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 Apologetical  View 
 
 O   F     T  H  E 
 
 Moral  and  Religious 
 
 SENTIMENTS 
 
 O  F    T  H  E 
 
 Late  Right   Honourable 
 Lord  Vifcount  Bolinbroke. 
 
 TAKEN     FROM 
 
 Hft  Letters   on   the  Study  and  Ufe 
 of  History. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed  for  J.  Noon,  at  the  White-Hart^  near  the 
 Poultry^  Cheapfide ',  and  R.  Baldwin,  at  the 
 Rofe^  in  Faternojler-Row. 
 
 [  Price  Sixpence.  ] 
 
<  ■ ) 
 
 VIEW 
 
 T  A  K  E  N    O  F 
 
 Lord  Bolingbroke's 
 
 Moral  and  Religious  Sentiments,  &^c, 
 
 TH  E  elegance  of  Lord  Bolingbroke's  pen 
 will  refledt  fome  difadvantage  on  mine, 
 whilfl  remarking  upon  his  Letters 
 which  relate  to  the  Jiiidy  and  ufe  of  Hijiory, 
 A  facred  regard  to  truth,  decency,  and  virtue, 
 mufl  therefore  be  all  their  fecurity  from  con- 
 tempt in  the  comparifon. 
 
 My  Lord  has  left  the  world  fome  fine  Re- 
 
 JleBions  on  exile,    and  fome  mafterly  ftrokes  on 
 
 the  true  ufe  of  retirement  andfiudy.     His  J^etch 
 
 of  the  hiftory  and  fi  ate  o/' Eur  ope,  is  a  piece  of 
 
 B  felf- 
 
(2) 
 
 felf-defence,  wherein  he  is  fo  far  from  ad- 
 mitting the  general,  the  public  accufation  of 
 cri77jc,  that  he  would  avail  himfelf  of  ?nerit. 
 "  He  is  fo  incorrigible,  that  could  he  be  placed 
 in  the  fame  circumftances  again,  he  would 
 take  the  lame  refolution,  and  nd:  the  fame 
 part."  V.  ii.  p.  ii8. 
 
 His  charader  as  a  flatcfinan^  the  world  will 
 judge  of,  as  they  are  differently  able  or  difpos'd 
 to  give,  or  not  to  give  him  credit.  This  will 
 have  no  place  in  the  limits  of  my  defign  ;  only 
 mull:  confefs,  there  are  fome  rays  of  \m  political 
 knowledge ,w\\ic\\  Iiave  made  me  tremble  ^^  be- 
 cauic  of  the  truth  I  apprehend  they  have  in 
 them,  as  they  rcfpe6t  the  prefent  condition  and 
 the  impending  fate  of  my  country  :  among  the 
 reft,  that  pi'ogiwjtic  couch'd  in  his  lamenting 
 the  lofs  of  the  ninety- five  books  of  Livy 
 which  brought  his  hiilory  down  from  the 
 breaking  out  of  the  third  Funic  war  to  the 
 death  of  Dnifus.  *'  He  is  forry,  becaufe  we 
 fliould  have  feen  in  one  ftupendous  draught 
 the  whole  progrefs  of  the  Roman  government 
 irom  liberty  to  fervitude — and  it  would  have 
 been   (>x   more  immediate  and  more  important 
 
 ap- 
 
(  3  ) 
 
 -application   to    the  prefent    ftate    of  Br  it  am'* 
 
 If  there  be  any  truth  in  what  he  fays,  "  of 
 national  poverty  as  well  as  national  corruption 
 being  efteemed  necelTary  to  the  fupport  of 
 the  prefent  government  j"  this  is  abundantly 
 fufftcient  to  juflify  a  trei^or  in  the  ftoutefT: 
 B?'itGJi. 
 
 To  quit  his  political  thoughts,  thofe  of  his 
 moral  and  religious  now  call  me.  And  with 
 what  pleafure  have  I  read,  and  do  I  now  recite 
 that  fentlment  of  SoIomo?fs^  keep  thy  heart  with 
 nil  keeping  :  for  out  oj  it  are  the  ijfues  of  life  -, 
 and  of  the  Apoftle  Pauh,  ^^y^'^^S  ^fi^^  every 
 weighty  and  the  fin  that  does  fnofl  eafily  befet  us 
 wrought  off  with  the  touches  of  my  Lord's 
 pencil  ?  —  "  Wife  men  are  certainly  fuperior  to 
 all  the  evils  of  exile.  But  in  a  flrifl  fenfe  he, 
 who  has  left  any  one  paffion  in  his  foul  un- 
 fubdued,  will  not  deferve  that  appellation.  It 
 is  not  enough  that  we  have  ftudied  all  the 
 duties  of  public  and  private  life,  that  we  are 
 perfedtly  acquainted  with  them,  and  that  we 
 live  up  to  them  in  the  eye  of  the  world ;  a 
 paffion  that  lays  dormant  in  the  heart,  and  has 
 efcaped  our  Scrutinies,  or  which  we  have  ob- 
 
 B  2  ferv'd 
 
(  4  ) 
 ferv'd  and  indulg'd  as  venial,  cr  which  wc  have 
 perhaps   encouraged,    as   a  principle  to  excite 
 and  to  aid  our  virtue,  may  one  time  or  other 
 dellroy  our  tranquility,  and  difgrace  our  whole 
 chara<rter ;    when  virtue   has  ftceled  the  miiKi 
 on   every  lide,   we  are    invulnerable  on  every 
 fide :  but  Achilles  was  wounded  in  the  heel : 
 the   leaft   part  overlooked  or   neglecfted,    may 
 expofe  us  to  receive  a  mortal  blow.     Rcalbn 
 cannot  obtain  the   abfolute   dominion   of  our 
 fouls  by  one  vidlory.     Vice  may  have  refervcs, 
 which  mull  be  beaten  ;    many  ftrong   holds, 
 which  muft  be  forced  j  and  we  may  be  found 
 of  proof  in  many  trials,  without  being  fo  in  all. 
 We  jnay  rcfift  the  feverefl,   and  yield  to  the 
 weakeil  attacks   of  fortune.     We    may  have 
 got  the  better  of  avarice,  the  mofl  epidemical 
 difeafe  of  the  mind,  and  vet  be  Haves  to  am- 
 bition.     We  may  have   purged   our  fouls  of 
 the  fear  of  death,  and  yet  fome  other  fear  may 
 venture  to  lurk  behind." — And  again,  "  reduce 
 your  defires,  be  able  to  fay  with  the  apollle  of 
 Greece,  to  whom  Erasmus   was  ready  to  ad- 
 drefs  his  prayers,  quam  muftis  ipfc  non  egeo." 
 
 It  would   be  an  injury  done  my  Lord^  to 
 
 fuppofe 
 
(5) 
 
 fuppofe  him  unacquainted  with  the  apoflle 
 Pauh  charader  or  yvritings,  or  with  the 
 dodrinal  inftrudions  of  Jefus  Chri/},  whom  he 
 calls  his  Saviour.  For  when  fpeaking  of  ^«- 
 gujlus's  allowing  Abgarus  the  tetrarch  of 
 EdeJJ'a  to  return,  tho'  with  regret  3  he  mentions 
 his  letter  to  Jefus  Chrift  as  incredible  as  that 
 flory  J  but  then  he  gives  Jefus  Chrift  the  title 
 of,  OUR  Saviour.  V.  ii.  p.  240. 
 
 That  he  owns  the  chrijlian  revelation 
 fhould  appear  from  feveral  pafTages.  I  will 
 mention  fome  of  them.  Speaking  of  the 
 palTages  of  the  old  teftament  which  contain 
 prophecies,  or  matters  of  law  or  dodrine— - 
 he  fays,  "  Shall  we  infift  that  fuch  particular 
 parts  and  pailages,  which  are  plainly  marked 
 out  and  fufficiently  confirmed  by  the  fyflem  of 
 the  chriftian  revelation,  and  by  the  com, 
 pletion  of  the  prophefies,  have  been  prefervcd 
 from  corruption  ? V.  i.  p.  97. 
 
 It  is  true,  he  is  here  ridiculing  the  old 
 teftament  writings  as  not  tranfmittcd  to  us 
 under  all  the  conditions  of  an  authentic  hiflory : 
 but  then,  one  fees  the  reafon  of  his  ofFeiKe, 
 
 or 
 
(  6  ) 
 
 or  what  gives  the  fting  of  his  ridicule,  when 
 he  adds,  "  and  yet  I  may  be  at  liberty  to 
 maintain  that  the  pafTages  in  it  which  eflabliih 
 original  fin,  which  feem  favourable  to  the 
 docftrine  of  the  Trinity,  which  foretel  the 
 coming  of  the  Meffiah,  and  all  others  of 
 fimilar  kind,  are  come  down  to  us  as  they 
 were  originally  didlated  by  the  Holy  Ghoft." 
 
 The  notions  of  original  Si?2,  and  of  the 
 ^rifiity,  had  prejudic'd  him  extremely  much 
 againfl:  the  fyftem  of  modern  and  more  antient 
 Church-Divinity,  or  elfe  furely  he  would  not 
 have  difputed  either  the  prophecy  or  the 
 coming  of  the  Meffiah ;  for  he  is  inclined  to 
 admit  the  poffibiUty  of  the  foundations  of  both 
 Judaifm  and  Chriftianity  having  been  laid  in 
 truth :  his  words  are,  "  If  the  foundations  of 
 Judaifm  and  Chriftianity  have  been  laid  in 
 truth,  yet  what  numberlefs  fables  have  been 
 invented  to  raife,  to  embelliih  and  to  fuppor^ 
 thefe  ftrudures,  according  to  the  intereft  and 
 tafte  of  the  feveral  architedls."  V.  I.  p.  123. 
 
 "  It  had  been  long  matter  of  aftonifliment 
 to  him,  how  the  fincere  chriftian  clergy  cou'd 
 
 take 
 
(7) 
 take  To  much  filly  pains  to  eftablifli  myftery  oh 
 
 metaphyfics,    revelation    on     philofophy,    and 
 
 matters  of  fadl  on  abftrad:  reafoning  !  A  religion 
 
 founded  on  the  authority  of  a  divine  miffion, 
 
 confirmed  by  prophefies  and  miracles,  appeals 
 
 to  fadls ;  and  the  fadls  muft  be  proved  as  all  o- 
 
 ther  fadts  that  pafs  for  authentic  are  proved ; 
 
 for  faith,  fo  reafonable  after  this  proof,  is  ab- 
 
 furd  before  it."  ib.  p.   175. 
 
 This  fairly  reprefents  the  ftate  of  chriftianity ; 
 which  is  thus  proved  and  authenticated.  It 
 cou'd  never  have  gained  credit  but  upon  fuch 
 reafonable  evidence,  but  then  it  is  matter  of 
 aftonifhment  to  all  rational  enquirers,  that  the 
 moft  upright  of  the  Clergy,  even  thofe  who 
 are  aiming  at  the  weal  of  Mankind,  fliou'd  take 
 fo  much  filly  pains  to  burlefque  Chriflianity,  by 
 eftablifhing  myflery  and  non-fenfe  upon  the  di- 
 vine fcheme  of  the  gofpel,  which  in  itfelf 
 contains  that  certain  degree  of  authenticity 
 and  probability,  and  the  examples  carry  a 
 force  fufficient  to  make  due  impreflions  upon 
 our  minds,  and  to  illuftrate  all  the  pre- 
 cepts of  true  philofophy.  The  new  teflament 
 does  fo,  notwithftanding  many  read  it  impro- 
 perly, wantonly,  and  abfurdly  j  and  heap  cru- 
 dity 
 
^_    ( « ) 
 
 dity  upon  crudity,  for  want  of  proper  digeftion, 
 and  fuitable  application. 
 
 But  now,  "  as  man  is  allowed  to  be  the  fub- 
 jedl  of  every  hiftory  ;  and  to  know  him  well, 
 we  muft  fee  him  and  confider  him,  as  hiftory 
 alone  can  prefent  him  to  us,  in  every  age,  in 
 every  country,  in  every  ftate,  in  life  and  in  death. 
 And  as  it  defcends  to  a  fufficient  detail  of  human 
 adions  and  characters,  becomes  ufeful  to  bring 
 us  acquainted  with  our  fpecies,  nay  with  our 
 ourfelves ;"  fince  this,  by  way  of  eminence, 
 may  be  affirmed  of  the  gofpel  hiftory ;  which 
 prefents  us  with  the  moll  complete  view  of  hu- 
 man nature,  under  its  utmoft  depravity  -,  and 
 fo  will  extend  its  inilrudion  as  far  as  all  hiftory 
 is  able  to  do,  refpedting  the  principles  and  do- 
 cuments of  virtue,  wifdom,  and  prudence  ne- 
 ceflary  to  the  condud:  of  human  life  :  fince  this 
 is  the  truth  of  the  cafe,  it  claims  a  firfl  veneration. 
 And  every  one  who  is  able  to  read  and  to  reflecl 
 on  what  he  reads  :  will  find,  in  his  degree,  the 
 benefit  that  arifes  from  an  early  acquaintance 
 contraded  in  this  manner  with  mankind :  for, 
 "  we  are  not  only  paflbngers  or  fojourners  in 
 this  world,  but  we  are  abfolute  Grangers  at  the 
 firft  fleps  we  make  in  it.  our  guides  are  often 
 
 ignorant. 
 
(9) 
 
 igtior^nt,  often  unfaithful."  By  this  map  of  the 
 country  which  the  gofpel  hiftory  fpreads  before 
 us,  we  may  learn,  if  we  pleafe,  to  guide  our* 
 felves.  And  truly  it  is  infinitely  worth  our 
 while,  "  becaufe  in  our  journey  thro'  the  world, 
 we  are  befet  on  every  lide,  befieged  fometimes 
 in  our  flrong  holds.  Terrors  and  temptations, 
 condudted  by  the  paflions  of  other  men,  affault 
 us :  and  our  own  paffions,  that  correfpond  with 
 thefe,  betray  us."  The  new  teflament  hiftory 
 gives  us  a  journal  of  thofe  who  have  travell'd 
 thro'  the  fame  country,  and  have  been  expofed 
 to  the  fame  accidents :  and  their  good  and 
 their  ill  fuecefs  are  equally  inftrudive. 
 
 This  hiftory  relates  faithfully  and  Informs 
 truly  of  the  fads  it  contains,  with  the  caufes 
 that  produced  them,  and  the  circumftances  that 
 did  accompany  them  :  fo  that  adions  and  coun- 
 fels  are  fufficiently  charaderized.  We  are  even 
 able  to  difcover  the  nice  degrees  of  wifdom  and 
 folly,  of  virtue  and  of  vice  j  fo  as  to  determine 
 the  charaders  to  which  they  belong.  < 
 
 Sceptics  are  therefore  guilty  of  this  abfurdity  . 
 the  nearer  the  hiftory  has  come  to  the  true  idea 
 of  hiftory  the  better  it  informs^  the  more  it  in- 
 -:  C  ftruds. 
 
(    10  ) 
 
 flrudb,  and  the  more  worthy  it  appears  to  them 
 of  being  defpifed  and  rejcded. 
 
 It  was  a  too  common  infelicity  his  lordfhip 
 labour'd  under,  he  had  little,  or  fought  but  little 
 opportunity  of  converfing  with  the  labors  of 
 chriflian  divines,  who  were  free  from  the  tram- 
 mels of  fyflem  ;  and  thofe  of  rank  or  figure, 
 who  were  deem'd  qualified  for  his  company,  or 
 his  table,  were  fetter'd  with  the  eftablifhcd  opi- 
 nions and  cufloms,  which  his  lordfliip  thought 
 and  calls  ridiculous  and  abfurd.  —  We  may  de- 
 duce this  from  his  faying,  "  I  do  not  affe(5l  fin- 
 gularity,  on  the  contrary,  I  think  that  a  due  de- 
 ference is  to  be  paid  to  received  opinions,  and 
 that  a  due  compliance  with  received  ctifloms  is 
 to  be  held ;  tho'  both  the  one  and  the  other 
 fhou'd  be,  what  they  often  arc,  abfurd  and  ridi- 
 culous." V.  i.  p.  2. 
 
 His  lordfliip  has  not  altogether  difcover'd 
 himfelf  as  behaving  upon  this  plan,  throughout 
 his  letters,  unlefs  one  might  be  allowed  to  in- 
 terpret him  as  intending  to  iniinuate,  that  the 
 openly  profeffing  ones  felf  a  chrijiian^  was  to 
 afFed  fingularity.  If  this  was  his  defign,  or  the 
 meaning  of  the  above  citation,  then  the  opini- 
 ons 
 
( "  ) 
 
 ons  and  cuftoms  of  the  infidel  and  fceptic  wijl 
 iland  charg'd  with  being  abfurd  and  ridiculous, 
 I  am  rather  inclin'd  to  fuppofe  he  defigned  the 
 eftablrfhed  opinions  and  cuftoms :  and  yet,  he 
 fcruples  not  to  contradict  the  convidion  of  his 
 own  mind,  and  the  declarations  of  his  own  pen, 
 when  he  affirms,  that  he  affeds  not  fingularity, 
 but  thinks  a  due  deference  fliou'd  be  paid  to  re- 
 ceiv'd  opinions ;  for  he  is  bold  enough  to  fay, 
 "  the  Jewi{h  hiftory  never  obtained  any  credit 
 in  the  world,  till  chriftianity  was  eflablifhed." 
 y.  i.  p.  91.  "  And  he  cou'd  almoil  venture  to 
 affirm,  that  thefe  fathers  of  the  firft  century  do 
 not  exprefly  name  the  gofpels  we  have  of  Mat- 
 thew, Mark,  Luke,  and  John."  p.  178.  i.  e. 
 neither  Clemens  of  RomCy  B(trnabaSy  Ignatius^ 
 nor  Polycarf. 
 
 As  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Jewifli  hiftory 
 and  its  credibility,  notice  is  taken  of  that 
 by  another  hand.  I  fhall  only  obferve,  that  his 
 Lordfliip  feems  not  to  have  examined  into  thefe 
 fundamental  fa<fts  with  an  abfolute  indifference 
 of  judgment,  and  with  a  fcrupulous  exadlnefs, 
 fo  that  his  ftudies  in  thefe  articles  reduced  him 
 to  this  hectic  condition,  of  fo  much  heat  and 
 
 C  2  weak- 
 
(    12    ) 
 
 weaknefs.  — Prejudices  had  diforder'd  his  mjnd» 
 or  he  wou'd  not  have  affirmed  with  fo  much  af* 
 furance  about  the  credit  of  the  jfewijlo  Hijiory.- 
 
 One  obfervation  might  be  made,  upon  his 
 Lordflnp's  objecting  to  the  Jewiih  hillory, 
 '''  the  fhort  account  given  by  Mofes  of  the  firft 
 2000  years,  comprized  in  eleven  fliort  chapters 
 of  Genejis ;  which  is  certainly  the  moft  com^ 
 pendious  extracft  that  ever  was  made,  and  in 
 which  we  find  nothing  like  an  univerfal  hiftory, 
 or  fo  much  as  an  abridgment  of  it."  V.  i.  p.  io6. 
 Againft  this,  may  we  not  put  an  obfervation  of 
 his  own,  p.  157."  The  truth  is,  nations  like  men 
 have  their  infancy ;  and  the  few  paflages  of  that 
 time,  which  they  retain,  are  not  fuch  as  deferved 
 moft  to  be  remember'dj  but  fuch  as,  being 
 moft  proportioned  to  that  age,  made  the  flrong^ 
 eft  impreflions  on  their  minds. —  Hiftory  was 
 at  firft  intended  only  to  record  the  names,  or 
 perhaps  the  general  charadlers  of  fome  famous 
 men,  and  to  tranfmit  in  grofs  the  remarkable 
 events  of  every  age  to  pofterity." 
 
 Cou'd  his  Lordfhip  have  faid  more  in  favour 
 of  the  Mofaic  hiftory  ?    perhaps  no  man  cou'd 
 
 have 
 
(  13  ) 
 
 have  more  juftly  defended  in  fo  few  lines  the 
 brevity  of  the  Mofaic  hiflory,  for  the  iirft  two 
 thoufand  years  of  the  world.  And  I  am  fure 
 none  cou'd  fo  pertinently  and  effed:ually  have  re- 
 futed the  objection,  as  the  maker  of  it  has  him- 
 felf  done.  — 
 
 Thcfe  ancient  memorials  w^hen  critically  ex- 
 amined, will  be  found  to  contain  a  probable  fe- 
 ries  of  events,  eafily  diftinguifliable  from  the 
 improbable.  And  any  careful  reader  may  aflc 
 himfelf  whether  he  has  not  been  touched  with 
 reverence  and  admiration  at  the  virtue  and 
 wifdom  of  fome  of  the  characters ;  and  whe- 
 ther he  has  not  felt  indignation  and  contempt 
 for  others  ? 
 
 In  the  other  point,  what  if  it  (hou'd  fo  turn 
 out,  that  none  of  thofe  Fathers  of  the  iirft 
 century  do  exprefly  name  the  gofpels  in  their 
 citations  of  them  ;  what  will  it  prove  ?  no  more 
 than  this,  that  they  had  no  occafion  to  do  it, 
 or  faw  no  neceflity  for  it  ;  that  thofe  to  w^hom 
 they  wrote,  knew  well  their  authorities  5  but 
 can  prove  no  more,  — 
 
 We 
 
(  H) 
 
 We  may  guefs  at  his  way  of  contemplating 
 the  chriftian  religion  by  many  paflages  in  hi;^ 
 epiflles :  See  how  he  defcribes  the  church, 
 V.  ii.  p.  174.  "  few  know,  fcarce  any  refpedt 
 the  Britifh  conflitution :  that  of  the  church  has 
 been  long  lince  derided  ;  that  of  the  flate  long 
 iince  neglected  ;  and  both  have  been  left  at  the 
 mercy  of  men  in  power,  whoever  thofe  men 
 were.  Thus  the  church,  at  leafl,  the  Hierar^ 
 chy,  however  facred  in  its  origin  or  wife  in  its 
 inftitution,  is  become  an  ufelefs  burden  to  the 
 ftate." 
 
 So  confidered,  it  is  no  wonder  his  Lordfhip 
 had  prejudices  againft  chriftianity ;  he  did  not 
 view  the  fcheme  impartially  as  it  lies  in  the 
 new  teftament  writings :  but  as  men  have  been 
 pleafed  to  reprefent  it ;  even  in  the  abjurdity  of 
 their  opinions,  and  in  the  ridlcidouftiefs  of  their 
 cuftoms. 
 
 Neverthclcfs,  wt  have  reafons  to  admire  his 
 Lordfhip's  tine  fcntinients  oiz providence.  "  Be- 
 lieve me,  the  providence  of  God  has  eflablillied 
 fuch  an  order  in  the  world,  that  of  all  which 
 belongs  to  us,  the  lead  valuable  parts  can  alone 
 
 fall 
 
(  '5  ) 
 fall  under  tlie  will  of  others,  whatever  Is  befl  is 
 fiifeft  ',  lies  out  of  the  reach  of  human  power  j 
 can  neither  be  given  nor  taken  away.  Such  is 
 this  great  and  beautiful  work  of  nature,  the 
 world,  fuch  is  the  mind  of  man,  which  con- 
 templates and  admires  the  world,  whereof  it 
 makes  the  nobleft  part.  Thefe  are  infeparably 
 ours,  and  as  long  as  we  remain  in  one  we  fhall 
 enjoy  the  other.  Let  us  march  therefore  intre- 
 pidly wherever  we  are  led  by  the  courfe  of 
 human  accidents."  V.  ii.  p.  245,  246. 
 
 j^gain,  "  The  good  or  the  bad  events,  which 
 fortune  brings  upon  us,  are  felt  according  to 
 what  qualities  we,  not  they,  have.  They  are 
 in  themfelves  indifferent  and  common  accidents, 
 and  they  acquire  ftrength  by  nothing  but  our 
 vice  or  our  weaknefs.  Fortune  can  dilpenfe 
 neither  felicity  nor  infelicity  unlefs  wc  co-operate 
 with  her." 
 
 Do  but  admit  whajt  is  needful  for  the  change 
 of  terms,  fuch  as  fortune  for  providence;  and 
 the  fentiments  will  appear  to  be  the  productions 
 of  chriftian  knowledge. 
 
 Can  we  thiftk  Lord  Bolingbroke  had  flightly 
 
 attended 
 
(  i6  ) 
 
 attended  to  the  gofpel  doctrine  of  immortal 
 life,  who  cou'd  thus  fpeak  of  a  wife  man  :  *^  he 
 is  one,  fays  he,  who  looks  on  himfelf  as  a  ci- 
 tizen of  the  world  :  and  when  you  aik  him 
 where  his  country  lies  ?  he  points  with  his  fin- 
 ger to  the  heavens."  V.  ii.  p.  241.  "  We  are 
 palTengers  and  fojourners  in  this  world." 
 
 He  has  proceeded  to  vindicate  the  ways  of 
 providence  even  in  the  brevity  of  human  life.— 
 "  That  life  which  feemstoour  felf  love  fo  fhort,; 
 when  we  compare  it  with  the  ideas  we  frame  of 
 eternity,  or  even  with  the  duration  of  fbme  o- 
 ther  beings,  will  appear  fufficient,  upon  a  lefs 
 partial  view,  to  all  the  ends  of  our  creation,  and 
 of  a  juft  proportion  in  the  fuccelTive  courfe  of 
 generations.  The  term  itfeif  is  long  :  we  ren- 
 der it  fhort ;  and  tlae  want  we  complain  of, 
 flows  from  our  profufjon  j  not  from  our  po- 
 verty. We  are  all  fpendthrifts ;  fome.  of  us 
 diffipate  our  eftates  on  the  trifles,  fome  on  the 
 fuperfluities,  and  then  we  complain  that  we 
 want  the  neceflfaries,  of  life.  The  much  greater 
 part  never  reclaim,  but  die  bankrupts  to  God 
 and  man.  Others  reclaim  late,  and  they  are  apt 
 to  imagine,  when  they  make  up  their  accounts 
 
 and 
 
(  17  ) 
 
 nnd  Tee  how  their  fund  is  diminiflied,  that  they 
 have  not  enough  remaining  to  live  upon,  be- 
 caufe  they  have  not  the  whole ;  but  they  de- 
 ceive theinfelves :  they  were  richer  than  they 
 thought,  and  they  are  not  yet  poor.  If  they 
 hufband  well  the  remainder,  it  will  be  found 
 fufficient  for  all  the  necefTaries,  and  for  fomc 
 of  the  fuperfluities,  and  trifles  too  perhaps  of 
 life  :  but  then  the  former  order  of  expence 
 muft  be  inverted  5  and  the  necefTaries  of  life 
 muft  be  provided,  before  they  put  themfelves 
 to  any  coft  for  the  trifles  or  fuperfluities."   _ 
 
 Thefe  are  declarations  which  correfpond 
 with  the  doflrine  of  revelation  :  and  tho'  my 
 Lord  did  not  chufe  to  own,  that  he  borrowed 
 them  from  thence  5  tho'  he  was  chagrin'd  at 
 the  paltry  figure,  at  the  grotefque  appearance 
 which  chriftianity  makes  among  her  profeiTors ; 
 yet,  we  may  delightfully  obferve  thefe  darting 
 rays  of  truth  and  virtue,  in  the  lette?'s  of  this 
 lively  genius. 
 
 Providence  is  frequently  confefled  and  ad- 
 mii'ed  in  his  letters  j  neither  has  this  nobleman 
 been  fo  very  polite  as  to  difown  prayer.    What 
 
 D  deferves 
 
(  i8  ) 
 
 deferves  to  be  read  by  us  with  pleafure  is,  he 
 has  chofen  to  give  the  higheft  encomium  upon 
 a  petition,  in  the  form  which  our  Lord  taught 
 his  difciples :  his  words  are,  "  The  fhorteil 
 and  the  beft  prayer  which  we  can  addrefs  to 
 him  who  knows  our  wants,  and  our  ignorance 
 in  afking,  is  this:  thy  will  be  done."  p.  276. 
 He,  at  the  fame  time,  juflly  reprefcnts  the  ig- 
 norance of  men,  who  attend  not  to  the  inllruc- 
 tions  of  God  :  "  V^ain  men  !  how  feldom  do  we 
 know  what  to  wifh  or  to  pray  for,  when  we 
 pray  againfl  misfortunes,  and  when  we  fear 
 them  moft,  we  want  them  mod." 
 
 This  mull  be  underftood  of  men,  who  were 
 not  under  the  guidance  of  revelation  ;  becaufe 
 he  fays,  it  was  for  this  reafon  that  Pytha- 
 goras forbid  his  difciples  to  afk  any  thing  in 
 particular  of  God. 
 
 The  fame  fort  of  ignorance  does  not  liang 
 about  men,  who  are  inliruded  both  how  to  pray 
 and  for  what.  But  undoubtedly  my  Lord  is 
 right  in  obfervins;  what  is  the  fhorteft  and  the 
 beft  prayer.  —  His  calling  it  fo  is  a  virtual  ac- 
 knowledgment, of  his  ufing  longer  ;  other- 
 wife 
 
(   19  ) 
 wife  he  would  not  furely  have  called  this  the 
 
 fhorteft. 
 
 He  recommends  "  addreffing  ourfclves  to 
 God,  who  governs  all,  as  Cleanthes  did.  His 
 Lordfliip's  difgiijl  wou'd  not  allow  him  to  fay, 
 as  Jefus  and  his  apoftles  have  taught  us.  To 
 what  this  difguft  was  owing,  I  prefume  has 
 been  made  appear  in  the  reflexions  we  have 
 been  making.  But  furely  here  are  teftimonies 
 given"  of  his  approbation  of  prayer ^  the  pro- 
 priety and  decency  of  it,  as  well  as  his  belief  of 
 a  providence. 
 
 He  has  vigoroufly  declar'd  the  moral  obliga- 
 tion on  man  to  the  pofitive  will  of  the  fupreme 
 Being,  and  to  a  fupernatiiral  revelation.  He  has 
 tacitly  confeffed  that  teaching  of  God  in  this 
 pallage  j  "  both  Jews  and  Chriflians  hold  the 
 fame  books  in  great  veneration,  whilfl  each 
 condemns  the  other  for  not  underflanding,  or 
 for  abufing  them.  But  I  apprehend  that  the 
 zeal  of  both  has  done  much  hurt,  by  endea- 
 vouring to  extend  tlieir  authority  much  farther 
 than  is  neceffary  for  the  fupport  perhaps  of 
 Judaifm,  but  to  be  fure  of  chriftianity."  V.  i. 
 p.  92. 
 
 This  is  an  implicit  acknowledgment  of  the 
 D  2  ^^ 
 
(    20    ) 
 
 Syftem  of  Chriftianity  as  being   more  particu- 
 larly injured. 
 
 In  p.  94.  "  The  authority  of  the  books  of 
 tlie  New  Teftament  is  fo  far  from  being  found- 
 ed on  the  authority  of  the  Old,  that  it  is  quite 
 independent  on  it :  the  new  being  proved,  gives 
 anthority  to  the  old,  but  borrows  none  from 
 it ;  and  gives  this  authority  to  the  particular 
 parts  only.  Chrifl  came  to  fulfil  tlie  Prophe- 
 cies ;  but  not  to  confecrate  all  the  written, 
 any  more  than  the  oral  tradition  of  the  Jews. 
 We  mufl:  believe  thefe  traditions  as  far  as  they 
 relate  to  chriftianity,  as  far  as  chriflianity  refers 
 to  them,  or  fuppofes  them  neceffary  j  but  we 
 can  be  under  no  obligation  to  believe  them 
 any  farther,  fince  without  chridianity  we  ihould 
 be  under  no  obligation  to  believe  them  at  aJl." 
 
 I  underftand  this  Paragraph  as  expreffing  my 
 Lord's  opinion,  becaufe  it  is  direcStly  oppofed 
 to  what  fubtle  and  learned  men  have  faid  of 
 the  old  being  the  foundation  of  the  new. 
 
 He  rejeds  the  opinion  of  the  fcriptures  be- 
 ing entirely  the  didature  of  the  Holy  Ghoil:, 
 and  their  having  been  the  perpetual  care  of 
 providence ;  he  fays  "  thev  are  come  down  to 
 us  broken  and  confufed,  full  of  additions,  in- 
 ter-. 
 
(    21    ) 
 
 terpolations  and  tranfpofitions,  made  we  neither 
 know  when,  nor  by  whom." 
 
 What  if  he  has  done  this  ?  it  is  an  acknow- 
 ledgment of  the  original  exiftence  of  thefe  fcrip- 
 tures,  tho'  now  under  alterations;  for  he  adds, 
 *'  never  appear'd  fuch  alterations  on  the  face  of 
 any  other  book,  on  whofe  authority  men  have 
 agreed  to  rely."  p.  96.  •=-!-> 
 
 How  could  my  Lord  have  affirmed  this,  if 
 there  were  no  vejligta  of  their  original  lines 
 upon  them  ?  if  he  had  no  canon  of  criticifm 
 on  which  to  determine  fuch  disfigurations  ? 
 
 Bat  to  do  his  Lordfliip  juflice,  he  appears 
 to  have  fixed  his  eye  in  thefe  papers  on  the 
 Old,  and  not  on  the  New  Teftament  writings. 
 For  in>  p.  97.  hQ  afks,  "  Shall  we  inlift  that 
 fuch  particular  parts  and  pafTages,  which  are 
 plainly  marked  out  and  fufficiently  confirmed 
 by  the  fyfiem  of  the  Chriftian  revelation,  and 
 by  the  completion  of  the  prophecies ,  have 
 been  preferved  from  corruption  by  ways  impe- 
 netrable to  us ,  amidfl  all  the  changes  and 
 chaiK:es  to  which  the  books  wherein  they  are 
 recorded  have  been  expofed  r" 
 
 We  mull  not  allow  of  the  above  charge  of 
 corruption  to  belong,  in  the  fenfe  of  his  Lord- 
 
 lliip, 
 
(    22    ) 
 
 fhip,  to  the  books  of  the  New  tellament,  be- 
 caiife  he  has  here  faid  no  fuch  thing. 
 
 That  his  Lcrdflilp  has  very  exprefHy  af- 
 firmed moral  obHgation  from  a  fuperfiatural 
 revelation,  is  as  evident  as  words  can  make  it, 
 V.  ii.  p.  220,  221.  "  when  we  have  done  this, 
 concerning  God,  ourfelves,  and  other  men  j 
 concerning  the  relations  in  which  we  ftand  to 
 him  and  themj  the  duties  that  refult  from 
 thefe  relations,  and  the  positive  will  of  the 
 fupreme  Being,  whether  revealed  to  us  in  a 
 fupernafural^  or  difcovered  to  us  by  the  right 
 ufe  of  our  reafon  in  a  natural  way  —  we  have 
 done  the  great  bufinefs  of  our  lives." 
 
 This  paflage  contains  a  noble  teftimony  In 
 favour  of  a  fupernatural  divine  revelation  -, 
 which  will  defy  the  attempts  of  the  fophlft  to 
 explain  away.  He  is  in  a  ferious  vein  of 
 thought.  He  had  in  his  eye  what  will  con- 
 du(5t  us  yet  farther  in  the  openings  of  his 
 religious  fcntlments ;  he  feems  to  own  a  future 
 reckoning,  a  ftate  of  Jina/  7'etribution :  per- 
 haps this  might  have  been  inferr'd  from  his. call- 
 ing man  a  ftranger  and  a  fojourner  in  this 
 world  ;  and  from  his  pointing  his  finger  to 
 heaven,  when  afk'd  whither  he  was  going  ?  but 
 
 there 
 
(   23    ) 
 
 there  is  a  paffage  in  referve  for  this  point  of 
 evidence,  where  he  fays,  "  Every  man's  reafon 
 is  every  man's  oracle  :  this  oracle  is  beft  con- 
 fulted  in  the  filence  of  retirement  i  and  when 
 we  have  fo  confulted,  whatever  the  decifion 
 be,  whether  in  favour  of  our  prejudices  or 
 againft  them,  we  muft  reft  fatisfied :  fince  no- 
 thing can  be  more  certain  than  this,  that  he 
 who  follows  that  guide  in  the  fearch  of  truth, 
 as  that  was  given  him  to  lead  him  to  it,  will 
 have  a  much  better  plea  to  make,  whenever 
 or  wherever  he  may  be  called  to  account,  than 
 he,  who  has  refigned  himfelf,  either  delibe- 
 rately or  inadvertently,  to  any  authority  upon 
 earth."     Vol.  ii.  p.  220. 
 
 I  know  not  how  to  exprefs  the  pleafurc 
 I  have  in  this  citation  :  it  fpeaks  the  exad:  fenfe 
 of  the  author  of  our  religion  j  why  do  ye  not 
 even  of  yoiirfehes  judge  what  is  right  ?  judg^ 
 not  according  to  appearmice,  but  judge  righteous 
 judgment.  The  final  judgment  is  made  to  ter- 
 minate on  the  integrity  and  goodnefs  of  man, 
 and  on  his  want  of  it.  Thus  the  apoftle  Pau^, 
 let  every  man  prove  his  own  work^  and  fo  fall 
 he  have  rejoicing  in  himfelf  and  not  in  another.  — 
 If  the  blind,  fays  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  lead 
 the  blind  J  both  fall  fall  into  the  ditch.     Call  no 
 
 man 
 
(  24  ) 
 
 man  Rabbi,  7ieither  be  fo  called  of  any.  The 
 fentiments  of  his  Lord  (hip  exacflly  fquare  with 
 the  fpirit  and  genius  of  unfophifticated  chrifti- 
 
 anity. One   wou'd  grieve  becaufe  of  the 
 
 diflike  he  had  to  the  chriftian  name,  and  to  the 
 fcheme  as  under  the  difguifes  which  are  popular : 
 one  wou'd  wifli  he  had  avowed  the  caufe  and 
 abetted  the  interefl  of  chriftianity  more  openly  j 
 but  as  we  cannot  have  this  gratification,   we 
 have  another  :   we  can  confider  him  as  an  advo- 
 cate in  the  caufe  of  truth  and  of  God,  fo  far 
 as  his  prejudices  wou'd  permit  him  :  prejudices 
 which  to  me  appears   to  have  been  generated 
 by  the  dint  of  education,   and  by  his  forming  a 
 judgment  of  chriftianity  as  all  other  infidels  do, 
 from  the  moft  fallacious  reptefentation  of  it,  I 
 mean,  the  opinions,  cufloms  and  lives  of  many 
 of  its  profefTors.  —  Whereas  a  little  more  in- 
 genuity wou'd  correct  fuch   proceedings,    and 
 lead  the  enquirer  into  a  more  impartial  examina- 
 tion. —  How  eafy  is  it  to  fee  that  however  pure 
 and  friendly,  divine  and  holy  the  plan,  in  the 
 facred  code  j  yet  inafmuch  as  men  foon  revers'd 
 the  intention  and  eftablilli'd  an  hierarchy  to  the 
 reproach  and  fcandal   of  the  original  fcheme  j 
 no   other  confequence   could  enfue,  than  that 
 every  p  rofped:  which  you  take  of  this  decorated 
 
 "     build- 
 
(    25) 
 
 building,  iliall  widely  vary  from  the  model  drawn 
 by  the  divine  architeft. 
 
 Had  my  Lord  attended  as  Dr.  Lardjier,  or 
 even  as  Mr.  "Jortin  has  done  to  Ecclefiaflical 
 Hiftory,  he  might  have  made  more  impartial 
 and  ufeful  reflexions  upon  it ;  and  wou'd,  no 
 doubt,  have  held  chriflianity  excufed  from  any 
 degree  of  difgrace.  The  obfervations  made  by 
 the  former,  in  his  Credibility  of  the  Gofpel  Hijlory^ 
 P.  ii.  Vol.  viii.  from  p.  19  —  32.  And  thofe 
 of  the  latter,  in  his  Remarks  on  Eccl.  Hijhry, 
 are  fuch  as  deferve  to  be  put  againfl  all  his  Lord- 
 flijp  has  faid  at  random.  See  Jortin's  V.  ii. 
 p.  47,  163,  272.  "  The  Fathers  are  often  poor 
 and  infufficient  guides  in  things  of  judgment  and 
 criticifm,  and  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 
 tures, and  fom.etimes  ulfo  in  point  of  morality 
 and  dodrine.  The  men  themfelves  ufually  de- 
 ferve much  refped,  and  their  writings  are  high^ 
 ly  ufeful  on  feveral  occalions ;  but  it  is  better  to 
 defer  too  little  than  too  much,  to  their  decifions, 
 and  to  the  authority  of  antiquity,  that  hand- 
 maid to  Scripture,  as  fhe  is  called." 
 
 Befides,  his  Lordfhip  no  more  than  many 
 others,  had  read  Ecclefiaftical  Hiflory  with  this 
 clue,  "  as  having  extremely  falfified  and  mif- 
 reprefented   what  relates   to  feds  and  herefies. 
 
 E  The 
 
(    26    ) 
 
 The  frentic  extravagancies,  tlie  ftrange  impuri- 
 ties, the  deteftable  abominations  which  have 
 been  imputed  to  many  Societies  who  invoked 
 the  lioly  name  of  Chrift,  are  fo  many  outrages 
 done  to  chriftianity :  the  effed:  of  bhnd  zeal, 
 weak  creduhty,  precipitation  and  blunder ;  for 
 what  more  fpecious  argument  againft  chrifti- 
 anity than  this  multitude  of  feds,  feeming  td 
 vie  with  one  another  which  fliould  have  the 
 honour  to  invent  the  moft  abfurd  opinions,  and 
 the  moil  prophane  and  ungodly  rites.  —  And 
 true  it  is  that  the  Philofophers  who  paffed  over 
 froni  Judaifm  and  Paganifm,  to  Chriftianity, 
 corrupted  the  iimplicity  of  the  Gofpel,  and 
 turned  it  into  a  contentious  religion,  and  filled 
 it  with  unedifying  fpeculations  :  but  as  to  im- 
 pure and  abominable  myfteries,  either  they  who 
 pradlifed  them  were  not  chriftians,  but  true  pa- 
 gans ;  or  thof*  pretended  myfteries  were  fable 
 and  fiction. 
 
 It  has.  long  been  a  kifid  of  merit  to  accufe, 
 and  even  calumniate  Heretics,  and  a  crime  to 
 excufc  them.  The  fpirit  paiTed  from  Jews  to 
 Chriftians,  and  has  continued  to  this  day.  To 
 be  a  favourer  of  heretics  is  to  tread  the  path 
 which  leads  tQ  excommunication..    The  learned 
 
 world 
 
(    27  ) 
 
 world  Is  well  acquainted  with  this  ecclefiaftkal 
 policy,  and  not  ignorant  of  its  realbns." 
 
 Had  my  Lord  read  enough  to  have  thus  di- 
 ftinguiflied,  his  remarks  on  the  corruptions  of 
 hiflcry  in  the  caufe  of  religion,  V.  i.  Lett.  iv. 
 had  been  far  more  jufl  and  ufeful. 
 
 His  Lordflilp,  notwithflanding  this,  would 
 fhew  the  folly  of  eftablifliing  univerfal  pyrrho- 
 nlfm  in  matters  of  hiilory  ;  tho'  he  fays,  "  this 
 lying  fpirit  has  gone  forth  from  ecclefiaftlcal  to 
 -other  hiftorlans :  and  the  charge  of  corrupting 
 hiftory,  in  the  caufe  of  religion,  has  been  al- 
 ways committed  to  the  moil:  famous  champions, 
 andgreatefl  laints  of  each  church." — But  there 
 is  a  very  difingenuous  ilating  of  the  triumphs  of 
 the  church,  where  he  fays,  "  the  works  of 
 thofe  who  have  writ  againfl:  her  have  been  de- 
 ftroyed;"  becaufe  he  either  knew  or  might  know, 
 that  the  rational  defenders  of  chrlftlanity  are  fo 
 far  from  availinG;  themfelves  of  anv  advanta2;e 
 from  thence,  that  they  bewail  the  lofs  of  thofe 
 books  that  were  fo  written  agalnll:  tiie  chrllllans 
 or  chrlftlanity,  and  they  have  reafon  to  be  forry 
 on  that  account. — But  neverthelefs  none  can  read 
 over  the  Credibility.^  as  fliewn  by  the  learned, 
 judicious  and  candid  Lardnery  and  talk  "  of  an 
 imperfedlon  due  to  a  total  want  of  memorials, 
 
 E  2  either 
 
(  28  ) 
 either  becaufe   none  were  originally  written,  or 
 becaufe  they  have   been  loft  by  devaftations  of 
 countries,  extirpations  of  people,  and  other  ac- 
 cidents in  a  long  courfe  of  time."     This  is  to 
 rave  under  the  wildnelTes  of  the  imagination  ! 
 for  our  New  Teftament  writings,  our  Gofpels 
 are  fairly  proved  to  be  juft  copies  of  genuinely 
 divine  originals  :  they  are  memorials  of  the  an- 
 cient records  upon  which  we  may  abfolutely 
 depend  j  they  bear  the  examination   of  fober 
 criticifm ;    and   to  doubt   about  their  authen- 
 ticity,   will    expofe    the    folly    of  him    who 
 doubts,  becaufe  he  is  thereby  doing  what  he 
 can  to  efiahlifi  univcrfdl  pyrrhonijm  in  matters  of 
 hifiory. If  there  be  fuch  a  thing  as  credi- 
 bility due   to   any  hiftory,  that  of  the  Gofpel 
 muft  be  allowed  as  making  fuch  claim  ^  but  if 
 not,    an   univerfal   pyrrhonifm   is  unavoidably 
 eftablilhed. 
 
 Every  eye  may  difcern  the  fhades  of  preju- 
 dice, the  tliick  mifts  of  prepoffeffion,  which 
 hung  about  the  head  of  my  Lord  Bolingbroke. 
 
 It  might  well  befaid  by  him,  upon  a  judgment 
 ill  form'd  of  chriftianity,  "  that  the  difcovering 
 error  in  maxims,  or  in  firft  principles  grounded 
 en  facls,  is  like  the  breaking  of  a  charm,  the 
 tnch^nted  caille,  the  fteepy  rock,  the  burning 
 
 lake 
 
( 2^ ) 
 
 lake  dlfappear:  and  the  path  that  leads  to  Ifuth^ 
 which  we  imagined  to  be  lb  long,  fo  embai-aflcd, 
 and  lb  difficult,  fnew  as  they  are,  Ihort,  open, 
 and  ealy." 
 
 Upon  the  moil  careful,  the  moft  candid  re- 
 view,  the  Lord  Bolingbroke  does  not,  by  his 
 letters,  appear  to  be  that  vile,  that  abandon'd  man, 
 which  he  has  been  thought  by  many  to  be.  — 
 There  is  a.  vein  of  ferious,  clofe  thought  in 
 many  parts  of  them,  which  in  the  judgment 
 of  charity  would  incline  one  to  hope  ht  was  a 
 man  of  penitence  and  of  virtue . 
 
 The  unbeliever  in  revelation  ihould  not  glory 
 too  much  in  this  nobleman  as  having  died  vfith- 
 o\xt  faith.  He  has  own'd  a  God  -,  a  providence ; 
 the   chriftian   revelation  3    the    fuitablenefs   of 
 prayer :    he  regarded  himfelf  as  a  denizen  of 
 heaven  :  his  finger  pointed  to  the  heavens  as  his 
 country  !  he  owns  a  moral  obligation  from  a  fu- 
 pernatural  revelation :  he  expedled  to  be  ac- 
 countable J  and  has  (hewn,  upon  principles   of 
 virtue  and  felf  government,  he  hoped  for  accept- 
 ance.  Vv^'hat  if  he  has  ufed  fome  ruder  freedoms 
 with  the  bible  ?  his  propofeffions  and  prejudices 
 were  perhaps  infuperable.  They  appear  to  have 
 had  their  being  and  flrength  from  thegreatdillike- 
 nefs  there  is  between  chriftians  and  chriftianity. 
 
 To 
 
{  JO  ) 
 
 To  this  he  did  not  thoroughly  attend ;  but  feems 
 to  have  judg'd  of  Chrift's  million  and  kingdom^ 
 by  mitres  and  creeds,  ceremonies,  and  facti- 
 tious things,  only  chimerical.  —  Things  which 
 have  no  more  relation  to  the  gofpel  fcheme,  than 
 truth  has  to  fa  IJJoood -,  and  that  is  no  other  than 
 in  point  of  oppoUtion. 
 
 No  infidel,  no  fceptic  {hou'd  admire  or  praifc 
 thefe  letters,  written  by  this  nobleman,  who  does 
 not  himfelf  follow  the  impartial  leadings  of  reafon 
 or  confcience,  in  his  regards  to  God,  himfelf,  and 
 his  fellow  men,  throughout  every  relation  in 
 which  he  ftands  -,  performing  the  duties  which 
 refult  from  thofe  relations  :  obferving  the  pofi- 
 tive  will  of  the  fupreme  Being,  whether  revealed 
 to  him  in  11  fupematural,  or  difcover'd  by  the 
 right  ufe  of  his  reafon  in  a  natural  way  < —  for 
 without  doing  this,  he  will  leave  the  great  bu- 
 finefs  of  life  undone.  So  fays  his  Lordfhip, 
 and  fo  muft  every  one  of  his  confident  admirers 
 fay. 
 
 FINIS.