
 
 Few sentiments are more familiar to the human 
 mind than this, that vice deserves punishment, and 
 virtue reward. But, to prevent mistakes, it is neces- 
 sary to add, that, in strict propriety of speech, our 
 virtue is meritorious with respect to our fellow- crea- 
 tures only. Considered in his relation to the Su- 
 preme Being, man, when he has done his best, is an 
 unprofitable servant. To enter into some particulars 
 upon this subject : Life is, by all men, accounted a 
 great blessing ; for, in the general intercourse of the 
 world, few things are more valued than that which 
 supports it. Now life is a blessing, which the Deity 
 confers on his creatures gratuitously : we cannot say 
 that our virtue gives us a title to it, or is an adequate 
 return for it. Our reason, conscience, susceptibility 
 of happiness, and capacity for virtue, are all the free 
 L 4 
 
MAN'S INCAPABILITY, &C. 
 
 gift of God ; and who can imagine, that there is me- 
 rit in having received what has been given us ! If we 
 abuse his benefits, we deserve punishment ; if we make 
 a right use of them, (which no man of sense will say 
 that he does,) we do nothing more than what is 
 incumbent on us in consequence of our having re- 
 ceived them, and for which our enjoyment of them is 
 more than an adequate recompense. It is to be ob- 
 served further, that all human virtue is very imper- 
 fect ; and that the best man on earth can scarce be 
 said to pass a day, without violating the divine law in 
 thought, word, or deed. There are hardly any hu- 
 man actions, how virtuous soever they may seem, and 
 how meritorious soever, with respect to our fellow- 
 creatures, they may be, of which the agent, if a man 
 of sense, will not readily acknowledge, that they must, 
 in the sight of the Creator, appear tainted with im- 
 perfection ; and that we have always reason to pray, 
 with humility and contrition, that God would pardon 
 what is wrong or wanting even in our best perform- 
 ances. We all know, that criminal habits pervert the 
 understanding, and debase the moral faculty ; and 
 that we have contracted many evil habits, which, with 
 proper attention, we might have avoided, and are of 
 course accountable for those debasements and perver- 
 sities, which are owing to our inattention, and for the 
 errors and follies thence resulting. Now, since all 
 human excellence is so defective ; since even the best 
 men are so great offenders ; and since the advantages 
 that virtue may enjoy even in this life, are so import- 
 ant, what man is there who can say, that his virtue 
 entitles him to receive any other reward from that 
 God, whom he is continually offending ; to whose good- 
 ness he is every moment under unspeakable obliga- 
 tions; and, compared with whose consummate purity, 
 all human attainments are in the proportion of weak- 
 
THE MEDIATION, &C. 225 
 
 ness to omnipotence, of finite to infinite, of time to 
 eternity ! From the placability of our judge, who 
 knows our frailty, reason, unenlightened by revela- 
 tion, might perhaps encourage the penitent to hope 
 for pardon ; but to pardon a criminal, and to receive 
 him into favour, are different things ; and what pro- 
 portion is there between human virtue, debased as it 
 is with vice and with error, and a state of never end- 
 ing felicity in the life to come ? Can we merit such a 
 reward ! We, whose goodness, if we have any, is, 
 even in this world, rewarded beyond what it deserves ! 
 These speculations might lead into a labyrinth of 
 perplexity, if it were not for what revelation declares 
 concerning the divine government. It declares, that 
 man may expect, on the performance of certain con- 
 ditions, not only pardon, but everlasting happiness ; 
 not on account of his own merit, which in the sight 
 of God is nothing, but on account of the infinite me- 
 rits of the Redeemer; who, descending from the 
 height of glory, voluntarily underwent the punish- 
 ment due to sin, and thus obtained those high privi- 
 leges, for as many as should comply with the terms 
 announced by him to mankind. Beattie's Elements 
 of Moral Science, ii. 27. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 THE MEDIATION AND ATONEMENT OP CHRIST. 
 
 1 consider sacrifices as the basis of all religion ; 
 and the death of Abel as the first type of that sacri- 
 fice, which forms the ground-work of Christianity. 
 L 5 
 
226 THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 Iii whatever way we decide upon this opinion, it af- 
 fords much room for thought. The greater part of 
 ancient religions instituted human sacrifices ; but in 
 this barbarity there was something remarkable, name- 
 ly, the necessity of a solemn expiation. Nothing, in 
 effect, can obliterate from the soul the idea, that there 
 is a mysterious efficacy in the blood of the innocent, 
 and that heaven and earth are moved by it. Men 
 have always believed, that the just could obtain, in 
 this life or the other, the pardon of the guilty. There 
 are some primitive ideas in the human species, which 
 reappear with more or less disfigurement, in all times, 
 and among all nations. These are the ideas, upon 
 which we cannot grow weary of reflecting ; for they 
 assuredly preserve some traces of the lost dignities of 
 our nature. De Stael's Germany, iii. 307. 
 
 As to the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ, it 
 appears that he has done all for us, that one bein^ 
 can do for another, and that it would be a most un- 
 justifiable and narrow way of expressing ourselves, to 
 confine the benefits received from Christ to that of 
 mere example. Hartley s Observations on Man, ii. 
 357- 
 
 That Christ suffered and died as an atonement for 
 the sins of mankind, is a doctrine so constantly and 
 so strongly enforced through every part of the New 
 Testament, that whoever will seriously peruse those 
 writings, and deny that it is there, may with as much 
 reason and truth, after reading the works of Thucy- 
 dides and Livy, assert that in them no mention is 
 made of any facts relative to the histories of Greece 
 and Rome. Soame Jenyns 1 Works, iv. 20. 
 
 We may know God, without knowing our own 
 miseries; or we may know our own miseries, without 
 knowing God ; or we may know both, without know- 
 ing the means of obtaining from God the relief of our 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 5227 
 
 miseries. But we cannot know Jesus Christ, without the 
 knowledge of God, of our miseries, and of their cure. 
 In as much as Jesus Christ is not only God, but he 
 is God under this character, the Healer and Repairer 
 of our miseries. 
 
 Thus all they, who seek God without Jesus Christ, 
 can never meet with such light in their inquiries as 
 may afford them true satisfaction, or solid use. For 
 either they advance not so far, as to know that there 
 is a God ; or, if they do, yet they arrive hereby but 
 at an unprofitable knowledge, because they frame to 
 themselves a method of communicating with God, 
 without a mediator ; as i^vithout a mediator they were 
 capable of knowing him : So that they unavoidably 
 fall either into atheism, or deism, things which the 
 Christian religion does almost equally detest and ab- 
 hor. 
 
 We ought therefore wholly to direct our inquiries 
 to the knowledge of Jesus Christ) because it is by 
 him alone that we can pretend to know God, in such a 
 manner as shall be really advantageous to us. 
 
 He alone is the true God to us men, that is, to 
 miserable and sinful creatures. He is our chief 
 Centre and Supreme Object, in respect of all that we 
 can wish, and all that we can understand. Whoever 
 knows not him, knows nothing either in the order of 
 the world, or in his own nature and condition. For 
 as we know God only by Jesus Christ, so 'tis by him 
 alone that we know ourselves. 
 
 Without Jesus Christ, man is, of necessity, to be 
 considered as lying in vice and misery. With Jesus 
 Christ, man appears as released from vice, and redeem- 
 ed from misery. In him consists all our happiness, 
 and all our virtue, our life, and light, our hope and 
 assurance : Out of him there is no prospect, but of 
 sins and miseries, of darkness and despair ; nothing 
 
 L 6 
 
THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 to be beheld by us, but obscurity and confusion in the 
 divine nature, and in our own. Pascal's Thoughts, 
 p. 149. 
 
 It is enough to justify the fitness of any thing to 
 be done, by resolving it into the " wisdom of God," 
 who has done it ; though our short views, and nar- 
 row understandings, may utterly incapacitate us to 
 see that wisdom, and to judge rightly of it. We 
 know little of this visible, and nothing at all of the 
 state of that intellectual world, wherein are infinite 
 numbers and degrees of spirits, out of the reach of 
 our ken, or guess ; and therefore know not what 
 transactions there were between God and our Savi- 
 our, in reference to his kingdom. We know not 
 what need there was to set up all head and chieftain,, 
 in opposition to " the prince of this world, the prince 
 " of the power of the air," &c. whereof there are 
 more than obscure intimations in Scripture. And we 
 shall take too much upon us, if we shall call God's 
 wisdom or providence to account, and pertly con- 
 demn for needless, all that our weak, and perhaps bi- 
 assed understanding cannot account for. 
 
 Though this general answer be reply enough to 
 the forementioned demand, and such as a rational 
 man, or fair searcher after truth, will acquiesce in ; 
 yet, in this particular case, the wisdom and goodness 
 of God has shown itself so visibly to common appre- 
 hensions, that it hath furnished u$ abundantly where- 
 withal to satisfy the curious and inquisitive ; who 
 will not take a blessing, unless they be instructed 
 what need they had of it, and why it was bestowed 
 upon them. The great and many advantages we re- 
 cieve by the coming of Jesus the Messiah, will show, 
 that it was not without need, that he was sent into 
 the world. Locke on the Reasonableness of Christia- 
 nity ; Works, vi. 134s. 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 229 
 
 To acknowledge the divine origin of the Christian 
 religion, and refuse to believe that Jesus died for us, 
 and that he hath reconciled us to God, is an inexcus- 
 able contradiction, as well of itself, as of the truth 
 which it admitted. It was not possible to express in 
 terms more clear, than revelation hath expressed 
 them, these important doctrines, that men by their 
 sins, had forfeited the favour of God ; but that God, 
 out of his infinite love, had promised them by his 
 prophets, that he would send his only Son into the 
 world ; that he accordingly came at the appointed 
 time, and, in conformity to the prophecies, suffered, 
 and was put to death ; that his sufferings have satis- 
 fied the divine justice ; that he hath purchased the 
 pardon of sins to all those, who believe in him, and 
 hath rendered them capable of inheriting eternal life ; 
 and, lastly, that there is no other way to appease 
 the justice of God, than by faith in his Son. Baron 
 Halter's Letters to his Daughter, let. 12. 
 
 God is so far removed from our conceptions ; the 
 perfection of his character is SD awful ; we are so 
 much under the dominion of sensible objects, and he 
 is so little subjected to the senses; that our imperfect 
 nature seems to require aid, in raising itself up to 
 him. We need a stage, on which to rest in our as- 
 cent. The indistinctness too, with which we con- 
 ceive an immaterial, eternal, and infinite Being, con- 
 curs with his greatness, to prevent our affections 
 opening towards him with all that ardour which his 
 excellence and our happiness equally require. Christ 
 is " over all, God blessed for ever ;" but God (if I 
 may so speak,) veiled of his effulgence. Having 
 taken on him the nature of men, he is not asham- 
 ed to call them brethren ; and, as brethren, we on 
 our part, can turn towards Him with complacency 
 and confidence. In fancy, we can even behold Him 
 
230 THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 such as he once was in the days of his flesh; and 
 when we read the tale of his sufferings, we feel ail 
 those emotions and sympathies swelling in our bo- 
 soms, which attach us so closely to our own kindred, 
 Recollecting what he was, we can think of what he 
 is without terror ; and in his presence, and under his 
 protection, can approach with joy, even that awful 
 seat, where holiness and justice for ever reside. 
 Works of John Bowdler, ii. 1 8-i. 
 
 That the Deity loves virtue and hates vice, as a vo- 
 luptuous man loves riches and hates poverty, not for 
 their own sakes, but for the effects which they tend 
 to produce ; that he loves the one, only because it pro- 
 motes the happiness of society, which his benevolence 
 prompts him to desire, and that he hates the other 
 only because it occasions the misery of mankind, 
 which the same divine quality renders the object of 
 his aversion ; is not the doctrine of untaught nature, 
 but of an artificial refinement of reason and philoso- 
 phy. Our untaught natural sentiments all prompt 
 us to believe, that, as perfect virtue is supposed ne- 
 cessary to appear to the Deity as it does to us, for its 
 own sake, and without any further views, the natu- 
 ral and proper object of love and reward, so must vice, 
 of hatred and punishment. That the gods neither 
 resent nor hurt, was the general maxim of all the dif- 
 ferent sects of the ancient philosophy ; and if by re- 
 senting be understood, that violent and disorderly 
 perturbation, which often distracts and confounds the 
 human breast ; or if by hurting be understood, the 
 doing mischief wantonly, and without regard to pro- 
 priety or justice ; such weakness is undoubtedly un- 
 worthy of the divine perfection. But if it be meant, 
 that vice does not appear to the Deity to be, for its 
 own sake, the object of abhorrence and aversion, and 
 what, for its own sake, it is fit and right should be 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 
 
 punished ; the truth of this maxim seems repugnant 
 to some very natural feelings. If we consult our na- 
 tural sentiments, we are even apt to fear, lest, before 
 the holiness of God, vice should appear to be more 
 worthy of punishment, than the weakness and imper- 
 fection of human virtue can even seem to be of re- 
 ward. Man, when about to appear before a being of 
 infinite perfection, can feel but little confidence in his 
 own merit, or in the imperfect propriety of his own 
 conduct. In the presence of his fellow creatures, he 
 may even justly elevate himself, and may often have 
 reason to think highly of his own character and con- 
 duct, compared to the still greater imperfection of 
 theirs. But the case is quite different, when about to 
 appear before his infinite Creator. To such a being 
 he fears, that his littleness and weakness can scarcely 
 ever appear the proper object either of esteem or of 
 reward. But he can easily conceive how the num- 
 berless violations of duty, of which he has been guil- 
 ty, should render him the proper object of aversion 
 and punishment ; and he thinks he can see no reason 
 why the divine indignation should not be let loose, 
 without any restraint, upon so vile an insect as he im- 
 agines, that he himself must appear to be. If he 
 would still hope for happiness, he suspects that he 
 cannot demand it from the justice, but that he must 
 entreat it from the mercy of God. Repentance, sor- 
 row, humiliation, contrition, or the thought of his past 
 conduct, seem upon this account the sentiments which 
 become him ; and to be the only means, which he has 
 left for appeasing that wrath, which he knows he has 
 justly provoked. He even distrusts the efficacy of all 
 these, and naturally fears, lest the wisdom of God 
 should not, like the weakness of man, be prevailed 
 upon to spare the crime by the most importunate la- 
 mentations of the criminal. Some other intercession, 
 5 
 
232 THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 some other sacrifice, some other atonement,, he ima- 
 gines, must be made for him, beyond what he himself 
 is capable of making, before the purity of the divine 
 justice can be reconciled to his manifold offences. 
 The doctrines of revelation coincide in every respect, 
 with those original anticipations of nature ; and as they 
 teach us how little we can depend upon the imper- 
 fection of our own virtue, so they show us at the same 
 time, that the most powerful intercession has been 
 made, that the most dreadful atonement has been 
 paid for our manifold transgressions and iniquities. * 
 Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, 5th edit. Lon- 
 don, 1781, p. 158, &c. 
 
 The satisfaction, he requireth in conformity to his 
 holiness, is the vindication of his purity, and of his 
 infinite aversion from sin, as by his justice he pro- 
 portions the suffering requisite for the vindication to 
 the sins deserving. Therefore, upon the foresight of 
 Adam's fall, and thereby not only the loss of the ex- 
 altation of himself and posterity to celestial glory, 
 but falling into a sinful state which no creature could 
 expiate, the Son did freely interpose to restore man- 
 kind to what they had lost by Adam, and to vindi- 
 cate the purity of God by sufferings of as much value, 
 as if all mankind had been in eternal misery ; and by 
 Christ's performing what Adam was obliged to per- 
 form, by a full implement of the whole will and law 
 of God, and for that end assuming the nature of man. 
 Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections. 
 
 Upon the same sort of principles, our modern reas- 
 oners reject the doctrine of Christ's satisfaction. They 
 cannot conceive how the punishment of one who is 
 innocent should atone for the guilt of another. This 
 
 * This passage seems to have been omitted in some later edi- 
 tions of the work. 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 233 
 
 to them appears to be contrary to the essential justice 
 of the Deity, which ought not to take pleasure in .the 
 sufferings of the innocent ; and productive of no good 
 effect, suited to the character which they entertain 
 of that exalted Being. 
 
 Here again the temerity of those presumptuous 
 men is notorious. That justice, according to our no- 
 tions, will riot condemn one for the fault of another, 
 is manifest. But if the innocent should consent to 
 suffer for the guilty, where is the violation of justice 
 in permitting it ? If the innocent, again, has some great 
 and noble end in view by submitting to that suffering, 
 fit to recompense a thousand-fold the grief borne, 
 where is the injustice of permitting him to put him- 
 self in the place of the guilty ? If the innocent person 
 is all mercy, all bowels, all compassion, and can sus- 
 tain the punishment, which the broken-hearted repent- 
 ing criminal cannot ; what is shocking in the belief, 
 even according to our common notions, that, to com- 
 ply with the benignity of his nature, he might sub- 
 mit to bear it ? It is true we may not see so clearly, 
 why the divine justice should be satisfied for the of- 
 fence of one, by the sufferings of another ; and that 
 the light of nature would not have led us to discover, 
 that we guilty offenders were to be delivered from 
 punishment by the sufferings of another : but is that 
 a reason why we should not take God's word for it, 
 if he has been pleased to assure us that it is so ? Do 
 we know so intimately the nature of his essential jus- 
 tice, as to be certain, that it will not permit him to 
 accept of a vicarious satisfaction ? Amongst men, 
 we know, that debt, owing by one, may be discharged 
 by payment ntade by another ; and are we certain, 
 that, in the court of heaven, one man's obligation to 
 justice may 'not be cancelled upon another's volunta- 
 ry fulfilling of it ? He little thinks on the unmeasur- 
 
234 THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 able difference, that is between the narrowness of the 
 human understanding, and the immensity of the di- 
 vine, who dares rest on such conclusions. President 
 Forbes's Reflections on Incredulity. 
 
 WISDOM OF THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION. In the 
 work of man's redemption, there are some footsteps of 
 divine wisdom so conspicuous, that men of ordinary 
 parts discover them. But some parts of this work are 
 so sublime, which are called the depths of God, and 
 contain so much of the wisdom of God in a mystery, 
 that human understandings are not able to handle so 
 abstruse a subject : it requiring that a man should 
 know, in a great measure, the nature of spirits and of 
 the Father of them, God himself; likewise of the will, 
 intellect, &c. as also of the soul of man ; Adam's state 
 in paradise, as also what influence his fall had on pos- 
 terity ; and the nature of God's natural and vindic- 
 tive justice ; the ends of God's inflicting punishment ; 
 the unparalleled person of Christ ; the qualifications 
 requisite for his being our Redeemer ; the conditions 
 God made with man, in respect both of works and 
 grace ; God's decrees with respect to a future state, 
 the secret and powerful effects of grace, and how the 
 Spirit of God influences men's souls, which he con- 
 verts and sanctifies to glory. I say, there are so many 
 things to be considered, to treat of Christ's redemp- 
 tion, that we may say with St. Paul, " who is suffi- 
 cient for these things ?" So that, it being beyond 
 the reach of human capacity, we have the more 
 reason to admire the wisdom of it. Nor is it a 
 less stupendous token of his wisdom to reconcile his 
 inflexible justice, and his exuberant mercy ; all the 
 problems of Diophantus, Alexandrinus, &c. requiring 
 not so much attention to a greater number of propo- 
 sitions and congruities, at once to make them subser- 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 
 
 vient to the same ends, as the problem propounded 
 by the infinite goodness of God to his divine wisdom, 
 viz, " the redemption of lost and perverse mankind, 
 upon the terms laid down in the gospel," which at 
 once promote God's glory and man's felicity. Hon. 
 Jtobert Boyle's Theological Works. 
 
 The plan of redemption, adopted by God, is per- 
 fectly consonant to the inclinations most prevalent in 
 the heart of man. It operates both on his hopes and 
 fears : without hope, malice would carry itself to the 
 last extremity ; without fear, the passions would 
 know no bounds. Fear is excited, by the severity 
 with which the mediator of men hath felt the effects 
 of the hatred, that God hath for sin. These terrible 
 effects of the hatred of God to sin, must justify 
 the divine purity in the eyes of all intelligent beings. 
 They sufficiently prove the abhorrence of the just 
 Judge of the universe of evil, and that he could not 
 pardon the sinner without chastisement. This pro- 
 ceeding was likewise necessary to reconcile the rights 
 of justice with those of mercy ; that the one might be 
 satisfied, without prejudice to the other. The minds 
 of men must be seized with a rational fear, when 
 they perceive that the punishment of their faults was 
 inevitable, and that it fell with so great violence upon 
 him who had devoted himself a sacrifice for them, 
 and who, though fortified by the divinity that was 
 within him, felt, nevertheless, so great inquietude for 
 the sins of others. Must they not tremble to fall in- 
 to the hands of the living God, who, in respect to 
 sin, is ' a fire which devours and which consumes ; 
 and who spared not the sins of men in the person of 
 his beloved Son.' 
 
 But the effect of this fear is rendered still more ef- 
 ficacious, by the hopes which the same object creates 
 in our souls. God is appeased : he considers sin as 
 
236 THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 blotted out : his grace displays in us those happy in- 
 fluences, which all those experience, who do not vo- 
 luntarily reject them. The Saviour himself, who hath 
 discharged our debt, and paid our ransom, promises 
 us his assistance. He is gone up into heaven, where 
 he has prepared mansions for those who follow Him. 
 The designs of God towards us have been revealed ; the 
 way, which will conduct us to happiness, is known ; 
 conditions have been proposed, and the means of 
 conforming ourselves to the ordinances of God have 
 been communicated. This is that conformity, which 
 will render us acceptable to him ; and his favour is 
 true happiness. Baron Holler's Letters to his Daugh- 
 ter, let. 13. 
 
 The wonderful wisdom of God, in contriving and 
 ordering the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ, 
 is manifested in these particulars among others: 
 1. Though he made man the eminentest of all his vi- 
 sible creatures, for a most eminent manifestation of 
 his power and glory, and to be partaker of everlast- 
 ing blessedness, and yet in his eternal counsel resolv- 
 ed to leave him in the hands of his own liberty, and 
 did most certainly foresee that he would fall, yet he 
 did substitute and provide even from the same eter- 
 nity, a means whereby he might restore the honour 
 and glory of the Creator, and his creature to the bless- 
 edness and the vision of his creation. 2. That he so 
 ordered the means of man's redemption, that a great- 
 er glory came even by that redemption, than if man 
 had never fallen ; and a greater benefit to mankind; for 
 the latter is apparent, that if there had been no me- 
 diator sent, the least sin, that any of the sons of men 
 had committed, had been inexorably fatal to them, 
 without any means of pardon ; and as Adam, though 
 in his full liberty and power, was misled by tempta- 
 tion, so might he have been, or any of his posterity, 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 237 
 
 though he had stood that shock ; which is now admi- 
 rably provided against by the satisfaction of Christ 
 Jesus : and as thus it is better with the children of 
 man, so the glory of God is wonderfully advanced by 
 it ; for, if man had stood in his innocence, God had 
 had only the glory of his justice in rewarding him ; or 
 if he had fallen, the glory of his justice in punishing 
 him : but there had been no room for that glorious at- 
 tribute of his mercy in forgiving, without violation to 
 his purity, truth, and justice, that glorious attribute 
 by which he so often proclaimed! himself, Exodus 
 xxiv. 6. " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and 
 " gracious, long suffering, abundant in goodness and 
 " truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving ini- 
 ' J quity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no 
 " means clear the guilty." 3. That he so wonderful- 
 ly ordered the redemption of man, that all his attri- 
 butes were preserved inviolable ; his truth, " the day 
 " thou eatest thereof thou shalt die ;" his justice, yet 
 his mercy : his love to his creatures, yet his hatred 
 to sin: his Son shall die to satisfy his truth and jus- 
 tice, yet the sinner shall live to satisfy his mercy : the 
 sin shall be punished to justify his purity, yet his 
 creature shall be saved to manifest his love and good- 
 ness ; and thus his wisdom over-ruled sin, the worst 
 of evils, to the improvement of his glory, and the good 
 of his creatures. 4. His wisdom is manifested in this, 
 that by the redemption of man, all those ways of his 
 administration, before the coming of Christ, do now 
 appear to be excellently ordered to the redemption of 
 men, and the making of it the more effectual ; the giv- 
 ing of a severe and yet most just law, which was im- 
 possible for us to fulfil, shews us the wretchedness 
 of our condition ; our inability to fulfil what was just 
 in God to require, shews us the necessity of a Saviour, 
 drives us to him, and makes this city of refuge grate- 
 
238 THE MEDIATION AKD 
 
 ful and acceptable, and makes us set a value upon 
 that mercy, which so opportunely and mercifully pro- 
 vided a sacrifice for us in the blood of Christ, and a 
 righteousness for us in the mercies of Christ, and a 
 mediator for us in the intercession of Christ : and "by 
 this means also all those sacrifices, and ceremonies, and 
 observations enjoined in the Levitical law, which car- 
 ried not in themselves a clear reason of their institu- 
 tion, are now, by the sending of Christ, rendered sig- 
 nificant. 5. The wisdom of God is magnified and ad- 
 vanced in this, in fulfilling the prophecies of the 
 sending the Messias to satisfy for the sins of mankind, 
 against all the oppositions, and casualties, and contin- 
 gencies, that without an over-ruling wisdom and guid- 
 ance might have disappointed it ; and this done in 
 that perfection, that not one circumstance of time, 
 place, person, concomitants, should or did fail in it, 
 and so bearing witness to the infinite truth, power, 
 and wisdom of God, in bringing about his counsels, 
 .in their perfection touching this great business of the 
 redemption of man, which was the very end why he 
 was created and placed upon the earth ; and, manag- 
 ing the villany of men, and the craft and malice of 
 Satan, to bring about the greatest blessing that was, 
 or could be, provided for mankind, besides, and above, 
 and against the intention of the instrument, Acts ii. 
 23. " Him, being delivered by the determinate coun- 
 sel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and 
 by wicked hands have crucified and slain." 6. The 
 unsearchable wisdom of God is manifested, in that he 
 provided such a Mediator, that was fit for so great a 
 work: had all the world consulted that God must 
 suffer, it had been impossible, and had all the world 
 contributed that any man, or all the men in the world 
 should have been a satisfactory sacrifice for any one 
 sin, it had been deficient. Here is then the wonder- 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 239 
 
 ful counsel of the most high God,, the sacrifice that is 
 appointed shall be so ordered, that God and man shall 
 be conjoined in one person, that so as man he might 
 become a sacrifice for sin, and as God that he might 
 gfve a value to the sacrifice. And this is the great, 
 mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. 
 Sir Matthew Hales Contemplations, ii. 1 44. 
 
 An universal tradition teaches us, that man was cre- 
 ated in a more perfect state, than that in which he at 
 present exists, and that there has been a fall. This 
 tradition is confirmed by the opinion of the philoso- 
 phers of all ages and of all countries, who have never 
 been able to reconcile their ideas on the subject of 
 moral man, without supposing a primitive state of 
 perfection, from which human nature afterwards fell 
 by its own fault. If man was created, he was creat- 
 ed for some end or other ; consequently, being creat- 
 ed perfect, the end for which he was destined could 
 not be otherwise than perfect. But has the final 
 cause of man been changed by his fall ? No ; since 
 man has not been created anew : No ; since the hu- 
 man race has not been exterminated to make room 
 for another. Man therefore, though he has become 
 mortal and imperfect, through his disobedience, is 
 still destined for immortal and perfect ends. But how 
 shall he attain these ends in his present state of im- 
 perfection ? This he can no longer accomplish by 
 his own energy, for the same reason that a sick man 
 is incapable of raising himself to that elevation of 
 ideas, to which a person in health is able to soar. 
 There is therefore a disproportion* between the power, 
 and the weight to be raised by that power : here we 
 already perceive the necessity of succour or of a re- 
 demption. 
 
 <f This kind of reasoning," it may be said, <l will 
 '* apply to the first man ; but as for us we are capa- 
 
240 THE MEDIATION AND 
 
 ' ble of attaining the ends of our destination. What 
 " injustice and absurdity to imagine that we shall all 
 " be punished for the fault of our first parent ?'* With- 
 out pretending to decide in this place whether God 
 is right or wrong, in making us sureties for one ano- 
 ther, all that we know, and all that is necessary for 
 us to know at present is, that such a law exists. We 
 know, that the innocent son universally suffers the 
 punishment due the guilty father ; that this law is so 
 interwoven in the principles of things, as to hold 
 good even in the physical order of the universe. When 
 an infant comes into the world diseased from head to 
 foot from its father's excesses, why do you not com- 
 plain of the injustice of nature? for what has this lit- 
 tle innocent done, that it should endure the punish- 
 ment of another's vices ? Well then, the diseases of 
 the soul are perpetuated like those of the body ; and 
 man is punished, in his remotest posterity, for the 
 fault, which introduced into his nature the first leaven 
 of sin. The fall then being attested by general tra- 
 dition, and by the transmission or generation of evil 
 both moral and physical ; while on the other hand, 
 the ends for which man was designed, have remained 
 as perfect as before his disobedience, though man 
 himself has degenerated; it follows, that a redemption, 
 or any expedient to enable man to fulfil those ends, 
 is a natural consequence of the state into which hu- 
 man nature has fallen. The necessity of redemption 
 being once admitted, let us seek the order in which 
 it may be found. This order may be taken either in 
 man or above man.* 1. In man. In order to sup- 
 pose a redemption, the price must be at least equiva- 
 lent to the thing to be redeemed. Now, how is it to 
 be imagined, that imperfect and mortal man could set 
 about regaining a perfect and immortal end ? How 
 could man, partaking himself of the primeval sin, 
 
ATONEMENT OF CHRIST. 
 
 make satisfaction as well for the portion of guilt 
 which belongs to himself, as for that which concerns 
 the rest of his race ? Would not such self devotion 
 require a kind of love and virtue superior to human 
 nature ? Heaven seems purposely to have suffered 
 four thousand years to elapse, from the fall to the re- 
 demption, to allow men time to judge of themselves, 
 how very inadequate were their degraded virtues for 
 such a sacrifice. We have no alternative, then, but 
 the second supposition ; namely, that the redemption 
 could have proceeded only from a Being superior to 
 man.. Let us examine if it could have been accom- 
 plished by any of the intermediate beings between 
 him and God. What should have inspired the an- 
 gels with that unbounded love to man, which the mys- 
 tery of the cross presupposes ? We shall observe be- 
 sides, that the most exalted of the created spirits 
 would not have possessed strength sufficient for the 
 stupendous task. We could not then have any other 
 Redeemer, than one of the three persons existing from 
 all eternity ; and, among these three persons of the 
 Godhead, it is obvious, that the Son alone, from his 
 very nature, must accomplish the great work of sal- 
 vation. Love, which binds together all the parts of 
 the universe, the middle which unites the extremes, 
 the vivifying principle of nature, He alone was ca- 
 pable of reconciling God with man. This second 
 Adam came ; man according to the flesh, yet God 
 by his essence. He was born of a virgin, that he 
 might not partake of original sin, but be a victim 
 " without spot and without blemish." He received 
 life in a stable, in the lowest of human conditions, 
 because we had fallen through pride. Here com- 
 mences the depth of the mystery ; man feels an aw- 
 ful emotion, and the scene closes. Thus the end, for 
 which we were destined, before the disobedience of 
 M 
 
THE MEDIATION, &C. 
 
 our first parents, is still pointed out to us, but the way 
 to attain it is no longer the same. Adam in a state 
 of innocence would have reached it by flowery paths : 
 all nature has undergone a change since the fault of 
 our general father ; and redemption was not design- 
 ed to produce a new creation, but to confer final sal- 
 vation on the old one. Every thing, therefore, has 
 remained degenerate with man ; and this sovereign 
 of the universe, who, created immortal, was destined 
 to be exalted without any change of existence, to the 
 felicity of the celestial powers, cannot now enjoy the 
 presence of God, till, in the language of St. Chrysos- 
 tom, he has passed through the deserts of the tomb. 
 His soul has been rescued from final destruction by 
 the redemption ; but his body, combining with the 
 frailty natural to matter, the weakness consequent on 
 sin, undergoes the primitive sentence in its utmost 
 extent : he falls, he perishes, he sinks into corrup- 
 tion. 
 
 We venture to presume, that, if there be any thing 
 clear in metaphysics it is the chain of this reasoning. 
 Here is no wresting of words; here are no divisions 
 and subdivisions, no obscure and barbarous term?. 
 Christianity is not made up of these things, as the 
 sarcasms of infidelity would fain lead us to imagine. 
 To the poor in spirit the gospel has been preached, 
 and by the poor in spirit it has been heard : it is the 
 plainest book that exists. Its doctrine has not its 
 seat in the head, but in the heart ; it teaches not the 
 art of disputation, but the way to lead a virtuous 
 life ; nevertheless it is not without its secrete. What 
 is truly ineffable in Scripture, is the continual mix- 
 lure of the profoundest mysteries and extreme sim- 
 plicity, characters whence spring the divine and the 
 sublime. W T e ought not to be surprised,, that the 
 book of Jesus Christ should speak so eloquently. 
 
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 
 
 Such, moreover, are the truths of our religion, not- 
 withstanding their freedom from scientific parade, 
 that the admission of a single point immediately com- 
 pels you to admit all the rest. Nay more, if you 
 hope to escape by denying the principle, as for in- 
 stance, original sin, you will scon, driven from con- 
 sequence to consequence, be obliged to precipitate 
 yourself into the abyss of atheism ; the moment you 
 acknowledge a God, our holy religion makes its -way 
 with all its doctrines, as Clarke and Pascal have ob- 
 served. This in our opinion is one of the strongest 
 evidences in favour of Christianity. Chateaubriand's 
 Beauties of Christianity, i. 31. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OP GOD. 
 
 SALVATION is FROM GOD. I believe many are sav- 
 ed, who, to man, seem reprobated ; and many are 
 reprobated, who. in the opinion and sentence of man, 
 stand 'elected. There will appear, at the last day, 
 strange and unexpected examples both of his justice 
 and his mercy; and, therefore, to define either, is 
 folly in man, and insolency even in devils ; those 
 acute and subtle spirits, in all their sagacity, can hard- 
 ly divine who shall be saved, which if the}' could prog- 
 nostick, their labour was at an end, nor need they 
 compass the earth, seeking whom they may devour. 
 The number of those who pretend unto salvation, and 
 those infinite swarms who think to pass through the 
 M 2 
 
244 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 
 
 eye of this needle, have much amazed me. That name 
 and compellation of " little flock," doth not comfort, 
 but deject my devotion, especially when I reflect up- 
 on mine own unworthiness, wherein, according to my 
 humble apprehensions, I am below them, below them 
 all. That, which was the cause of my election, I hold 
 to be the cause of my salvation, which was the mercy 
 and beneplacit of God, before I was, or the founda- 
 tion of the world. Brown's Religio Medici. 
 
 Could humility teach others, as it hath instructed 
 me, to contemplate the infinite and incomprehensi- 
 ble distance betwixt the Creator and the creature ; or 
 did we seriously perpend that one simile of St. Paul, 
 " shall the vessel say to the potter, why hast thou 
 made me thus ?" it would prevent those arrogant dis- 
 putes of reason, nor would we argue the definite sen- 
 tence of God, either to heaven or hell. Men, that 
 live according to the right rule and law of reason, live 
 but in their own kind, as beasts do in theirs ; who justly 
 obey the prescript of their natures, and therefore can- 
 not reasonably demand a reward of their actions, as 
 only obeying the natural dictates of their reason. It 
 will, therefore, and must at last appear, that all sal- 
 vation is through Christ ; which verity, I fear, these 
 great examples of virtue (the ancient worthies) must 
 confirm and make it good, how the perfectest actions 
 of earth have no title or claim unto heaven. Broivn's 
 Religio Medici. 
 
 Nothing can be more contrary to the covenant of 
 grace, and to the way of salvation inculcated in the 
 gospel, wherein all glorying or boasting of the crea- 
 ture, attributing any part of its salvation to itself, is 
 excluded. " Where is boasting then ? it is excluded ; 
 by what law ? of works ? nay but by the law of faith. 
 Therefore we conclude, (saith the apostle,) that a man 
 is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law." 
 
SALVATION BY THE GRACE 
 
 t( But God, who is rich i n mercy, for hiV^ijyeat l ve 
 wherewith he loved us, even when we weVe dead in 
 sin, hath quickened us together with Christ ; v x>vhere 
 it is twice repeated, " by grace ye are saved thro 
 faith, not of works, lest any man should boast." Yea, 
 boasting is so far excluded, that man cannot boast of 
 faith, as it is his part of the covenant of grace, for it 
 is said, " by grace you are saved through faith, and 
 that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." What 
 could be more said to exclude works from man's part 
 of the covenant of grace, not only that there cannot 
 be an equivalent cause deserving glory, but not so 
 much as the terms upon which glory was to be free- 
 ly given? For it is expressly said, that i( we are God's 
 workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, 
 which God hath before ordained," or prepared, 
 " that we should walk in them." And God hath not 
 predestinated man to salvation for their works fore- 
 seen or performed. " For whom he did foresee, them 
 he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of 
 his Son ;" which image is holiness, which is not the 
 cause, but the end and effect of predestination. Good 
 works, indeed, are via regni, but not causa regnandi; 
 and they are the evidences of true and saving faith, 
 to be diligently followed ; not only by reason of the 
 indispensable law and duty, anterior in order to any 
 covenant, but as the means to evidence true grace, 
 and give solid peace ; and therefore it is said, f ' strait 
 is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto 
 life," and that " the kingdom of God is taken by 
 violence, and the violent enter it by force," which 
 doth import no more than the way to the kingdom. 
 And where it is said, " blessed are they that do his 
 commandments, that they may have right to the tree 
 of life," it doth not import right by merit, (the word 
 being t|w* *** f v*ov ,). so that works can no 
 
 ltd 
 
246 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 
 
 more properly be called right, than the evidence of 
 lands or inheritance are called the rights thereof, as 
 signifying the same ; and, therefore, the explicatory 
 words are subjoined, and " may enter in through the 
 gates of the city." Dblrymple, Earl of Stair, on the 
 Divine Perfections. 
 
 NATURE OF GRACE. I take grace to be the whole 
 complex of such real motives (as a solid account may 
 be given of them) that incline a man to virtue and 
 piety ; and are set on foot by God's particular grace 
 and favour, to bring that work to pass. The whole 
 concatenation of all the intervening accidents to work 
 this good effect in him ; and that were ranged and 
 disposed from all eternity by God's particular good- 
 ness and providence for his salvation, and without 
 which he had inevitably been damned. This chain 
 of causes ordered by God to produce this effect, I un- 
 derstand to be grace. Sir Kenelm Digby's Annotations 
 to Brown's Religio Medici. 
 
 We are ignorant of a great number of things ; we 
 know not, in particular, the operation of the grace of 
 God, nor how it enlightens the mind. No person 
 can sincerely devote himself to the Supreme Being 
 without perceiving the emotions of his grace. " If a 
 man keep my commandments/' says our Saviour, 
 '' he will perceive that I am come from God." It is 
 the influence of his grace, which excites in us good 
 desires; which represents to us our unworthiness, and 
 which animates our souls with an ardent desire of 
 procuring the favour of God. Baron Haller's Letters 
 to his Daughter, let. 14-. 
 
 MAN'S NEED OF SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE. Those, 
 whom God has inspired with the grace of re- 
 ligion in their hearts and affections, are most en- 
 
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 247 
 
 tirely convinced, and most completely blessed. But 
 as for those, who have not yet attained it, we have no 
 way of recommending it to them, but by reason and 
 argument ; waiting till God shall please to imprint 
 an inward feeling of it on their hearts ; without 
 which, all faith, as it is only the conviction of the un- 
 derstanding, is unprofitable to salvation. Pascal's 
 Thoughts. 
 
 Jn this manner it has been my earnest endeavour 
 to shew the authenticity and excellence of the Holy 
 Scriptures, and the truth of the Christian religion. But, 
 as there is such debility in the mind of man, and a pride 
 of heart which produces.these doubts and difficulties, 
 these stumbling blocks and rocks of offence, let us seek 
 remedy in that excellent prayer of our church, in which 
 we invoke the Deity, " that it may please him to give 
 to all his people increase of grace to hear meekly his 
 word, to receive it with pure affection, and to bring 
 forth the fruits of the Spirit." Whoever will in this 
 wise read, learn, and inwardly digest the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, cannot fail of being a Christian. Bryant on the 
 Authenticity of Scripture, 255. 
 
 But we ought always to keep this in our thoughts, 
 that we entirely depend on God ; that all the goods, 
 either of mind or body, and all our virtues, have been 
 derived from him, and must be preserved or increas- 
 ed by his gracious providence ; and since every good 
 temper must always extend its views abroad, studi- 
 ously pursuing the happiness of others, which also 
 entirely depends on the will of God, and cannot be 
 insured by human power, there can be no other sta- 
 ble foundation of tranquillity and joy, than a constant 
 trust in the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, by 
 which we commit to him ourselves, our friends, and 
 the whole universe, persuaded that he will order all 
 things well. The schoolmen, therefore, justly called, 
 
 M 4 
 
248 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 
 
 God the supreme object of happiness, or the supreme 
 objective good, from the knowledge and love of whom, 
 with the hopes of being favoured by him, our supreme 
 happiness must arise. Hutcheson's Moral Philoso- 
 phy, b. i. chap. ii. 12. 
 
 To these I must add one advantage more, by Je- 
 sus Christ, and that is the promise of assistance. If 
 we do what we can, he will give us his Spirit to help 
 us to do what, and how we should. It will be idle 
 for us, who know not how our own spirits move and 
 act us, to ask in what manner the Spirit of God shall 
 work upon us. The wisdom, that accompanies that 
 Spirit, knows better than we, how we are made, and 
 how to work upon us. If a wise man knows how to 
 prevail on his child, to bring him to what he desires, 
 can we suspect that the Spirit and wisdom of God 
 should fail in it, though we perceive or comprehend 
 not the ways of his operation ? Christ has promis- 
 ed it, who is faithful and just ; and we cannot doubt 
 of the performance. It is not requisite, on this occa- 
 sion, for the enhancing of this benefit, to enlarge on 
 the frailty of our minds, and weakness of our consti- 
 tution, how liable to mistakes, how apt to go astray, 
 and how easily to be turned out of the paths of vir- 
 tue. If any one needs go beyond himself, and the 
 testimony of his own conscience, in this point; if he 
 feels not his own errors and passions always tempt- 
 ing, and often prevailing, against the strict rules of 
 his duty, he need but look abroad into any stage of 
 the world, to be convinced. To a man under the dif- 
 ficulties of his nature, beset with temptations, and 
 hedged in with prevailing customs, it is no small en- 
 couragement to set himself seriously on the courses 
 of virtue, and practice of true religion, that he is, 
 from a sure hand, and an almighty arm, promised as- 
 sistance to support and carry him through. Locke's 
 Reasonableness of Christianity, Works, vi. 151. 
 
SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 249 
 
 What excuse can they have for pretending to judge, 
 that the merciful and beneficent Spirit of God does 
 not work upon the spirits of men ? From their proper 
 experience they can draw no observation,, as they have 
 locked out all regard for the Deity from their hearts ; 
 and what passes in the spirits of other men they can 
 have 110 knowledge of, nor indeed any idea, as they 
 have suffered no such transactions to take place in 
 their own. 
 
 Philosophers have talked much of action and reac- 
 tion in matter, and imagine they understand what 
 they say ; what should hinder them to believe that 
 there may be such a thing as action and reaction be- 
 tween spirits, even between the infinitely perfect Spirit 
 and the spirits of finite men ? If gratitude observed.in 
 a dog produces some regard and kindness in the mind 
 of his master, why may not the gratitude, the warmth 
 of the heart of man, work some similar effect in the 
 all-seeing mind ? and who dare presume to say, that 
 it may not act on, and comfort the spirit of man 
 in return? If that beneficent and all-powerful Spirit 
 does not shew his kindness in bestowing wealth, and 
 power, and fading pleasures, it is because they are not 
 real goods; because they are not the object of the 
 heart and wishes of the party favoured; and because, 
 in place of doing him real good, they might call oft' 
 the affections from that exercise wherein his true fe- 
 licity consists. And this is so true, that crosses, dis- 
 appointments, and distresses, may justly be consider- 
 ed as acts of the greatest kindness, when they tend to 
 recal the straying mind from vanity, and to fix it on 
 its proper object. President Forbes's Reflections on 
 Incredulity. 
 
 " No man," says Christ, (referring to John vi. 4*4.) 
 lf can believe the doctrines, or obey the precepts-, 
 which I teach, except he is enabled by the assistance 
 M 5 
 
250 SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. 
 
 and grace of God :" by which we are not to under- 
 stand any sudden, irresistible impulse, as some en- 
 thusiasts would persuade us ; but, except God shall 
 be pleased to dispose his heart, and also the circum- 
 stances of his situation, in such a manner as to draw 
 him into the right road of faith and obedience. This 
 is the declaration of Christ, and the doctrine univer- 
 sally enforced by all the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment, 2 Cor. iii. 5. Phil. ii. 13. This is the constant 
 language of the Scriptures ; in which we are every 
 where exhorted to seek, to depend on, to hope for, 
 and to pray for this divine influence on our thoughts 
 and actions, as necessary to our thinking any thing 
 right, or performing any thing good ; and yet we are 
 constantly considered, by the whole tenor of those 
 writings, as free agents, possessed of perfect liberty 
 to do good or evil, and as such we are instructed, ad- 
 monished, tempted by rewards, and threatened with 
 punishments. How contradictory soever these two 
 propositions may seem, they are both undoubtedly 
 true. Of the first we cannot fail being convinced by 
 reason, nor of the latter by experience. Reason as- 
 sures us, that no creature can think or act independ- 
 ent of his Creator, in whom he lives, and moves, and 
 has his .being, and from whom he receives power to 
 think or act at all j and it seems indeed impossible, that a 
 Creator, however omnipotent, should bestow on his 
 creatures such a degree of freedom, as to make them 
 independent of himself; for he must infuse into 
 their original frame some disposition, good or bad ; 
 he must give them reason superior to their passions, 
 or passions uncontrolled by their reason ; he must en- 
 dow them with a greater or less degree of wisdom or 
 folly ; he must place them Avithin or beyond the reach 
 of temptations, and within the view of virtuous or vi- 
 cious examples. All these circumstances must pro- 
 ceed from his dispensation, and from these their elec- 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 tion and consequent conduct must be derived. Of the 
 latter, which is, that we are possessed of full liberty 
 to choose good or evil, to do, or forbear doing, any 
 action, every moment's experience assures us with 
 equal certainty. This is not a matter of argument, 
 but of feeling ; and we can no more doubt of our 
 being possessed of this power, than of our sight, hear- 
 ing, or any of our corporeal senses. How these two 
 contradictory propositions can be reconciled, is above 
 the reach of our comprehensions ; and is but another 
 mark, added to many, of their weakness and imper- 
 fection. We have no faculties which are able to solve 
 this difficulty, and therefore ought to leave it to that 
 omniscient Being who framed, and is alone acquainted 
 with, the composition of the human mind. Each of 
 these opinions has been supported by different sects 
 of philosophers, with equal warmth ; but it is remark- 
 able, that the Christian is the only religious or moral 
 institution, which ever ventured to assert the truth of 
 them both ; which, as they are both undoubtedly true, 
 seems no inconsiderable proof of the supernatural in- 
 formation and authority of that dispensation. Soame 
 Jenyns' Works, iv. 218. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 NATURE AND NECESSITY op REPENTANCE. As 
 the two great sources of all sin, are pride and negli- 
 gence, so God has been pleased to disclose two of his 
 attributes for their cure, his mercy, and his justice. 
 The office and effect of his justice is, to abase and 
 mortify our pride ; and the office and effect of his 
 H 6 
 
252 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 mercy is, to prevail on our negligence, and excite us 
 to good works. The goodness of God leadeth to 'repent- 
 ance. And ; let us repent, (say the Nineviles) and 
 see if He will not have mercy on us. Thus the con- 
 sideration of the Divine mercy is so far from being 
 an encouragement to sloth and remissness, that it is 
 the greatest spur to industry and action : And in- 
 stead of saying ; "If our God were not a merciful 
 " God, we ought to bend our utmost endeavours to- 
 " wards the fulfilling of his commands, it is rational 
 " to say, because we serve a God of mercy and pity, 
 "therefore we ought to labour with all our strength to 
 " yield him an acceptable service." M. Pascal's 
 Thoughts, p. 229. 
 
 It is necessary, that, at the moments, too frequent, 
 when the chain, which unites us to the Supreme Be- 
 ing would escape from our grasp, the hope of again 
 seizing it should remain with us : it is then, to suc- 
 cour our weak faith, that we see in the gospel that 
 idea at once so excellent and new, that of repentance, 
 and the promises that are annexed to it. This noble 
 idea, absolutely belonging to Christianity, prevents 
 our relation with the Deity from being destroyed as 
 soon as it is perceived ; the culprit may still hope for 
 the favour of God, and, after contrition, confide in 
 Him. Human nature, that singular connection of 
 the spirit with matter, of strength with weakness, of 
 reason with the imagination, persuasion with doubt, 
 and will with uncertainty, necessarily requires a le- 
 gislation appropriated to a constitution so extraordina- 
 ry: man, in his most improved state, resembles an 
 infant, who attempts to walk, and falls, rises, and falls. 
 again ; and he would soon be lost to morality, if, af- 
 ter his first fault, he had not any hope of repairing 
 it ; under a similar point of view, the idea of repent- 
 ance is one of the most philosophical which the gos- 
 pel contains. Necker's Religious Opinions, p. 433. 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 Perfect innocence is not the portion of mortali- 
 ty. Even in worthy persons, the judgment may err ; 
 and in the exercise of right affections, the heart may 
 wander. In youth, a passion may break its bounds, 
 and, for a moment lay waste the soul. Remorse is 
 felt. Under its severe and awful pressure, the soul 
 returns to God, and melts in penitential sorrow. The 
 peace, which begins to dawn, is a token of the di- 
 vine compassion. The fruits of this exercise are a. 
 lively sense of the danger of guilt, the humbleness of 
 mind which becomes an imperfect creature, and sym- 
 pathy with those who are in the same imperfect 
 state. Lord Kames on the Culture of the Heart. 
 
 Repentance, by this we may plainly see, is another 
 new moral duty strenuously insisted on by this reli- 
 gion, and by no other, because absolutely necessary 
 to the accomplishment of its end ; for this alone can 
 purge us from those transgressions, from which we 
 cannot be totally exempted in this state of trial and 
 temptation ; and purify us from that depravity in our 
 nature, which renders us incapable of attaining this 
 end. Here also we may learn, that no repentance 
 can remove this incapacity, but such as entirely 
 changes the nature and disposition of the offender ; 
 which, in the language of Scripture, is called " being 
 born again." Mere contrition for past crimes, nor even 
 the pardon of them, cannot effect this, unless it ope- 
 rates to their entire conversion, or new birth, as it is 
 properly and emphatically named ; for sorrow can no 
 more purify a mind corrupted by a long continuance 
 in vicious habits, than it can restore health to a body 
 distempered by a long course of vice and intempei> 
 ance. Hence also every one, who is in the least ac- 
 quainted with himself, may judge of the reasonable- 
 ness of the hope that is in him, and of his situation 
 in a future state, by that of his present. If he feels 
 in himself a temper proud, turbulent, vindictive, and 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 malevolent, and a violent attachment to the pleasures 
 and business of the world, he may be assured that he 
 must be excluded from the kingdom of heaven ; not 
 only, because his conduct can merit no such reward, 
 but because, if admitted, he would find there no ob- 
 ject satisfactory to his passions, inclinations, and pur- 
 suits ; and therefore could only disturb the happiness 
 of others, without enjoying any share of it himself. 
 Soame Jenyns' Works, iv. 50. 
 
 Repentance, however difficult to be practised, is, if 
 it be explained without superstition, easily under- 
 stood. Repentance is Ihe relinqnishmcnt of any prac- 
 tice, from the conviction that it has offended God. Sor- 
 row, and fear, and anxiety, are properly not parts, 
 but adjuncts of repentance ; yet they are too closely 
 connected with it to be easily separated ; for they not 
 only mark its sincerity, but promote its efficacy. No 
 man commits any act of negligence or obstinacy; by 
 which his safety or happiness in this world is endan- 
 gered, without feeling the pungency of remorse. He 
 who is fully convinced, that he suffers by his own 
 failure, can never forbear to trace back his miscar- 
 riage to its first cause, to image to himself a contrary 
 behaviour, and to form involuntary resolutions against 
 the like fault, even when he knows that he shall ne- 
 ver again have the power of committing it. Danger 
 considered as imminent, naturally produces such tre- 
 pidations of impatience, as leave all human means of 
 safety behind them: he that hath once caught an 
 alarm of terror, is every moment seized with useless 
 anxieties, adding one security to another ; trembling, 
 with sudden doubts, and distracted by the perpetual 
 occurrence of new expedients. If, therefore, he, 
 whose crimes have deprived him of the favour of 
 God, can reflect upon his conduct without disturb- 
 ance, or can at will banish the reflection ; if he, who 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 255 
 
 considers himself as suspended over the abyss of eter- 
 nal perdition only by the thread of life, which must 
 soon part by its own weakness, and which the wing 
 of every minute may divide, can cast his eyes round 
 him without shuddering with horror, or panting with 
 security ; what can he judge of himself, but that he 
 is not yet awakened to sufficient conviction, since every 
 loss is more lamented than the loss of the divine fa- 
 vour, and every danger more dreaded than the danger 
 of final condemnation ? 
 
 Retirement from the cares and pleasures of the 
 world has been often recommended as useful to re- 
 pentance. This at least is evident, that every one re- 
 tires, whenever ratiocination and recollection are re- 
 quired 011 other occasions : and surely the retrospect 
 of life, the disentanglement of actions complicated 
 with innumerable circumstances, and diffused in va- 
 rious relations, the discovery of the primary move- 
 ments of the heart, and the extirpation of lusts and 
 appetites deeply rooted and widely spread, may be 
 allowed to demand some secession from sport, and 
 noise, and business, and folly. Some suspension of 
 common affairs, some pause of temporal pain and 
 pleasure, is doubtless necessary to him that delibe- 
 rates for eternity, who is forming the only plan in 
 which miscarriage cannot be repaired, and examining 
 the only question in which mistake cannot be recti- 
 fied. 
 
 Austerities and mortifications are means, by which 
 the mind is invigorated and roused, by which the 
 attractions of pleasure are interrupted, and the chains 
 of sensuality are broken. It is observed by one of 
 the fathers, that he mho restrains himself in the use of 
 things lawful, will never encroach upon things forbid- 
 den. Abstinence, if nothing more, is, at least, a cau- 
 tious retreat from the utmost verge of permission^ 
 
256 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 and confers that security, which cannot be reasonably 
 hoped by him, that dares always to hover over the 
 precipice of destruction, or delights to approach the 
 pleasures which he knows it fatal to partake. Auste- 
 rity is the proper antidote to indulgence ; the diseases 
 of mind, as well as body, are cured by contraries,, and 
 to contraries we should readily have recourse, if we 
 dreaded guilt as we dread pain. 
 
 The completion and sum of repentance is a change 
 of life. That sorrow which dictates no caution, that 
 fear which does not quicken our escape, that austeri- 
 ty which fails to rectify our affections, are vain and 
 unavailing. But sorrow and terror must naturally 
 precede reformation j for what other cause can pro- 
 duce it ? He, therefore, that feels himself alarmed by 
 his conscience, anxious for the attainment of a better 
 state, and afflicted by the memory of his past faults, 
 may justly conclude, that the great work of repent- 
 ance is begun, and hope by retirement and prayer, 
 the natural and religidus means of strengthening his 
 conviction, to impress upon his mind such a sense of 
 the divine presence, as may overpower the blandish- 
 ments of secular delights, and enable him to advance 
 from one degree of holiness to another, till death shall 
 set him free from doubt and contest, misery and temp- 
 tation. 
 
 What better can we do, than prostrate fall 
 Before him reverent ; and there confess 
 Humbly our faults, and pardon beg ; with tears 
 Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air 
 Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite ; in sign 
 Of sorrow unfeigned, and humiliation meek ? 
 
 Dr. SamuelJohnson, Rambler, No. 110. 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 257 
 
 MEANS OF CONVERSION. the Scripture saith ex- 
 pressly, that the natural man cannot know the things 
 of God, because they are spiritually discerned. There- 
 fore man by nature wants that sense to discern with. 
 Grace is the new creature, and regeneration the new 
 birth. Therefore in regeneration God must give a 
 new sense. By nature he hath given five senses, and 
 fitted the objects with sensible qualities suited to them 
 all. These were not necessary to man : God might 
 have given fewer, or added more, and fitted qualities 
 for them. May he not then give a new sense for 
 spiritual things ? His word sheweth he doth so, which 
 derogates nothing from the word, wherein are the 
 qualities fitted for that sense. It does not derogate 
 from the excellency of the natural light, that it can- 
 not work upon a blind man, or that it does require the 
 sense of sight. The word of God doth not only ex- 
 cite and promote grace after conversion, but is a chief 
 mean to prepare the way for conversion, containing 
 not only supernatural light by revelation, but reviving 
 and perfecting natural light, manifesting the divine 
 perfections, the celestial glory, the way to attain it, 
 the beauty of holiness, and the dreadful consequences 
 thereof; and so looseth the mind from that cleaving 
 to sin that makes the offer of grace and mercy to be 
 despised and rejected. But it is not sufficient to turn 
 the soul to God by conversion. A virtuous heathen 
 by the light of nature may see the deformity of, and 
 may hate gross vice, and may turn from it to that 
 which is comely and convenient for mankind ; but 
 can never turn to God to make him the last end. 
 The Scripture may much more easily convince, but 
 not convert by itself; but as it hath the qualities suit- 
 able to make impressions upon the supernatural sense 
 and relish of spiritual things, it discovers not only 
 the pollutions of the world, but those more subtile 
 sins, that heathens never perceive ; such as, setting 
 
258 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 the common interest of mankind above the interest of 
 God ; the want of the love and delight in God, and 
 of the dependence upon him, and attributing all good 
 things to him. So the ingrafted word must be in its 
 proper stock, in its own spiritual sense. Dairy mple. 
 Earl of Stair, on the Divine Perfections. 
 
 It is certain, that the knowledge of God's mysteries 
 mortifieth in us all worldly joy, and maketh us to 
 conceive horrible bitterness against worldly impiety : 
 such is ths vehement zeal, that the spirit of God 
 worketh in our bowels. Lord Napier oj> Merchiston 
 on the Apocalypse. 
 
 1 do conceive, that the entering into the covenant of 
 grace may be hi the way of adoration thus : " My 
 God, I do believe that thou delightest not in the death 
 of sinners, but rather, that they should repent and live 
 in thy favour eternally, who feel sin to be a burden, 
 and do not cleave to any known sin, but betake them- 
 selves to thee to be delivered from it, and to become 
 thy servants, trusting in thee for all things necessary 
 for holiness and happiness. I am sensible of the bon- 
 dage of my sin, and that I am not able to free myself 
 from that bondage ; yet I believe thou hast offered to 
 enable me, and do humbly accept thy offer, purchased 
 through Christ the Mediator, and do resign myself to 
 be directed by thy Holy Spirit in the way of happi- 
 ness." Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Per- 
 fections. 
 
 Might we but see a miracle, say some men, how 
 gladly would we become converts ? They could not 
 speak in this manner, did they understand what con- 
 version means. They imagine, that nothing else is 
 requisite to this work, but the bare acknowledgment 
 of God ; and that his adoration and service consists 
 only in the paying him certain verbal addresses, little 
 different from those which the heathens used towards 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 259 
 
 their idols. True conversion is to abase, and, as it 
 were, to annihilate ourselves, before this great and 
 sovereign Being, whom we have so often provoked, 
 and who every moment may, without the least injus- 
 tice, destroy us : 'Tis to acknowledge, that we can do 
 nothing without his aid, and that we have merited 
 nothing from him but his wrath : 'Tis to know, that 
 there's an invincible opposition between God and our- 
 selves ; and that, without the benefit of a mediator, 
 there could be no transaction or intercourse between 
 us. 
 
 Never think it strange, that illiterate persons should 
 believe without reasoning. God inspires them with 
 the love of his justice, and with the hatred of them- 
 selves. 'Tis he that inclines their hearts to believe. 
 No man ever believes with a true and saving faith, 
 unless God inclines his heart : and no man, when 
 God inclines his heart, can refrain from thus believ- 
 ing. Of this David was sensible when he prayed, 
 Inclina cor meurn, Deus, in testimonia lua. Pa&'cai'y 
 Thoughts, p. 4?6. 
 
 REGENERATION. Conversion and regeneration, 
 when accurately considered, are distinct ; for conver- 
 sion is wrought by that inclination given of God to 
 accept the offer of grace, for thereby the soul is no 
 more addicted to sin; but regeneration is the infusing 
 of the habits of grace, the pardon of sin, justification 
 or holding of the believer as just, and thereby recon- 
 ciling with him and adopting him as a son, which are 
 God's part of the covenant of grace, and are always 
 done together ; and the future blessings of the cove- 
 nant for increasing grace, giving perseverance, excit- 
 ing repentance, and renewing pardon, direction, pro- 
 tection, and glory, are not parts but effects of the co- 
 venant of grace, proceeding from God's bounty and 
 
260 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 faithfulness, and from his engagement in the covenant 
 of grace to give these things, which promise us a part 
 of the new covenant. Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on the 
 Divine Perfections. 
 
 These white garments are not only our mortified 
 flesh and regenerate bodies ; but even under the term 
 of garments, synecdochice expressed, is meant that 
 universal purity both of body and soul, that we ob- 
 tain, being washed by the innocent blood of Christ 
 Jesus, as is proved by those who are said to have 
 washed their robes, and made the same white in the 
 blood of the Lamb Christ Jesus; and we know by 
 the Christian truth, that not particularly our robes, 
 yea, not our flesh only, but universally, both in body 
 and soul, we are washed in that blood, and obtain full 
 remission of all our sins. Lord Napier of Merchiston 
 on the Apocalypse. 
 
 1 conceive justification to be God's holding and re- 
 puting the believer to be as if he were entirely just, 
 notwithstanding the remainder of sin, seeing he is 
 become an adversary to sin, and so may say with 
 Paul, " not I, but sin that dwelleth in me." In which 
 sense only it can be said, that " God seeth no iniquity 
 in Jacob, nor sin in Israel," and that " he that is born 
 of God cannot sin ;" seeing the indelible habits of 
 grace do ever continue in him, which is called the 
 seed of God. Though forgiveness of sins past at re- 
 generation purge him and make him innocent, yet 
 thereby alone he cannot be accounted just, because 
 the sinful inclinations remain ; yet may he be reput- 
 ed as just, seeing it is expressly said, " happy is the 
 man, to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and 
 whose sin is covered." Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on 
 the Divine Perfections. 
 
 COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. But though Christ be 
 never so much exalted, he despises not the meanest 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 201 
 
 of his saints, nor refuses communion with them ; for 
 he was in the form of God, ( Phil. ii. 7.) when he took 
 upon him the form of a servant to free us ; and he, 
 who so far condescended, to bring us to heaven, he 
 will receive us kindly when we come there. Whilst 
 he was in the flesh, he owned Lazarus, even in the 
 grave; and, notwithstanding his despicable condi- 
 tion, called him his friend. When in heaven, he re- 
 membered his distressed members on earth, and took 
 notice of Stephen when expiring (Acts vii.) and, when 
 Saul was persecuting Christians, he cried out, " Saul, 
 Saul, why persecutest thou me ?" as if he were one 
 with those that love him. And, in his messages to 
 the seven churches in the Apocalypse, he makes it 
 evident, that he hath a particular regard to single 
 persons, his greatness not diminishing his kindness, 
 but making it more obliging. And, after his ascen- 
 sion he thought not much to say, " Behold, I stand 
 at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, 
 and open the door, I will come in to him, and will 
 sup with him, and he with me." Hon. Robert Boyle's 
 Theological Works. 
 
 UNION WITH GOD. That which renders men so 
 averse to believing themselves capable of an union 
 with God, is nothing else but the thought of their own 
 baseness and misery : yet, if this thought of theirs be 
 sincere, let them pursue, as far as I have done, and 
 let them confess our baseness to have only this effect 
 with respect to God, that it hinders us from discover- 
 ing, by our own strength, whether his mercy cannot 
 render us capable of an union with him. For I would 
 gladly be informed, whence this creature, which ac- 
 knowledgeth himself so weak and contemptible, should 
 obtain a right of setting bounds to the divine mercy, 
 and of measuring it by such a rule and standard as 
 his own fancy suggests. Man knows so little of the 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 divine essence, as to remain ignorant of what he is 
 himself; and yet, disturbed at this imperfect view of 
 his own condition, he boldly pronounceth, that 'tis 
 beyond the power of God to qualify him for so su- 
 blime a conjunction. But I will ask him, whether 
 God requires any thing else at his hands, but that he 
 should know him, and should love him ; and, since 
 he finds himself, in his own nature, capable of know- 
 ing and of loving, upon what ground he suspects that 
 the divine nature cannot exhibit itself, as the object 
 of his knowledge and his love? For ashe certainly knows, 
 at least, that he is somewhat, so he no less certain- 
 ly loves somewhat. If then he sees any thing under 
 the present darkness of his understanding, and if 
 amongst the things of this world, he can find some- 
 what which may engage his affection,, should God be 
 pleased to impart to him some ray of his essence, 
 why should he not be able to know and to love his 
 divine benefactor, according to the measure and pro- 
 portion in which this honour was vouchsafed ? There 
 must, therefore, no doubt, be an intolerable presump- 
 tion in these ways of reasoning, though veiled under 
 an appearance of humility. For our humility can nei- 
 ther be rational nor sincere, unless it makes us confess, 
 that, not knowing of ourselves even what we ourselves 
 are, we cannot otherwise be instructed ; .n our own 
 condition, than by the assistance and information of 
 heaven. Pascal's Thoughts, p. 42. 
 
 RELIGION AN INTERNAL PRINCIPLE. Believe it, 
 religion is quite another thing from all these matters. 
 He that fears the Lord of heaven and earth, walks 
 humbly before him, thankfully lays hold of the mes- 
 sage of redemption by Christ Jesus, strives to express 
 his thankfulness by the sincerity of his obedience, is 
 sorry with all his soul when he comes short of his 
 
REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 263 
 
 duty, walks watchfully in the denial of himself, and 
 holds no confederacy with any lust or known sin, if 
 he falls in the least measure, is restless till he hath 
 made his peace by true repentance, is true to his pro- 
 mise, just in his actions, charitable to the poor, sincere 
 in his devotions ; that will not deliberately dishonour 
 God, though with the greatest impunity ; that hath 
 his hope in heaven, and his conversation in heaven ; 
 that dare not do an unjust act, though never so much 
 to his advantage ; and all this, because he sees him 
 
 that is invisible, and fears him because he loves him 
 
 fears him, as well for his goodness as his greatness. 
 Such a man, whether he be an episcopal or a pres- 
 by terian, or an independent, or an anabaptist ; whe- 
 ther he wears a surplice, or wears none ; whether he 
 hears organs, or hears none ; whether he kneels at 
 the communion, and, for conscience sake, stands or 
 sits ; he hath the life of religion in him, and that life 
 acts in him, and shall conform his soul to the image 
 of his Saviour, and walk along with him to eternity, 
 notwithstanding his practice or non-practice of these 
 indifferents. 
 
 On the other side, if a man fears not the eternal 
 God, dares commit any sin with presumption, can 
 drink excessively, swear vainly or falsely, commit a- 
 dultery, lie, cozen, cheat, break his promises, live 
 loosely ; though he practise every ceremony never so 
 curiously, or as stubbornly oppose ; though he cry 
 down bishops, or cry down presbytery ; though he be 
 re-baptized every day, or though he disclaim against it 
 as heresy ; though he fast all Lent, or feasts out of a 
 pretence of avoiding superstition : Yet, notwithstand- 
 ing these, or a thousand more external conformities, 
 or zealous oppositions of them ; he wants the life 
 of religion.- Sir Matthew Hales Contemplations, ii. 
 
264 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 SMALL NUMBER OF TRULY RELIGIOUS PERSONS. 
 The bulk of mankind are by no means so far advanc- 
 ed in self-annihilation^and in the love of God, and 
 of his creatures, in, and through him, as appears to 
 be required for the attainment of pure happiness. 
 There are few, even in Christian countries, that so 
 much as know what the true religion and purity of 
 the heart is ; at least that attend to it with care and 
 earnestness; and in pagan countries still fewer by 
 far. How exceedingly few then, must that little 
 flock be, whose wills are broken and subjected to the 
 divine will, who delight in happiness wherever they 
 see it, who look upon what concerns themselves with 
 indifference, and are perpetually intent upon their 
 Father's business, in any proper sense of these words ? 
 For, according to the Scriptures, " the gate that lead- 
 " eth to life is strait, and there are few who find it } " 
 even though they seek to enter in. The righteousness 
 of the scribes and pharisees, of the formal professors, 
 who are yet no adulterers, extortioners, &c. will not 
 be in any wise sufficient. " Many are called," and 
 " but few chosen;" and agreeably hereto, the first fruits, 
 which are a Scripture type of the chosen or elect, 
 are small in comparison of the lump. This world, 
 with the bulk of its inhabitants, is all along in Scrip- 
 ture represented as doomed to destruction, on account 
 of the degeneracy, idolatry, wickedness, which every 
 where prevail in it. The true Jews and Christians 
 are a separate people, in the world, not of the world, 
 but hated and persecuted by it ; because they shine 
 as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse genera- 
 tion, which cannot bear the light. If a man has but 
 courage to see and acknowledge the truth, he will 
 find the same doctrine expressed or implied in every 
 part of the Bible.' Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 
 406, &c. 
 
26-5 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 TESTIMONIES TO THE DUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 ATTENTION TO THE CONCERNS OF THE SOUL. 
 
 SERIOUSNESS OF MIND. While we laugh, all things 
 are serious around us. God is serious, who preserves 
 us, and has patience towards us ; Christ is serious, who 
 shed his blood for us ; the Holy Spirit is serious, when 
 he strives with us ; the whole creation is serious in 
 serving God and us; all are serious in another world; 
 how suitable, then, is it for man to be serious ! and 
 how can he be gay and trifling ? Sir Francis Wal~ 
 singham, quoted in Murray's Power of Religion. 
 
 1 have lived to see five sovereigns, and have been 
 privy counsellor to four of them. I have seen the most 
 remarkable things in foreign parts, and have been pre- 
 sent at most state transactions for the last thirty years; 
 and I have learned, after so many years experience, 
 that seriousness is the greatest wisdom, temperance 
 the best physic, and a good conscience the best es- 
 tate. And, were I to live again, I would change the 
 court for a cloister, my privy counsellor's bustle for a 
 hermit's retirement, and the whole life I have lived in 
 M 
 
266 ATTENTION TO THE 
 
 the palace for an hour's enjoyment of God in the cha- 
 pel. All things now forsake me, except my God, 
 my duty, and my prayers. Sir John Mason, quoted in 
 Murray's Power of Religion. 
 
 FOLLY OF PREFERRING THIS WORLD TO GOD'S WILL. 
 And if we could afford ourselves but so much lei- 
 sure as to consider, that he, which hath most in the 
 world, hath, in respect of the world, nothing in it ; and 
 that he, which hath the longest time lent him to live 
 in it, hath yet no proportion at all therein, setting it 
 either by that which is past, when we were not, or by 
 that time which is to come, in which we shall abide 
 for ever ; I say, if both, to wit, our proportion in the 
 world, and our time in the world, differ not much 
 from that which is nothing ; it is not out of any ex- 
 cellence of understanding that we so much prize the 
 one, which hath in effect no being, and so much ne- 
 glect the other, which hath no ending ; coveting those 
 mortal things of the world, as if our souls were there- 
 in immortal, and neglecting those things which are 
 immortal, as if ourselves, after the world, were but 
 mortal. Yet when we once come in sight of the port 
 of death, to which all winds drive us, and when, by 
 letting fall that fatal anchor, which can never be 
 weighed again, the navigation of this life takes end ; 
 then it is, I say, that our own cogitations, (those sad 
 and severe cogitations formerly beaten from us by our 
 health and felicity, ) return again and pay us to the 
 uttermost for all the pleasing passages of our lives 
 past. It is then, that we cry out to God for mercy ; 
 then, when we can no longer exercise cruelty to 
 others, and it is only then, that we are stricken through 
 the soul with this terrible sentence, *' that God will 
 not be mocked.'* For if, according to St. Peter, 
 w the righteous scarcely be saved," and that " God spar- 
 
CONCERNS OF THE SOUL, 267 
 
 ed not his angels," where shall those appear, who, hav- 
 ing served their appetites all their lives, presume to 
 think that the severe commandments of the all-powerful 
 God were given but in sport, and that the short breath 
 which we draw, when death presseth us, if we can 
 but fashion it to the sound of " mercy," (without any 
 kind of satisfaction or amends,) is sufficient. But of 
 this composition are all devout lovers of the world, 
 that they fear all that is dureless and ridiculous ; 
 they fear the plots and practices of their opposites, 
 and their very whisperings ; they fear the opinions of 
 men, which beat but upon shadows ; they flatter and 
 forsake the prosperous and unprosperous, be they 
 friends or kings; yea, they dive under water like 
 ducks at every pebble stone, that is but thrown towards 
 them by a powerful hand ; and, on the contrary, they 
 shew an obstinate and giant-like valour against the 
 terrible judgments of the all-powerful God: yea, 
 they shew themselves gods against God, and slaves 
 towards men ; towards men, whose bodies and con- 
 sciences are alike rotten. -/&> Waller Raleigh's Pre* 
 face to his History of the World. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE SOUL AND ITS CONCERNS. 
 Let us hence learn duly to prize and to value our 
 souls. Is the body such a rare piece, what then is the 
 soul ? The body is but the husk or shell, the soul is 
 the kernel ; the body is but the cask, the soul the 
 precious liquor contained in it ; the body is but the 
 cabinet, the soul the jewel ; the body is but the ship 
 or vessel, the soul the pilot ; the body is but the ta- 
 bernacle, and a poor clay tabernacle or cottage too, 
 the soul the inhabitant ; the body is but the machine 
 or engine, the soul that iv$ov rt that excites and quick- 
 ens it ; the body is but the dark lantern, the soul or 
 spirit is the candle of the Lord that burns in it. And 
 
288 ATTENTION TO THE 
 
 seeing there is such difference between the soul and 
 the body in respect of excellency, surely our better 
 part challenges our greatest care and diligence to make 
 provision for it. 
 
 You will say, how shall we manifest our care of our 
 souls ? What shall we do for them ? I answer, the 
 same we do for our bodies. First, We feed cm- 
 bodies ; our souls are also to be fed. The food of the 
 soul is knowledge, especially knowledge in the 
 things of God, and the things that concern its eternal 
 peace and happiness ; the doctrine of Christianity, 
 the word of God read and preached, 1 Pet. ii. 2. As 
 new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that 
 you may grow thereby. Heb. v. 12. The apostle speaks 
 both of milk and strong meat ; milk he there calls 
 the principles of the doctrine of Christ. And 
 again, 1 Cor. ii. 3. / have fed you with milk, and not 
 with meat, for hither lo you were not able to bear it. So 
 we see, in the apostle's phrase, feeding of the flock, 
 is teaching and instructing of them. Knowledge is 
 the foundation of practice : it is impossible to do God's 
 will before we know it ; the word must be received 
 into an honest and good heart, and understood, be 
 fore any fruit can be brought forth. 
 
 Secondly, We heal and cure our bodies, when they 
 are inwardly sick, or outwardly harmed. Sin is the 
 sickness of the soul, Matt. ix. 12. They that be whole 
 need not a physician, but they that are sick, saith our 
 Saviour, by way of similitude ; which he explains in 
 the next verse, " I am not come to call the righteous, 
 but sinners to repentance." For the cure of this dis- 
 ease, an humble,, serious, hearty repentance is the on- 
 ly physic, not to expiate the guilt of it, but to qualify 
 us to partake of the benefit of that atonement, which 
 our Saviour Christ hath made by the sacrifice of him- 
 self, and restore us to the favour of God, which we 
 
CONCERNS OF THE SOUL. 269 
 
 have forfeited ; it being, as much as in us lies, an un- 
 doing again what we have done. 
 
 Thirdly, We clothe and adorn our bodies ; indeed 
 too much time and too many thoughts we bestow up- 
 on that; our souls also are to be clothed with holy and 
 virtuous habits, and adorned with good works, 1 Pet. 
 v. 5. Be clothed with humility. And, in the same epis- 
 tle, chap. ii. 2. he exhorts women to adorn themselves, 
 not with that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and 
 wearing gold, &c. but with the ornament of a meek 
 and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great 
 price. And in Rev. xix. 8. the righteousness of the 
 saints is called fine linen; and the saints are said to be 
 clothed in white raiment. Matt, xxiii. 11. works of 
 righteousness, and a conversation becoming the gos- 
 pel, is called a wedding garment. Col. iii. 10. Put on the 
 new man. And again, Put on, therefore, as the elect of 
 God, bowels of mercy, meekness, &c. On the contrary, vi- 
 cious habits, and sinful actions are compared to filthy 
 garments. So Zech. vii. 3. Joshua the high priest is 
 said to be clothed with Jilthy garments; whkh, in the 
 next verse, are interpreted his iniquities, either per- 
 sonal, or of the people whom he represented : / have 
 caused thy iniquity to pass from thee, and will clothe 
 thee with change of raiment. 
 
 Fourthly, We arm and defend our bodies ; and our 
 souls have as much need of armour as they ; for. the 
 life of a Christian is a continual warfare ; and we have 
 potent and vigilant enemies to encounter withal ; the 
 devil, the world, and this corrupt flesh we carry about 
 us ; we had need, therefore, to take to us the Christ- 
 ian panoply, to put on the whole armour of God, that 
 ine may withstand in the evil day, and having done all, 
 may stand; having our loins girt with truth, and hav- 
 ing on the breast-plate of righteousness, and our fat 
 shod with the preparation of the gospel (f^eace. Above 
 N 3 
 
270 ATTENTION TO THE 
 
 all, taking the shield of faith, and for an helmet the 
 hope of salvation, and the sivord of Hit Spirit, ivhich is 
 the word of God, Eph. vi. 13, 14. He, that with this 
 Christian armour manfully fights against and repels 
 the temptations and assaults of his spiritual enemies; 
 he, that keeps his garments pure, and his conscience 
 void of offence towards God and towards man, shall 
 enjoy perfect peace here, and assurance for ever. 
 Hay's Wisdom of God in Creation, part ii. apudjinem. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF ELEVATING THE THOUGHTS ABOVE 
 TEMPORAL OBJECTS. The soul should be inured to a 
 generous contempt of other things ; and this we may 
 acquire by looking thoroughly into them; by ob- 
 serving how mean and sordid, fading and transitory, 
 are all bodily pleasures, all the objects that afford 
 them, and our very bodies themselves ; by observing 
 how small these joys are, and how little necessary, 
 which arise from the external elegance and grandeur 
 of life ; and how uncertain they are ; what cares they 
 cost in acquiring and preserving, and how soon they 
 cloy and give disgust ! As to speculative knowledge, 
 how uncertain and imperfect are many sciences, lead- 
 ing the embarrassed minds into new obscurities, and 
 difficulties, and anxious darkness; and discovering 
 nothing more clearly, than the blindness and darkness, 
 or the small penetration of our understanding. Again, 
 how poor an affair is glory and applause ! which is 
 ordinarily conferred by the ignorant, who cannot 
 judge of real excellence ; our enjoyment of which is 
 confined within the short space of this life ; which can 
 be diffused through but a small part of this earth ; 
 and which must soon be swallowed up in eternal obli- 
 vion, along with all the remembrance, either of those 
 who applaud, or of the persons applauded. This 
 thought too, of the shortness of life, will equally en- 
 
CONCERNS OF THE SOUL. 271 
 
 able the soul to bear or despise adversity ; taking this 
 also along, that the soul, who bears it well, wild ol>- 
 tain new and enlarged strength, and, like a lively fire, 
 which turns every thing cast upon it into its own na- 
 ture, and breaks forth superior with stronger heat, so 
 may the good man make adverse events matter of new 
 honour, and of nobler virtues. To sum up all briefly, 
 all things related to this mortal state are fleeting, un- 
 stable, corruptible ; which must speedily perish, and 
 be presently swallowed up in that boundless ocean 
 of eternity. For what can be called lasting in human 
 life ? Days, months, and years, are continually pass- 
 ing away ; all must die, nor is any sure that death 
 shall not surprise him this very day; and when that last 
 hour overtakes him, all that is past is lost for ever ; 
 nor can there remain to him any enjoyment, except 
 of what he has acted virtuously ; which may yield 
 some joyful hope of a happy immortality. Hutche- 
 son's Introduction to Moral Philosophy, b. i. c. 6. 2, 
 Let us employ the time present ; eternity will be 
 our reward, if we make a good use of it. Let us al- 
 ways have before our eyes the nature and consequen- 
 ces of sin ; let us remember, that it will deprive us of 
 the favour of God, and expose us to his indignation. 
 Let us reflect on the value of eternity, and on that 
 life and that immortality, which Christ hath brought 
 to light by the gospel. The smaller satisfactions of 
 this present short life, which are but puerile amuse- 
 ments, must disappear, when placed in competition 
 with the greatness and durability of the glory which 
 is hereafter. Let us never forget that we were born 
 for eternity ; and that an affair of so great importance 
 should be the principal occupation of our lives. Let 
 ujs follow the light that will conduct us thither ; the 
 precepts of our Saviour plainly point out the way, 
 How insensible then must we be, to suffer ourselves 
 N 4 
 
272 ATTENTION TO THE 
 
 to be directed by any other ! We acknowledge the 
 corruption of our nature ; we confess that it termi- 
 nates in death ; we are persuaded that Jesus hath 
 the words of eternal life. Let us then study them 
 with attention; apply them with sincerity to ourselves; 
 continually inculcate them on our minds ; and seek 
 the assistance of that light, which was brought from 
 heaven to earth. Baron Hatter's Letters to hisDangk* 
 ter, let. 14. 
 
 NOT ENJOYMENT, BUT MORAL IMPROVEMENT, 
 MAN'S END. The destination of man upon this earth is 
 not happiness, but the advance towards moral per- 
 fection. It is in vain, that, by a childish play of words, 
 this improvement is called happiness ; we clearly feel 
 the difference between enjoyments and sacrifices ; 
 and if language was to adopt the same terms for such 
 discordant ideas, our natural judgment would reject 
 the deception. 
 
 It has been often said, that human nature has a 
 tendency towards happiness : this is its involuntary 
 instinct ; but the instinct of reflection is virtue. By 
 giving man very little influence over his own happi- 
 ness, and means of improvement without number, the 
 intention of the Creator was surely not to make the 
 object of our lives an almost unattainable end. De- 
 vote all your powers to the attainment of happiness ; 
 control your character, if you can, to such a degree as 
 not to feel those wandering desires, which nothing 
 can satisfy ; and, in spite of all these wise arrange- 
 ments of self-love, you will be afflicted with disorders ; 
 you will be ruined, you will be imprisoned, and all 
 the edifice of your selfish cares will be overturned. 
 
 It may be replied to this" I will be so circum- 
 spect, that I will not have any enemies." Let it be 
 so ; you will not have to reproach yourself with any 
 
CONCERNS OF THE SOUL. 
 
 acts of generous imprudence; but sometimes we 
 have seen the least courageous among the persecut- 
 ed, " I will manage my fortune so well, that I will 
 preserve it." I believe it ; but there are universal 
 disasters, which do not spare even those whose prin- 
 ciple has been never to expose themselves for others ; 
 and illness, and accidents of every kind, dispose of 
 our condition in spite of ourselves. How then should 
 happiness be the end of our moral liberty in this short 
 life; happiness, which chance, suffering, old age, 
 and death, put out of our power ? The case is not 
 the same with moral improvement ; every day, every 
 hour, every minute, may contribute to it ; all fortu- 
 nate and unfortunate events equally assist it ; and this 
 work depends entirely on ourselves, whatever may 
 be our situation upon earth.- De Stael's Germany, 
 iii. 204-, 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF THE MUANS OP GRACE. It is an 
 aphorism in physic, that they, which in the beginning 
 of sickness eat much and mend not, fall at last to a ge- 
 neral loathing of food. The moral is true in divinity. 
 He that hath a sick conscience, and lives a hearer under 
 a fruitful ministry, if he grows not sound, he will learn 
 to despise the word. Contemned blessings leave room 
 for curses. He, that neglects the good he may have, 
 shall find the evil he should not have. Justly he sits 
 in darkness, that would not light his candle when the 
 fire burned clearly. He that needs counsel, and will 
 not hear it, destines himself to misery, and is the 
 willing author of his own woe. Continue at a stay he 
 cannot long ; if he could, not to proceed is backward. 
 And this is as dangerous to the soul, as the other is 
 to the body. Pitiful is his estate, that hates the thing 
 should help him. If ever you see a drowning man 
 refuse help, conclude him a wilful murderer. When 
 
ATTENTION TO THE 
 
 God affords me plentiful means, woe be to me if they 
 prove not profitable. I had better have a deaf ear, 
 than hear, and to neglect or hate. To the burying of 
 such treasures there belongs a curse ; to their mis- 
 spending, judgments. Feltham's Resolves, No. 53. 
 
 HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS. We toil on in the vain 
 pursuits and frivolous occupations of the world, die in 
 our harness, and then expect, if no gigantic crime 
 stands in the way, to step immediately into the king- 
 dom of heaven : but this is impossible; for, without 
 a previous detachment from the business of this world, 
 we cannot be prepared for the happiness of another. 
 Yet this could make no part of the morality of pa- 
 gans, because their virtues were altogether connected 
 with this business, and consisted chiefly in conduct- 
 ing it with honour to themselves, and benefit to the 
 public ; but Christianity has a nobler object in view, 
 which, if not attended to, must be lost for ever. This 
 object is that celestial mansion, of which we should 
 never lose sight, and to which we should be ever ad- 
 vancing during our journey through life; but this by 
 no means precludes us from performing the business, 
 or enjoying the amusements of travellers, provided 
 they detain us not too long, or lead us too far out of 
 our way. Soame Jenyns' Works, iv. 56. 
 
 THE ADVANTAGE OF SPIRITUAL MEDITATION.- 
 But one thing, that may farther induce us to this way 
 of thinking, is, that occasional reflections may gradu- 
 ally bring the soul to a frame, or temper, which may 
 be called heavenly-mindedness, by which she may ac- 
 quire a disposition to make pious reflections on every 
 occasion, often without designing it ; but such must 
 be so accustomed to this way of thinking, that they 
 must do it of their own accord, which habit may be 
 acquired by practice; and when this habit is once ac- 
 
CONCERNS OF THE SOUL. 275 
 
 quired, and the soul hath acquired a disposition to 
 make spiritual uses of earthly things, the advantage 
 and delight of such a frame of mind will be extraor- 
 dinary ; it being a satisfaction to an ingenious person, 
 to be able to make the world both his library and 
 oratory, and to find pleasure and delight which way 
 soever he turns his eyes, every object presenting good 
 thoughts to his mind, which may be gathered with 
 innocency, as well as pleasure, and with as little pre- 
 judice to the subject that affords them, as honey is 
 from flowers. If we would but pursue this method, 
 it must needs prevent that dullness or drowsiness, 
 which blemishes our devotion ; and we might, out of 
 every thing, strike some sparkle of celestial fire, 
 that would kindle, feed, or revive it. And, if but 
 half the idle time, that must cost us tears or blushes, 
 were thus employed, ministers need not so long insist 
 on the uses of their doctrines, the world being a pul- 
 pit, and every creature a preacher, and every accident 
 affording instruction, reproof, or exhortation ; each 
 burial would put us in mind of our mortality, and 
 each marriage-feast, of that of the Lamb ; each cross 
 would increase our desires to be with Christ, and each 
 mercy would move our obedience to so good a mas- 
 ter. The happiness of others, would move us to 
 serve him that gave it, and their misery make us 
 thankful that we were free from it; their sins 
 make us ashamed of the same, and their virtues 
 would excite our emulation. And when once we can 
 look upon the things of the world, as men do upon 
 water gilded with the sun-beams, not for the sake of 
 the water itself, but as it represents a more glorious 
 object; and when a pious soul can once spiritualize 
 whatever objects he meets with, that habit may be 
 the most effectual means to make the saying good, 
 that " all things work together for good to them that 
 N 6 
 
276 GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 
 
 tl seek God /' a devout occasional meditation, being 
 from never so mean a theme, like Jacob's ladder, 
 whose " fool leaned on the earth, and the top reach- 
 " ed up to heave?i." Hon. Eobert Boyle's Theological 
 Works. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 
 
 NATURE OF PIETY TOWARDS GOD. Piety is call- 
 ed religion, a religando, from tying or binding t 
 soul again to God ; and is also called devotion, a de~ 
 vovendo, from vowing or consecrating the soul from 
 common use to God ; and so all things consecrated 
 are said to be holy, being separated from common use 
 as to their chief use, without excluding consisting 
 subordinate uses. 
 
 The necessary and chief acts of religion and devo- 
 tion, are confidence in God, and love to God. Faith 
 and love are the fountain graces, from whence the 
 rest flow. Neither of them are attainable without 
 the knowledge and consideration of their proper ob- 
 jects, so qualified as may excite these affections, which 
 must be by the perfections in the object, on which 
 these affections lay hold, and by which they are 
 moved. Dairy mple, Earl of Stair, on the Divine Per- 
 fections. 
 
 PREEMINENCE OF PIETY. But besides that ra- 
 tional enjoyment, which is the proper result of vir 
 
GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 277 
 
 tue and philosophy, there is a passionate enjoyment, 
 of such an object as is capable of exciting our love 
 and admiration. If we shall now consider the su- 
 preme cause of all things, as being the object of this 
 passion in our mind, a passion as far removed from 
 sensual, as the object of it is from our idea of body, 
 then here would be something of a passionate enjoy- 
 ment, a happy feeling of a pleased conscience, satis- 
 fied with itself, and transported with a view of cer- 
 tain attributes in an object inspiring love and vene- 
 ration. 
 
 That this frame of mind, in which the Author of 
 our being and enjoyment is held in the highest esteem 
 of love and veneration, may be termed piety, will ap- 
 pear by considering : By piety, is properly express- 
 ed, that love and esteem, which men, come to the per- 
 fection of their nature, show towards their aged pa- 
 rents, who had been the immediate instruments of 
 their life and happiness. Now piety towards God, 
 will be no other than an extended intellectual view 
 of things, in which we find the general parent of 
 mankind, providing bountifully for the life, and be- 
 nevolently for the happiness of his children. Hut* 
 toji's Investigation, iii. 64*2. 
 
 OBLIGATION TO PIETY. Man thus finds himself 
 truly allied to God his heavenly Father; he finds 
 himself to be the peculiar care of provident wisdom, 
 and the only created living being which is to have a 
 future existence. Now, shall the mere savage love 
 the man, who was his parent ; shall the most ignorant 
 revere the bones of him, whom he had called father ; 
 and shall not man, enlightened with the knowledge 
 of his true descent, look up, with all the duty of his 
 situation, to the cause of his existence to the power 
 who made him know himself? Shall he not look up, 
 
278 GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 
 
 with deep submission, to the just disposer of his pre- 
 sent life, and, with filial affection, to the anchor of 
 his future hope ? Impossible ; man cannot learn to 
 think and know, without acknowledging divine per- 
 fection in his Maker ; he cannot learn to value him- 
 self, without adoring his Creator. Hutton's Investi- 
 gation, iii. 647. 
 
 He also, that hath the idea of an intelligent but 
 frail and weak being, made by and depending on 
 another who is eternal, omnipotent, perfectly wise 
 and good, will as certainly know that man is to honour, 
 fear, and obey God, as that the sun shines when he 
 sees it. For, if he hath but the ideas of two such 
 beings in his mind, and will turn his thoughts that 
 way, and consider them, he will as certainly find that 
 the inferior, finite, and dependent, is under an obliga- 
 tion to obey the Supreme and Infinite, as he is certain 
 to find that three, four, and seven, are less thanjifteen, 
 if he will consider and compute those numbers ; nor 
 can he be surer in a clear morning that the sun is risen, 
 if he will but open his eyes, and turn them that way. 
 But yet these truths being never so certain, never so 
 clear, he may be ignorant of either or all of them, 
 who will never take the pains to employ his facul- 
 ties as he should to inform himself about them. - 
 Locke on the Human Understanding, book iv. chap, 
 xiv. 
 
 DUTY OF KNOWING GOD. The Scripture doth 
 frequently inculcate the benefit of knowing God, of 
 remembering him, of meditating on his perfections, 
 his laws, and dispensations ; and gives it as the 
 character of the wicked, that they know not God, 
 that they have him not before their eyes, " whom to 
 " know is life everlasting." " This is life eternal, to 
 " know God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." 
 
GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 
 
 The knowledge of God cannot formally be life eter- 
 nal ; but it is the mean necessary to attain it, because 
 it doth excite that joy, in which it doth chiefly con- 
 sist. It is said of the wicked, that God is not in all 
 their thoughts, that is, so far as they can shun ; and 
 that they will have no thoughts of the Most High, be- 
 cause the thoughts of God crush their sinful inclina- 
 tions and pleasures, which fall before them as Dagon 
 did before the ark of God. Job gives it as a dis- 
 criminating test between the godly and the hypocrite, 
 only knowable by every man of himself, when he 
 says of the hypocrite, " Will he delight himself in the 
 " Almighty ? will he always call upon God?" Some 
 notion of religion will arise from the notion of a Deity, 
 convincing that God is to be adored, by acknowledg- 
 ment of his power, bounty, justice, and mercy ; by 
 supplication for his favour, and the requisites of life; 
 by deprecations of his displeasure, justice, and wrath ; 
 praise and thanksgiving for benefits received or 
 hoped. Much more will result from the improved 
 knowledge of God by the light of nature, and yet 
 more by the probability of his revealed will ; where- 
 by it cannot but be acknowledged, that if these 
 things be true, which are contained in Scripture, 
 God's bounty and mercy to mankind, is far greater 
 than what could be dreamed of from the light of na- 
 ture. But, all this is far short of the knowledge, aris- 
 ing from the illumination of the Holy Spirit in the 
 souls of the regenerate, by which they are capable of 
 a far more glorious and firm apprehension of the di- 
 vine perfections and dispensations ; and a quite other 
 and far greater joy therein, and in the persuasion of 
 peace and reconciliation with God, and in the hope 
 of that glory, which is " greater than ear hath heard, 
 " or eye hath seen, or hath entered into the heart of 
 " man to consider." The knowledge of God even in 
 3 
 
280 GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD; 
 
 the renewed, hath great variety of degrees ; and it is 
 both the interest and duty of all of them to ex- 
 tend it so far as their capacities and opportunities do 
 enable them, that they may increase their comfort, 
 and strengthen their faith against the suggestions of 
 Satan, and the seductions of weak or wicked men, 
 misrepresenting God not so much in his power and 
 wisdom, as in his goodness and purity, whereby they 
 do exceedingly encroach upon that infinite loveliness, 
 whereby he draws and ravishes the souls of men, and 
 doth not merely drive them by the power of his so- 
 vereignty. Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on the Divine 
 Perfections. 
 
 DUTY OF DEVOUTLY MEDITATING ON THE MERCY 
 OF GOD. There are three things, especially, that a 
 Christian should know ; his own misery, God's love, 
 his own thankful obedience. His misery, how just ! 
 God's love, how free ; how undeserved ! his own 
 thankfulness, how due ; how necessary ! Considera- 
 tion of one successively begets the apprehension of 
 all. Our misery shews his love ; his love calls for 
 our acknowledgement. Want makes a bounty weigh- 
 tier : if we think on our needs, we cannot but admire 
 his mercies ; how dull were we, if we should not va- 
 lue the relief of our necessities ? he cannot but es- 
 teem the benefit, that unexpectedly helps him in his 
 deepest distress. That love is most to be prized, 
 whose only motive is goodness. The thought of this 
 will form a disposition grateful. Who can medi 
 tate so unbottomed a love, and not study for a thank- 
 ful demeanour ? His mind is cross to nature, that 
 requites not affection with gratitude. All favours 
 have this success, if they light on good ground, they 
 bring forth thanks. Let me first think my misery, 
 without my Saviour's mercy ; next his mercy with- 
 
GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 281 
 
 out my merits ; and from the meditation of these two, 
 my sincere thanks will spring. Though I cannot 
 conceive of the former, as they are infinite, and be- 
 yond my thought ; yet will I so ponder them, as they 
 may enkindle the fire of my unfeigned and zealous 
 thanksgiving. That time is well spent, wherein we 
 study thankfulness. Felthams Resolves, No. 77. 
 
 DICTATES OF PIETY TOWARDS GOD. I have here 
 only considered the Supreme Being by the light of 
 reason and philosophy. If we would see him in all 
 the wonders of his mercy, we must have recourse 
 to revelation, which represents him to us, not only 
 as infinitely great and glorious, but as infinitely good 
 and just, in his dispensations towards man. But as 
 this is a theory, which falls under every one's consi- 
 deration, though, indeed, it can never be sufficiently 
 considered, I shall here only take notice of that habi- 
 tual worship and veneration, which we ought to pay 
 to this Almighty Being. We should often refresh 
 our minds with the thought of Him, and annihilate 
 ourselves before Him, in the contemplation of our 
 own worthlessness, and of his transcendent excellen- 
 cy and perfection. This would imprint in our minds 
 such a constant and uninterrupted awe and venera- 
 tion, as that which I am here recommending, and 
 which is in reality a kind of incessant prayer, and 
 reasonable humiliation of the soul before Him who 
 made it. 
 
 This would effectually kill in us all the little seeds 
 of pride, vanity, and self conceit, which are apt to 
 shoot up in the minds of such, whose thoughts turn 
 more on those comparative advantages, which they 
 enjoy over some of their fellow- creatures, than on 
 that infinite distance, which is placed between them 
 and the supreme model of all perfection. It would 
 
282 GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 
 
 likewise quicken our desires and endeavours of unit- 
 ing ourselves to Him, by all the acts of religion and 
 virtue. Such an habitual homage to the Supreme 
 Being would, in a particular manner, banish from 
 among us that prevailing impiety of using His name 
 on the most trivial occasions. I find the following 
 passage in an excellent sermon, preached at the fune- 
 ral of a gentleman who was an honour to his country, 
 and a more diligent, as well as successful inquirer in- 
 to the works of nature, than any other our nation 
 has ever produced *, " He had the profoundest ve- 
 neration for the great God of heaven and earth, that 
 I have ever observed in any person. The very name 
 of God was never mentioned by him, without a pause 
 and a visible stop in his discourse ; in which, one 
 that knew him most particularly above twenty years, 
 has told me that he was so exact, that he does not re- 
 member to have observed him once to fail in it." 
 
 Every one knows the veneration which was paid 
 by the Jews to a name so great, wonderful, and holy ; 
 they would not let it enter even into their religious 
 discourses. What can we then think of those, who 
 make use of so tremendous a name in the ordinary 
 expressions of their anger, mirth, and most imperti- 
 nent passions ? of those, who admit it into the most 
 familiar questions and assertions, ludicrous phrases, 
 and works of humour ? Not to mention those, who 
 violate it by solemn perjuries ! It would be an affront 
 to reason, to endeavour to set forth the horror and 
 profaneness of such a practice. The very mention of 
 it, exposes it sufficiently to those, in whom the light 
 of nature, not to say religion, is not utterly extin- 
 guished. Addison, Spectator, No. 531. 
 
 The Honourable Robert Boyle* 
 
GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 283 
 
 The inward sense of the heart, must shew at once 
 that this preeminence and infinite grandeur of the 
 original cause of all, ought to be entertained with the 
 highest admiration and praise, and submissive vene- 
 ration of soul ; and since there is no desire more be- 
 coming the rational nature, than that of knowledge, 
 and of discovering the natures and causes of the 
 greatest subjects, no occupation of the mind can be 
 more honourable, or even delightful, than studying 
 to know the divine perfections : nor, indeed, without 
 ascending to the knowledge of the supreme excellen- 
 cy, can these honourable intellectual powers we are 
 endued with, find a proper object fully to exercise 
 and satisfy them. 
 
 As to the moral attributes of God, that original and 
 most gracious power, which by its boundless force, 
 goodness, and wisdom, has formed this universe, 
 granting to each being its proper nature, powers, 
 senses, appetites, or reason, and even moral excellen- 
 cies ; and with a liberal hand supplying each one 
 with all things, conducive to such pleasures and hap- 
 piness as their natures can receive ; this power, I say, 
 should be acknowledged with the most grateful af- 
 fections, with generous love, and the highest praises 
 and thanksgiving : and with a joyful hope and con- 
 fidence, purified from all vanity, pride, or arrogance, 
 since we are such dependent creatures, who owe to 
 it all we enjoy. 
 
 If we more fully consider the divine goodness and 
 moral perfections ; that the Deity must delight in all 
 virtue and goodness ; that he must approve and love 
 all good men : this will suggest to all such still more 
 joyful hopes, with an higher, and more delightful 
 confidence and trust, and more ardent love of virtue, 
 and of the Deity. Hence will arise a stable security 
 and tranquillity of the soul, which can commit itself, 
 
284 GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 
 
 and all its concerns, to the divine providence. Hence, 
 also, a constant endeavour to imitate the Deity, and 
 cultivate in ourselves all such affections as make us 
 resemble him; with a steady purpose of exciting 
 all our powers in acting well that part, which God 
 and nature have assigned us, whether in prosperity, 
 or adversity. Nor, without this knowledge of the 
 Deity, and those affections, can a good benevolent 
 heart find any sure ground of hope and security, ei- 
 ther as to itself or the dearest objects of its affection, 
 or as to the whole state of the universe. Nor can the 
 virtuous mind, which extends its affectionate concerns 
 to all mankind, or the love of moral excellence it- 
 self, ever be satisfied and at rest, unless it be assured 
 that there is some excellent being, complete in every 
 perfection, in the knowledge and love of which, 
 with a prospect of being beloved by it, it can fully 
 acquiesqe, and commit itself, and the dearest objects 
 of its cares, and the whole of mankind, to his graci- 
 ous providence, with full security. And further, since 
 all the more lively affections of the soul naturally dis- 
 play themselves in some natural expressions, and by 
 this exercise, are further strengthened ; the good man 
 must naturally incline to employ himself frequently 
 and at stated times in some acts of devotion, contem- 
 plating and adoring the divine excellencies ; giving 
 thanks for his goodness ; humbly imploring the par- 
 don of his transgressions ; expressing his submission, 
 resignation, and trust in God's providence ; and im- 
 ploring his aid in the acquisition of virtue, and in re- 
 forming his temper, that he may be furnished for 
 every good work. For the frequent meditation 
 upon the Supreme and perfect model of all goodness, 
 must powerfully kindle an ardent desire of the same 
 in every ingenuous heart. 
 
 Where such devout sentiments are cherished, and 
 
GENERAL DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. 285 
 
 affections suitable to them, there must be kindled an ar- 
 dent desire of inquiring into all indications of the 
 divine will. And whatever discoveries we find made 
 of it, whether in the very order of nature, or by any 
 supernatural means, which some of the wisest of the 
 heathens seem to have expected, the good man will 
 embrace them with joy. Hutcheson's Introduction to 
 Moral Philosophy, b. i. chap. iv. 
 
 The second part of piety, is to cherish right affec- 
 tions, suitable to those right notions of the divine na- 
 ture. These affections are, veneration of his infinite 
 and incomprehensible greatness ; adoration of his 
 wisdom and power ; love of his goodness and mer- 
 cy ; resignation to his will ; gratitude for his in- 
 numerable and inestimable benefits; a disposition 
 to obey cheerfully all his laws ; fear in the appre- 
 hension of his displeasure ; joy in the hope of his 
 approbation; and a desire to imitate him as far 
 as we are able, and, with well-meant, though weak 
 endeavours, to second the purposes of his provi- 
 dence, by promoting the virtue and happiness of 
 our fellow-creatures. They who believe in the 
 infinite goodness, greatness, wisdom, justice, and 
 power, of the Supreme Being, will acknowledge, 
 that these glorious attributes do naturally call forth 
 the pious affections above mentioned ; and that not to 
 cultivate those affections, or to encourage evil pas- 
 sions inconsistent with them, must be in the highest 
 degree criminal and unnatural. If we neglect the 
 means of cultivating pious affections, it is a sign that 
 in us piety is weak, or rather wanting ; and that we 
 are regardless of our own improvement, and insensi- 
 ble to the best interests of mankind. Want of pious 
 affection is a proof of great depravity. When infi- 
 nite goodness cannot awaken our love, nor almighty 
 power command our reverence ; when unerring wis- 
 
286 LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 dom cannot raise our admiration ; when the most im- 
 portant favours, continually, and gratuitously bestow- 
 ed, cannot kindle our gratitude ; how perverse, how 
 unnatural must we be ! In order to guard against 
 these, and the like impieties, we shall do well to me- 
 ditate frequently on the divine perfections, and on 
 our own demerit, dependence, and manifold infirmi- 
 ties. Thus we may get the better of pride and self- 
 conceit, passions most unfriendly to piety ; and form 
 our minds to gratitude, humility, and devotion. 
 But, instead of this, if we cherish bad passions of a 
 contrary nature, or allow ourselves in impious prac- 
 tice; if at any time we think unworthily of our Crea- 
 tor ; if we use his name in common discourse with- 
 out reverence ; if we invoke him to be the witness of 
 what is false or frivolous : if we practise cursing or 
 swearing, or any other mode of speech, disrespectful 
 to his adorable majesty : if, by serious argument, we 
 attempt the subversion of religious principles ; or if, 
 by parody or ludicrous allusion, we endeavour to 
 make scriptural phraseology the occasion of merri- 
 ment ; in any of these cases, we too plainly shew, 
 that our minds are familiarized more or less to impie- 
 ty, and in great danger of utter depravation, Beat- 
 tie's Elements of Moral Science, ii. 80. 88. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 Now there is another part of charity, which is the 
 basis and pillar of this, and that is, the love of God, 
 
LOVE TOWARD GOD. 287 
 
 for whom we love our neighbours ; for this I think 
 charity, to love God for himself, and our neighbour 
 for God. All that is truly amiable is God, or, as it 
 were, a divided piece of himself, that retains a reflex 
 or shadow of himself. Nor is it strange, that we should 
 place affection on that which is invisible. All that we 
 truly love is thus ; and what we adore under the af- 
 fection of our senses, deserves not the honour of so 
 pure a title. Thus we adore virtue, though to the 
 eye of sense she be invisible. Thus that part of our 
 noble friends, that we love, is not that part that we 
 embrace, but that insensible part that our arms can- 
 not embrace, God, being all goodness, can love no- 
 thing but himself and the traduction of his holy spirit. 
 Brown's Religio Medici. 
 
 Hence, it appearing how fit an object of our love 
 God is, for what he is in himself; we shall next shew 
 how far he deserves our love from what he is to us ; 
 the vastness, freeness, disinterestedness, and constan- 
 cy, as well as advantageousness of his love to us, mak- 
 ing all the love we can pay but little of what we owe 
 him. We think ourselves obliged to love our parents, 
 though they are wicked and unkind, and but God's 
 instruments in producing us, we being born by virtue 
 of his ordination. But God conferring on us the bles- 
 sing promised to his ancient people, whom he assured 
 that he would love them freely, he loved us both when 
 we were not at all, and when we were his enemies : 
 " If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to 
 God by the death of his Son," &c. Before we exist- 
 ed, indeed, nothing could be a motive to the love of 
 God : and, when we were enemies, " God commend- 
 eth his love towards us, in that while we were yet 
 sinners, Christ died for us," when we had no other 
 motives for his love, except the want of them. Yet 
 God so loved the world, that he gave his only begoU 
 
288 LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 ten Son," who also so loved us, that he, " being in 
 the form of ?od, thought it no robbery to be equal 
 with God, but made himself of no reputation/' &c. 
 Phil. ii. 6 ; he loving at no less a rate than death, suf- 
 fering the extremest indignities, debasing himself to 
 exalt us. ". He was wounded for our transgressions,'' 
 &c. te For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," c. Men, having displeased God, and forfeit- 
 ed happiness, and though in a forlorn condition, were 
 careless of the means of recovery, as well as incapa- 
 ble of contriving them. Yet then his love contrived 
 expedients to reconcile his justice and mercy, and 
 sinners to himself, viz. by the incarnation of his Son, 
 which was so advantageous to us, and so wonderful, 
 that the angels desire to look into those divine mys- 
 teries, Hon. Robert Boyle's Theological Works. 
 
 Affection to a creature must be limited ; but un- 
 mixed and unbounded goodness is the object of un- 
 bounded affection. The heart does not rest in any 
 human enjoyment, but it rests in God ; the object is 
 adequate, and the enjoyment complete. Divine love 
 attracts the ardour and sensibility of youth, and averts 
 debasing passions. The first feelings of devotion are 
 remembered with delight. God is sought, and he is 
 found in the outgoings of the morning, in delightful 
 and awful scenes, in the peace and in the tumult of 
 nations, in the inmost recesses of the soul. When 
 the mind is unoccupied, it is drawn by love to the Fa- 
 ther of mercies ; when wonted sleep departs, it is cheer- 
 ed by the returning sense of his presence, Love to 
 God brightens the sunshine of prosperity, and per- 
 fumes with sweet incense the sacrifices which are made 
 to virtue. Every thing praiseworthy is to be expect- 
 ed from the youth, who loves his Creator, and acts 
 under, his eye. Lord Kames on the Culture of ike 
 Heart. 
 
LO\ r E TOWARD GOD. 289 
 
 1 know not whether it is more true, that likeness is 
 the cause of love, or love the cause of likeness. In 
 agreeing dispositions, the first is certain ; in those that 
 are not, the latter is evident The first is the easier 
 love ; the other the more worthy. The one hath a 
 lure to draw it ; the other without respect is volun- 
 tary. Men love us for the similitude we have with 
 themselves ; God merely for his goodness, when yet 
 we are contrary to him. Since he hath loved me, when 
 I was not like him, I will strive to be like him, be- 
 cause he hath loved me. I would be like him, being 
 my friend, that loved me when I was his enemy. 
 Then only is love powerful, when it frames us to the 
 will of the loved. Lord, though I cannot serve thee 
 as I ought, let me love thee as I ought. Grant this, 
 and I know I shall serve thee better. Felt ham's Re- 
 solves, No. 98. 
 
 As the needle in a dial, removed from his point, 
 never leaves his quivering motion, till it settles itself 
 in the just place it always stands in ; so fares it with 
 a Christian in this world : nothing can so charm him, 
 but he will still mind his Saviour. All that put him 
 out of the quest of heaven are but disturbances. 
 Though the pleasures, profits, or honours of this life, 
 may sometimes shuffle him out of his usual course; 
 yet he wavers up and down in trouble, runs to and 
 fro like quicksilver, and is never quiet within, till he 
 returns to his wonted life and inward happiness : there 
 he sets down his rest in a sweet, unperceived, inward 
 content ; which, though unseen to others, he esteems 
 more, than all that the world calls by the name of fe- 
 licity. They are to him as May-games to a prince, 
 fitter for children than the royalty of a crown. It 
 shall no more grieve me to live in a continued sorrow, 
 .than it shall joy me to find a secret perturbation in 
 the world's choicest solaces. If I find my joy in them 
 
 o 
 
290 LOVE TOWABD GOD. 
 
 without unquietness, that will prove a burdensome 
 mirth. For, finding my affections settle to them 
 without resistance, I cannot but distrust myself of 
 trusting them too much. A full delight in earthly 
 things argues a neglect of heavenly. I can hardly 
 think him honest, that loves a harlot for her bravery, 
 more than his wife for her virtues. But, while an in- 
 ward distaste shews me these latter unsavoury, if my 
 joy be uncomplete in these terrene felicities, my in- 
 ward unsettledness in them shall make my content 
 both sufficient and full. Feltham's Resolves, No. 30. 
 
 THE LOVE OF GOD IMPROVES MAN'S NATURE. 
 The perpetual exertion of a pleasing affection towards a 
 being infinite in power, knowledge, and goodness, and 
 who is also our friend and father, cannot but enhance 
 all our joys, and alleviate all our sorrows ; the sense 
 of his presence and protection will restrain all actions 
 that are excessive, irregular, or hurtful ; support and 
 encourage us in all such as are of a contrary nature : 
 and infuse such peace and tranquillity of mind, as will 
 enable us to see clearly, and act uniformly. The per- 
 fection, therefore, of every part of our natures, must 
 depend upon the love of God, and the constant com- 
 fortable sense of his presence. 
 
 With respect to benevolence, or the love of our 
 neighbour, it may be observed, that this can never be 
 free from partiality and selfishness, till we take our 
 station in the divine nature, and view every thing 
 from thence, and in the relation which it bears to God. 
 If the relation to ourselves be made the point of view, 
 our prospect must be narrow, and the appearance of 
 what we do see distorted, when we consider the scenes 
 of folly, vanity, and misery, which must present them- 
 selves to our sight in this point ; when we are disap- 
 pointed in the happiness of our friends, or feel the re- 
 
LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 sentment of our enemies ; our benevolence will begin 
 to languish, and our hearts to fail us ; we shall com- 
 plain of the corruption and wickedness of that world, 
 which we have hitherto loved with a benevolence 
 merely human ; and shew by our complaints, that we 
 are still deeply tinctured by the same corruption and 
 wickedness. This is generally the case with young 
 and unexperienced persons in the beginning of a vir- 
 tuous course, and before they have made a due ad- 
 vancement in the ways of piety. Human benevo- 
 lence, though sweet in the mouth is bitter in the belly 
 and the disappointments which it meets with are some- 
 times apt to incline us to call the divine goodness in 
 question. But he who is possessed with a full assur- 
 ance of this, who loves God with his whole powers, 
 as an inexhaustible fountain of love and beneficence 
 to all his creatures, at all times, and in all places, as 
 much when he chastises as when he rewards, will 
 learn thereby to love enemies as well as friends ; 
 the sinful and miserable as well as the holy and hap- 
 py ; to rejoice and give thanks for every thing which 
 he sees and feels, however irreconcilable to his pre- 
 sent suggestions, and to labour as an instrument under 
 God for the promotion of virtue and happiness, with 
 real courage and constancy, knowing that his labour 
 shall not be in vain in the Lord. 
 
 In like manner, the moral sense requires a perpe- 
 tual support and direction from the love of God, to 
 keep it steady and pure. When men cease to regard 
 God in a due measure, and to make him their ultimate 
 end, having some other end, beyond which they do 
 not look, they are very apt to relapse into negligence 
 and callosity, and to act without any virtuous princi- 
 ple ; and, on the other hand, if they often look up to 
 him, but not with a filial love and confidence, those 
 weighty matters of the law, they tithe mint, anise, and 
 O 2 
 
LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 cummin; and fill themselves with endless scruples 
 and anxieties about the lawfulness and unlawfulness 
 of trivial actions : whereas he, who loves God with all 
 his heart, cannot but have a constant care not to offend 
 him, at the same time that his amiable notions of God, 
 and the consciousness of his love and sincerity towards 
 him, are such a fund of hope and joy, as precludes 
 all scruples that are unworthy of the divine goodness, 
 or unsuitable to our present state of frailty and igno- 
 rance. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 309. 
 
 THE LOVE OF GOD CONDUCIVE TO HEALTH. If, 
 loving every thing in proportion to its excellence, we 
 should regard God only with an infinite love, and 
 other things with no love, or at least with such as 
 would be none, when compared with the love of God; 
 then one simple and only concern would possess our 
 minds, and all our thoughts, words, and actions, 
 would aim together at this one thing, that we might 
 love God alone more and more fervently. Hence we 
 would be freed from all anxious solicitude about any 
 thing whatever. But that solicitous and anxious care 
 about external things is the greatest torment to our 
 minds ; and it is easily seen, from what is said above, 
 that vexation and anxiety of mind is the source of 
 very many diseases. 
 
 In the next place, as love produces a resemblance 
 between the manners of the person who loves, and 
 the manners of the person who is loved ; if we would 
 love God, who is infinitely perfect, with the most in- 
 tense love, we would apply ourselves with our whole 
 strength to the imitation of his perfections. Whence, 
 hatred, malice, luxury, lust, indolence, and the other 
 vices of the mind, the fruitful sources of bodily dis- 
 eases, would be dried up. 
 
 Finally, since divine love not only exalts the mind 
 
LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 293 
 
 with a certain loftiness and nobility, but also diffuses 
 through it the most exquisite pleasure and joy, (for, 
 if we believe the sacred prophet, there is with God 
 fulness of joy, and at his right hand flow perennial 
 rivers of pleasure,) and, as the more fervently we love, 
 so much the more our felicity increases ; assuredly 
 the lovers of God must be blessed, with a joy un- 
 speakably tranquil and serene; than which nothing can 
 possibly be conceived more efficaciously conducive to 
 the preserving of health, and the prolonging of life. 
 -Translated from Dr. Cheyne's Treatise on the Art of 
 Preserving Health and Prolonging Life, p. 185. 
 
 PRACTICAL PROGRESS OP THE LOVE OP GOD. 
 The love of God may be considered as the law of the 
 theopathetic affections ; for they all end in it, and it 
 is the sum total of them all. In its first rise, it must, 
 like all the rest of them, resemble the sympathetic 
 one of the same name ; and thus it differs from the 
 rest in their first rise, and is, as it were, contrary to 
 fear. In its first rise, it is often tinctured with fond- 
 ness and familiarity, and leans much towards enthu- 
 siasm : as, on the other hand, the fear is often at first 
 a slavish superstitious dread. By degrees, the fear 
 and love qualify each other ; and by uniting with 
 the other theopathetic affections, they all together coa- 
 lesce into a reverential, humble, filial love, attended 
 with a peace, comfort, and joy, that passeth all belief 
 of those who have not experienced it ; so that they 
 look upon the discourses and writings of those who 
 have to be either hypocrisy, or romantic jargon. The 
 book of Psalms affords the sublimest and most correct 
 expressions of this kind : and can never be too much 
 studied by those who would cherish, purify, and per- 
 fect in themselves, a devout frame of mind. And 
 this single circumstance, exclusive of all other consi- 
 o3 
 
LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 derations, appears to me a most convincing proof of 
 the divine authority of this book, and consequently 
 of the rest of the books of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment. But they have all the same evidence in their 
 favour in their respective degrees. They are all helps 
 to beget in us the love of God, and tests whether we 
 have it or no ; and he who " meditates day and night 
 " on the law of God," joining thereto the practical 
 contemplation of his works, as prescribed by the Scrip- 
 tures, and the " purification of his hands and heart" 
 will soon arrive at that devout and happy state, which is 
 signified by the love of God. I will here add some 
 practical consequences, resulting from what has been 
 advanced concerning the theopathetic affections. 
 
 First, then, though an excess of passion of every 
 kind, such as is not under the command of the vo- 
 luntary power, is to be avoided as dangerous and sin- 
 f'ul, yet we must take care to serve God with our af- 
 fections, as well as our outward actions ; and, indeed, 
 unless we do the first, we shall not long continue to 
 do the last ; the internal frame of our minds, being 
 the source and spring from whence our external ac- 
 tions flow. God, who gives us all our faculties and 
 powers, has a right to all ; and it is a secret disloyal- 
 ty and infidelity, not to pay the tribute of our affections. 
 They are evidently in our power, immediately or me- 
 diately ; and therefore he, who goes to his profession, 
 occupation, or amusements, with more delight and 
 pleasure, than to his exercises of devotion, his read- 
 ing and meditation upon divine subjects, and his 
 prayers and praises, whose soul is not " athirstfor the 
 " living God,'* and the " water of life" may assured- 
 ly conclude, that he is not arrived at the requisite de- 
 gree of perfection; that he still hankers after Mammon, 
 though he may have some real desires, and earnest 
 resolutions with respect to God. 
 
LOVE TOWARD GOD. 295 
 
 Secondly, Though this be true in general, and a 
 truth of the greatest practical importance ; yet there 
 are some seasons, in which all the theopathetic affec- 
 tions, and many, in which those of the most delight- 
 ful kind, are languid ; and that even in persons that 
 are far advanced in purity and perfection. Thus the 
 enthusiastic raptures, which often take place in the 
 beginning of a religious course, by introducing an op- 
 posite state, disqualify some ; a Judaical rigour and 
 exactitude in long exercises, bodily disorders, &c. 
 others, from feeling God to be their present joy and 
 comfort. So that the fervours of devotion are by no 
 means in exact proportion to the degree of advance- 
 ment in piety : we can by no means make them a 
 criterion of our own progress, or that of others. But 
 then, they are always some presumption ; and it is 
 far better that they should have some mixture even of 
 enthusiasm, than not take place at all. As ta those, 
 who are in the dry and dejected state, the fear of God 
 is, for the most part, sufficiently vivid in them. Let 
 them, therefore, frequently recollect that the fear of 
 God is a Scripture criterion, and seal of the elect, as 
 well as love. Let them consider, that this trial must 
 be submitted to, as much as any other, till " patience 
 " have her perfect work ;" that it is more purifying than 
 common trials ; that the state of fear is far more safe, 
 and a much stronger earnest of salvation, than pre- 
 mature and ecstatic transports ; and that, if they con- 
 tinue faithful, it will end in love probably during 
 this life, certainly in another. Lastly, that no feeble- 
 minded person may be left without comfort, if there 
 be any one who doubts, whether he either loves or 
 fears God, finding nothing but dulness, anxiety and 
 scrupulosity within him, he must be referred to his 
 external actions, as the surest criterion of his real in- 
 tentions, in this confused and disorderly state of the 
 o 4 
 
296 LOVE TOWARD GOD. 
 
 affections ; and at the same time, admonished not to 
 depend upon his external righteousness, which would 
 breed an endless scrupulosity, and an endeavour after 
 an useless exactitude, but to take refuge in the 
 mercy of God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 Lastly, The cultivation of the love of God in our- 
 selves, by the methods here recommended, and all 
 others that suit our state and condition, with a pru- 
 dent caution to avoid enthusiasm on the one hand, 
 and superstition on the other, is the principal means 
 for preserving us from dejection of every kind, and 
 freeing us if we be fallen into it. Worldly sorrows 
 must by degrees die away, because worldly desires, 
 their sources, will. And their progress will be much 
 accelerated by the impressions of a contrary nature, 
 which gratitude, hope, love towards God, will make 
 upon the mind. As to the dejection, which relates to 
 another world, it generally ends in the opposite state, 
 being its own remedy and cure ; but all direct en- 
 deavours after the true and pure love of God must 
 assist. It is much to be wished, that low-spirited per. 
 sons of all kinds would open themselves without re- 
 serve to religious friends, and particularly to such as 
 have passed through the same dark and dismal path 
 themselves ; and, distrusting their judgments, would 
 resign themselves for a time to some person of ap- 
 proved experience and piety. These would be like 
 guardian angels to them ; and as our natures are so 
 communicative, and susceptible of infection, good 
 and bad, they would by degrees infuse something of 
 their own peaceable, cheerful, and devout spirit into 
 them. But all human supports and comforts are to 
 be at last resigned ; we must have " no comforter, n& 
 li God, Ivt one;" and happy are they, who make 
 haste towards this central point, in which alone we 
 
SUBMISSION TO GOD. 297 
 
 can "Jind rest to our souls"- Hartley's Observations 
 on Man, ii. 325. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 SUBMISSION TO GOD. 
 
 I KNOW no duty in religion more generally agreed 
 on, nor 'more justly required by God Almighty, than 
 a perfect submission to his will in all things ; nor do 
 I think any disposition of mind can either please him 
 more, or become us better, than that of being satis- 
 fied with all he gives, and contented with all he takes 
 away. None, I am sure, can be of more honour to 
 God, nor of more ease to ourselves ; for, if we consi- 
 der him as our Maker, we cannot contend with him ; 
 if as our Father, we ought not to distrust him : so 
 that we may be confident whatever he does is intend- 
 ed for good,, and whatever happens that we interpret 
 otherwise, yet we can get nothing by repining, nor 
 save any thing by resisting. 
 
 All the precepts of Christianity agree to lead and 
 command us to moderate our passions, to temper our 
 affections towards all things below ; to be thankful 
 for the possession, and patient under the loss, when- 
 ever he that gave shall see fit to take away. 'Tis at 
 least pious to ascribe all the ill, that befals us, to our 
 own demerits, rather than to injustice in God ; and it 
 becomes us better to adore all the issues of his Provi- 
 dence in the effects, than inquire into the causes ; for 
 submission is the only way of reasoning between a 
 creature and its Maker ; and contentment in his wit- 
 o 5 
 
298 SC EMISSION TO GOD. 
 
 is the greatest duty we can pretend to, and the best 
 remedy we can apply to all our misfortunes. Sir 
 William Temples Works, ii. 97- 
 
 The wise and virtuous man is at all times willing 
 that his own private interest should be sacrificed to 
 the public interest of his own particular order or soci- 
 ety. He is at all times willing, too, that the interest 
 of this order, or society, should be sacrificed to the 
 greater interest of the state or sovereignty, of which 
 it is only a subordinate part. He should, therefore, 
 be equally willing, that all those inferior interests 
 should be sacrificed to the greater interest of the uni- 
 verse, to the interest of that great society of all sensi- 
 ble and intelligent beings, of which God himself is 
 the immediate administrator and director. If he is 
 deeply impressed with the habitual and thorough con- 
 viction, that this benevolent, and all-wise Being can 
 admit into the system of his government no partial 
 evil, which is not necessary for the universal good, 
 he must consider all the misfortunes which may befal 
 himself, his friends, his society, or his country, as ne- 
 cessary for the prosperity of the universe, and, there- 
 fore, as what he ought not only to submit to with 
 resignation, but as what he himself, if he had known 
 all the connexions and dependencies of things, ought 
 sincerely and devoutly to have wished for. 
 
 Nor does this magnanimous resignation to the will 
 of the great Director of the universe seem, in any re 
 spect, beyond the reach of human nature. Good sol- 
 diers, who both love and trust their general, frequent- 
 ly march with more gaiety and alacrity to the forlorn 
 station, from which they never expect to return, than 
 they would to one, where there was neither difficulty 
 nor danger. In marching to the latter, they could 
 feel no other sentiment, than that of the dulness of or- 
 dinary duty ; in marching to the former, they feel 
 
SUBMISSION TO GOD. 299 
 
 that they are making the noblest exertion, which it is 
 possible for man to make. They know that their ge- 
 neral would not have ordered them upon this station, 
 had it not been necessary for the safety of the army, 
 for the success of the war. They cheerfully sacrifice 
 their own little systems to the prosperity of a greater 
 system. They take an affectionate leave of their com- 
 rades, to whom they wish all happiness and success, 
 and march out, not only with submissive obedience, 
 but often with shouts of the most joyful exultation, to 
 that fatal but splendid and honourable station to which 
 they are appointed. No conductor of an army can 
 deserve more unlimited trust, more ardent and zeal- 
 ous affection, than the great Conductor of the universe. 
 In the greatest public as well as private disasters, a 
 wise man ought to consider that he himself, his friends 
 and countrymen, have only been ordered upon the 
 forlorn station of the universe ; that, had it not been 
 necessary for the good of the whole, they would not 
 have been so ordered ; and that it is their duty, not 
 only with humble resignation to submit to this allot- 
 ment, but to endeavour to embrace it with alacrity 
 and joy. A wise man should surely be capable of 
 doing what a good soldier holds himself, at all times, 
 in readiness to do.- Smith's Theory of Moral Senti- 
 ments, ii. 115. 
 
 It is to be wanting entirely in respect for Provi- 
 dence, as it appears to me, to suppose ourselves a prey 
 to those phantoms which we call events : their reali- 
 ty consists in their effect upon the soul ; and there is 
 a perfect equality between all situations and all cir- 
 cumstances, not viewed externally, but judged ac- 
 cording to their influence upon religious improve- 
 ment. If each of us would attentively examine the 
 texture of his life, we should find there two tissues per* 
 fectly distinct : the one, which appears entirely sub- 
 o 6 
 
SCO SUBMISSION TO GOD. 
 
 ject to natural causes and effects ; the other, whose 
 mysterious tendency is not intelligible except by dint 
 of time. It is like a suit of tapestry hangings, whose 
 figures are worked on the wrong side, until, being 
 put in a proper position, we can judge of their effect. 
 We end by perceiving, even in this life, why we have 
 suffered ; why we have not obtained what w r e desir- 
 ed. The melioration of our own hearts reveals to us 
 the benevolent intention, which subjected us to pain ; 
 for the prosperities of the earth themselves would 
 have something dreadful about them, if they fell upon 
 us after we had been guilty of great faults : we should 
 then think ourselves abandoned by the hand of Him, 
 who delivered us up to happiness here below, as to 
 our sole futurity. Either every thing is chance, or there 
 is no such thing in the world ; and, if there is not, 
 religious feeling consists in making ourselves harmo- 
 nize with the universal order, in spite of that spirit 
 of rebellion and of usurpation with which selfishness 
 inspires each of us individually. De Gael's Germany, 
 iii. 320. 
 
 For myself, this is my consolation, and all that I can 
 offer to others, that the sorrows of this life are but of 
 two sorts, whereof the one hath respect to God, the 
 other to the world. In the first, we complain to God 
 against ourselves for our offences against him, and 
 confess, ' ' Thou, O Lord, art just in all that hath be- 
 fallen us." In the second, we complain to ourselves 
 against God, as if he had done us wrong, either in not 
 giving us worldly goods and honours answering our 
 appetites, or for taking them again from us, having 
 had them ; forgetting that humble and just acknow- 
 ledgment of Job, " The Lord hath given and theLord 
 hath taken." To the first of which St. Paul hath pro- 
 mised the blessedness, to the second, death. And, out 
 of doubt, he is either a fool, or ungrateful to God,, or 
 
SUBMISSION TO GOI>. 801 
 
 both, that doth not acknowledge, how mean soever 
 liis estate be, that the same is yet far greater than 
 that which God oweth him; or doth not acknow- 
 ledge, how sharp soever his afflictions be, that the 
 same are yet far less than those which are due unto 
 him. And if a heathen wise man call the adversities 
 of the world but " tributes of living,'* a wise Christ- 
 ian man ought to know them, and to bear them but 
 as the " tributes of offending."- Sir Walter Ra- 
 leigh's Preface to his History of the World. 
 
 
 
 HUMILITY BEFORE GOD. It follows from the pu- 
 rity of the Scripture precepts, that even the better 
 sort of Christians may be under considerable uncer- 
 tainties, as to their own state ; and that, in many 
 cases, as a man grows better, and consequently sees 
 more distinctly his own impurity, he will have great- 
 er fears for himself, and perhaps think that he grows 
 worse. Now the final cause of this is undoubtedly, 
 that we may make our calling and election sure, 
 and lest he that thinketh he standeth, should fall. 
 And yet, as wicked persons, let them endeavour ever 
 so much to stupify themselves, must have frequent 
 forebodings of the judgment that must be passed up- 
 on them at the last day, so good persons will gene- 
 rally have great comfort in the midst of their sor- 
 rows. The Scripture promises are so gracious and 
 unlimited j the precepts for loving God, and rejoic- 
 ing in him, so plain and express ; and the histories of 
 God's mercies towards great sinners, and the great 
 sins of good men, are so endearing, that whoever 
 reads and meditates upon the Scripture daily, will 
 find light spring up to him in the midst of darkness ; 
 will hope against hope, that is, will hope for the mercy 
 of God, though he has the greatest doubts and fears 
 in relation to his own virtue, faith, love, hope, and 
 
30 SUBMISSION TO GOIT. 
 
 fly to him as his Father and Saviour, for that very 
 
 reason. This will beget earnest and incessant prayer, 
 
 a perpetual care not to offend, and a reference of all 
 
 things to God. When such a person surveys his own 
 
 actions, and finds that he does, in many instances of 
 
 thought, word, and deed, govern himself by the love 
 
 and fear of God, by a sense of duty, by the gospel 
 
 motives of future reward and punishment, &c. these 
 
 are, to him, evident marks that the Spirit of God works 
 
 with his spirit : he is encouraged to have confidence 
 
 towards God ; and this confidence spurs him on to 
 
 greater watchfulness and earnestness, if he does not 
 
 dwell too long upon it. When, on the other hand, 
 
 he finds many unmortified desires, and many failings- 
 
 in his best words and actions, with some gross neglects 
 
 perhaps, or even some commissions, this terrifies and 
 
 alarms him, adds wings to his prayers, and zeal to 
 
 his endeavours. And it is happy for us in this world 
 
 of temptations, to be thus kept between hope and 
 
 fear. 
 
 As undue confidence leads to security, and conse- 
 quently to such sins as destroy this confidence, (unless 
 we be so unhappy as to be able to recal the internal 
 feeling of this confidence without sufficient contri- 
 tion,) and as the disproportionate fearfulness, whicli 
 is its opposite, begets vigilance, and thus destroys its- 
 self also ; whence persons, in the progress of a reli- 
 gious course, are often passing from one extreme to 
 another ; so it is difficult for serious persons, in think- 
 ing or speaking about the terms of salvation, to rest 
 in any particular point ; they are always apt to quali- 
 fy the last decision, whatever it be, either with some 
 alarming caution, or comfortable suggestion, lest they 
 should mislead themselves or others. This is part of 
 that obscurity and uncertainty, which is our chief 
 guard and security in this state of probation, and 
 
SUBMISSION TO GOD. 30& 
 
 the daily bread of our souls. Let me once more add this 
 necessary observation, viz. that future, eternal hap- 
 piness, is of infinitely more weight than present com- 
 fort ; and, therefore, that we ought to labour infinite- 
 ly more after purity and perfection, than even after 
 spiritual delights. We are only upon our journey 
 through the wilderness, to the land of Canaan ; and, 
 as we cannot want manna, from day to day, for our 
 support, it is of little concernment whether we have 
 more delicious food. Let us, therefore, hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness itself, that so we may first be jilted 
 with it, and afterwards, in due time, may obtain that 
 eternal weight of glory, which will be the reward of 
 it. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 4-14. 41 7. 
 
 We perceive our depravity; and, if we would speak 
 ingenuously, we must confess that we are slaves to 
 our wills, and that it is with reluctance we submit 
 our conduct to the divine precepts of the Christian re- 
 ligion. The inclinations of the flesh are strong and 
 vigorous : they attach us to the present life ; they ac- 
 quire a domination over all our faculties, and banish 
 from the will every thought of futurity. The love of 
 our Saviour, who redeemed us, is cold and languid ; 
 and we have but a servile fear of God, who, in our 
 imagination, is too holy. These sentiments are deeply 
 rooted in the dark recesses of our hearts; every thing 
 conspires to remind us of our weakness, and to con- 
 vince us that humility is a disposition, which becomes, 
 in the highest degree, creatures so corrupt and imper- 
 fect. Baron Halter's Letters to his Daughter, let. 14. 
 Self-abasement is another moral duty inculcated by 
 this religion only, which requires us to impute even our 
 virtues to the grace and favour of our Creator, and to 
 acknowledge that we can do nothing good by our own 
 powers, unless assisted by his over-ruling influence. 
 This doctrine seems, at first sight, to infringe on our 
 
304? DEVOTION. 
 
 free-will, and to deprive us of all merit; but, on a 
 closer examination, the truth of it may be demon- 
 strated both by reason and experience, and that in 
 fact it does not impair the one, or depreciate the 
 other : and that it is productive of so much humility, 
 resignation, and dependence on God, that it justly 
 claims a place among the most illustrious moral vir- 
 tues, Soame Jenyns 1 Works, iv. 54. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 DEVOTION. 
 
 DEVOUT MEDITATION. The motives to a life of 
 holiness are infinite, not less than the favour or anger 
 of omnipotence, not less than eternity of happiness 
 or misery. But these can only influence our conduct 
 as they gain our attention, which the business or di- 
 versions of the world are always calling off by con- 
 trary attractions. 
 
 The great art, therefore, of piety, and the end for 
 which all the rites of religion seem to be instituted, is 
 the perpetual renovation of the motives to virtue, by 
 a voluntary employment of our mind in the contem- 
 plation of its excellence, its importance, and its ne- 
 cessity, which, in proportion as they are more fre- 
 quently and more willingly revolved, gain a more for- 
 cible and permanent influence, till in time they be- 
 come the reigning ideas, the standing principles of 
 action, and the test by which every thing proposed 
 to the judgment is rejected or approved. To facili- 
 
DEVOTION. 305 
 
 tate this change of our affections, it is necessary that 
 we weaken the temptations of the world, by retiring 
 at certain seasons from it ; for its influence arising 
 only from its presence, is much lessened when it be- 
 comes the object of solitary meditation. A constant 
 residence amidst noise and pleasure, inevitably obli- 
 terates the impressions of piety ; and a frequent ab- 
 straction of ourselves into a state, where this life, like 
 the next, operates only upon the reason, will reinstate 
 religion in its just authority, even without those irra- 
 diations from above, the hope of which I have no 
 intention to withdraw from the sincere and the dili- 
 gent. 
 
 This is that conquest of the world and of ourselves, 
 which has been always considered as the perfection 
 of human nature ; and this is only to be obtained by 
 fervent prayer, steady resolutions, and frequent re- 
 tirement from folly and vanity, from the cares of ava- 
 rice, and the joys of intemperance, from the lulling 
 sounds of deceitful flattery, and the tempting sight of 
 prosperous wickedness. Johnson, Rambler, No. 7. 
 
 The idea of that divine Being, whose benevolence 
 and wisdom have, from all eternity, contrived and 
 conducted the immense machine of the universe, so 
 as, at all times, to produce the greatest possible quan- 
 tity of happiness, is certainly, of all the objects of hu- 
 man contemplation, by far the most sublime. Every 
 other thought, necessarily appears mean in the compa- 
 rison. The man, whom we believe to be principally 
 occupied in this sublime contemplation, seldom fails to 
 be the object of our highest veneration ; and, though 
 his life should be altogether contemplative ; we often 
 regard him with a sort of religious respect much su- 
 perior to that, with which we look upon the most 
 active and useful servant of the commonwealth.- 
 S?nilh's Theory of Moral Sentiments, ii. 117. 
 
306 DEVOTION. 
 
 There is another kind of virtue, that may find em- 
 ployment for those retired hours, in which we are al- 
 together left to ourselves, and destitute of company 
 and conversation ; I mean that intercourse and com- 
 munication which every reasonable creature ought to 
 maintain, with the great Author of his being. The 
 man, who lives under an habitual sense of the divine 
 presence, keeps up a perpetual cheerfulness of tern- 
 per, and enjoys every moment the satisfaction of 
 thinking himself in company with his dearest and best 
 of friends. The time never lies heavy upon him : it 
 is impossible for him to be alone. His thoughts and 
 passions are the most busied at such hours, when 
 those of other men are the most inactive. He no 
 sooner steps out of the world but his heart burns 
 with devotion, dwells with hope, and triumphs in the 
 consciousness of that presence which every where 
 surrounds him ; or, on the contrary, pours out its fears, 
 its sorrows, its apprehensions, to the great Supporter 
 of its existence. Addison, Spectator, No. 93. 
 
 I needed think no more to convince me of the ex- 
 cellent usefulness for devotion, arising from the dis- 
 tinct and frequent meditating upon the divine per- 
 fections, which would continually excite joy, and 
 will never want matter of new discoveries of perfec- 
 tion, in kind and degree, power or act, and so give 
 new, fresh, and increased pleasure ; that though in 
 the state of mortality, man knoweth God but darkly, 
 as in a glass, that is, by reflection from creatures ; 
 yet, " at his right-hand there is fulness of joy, and 
 " pleasures for ever more," that is, in the state of 
 glory. But there may be, even here, so much joy 
 from meditating upon God, which all other objects 
 cannot parallel, much less exceed or extinguish. , 
 Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, on Ike Divine Perfections. 
 
DEVOTION. SOT 
 
 PRAYER. In the existence God has given us, and 
 in the benefits which attach us strongly to it, this 
 shews him to be the first and greatest object of our 
 gratitude : And in the established order of thing?, 
 subject to so many vicissitudes, and yet so constant ; 
 this religion shews him to be the reasonable as well 
 as necessary object of our resignation. And, finally, 
 in the wants, distresses, and dangers, which those vi- 
 cissitudes bring frequently upon us, to be the comfort- 
 able object of our hope, in which hope the resigna- 
 tion of nature, will teach us no doubt to address our- 
 selves to the Almighty in a manner consistent with 
 an entire resignation to his will, as some of the hea- 
 thens did, Bolingbroke's Works, v. 97, as quoted by 
 Leland. 
 
 However extravagant and absurd the sentiments 
 of certain philosophers may be, they are so obstinate- 
 ly prepossessed in favour of them, that they reject 
 every religious opinion and doctrine, which is not 
 conformable to their system of philosophy. From 
 this source are derived most of the sects and heresies 
 in religion. Several philosophic systems are really 
 contradictory to religion ; but, in that case, divine 
 truth ought surely to be preferred to the reveries of 
 men, if the pride of philosophers knew what it was 
 to yield. Should sound philosophy, sometimes seem 
 in opposition to religion, that opposition is more ap- 
 parent than real ; and we must not suffer ourselves to 
 be dazzled with the speciousness of objections. 
 
 I begin with considering an objection, which al- 
 most all the philosophic systems have started against 
 prayer. 
 
 Religion prescribes this as our duty, with an assur- 
 ance, that God will hear and answer our vows and 
 prayers, provided they are conformable to the pre- 
 cepts which he has given us. Philosophy, on the 
 
308 DEVOTION. 
 
 other hand, instructs us that allevents take place" in 
 strict conformity to the course of nature, established 
 from the beginning, and that our prayers can effect 
 DO change whatever, unless we pretend to expect 
 that God should be continually working miracles, in 
 compliance with our prayers. This objection has 
 the greater weight, that religion itself teaches the doc- 
 trine of God's having established the course of all 
 events ; and that nothing can come to pass, but what 
 God foresaw from all eternity. Is it credible, say 
 the objectors, that God should think of altering this 
 settled course of compliance, with any prayers which 
 men might address to him ? 
 
 But I remark, first, that when God established the 
 course of the universe, and arranged all the events 
 which must come to pass in it, he paid attention to 
 all the circumstances, which should accompany each 
 event ; and particularly to the dispositions, to the de- 
 sires and prayers of every intelligent being : and that 
 the arrangement of all events was disposed, in per- 
 fect harmony with all these circumstances. When, 
 therefore, a man addresses to God a prayer worthy 
 of being heard, it must not be imagined, that such a 
 prayer came not to the knowledge of God, till the 
 moment it was formed. That prayer was already 
 heard from all eternity ; and if the Father of mercies 
 deemed it worthy of being answered, he arranged 
 the world expressly in favour of that prayer, so that 
 the accomplishment should be a consequence of the 
 natural course of events. It is thus that God answers 
 the prayers of men, without working a miracle. 
 
 The establishment of the course of the universe, 
 fixed once for all, far from rendering prayer unneces- 
 sary, rather increases our confidence, by conveying to 
 us this consolatory truth, that all our prayers have 
 been already, from the beginning, presented at the 
 
BEVOTIOTs. 809 
 
 feet of the throne of the Almighty, 'and that they 
 have been admitted into the plan of the universe, as 
 motives conformably to which events were to be re- 
 gulated, in subserviency to the infinite wisdom of 
 the Creator. 
 
 Can any one believe, that our condition would be 
 better, if God had no knowledge of our prayers, be- 
 fore we presented them, and that he should then be 
 disposed to change, in our favour, the order of the 
 course of nature ? This might well be irreconcil- 
 able with his wisdom, and inconsistent with his ador- 
 able perfections. Would there not then be reason 
 to say, that the world was a very impel feet work ; 
 that God was entirely disposed to be favourable to 
 the wishes of men ; but, not having foreseen them, 
 was reduced to the necessity of, every instant, inter- 
 rupting the course of nature, unless he were deter- 
 mined totally to disregard the wants of intelligent 
 beings, which, nevertheless, constitute the principal 
 part of the universe ? For, to what purpose create 
 this material world, replenished with so many great 
 wonders, if there were no intelligent beings capable 
 of admiring it, and of being elevated by it to the ado- 
 ration of God, and to the most intimate union with 
 their Creator, in which undoubtedly their highest fe- 
 licity consists ? 
 
 Hence it must absolutely be concluded, that intel- 
 ligent beings, and their salvation, must have been the 
 principal object, in subordination to which God regu- 
 lated the arrangement of this world ; and we have 
 every reason to rest assured, that all the events which 
 take place in it, are in the most delightful harmony 
 with the wants of all intelligent beings, to conduct 
 them to their true happiness : but without constraint, 
 because of their liberty, which is as essential to spirits 
 as extension is to body. TJiere is, therefore, no ground 
 
310 DEVOTION. 
 
 for surprise, that there should be intelligent beings, 
 which shall never reach felicity. 
 
 In this connexion of spirits with events, consists 
 the divine providence, of which every individual has 
 the consolation of being a partaker ; so that every 
 man may rest assured, that, from all eternity he en- 
 tered into the plan of the universe. How ought this 
 consideration to increase our confidence, and our joy 
 in the providence of God, on which all religion is 
 founded ! You see then, that, on this side, religion 
 and philosophy are by no means at variance.- M 
 ler's Letters to a German Princess, i. 393. 
 
 It was formerly observed, that 'tis from God we 
 have derived all our virtues. The philosophers, 
 therefore, as well as divines, teach us to have recourse 
 frequently to God by ardent prayer, that, while we 
 are exercising ourselves vigorously, he would al- 
 so adorn us with these virtues, and supply us with 
 new strength. They taught, that no man ever at- 
 tained true grandeur of mind, without some inspi- 
 ration from God. Need we add, that the very con- 
 templation of the divine perfections, with that deep 
 veneration which they excite, thanksgivings, praises, 
 confessions of our sins, and prayers, not only increase 
 our devotion and piety, but strengthen all goodness of 
 temper and integrity. Hutcheson's Introduction to 
 Moral Philosophy, book i. chap. 7- 3. 
 
 Though prayer should be the key of the day, and 
 the lock of the night, yet I hold it more needful in 
 the morning, than when our bodies do take their re- 
 pose. For, howsoever sleep be the image or shadow 
 of death, and when the shadow is so near, the sub- 
 stance cannot be far ; yet a man at rest in his cham- 
 ber is like a sheep impenned in the fold, subject only 
 to the unavoidable and immediate hand of God; where- 
 
DEVOTION. 311 
 
 as, in the day, when he roves abroad in the open and 
 wide pastures, he is then exposed to many more un- 
 thought-of accidents, that contingently and casually 
 occur in the way. Retiredness is more safe than busi- 
 ness. Who believes not a ship securer in the bay, 
 than in the midst of the boiling occean ? Besides, the 
 morning to the day, is as youth to the life of a man : 
 if that be begun well, commonly his age is virtuous ; 
 otherwise God accepts not the latter service, when 
 his enemy joys in the first dish. He that loves chasti- 
 ty, will never marry her that hath lived a harlot. 
 Why should God take the dry bones, when the devil 
 hath sucked the marrow out? Felthams Res olves } No. 
 67- 
 
 And such will all your studies be, if you constantly 
 put in practice this my last admonition, which I re- 
 served purposely for this place. It is, that you be 
 careful every night, before you go to bed, or perform 
 your devotions, to withdraw yourself into your closet, 
 or some private part of your chamber, and there call 
 memory, your steward, to account what she has heard 
 or read that day worthy of observation ; what she 
 hath laid up, what she spent ; how the stock of know- 
 ledge improves, where and how she decays. A nota- 
 ble advantage will this bring to your studies at pres- 
 ent, and hereafter (if that way employed) to your es- 
 tate. But if this course be strictly observed each 
 night between God and your soul, there will the true 
 advantage appear. Fail not, therefore, Frank, what 
 employment soever you have, every night, as in the 
 presence of God and his holy angels, to pass an inqui- 
 sition on your soul, what ill it hath done, what good 
 it hath left undone ; what slipi, what falls, it hath had 
 that day ; what temptations have prevailed upon it, 
 and by what means, or after what manner. Ransack 
 every corner of thy dark heart ; and let not the least 
 
DEVOTIOX. 
 
 peccadillo, or kindness to a sin lurk there ; but bring 
 it forth, bewail it, protest againt it, detest it, and 
 scourge it by a severe sorrow. Thus, each day's breach 
 between God and your soul being made up, with more 
 quiet and sweet hope thou mayest dispose thyself to 
 rest. Certainly, at last, this inquisition, if steadily 
 pursued, will vanquish all customary sins, whatever 
 they may be. I speak it upon this reason, because I 
 presume thou wilt not have the face to appear before 
 God every night confessing the same offence ; and 
 thou wilt forbear it, lest thou mayest seem to mock 
 God, or despise him, which is dreadful but to ima- 
 gine. This finished, for a delightful close to the whole 
 business of the day, cause your servant to read some- 
 thing that is excellently written or done, to lay you 
 to sleep w'th it, that, if it may be, even your dreams 
 may be profitable. "-William Lord Russel's Advice to 
 his Son. 
 
 The preparation of the heart is necessary. It may 
 be prepared by elevating views of nature. " The 
 heavens declare the glory of God." Before that 
 powerful and benign Majesty let us bow and wor- 
 ship ; views of Providence may, in like manner, pre- 
 pare the heart : " I wound and I heal ; I kill and I 
 make alive." To that Being, in whose hand our life is, 
 and who alone can make us happy, let us devote our- 
 selves. Select passages of Scripture may be used to 
 predispose the heart. Prayer degenerates into rote, 
 if the heart be not prepared. The stated and avow- 
 ed exercise of devotion is the only remedy against 
 false shame ; the strongest arguments cannot over- 
 come it. Let parents, who believe in the efficacy of 
 prayer, and who are yet ashamed to pray, deliver 
 their children from the same temptation. When the 
 habit of praying daily is acquired, devout thoughts 
 associate with the hour of prayer, The impression of 
 
DEVOTION. 313 
 
 God's presence, often renewed, checks temptation, 
 and strengthens virtue, and establishes tranquillity of 
 mind on a good foundation. Lord Kames on the Cw/- 
 ture of the Heart. 
 Mr. President, 
 
 The small progress we have made, after four or five 
 weeks' close attendance and continued reasoning with 
 each other, our different sentiments on almost every 
 question, several of the last producing as many noes 
 as ayes, is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imper- 
 fection of the human understanding. We, indeed, 
 seem to feel our want of political wisdom, since we 
 have been running all about in search of it. We have 
 gone back to ancient history for models of govern* 
 ment, and examined the different forms of those re- 
 publics, which, having been originally formed with 
 the seeds of their own dissolution, now no longer ex- 
 ist : and we have viewed modern states all around 
 Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable 
 to our circumstances. 
 
 In this situation pf this assembly, groping, as it were, 
 in the dark, to find political truth, and scarcely able 
 to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it 
 happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought 
 of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illu- 
 minate our understandings? In the beginning of 
 the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of 
 danger, we had daily prayers in this room for the 
 Divine protection ! Our prayers, Sir, were heard; 
 and they were graciously answered. All of us, who 
 were engaged in the struggle, must have observed 
 frequent instances of a superintending Providence in 
 our favour. To that kind Providence we owe this 
 happy opportunity of consulting, in peace, on the 
 means of establishing our future national felicity. And 
 have we now forgotten that powerful Friend ? Or 
 
314 DEVOTION. 
 
 do we imagine we no longer need his assistance? I 
 have lived, Sir, a long time ; and the longer I live, 
 the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that 
 God governs in the affairs of men ! And if a sparrow 
 cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it pro- 
 bable that an empire can rise without his aid ? We 
 have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that 
 " except the Lord build the house, they labour in 
 vain that build it." I firmly believe this ; and I also 
 believe, that without his concurring aid, we shall suc- 
 ceed in this political building no better than the build- 
 ers of Babel : we shall be divided by our little, par- 
 tial, local interests ; our projects will be confounded ; 
 and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by- 
 word down to future ages. And, what is worse, man- 
 kind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, 
 despair of establishing government by human wis- 
 dom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. I 
 therefore beg leave to move, " That henceforth prayers, 
 imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing 
 on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every 
 morning before we proceed to business ; and that one 
 or more of the clergy of this city be requested to of- 
 ficiate in that service." Franklin's Speech in the 
 American Congress. 
 
 FERVENCY IN PRAYER. The devotee ever endea- 
 vours to excite higher degrees of these affections by 
 expatiating on such circumstances in the divine con- 
 duct, with respect to man, as naturally awaken them ; 
 and he does this without any fear of exceeding : be- 
 cause infinite wisdom and goodness will always justify 
 the sentiment, and free the expression from all charge 
 of hyperbole or extravagance. Robison's Proofs of a 
 Conspiracy, p. 257. 
 
DEVOTION. 315 
 
 PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER. What are we to do 
 for those unhappy persons, who have neglected to 
 make use of the means of grace in due time, and who 
 are seized by some fatal disease in the midst of their 
 sins ? I answer, that we must exhort them to strive to 
 the utmost, to pray that they may pray with faith, 
 with earnestness, with humility, with contrition. As 
 far as the dying sinner has these graces, no doubt they 
 will avail him, either to alleviate his future misery, or 
 to augment his happiness. And it seems plainly to 
 be the doctrine of the Scriptures, that all that can be 
 done, must be done in this life. After death, we en- 
 ter into a most durable state of happiness or misery. 
 We must here, as in all other cases, leave the whole 
 to God, who judgeth not as man judgeth. Our com- 
 passion is as imperfect and erroneous as our other vir- 
 tues, especially in matters where we ourselves are so 
 deeply concerned. The greatest promises are made 
 to fervent prayer. Let, therefore, not only the dying 
 person himself, but all about him, who are thus mov- 
 ed with compassion for him, fly to God in this so 
 great distress : not the least devout sigh or aspiration 
 can be lost. God accepts the widow's mite, and even 
 a cup of cold water, when bestowed upon a disciple 
 and representative of Christ. And if the prayer, love, 
 faith, &c. either of the sinner himself or of any one 
 else, be sufficiently fervent, he will give him repent- 
 ance unto salvation. But how shall any of us say this 
 of ourselves ? this would be to depend upon ourselves 
 and our own abilities, instead of having faith in Christ 
 alone. Hartley's Observations on Man, ii. 411. 
 
316 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 A neglect of all religious duties leads to a neglect 
 of all moral obligations. Rousseau's Emilius, i. 113. 
 
 Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and 
 which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide 
 by degrees out of the mind, unless it be invigorated, 
 and reimproved by external ordinances, by stated 
 calls to worship, and the salutary influence of exam- 
 ple. Johnson's Life of Milton. 
 
 Frequent the church and the houses of God : let 
 no business invade or intrude upon your religious 
 .hours. What you have destined to the service of 
 God is already sacred to him ; and cannot, without 
 great profaneness, be alienated from him, and con- 
 ferred upon others. Use private prayers, as well as 
 go to the public ordinances. Marquis of Argyles 
 Instructions to his Son. 
 
 And that which is to maintain, amongst men, the 
 principles first inculcated, is public worship, an idea 
 as beautiful as simple, and the most proper to vivify 
 all that is vague and abstract in reasoning and instruc- 
 tion : public worship, in assembling men, and turning 
 them, without public shame, to their weaknesses, and 
 in equalizing every individual before the master of 
 the world, will be, in this point of view, a grand les- 
 son of morality ; but this worship, besides, habitu- 
 ally reminds some of their duty, and is for others a 
 constant source of consolation ; in short, almost all 
 men, astonished and overwhelmed by the ideas of 
 grandeur and infinity, which the appearance of the 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 317 
 
 universe, and the exercise of their own thoughts, 
 present to them, aspire to find repose in the senti- 
 ment of adoration, which unites them in a more inti- 
 mate manner to God, than the development of their 
 reason ever will. Necker's Religions Opinions, p. 275. 
 The obligation we are under to worship God, is 
 founded on the two great principles of gratitude and 
 obedience ; both of them requiring fundamentally a 
 pure heart and a well disposed mind. But heart- wor- 
 ship is alone not sufficient. There are, over and 
 above, required external signs, testifying to others the 
 sense we have of these duties, and a firm resolution 
 to perform them. That such is the will of God will 
 appear as follows. The principle of devotion, like 
 most of our other principles, partakes of the imperfec- 
 tions of our nature ; yet, however faint originally, it 
 is capable of being greatly invigorated by cultiva- 
 tion and exercise. Private exercise is not sufficient. 
 Nature, and consequently the God of nature, require 
 public exercise or public worship : for devotion is in- 
 fectiousj like joy or grief; and by mutual communi- 
 cation in a numerous assembly, is greatly invigorat- 
 ed. A regular habit of expressing publicly our gra- 
 titude and resignation, never fails to purify the mind, 
 tending to wean it from every unlawful pursuit. 
 Lord Kames's Sketches of 'Man , vi. 284. 
 
 Jesus says to the woman of Samaria, " The hour 
 " cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor 
 " yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the 
 " true worshippers shall worship the Father, both in 
 " spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to 
 " worship him/' To be worshipped in spirit and in 
 truth, with application of mind, and sincerity of 
 heart, was what God henceforth only required. Mag- 
 nificent temples, and confinement to certain places, 
 were now no longer necessary for his worship, which 
 P 3 
 
318 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 by a pure heart might be performed any where. The 
 splendour and distinction of habits, and pomp of ce- 
 remonies, and all outside performances, might now 
 be spared. God, who was a spirit, and made known 
 to be so, required none of those, but the spirit only ; 
 and that in public assemblies, (where some actions 
 must be open to the view of the world,) all that 
 could appear and be seen, should be done decently, 
 and in order, and to edification ; decency, order, and 
 edification, were to regulate all their public acts of 
 worship, and beyond what these required, the out- 
 ward appearance (which was of little value in the eyes 
 of God) was not to go. Having shut indecency and 
 confusion out of their assemblies, they need not be 
 solicitous about useless ceremonies. Praises and 
 prayer humbly offered up to the Deity, were the wor- 
 ship he now demanded ; and in these every one was 
 to look after his own heart, and to know that it was 
 that alone, which God had regard to and accepted. 
 Locke on the Reasonableness of Christianity ; Works, 
 vi. 147. 
 
 Hitherto we have treated of internal worship. But 
 our nature scarcely relishes any thing in solitude : all 
 our affections naturally discover themselves before 
 others, and infect them as with a contagion. This 
 shews, that God is not only to be worshipped in secret, 
 but in public ; which also tends to increase our own 
 devotion, and to raise like sentiments in others, and 
 makes them thus partakers of this sublime enjoy- 
 ment. This social worship, is not only the natural 
 result of inward piety ; but is also recommended by 
 the many advantages redounding from it ; as it has 
 a great influence in promoting a general piety ; and, 
 from a general sense of religion prevailing in a socie- 
 ty, all its members are powerfully excited to a faith- 
 ful discharge of every duty of life, and restrained 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 319 
 
 from all injury or wickedness. And hence it is, that 
 mankind have always been persuaded, that religion 
 was of the highest consequence to engage men to all 
 social duties, and to preserve society in peace and 
 safety. 
 
 The external worship must be the natural expres- 
 sions of the internal devotion of the soul ; and must 
 therefore consist in celebrating the praises of God, 
 and displaying his perfections to others ; in thanks- 
 givings and expressions of our trust in him ; in ac- 
 knowledging his power, his universal providence, and 
 goodness, by prayers for what we need ; in confess- 
 ing our sins, and imploring his mercy ; and finally, in 
 committing ourselves entirely to his conduct, govern- 
 ment, and correction, with an absolute resignation. 
 Hutcheson's Introduction to Moral Philosophy, b. 
 i. chap. 4. , 3. 
 
 There cannot be a more fatal delusion, than to sup- 
 pose, that religion is nothing but a divine philosophy 
 in the soul, and that the theopathetic affections (of 
 faith, fear, gratitude, hope, trust, resignation, and 
 love) may exist and flourish there, though they 
 be not cultivated by devout exercises and expres- 
 sions. Experience, and many plain obvious reasons, 
 shew the falsehood and mischievous tendency of this 
 notion ; and it follows from the theory of association, 
 that no internal dispositions can remain long in the 
 mind, unless they be perpetually nourished by pro- 
 per associations, that is, by some external acts. 
 
 But, secondly, though God be in himself infinite in 
 power, knowledge, goodness, and happiness, that is, ac 
 quainted with all our wants, ready and able to supply 
 them, and incapable of change, through our entreaties 
 and importunities ; yet, as he represents himself to us, 
 both in his word and works, in the relation of a Fa- 
 ther and Governor, our associated nature compels us, 
 p 4 
 
320 PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 as it were, to apply to him, in the same way as we do 
 to earthly fathers and governors, and by thus com- 
 pelling us, becomes a reason for so doing. If God's 
 incomprehensible perfection be supposed to exclude 
 prayer, it will equally exclude all thoughts and dis- 
 courses concerning him, (for these are all equally 
 short and unworthy of him,) which is direct athe- 
 ism. 
 
 Thirdly, The hypothesis even of mechanism, (or 
 necessity,) though it may seem at first sight to make 
 prayer superfluous and useless ; yet, upon farther con- 
 sideration, it will be found quite otherwise. For, if 
 all things be conducted mechanically, that is, by 
 means ; then prayer may be the means of procur- 
 ing what we want, our ignorance of the manner in 
 which things operate, is not the .least (smallest) 
 evidence against their having a real operation. If 
 all be conducted mechanically, some means must be 
 made use of for procuring our wants. The ana- 
 logy of all other things, intimates that these means 
 must proceed in part from man. The analogy taken 
 from the relations of father and governor, suggests 
 prayer. It follows, therefore, according to the mecha- 
 nical hypothesis, that prayer is one of the principal 
 means, whereby we may obtain our desires. 
 
 Fourthly, If all these reasons were set aside, the 
 pressing nature of some of our wants would extort 
 prayers from us, and therefore justify them. 
 
 Fifthly, In like manner, the theopathetic affections, 
 if they be sufficiently strong, will break forth into 
 prayers and praises, as in the authors of the psalms, 
 and other devout persons. 
 
 Sixthly, The Scriptures direct and commend us to 
 pray, " to pray always, in every thing to give thanks ; 
 and support the foregoing and such like reasons for 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 321; 
 
 prayer and praise. And this removes all doubts and 
 scruple, if any should remain, from the infinite na- 
 ture, of God. We may be satisfied from the Scrip- 
 tures that we have the privilege to pray, to expose 
 all our wants, desires, joys and griefs, to our Crea- 
 tor, and that he will hear us and help us. Public 
 prayer is, a necessary duty, as well as private. By 
 this we publicly profess our obedience to God through 
 Christ ; we excite, and are excited by others, to fer- 
 vency in devotion, and to Christian benevolence, 
 and we have a claim to the promise of Christ to those 
 who are assembled together in his name. The Christ- 
 ian religion has been kept alive, as one may say, dur- 
 ing the great corruption and apostacy, by the public 
 worship of God in churches ; and it is probable, that 
 religious assemblies will be much more frequent than 
 they now are, whenever it shall please God to put it 
 into the hearts of Christians to proceed to the general 
 conversion of all nations. We ought, therefore, to 
 prepare ourselves for, and hasten unto this glorious 
 time, as much as possible, by joining together in 
 prayers for this purpose ; and so much the more, as 
 we see the day approaching. 
 
 Lastly, Family prayer, which is something between 
 the public prayers of each church, and the private ones 
 of each individual, must be necessary, since these are. 
 The same reasons are easily applied. And I believe 
 it may be laid down as a certain fact, that no master 
 or mistress of a family can have a true concern for re- 
 ligion, or be a child of God, who does not take care 
 to worship God by family prayer. Let the observa- 
 tion of the fact determine. Hartley's Observations on 
 Man, ii. 331. 335. 
 
 A third part of piety is worship, or the outward: 
 expression of those pious affections in suitable words- 
 and behaviour. Of this great duty I observe,, in the 
 P 5 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 first place, that it is quite natural. Good affections, 
 when strong, as all the pious affections ought to be, 
 have a tendency to express themselves externally : 
 where this does not appear, there is reason to appre- 
 hend, that the affections are weak or wanting. If a 
 man is grateful to his benefactor, he will tell him so ; 
 if no acknowledgments are made, and no outward 
 signs of gratitude manifest themselves, he will be 
 chargeable with ingratitude. When we admire the 
 wisdom, and love the goodness of a fellow- creature, 
 we naturally shew him respect, and wish to com- 
 ply with his will, and recommend ourselves to his 
 favour ; and we speak of him and to him in terms 
 of esteem and gratitude : and the greater his wis- 
 dom and goodness, the more we are inclined to do 
 all this. Now, God's wisdom and goodness are infi- 
 nite and perfect, and if we venerate these attributes 
 as we ought to do, it will be neither natural nor easy 
 for us so to conceal that veneration, as to prevent its 
 discovering itself externally. It is true, that the omni- 
 scient Being knows all our thoughts, whether we give 
 them utterance or not. But if the expressing of them 
 from time to time, in words, is by him required of us 
 as a duty ; if it is beneficial to ourselves, and if, as an 
 example, it has good effects upon our fellow- creatures, 
 no argument can be necessary to prove the propriety 
 of the practice. 
 
 Let it therefore be considered, that worship, pro- 
 perly conducted, tends greatly to our improvement in 
 every part of virtue. To indulge a pious emotion, , 
 to keep it in our mind, to meditate on its object, and 
 with reverence, and in due season to give it vocal ex- 
 pression, cannot fail to strengthen it ; whereas, by re- 
 straining the outward expression, and thinking of the 
 emotion and its object seldom and slightly, we make 
 it weaker, and may, in time, destroy it. Besides, the 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 3S3 
 
 more we contemplate the perfections of God, the more 
 we must admire, love, and adore them ; and the more 
 sensible we must be of our own degeneracy, and of 
 the need we have of pardon and assistance. And 
 the wishes we express for that assistance and pardon, 
 if they be frequent and sincere, will incline us to be 
 attentive to our conduct, and solicitous to avoid what 
 may offend him. These considerations alone would 
 recommend external worship, as a most excellent means 
 of improving our moral nature. But Christians know 
 further, that this duty is expressly commanded, and 
 that particular blessings are promised to the devout 
 performance of it. In us, therefore, the neglect of it 
 must be inexcusable and highly criminal. 
 
 It being of so great importance, we ought not only 
 to practise this duty ourselves, but also, by precept 
 and example, avoiding, however, all ostentation, 
 to encourage others to do the same. Hence, one ob- 
 ligation to the duty of social and public wor- 
 ship. But there are many others. One arises from 
 the nature and influence of sympathy, by which all 
 our good affections may be strengthened. To join 
 with others in devotion, tends to make us devout, and 
 should be done for that reason. Besides, public wor* 
 ship, by exhibiting a number of persons engaged, 
 notwithstanding their different conditions, in ad- 
 dressing the great Father of all, and imploring his 
 mercy and protection, must have a powerful tenden- 
 cy to cherish in us social virtue, as well as piety. The 
 inequalities of rank and fortune, which take place in 
 society, render it highly expedient, and even neces- 
 sary, that there should be such a memorial to enforce 
 upon the minds of men, that they are all originally 
 equal, all placed in the same state of trial, all liable 
 to the same wants and frailties, and all equally relat- 
 ed, as his accountable creatures, to the Supreme Go- 
 vernor of the universe. Hence let the mean learn 
 p 6 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 contentment, and the great, humility ; and hence let 
 all learn charity, meekness, and mutual forbearance. 
 By associating together, men are much improved, 
 both in temper and understanding. Where they live 
 separate, they are generally sullen and selfish, as well 
 as ignorant : where they meet frequently, they become 
 acquainted with one another's character and circum- 
 stances, and take an interest in them ; acquire more 
 extensive notions, and learn to correct their opinions, 
 and get the better of their prejudices. They become, 
 in short, more humane, more generous, and more in- 
 telligent. Were it not for that rest, which is appoint- 
 ed on the first day of the week, and the solemn meet- 
 ings which then take place, for the purposes of social 
 worship and religious instruction, the labours of the 
 common people, that is, of the greatest part of 
 mankind, would be insupportable; most of them 
 would live and die in utter ignorance ; and those, who 
 are remote from neighbours, would degenerate into 
 barbarians. Bad as the world is, there is reason to 
 think it would be a thousand times worse, if it were 
 not for this institution ; the wisdom and humani- 
 ty of which can never be sufficiently admired, and 
 which, if it were as strictly observed as it is posi- 
 tively commanded, would operate with singular effi- 
 cacy in advancing public prosperity, as well as pri- 
 vate virtue. Beattie's Elements of Moral Science, 
 ii. 81, 
 
 BAPTISM. Baptism doth, in its own nature, sup- 
 pose the submission of the baptized person to the do- 
 minion and lordship of Christ, it being the public rite 
 of initiation into his kingdom, and the solemn ad- 
 mission into the number of his subjects ; so that, 
 whenever baptism hath been used, the lordship or do- 
 minion of Christ hath been then either implied or ex- 
 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 325 
 
 pressly asserted and owned. From whence it follows, 
 that this article in the Creed, whereby Jesus Christ is 
 professed to be Lord, is coeval with Christianity, and 
 hath been always either expressed or implied in bap- 
 tism. Chancellor Sir Peter King on the Creed. 
 
 THE LOKD'S SUPPER. To sum up what we have 
 said on this subject, we see that, in the first place, 
 the holy communion displays a ceremony highly in 
 teresting, and that it inculcates morality, because it 
 requires a pure heart in those who partake of it ; that, 
 in the next place, it is an offering of the produce of 
 the earth to the Creator ; that it commemorates the 
 sublime and affecting history of the Son of Man ; and 
 that, being combined with the recollection of the pass- 
 over, and of the first covenant, it is lost in the obscu- 
 rity of the early ages ; that it is connected with the 
 primitive ideas on the nature of religious and politi- 
 cal man, and denotes the original equality of the hu- 
 man race ; finally, that it comprises the mystical his- 
 tory of the family of Adam, his fall, his end, his res- 
 toration, and his reunion with God. We know not 
 what can be objected against a sacrament which leads 
 through such a circle of ideas, moral, historical, and 
 metaphysical, against a sacrament which begins with 
 youthful years and graces, and which concludes with 
 calling down to earth the divine blessing upon our 
 celebration of a spiritual feast of gratitude and uni- 
 versal love. Chateaubriand's Beauties of Christian** 
 ty, i. 51. 
 
326 THE SABBATH. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 THE SABBATH. 
 
 BESIDES the notorious indecency and scandal of 
 permitting any business to be publicly transacted on 
 that day, (the Lord's day,) in a country professing 
 Christianity, and the corruption of morals which usu- 
 ally follows its profanation, the keeping one day in 
 seven holy, as a time of relaxation and refreshment, 
 as well as for public worship, is of admirable service 
 to a state, considered merely as a civil institution. 
 It humanizes, by the help of conversation and society, 
 the manners of the lower classes; which would other- 
 wise degenerate into a sordid ferocity, and savage self- 
 ishness of spirit. It enables the industrious \vorkman to 
 pursue his occupation, in the ensuing week, with 
 health and cheerfulness. It imprints on the minds of 
 the people that sense of their duty to God, so neces- 
 sary to make them good citizens ; but w r hich yet would 
 be worn out and defaced by an unremitted continu- 
 ance of labour, without any stated times of recalling 
 them to the worship of their Maker. Black&tones 
 Commentaries ', iv. 63. 
 
 We may conclude, from these observations, that, 
 so far from finding fault with religion for appointing 
 a day of rest, devoted every week to public worship, 
 we ought to acknowledge, with pleasure, that such 
 an institution is a benevolent act, extended to the most 
 numerous class of the inhabitants of the earth, the 
 most deserving our consideration and protection; 
 from which we require so much, and return so little. 
 
THE SABBATH. 327 
 
 towards that unfortunate class, whose youth and ma- 
 turity the rich profit by, and abandon them when the 
 hour is come, when they have no more strength left, 
 but to enable them to pray and weep. Necker's Reli- 
 gious Opinions, p. 205. 
 
 This lessens not the force of our obligation to keep 
 this day in a proper manner ; that is, to abstain from 
 labour, and all worldly cares and occupations, and to 
 employ it in acts of devotion, charity, and hospitality ; 
 for which we have the example of Christ and his 
 apostles, and of every Christian church from their 
 times to the present day. The excellence, likewise, 
 of the institution itself cannot fail to recommend it ; 
 for certainly there never was any other so well calcu- 
 lated to promote the interests of piety and virtue, to 
 call off the worldly-minded from the perpetual toils 
 of ambition and avarice, and to give leisure to those, 
 who are better disposed, to improve and cultivate those 
 better dispositions ; to afford relief to the poor from 
 incessant labour, and to the rich from continual dissi- 
 pation ; and to produce some sense of religion in the 
 vulgar, and some appearance of it in the great. 
 Soame Jenyns' Works, iv. 177. 
 
 The sacred intention of the Sabbath so positive a 
 command, from the beginning, prior to any revela- 
 tion to Abraham, and prior to the law given to Mo- 
 ses, has every argument, from sound reason and phi- 
 losophy, besides the positive divine injunction, to re- 
 commend it to our admiration, as well as to lead us to 
 an obedience to it. 
 
 It has been admirably remarked by one, who well 
 understood the world*, and had narrowly observed 
 the latent and extensive operation of those springs 
 and causes which influence human manners, " that, 
 
 * Addison. 
 
328 THE SABBATH. 
 
 if to keep holy the seventh day were only a human in- 
 stitution, it would have been the best method that 
 could have been thought of for the polishing and ci- 
 vilizing of mankind." 
 
 To the serious and truly considerate, it cannot but 
 be further most obvious, how exceedingly advantage- 
 ous the constant habit of appropriating a regular stat- 
 ed portion of time for deep religious consideration 
 and meditation must be ; and whoever tries the ex- 
 periment of making the seventh day that, which ever 
 was the best part of the observance of it, a regular 
 allotment of some hours to reflection, meditation, and 
 humble prayer, and to the reading of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, will indeed find reason, from the inmost con- 
 victions of his heart and mind, to rejoice, and to thank 
 God that such a beneficial institution was ever ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 And instead of wishing the Sabbath gone, (as mis- 
 taken men among the Jews did,) and instead of deem- 
 ing the observance of it a wearisome labour, (which 
 it becomes only, as the reward of dull, unmeaning 
 formality,) will indeed find the Sabbath a delight; 
 and will find the most gratifying and pleasant enlarge- 
 ment of apprehension, and a vast increase of new and 
 solacing ideas the reward of such honest perseverance; 
 \\ hilst he will learn, with holy fear and gratitude, to 
 apprehend the real presence of THAT GREAT, AND TRE- 
 MENDOUS, AND GRACIOUS BEING, from whom indeed we 
 can never be separated, (though he be a God that hid- 
 tlh himself,) and to whom we may ever have access 
 through the reconciling mediation of him who hath 
 delivered us from the power of evil. Edward King's 
 Morsels of Criticism, iii. 176. 
 
 I have, by long and sound experience, found, that 
 the due observance of this day, and of the duties of 
 it, have been of singular comfort and advantage to, 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 329 
 
 me; I doubt not it will prove so to you. God Al- 
 mighty is the Lord of our time, and lends it to us ; 
 and, as it is but just we should consecrate this part of 
 that time to him ; so I have found, by a strict and dili- 
 gent observation, that a due observation of the duty 
 of this day hath ever had joined to it a blessing upon 
 the rest of my time ; and the week, that hath been 
 so begun, hath been blessed and prosperous to me; 
 and, on the other side, when I have been negligent of 
 the duties of this day, the rest of the week hath 
 been unsuccessful and unhappy to my own secular 
 employments; so that I could easily make an esti- 
 mate of my successes in my own secular employments 
 the week following, by the manner of my passing of 
 this day : and this I do not write lightly or inconsi- 
 derately, but upon a long and sound observation and 
 experience. Sir Matthew Hales Letter to his Chil- 
 dren. Contemplations, i. 425. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 DUTY OF ASCERTAINING THE TRUTH. " It is im- 
 pious," said they (certain latitudinarians in religion) 
 " to endeavour to reduce all men to uniformity of opi- 
 nion upon this subject. Men's minds are as various as 
 their faces, God has made them so ; and it is to be pre- 
 sumed that he is pleased to be addressed in different 
 languages, by different names, and with the consent- 
 ing ardour of disagreeing sects." Thus did these reas- 
 
330 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 oners confound the majesty of truth with the deformi- 
 ty of falsehood ; and suppose that that Being, who was 
 all truth, took delight in the errors, the absurdities, and 
 the vices (for all falsehood in some way or other en- 
 genders vice) of his creatures. At the same time, they 
 were employed in unnerving that activity of mind, 
 which is the single source of human improvement. 
 If truth and falsehood be in reality upon a level, I shall 
 be very weakly employed in a strenuous endeavour, 
 either to discover truth for myself, or to impress it 
 upon others*. Godwin's Political Justice, i. 181. 
 
 DUTY OF DISSEMINATING TRUTH. I am bound to 
 disseminate, without reserve, all the principles, with 
 which I am acquainted, and which it may be of im- 
 portance to mankind to know ; and this duty it be- 
 hoves me to practise upon every occasion, and with 
 the most persevering constancy. I must disclose the 
 whole system of moral and political truth, without 
 suppressing any part, under the idea of its being too 
 bold and paradoxical ; and thus depriving the whole 
 of that complete and irresistible evidence, without 
 which its effects must always be feeble, partial, un- 
 certain f. Godwin's Political Justice, i. 197. 
 
 DUTY OF ENLIGHTENING OUR OWN CONSCIENCE. 
 Nothing is more common, than for individuals and 
 societies of men to allege, that they have acted to the 
 
 * It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader, how applicable 
 is the reasoning in this passage to the Christian duty, so often 
 held up to ridicule, of keeping pure, and conveying pure, the great 
 principles of the faith. 
 
 t This obligation, which reason teaches, to diffuse the know- 
 ledge which reason discovers, must hold a fortiori in the case of eve- 
 ry man, who believes in revealed truth, which must be so much more 
 worthy of dissemination, and so much more important to mankind. 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 331 
 
 best of their judgment, that they have done their 
 duty, and therefore, that their conduct, even should it 
 prove to be mistaken, is nevertheless virtuous. This 
 appears to be an error. An action, though done with 
 the best intention in the world, may have nothing in 
 it of the nature of virtue. In reality the most essen- 
 tial part of virtue consists in the incessantly seeking 
 to inform ourselves more accurately upon the subject 
 of utility and right *. Whoever is greatly misin- 
 formed respecting them, is indebted for his error to a 
 defect in his philanthropy and zeal. Secondly, since 
 absolute virtue may be out of the power of a human 
 being ; it becomes us, in the mean time, to lay the 
 greatest stress upon a virtuous disposition, which is 
 not attended with the same ambiguity. A virtuous 
 disposition is of the utmost consequence, since it will, 
 in the majority of instances, be productive of virtu- 
 ous actions ; since it tends, in exact proportion to the 
 quantity of virtue, to increase our discernment, and 
 improve our understanding; and since, if it were 
 universally propagated, it would immediately lead to 
 the great end of virtuous actions, the purest and most 
 exquisite happiness of intelligent beings. But a vir- 
 tuous disposition is principally generated by the un- 
 controlled exercise of private judgment, and the right 
 conformity of every man to the dictates of his con- 
 science. Godwins Political Justice, i. 102. 
 
 ACTIVE DUTY THE BEST MEAN OF FORMING 
 VIRTUOUS HABITS. If the foregoing observations be 
 well founded, it will follow, that habits of virtue are 
 not to be formed in retirement, but by mingling in 
 
 * The reasoning, it is obvious, equally applies to whatever ob- 
 ject may be considered as the foundation of virtue, such as obedi- 
 ence to the will of God. 
 
332 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 the scenes of active life, and that an habitual atten- 
 tion to exhibitions of fictitious distress, is not merely 
 useless to the character, but positively hurtful. 
 
 It will not, I think, be disputed, that the frequent 
 perusal of pathetic compositions diminishes the un- 
 easiness which they are naturally fitted to excite. A 
 person who indulges habitually in such studies, may 
 feel a growing desire of his usual gratification, but 
 he is every day less and less affected by the scenes, 
 which are presented to him. I believe it would be 
 difficult to find an actor long hackneyed on the stage, 
 who is capable of being completely interested by the 
 distresses of a tragedy. The effect of such composi- 
 tions and representations, in rendering the mind cal- 
 lous to actual distress, is still greater ; for, as the ima- 
 gination of the poet almost always carries him be- 
 yond truth and nature, a familiarity with the tragic 
 scenes which he exhibits, can hardly fail to deaden 
 the impression produced by the comparatively trif- 
 ling sufferings, which the ordinary course of human 
 affairs presents to us. In real life, a provision is 
 made for this gradual decay of sensibility, by the 
 proportional decay of other passive impressions, 
 which have an opposite tendency, and by the addi- 
 tional force which our active habits are daily acquir- 
 ing. Exhibitions of fictitious distress, while they 
 produce the former change on the character, have no 
 influence in producing the latter: on the contrary, they 
 tend to strengthen those passive impressions which 
 counteract beneficence. The scenes, into which the 
 novelist introduces us, are, in general, perfectly unlike 
 those which occur in the world. As his object is to 
 please, he removes from his descriptions every circum- 
 stance which is disgusting, and presents us with the 
 histories of elegant and dignified distress. It is not 
 such scenes that human life exhibits. We have to 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 333 
 
 act, not with refined and elevated characters, but with 
 the mean, the illiterate, the vulgar, and the profligate. 
 The perusal of fictitious history, has a tendency to 
 increase that disgust, which we naturally feel at the 
 concomitants of distress, and to cultivate a false re- 
 finement of taste, inconsistent with our condition as 
 members of society. Nay, it is possible for this re- 
 finement to be carried so far, as to withdraw a man 
 from the duties of life, and even from the sight of 
 those distresses which he might alleviate. And, ac- 
 cordingly, many are to be found, who, if the situa- 
 tions of romance were realized, would not fail to dis- 
 play the virtues of their favourite characters, whose 
 sense of duty is not sufficiently strong to engage 
 them in the humble and private scenes of human mi- 
 sery. 
 
 To these effects of fictitious history we may add, 
 that it gives no exercise to our active habits. In 
 real life, we proceed from the passive impression to 
 those exertions, which it was intended to produce. 
 In the contemplation of imaginary sufferings, we 
 stop short at the impression, and whatever benevo- 
 lent dispositions we may feel, we have no opportuni- 
 ty of carrying them into action. 
 
 From these reasonings, it appears, that an habitual 
 attention to exhibitions of fictitious distress, is in eve- 
 ry view calculated to check our moral improvement. 
 It diminishes that uneasiness, which we feel at the 
 sight of distress, and which prompts us to relieve it. 
 It strengthens that disgust, which the loathsome con- 
 comitants of distress excite in the mind, and which 
 prompts us to avoid the sight of misery ; while, at 
 the same time, it has no tendency to confirm those 
 habits of active beneficence, without which, the best 
 dispositions are useless. Stewart's Elements of the 
 Philosophy of the Human Mind, i. 517. 
 
334 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 DUTY OP ACTIVE GOODNESS. All virtue consists 
 in effort effort to avoid evil and to obtain good : but 
 how many are there, who pass speciously through the 
 world, without having made any considerable moral 
 effort in their lives ? An easy situation, a happy con- 
 stitution of body and mind, tranquil times, indulgent 
 friends, free many from the necessity of exciting any of 
 the energies of the soul, either in acting or suffering. 
 Such persons may perhaps merit no particular cen- 
 sure; " explent numerum," they fill up the number, 
 of which society is composed ; but let not the mere 
 negation of what would be scandalous or punish- 
 able the practice of the common decencies of life, 
 be exalted into virtue ! The criterion of virtue, 
 which it is most important for mankind to establish, 
 is the good a man does ; not the absolute quantity, 
 but the proportion relative to the means he possesses ; 
 and not the indolent and involuntary, but the active 
 and intentional good. A rich man cannot spend his 
 fortune in personal gratifications, without imparting 
 much benefit to the neighbouring poor; but that 
 may be no part of his purpose ; or, if it has occasion- 
 ally given a particular direction to his plans, the ex- 
 ertion is too trifling to deserve applause. But if, fore- 
 going the natural love of ease and enjoyment, he 
 makes use of the advantages of his situation to carry 
 on some great design of public utility, he may claim 
 the praise of substantial goodness, and in so much a 
 higher degree as the sacrifices he makes are greater. 
 Let the measure then be the good done, combined 
 with the effort made in doing it.Aikin's Letters to 
 his Son, ii. 33. 43. 
 
 DUTY OP READING THE SCRIPTURES. To what I 
 have said, I shall add, that, notwithstanding the dis- 
 couragements, the difficulties, some obscure texts of 
 
 1 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY 335 
 
 Scripture may offer, we ought daily to read some por- 
 tion of Scripture, though (as Naaman dipped himself 
 six times in Jordan without being cured ) we should 
 not find an immediate benefit. For in diseases, 
 though we cannot relish it, convenient nourishment 
 must be taken, And as the Eunuch, (Acts vi. 30,) 
 we ought to read, though we understand not some 
 texts of Scripture, and fix them upon our memories, 
 till our understanding can attain to the knowledge of 
 them. The word of God is a seed, by which we are 
 born again ; and though a seed may seem dead and 
 buried under ground, yet it will soon spring up unto 
 a plentiful harvest. But we ought not only to re- 
 member several texts of Scripture ; but to have them 
 in readiness ; and, as David took the sword of Go- 
 liath from near the ephod to defend himself from his 
 enemies, so Christians ought to be armed with spiri- 
 tual weapons, and wear the sword of the spirit, and 
 to have it in readiness on all occasions without the help 
 of a concordance. " The word of Christ/' (Coloss. 
 iii. 16.) must not be slightly entertained in our 
 .minds, but must " dwell there richly ;" and the 
 word, which is " able to save our souls," must be 
 " engrafted/' (James i. 21.) And we are so indis- 
 posed to admit, and apt to deface religious impres- 
 sions, that we ought to converse constantly with what 
 may tend to make us lead the whole course of our 
 lives piously. Honourable Robert Boyle's Tkeologi* 
 cal Works. 
 
 DUTY OF FOLLOWING THE DIVINE DECLARA- 
 TIONS. Christians, therefore, who humbly receive 
 these, and the many other revelations of Christ's di- 
 vinity, have the less difficulty in acknowledging the 
 doctrines of the ancient catholic churches, and the de- 
 clarations of our creeds. But let all other men, like- 
 
336 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 wise, who profess to believe in the name of Christ, 
 earnestly inquire in the first place, as thejirst means 
 of progress to the true faith, whether they are really 
 " willing" (for this is given as the true proof of faith, 
 iav rt$ ^x>j) to conform themselves to the will of God, 
 as revealed in all the most obvious declarations and 
 injunctions of holy Scripture, and more particularly 
 to the purity which is expressly called the te will of 
 God," namely the sanctification of their bodies," 
 which cannot otherwise be capable of becoming 
 e ' temples of the Holy Ghost ;" an indispensable state 
 both of body and mind for all Christians to maintain ; 
 for, in that case, they may assuredly rely on God's 
 absolute promise through Christ, that if " any one 
 " shall be willing to do his will, he shall know of the 
 doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak," 
 said our Lord, " of myself." Granville Sharp on the 
 Greek Article. 
 
 REGARD TO THE WILL OF GOD. A virtuous na- 
 ture impels the agent to a compliance with the com- 
 mands of God, and then the understanding suggests 
 to him the secondary motive of compliance, from the 
 precept of the Supreme Being ; this is what I mean 
 by a primary and a secondary motive. If the primary 
 motive to good is the pure effect of nature in any per- 
 son, it is the immediate work of God : if it proceeds 
 from the cultivation of it by the free agent to whom 
 it belongs, that action alone must draw the approba- 
 tion of the Creator ; if it proceed from the influence 
 of regeneration, it thereby acquires the character of 
 the highest human perfection. These primitive cau- 
 ses, as I may call them, of this primary motive, are hid 
 from the eyes of man ; but the good effect resulting 
 from them is palpable to every one. This primary 
 motive is what I call the most approved of God ; and, 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 337 
 
 morally speaking, the most meritorious in man. To 
 this the secondary motive is perfectly analogous ; it 
 concurs with it with all its force, like two mechani- 
 cal powers which act in the same direction; whereas, if 
 the primary motive proceeds from a vicious disposi- 
 tion, it must be checked by the secondary, and con- 
 sequently the force of action must be weaker. 
 
 What other idea have we of a saint upon earth, 
 than of a person, who, for every benefit he receives, 
 and in the instant of his good fortune, even before he 
 can have time to taste of it, throws himself with rap- 
 tures upon his knees to express his acknowledgments 
 to God ; who flies to him for assistance in danger or 
 distress, before he can think of applying his natural 
 force to work his deliverance ; who feels an inward 
 joy upon the approach of the seventh day, and an in- 
 expressible delight in the prospect of giving himself 
 wholly up to the contemplation of his God, without 
 implying any avocation from the other duties of his 
 creation ; who honours and obeys, with tenderness 
 and inborn affection, the natural authors of his exist- 
 ence ; who loves, like his brother, every individual of 
 his own species without affectation ; who rejoices in 
 acts of benevolence, and who shudders at every act of 
 oppression or injustice ; who shares in the pleasures 
 of him who possesses a beautiful wife, from the con- 
 templation of his happiness, not from a prospect of 
 defiling the marriage bed : who, in a word, is natural- 
 ly led to every exercise of mutual virtue, from the di- 
 rect impulse of a refined nature. 
 
 I have said above, that upon every occasion, where 
 the will of God is manifested, in such a manner as 
 not to convey the reason of the institution, there our 
 reason also demands our obedience, from the plain 
 analogy that every such command must bear to the 
 spirit of his government. The same thing is true of 
 * 
 
S38 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 other precepts of belief, where the knowledge of the 
 subject is incompatible with the extent of our reason, 
 able faculties. It is sufficient to know, that the arti- 
 cle of faith, as it is called, comes from God. It is ab- 
 surd to inquire into such matters ; and equally absurd 
 to enter into disputes and explanations concerning 
 things, which are conveyed by words, the inadequate 
 archetypes of the most imperfect ideas. Wherever 
 God has spoken, there is truth ; reason alone must de- 
 cide whether he has spoken or not. Sir James Steu- 
 art's Works, vi. 83. 
 
 I cannot fancy to myself what the law of nature 
 means, but the law of God. How should I know I 
 ought not to steal, I ought not to commit adultery, 
 unless somebody had told me so ? Surely 'tis because 
 I have been told so. 'Tis not because I think I ought 
 not to do them, nor because you think I ought not ; 
 if so, our minds might change ; whence, then, comes 
 the restraint ? From a higher power. Nothing else can 
 bind : I cannot bind myself, for I may untie myself 
 again ; nor an equal cannot bind me, for we may un- 
 tie one another; it must be a superior power, even 
 God Almighty. Selden's Table Talk, No. 92. 
 
 Now, for the world, I know it too well to persuade 
 thee to dive into the practices thereof; rather stand 
 upon thine own guard, against all that tempt thee there- 
 unto, or may practise upon thee in thy conscience, thy 
 reputation, or thy purse ; resolve that no man is wise 
 or safe, but he that is honest. Serve God ; let him be 
 the author of all thy actions. Commend all thy en- 
 deavours to him, that must either wither or prosper 
 them. Please him with prayer, lest, if he frown, he 
 confound all thy fortunes and labours, like the drops 
 of rain on the sandy ground. Let my experienced 
 advice, and fatherly instructions sink deep into thine 
 heart. So God direct thee in all his ways, and fill 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 thy heart with his grace. Sir Walter 
 to his Son. 
 
 PERFECT OBEDIENCE DUE TO GOD'S LAW. 
 such a law as the purity of God's nature require 
 and must be the law of such a creature as man, unless 
 God v/ould have made him a rational creature, and 
 not required him to have lived by the law of reason ; 
 but would have countenanced in him irregularity and 
 disobedience to that light which he had, and that 
 rule which was suitable to his nature ; which would 
 have been to have authorized disorder, confusion, and 
 wickedness in his creatures : for that this law was the 
 law of reason, or, as it is called, of nature, we shall 
 see by and by : and if rational creatures will not live 
 up to the rule of their reason, who shall excuse them? 
 If you will admit them to forsake reason in one point, 
 why not in another ? Where will you stop ? To dis- 
 obey God in any part of his commands, (and 'tis he 
 that commands what reason does) is direct rebellion ; 
 which, if dispensed with in any point, government 
 and order are at an end ; and there can be no bounds 
 set to the lawless exorbitancy of unconfined man. The 
 law therefore wav as St. Paul tells us, Rom. vii. 12, 
 " holy, just, and good," and such as it ought, and 
 could not otherwise be. Locke on the Reasonableness 
 of Christianity ; Works, vi. 11. 
 
 EXTENT AND MOTIVES OP CHRISTIAN PRACTICE. 
 It is the grand essential practical characteristic of 
 true Christians, that, relying on the promises made to 
 repenting sinners, of acceptance through the Redeem- 
 er, they have renounced and abjured all other mast- 
 ers, and have cordially and unreservedly devoted 
 themselves to God. This is indeed the very figure, 
 which baptism daily represents to us : like the father 
 of Hannibal, we there bring our infant to the altar, 
 
840 PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 we consecrate him to the service of his proper owner, 
 and vow, in his name, eternal hostilities against all the 
 enemies of his salvation. After the same manner, 
 Christians are become the sworn enemies of sin ; they 
 will henceforth hold no parley with it, they will al- 
 low it in no shape ; they will admit it to no compo- 
 sition ; the war, which they have denounced against it, 
 is cordial, universal, irreconcilable. 
 
 But this is not all. It is now their determined pur- 
 pose to yield themselves, without reserve, to the rea- 
 sonable service of their rightful Sovereign. " They 
 are not their own ;" their bodily and mental faculties, 
 their natural and acquired endowments, their sub- 
 stance, their authority, their time, their influence ; 
 all these they consider as belonging to them, not for 
 their own gratification, but as so many instruments 
 to be consecrated to the honour, and employed in the 
 service of God. This must be the master principle, 
 to which every other must be subordinate. Whatever 
 may have been hitherto their ruling passion ; what 
 ever, hitherto, their leading pursuit, whether sensual 
 or intellectual, of science, of taste, of fancy, or of feel- 
 ing, it must now possess but a secondary place ; or 
 rather, (to speak more correctly,) U; must exist only 
 at the pleasure, and be put altogether under the con- 
 trol and direction, of its true and legitimate Superior, 
 
 Thus it is the prerogative of Christianity to bring 
 into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 
 They, who really feel its power, are resolved, in the 
 language of Scripture, " to live no longer to them- 
 selves, but to him that died for them." They know, 
 indeed, their own infirmities ; they know that the 
 way, on which they have entered, is strait and dif- 
 ficult; but they know, too, the encouraging assurance, 
 " they who wait on the Lord, shall renew their 
 strength;" and, relying on this animating declara- 
 tion, they deliberately purpose, that, so far as they 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DITTY. 
 
 may be able, the grand governing maxim of their fu- 
 ture lives shall be, to do all to the glory of God. 
 
 But, while the servants of Christ continue in this 
 life, glorious as is the issue of their labours, they re- 
 ceive but too many humiliating memorials of their re- 
 maining imperfections, and they daily find reason to 
 confess, that they cannot do the things that they would. 
 Their determination, however, is still unshaken ; and 
 it is the fixed desire of their hearts to improve in all 
 holiness ; and this, let it be observed, on many ac- 
 counts. Various passions concur to push them for- 
 ward ; they are urged on, by the dread of failure, 
 in this arduous but necessary work ; they trust not, 
 where their all is at stake, to lively emotions or to in- 
 ternal impressions, however warm; the example of 
 Christ is their pattern, the word of God is their rule ; 
 there they read that " without holiness no man shall 
 see the Lord." It is the description of real Christ- 
 ians, that they are gradually " changed into the im- 
 age" of their divine Master ; and they dare not allow 
 themselves to believe their title sure, except so far as 
 they can discern in themselves the growing traces of 
 this blessed resemblance. 
 
 It is not merely, however, the fear of misery, and 
 the desire of happiness, by which they are actuated in 
 their endeavours to excel in all holiness ; they love it 
 for its own sake : nor is it solely by the sense of self- 
 interest (this, though often unreasonably condemned, 
 is but, it must be confessed, a principle of an inferior 
 order) that they are influenced in their determination 
 to obey the will and to cultivate the favour of God. 
 This determination has its foundations, indeed, in a 
 deep and humiliating sense of his exalted majesty 
 and infinite power, and of their own extreme inferi- 
 ority and littleness, attended with a settled convic- 
 tion of its being their duty, as his creatures, to sub- 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 
 
 rait, in all things, to the will of their great Creator. 
 But these awful impressions are relieved and enno- 
 bled by an admiring sense of the infinite perfections 
 and infinite amiableness of the divine character ; ani- 
 mated by a confiding ' though humble hope of his 
 fatherly kindness and protection, and quickened by 
 the grateful recollection of immense and continually 
 increasing obligations. This is the Christian love of 
 God ! A love compounded of admiration, of prefe- 
 rence, of hope, of trust, of joy; chastised by reveren- 
 tial awe, and wakeful with continual gratitude. 
 
 I would here express myself with caution, lest I 
 should inadvertently wound the heart of some weak, 
 but sincere believer. The elementary principles, which 
 have been above enumerated, may exist in various 
 degrees and proportions. A difference in natural dispo- 
 sition, in the circumstances of the past life, and in num- 
 berless other particulars, may occasion a great differ- 
 ence in the predominant tempers of different Christ- 
 ians. In one, the love, in another, the fear of God, 
 may have the ascendancy ; trust in one, and in ano- 
 ther, gratitude ; but, in greater or less degrees, a cor- 
 dial complacency in the sovereignty, an exalted sense 
 of the perfections, a grateful impression of the good- 
 ness, and a humble hope of the favour of the divine 
 Being, are common to them all. Common the determi- 
 nation to devote themselves, without exceptions, to the 
 service and glory of God. Common the desire of ho- 
 liness, and of continual progress toAvards perfection. 
 Common an abasing consciousness of their own un- 
 worthiness, and of their many remaining infirmities, 
 which interpose so often to corrupt the simplici- 
 ty of their intentions, to thwart the execution of 
 their purer purposes, and frustrate the resolutions of 
 their better hours. Wilberf ores' s Practical View, &c. 
 chap. iv. 1. 
 
PRINCIPLES OF DUTY. 343 
 
 EPITOME OF CHRISTIAN DUTY. " As then we 
 have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so let us walk 
 in him ; rooted and built up in him, and established 
 in the faith." The unreserved surrender of the whole 
 heart to God will bring with it whatever is really ne- 
 cessary for safety, or for happiness. In his hands are 
 all the events of all creation ; and by him they are 
 ordained, disposed, employed, to produce the ulti- 
 mate and inconceivable felicity of his faithful servants. 
 Our part is exceedingly plain and simple ; to pray, 
 to watch, to put our trust in him ; to study and to do 
 his will ; to live under the constant sense and protect- 
 ing shadow of his Providence ; to have a growing 
 love of his goodness, and a cheerful confidence in his 
 unfailing care and kindness ; to be the willing instru- 
 ments of his power, yielded up, in every faculty, to 
 his directing influence. Thus, our regards fixed on 
 our Redeemer, may we walk, with an even step, along 
 the rough and twilight paths of life ; neither dazzled 
 with the vanities, nor dismayed with the dangers, that 
 surround us : thus shall we be enabled to receive 
 and to survey the changeful events of this world with 
 an heavenly tranquillity ; sharing, indeed, its labours, 
 tasting its satisfactions, and sympathizing with every 
 sorrow, yet spiritual, cheerful, and serene. And thus, 
 after a few years of mingled joy and suffering, shall 
 we arrive at that land, where fear and conflict, where 
 doubt and disappointment, shall be no more ; " into 
 which no enemy enters, and from which no friend de- 
 parts." Bawdier s Remains, vol. ii. 
 
345 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. 
 
 TRADITIONARY AND HISTORICAL TESTIMONIES 
 TO THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 
 
 ALL MANKIND DESCENDED FROM ONE RACE 
 There is no proof that the existence of man is much 
 more recent in America, than in the other continent. 
 Within the tropics, the strength of vegetation, the 
 breadth of rivers, and partial inundations, have pre- 
 sented powerful obstacles to the migration of na- 
 tions. The extensive countries of the north of Asia 
 are as thinly peopled as the savannahs of New Mex- 
 ico and Paraguay ; nor is it necessary to suppose that 
 the countries first peopled are those, which offer the 
 greatest mass of inhabitants. The problem of the 
 first population of America, is no more the province 
 of history, than the question on the origin of plants 
 and animals, and on the distribution of organic germs, 
 are that of natural science. History, in carrying us 
 back to the earliest epochas, instructs us, that almost 
 every part of the globe is occupied by men who think 
 themselves aborigines, because they are ignorant of 
 their origin. Among a multitude of nations who have 
 
346 APPENDIX. 
 
 succeeded, or have been incorporated with each other, 
 it is impossible to discover, with precision, the 
 first basis of population, that primitive stratum, be- 
 yond which the region of cosmogonical tradition be- 
 gins. The nations of America, except those which 
 border on the polar circle, form a single race, charac- 
 terized by the formation of the skull, the colour 
 of the skin, the extreme thinness of the beard, and 
 straight and glossy hair. The American race bears a 
 very striking resemblance to that of the Mongol na- 
 tions, which include the descendants of the Hiong-nu, 
 known heretofore by the name of Huns, the Kalkas, 
 the Kalmucs, and the Burats. It has been ascertain- 
 ed, by late observations, that not only the inhabitants 
 of Unalashka, but several tribes of South America, indi- 
 cate, by the osteological characters of the head, a pass- 
 age from the American to the Mongul race. When 
 we shall have more completely studied the brown men 
 of Africa, and that swarm of nations, who inhabit the 
 interior and north-east of Asia, and who are vaguely 
 described, by systematic travellers, under the name 
 of Tartars and Tshoudes ; the Caucasian, Mongul, 
 American, Malay, and Negro races, will appear less 
 insulated, and we shall acknowledge, in this great fa- 
 mily of the human race, one single organic type, mo- 
 dified by circumstances which perhaps will ever re- 
 main unknown*. Httmboldt's Researches, &c. i. 11. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL STATE OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 We can hardly conceive by what gradation it would 
 be possible, from the cry of the savage, to arrive at 
 
 * It is obvious to remark, from the above citation, how the 
 progress of human knowledge has tended, on this and many other 
 points, to confirm those statements of Scripture, which partial dis- 
 coveries had seemed to contradict. 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 the perfection of the Greek language ; it would be 
 said, that, in the progress necessary to traverse such 
 an infinite distance, every step would cross an abyss ; 
 \ve see, in our days, that savages do not civilize them- 
 selves, and that it is from neighbouring nations that 
 they are taught, with great labour, what they them- 
 selves are ignorant of; one is much tempted, there- 
 fore, to think, that a primitive nation did establish 
 the human race ; and whence was that people form- 
 ed, if not from revelation ? All nations have, at all 
 times, expressed regret for the loss of a state of hap- 
 piness, which preceded the period in which they ex- 
 isted : whence arises this idea, so widely spread ? 
 Will it be said, it is an error ? Errors, that are uni- 
 versal, are always founded upon some truth, altered 
 and disfigured perhaps, but bottomed on facts con- 
 cealed in the night of ages, or some mysterious powers 
 of nature. 
 
 Those, who attribute the civilization of the human 
 race to the effects of physical wants uniting men with 
 one another, will have difficulty in explaining how it 
 happens, that the moral culture of the most ancient 
 nations is more poetical, more favourable to the fine 
 arts, in a word, more nobly ,'useless, in the relations of 
 materialism, than all the refinements of modern civi- 
 lization. The philosophy of the Indians is ideal, and 
 their religion mystical : certainly it is not the necess- 
 ity of maintaining order in society, which has given 
 birth to that philosophy, or to that religion. 
 
 The magnificent system, which considers civiliza- 
 tion as having for its origin a religious revelation, is 
 supported by an erudition, of which the partisans of 
 the materialist doctrines are seldom capable: to be 
 wholly devoted to study, is to be almost an idealist at 
 once. De Siael's Germany, iii. 123. 
 Q6 
 
348 ' APPENDIX. 
 
 LONGEVITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. Would it even 
 be absurd to suppose this quality of melioration in 
 the human species, as susceptible of an indefinite ad- 
 vancement; to suppose, that a period must one day 
 arrive, when death will be nothing more than the ef- 
 fect either of extraordinary accidents, or of the slow 
 and gradual decay of the vital powers ; and that the 
 duration of the middle space, of the interval between 
 the birth of man and this decay, will itself have no 
 assignable limit ? Certainly man will not become im- 
 mortal ; but may not the distance between the mo- 
 ment in which he draws his first breath, and the 
 common term when, in the course of nature, without 
 malady, without accident, he finds it impossible any 
 longer to exist, be necessarily protracted ? Thus, in 
 the instance we are considering, we are bound to be- 
 lieve, that the mean duration of human life will for 
 ever increase, unless its increase be prevented by phy- 
 sical revolutions of the system ; but we cannot tell 
 what is the bound, which the duration of human 
 life can never exceed ; we cannot even tell whether 
 there be any circumstance in the laws of nature, which 
 has determined and laid down its limit*. Condor- 
 dorceCs Historical View of the Progress rf the Human 
 Mind, p. 368. 
 
 - * The longevity of the Patriarchal times is thus acknowledged, 
 at least, not to be inconsistent with probability, or the laws of na- 
 ture ; and a philosopher, who disbelieves that longevity, with all 
 the historical evidence and other collateral testimonies to its truth, 
 as a fact which has been witnessed, contemplates its future reality, 
 to a still more unlimited extent, upon mere grounds of theoretical 
 conjecture. For, the increasing longevity of man is not, like that 
 of the antediluvian world, a fact confirmed by experience ; and its 
 most extraordinary instances are so anomalous as to point out no 
 systematic and uniform cause. 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 THE DELUGE. These traditions, (of the Mexicans,) 
 we here repeat, remind us of others of high and ve- 
 nerable antiquity. The sight of marine substances, 
 found even on the loftiest summits, might give men, 
 who have had no communication, the idea of great in- 
 undations, which for a certain time extinguished or- 
 ganic life on the earth, but ought we not to acknow- 
 ledge the traces of a common origin wherever cos- 
 mogonical ideas, and the first traditions of nations, of- 
 fer striking analogies, even in the minutest circum- 
 stances ? Does not the humming bird of Tezpi re- 
 mind us of Noah's dove, that of Deucalion, and the 
 birds, which, according to Berosus, Xisuthrus sent 
 out from his ark, to see whether the waters had run 
 off, and whether he might erect altars to the protect- 
 ing divinities of Chaldea ? Humboldt's Researches, 
 &c. i. 65. 
 
 ANCIENT HISTORY CONFORMABLE TO THE SACRED 
 RECORDS. In the first place, we cannot surely deem 
 it an inconsiderable advantage, that all our historical 
 researches have confirmed the Mosaic accounts of the 
 primitive world, and our testimony on that subject 
 ought to have the greater weight, because, if the 
 result of our observations had been totally different, 
 we should, nevertheless, have published them, not in- 
 deed with equal pleasure, but with equal confidence : 
 for truth is mighty, and, whatever be its consequences, 
 must always prevail : but, independently of our inte- 
 rest in corroborating the multiplied evidences of re- 
 vealed religion, we could scarcely gratify our minds 
 with a more useful and rational entertainment, than 
 the contemplation of those wonderful revolutions, in 
 kingdoms and states, which have happened within 
 little more than four thousand years ; revolutions al- 
 most as fully demonstrative of an all-ruling Provi- 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 dence, as the structure of the universe, and the final 
 causes, which are discernible in its whole extent, 
 and even in its remotest parts.-s-.Lord Teignmouth's 
 Life of Sir William Jones, p. 295. 
 
 II. 
 
 PHYSIOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL TESTIMONIES 
 TO THE MOSAIC ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION. 
 
 THUS ends this noble account of the creation ; which 
 surely may now be concluded to be perfectly consist- 
 ent, in every, the minutest parts, with the soundest 
 philosophical principles that have come to our know- 
 ledge, or that we ever can be made acquainted with. 
 If it has hitherto been thought erroneous, or irration- 
 al, by presumptuous men ; it has been so judged of, 
 not from any real defect in itself, or in the words used, 
 but merely in consequence of the ignorance, and mis- 
 interpretation, which have prevailed in the world. 
 The consideration whereof should teach us modesty 
 and reverence ; and to be more diffident as to any 
 misapprehensions we may still have remaining, con- 
 cerning other parts of the contents of God's most holy 
 word ; and to conceive that such parts, instead of be- 
 ing inconsistent with truth, or with our best philoso- 
 phical informations, may even lead us to further dis* 
 coveries, and to a greater elevation and enlargement 
 of the faculties of the human soul. Edward King's 
 Morsels of Criticism, i. 199. 
 
 Neither an attentive examination of the geological 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 constitution of America, nor reflections on the equili- 
 brium of the fluids, that are diffused over the surface 
 of the globe, lead us to admit, that the new continent 
 emerged from the waters at a later period than the old. 
 We discern in the former the same succession of stony 
 strata, that we find in our own hemisphere ; and 
 it is probable, that in the mountains of Peru, the gra- 
 nites, the micaceous schists, or the different forma- 
 tions of gypsum and gritstone, existed originally at the 
 same periods, as the rocks of the same denominations 
 in the Alps of Switzerland. The whole globe ap- 
 pears to have undergone the same catastrophes. At 
 a height superior to Mount Blanc on the summit of 
 the Andes, we find petrified sea-shells ; fossil bones 
 of elephants are spread over the equinoctial regions ; 
 and, what is very remarkable, they are not discover- 
 ed at the feet of the palm-trees in the burning plains 
 of the Orinoco, but on the coldest and most elevated 
 regions ,of the Cordilleras. Humboldt's Researches. 
 
 Although the Mosaic account of the creation of the 
 world is an inspired writing, and consequently rests 
 on evidence totally independent of human observation 
 and experience, still it is interesting, and in many re- 
 spects important, to know that it coincides with the 
 various phenomena observable in the mineral king- 
 dom. The structure of the earth, and the mode of 
 distribution of extraneous fossils or petrifactions, are 
 so many direct evidences of the truth of the scripture 
 account of the formation of the earth ; and they might 
 be used as proofs of its author having been inspired, 
 because the mineralogical facts discovered by modern 
 naturalists were unknown to the sacred historian. 
 Even the periods of time, the six days of the Mosaic 
 description, are not inconsistent with our theories of 
 the earth. There are, indeed, many physical consi- 
 derations which render it probable, that the motions 
 
352 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the earth may have been slower during the time of 
 its formation, than after it was formed ; and conse- 
 quently, that the day, or period between morning and 
 evening, may have then been indefinitely longer than 
 it is at present. If such a hypothesis is at all admis- 
 sible, it will go far in supporting the opinion, which 
 has long been maintained on this subject by many of 
 the ablest and most learned Scripture critics. The 
 deluge, one of the grandest natural events described 
 in the Bible, is equally confirmed with regard to its 
 extent, and the period of its occurrence, by a careful 
 study of the various phenomena observed on and near 
 the earth's surface. The age of the human race, also a 
 most important inquiry, is satisfactorily determined by 
 an appeal to natural appearances ; and the pretended 
 great antiquity of some nations, so much insisted on by 
 certain philosophers, is thereby shewn to be entirely 
 unfounded. Professor Jameson's Preface to Gutter's 
 Theory of the Earth, 
 
 The sands of the Lybian desert, driven by the 
 west winds, have left no lands capable of tillage 
 on any parts of the western banks of the Nile, 
 not sheltered by mountains. The encroachment of 
 these sands on soils, which were formerly inhabited 
 and cultivated, is evidently seen. M. Denon informs 
 us, in the account of his Travels in Lower and Up- 
 per Egypt, that summits of the ruins of ancient cities, 
 buried under these sands, still appear externally ; and 
 that, but for a ridge of mountains called the Lybian 
 chain, which borders the left bank of the Nile, and 
 forms, in the parts where it rises, a barrier against the 
 invasion of these sands, the shores of the river, on 
 that side, would long since have ceased to be habita- 
 ble. " Nothing can be more melancholy," says this 
 traveller, " than to walk over villages swallowed up 
 by the sand of the desert, to trample under foot their 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 roofs, to strike against the summits of their minarets, 
 to reflect, that yonder were cultivated fields, that there 
 grew trees, that here were even the dwellings of men, 
 and that all has vanished." 
 
 If, then, our continents were as ancient as has been 
 pretended, no traces of the habitation of man would 
 appear on any part of the western bank of the Nile, 
 which is exposed to this scourge of the sands of the 
 desert. The existence, therefore, of such monuments 
 attest the successive progress of the encroachments of 
 the sand ; and these parts of the bank, formerly inha- 
 bited, will for ever remain arid and waste. Thus the 
 great population of Egypt, announced by the vast 
 and numerous ruins of its cities, was in great part due 
 to a cause of fertility which no longer exists, and to 
 which sufficient attention has not been given. The 
 sands of the desert were formerly remote from Egypt ; 
 the Oases, or habitable spots, still appearing in the 
 midst of the sands, being the remains of the soils for- 
 merly extending the whole way to the Nile ; but these 
 sands, transported hither by the western winds, have 
 overwhelmed and buried this extensive tract, and 
 doomed to sterility a land which was once remarka- 
 ble for its fruitfulness. 
 
 It is therefore not solely to her revolutions and 
 changes of sovereigns, that Egypt owes the loss of 
 her ancient splendour ; it is also to her having been 
 thus irrecoverably deprived of a tract of land, by 
 which, before the sands of the desert had covered it, 
 and caused it to disappear, her wants had been abun- 
 dantly supplied. Now, if we fix our attention on 
 this fact, and reflect on the consequences which 
 would have attended it, if thousands, or only some 
 hundreds of centuries had elapsed since our conti- 
 nents first existed above the level of the sea, does it 
 not evidently appear, that all the country, on the west 
 of the Nile, would have been buried under this sand 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 before the erection of the cities of ancient Egypt, 
 how remote soever that period may be supposed ; and 
 that, in a country so long afflicted with sterility, no 
 idea would ever have been formed of constructing 
 such vast and numerous edifices ? When these cities, 
 indeed, were built, another cause concurred in favour- 
 ing their prosperity. The navigation of the Red 
 Sea, was not then attended with any danger on the 
 coasts : all its ports, now nearly blocked up with 
 reefs of coral, had a safe and easy access ; the vessels 
 laden with merchandize and provisions could enter 
 them and depart, without risk of being wrecked on 
 these shoals, which have risen since that time, and 
 are still increasing in extent. 
 
 The defects of the present government of Egypt, 
 and the discovery of the passage from Europe to In- 
 dia, round the Cape of Good Hope, are therefore not 
 the only causes of the present state of decline of this 
 country. If the sands of the desert had not invaded 
 the bordering lands on the west, if the work of the 
 sea polypi, in the Red Sea, had not rendered danger- 
 ous the access to its coasts and to its ports, and even 
 filled up some of the latter ; the population of Egypt 
 and the adjacent countries, together with their pro- 
 duct, would alone have sufficed to maintain them in 
 a state of prosperity and abundance. But now, 
 though the passage to India by the Cape of Good 
 Hope should cease to exist, though the political ad- 
 vantages which Egypt enjoyed during the brilliant 
 period of Thebes and Memphis, should be re-establish- 
 ed, she could never again attain the same degree of 
 splendour. 
 
 Thus the reefs of coral which had been raised 
 in the Red Sea, on the east of Egypt, and the sands 
 of the desert which invade it on the west, concur in 
 attesting this truth : That our continents are not of 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 a more remote antiquity, than has been assigned to 
 them by the sacred historian in the book of Genesis, 
 from the great era of the deluge.'' De Luc, cited in 
 the Appendix to Citvier's Theory of the Earth, by Pro* 
 fessor Jameson, p. 216. 
 
 Thus all the nations, which possess any records or 
 ancient traditions, uniformly declare, that they have 
 been recently renewed after a grand revolution of 
 nature. This concurrence of historical and tradition- 
 ary testimonies, respecting a comparatively recent re- 
 newal of the human race, and their agreement with 
 the proofs that are furnished by the operations of na- 
 ture, which have been already considered, might cer- 
 tainly warrant us in refraining from the examination 
 of certain equivocal monuments, which have been 
 brought forward by some authors in support of a con- 
 trary opinion. But even this examination, to judge 
 of it by some attempts already made, will probably 
 do nothing else, than add some more proofs to that 
 which is furnished by tradition. 
 
 I am of opinion, then, with M. Deluc and M. Do- 
 lomieu, That, if there is any circumstance thorough- 
 ly established in geology, it is, that the crust of our 
 globe has been subjected to a great and sudden revo- 
 lution, the epoch of which cannot be dated much far- 
 ther back than five or six thousand years ago ; that 
 this revolution had buried all the countries, which were 
 before inhabited by men, and by the other animals 
 that are now best known ; that the same revolution 
 had laid dry the bed of the last ocean, which now forms 
 all the countries at present inhabited ; that the small 
 number of individuals of men and other animals, that 
 escaped from the effects of that great revolution, have 
 since propagated and spread over the lands then new- 
 ly laid dry ; and consequently, that the human race 
 has only resumed a progressive state of improvement 
 
356 APPENDIX. 
 
 since that epoch, by forming established societies, 
 raising monuments, collecting natural facts, and con- 
 structing systems of science and of learning. C- 
 vier's Theory of the Earth, translated by Kerr. 
 
 The Hebrew, being the language of a nomadic peo- 
 ple who possessed few arts, and still less of science, can- 
 not be supposed to contain many abstract or general 
 terms, nor does it in point of fact : consequently, 
 when the Hebrew writers are in want of general ex- 
 pressions, they always adopt particular terms in a tro- 
 pical sense. And this is the way, in which general 
 expressions were originally formed in all languages. 
 The word period itself, in its first application to time, 
 signified a single circuit of the sun. Therefore, if 
 the author of the cosmogony had intended to describe 
 a succession of periods of indefinite length, he would 
 necessarily have proceeded in this manner, and would 
 have used some word which properly indicated a li- 
 mited duration in a tropical acceptation. The question 
 which remains is, what particular expressions the 
 Hebrews (and especially Moses himself) were in the 
 habit of applying in this indefinite way ; and the fact 
 is, that the word Cap indicating day, is the very one 
 of which they made choice. It is used indisputa- 
 bly in that sense, in chap. ii. 4. " These are the 
 " generations of the heaven and earth, when they 
 " were created, in the day that the Lord God made 
 " the earth and the heavens." It is therefore clear, that 
 the term day will bear the sense of an indefinite pe- 
 riod, according to the genius of the Hebrew language. 
 That it was actually intended to be so received in 
 this particular place, appears to me fully evident from 
 the context. Those, who do not admit the supernatural 
 intelligence of the author of the Genesis, will yet 
 allow him a great portion of natural sagacity, and 
 good sense, and will certainly acquit him of so pal- 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 pable an absurdity, as speaking of days in the literal 
 meaning of the word, before the creation of the sun. 
 If this interpretation be allowed, the following series 
 of facts is found to be detailed in the Genesis. 1 . That 
 the waters of the ocean for a long time covered the 
 whole earth. 2. That no organized being exist- 
 ed for a long time in this universal ocean. 3. That 
 the water had subsided before the creation of orga- 
 nized beings. 4. That an indefinite period followed, 
 during which the vegetable creation was formed. It 
 is to be remarked, that this part of the creation was 
 effected before the existence of fishes in the sea. 
 5. That, in the next .period, the sea produced loco- 
 ^motive animals. This is the precise meaning of the 
 Hebrew word used in this place, and it was so un- 
 derstood by the LXX. Zoophytes and testacea, are, of 
 course, excluded from this class, and, not being enu- 
 merated, must find their place in the era of the crea- 
 tion, which belongs to beings lower in the scale than 
 locomotive animals, viz. that appropriated to vege- 
 tables, to which, in fact, zoophytes especially have a 
 strong analogy. The creation of birds is referred to 
 the same epoch with that of aquatic locomotive ani- 
 mals. 6. The creation of quadrupeds follows. No 
 reason can be assigned for placing this event later in 
 the series, than the formation of aquatic animals ; and, 
 if the statement be confirmed by positive proof, the 
 correctness of the history is so much the more strik- 
 ing. 7. The creation of man was later, than all the 
 above mentioned events. 
 
 Let us now try how far these facts can be proved 
 by geological phenomena. 1. That the ocean cover- 
 ed the whole earth, cannot be questioned on any rea- 
 sonable ground, because many of the highest moun- 
 tains are stratified ; and strata are allowed by all to be 
 deposits, from a state of chemical solution, or niecha- 
 
558 APPEXDIX. 
 
 nical suspension in water. Besides, the rocks of 
 which they consist, often leave a crystalline composi- 
 tion ; and crystallization can only have been effected 
 in water. The Huttonians, indeed, pretend that fire 
 was the solvent, but then they find it necessary to 
 assert that the fusion was performed in some hot Tar- 
 tarus or Pyriphegethon beneath the weight of the 
 whole ocean. 2. That no organized being existed in 
 the universal ocean, is evident from the total want of 
 organic remains in the oldest class of rocks. 3. That 
 the water had subsided before the creation of orga- 
 nized beings, is evident from the primitive rocks 
 occupying the highest situations. Had it been other- 
 wise, they would be found to be enveloped every 
 where in a covering of flcetz rocks, er mountainous 
 tracts, equally as in valleys and plains. 4. That, in 
 the next period, organized beings of the simplest 
 kinds were created, is evident from the series of for- 
 mations, containing these remains, and those of no 
 other creatures. This series begins with the transi- 
 tion rocks, and includes the mountain limestones, and 
 the rocks belonging to the coal formation : in fact, all 
 those strata, which, in South Britain, are found in 
 an inclined position. In the coal formation, we find 
 impressions of vegetable bodies in great abundance, 
 and in the limestones, zoophytes and testacea. 
 5, That, in the next period, the sea produced locomo- 
 tive animals, is proved by our finding their remains in 
 the rocks which succeed them, viz. in the first hori- 
 zontal formations, which in England lie over the in- 
 clined. Thus the lyas limestone contains abundance 
 of the remains of fishes, and those large marine ani- 
 mals, which were erroneously supposed to be croco- 
 diles. The remains of birds are so perishable, that we 
 could not expect to find many of them ; but Blumen- 
 bach, and Faujas St. Fond mention some specimens 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 of them found in marie slates, together with nume- 
 rous impressions of fishes, which seem to prove that 
 they began to exist at this era. 6. The remains of 
 quadrupeds are found only in strata which are much 
 more recent than all those above mentioned. 7- That 
 man was created at a later era, than all the above 
 mentioned beings, is proved by a similar method. 
 The reason why no human bones are found even in 
 the newest rocks, is, probaby, that all the rock for- 
 mations were deposited before the creation of the hu- 
 man species. 
 
 I may observe, that modern discoveries in physio- 
 logy confirm this order of events. Animals only feed 
 on animal and vegetable matter, while vegetable bo- 
 dies, and probably zoophytes, derive nutriment from 
 mineral substances. It follows, that vegetables must 
 have existed long before the animal creation, in or- 
 der to prepare a store for the sustenance of the latter. 
 Physiology and geology were equally unknown, at 
 the time when the Genesis was written ; arid it is 
 certainly a most remarkable circumstance, that we 
 find a detail of facts set down there, which accords 
 so exactly with the results of recent discoveries. 
 
 But if this coincidence is surprising in itself, it 
 appears the more so, when we compare the cosmo- 
 gony of the Hebrews, with the notions on this sub- 
 ject, that prevailed among other nations of antiquity. 
 We find invariably, that all other speculations on this 
 subject, are founded on some fanciful analogy with 
 natural processes, that are daily observed. Thus the 
 Egyptians pretended, that the mud of rivers, acted 
 upon by the solar beams, had generated all animals, 
 including men ; as they assured Diodorus, that the 
 mud of the Nile continued to generate rats even in 
 his time. Many of the Greeks imagined, that the 
 world, and all things in it, grew from seeds ; and the 
 
360 APPENDIX. 
 
 celebrated story of the mundane egg, or the egg pro- 
 duced spontaneously in the womb of Erebus, was 
 another childish attempt to explain the origin of the 
 universe, by a loose and fanciful comparison with na- 
 tural processes. Just of the same character is that of 
 Virgil: 
 
 " Cum Pater omnipotens fscundis imbribus gather 
 " Conjugis in laetae gremium descendit, et omnes 
 " Magnus alit vasto diffusus corpore foetus." 
 
 Nothing of this kind can be found in the Mosaic 
 cosmogony : there is not the smallest attempt to ex- 
 plain the manner in which any thing was produced. 
 For the sense, attributed to " the Spirit of God mov- 
 tf ing on the face of the waters/' by Milton and some 
 modern paraphrasts, is altogether forced, and a pol- 
 lution of the simple and sublime sense of the text. 
 I will conclude by observing, that one single fact 
 seems to me of more importance, than all the other 
 inferences that can be collected from geology, and 
 that is, the proof it affords, that the animal creation 
 really had a beginning. All men naturally feel a 
 great difficulty in believing, that any miracle, that is, 
 any event contrary to the course of their experience, 
 and to the usual tenour of nature, has ever taken 
 place. In recognizing, however,, the proof that there 
 was a time when man had no existence, and that, at 
 some particular time, he began to exist, or was creat- 
 ed, we receive evidence of so great a miracle, that 
 all those related in the Old and New Testament, ap- 
 pear quite trifles in comparison with it ; and it being 
 once granted that so wonderful an event as the for- 
 mer ever took place, the latter must be admitted as 
 capable of satisfactory proof, due testimony being af- 
 forded in their favour. Now this great point has 
 
APPENDIX. 361 
 
 been, as I apprehend, incontestibly established by 
 geological researches./. C. Pritchard, M. D. P/7o- 
 sophical Magazine, xlvi. 286. 
 Bristol, Oct. 10, 1815. 
 
 III. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 
 
 IMPROPRIETY OF EXCLUDING VISITORS BY SAYING, 
 e > NOT AT HOME. "Let us first, according to the 
 well known axiom of morality, put ourselves in the 
 place of the person whom this answer excludes. It 
 seldom happens but that he is able, if he be in pos- 
 session of any discernment, to discover with toler- 
 able accuracy, whether the answer he receives be 
 true or false. But let us suppose only, that we vehe- 
 mently suspect the truth. It is not intended to keep 
 us in ignorance of the existence of such a practice. 
 He that adopts it, is willing to avow in general terms, 
 that such is his system, or he makes out a case for 
 himself, much less favourable than I was making out 
 for him. The visitor, then, who receives this answer, 
 feels, in spite of himself, a contempt for the prevari- 
 cation of the person he visits. I appeal to the feel* 
 ings of every man in the situation I have described,, 
 and I have no doubt that he will feel this to be their 
 true state in the first instance ; however he may have 
 a set of sophistical reasonings at hand, by which he 
 may in a few minutes reason down the first move- 
 ments of indignation. He feels, that the trouble he 
 R 
 
362 ' APPENDIX. 
 
 has taken, and the civility he intended, entitled him 
 at least to truth in return. 
 
 Having put ourselves in the place of the visitor, 
 let us next put ourselves in the place of the poor de- 
 spised servant. Let us suppose that we are ourselves 
 destined, as sons or husbands, to give this answer, that 
 our father or our wife is not at home, when he or she 
 is really in the house. Should we not feel our tongues 
 contaminated with the base plebeian lie ? Would it 
 be a sufficient opiate to our consciences to say, that 
 t( such is the practice, and it is well understood ?" It 
 never can be understood ; its very intention is not to 
 be understood. We say that " we have certain ar- 
 guments, that prove the practice to be innocent." Are 
 servants only competent to understand these argu- 
 ments ? Surely we ought best to be able to under- 
 stand our own arguments, and yet we shrink with 
 abhorrence from the idea of personally acting upon 
 them. Whatever sophistry we may have to excuse 
 our error, nothing is more certain, than that our ser- 
 vants understand the lesson, we teach them, to be a 
 lie. It is accompanied by all the retinue of falsehood. 
 Before it can be gracefully practised, the servant 
 must be no mean proficient in the mysteries of hypo- 
 crisy. By the easy impudence with which it is utter- 
 ed, he best answers the purpose of his master, or, in 
 other words, the purpose of deceit. By the easy im- 
 pudence with which it is uttered, he best stifles the 
 upbraidings of his own mind, and conceals from 
 others the shame imposed upon him by his despotic 
 taskmaster. Before this can be sufficiently done, he 
 must have discarded the ingenuous frankness, by 
 means of which the thoughts find easy commerce with 
 the tongue, and the clear and undisguised counte- 
 nance, which ought to be the faithful mirror of the 
 mind. Do you think, when he has learned this de 
 
APPENDIX 363 
 
 generate lesson in one instance, that it will produce 
 no unfavourable effects upon his general conduct ? 
 Surely, if we will practise vice, we ought at least to 
 have the magnanimity to practise it in person, not, 
 coward-like, corrupt the principles of another, and 
 oblige him to do that, which we have not the 
 honesty to dare to do for ourselves. But it is said, 
 that this lie is necessary, and that the intercourse 
 of human society cannot be carried on without 
 it. What ! is it not as easy to say " I am engaged/' 
 or " indisposed," or as the case may happen, as " I am 
 not at home ?'* Are these answers more insulting, 
 than the universally suspected answer, the notorious 
 hypocrisy, of " I am not at home ?" The purpose, 
 indeed, for which this answer is usually employed, is 
 a deceit of another kind. Every man has, in the ca- 
 talogue of his acquaintance, some that he particularly 
 loves, and others to whom he is indifferent, or per- 
 haps worse than indifferent. This answer leaves the 
 latter to suppose, if they please, that they are in the 
 class of the former. And what is the benefit to re- 
 sult from this indiscriminate, undistinguishing man- 
 ner of treating our neighbours. Whatever benefit it 
 be, it no doubt exists in considerable vigour in the 
 present state of polished society, where forms perpe- 
 tually intrude to cut off all intercourse between the 
 feelings of mankind ; and I can scarcely tell a man 
 on the one hand, that " I esteem his character, and 
 honour his virtues," or, on the other, that he is fallen 
 into an error, which will be of prejudicial conse- 
 quence to him, without trampling upon all the bar- 
 riers of politeness. But is all this right ? Is not 
 the esteem or the disapprobation of others among the 
 most powerful incentives to virtue, or punishments of 
 vice ? Can we ever understand virtue and vice, half 
 so well as we otherwise should, if we be unacquaint- 
 ed with the feelings of our neighbours respecting 
 R 2 
 
S6* APPENDIX. 
 
 them ? If there be in the list of our acquaintance 
 any person, whom we particularly dislike ; it usually 
 happens, that it is for some moral fault that we per- 
 ceive, or think we perceive, in him. Why should 
 he be kept in ignorance of our opinion respecting him, 
 and prevented from the opportunity either of amend- 
 ment or vindication ? If he be too wise or too fool* 
 ish, too virtuous, or too vicious for us, why should 
 he not be ingenuously told of his mistake, in his in- 
 tended kindness to us, rather than be suffered to find 
 it out by six months' inquiry from our servants. 
 
 This leads to yet one more argument in favour of 
 this disingenuous practice. We are told " there is no 
 other way by which we can rid ourselves of disagree- 
 able acquaintance." How long shall this be one of 
 the effects of polished society, to persuade us that we 
 are incapable of doing the most trivial offices for our- 
 selves ? You may as well tell me ({ that it is a mat- 
 ter of indispensable necessity to have a valet to put 
 on my stockings." In reality, the existence of these 
 troublesome visitors, is owing to the hypocrisy of po- 
 liteness. It is, that we wear the same indiscriminate 
 smile, the same appearance of cordiality and compla- 
 cence to all our acquaintance. Ought we to do this ? 
 Are virtue and excellence entitled to no distinc- 
 tions? For the trouble of these impertinent visits 
 we may thank ourselves. If we practised no deceit, 
 if we assumed no atom of cordiality and esteem we 
 did not feel, we should be little pestered with these 
 buzzing intruders. But one species of falsehood, in- 
 volves us in another ; and he, that pleads for these ly- 
 ing answers to our visitors, in reality pleads the cause 
 of a cowardice that dares not deny to vice the dis- 
 tinction and kindness, that are exclusively due to vir 
 .tue. 
 
 The man, who acted upon this system/ would be 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 Very far removed from a cynic. The conduct of 
 men, formed upon the fashionable system, is a perpe- 
 tual contradiction. At one moment, they fawn upon 
 us with a servility, that dishonours the dignity of man ; 
 and, at another, treat us with a neglect, a sarcastic in- 
 solence, and a supercilious disdain, that are felt as 
 the severest cruelty by him, who has not the firmness 
 to regard them with neglect. The conduct of the ge- 
 nuine moralist is equable and uniform. He loves all 
 mankind, he desires the benefit of all, and this love, 
 and this desire, are legible in his conduct. Does he 
 remind us of our faults ? It is with no mixture of 
 asperity, of selfish disdain, and insolent superiority ; 
 of consequence, it is scarcely possible he should 
 wound. Few, indeed, are those effeminate valetudi- 
 narians, who recoil from the advice, when they distin- 
 guish the motive. But were it otherwise, the injury 
 is nothing. Those who feel themselves incapable of 
 suffering the most benevolent plain dealing, would 
 derive least benefit from the prescription, and they 
 avoid the physician. Thus is he delivered, without 
 harshness, hypocrisy, and deceit, from those whose 
 intercourse he had least reason to desire ; and, the 
 more his character is understood, the more his ac- 
 quaintance will be select, his company being chiefly 
 sought by the ingenuous, the well-disposed, and those 
 who are desirous of improvement. Godwin's Politi- 
 cal Justice, i. 271. 
 
 PROFANE SWEARING. Swearing and irreverently 
 using the name of God in common discourse and 
 converse, is another abuse of the tongue ; to which 
 I might add vehement asseverations upon slight and 
 trivial occasions. I do not deny, but in a matter of 
 weight and moment, which will bear out such attes- 
 tation, and where belief will not be obtained with* 
 
 R3 
 
366 APPENDIX. 
 
 out them, and yet it may much import the hearer 
 or speaker that his words be believed, or where the 
 hearer would not otherwise think the matter so mo- 
 mentous or important as indeed it is, protestation s, 
 and asseverations, yea oaths, may lawfully be used ; 
 but to call God to witness to an untruth, or a lie 
 perhaps, or to appeal to him upon every trivial occa- 
 sion in common discourse, customarily, without any 
 consideration of what we say, is one of the highest 
 indignities and affronts that can be offered to him, 
 being a sin to which there is no temptation ; for it is 
 so far from gaining belief, (which is the only thing 
 that can with any shew of reason be pleaded for it, ) 
 that it rather creates diffidence and distrust ; for as 
 multa Jidem promissa levant, so, multd juramenta too ; 
 it being become a proverb " he that tvill swear t will 
 lie ; and good reason there is for it, for he that scru- 
 ples not the breach of one of God's commands, is not 
 likely to make conscience of violation of another. 
 Ray's Wisdom of God in the Creation, part ii. apud 
 finem. 
 
 DUELLING. Such is the necessary imperfection of 
 human laws, that many private injuries are perpetrat- 
 ed, of which they take no cognizance ; but, if these 
 were allowed to be punished by the individual against 
 whom they are committed, every man would be 
 judge and executioner in his own cause, and univer- 
 sal anarchy would immediately follow. The laws, 
 therefore, by which this practice is prohibited, ought 
 to be held more sacred than any other ; and the vio- 
 lation of them is so far from being necessary to pre- 
 vent an imputation of cowardice, that they are en- 
 forced even among those in whom cowardice is pu- 
 nished with death, by the following clause in the 
 nineteenth article of war. " Nor shall any officer, or 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 " soldier, upbraid another for refusing a challenge, 
 " since, according to these our orders, they do but 
 " the duty of soldiers, who ought to subject them- 
 " selves to discipline : and we do acquit and dis- 
 " charge all men who have quarrels offered, and chal- 
 " lenges sent to them, of all disgrace or opinion of 
 " disadvantage in their obedience hereunto : and 
 " whoever shall upbraid them, or offend in this 
 " case, shall be punished as a challenger/' It is to be 
 presumed, that, of this clause, no gentleman in the 
 army is ignorant ; and those who, by the arrogance 
 of their folly, labour to render it ineffectual, should, 
 as enemies to their country, be driven out of it with 
 detestation and contempt. Hawkestuorth's Adven- 
 turer, No. Ixx. 
 
 It is astonishing, that the murderous practice of duel- 
 ling, which you so justly condemn, should continue so 
 long in vogue. Formerly, when duels were used to 
 determine law- suits, from an opinion that Providence 
 would, in every instance, favour truth and right with 
 victory, they were excusable. At present, they decide 
 nothing. A man says something, which another tells 
 him is a lie. They fight ; but whichever is killed, the 
 point in dispute remains unsettled. To this purpose 
 they have a pleasant little story here. A gentleman in 
 a coffeehouse desired another to sit further from him*. 
 Why so ? Because, Sir, you stink. That is an af- 
 front, and you must fight me. I will fight you, if 
 you insist upon it ; but I do not see how that will 
 mend the matter. For if you kill me, I shall stink 
 too ; and if I kill you, you will stink, if possible, 
 worse than you do at present. How can such miser- 
 able sinners as we, entertain so much pride, as to 
 conceive that every offence against our imagined ho- 
 nour merits death $ These petty princes in their 
 own opinion, would call that sovereign a tyrant, who 
 R 4 
 
368 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 should put one of them to death, for a little uncivil 
 language, though pointed at his sacred person : Yet 
 every one makes himself judge in his own cause, 
 condemns the offender without a jury, and under- 
 takes himself to be the executioner. Franklin's Cor. 
 respondence, i. 151. 
 
 It may be proper, in this place, to bestow a mo- 
 ment's consideration upon the trite, but very import- 
 ant case of duelling. A very short reflection will suf- 
 fice to set it in its true light. This detestable prac- 
 tice was originally invented by barbarians, for the 
 gratification of revenge. It was probably, at that 
 time, thought a very happy project for reconciling the 
 odiousness of malignity with the gallantry of courage. 
 But, in this light, it is now generally given up. Men 
 of the best understanding, who lend it their sanction, 
 are unwillingly induced to do so, and engage in sin- 
 gle combat, merely that their reputation may sustain 
 no slander. Which of these two actions is the truest 
 test of courage, the engaging in a practice which our 
 judgment disapproves, because we cannot submit to 
 the consequences of following that judgment ; or the 
 doing what we believe to be right, and cheerfully en- 
 countering all the consequences that may be annexed 
 to the practice of virtue ? With what patience can a 
 man of virtue think of cutting off the life of a fellow- 
 mortal, or of putting an abrupt close to all the gene- 
 rous projects he may himself conceive for the benefit 
 of others, merely because he has not firmness enough 
 to awe impertinence and falsehood into silence? 
 " But the refusing of a duel is an ambiguous action, 
 Cowards may pretend principle, to shelter themselves 
 from a danger they dare not meet." This is partly 
 true, and partly false. There are few actions, indeed, 
 that are not ambiguous ; or that, with the same gene- 
 ral outline, may not proceed from different motives, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 But the manner of doing them, will sufficiently shew 
 the principle from which they spring. He, that 
 would break through an universally received custom, 
 because he believes it to be wrong, must no doubt 
 arm himself with fortitude. The point in which we chief- 
 ly fail, is in not accurately understanding our own in- 
 tentions, and taking care beforehand to free ourselves 
 from any alloy of weakness and error. He, who comes 
 forward with no other idea in his mind but that of 
 rectitude, and who expresses, with the simplicity and 
 firmness which full conviction never fails to inspire, 
 the views with which he is impressed, is in no danger 
 of being mistaken for a coward. If he hesitate, it is 
 because he has not an idea, perfectly clear, of the 
 sentiment he intends to convey. If he be in any de- 
 gree embarrassed, it is because he has not a feeling 
 sufficiently generous and intrepid> of the guilt of the 
 action in which he is pressed to engage. If there be 
 any meaning in courage, its first ingredient must be, 
 the daring to speak the truth at all times, to all per- 
 sons, and in every possible situation. What is it but 
 the want of courage, that should prevent me from 
 saying, " Sir, I ought to refuse your challenge.- 
 What I ought to do, that I dare do. Have I injur- 
 ed you ? I will readily, and without compulsion, re* 
 pair my injustice to the uttermost mite. Have you 
 misconstrued me ? State to me the particulars, and 
 doubt not that what is true, I will make appear to be 
 true. Thus far I will go. But, though I should be 
 branded for a coward by all mankind, I will not re- 
 pair to a scene of deliberate murder. I will not do 
 an act, that I know to be flagitious. I will exercise 
 my judgment upon every proposition that comes be- 
 fore me ; the dictates of that judgment I will speak ; 
 and upon them I will form my conduct/' He that 
 holds this language, with a countenance in unison 
 R 5 
 
S70 APPENDIX. 
 
 with his words, will never be suspected of acting 
 from the impulse of fear. Godwin's Political Justice > 
 
 SERIOUS CHALLENGE, OR LETTER, OP MR. T. TO 
 ONE OP HIS FRIENDS. Sir, to-morrow, at noon, in 
 the Bois de Boulogne, you will give me satisfaction for 
 the look, which you cast on me yesterday . To-morrow, 
 Sir, that is to say, when time shall have given you 
 the leisure to repent, and me that of being appeased, 
 and shall leave neither of us the excuse of a first trans- 
 port of passion, we will cut each other's throats, if you 
 please, in cool blood. I believe you to be too brave to 
 testify regret for the fault you have committed ; and, 
 on my side, I think too nobly, not to wash it out in 
 your blood or in my own. You think rightly, that in 
 evincing to me disrespect, you have given me a right 
 over your life, or have acquired a right over mine. I 
 should be far from pardoning you, even if you con- 
 fessed to me that you acted inconsiderately : I should 
 only add contempt to resentment. But, if you suc- 
 ceed in killing me, I esteem you for it the more, by 
 anticipation, and not only pardon you your offence, 
 but my death ; for, in reality, I entertain for you nei- 
 ther hatred nor disdain; and would not confer on 
 many others the honour that I do you. Our fathers 
 have instructed us, that there are a thousand occasions 
 in life, in which we cannot dispense with killing our 
 best friend. I hope you will believe them on their 
 word ; and that, without hating each other, we shall 
 not the less be each other's assassins. To plunge our 
 sword in the bosom of an enemy to our country, is 
 a low and vulgar action ; we have the greatest induce- 
 ments to incite us to it ; but to kill a fellow- citizen, 
 a friend, for the slightest offence ; this, this, according to 
 the feudal code of the Germans, our worthy ancestors, is 
 4 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 the height of grandeur and magnanimity. You have 
 the place, and hour. Be punctual. T. Baron De 
 Grimm's Correspondence. 
 
 SUICIDE, This reasoning will explain to us the 
 long disputed case of suicide. " Have I a right, un- 
 der any circumstances, to destroy myself, in order to 
 escape from pain or disgrace ?" Probably not. It 
 is, perhaps, impossible to imagine a situation, that shall 
 exclude the possibility of future life, vigour, and use- 
 fulness. The motive assigned for escape is eminent- 
 ly trivial ; to avoid pain, which is a small inconveni- 
 ence ; or disgrace, which is an imaginary evil. The 
 examples of fortitude, in enduring them, if there were 
 no other consideration, would probably afford a bet- 
 ter motive for continuing to live. " The difficulty is, 
 to decide, in any instance, whether the recourse to a 
 voluntary death can overbalance the usefulness, I may 
 exert in twenty or thirty years of additional life. But 
 surely it would be precipitate to decide that there is 
 no such instance *." Godwin's Political JustiGe, i. 92. 
 I cannot, I confess, discover how the practice of 
 suicide can be justified, upon any principle, except 
 upon that of downright atheism. If we suppose a good 
 Providence to govern the world, the consequence is 
 undeniable, that we must entirely rely upon it. If we 
 imagine an evil one to prevail, what chance is there 
 of finding that happiness in another scene, which we 
 have in vain sought for in this ? The same malevo- 
 lent omnipotence can as easily pursue us in the next 
 remove, as persecute us in this our first station. Up- 
 on the whole, prudence strongly forbids so hazardous 
 
 * The above citation, though not sufficiently decisive, is given 
 to shew how indefensible the act of suicide appears, even upon a 
 system, which excludes, as much as possible, all religious considera- 
 tions. 
 
S72 APPENDIX. 
 
 an experiment, as that of being our own executioners. 
 We know the worst that can happen in supporting 
 life, under all its most wretched circumstances ; and, 
 if we should be mistaken in thinking it our duty 
 to endure a load, which in truth we may securely lay 
 down, it is an error extremely limited in its conse- 
 quences. They cannot extend beyond this present 
 existence, and possibly may end much earlier : where- 
 as, no mortal can, with the least degree of assurance, 
 pronounce what may not be the effects of acting agree- 
 ably to the contrary opinion. Fitzosborne's Letters,- 
 No. 22. 
 
 PRAYER OF SIR WILLIAM JONES. Eternal and' 
 incomprehensible Mind, who, by thy boundless power, 
 before time began, createdst innumerable worlds for 
 thy glory, and innumerable orders of beings for their 
 happiness, which thy infinite goodness prompted thee 
 to desire, and thy infinite wisdom enabled thee to 
 know ! We, thy creatures, vanish into nothing before 
 thy supreme majesty ; we hourly feel our weakness ; 
 we daily bewail our vices ; we continually acknow- 
 ledge our folly ; thee only we adore, with awful ve- 
 neration ; thee we thank with the most fervent zeal ; 
 thee we praise with astonishment and rapture ; to thy 
 power \ve humbly submit; of thy goodness we devout- 
 ly implore protection ; on thy wisdom we firmly and 
 cheerfully rely. We do but open our eyes, and in- 
 stantly we perceive thy divine existence ; we do but 
 exert our reason, and in a moment we discover thy 
 divine attributes : but our eyes could not behold thy 
 splendour, nor could our minds comprehend thy di- 
 vine essence ; we see thee only through thy stupen- 
 dous and all-perfect works, we know thee only by that 
 ray of sacred light, which it has pleased thee to reveal. 
 Nevertheless, if creatures too ignorant to conceive, and 
 
APPENDIX. 37S 
 
 too depraved to pursue, the means of their own hap- 
 piness, may, without presumption, express their wants 
 to their Creator, let us humbly supplicate thee to re- 
 move from us that evil, which thou hast permitted for 
 a time to exist, that the ultimate good of all may be 
 complete ; and to secure us from that vice, which thou 
 sufferest to spread snares around us, that the triumph 
 of virtue may be more conspicuous. Irradiate our 
 minds with all useful truth ; instil into our hearts 
 a spirit of general benevolence ; give understanding to 
 the foolish ; meekness to the proud; temperance to the 
 dissolute ; fortitude to the feeble- hearted ; hope to the 
 desponding; faith to the unbelieving; diligence to 
 the slothful ; patience to those who are in pain ; and 
 thy celestial aid to those who are in danger ; comfort 
 the afflicted; relieve the distressed: supply the hun- 
 gry with salutary food, and the thirsty with a plenti- 
 ful stream. Impute not our doubts to indifference, nor 
 our slowness of belief to hardness of heart ; but be in- 
 dulgent to our imperfect natures, and supply our im- 
 perfections by thy heavenly favour. " Suffer not, we 
 * f anxiously pray, suffer not oppression to prevail over 
 " innocence, nor the might of the avenger over the 
 " weakness of the just." 
 
 Whenever we address thee in our retirement from 
 the vanities of the world, if our prayers are foolish, 
 pily us ; if presumptuous, pardon us ; if acceptable to 
 thee, grant them, all-powerful God, grant them : and 
 as, with our living voice, and with our dying lips, we 
 will express our submission to thy decrees, adore thy 
 providence, and bless thy dispensations ; so, in all/%- 
 lure states, to which we reverently hope thy goodness 
 will raise us, grant that we may continue praising, 
 admiring, venerating, worshipping thee more and more, 
 through worlds without number, and ages without 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 end! Jan. 1, 1782 Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir 
 William Jones, p. 271. 
 
 PRAYER OP LORI* BACON. Most gracious Lord 
 God, my merciful Father, my Creator, my Redeem- 
 er, my Comforter ! thou soundest and searchest the 
 depths and secrets of all hearts ; thou acknowledgest 
 the upright ; thou judgest the hypocrite ; vanity and 
 crooked ways cannot be hid from thee. 
 
 Remember, O Lord, how thy servant has -Walked 
 before thee ; remember what I have first sought, and 
 what has been principal in my intentions. I have lov- 
 ed thy assemblies ; I have mourned for the divisions 
 of thy church ; I have delighted in the brightness of 
 thy sanctuary ; I have ever prayed unto thee, that the 
 vine, which thy right hand hath planted in this nation, 
 might have the former and the latter rain ; and that 
 It might stretch its branches to the seas, and to the 
 floods. The state and bread of the poor and oppress- 
 ed have been precious in my eyes : I have hated all 
 cruelty and hardness of heart ; I have, though a des- 
 pised weed, endeavoured to procure the good of all 
 men. If any have been my enemies, I thought not 
 of them, neither has the sun gone down upon my dis- 
 pleasure : but I have been as a dove, free from super- 
 fluity of maliciousness. Thy creatures have been my 
 books, but thy Scriptures much more so. I have 
 sought thee in the courts, the fields, and the gardens ; 
 but I have found thee in thy temples. 
 
 Thousands have been my sins, and ten thousands 
 my transgressions: but thy sanctifications have re 
 mained with me ; and my heart, through thy grace, 
 hath been an unquenched coal upon thine altar. 
 
 O Lord, my strength ! I have, from my youth, 
 met with thee in all thy ways ; in thy fatherly com- 
 passions, in thy merciful chastisements, and in thy 
 
APPENDIX. 375 
 
 most visible providences. As thy favours have in- 
 creased upon me, so have thy corrections; as my 
 worldly blessings were exalted, so secret darts from 
 theehave pierced me ; and when I have ascended be- 
 fore man, I have descended in humiliation before thee. 
 And now, when I have been thinking most of peace 
 and honour, thy hand is heavy upon me, and has 
 humbled me according to thy former lovingkindness, 
 keeping me still in thy fatherly school, not as a bas- 
 tard, but as a child. Just are thy judgments upon 
 me for my sins, which are more in number than the 
 sands of the sea, but which have no proportion to thy 
 mercies. Besides my innumerable sins, I confess be- 
 fore thee, that I am a debtor to thee for the gracious 
 talent of thy gifts and graces ; which I hare neither 
 put into a napkin, nor placed, as I ought, with ex- 
 changers, where it might have made best profit ; but 
 I have mispent it in things for which I was least fit : 
 so I may truly say, my soul has been a stranger in the 
 course of my pilgrimage. Be merciful unto me, O 
 Lord, for my Saviour's sake, and receive me into thy 
 bosom, or guide me in thy ways *. 
 
 * These prayers are inserted merely as specimens of the devo- 
 tional meditations of two of the most distinguished characters in 
 the annals of literature and science ; and not as models of prayer 3 
 or even as including the usual topics of private devotion.. 
 
INDEX 
 
 TO THE AUTHORS QUOTED IN THIS WORK, 
 
 AND TO THE 
 PASSAGES EXTRACTED FROM EACH. 
 
 Adams, 38. 
 
 Addison, 5, 282, 30B. 
 
 Aikin, Dr. 334. 
 
 Argyle, Marquis of, 68, 316. 
 
 Bacon, Lord, 2, *46, 95, 105, 113, 169, 170, 200, 3T4. 
 
 Barrington, Lord, 145. 
 
 Beattie, Dr. 51, 85, 143, 154, 189, 223, 284, 321. 
 
 Blackstone, Sir William, 326. 
 
 Bolingbroke, Lord, 53, 126, 155, 159,307. 
 
 Bonnet, Professor, 127, 128, 129, 139, 148, 165, 182. 
 
 Bowdler, John, 192, 213, 216, 229, 343. 
 
 Boyle, Hon. Robert, 50, 123, 144, 177, 180, 183, 234,260, 274, 
 
 287, 334. 
 
 Brown, Sir Thomas, 85, 111, 139, 174, 206, 218, 243, 244, 280. 
 Bruce, *42. 
 Brucker, 9, 77. 
 Bruyere, La, 148. 
 Bryant, 54, 122, 181, 247. 
 Buckingham, Duke of, 72. 
 Burke, Edmund, 77. 
 Burleigh, Lord, 67. 
 Burns, Robert, 71, 92. 
 Charlemont, Earl of, 16. 
 
 Chateaubriand, 140, 149, 161, 201, 209, 312, 239, 325. 
 Chatham, Earl of, 69. 
 
378 INDEX. 
 
 Chesterfield, Earl of, 19, 21, 9T. 
 Cheyne, Dr. 292. 
 
 Chubb, 126. 
 
 Collins, 168. 
 
 Condorcet, 9, 248. 
 
 Cowper, William, 142. 
 
 Cumberland, Richard, 118, 130. 
 
 Cuvier, 355. 
 
 Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, 176, 178, 231, 244, 257, 258, 259, 
 260, 276, 278, 306. 
 
 De Luc, 352. 
 
 De Stael, 27, 225, 272, 299, 346. 
 
 Dryden, 117. 
 
 Digby, Sir Kenelm, 246. 
 
 Erskine, Lord, Introduction, 166, 
 
 Eugene, Prince, 22, 70. 
 
 Euler, *43, 110, 307. 
 
 Feltham, 218, 273, 280, 289, 310. 
 
 Fitzosborne, 371. 
 
 Forbes, President, 8, *42, 108, 135, 200, 216, 232, 249. 
 
 Franklin, Dr. *41, 84, 219, 313, 367. 
 
 Godwin, William, 102, 196, 329, 330,361, 368, 371. 
 
 Goldsmith, 122. 
 
 Granville Sharpe, 201, 335. 
 
 Grimm, Baron De, 368. 
 
 Hale, Sir Matthew, 58, 111, 175, 206, 262, 328. 
 
 Halifax, Marquis of, 68. 
 
 Haller, Baron, 153, 198, 203, 207, 229, 235, 246, 271, 303. 
 
 Hartley,*4l *51,81, 92, 121, 162, 180, 186, 202, 214, 226, 264, 
 
 290, 293, 301, 315, 319. 
 Hawkesworth, 366. 
 Humboldt, 345, 349, 350. 
 Hume, 24, 37, 40, 75, 100. 
 Hutcheson, 206, 222, 247, 270, 283, S10, 318. 
 Hutton, Dr. James, 1, 43, *43, *47, 77, 104, 147, 174, 276, 277, 
 
 278. 
 
 Jameson, Professor, 351. 
 
 Jenyns, Soame, 190, 191, 207, 226, 249, 253, 274, 303, 327. 
 Jones, Sir William, Introduction, 124, 125, 141, 349, 372. 
 Johnson, Samuel, 5, *44, 91, 254, 304, 316. 
 Kames, Lord, 27, 66, 87, 136, 253, 288, 312, 317. 
 King, Edward, 327, 350. 
 
INDEX. 379 
 
 [ing, Sir Peter, 120, 202, 324. 
 
 [lopstock, 198. 
 
 ,ocke, 31, 51, 53, 57, 106, 115, 151, 152, 101, 173, 196, 228, 
 
 248, 317, 339. 
 yttleton, Lord, 184* 
 lachiavel, 75, 157. 
 lason, Sir John, 265. 
 lirabeau, 82. 
 lontesquieu, Baron, 76. 
 lorgan, 114. 
 
 apier, Lord, of Merchieston, 28, 90, 199, 215, 218, 253, 260. 
 Decker, 4, 16, 36, 49, *50, 54, 64, 110, 152, 252, 316. 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, 43, 156. 
 )xenstiem, Chancellor, 165. 
 ascal, 13, 15, 52, 99, 107, 188, 191, 208, 209, 211, 226, 246, 
 
 251, 259, 231. 
 ritchard, Appendix, 356. 
 uffendorf, 6, 29. 
 
 ,aleigh, Sir Walter, *42, 205, 266, 300, 338. 
 lay, 41, 267, 365. 
 
 lobison, Professor, 37, 38, 56, 81, 137, 155, 314. 
 Chester, Earl of, 71. 
 ,ousseau, 11, 12, 21> $ 35, 48, *48, 67, 96, 133, 139, 157, 
 
 158, 205, 316. 
 Russell, Lord William, 69, 311. 
 elden, 27, 179, 338. 
 
 aftsbury, Earl of, 83, 87. 
 
 mith, Dr. Adam, 31, *49, 89, 91, 220, 230, 298, 305. 
 mollett, 21. 
 
 teele, Sir Richard, 212. 
 tuart, Sir James, 37, 47, 336. 
 tewart, Professor, 9, 25, 40, 41, 61,^142, 167, 331, 
 truensee, 164. 
 ullivan, 60, 80, 131. 
 "emple, Sir William, 297. 
 
 attell, 27. 
 
 bltaire, 7, 65, 204. 
 Valsingham, Sir Francis, 265. 
 Wilberforce, 339. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Priiited by Balfour and Clarke, 
 Edinburgh, 1822. 
 
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