RELIGION WITHOUT CANT: 
 
 O R, 
 
 A PRESERVATIVE 
 
 AGAINST 
 
 LUKEWARMNESS AND INTOLERANCE; 
 
 FANATICISM, SUPERSTITION, AND IMPIETY. 
 
 By ROBERT FELLOWES, A. M. 
 
 OF ST. MARY HALL, OXFORD, 
 Atfthor of A Pifture of Chriftian Philofophy, &c. &c 
 
 (t Haec confcius mihl fum non dicere me cujufquam odlo, fed, in tanto et 
 tarn praefenti periculo, neminem arbitror effe debere ceffatorem." 
 
 Grot. vot. pro Pac. 
 
 " Hoftis non fum, nifl eorum dogmatum, quae credo noxia aut pietati aut 
 focietati humanae." Ibid. 
 
 " That is not truth that loves changes; and the new-nothings of fchifmaticai 
 preachers are infinitely far from the bleflings of truth." 
 
 Jer. Taylor, Supplem. Serm. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 FRINTED FOR J. WHITE, FLEET-STREET. 
 
 1801. 
 

 <f 
 
 «; 
 
 If the caufe of politic affairs cannot, in any good fort, go 
 forward without fit Inftruments, and that which fitteth 
 them be their Virtues, let Polity acknowledge itfelf in- 
 debted to Religion j Godlinefs being the chiefefl top and 
 wellrfpring of all true virtues, even as God is of all good 
 things. So natural is the union of Religion with Juftice, 
 that we may boldly deem there is neither where both are 
 not. For how fhould they be unfeignedly juft whom Reli- 
 gion doth not caufe to be fuch j or they religious, which are 
 not found fuch by the proof of their juft actions?" 
 
 Hooker Eccl. Pol. B. v, 
 Superftition neither knoweth the right kind, nor obferveth 
 the due meafare of actions belonging to the Service of God, 
 but is always joined with a wrong opinion touching things 
 divine." Ibid, 
 
 T. Benfley, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Every friend to genuine Chriftianity muft 
 lament the errors in which it is bewildered, 
 and the corruptions by which it is oppreffed. 
 The beft gifts of heaven are capable of the 
 greateft abufe ; and they are often the mofl 
 abufed. Reafon was given us to diftinguifh 
 right from wrong; to be the rule of a£tioii 
 and the guide of life : yet, by fome, this glo- 
 rious faculty is hardly exercifed at all ; and, 
 by others, it is employed only to do mifchief. 
 Some ufe it rather to perplex than to unravel 
 truth ; and to make that intricate which God 
 made plain. Revelation, which was defigned 
 as a beneficent auxiliary to human reafon, and 
 to afford full and fatisfadtory information on 
 the dark and doubtful queftion of a future 
 
 a 2 
 
( * ) 
 
 life, — a topic of inquiry, on which the ut- 
 moft ftretch of the intelle&ual powers of man 
 could not advance beyond fome faint analogy 
 or fome plaufible conje£ture, has, by the 
 fceptical, been deemed an enemy to reafon ; 
 and fome of the faithful have fuppofed 
 reafon an enemy to it. Thus while fome 
 have imagined that a beleif in revelation fet- 
 tered the free ufe of the rational faculties, 
 others have thought that the free ufe of the 
 rational faculties was inimical to the interefts 
 of revelation. 
 
 There is a fort of fpurious Chriftianity, a 
 ftrange mixture of credulity and impofture, 
 of ignorance that moves comoaffion, and of 
 hypocrify that excites abhorrence, in which 
 faith is commended more than goodnefs, and 
 common fenfe is loft fight of in the purfuit 
 of myftery ; which has feldom wanted advo- 
 cates in the Chriftian world ; and which has 
 lately found numerous admirers in our own 
 country. This undefigning perverfion or 
 
( v ) 
 
 fyftematic depravation of the Chriftian doc- 
 trine it is, in a great meafure, the defign of 
 the prefent work to counteract ; and, if pof- 
 lible, to refcue the religion of the bleffed 
 Jeius from a multitude of corruptions by 
 which its ufefulnefs is diminifhed and its 
 
 glory is obfcured. What are called the 
 
 doclrines of Chriftianity have been wilfully 
 perverted and grofsly mifunderflood. Con- 
 ftru£tions have been put upon them, which 
 are not more contrary to reafon than to fcrip- 
 ture ; and equally adverfe to the honour of 
 God and to the happinefs of mankind. Of 
 thofe doflrines, which relate to the fall 9 
 faith, the new birth , divine grace, and which 
 have often been made fubfervient to the word 
 of purpofes, I have endeavoured to give a 
 plain, a fcriptural and rational explanation. 
 Of that abfurd and unfcriptural fiftion called 
 " Original Sin," which, fince the time of St. 
 Auftin, has been reprefented by vifionaries, 
 fanatics, and impoftors, as the moft important 
 and falutary conftituent of vital Chriflianity, 
 
 a 3 
 
( vi ) 
 
 I have fpared no pains to refute the error and 
 to expofe the abfurdity ; and I have employed 
 the mere time on this fubje£t, becaufe I am 
 convinced that it will be found the root of 
 numberlefs corruptions. If, in fpeaking on 
 this dodrine, I have ufed warmer language 
 than men of a colder temperament may ap- 
 prove, my only apology is. that fuch language 
 is the language of my heart. I could not 
 well have employed different expreffions, 
 without doing violence to my confeience as 
 well as to my feelings ; to my reverence for 
 God and to my love for mankind. When 
 the obligations of truth, of juflice and of 
 mercy are openly reviled or infidioufly under- 
 mined, I mould be totally unworthy of the 
 profeffion which I have embraced, if I did 
 not ftand forth their ftrenuous and fearlefs 
 advocate. Their interests are the interefts 
 of men at all times and in all places ; and, 
 in proportion as the general refpedt for 
 them is relaxed, mifery will overfpread the 
 world. 
 
 . 
 
( viI ) 
 
 Many are the caufes, which, at the prefent 
 day, confpire to favour the increafe of vice 
 and to promote the decay of virtue. Moral 
 principle is not entirely, but is, in fome degree, 
 the offspring of favourable circumftances ; and 
 certain it is that all circumftances are not 
 equally propitious to its culture or its growth. 
 In fome, it may be reared with lefs labour 
 than in others ; but the depreffion of extreme 
 want feems to oppofe almoft infuperable ob- 
 stacles to its production *. 
 
 * The poffeflion of property generates ideas very conge- 
 nial to the obligations of juftice. It ftrengthens the fenfe 
 of their importance by the weighty perfuafions of felf in- 
 tereft. The moment we become proprietors of any thing, 
 we begin to experience fome diftincvt fenfations of the right 
 of mine and thine ; fome definite notions of what is due to 
 ourfelves and to others ; and what is juftice but a practical 
 regard for the rights of others? The fenfe of juftice feems 
 ftrongeft in thofe, who, having property, know that its 
 fecurity depends on the fame fenfe of juftice in others. 
 When we have no property to protect, we have little need 
 of a fenfe of juftice in others ; and our own fenfe of juftice 
 becomes proportionally faint. To thofe, in whom we 
 wifti to excite a vigorous fenfe of juftice, we ought to com- 
 municate property, which makes them feel a direct and 
 palpable intereft in the obligations of honefty. In propor^ 
 
 a 4 
 
( viii ) 
 
 Difficult, indeed, will it be found to pro- 
 mote religions truft and moral integrity 
 among thofe, who, going out every morning 
 to their work and returning home at night 
 
 tion as property gets into fewer hands, and a greater num- 
 ber, from being deprived of its pofTeflion or precluded from 
 its attainment, feel no perfonal intereft in the prefei vation 
 of its rights, it is probable that integrity will decline and 
 roguery increafe. 
 
 The fpirit of the poor is broken and made abjeiSr. when 
 they are deprived of the means of bettering their condition. 
 They then look on induftry as vain, and frugality as hope- 
 lefs ; and they become idle, if not from a fenfe of intereft, 
 at leaft, often from feelings of fpite and revenge, of which 
 the gratification in vulgar minds often pafles for intereft. 
 They fee themfelves prevented from rifmg above the. level 
 of their condition ; and they aimoft fpontaneouily labour 
 to fall as low in the fink ot penury as poflible, in order to 
 prefs with the greateft prilible weight on their rich fupe- 
 riors. They coniider the great monopolizing tenants of 
 the foil as their natural enemies ; they regard them with 
 rancour ; and, as far as they have the power, they purfue 
 them with hoftility. They feel their circumftances aimoft 
 as defperate as if they were in a ftate of vaffalage ; and 
 they endeavour to make others as well as themfelves feel 
 the mileries of their dependance. In. this ftate of moral 
 degradation and of phyfical fuffenng, their fentiments be- 
 come depraved and their hearts unfeeling. Every fympa- 
 thy, which could difpofe them to benevolence, becomes 
 gradually extinguished ; and they grow weak in intellect 
 and favage in difpoiitioir. 
 
( m ) 
 
 weary with toil, find that all their induftry 
 can furmfh only a fcanty meal for themfelves, 
 their wives and their little ones ; a meal quite 
 inadequate to the demands of exhaufted na- 
 ture, and barely fufficient to maintain the 
 dreary vacuity of exiftence ! Difficult indeed 
 will it be found to perfuade fuch perfons that 
 they can have any intereft in a conftant ad- 
 herence to the obligations of truth, of juftice, 
 and of mercy ! Great phyfical want, whofe 
 force on the mind is ftronger than any argu- 
 ments which you can apply, or any perfua- 
 fions which you can uie, will fruftrate all 
 your endeavours ; and render all your in- 
 ftru£tions as vain as addrefles to the winds 
 or to the waves. . You, perhaps, fpeak to 
 one, whofe hungry ftomach, whofe w 7 an and 
 faded countenance, whofe emaciated and fee- 
 ble frame tell him, that he has no fenfible, 
 no immediate intereft in the pra&ice of thofe 
 virtues, which it is moil: the duty of the 
 preacher to inculcate ; and though you may 
 remind him of a day of retribution and a fu- 
 ture life, yet he will fay, and, if he fay not, * 
 
( X ) 
 
 he will think, that that day is remote and 
 that life uncertain ! How few, how very- 
 few are thofe, who do not live more by fight 
 than by faith ! and the poor, whofe rational 
 faculties have been little cultivated and who 
 cannot meafure intereft by a calculation of 
 probabilities, are always governed more by 
 fenfation than by reafon. To combat fenfa- 
 tion, and, particularly, the fenfation of hun- 
 ger and thirft, of cold and nakednefs, by 
 abftract reafoning or barren generalities ; to 
 prove the fitnefs of what is by the probable 
 but uncertain flatement of what will be ; 
 mud:, in mod cafes, be found an unavailing 
 and fruitlefs talk. Thofe perfons, therefore, 
 who are anxious to bring about a moral reform 
 among the poor, fhould endeavour to lay the 
 foundation of it in a phyfical alleviation of 
 their wants, and in a fenfible diminution of 
 their fufFerings *. 
 
 * May I hope that, during the adminiftration of Mr. 
 Addington, who appears to poffefs no {mail portion of goocj 
 fenfe and a very large one of benevolence, fome falutaiy 
 plan for the relief of the poor will not; only be debated bu$ 
 carried into efFedt ! 
 
( xi ) ' 
 
 Religion ufually flourifhes moil: where 
 there is the ftrongeft difpofition to thankful- 
 nefs ; but great want certainly takes away 
 the motive and leffens the willingnefs to be 
 thankful. Gratitude will not live long with- 
 out aliment. Can any religious man, who 
 knows himfelf, and is fuperior to diffimula- 
 tion, affert that he does not feel a ftronger 
 inclination to be thankful, to love God and tp 
 do good to his fellow-creatures after a refrefh- 
 ing meal than on an hungry ftomach ? We 
 naturally love to communicate our feelings to 
 others ; in happinefs and in mifery we want 
 fympathy : it increafes our blifs and dimi- 
 nifhes our fuffering. When we are in pain, 
 our affliction is foothed by any artlefs expref- 
 fions of forrow, which we can trace in the 
 manner or the features of thofe around us, 
 A fort of calm but bland and fweet affe&ion 
 gets pofleffion of our bofoms ; and which 
 fufpends the adlion or leflbns the preffure of 
 pur woe. Again, when our own feelings are 
 pkafurable, when our nerves thrill with joy 
 
( xii ) 
 
 and our hearts beat with gladnefs, we are 
 ufually confcious of a ftronger defire to im- 
 part good than in a colder or lefs agreeable 
 ftate of the fenfations. 
 
 Though the prefent increafing luxury in 
 one part of the community, with the iri- 
 creafed and increafing diftrefs in another, do 
 greatly favour the corruption of public mo- 
 rals, . I think that another very vigorous and 
 adtive caufe of the declenfion of virtue and 
 the increafe of vice will be found in thofe 
 polluted, unreafonable, and abfurd reprefenta- 
 tions of the Chriilian religion, which have, of 
 late years, been with too little confideration 
 patronifed by the great, and with too much 
 facility liftened to by the populace. Of thofe 
 perfons, who ever think ferioufly of going to 
 heaven, the majority would fain travel thither 
 in company with that guide who requires 
 the feweft facrifices at their hands ; who 
 orders the leaft felf- denial and permits the 
 greatefl felf-indulgence. Thus they are pre- 
 
( xiii ) 
 
 difpofed to lend a willing ear to the inftruo 
 tions of any religious juggler who endeavours 
 to perfuade them, that faith without holinefs, 
 grace without exertion, or righteoufnefs by 
 imputation will fuperfede the neeefiity of 
 perftnal goodnefs, and exempt the favoured 
 convert from the painful toils of practical 
 morality. Such admonitions, coloured over 
 with a great deal of cant, in order to difguife 
 the rottennefs of the ingredients and the un- 
 wholefomenefs of the mixture, have been 
 called " Evangelical Preaching?' and, at 
 other times, emphatically " Preaching the 
 Go/pel ;" and the great and everlafting prin- 
 ciples of moral duty have been fhamelefsly 
 libelled, and moll induftrioufly lowered m 
 the public eftimation, by men profeffing to 
 teach the holy do&rine of the holy Jefus. 
 
 The attempts which have been made, of late 
 years, to bring what has been too contemptu- 
 oufly termed " moral preaching" into difre- 
 pute, are too notorious to be forgotten, and 
 
( xiv ) 
 
 too deftru&ive of national virtue not to be 
 mentioned with abhorrence. That kind of 
 preaching which has been called moral, and 
 which confiders Chriftianity more as a rule of 
 life than a bone of contention, prevailed al- 
 moft univerfally among the clergy in this 
 country from the restoration, till beyond the 
 middle of that century which we have lately 
 feen brought to a conclufion ; and I fhould 
 be happy to learn from the prefent numerous 
 venders of what is called Evangelical Chrif- 
 tianity, in what period of this country, truth, 
 juftice, and charity, were more refpected by 
 the great mafs of the people, or when the 
 moral principle operated with more ftrength 
 and more fuccefs than when this mode of 
 religious inftru&ion, which it is now the 
 fafliion to decry, was fo generally approved ? 
 To difcourage moral preaching is to blaf- 
 pheme morality. It is to make truth, juftice, 
 and mercy, appear bafe and worthlefs. It is 
 to degrade them ill the opinions of mankind. 
 It is, befides, to deny Chrift ; it is to vilify his 
 
( ** ) 
 
 authority, and to deride his inftru&ions ; for, 
 what did Chrift inculcate more than pradtical 
 goodnefs ? more than pure and genuine and 
 unfophifticated morality ? If Chrift himfelf, 
 who ought to be unto the minifters of his 
 religion not more a pattern for the lives which 
 they lead than for the doctrines which they 
 teach, preached nothing more than practical 
 goodnefs, or the doing of good, what did he in- 
 culcate more than moral duty ? For, is it not 
 the perfection of moral duty to be zealous in 
 doing good ? Thofe perfons, therefore, who 
 feoff at moral preaching, and vilify meral 
 preachers , are enemies to goodnefs, and to 
 thofe who labour to promote the doing of 
 good. All preaching, which does not gravi- 
 tate towards moral duty, which does not 
 make the diminution of moral evil and the 
 increafe of moral good its obje£t and its end, 
 its primary and its ultimate confederation, is 
 unchriftian, unfcriptural, and profane. It is 
 diametrically oppofite to the dodlrine of Chrift 
 and to the genius of Chriftianity, The reli- 
 
( xvi ) 
 
 gious, or rather the irreligious temper of the 
 times, and the mifchievous and abfurd opi- 
 nions that are afloat in the world, require 
 that I fhould deliver my fentiments plainly 
 and fearlelsiy on this important fubjedh It 
 is full time that I fhould defend myfelf and 
 many others, my friends and fellow-labourers 
 in the church of England, from the flanderous 
 afperfions with which we have been affailed 
 by wicked men, who are marring rational 
 Chriftianity by their irrational glofles, while 
 they are endeavouring to opprefs its advocates 
 by the moft malicious calumnies. Surprifed 
 I am that fo many of the Anti-Calviniftic and 
 Anti-Methodiftic part of the Englifh clergy 
 have fo long been filent under the heavy 
 charges which have been adduced a°;ainft 
 them of not preaching the gofpel ; becaufe 
 they ufually felecl for the topics of religious 
 inftrudtion thofe everlafling moral duties 
 which the gofpel inculcates more than any 
 thing elfe. I truft that thofe perfons, who, 
 under the pompous title of Evangelical 
 
 3 
 
( xv *i ) 
 
 Preachers, are decrying moral duties, fubfti- 
 tuting myftic rhapfodies for common fenfe, 
 and an adulterate for genuine piety, are fo far 
 from deferving the high praife which they 
 claim of preaching the gofpel of Chrift, that 
 they rather deferve to be reprobated as the 
 fervants of unrighteoufnefs. For my own 
 part, no referve fhall ever withhold me from 
 faying that I abhor fuch preaching, and that I 
 can never efteem fuch preachers ; for con- 
 scious I am that no fmall part of the moral 
 corruption at prefent exifting among us, and 
 which every one, who loves his country, 
 muft contemplate with difmay, muft be at- 
 tributed to the practice which is at prefent 
 too general among Chriftian teachers of rant- 
 ing with obftreperous violence about the doc- 
 trines, while they obferve an inviolable filence 
 about the duties of Chriftianity *. 
 
 * The prefent times, which teem with great events and 
 awful changes, demand an increafed vigilance and activity 
 on the part of the minifters of the eftablifhment. A man 
 that is at eafe ufually lies (till and fleeps found, while an- 
 other that is in pain keeps turning from fide to fide and 
 
 b 
 
( xviii ) 
 
 On the motives to and the criterion of moral 
 a&ion, which I have occafionally mentioned in 
 the progrefs of this work, I may, perhaps, differ 
 from fome writers of great celebrity. Utility 
 is by many confidered as the only criterion of 
 virtue. Now, though an heathen or an in- 
 fidel may, in the blindnefs of their minds or 
 in the hardnefs of their hearts, confider utility 
 as the fole teft of virtuous action ; I think 
 that a Ghriftian may appreciate virtue by a 
 ted, which is lefs fallible and precarious, lefs 
 liable to be productive of error or of mifery. 
 By a believer in Chriftianity the will of God 
 as. declared in .the layings of Chrift ought to 
 
 finds no reir. In efiablifhmcnts which may for the moil 
 part be confidered as bodies at eafe, there is at fome periods 
 a certain ' c vis inertise ;" a gravitating tendency to quief- 
 cence, but which roufes in their opponents all the energies 
 of action. The activity of thofe who are inimical to our 
 religious institutions is flimulated by intereited expectation, 
 and all the malevolent paffions rufti in to increafe the flame. 
 But, whatever may be the zeal of their enemies, it mud 
 be confeffed that many, very many of the clergy have, of 
 late, difplayed no ordinary vigour and ability in the defence 
 of Christianity againlt unbelievers and of the eftabliihment 
 again ft Sectaries. 
 
( xix ) 
 
 be considered as the fovereign criterion of 
 moral a6tion ; for, if he adopt any other, he 
 will often be in danger of violating- the will 
 of God, as it has been proclaimed in the 
 •Chriftian revelation. 
 
 If we confider utility, or, as an elaborate 
 writer, whofe paradoxes have often excited 
 fo much furprife and afforded fuch ample 
 materials for controverfy and for ridicule, has 
 called it in other words a preponderance of 
 general good and an overbalance of pleafur- 
 able Jenfation^ to be the only teft of virtue, 
 what reftraint do we lay on the fecret 
 thoughts and intentions of the heart, which 
 are as fufceptible of the relations of vice and 
 virtue as our outward adtions ? How is uti- 
 lity violated by indulging a fecret wi(h to 
 feduce your friend's daughter or to fleep with 
 your neighbour's wife ? Yet there is no 
 doubt that, confidering the true criterion of 
 virtue to be a conformity of the inward 
 thoughts as well as the outward actions to 
 
 b 2 
 
( ™ ) 
 
 the will of God, fuch wifhes are heinous 
 violations of morality. Indeed cafes might 
 be adduced, in which the moft nefarious ads 
 of falfehood and injuftice, in which the com- 
 miflion of adultery and even murder, might 
 be quite confonant to the principle of utility ; 
 or, in which thefe crimes might produce a 
 general overbalance of pleafurable fenfation ; 
 and, confequently, every enormity, at the 
 very thought of which our nature fhudders 
 and our blood runs cold, might thus, in par- 
 . ticular inftances, be reputed virtuous. Such 
 are the errors into which we might be led by 
 adopting this very unfafe and very unfcriptural 
 criterion of morality. Obedience to the will 
 of God, which, according to my notions as a 
 Chriftian philofopher, is the only genuine 
 criterion of virtue, may, in particular cafes, 
 be productive of an overbalance of prefent 
 evil to the individual and perhaps to fociety ; 
 but prefent good or prefent evil, which are 
 inconfiderable in quantity and fhort in dura- 
 tion, are not fo much to be confidered as that 
 
( xxi ) 
 
 greater future good which is to be revealed. 
 The Chriftian feels the force of this queftion; 
 " what Jhall it profit a man to gain the whole 
 world and lofe his own foul V 
 
 If we make utility or " a general over- 
 balance of pleafurable fenfation" the only teft 
 of virtue, we (hall foon denominate many 
 adtions to be virtuous which are contrary, 
 and many to be vicious which are agreeable 
 to, the will of God. There can be no doubt 
 but that, in the majority of inftances, virtue 
 is productive of a preponderance of prefent 
 good and prefent pleafure to the individual 
 and to fociety; but there are many particular 
 cafes in which, as Chriftians, we are exprefsly 
 commanded to facriflce the good which is 
 prefent for that which is future, to forego 
 pleafurable fenfation in this world for glory 
 and happinefs in the next. To his fir ft fol~ 
 lowers, Jefus faid, " Whofoever he be, that 
 forfaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be 
 my difciple." To his followers in all coun- 
 
 b 3 
 
( xxii ) 
 
 tries and all ages he exclaims, " He that 
 loveth father or mother better than me, is not 
 worthy of me." " If thy right eye caufe 
 thee to offend, pluck it out, and caft it from 
 thee ; for it is better for thee, that one of thy 
 members perifh, than that thy whole body 
 fhould be caft into hell." 
 
 If moral aftion were, in all cafes, produc- 
 tive of an overbalance of temporal good or 
 pleafurable fenfation, who would be fo unwife 
 as to offend ? What influences the conduct 
 of men fo much as prejent good or prefent 
 pleafure * ? But Chriftianity never makes 
 either prefent good or prefent pleafure the 
 
 right motive to or the right criterion of Vir- 
 es o 
 
 tuous action ; but, without the leaft allure- 
 ment of any good or pleafure to be expe- 
 rienced in this world, it uniformly and in- 
 
 * When I ufe the words prefent good or prefent pleafure 
 in this preface, I do not always mean that good or that 
 pleafure which may be immediately confequent on any ac- 
 tion, but any good or pleafure, which are confined within 
 and not extended beyond the boundaries of this mortal life. 
 
( xxiii ) 
 
 flexibly enjoins obedience to the will of him, 
 whofe fervants we are, whofe fayings we are 
 to obferve, and whofe example we are to imi- 
 tate, I do not, indeed, fay that in all cafes 
 a Chriflian will refufe to aft before he confi- 
 ders what is the will of God, for, in the buftle 
 of the world, time will not always be found 
 fufficient for fuch deliberation ; nor, in the 
 common affairs of life, will fuch deliberation 
 be often neceffary ; for, when the love of 
 God or the fpirit of Chriftian charity, which 
 is the perfection of Chriftian virtue, has ac- 
 quired a due afcendancy in the foul^ a man's 
 general conduft in the little detail as well as 
 the great tranfaftions of life, cannot but be 
 conformable to the will of God; and what- 
 ever may be the complexity of human mo- 
 tives, all virtuous action muft, at laft, be re- 
 folved into conformity to the will of God. 
 Chriftianity allows no other criterion of vir- 
 tue ; and thofe who profefs themfelves Chris- 
 tians, only labour in vain to difcover any other 
 in fome barren abftra&ion or forae vague and 
 
 b 4 
 
( xxiv ) 
 
 indeterminate principle, when they have a 
 very plain and definite rule of right placed 
 before them in the fayings of Chrift ; to 
 which all the wifdom of the greateft among 
 antient or modern fages will be found but vain 
 babble and fruitlefs fpeculation. 
 
 An eafy and fafe and praftical rule of vir^ 
 tue, which individuals may readily confult 
 with refpecT: to their condudt towards others, 
 is that recommended by our Saviour; " whatr 
 foever ye would that men fhould do to you 
 do ye even fo to them." He who, on any 
 particular occafion, feels that he has done to 
 another, what he could not reafouably judge 
 right to be done to himfelf in the like circum- 
 ftances, may be convinced, that he has a£led 
 wrong, and done what is not virtuous. Let 
 any individual apply this rule as a ftandard for 
 any part of his behaviour towards his fellovv- 
 creatures and he will find it invariably juft. 
 If I have told a lie to my neighbour, if I have 
 defrauded him in any matter, I cannot cer- 
 
( xxv ) 
 
 tainly compare my conduct with this rule 
 without condemning myfelf. With refpe£t, 
 therefore, to the judgments which we ought 
 reafonably to pafs on our own conduit towards 
 others, this faying of the Chriftian lawgiver, 
 " whatfoever ye would, &c." will, I think, 
 conftitute an uniformly and perfectly juft cri- 
 terion of virtue ; but, perhaps, we cannot fo 
 invariably apply it to appreciate the conduct 
 of others towards ourfelves ; for ignorance of 
 their circumftances and of the intentions in 
 their hearts, may caufe their conduct to be. 
 differently modified towards us than we may 
 think that it ought to have been, or than we 
 feel that this maxim " whatfoever, &c." will 
 approve. 
 
 If we do that to others, which we mould 
 think it unfair and unreafonable that others 
 mould do to us in the like circumftances, we 
 condemn ourfelves; we wilfully commit a 
 vicious aftion. But, others may poffibly do 
 to us what we mould condemn ourfelves for 
 
( >*vi ) 
 
 doing to them, and yet not offend againit this 
 criterion of virtue; for many little circum- 
 ftances which do not come under our cog^ni- 
 zance, or the contemplation of things under 
 different relations from what we do, may 
 caufe their fenfations of rectitude in this par- 
 ticular cafe to be different from our own ; 
 and may thus induce them to approve what 
 we condemn. In judging the conduct of 
 others we cannot fafely decide on their merit 
 or demerit, by the varying teft of our own 
 fenfations. 
 
 But though this teft of virtue " whatfo- 
 ever ye would, &c." may fometimes prove 
 erroneous in its application to the conduct of 
 others, it would be found ftrictly true and 
 juft in all cafes, if we could reciprocally ex- 
 change lituations and fenfations. Thus, if a 
 perfon in need a(k me for a loaf of bread, 
 which I may have it in my power to give, 
 he may deem the refufal of his requeft a vio- 
 lation of this rule, " whatfoever ye would, 
 
 7 
 
( xxvii ) 
 
 &c ;" but it may happen, that I could not 
 comply with the petition, without doing an 
 injury to thofe more near to me or more dear 
 to me ; and who have a reafonable claim to 
 preference in my regard. I may not, for in- 
 ftance, be able to fatisfy this perfon's hunger, 
 without caufing hunger in my own family. 
 In theTe circumftances let the perfon, who 
 folicits the benefa&ion and he of whom it is 
 folicited for a moment change places ; and 
 then the former may not only fee but feel 
 that I do not offend asrainft the great Chrif- 
 tian law by not granting his petition. Thus 
 if people would for a moment reciprocally 
 endeavour to identify themfelves as it were 
 with each other's circumftances and fenfa- 
 tions, this rule might become a very jufl: 
 criterion *, by which to eftimate not only 
 
 * I cannot help, in this place, intruding on the atten- 
 tion of the reader a remark, which forcibly flrikes me at 
 this moment, that this rule of doing to others whatfoever 
 we would that they mould do to us, which our Lord fo 
 folemnly enjoins and fo forcibly applauds, as containing 
 the fubftance of the law and the prophets, proves in a moil; 
 
( xxviii ) 
 
 their own goodnefs but the goodnefs of their 
 fellow-creatures. 
 
 As man is made for immortality, and as the 
 greateft good which he can enjoy in this life 
 is fo fmall in degree and fo fhort in duration, 
 
 fatisfactory manner, that he did not aflent to the modern 
 do&rine of the original and radical corruption of human 
 nature ; for the precept itfelf could not be correct and 
 would not ferve as a rule of action, nor would fo much 
 flrefs have been laid on it, if our feelings themfelves did 
 not atteji the obligations and ratify the prafticc of morality, 
 Jefus, therefore, evidently fuppofes our frame to contain in 
 iome meafure within itfelf the rule of virtuous action ; our 
 fenfations to bear teftimony to moral rectitude, and to 
 argue forcibly in favour of truth, juftice, and mercy. By 
 thus fuppofing a rule of virtuous action in the human con- 
 ftitution, he evidently intimates that the principle of virtue 
 is a predominant ingredient in the nature of man, and that 
 virtue itfelf is enthroned by the appointment of God, not 
 only in the outer courts but in the inmoft fancluary of the 
 heart. This inference may to fome appear far-fetched ; 
 but thofe, who, not contented with a fuperficial view of 
 things, have a capacity for profound inveftigation, will, J 
 truft, agree with me that this injunction of our Lord, 
 whatfocver, &c includes the flrongeit, the mod rational, 
 and to agehuine Chriftian the mod convincing arguments 
 that can be adduced againft the dodtrine of original fin ; — 
 the fource of fo much abfurdity, fo much vice, and fqi 
 much mifcry ! 
 
( xxix ) 
 
 that it is nothing when compared with the 
 eternal good which is to be revealed, it is 
 plain that Chriftians who believe that an 
 eternal reward is referved for the righteous, 
 ought to regulate their condudl more by the 
 confiderations of the future than of the pre- 
 fent. The injunctions of Chrift and his apof- 
 tles evidently tend to deter us from fin by the 
 fear of future torments ; and they incite us 
 to righteoufnefs by the affurance of an eternal 
 recompenfe. They threaten the finner with 
 the outer darknefs, where there is weeping 
 and gnajhing of teeth ; and they animate the 
 juft by the promife of an eternal weight of 
 glory. Chriftianity therefore certainly de- 
 rives our primary motives to virtuous action 
 from the interefts of eternity. Virtuous ac- 
 tion will, indeed, in the majority of cafes, be 
 found productive of prefent good * ; but cafes 
 may and fometimes will occur, in which it 
 may be productive of prefent evil. On thefe 
 
 * My ufe of the word prefent has been already noticed 
 above, 
 
( XXX ) 
 
 occafions, if a man were virtuous only from 
 the hope of, or with a view to prefent <nx)d, 
 or in the expectation of an overbalance of 
 pleafure to accrue to himfelf or to others in 
 this mortal life, he might perhaps, at laft, 
 find virtue, like Brutus, unfatisfactory ; and, 
 in the emotions of his impatience, be ready to 
 arraign the moral government of God. 
 
 If we confider virtuous conduct as relative 
 to our future good, virtue will, when beheld 
 under this afpect, be found in all cafes our 
 greater! poffible good ; and, as in the majority 
 of cafes, our real prefent and our eternal hap- 
 pinefs will be found clofely connected, and, 
 as the fame virtue, which always tends to the 
 acquisition of the laft will be found, in mofi 
 inflances, to promote the firft, virtue oil be 
 deemed our greateft good viewed only in its 
 relations to this fliort life; and, in thofe cafes, 
 in which the rigid performance of our duty 
 may expofe us to any temporal inconvenience 
 or diftrefs, that inconvenience and diftrefs 
 
( xxxi ) 
 
 will be endured with patierice by him> who 
 places his truft in the promifes of Chriftianity. 
 
 The great perfection of Chriftian virtue is 
 to keep the fayings of Chrift, to be temperate, 
 juft, beneficent, in oppofition to our prefent 
 profit or prefent pleafure. We are placed in 
 circumftances, in which fuch a dereli£tion of 
 prefent for future good will be occafionally 
 demanded of us. If temporal pleafure or pro- 
 fit were the conjlant concomitant of virtuous 
 action, the obligations of virtue would be 
 performed with as little difficulty as any of 
 the animal .functions:- We (hou Id follow after 
 truth, juftice, and -charity, with as little re- 
 luctance as we eat when we are hungry or 
 drink when we are dry. But the primary mo- 
 tive to virtuous a£tion, which Chriftianity ap- 
 proves, is the defire of and the truft in that 
 everlafting good which Chrift has promifed 
 to thofe who keep his fayings; and we may 
 find fecondary motives in that prefent good, 
 that fatisfaftion and felf- complacency, that 
 
( xxxii ) 
 
 peace of confcience and joy of heart, of which 
 perfeverance in virtuous a&ion feldom fails to 
 be produ&ive. We are to feek Jirfl the king- 
 dom of God and his righteoufnefs ; and then, 
 humbly to hope, that if we ufe our beft en- 
 deavours to acquire a moral fitnefs for the 
 poffeffion, our heavenly Father will not fail 
 to give us a competent fhare of thofe other 
 good things which are fuited to our nature ; 
 which we have faculties to ufe and a capacity 
 to enjoy. 
 
 It has been fajd, that the general conduit 
 even of Chriitians is very little influenced by 
 the rewards and punishments of another life. 
 The general conducl of men is, indeed, the 
 refult of habit ; but what is habit but a repe- 
 tition of the fame fenfations and defires, the 
 fame thoughts and actions ? When, there- 
 fore, a man praftifes any particular duty of 
 temperance, truth, juftice, or charity, his 
 conduit may, in this particular inftance, be 
 the refult of fome paft affociation of ideas, 
 
( xxxiii ) 
 
 and not impelled by any motives, taken im- 
 mediately from the interefts of eternity. 
 This is very true; but, then, the habit of 
 temperance, of truth, or juftice, or charity, 
 being only the aggregate of many fucceffive 
 individual acts of temperance, truth, juftice* 
 or charity, if the actions which conftituted 
 the firft link in the chain of habit originated 
 in religious motives, the motives which laid 
 the foundation of the habit, may be reputed 
 the caufe of the fubfequent conduct ; and as 
 they produced the actions in the firft link of 
 the chain, they may be fuppofed operative in 
 thofe which conftitute the laft. But I am 
 inclined to think, that the more Chriftians 
 reflect on the nature of the good which is 
 about to be revealed, and the greatnefs of the 
 reward which is laid up for the righteous, 
 the more firm pofleffion will the happinefs of 
 another life take of their thoughts and fenfa*- 
 tions, their minds and affections ; the more it 
 will engrofs their attention ; the more it will 
 influence their conduct: ; and, confequeatly, 
 
 c 
 
( xxxiv ) 
 
 the more thofe individual acts which confti- 
 tute the habit of temperance, of truth, of 
 juftice, or charity are repeated, the more 
 they will be influenced by thofe motives 
 which are taken from the interefts of eter- 
 nity. Every fucceeding action will not only 
 borrow force from the preceding, but will be 
 more vigoroufly influenced by the motive 
 which produced the act that went before it. 
 Thus the ftrongeft motive to virtue, by 
 which a true follower of Chrift will be di- 
 rected, is his greateft pofiible good ; and that 
 conjidered more with a view to the future than 
 the prejent) to eternity than to time. 
 
 If we adopt that criterion of virtue which 
 I have defended, becaufe it appears to me 
 moft accordant with the genius of Chrif- 
 tianity and with the fandtions of its heavenly 
 founder, we (hall not try the morality of 
 actions by the degree of their utility, or by any 
 general overbalance of pie of ur able jcnfaiion, 
 accruing to the agent or to fociety, but by 
 i 
 
( XXXV ) 
 
 the degree of their conformity to the will of 
 God, as it has been made known to us in the 
 Chriftiau difpenfation. Chnftians are, in ge- 
 neral, too lax in their notions of moral obli-^ 
 gation. They direct the attention to a falfe 
 teft of moral duty. They do not adhere with 
 fufficient conftancy to this all-important doc* 
 trine that 7noral aclion is a Jlrit~l conformity of 
 the heart and mind, of the thoughts, the affec- 
 tions, and the whole conduSi to the will of God. 
 
 Morality may be proved to be the will of 
 God by various inductions of reafon, and to 
 which recourfe may be had in order to eluci- 
 date or to fhengthen the authoritative in- 
 junctions of revelation. It may be proved to 
 be the will of God, by the order of the moral 
 world, in which phyfical is made the correc- 
 tive of moral evil ; by the nice and curious 
 adaptation which there is in good nets to pro- 
 duce happinefs ; by the fitnefs which there 
 is in temperance, truth, juftice, and charity, 
 to promote the good of the individual and the 
 
 c % 
 
( xxxvi ) 
 
 well-being of fociety -, by the wonderful and 
 univerfal congruity which there is between 
 truth and juftice, and the natural unvitiated 
 fentiments of mankind ; by the prefent unea- 
 finefs and the trembling apprehenfion of thofe 
 who do evil ; and by the prefent fatisfadtion 
 and the joyful hope of thofe who do good ; 
 even in countries where revelation is un- 
 known. Thefe confiderations, which natu- 
 ral reafon will fuggeft, may be adduced to 
 prove that morality is the will of God ; but a 
 Chriftian is not fo much to inculcate moral 
 action becaufe it is required by the fitnefs of 
 things, becaufe it is agreeable to the natural 
 fentiments, to the common fenfe and the 
 common feelings of mankind, as becaufe it 
 is confonant to the will of God, and com- 
 manded in the gofpel of his Son ; without 
 obedience to which we fhall perifli ever- 
 laftingly. On this as well as other points 
 I have without any equivocation or difguife 
 laid before the reader the fober conviction of 
 my reafon and the warm perfuafion of my 
 
( xxxvii ) 
 
 heart ; and though I hope that I have never 
 treated with fcorn, I truft that I have never 
 copied with fervility, the opinions of any 
 writer, whether antient or modern, whether 
 among the living or the dead. 
 
 Chriftian divines often miftake through 
 ignorance, or miftate through prejudice, the 
 true meafures of Chriftian piety. They do 
 not fufficiently call the attention of tf\e 
 young, of the old, and the middle-aged to 
 the eternal importance of praftical fobernefs,' 
 righteoufnefs, and godlinefs. — Finding the 
 great indifference of Chriftians in general to 
 thefe moft interefting topics, finding fome 
 feparating religion from morals, or morals 
 from religion, making the gofpel of Jefus 
 contemptible or ridiculous, polluting it with 
 cant, or perplexing it with fophifms, lower- 
 ing its fublimity by their frivolous and un- 
 worthy gloffes, or burying its (implicity 
 under an abyfs of dark and doubtful difputa- 
 itions, I have endeavoured in this work, aa 
 
 c ? 
 
( xxxviii ) 
 
 well as in my Picture of Chriftian Phtlofo- 
 phy *, to warm the hearts of men with the 
 fpirit of true right eoufnefs, and to lead them 
 into a right track of thinking; on the doctrines 
 and the duties, on the true character and 
 genius of Christianity, 
 
 ROBERT FELLOWES, 
 
 Curate of Uarbury i near Stouthatn, War^v'ickjliir?* 
 
 Uarbury, 
 jiugujl 3, 1801. 
 
 * My own feelings would convict, me of ingratitude, if, 
 on this occafion, I did not otler my public thanks to my 
 much revered and much loved friend Dr. Pair, for the 
 earned, the energetic, and affectionate manner in which he 
 has vindicated the Picture of Chriftian Philofophy from the 
 mifreprefentations of the Britijh critics ; and, perhaps, I 
 ought, at the fame time, to return my thanks to thole gen- 
 tlemen for having been the occafion of my receiving fo 
 much elegance of praife from one, who is equally diftin- 
 guifhed by the vigor of his intellect, and the fervor of his 
 benevolence; who is a philofopher without degmatifm, a 
 critic without bitternels, and a priefl without intolerance 
 and without guile. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 TEXT. 
 
 PACES 
 
 I HE fanatics unma/ked ; fome of their mlf- 
 chicvous tenets examined ', illujlrated and refuted \ 
 with various praclical objervations. I — $2 
 
 Falfe teachers; how known, 1,2.* Their 
 doctrines productive of immorality, 3 — 5. 
 Grace of the fanatics; their notions on, com- 
 bated ; the conditions of obtaining, 6 — 8. 
 Senfation no teft of grace, 9. Falfe confi- 
 dence reprobated , our continual dependance 
 upon God, 10. Gradual increafe in holi- 
 nefs; difficulties in the way of falvation, 11. 
 Fanatics, their perverfion of fcripture, parti- 
 cularly of St Paul's epiffcles, 12 — 14. Their 
 almoft exclufive worfliip of the Son ; bar- 
 ren obfcurity of their inftrucYions, 15, 16, 
 Alarming decay of morality ; promoted by 
 the mifchievous doctrines of the fanatics, 
 17 — 23. Effect of better inftruclions, 24. 
 
 * Thefe figures refer to the paragraphs. 
 
 c 4 
 
( xl ) 
 
 ?AGEt 
 
 Natural capacity of man to do good or evil, 
 25, 26. The fanatical reprefentations of ori- 
 ginal fin deftroy the moral government of 
 God; defpoil him of his attributes of good- 
 nefs and juftice, 27 — 30. Preference of God; 
 the motives to it j the objects of it, 31, 32. 
 The righteoufnefs and unrighteoufnefs of in- 
 dividuals not the fpecial appointment of God ; 
 the fuppofition irrational and abfurd ; piety 
 and impiety matters of free election, 33 — 35. 
 Doctrines of the fanatics popular becaufc 
 unfavourable to practical virtue ; the nature 
 and effects of their inftructions contrafted 
 with thofe of the fober miniflers of the 
 eftablifhed church, 36 
 
 Man was a free agents accountable for his actions 
 
 before the fall, and has continued fo cycrjince, 53 — 78 
 
 Man an accountable being, 1, 2. Moral capa- 
 city of man, 3; freedom of its exercife, 4; 
 the contrary fuppohtion refuted, 5, 6. Mo- 
 ral capacity of man not taken away bv the 
 fall ; examination of that event ; the proba- 
 tionary ftate of our firft parents ; the nature 
 of their trial, 7—12; how they were over- 
 come, 13, 14. The moral powers of Adam 
 not ftronger than thofe of his defcendants ; 
 original righteoufnefs a fiction ; arguments 
 againit it, 15 — 17. Man remains as upright 
 as he was created ; natural integrity how 
 loft, 18. Our prefent ftate of trial; con- 
 trafted with that of Adam, 19, 20. Moral 
 corruption not included in the fentence of 
 
( xli ) 
 
 PACES 
 
 condemnation pafTe<! on our firft parents, 21. 
 The punifhment of Adam • our prefent flate 
 of difeipline more favourable to moral im- 
 provement, 22 — 24. Through Adam we 
 become liable to fin, 25. Difference between 
 the condition of Adam and his defcendants, 26 
 
 ^he do Urine of faith, fpecidative and practical, 
 philosophical, theological) and moral, 
 
 IN THREE PARTS. 
 
 Part I. 79 — 96 
 
 Different kinds and degrees of aflent, r, 2. 
 Practical illustrations, 3, 4. Actual and mo- 
 ral certainty diftinguifhed, 5. Truth of reve- 
 lation a moral certainty, 6 ; faith in it an 
 aflent to a highly probable truth ; inftanced in 
 the fact of the refurrccYion, 7, 8. Unwife 
 in religious, as in other concerns, not to a£t 
 on the evidence of probability, 9 — 13. Re- 
 ligious belief infeparable from fome degree of 
 doubt and fome moments of diftruft, 14 — 16. 
 Diftruft to be refitted ; doubts not to be 
 cherifhed, 17. The lefs doubts and diftruft 
 prevail, the more vigorous and operative reli- 
 gious belief, 18. Goodnefs increafes with 
 the increafe of faith, 19. Religious intereft 
 exceeds every other ; its reality not dimi- 
 nifhed by diftance ; only more fuited to our 
 ftate of moral agency,. 20 — 22 
 
( xlii > 
 
 PAGES 
 
 The doctrine of faith. 
 
 Part II. 97 — 115 
 
 The fanatical doctrine of faith defcribed and 
 Tefuted, 1 — 7. Many errors re(ped\\ng faith 
 originate in the ignorance or mifapplication 
 of the term, 8; its feveral fcriptural figniri- 
 cations, 9 — 14. Some degree and kind of 
 religious belief univerfal, 15. The heathen 
 capable of difcovering the true God, 16, 17. 
 Acquisition of religious knowledge favoured 
 by the conftitution of nature and of man, 1 8. 
 The mind, daikened by the paffions, becomes 
 the Have of fin, 19. The moral corruption 
 and intellectual darknefs of the heathen 
 world, 20. Several manifestations of the will 
 of God, anterior to the Chriftian, 21 — 26. 
 Jefus the Chrift, the principal object of 
 Chriftian faith ; neceflary to falvation, 27. 
 True Chriftian faith infeparable from prac- 
 tical righteoufnefs, 28, 29 
 
 The doclrine of faith. 
 
 Part III. 116 — 149 
 
 Saving faith defcribed ; connected with mora- 
 lity ; the genius of Chriftian morality, I — 8. 
 The fenfations, not the proper feat of faith, 
 9, 10. Real faith requires ftronger proof 
 than outward profeffion, 1 1, 12; the genuine 
 proof of it, 13— 15. True faith, the united 
 product of the reaibn and affections, 16. 
 Speculative belief, with practical irreligion ; 
 and practical piety without rational convic- 
 
( xliti ) 
 
 PAGES 
 
 tlon, 17, 18. Tnflability of faith, which is 
 not the product of reafon, 19 — at. The 
 faith mod fuited to the nature of man and 
 moil acceptable to God, 22. Different fa no- 
 tions of the affections and the reafon in reli- 
 gious belief, 23, 24. Rational faith not 
 eafily (haken, 25. In this country, the 
 means o^ rational conviction widely diftufed, 
 26 Mrong popu ar arguments in favour of 
 the truth of revealed religion, fuited to all 
 capacities, 27. Reafonable conviction to be 
 afTociated with practical righteoufnefs, 28. 
 In what fenfe, faith neLcJJ'arily productive of 
 righteous faefs, 29 in the conveifion of 
 Atheills and Deifts, no pains to he fpared to 
 promote the growth of practical p:ety, 30. 
 Conviction of the mind blended with the 
 perfuafion of the heart, 31 — 33 EfTentials 
 and non-efftntials of religious belief, 34, 35. 
 Agreement in ejjentials ought to be produc- 
 tive of harmonv, 6. Points of doctrine not 
 eflential to godlinefs debated with too much 
 bitternefs, retained with too much obftinacy, 
 37. Why people are bewildered in religious 
 error, 38. Scoffing reprobated ; the fober 
 infidel not to be rafhly condemned or con- 
 temptuoufly reviled, 39. Diffuafion from 
 intolerance, 40 
 
 The doftrine of regeneration, rational, fcriptural, 
 
 and ptafticaL 1 50 — 180 
 
 Regeneration, the favourite doctrine of the fa- 
 natics, i. They fuppofe it a change wrought 
 
( xliv ) 
 
 without the concurrence of the reafon or the 
 will, 2. Sinfulnefs not innate; innocence 
 of little children ; confolation to parents ; 
 perfonality of guilt, 3 — 8. How fin prevails, 
 9. Regeneration when neceflary, 10 — 13. 
 Nature of the change required, 14, 15. 
 Perfons, in whom repentance is not required; 
 the exemption belongs to few, 16, 17. 
 Power of habit, 18. Progreffive converfion 
 of the finner, 19 — 24. Genuine token of 
 converfion ; fruitful in different degrees; not 
 exempted from occafional offences, 25 — 30. 
 Sinlefs perfection not demanded of us ; 
 to drive after a continual increafe in good- 
 nefs, 31 — 34. Danger of making moral 
 comparifons in our own favour ; the true 
 flandard of excellence, 35. NecerTity and 
 importance of moral exertion, 36,37. The 
 power of fin ; how fubdued by the penitent, 
 38, 39. Cautions againfl: falfe judgments 
 on, or the fupcrflcial practice of repentance, 
 40 — 43. Pure religion, 44 
 
 1'he doctrine of grace fcriptural, rational, and 
 
 praclical. 1 £ i — 2 1 $ 
 
 Grace ; its mode of operation and means of 
 obtaining, 1 — 17. Grace of the fanatics ; 
 their errors refuted, 18 — 26. Genuine fruits 
 of grace contraftcd with the counterfeit, 
 27 — 29. Grace does not fuperfede moral 
 exertion ; or annihilate the freedom of the 
 will, 30 — 36. Not an exemption from mo- 
 ral obligations, 37— -40. The. Jaw and the 
 
< Xl7 ) 
 
 page£< 
 gofpel compared, 41,42. A ftate of, grace ' 
 
 incompatible with a ftate of fin, 43-^-45 ; 
 Compatible with occafional offences, 46 — 48. 
 The difficulties of our trial ; practical re- 
 flections, 49 — 60 
 
 *Tke practice of repentance plainly and affec- 
 tionately recommended. 2 1 9 — 230 
 
 Self-deception ! 1, 2. Repentance when ne- 
 ceflary ; practical remarks, 3 — 6. Late re- 
 pentance, 7 — 9 ; of the thief upon the crofs 
 no encouragement to finners, 10. Repent- 
 ance not fudden ; progreffive ; arguments 
 againft deferring it, ir — 17 
 
 Temptations ; how to combat , and how to conquer. 231 — 243 
 
 How temptations operate, 1 ; to be refilled by 
 reafon and eonfeience, 2. Temptations not 
 irrefiftible, 3 — 5. Vigilance and precautions 
 againft temptations neceffary, 6, 7. Efficacy 
 of prayer, 8. We tempt ourfelves ; how ; 
 rieceflity of reftraining the luxuriance of the 
 imagination ; importunity in prayer recom- 
 jmended, 9 — \% 
 
 Caufes of religious error and unbelief 244 — 267 
 
 Caufes of religious error and unbelief, r. Our 
 Lord's cautions againft intellectual darknefs ; 
 benefits of a well regulated underftanding, 2. 
 Early acquifition of religious knowledge, 3. 
 Religious principles to be inftilled into chil- 
 dren ; cautions to be obferved ; force of reh- 
 
( xlvi ) 
 
 PAGI3 
 
 gious prejudices, 4. Freedom of religious 
 inquiry, checked bv cowardice, 5 Religious 
 prejudices, pernicious diftinguiflied from ufe- 
 ful, 6. Nature of prejudices exemplified, 7,8. 
 Prejudices of Chriftian fe£ts, 9. The fpirit 
 of perfecution not extinguifhed, 10. Conii- 
 derations tending to ahate intolerance, 1 1 — 1 6. 
 Superftition defcrihed, 17. Superflitions of 
 the Pharifees ; of Chriftians, 18,19. Some 
 caufes by which fuperftition is engendered, 
 remarks tending to counteract it, 20 — 22. 
 Moral corruption a frequent caufe of infi- 
 delity, 23 — 25 
 
 Evils of dijfcnfion. Temperate fuggeflions. Eccle- 
 faflical union. The juji medium between indif- 
 ference and intolerance in ■particular diverjities 
 of opinion. 2 6 8 — 3 1 4 
 
 Miferies of a contentious fpirit ; European wars ; 
 political difTenfions ; conciliatory remarks, 
 I — 7. Religious factions, contrafted with 
 political; abfurdity of religious antipathy and 
 intolerance, 8. Agreement in the eflentials 
 of found do6lrine fhould prevent frivolous 
 difputes, 9. EfTential articles cf belief con- 
 nected with practical goodnefs ; to be vigor- 
 oufly defended, 10. Unbelief in the being 
 of a God, its pernicious effects on the con- 
 duel: ; an atheifl not an objedl of fympathy, 
 11. Fundamental principle of the Chriflian 
 religion ; no cordial efteem between a be- 
 liever and an unbeliever, 12. The regard 
 due to the whole fpecies of man ; the ties, 
 
( xlvii ) 
 
 which individuate and ftrengthen it, 13. 
 Particular attachments increafed by moral ap- 
 probation ; moral qualities a ground of pre- 
 ference, 14, 15. Communion in religious 
 tenets ftreno-thens individual attachments, i&. 
 Particular differences of opinion which can 
 reafonably neither increafe nor di minim in- 
 dividual regard ; diminifhed by tenets, which 
 caufe moral difapprobation, 17 — 19. Reli- 
 gious peace ; fin of Schifm, 20. Reafons, 
 which juftify feceffion, not applicable to the 
 feceders from the church of England, 21. 
 Liturgy of the Engliih church, eulogy on; 
 arguments for conformity, 22, 23. Multi- 
 plication of fedlaries ; confideration tending 
 to eftablilh religious harmony, 24. Perfe- 
 ction reprobated, 25. Effeivials of pure 
 ChrifYianity ; the only reafonable grounds of 
 religious (eparation, 26, 27. Peace not to 
 be preferved with any church authoriling 
 moral corruption, 28. The bed imerefts of 
 religion and virtue promoted by the church 
 of England ; moderation and unanimitv re- 
 commended, 29. Occalions in which a di- 
 verfity of opinions may juftify a diminution 
 of benevolent regard, 30,31. Men's prac- 
 tice in mod cafes conformable to their opi- 
 nions, 32. Force of public opinion, falutary 
 tendency of, 33 — 35. Self-approbation con- 
 nected with the approbation of others; con- 
 clufion, 36, 37 
 
 PAGES 
 
( 1 ) 
 
 deration, 1 6. Favour of God, means of 
 obtaining, 17. Will of God, extreme dan- 
 ger of deviating from, 18. Religious obe- 
 dience, occaiional deflections from ; habitual ; 
 poflibility of the finners return to righteouf- 
 nefs ; difficulty of it, 19. Small tranfgref- 
 fions, neceffity of abftaining from, 20. In- 
 creafe in goodnefs an increafe in happinefs ; 
 endlefs progreffion of, 21 — 23. The will of 
 God, the image of his perfections ; the mo- 
 ral law the effect of it ; moral improvement 
 depends on obeying it, 24, 25. Perfections 
 of God ; imperfections of man ; duty of zeal 
 in moral improvement, 26, 27. Obedience 
 to the divine will our greateil good; objec- 
 tion anfwered, 28. Immutable difference 
 between moral good and evil, 29. Compa- 
 rifon between moral and fenfual pleafures, 30. 
 Moral good, an inflinctive propenfity to ; 
 natural approbation of, independant of affo- 
 ciated circumftances, 31 — o ) o ) . Pleafures of 
 fm counteracted bv moral diffatisfaction ; 
 benefit of conftancy in moral action, 34. 
 Chriftianity proves moral good the greateft 
 good ; future happinefs proportionate to the 
 meafure of our obedience, 35. Righteous 
 habits the aggregate effect of particular acts 
 of righteoufnefs; practical application, 36 — 
 39. The recompence of the righteous rela- 
 tive to the degree of their righteoufnefs, af- 
 fectionate exhortation, 40. Perfection o£ 
 the will of God contrafted with the imperfec- 
 tion of that of man, 41. Obedience to the 
 moral law not compulfory ; clofe connection 
 
 7 
 
 PAGti 
 
( r. ) 
 
 between virtue and happinefs here, indiffolu- 
 ble hereafter, 42, 43. Morality the perfec- 
 tion of natural and revealed religion, 44. 
 Imaginary model of moral excellence formed 
 by reafon ; the real model exhibited by 
 Chriftianity, 45. Divine perfections incom- 
 prehenfible ; in the perfon of Chrift reduced 
 to the level of our comprehenfion, 46, 47. 
 Perfection of Chrifl's character, 48. Hif- 
 torical form of the Chriftian revelation, bene- 
 fit of; unifon between the precepts and the 
 character, 49. Good effect of imitating a 
 virtuous character, efpecially of imitating 
 ChriiVs ; his perfections imitable, 50,51- 
 Goodnefs of God, evidences of, in the natural 
 world, checquered with apparent evil, 52. 
 The wife mixture of good and evil in the 
 world juft fuch as to excite the cheering ex- 
 pectation of a happier life, 53. A greater 
 portion of temporal good would increafe 
 worklly-mindednefs, 54. Chrift a corporeal 
 refemblance of the Divine Goodnefs ; imita- 
 tion of his character ; its tendency to make 
 us happy; to conciliate the affections of our 
 fellow-creatures, 55 — 58. Chriflian morals, 
 tendency of to promote individual and gene- 
 ral good, 59, 60. Principle of gratitude; its 
 operations; its production favoured by the 
 Chriflian virtues, 61 — 64. Chriltian virtues, 
 their intimate connection with our future 
 happinefs ; goodnefs qualifies for admiflion 
 into the pretence of God ; the only recom- 
 mendation to his favour, 65 — 69 
 
 d 2 
 
 PAGES 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fanatics among the Methodifts. Two divi- 
 ftons of Methodifts. Methodifts in the church 
 of England ; duty of the unvitiated mini- 
 fters of the eftablimment, 2, 3 
 
 Calvin plans and executes the deftruclion of 
 Servetus ; judicious refle&ion of Grotius. 
 Calvin juftiriesperfecution. Atrocious maxim 
 of the Calvinifts. The Jingular urbanity of 
 Calvin's ftyle 5 he refolves to alter it; and 
 does alter it, for the worfe, 4 — 6 
 
 State of the foul fitting it for the infufion of 
 
 grace, 7— $ 
 
 The caufe of falvation ; the conditions of, 9 
 
 Obfcurity of St. Paul's epiftles noted by St. 
 Peter; caufes of that obfcurity briefly fug 
 gefted; St. James endeavours to correct the 
 miftakes which they had occaiioned. Dod- 
 vvell and Whitby remark St. Paul's alluiions 
 to the heathen philofophy, 12 — 14 
 
 . Paul wont to fpeak in the perfon of another, 14 
 
( lis ) 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Wide difFufion and rapid increafe of moral cor- 
 ruption, extracts relative to, from Colquhoun, 17 — 19 
 
 The new morality ! Corruptions of the fanatics 
 and philofophifts compared. Cruelty and 
 luft characterife fanatics antient and modern. 
 Confequences in the dark ages of prohibiting 
 matrimony to the Romifh clergy. The 
 Romifh bifhops filled their coffers by grant- 
 ing licences to their clergy to keep concu- 
 bines ; fuch licences compulfory ! ! ! Great 
 want of chaftity in the monafteries and among 
 the Rom i ill priefthood. Tender mercies of 
 fanaticifm ! Structure of the inquifitorial 
 prifons ; the accumulated fufferings of the 
 prifoners ; the atrocities of the inquifitors ; 
 the place of torture ; the mode of torture \\\ %o — 29 
 
 Machinations of the Methodifls, 30 
 
 Sunday fchools inftruments of evil in the hands 
 of the fanatics, 31 
 
 Jeremy Taylor quoted ; the doctrine of original 
 fin encourages perfonal depravity. Original 
 corruption not the doctrine of the church of 
 England. What conftitutes the church of 
 England. The doctrine of the clergy the 
 doctrine of the church. The right of pri- 
 vate judgment not taken away by fubfcrip- 
 tion to the articles ; allowed by the articles 
 themfelves. Religious knowledge progref- 
 five. The clergy to exercife their reafon in 
 the ftudy and explanation of the fcriptures. 
 Prejudices of the framers of the articles ; diffi- 
 culties they had to contend with ; the pru- 
 dence and moderation of their conduct. 
 Laws abolifhed without beino; formallv re- 
 
 d 3 
 
PAGEa 
 
 ( «♦ ) 
 
 pealed ; eflablimed without being formally 
 enacted. General practice. The greateft 
 divines of the church of England have directly 
 or indirectly oppofed the doctrine of the arti- 
 cles. Inference from their practice and the 
 practice of the majority of the clergy. The 
 oath of fubfcription cannot always be taken 
 in the fenfe in which it is adminiftered ; the 
 abfurdity of the contrary fuppofition. No 
 falfehood where no intention to deceive and 
 nobody deceived. The whole body of the 
 clergy can never agree in opinion on thirty- 
 nine complex proportions. Opinions of the 
 fame individual, liable to variations at different 
 periods of his life. Such variations impoffible 
 to be prevented. Opinions of a clergyman 
 may change without any change in his inte- 
 grity. The real ufes and ends of an eltablifh- 
 ment ; not impaired by any latitude of con- 
 ftruction allowed in the oath of fubfcription. 
 The author's defign in thefe reflections ; his 
 regard for the eftabiifhed church, 32 — 42 
 
 Hiftory of the creation, figurative exprefTions 
 
 in » 5 6 > 57 
 
 Whitby reprobates the doctrine of imputed 
 
 righteoufnefs and unrighteoufnefs, 62, 63 
 
 Averfion to religious cant, proof of a genuine 
 
 regard for religion, 63 
 
 Extracts from Sir Matthew Hale and Bifhop 
 Butler on the moral conftitution of man. 
 Original fin declared by Jeremy Taylor con- 
 trary to the doctrine of antiquity. Whitby 
 educated a Calvinift, his opinion on the fub- 
 ject. Mifs H. More commended and cen- 
 
PACES 
 
 ( Iv ) 
 
 fared. Slanders on the fair fex by St. Auftin. 
 Vindication of the ladies by the author. St. 
 Jerom and Chryfoftom not friendly to wo- 
 mankind, 64 — 73 
 Hooker quoted ; fuppofed an advocate for ori- 
 ginal corruption ; his authority oppofed by 
 that of Jeremy Taylor. The latter repre- 
 fents the moral ttate of man improved by the 
 fall. Men made finners not by nature but 
 by habit, 88 — 90 
 Practical influence of faith defeated by perverfe 
 
 notions on j unification, &c. 0/3, 94, 
 
 Evidence of Chriftianity fufiicient for convic- 
 tion, 98, 99 
 Faith jujTifies, IOl 
 Ceremonial and moral purity, 117 
 Popifh corruption the primary caufe of French 
 atheifm ; mifchievous effects attributed to 
 that atheifm ; favoured by the circumstances 
 of the revolution. Fanaticifm and atheifm 
 compared, 125-^131 
 Extract from Epifcopius in favour of religious 
 
 toleration, 148 
 
 Senfelefs jargon of the fanatics, 150, 15 1 
 
 Pfalm li. 5. remarks on, by Jeremy Taylor ; 
 by John Taylor ; by Grotius ; by Le Clerc ; 
 Job xiv. 4. commented on by John Taylor j 
 the reading of the Septuagint, 153 — 1<^ 
 
 Le Clerc on Prov. xxii. 6. 139 
 
 Inftructions, what moft necefTary at the prefent 
 
 juncture, 180 
 
 Cheerfulnefs an indication of • goodnefs ; dejec- 
 
 tion of the Methodifh ; their long graces, 196— I 
 
PACES 
 
 Character of the fanatics in the time of Epif- 
 
 copius, 198, 1 99 
 
 Archbifhop Newcomers tranflation of the new 
 
 covenant, 201 
 
 Dr. S. Clarke's paraphrafe on Luke xxiii. 
 
 39—43, 225, 226 
 
 Extract from Jofephus on the fruits of Sodom, 237 
 Behaviour of Jefus to the Canaanitifh woman, 
 Matt. xv. 21 — 28. Efficacy of prayer fcrip- 
 turally and philofophically defcribed, 240 — 243 
 
 Grotius and Rofenmuller on Luke xi. 35, 244 
 
 Koecher on Matt. vi. 22, 23, 245 
 
 Mifchievous tendency of cowardice, 248, 249 
 
 Obftinacy of prejudice defcribed by Degerando, 249, 250 
 Wholcfome prejudices commended; cautions, 250 
 
 Some truly wife reflections of Grotius recom- 
 mended to the attention of Dr. Prieftley, 256 
 Moral corruption of the Jews the principal 
 
 caufe of their rejecting Jefus, 266, 267 
 
 Truth more often the fruit than the occafion of 
 
 the difputcs of mankind, 270 
 
 Atheifts ; whence their zeal in making pro- 
 
 felytes, 278 
 
 Cicero's fentiments on the importance of reli- 
 gious impreffions. Locke defends intolerance 
 towards atheifts. Cafes, in which pernicious 
 opinions may be objects of penal reitraint. 
 Two defcriptions of atheifts ; a remedy pro- 
 pofed, 279 — 282 
 
 Quotation from Dr. Pair's Spital fermon. 
 Slight differences of opinion between the 
 author and Dr. Parr. Dr. Parr's erudition, 
 &c. his %le, 286, 3S7 
 
( Ivii ) 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Ecclefiaflical divifions condemned by Clemens 
 
 Romanus ; chanty extolled, 289, 29P 
 
 Duty of governments to watch over the moral 
 culture of the people. Clofe connection be- 
 tween moral and phyfical good ; changes in the 
 moral aflbciated with analogous changes in 
 the natural world. Senfe of moral duty in- 
 vigorated by religion. Different effects of 
 penal law and religious perfuafion. Import- 
 ance of religious inftrudtion. Necefiitv of 
 an eftablifhed miniftry; Error of the French 
 legiflators. Beneficial alliance between church 
 and flate ; an eflabliflied church favourable 
 to civil liberty, 292 — 299 
 
 Dr. S. Clarke's defcription of true religion. 
 Jeremy Taylor's definition of Chriflianity. 
 Cave's primitive Chriflianity, recommended 
 by the bifhop of Lichfield. A work entitled 
 " The Defign of Chmlianity," • 299, 300 
 
 Genuine piety, 303 
 
 Frivolous pretexts for religious feparation, 3°3> 3^4 
 
 Singular in fiance of.popifh ini piety, 304 
 
 Danger to be apprehended from fanatics and 
 
 fanaticifm, 306, 307 
 
 Comparative evil of bad maxims and bad exam- 
 ples. Pernicious tendency of the new mora- 
 lity. Falfe theories of religion and morals to 
 be oppofed by reafon. The principles of 
 morals and the truth of religion cannot be 
 invalidated by difcuffion, 308 — 310 
 
 The ftate of public morals, means of afcer- 
 taining, 312 
 
 The moral law the true bafis of civil policy, 342 
 
PAGES 
 
 345> 
 
 34^ 
 
 349> 
 
 35o 
 
 35 r 
 
 
 355 
 
 
 355 
 
 
 358, 
 
 359 
 
 360 
 
 
 ( toii ) 
 
 Practical wifdom taught by fenfation, 
 
 Eternity of future' punishments ! 
 
 Importance of religious imprefiions made in 
 early life, 
 
 Moral perfeclioning of man, 
 
 Man progreffive in a future life, 
 
 Moral improvement genuine fpiritunl joy, 
 
 Moral good happinefs ; moral evil mifery, 
 
 Natural relifh for virtue impaired by bad habit, 360, 361 
 
 Propenfity to behold fights of mifery ; opera- 
 tions of fympathy ; its beneficial tendency ; 
 aflive and pajjive habits, finking difference 
 remarked in ; how the cruel character is 
 formed, 361 — 363 
 
 Argument againft innate corruption, 365 
 
 Habits of righteoufnefs relative to the time al- 
 lowed for the acquiiition, .369 
 
 The character of Chrift the ftrongefl proof of 
 the truth of Chriflianity. Wakefield's evi- 
 dences of Chriftianity, 375*37^ 
 
 The perfections of the Godhead refident in 
 Jefus of Nazareth. Difficulty of the Trini- 
 tarian controverfy ; charity recommended, 376 
 
 Practical more important than fpeculative theo- 
 logy, quoted from Epifcopius, 377 
 
 Pre-eminent excellence of the Chrifbian theo- 
 ry* 37$ 
 
 Pain and mifery, whv mingled in the conftitu- 
 
 tion of the world ; how a finite being is to 
 
 be made mod happy, 384 — 385 
 
 The refurrecTion of Chrift the moft convincing 
 proof of a future life, 387 
 
 The precepts of the gofpel philofophically juft, 389 
 
( K* ) 
 
 PAGES 
 
 The love of God, the root of genuine benevo- 
 lence -, no true benevolence in an atheift ; 
 addrefs to Mr. Godwin ; fymptoms of his 
 converfion ; prayer for its confummation. 
 Ivlifs Seward of Lichfield, eulogy on, 390 — 392 
 
 Univerfal propensity to thankfulnefs on receiv- 
 ing favours, 395, 396 
 
 Direct and indirect, action of mors! canfes, 397 
 
 The effential conllituents of true politcncfs re- 
 commended in the fermon Oil the mount, 398 
 
 Malevolence incompatible with the love of 
 
 God, 399, 400 
 
 Additions, 401 — 404 
 
 Notions of the Calvimfts on faith and juftiflca- 
 tion, leading to the commiffion of the fouleft 
 crimes, 401 
 
 Profound reflections of Jeremy Taj lor on the 
 
 doctrine of the Holy Trinity, 4c? — 4C4 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 2, line 7, not?, for Anti-Calih.ijis read Attic ■hiniji. P. 5, 1. 13, 
 note, after Ed. r. 1679. P. 5, 1. 28, note, for forem r. loncm. Ibid, for 
 Coror.bcrtium r. Cornbertium. Ibid, for nebulorcm r. neb.lonem. P. 5, 1. 29, 
 note, for rem r. »£«. P. 6, 1. 10. for cum que r. cumque. P, 6, 1. 13, note, for 
 abeo r. ab eo. P. 14, 1. 3, note, for ermente r. ex mints. P. 21, 1. 23, note, 
 for fuppatatione r. Jupputatione. P. 21, 1. 30, no;e, for Sefellerunt r. 
 Sipelierukt. P. 22, I. 27, note, for tahs r. r^A;. P. 23, 1. 23, note, 
 for Juor.ja. P. 23, !. 4, note, for unaquaqua r. una^uaque. P. 23, J. j<j, 
 note, for per annos v. per annos. P. 24,1. 28, ::ote, for retir.endus ve r. ret'men- 
 dufve. P. 28, 1. 22, for utrnmque r. utramque. P. 35, I. 3, note, dele fallible. 
 P. 65, ). 1, for Jim x. fin. P. 73, 1. T, dele 18, and conhder the paragraph as 
 united with the preceding. P. 89, note, I have, unwittingly, conceded to 
 the advocates for the dodlrine of original Jin the hign fandtion of the 
 immortal Hooker; but, on a more j < sntive j rufal of the whole works 
 of this glorious defender of the Engl'uTi proteftant eftablifhment, I am con- 
 vinced that he gave no more credit to the doctrne of hereditary guilt and 
 imputed fin, than Jeremy Taylor of Down and Connor, the go^d and wife 
 churchman, or than John Taylor of Norwich, the honeft and artlefs Prefby- 
 terian. P. 147, 1. 13, for 40 r. 39. P. 149, 1. 3, for 4T r. 40. P. 155, 
 1. 6, note, for quit us. r. quibus. P. 174, 1. 8, dele 35 and confider the para- 
 graph as united with the preceding. P. 20c, 1. I, note, for fpir'u r. jpirits. 
 P. 273, 1. I, for the r. they. P. 295, 1. 17, note, dele united. P. 205, 1. 10, 
 note, fox a negative not a pojiti'vz quantity r. negatively not pojitively, P. 303, 
 1. 12, for of t be r. or the. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 The Fanatics unmafked y fome of their mifchievous tenets 
 examined, illuftrated, and refuted-, with various 'prac- 
 tical enervations. 
 
 t. What our Lord faid of the falfe teachers of his 
 time, " by their fruits ye fh all know them" may, with 
 great propriety, be recommended as a teft, by which 
 to difcover the falfe teachers of the prefent age; who, 
 without any capacity to inftruct, or any authority to 
 preach, are rufhing into the Chriftian church, fubfti- 
 tuting the combinations of fraud for the truths of in- 
 fpiration, or making the abfurdities of fancy the bafis 
 of religion. 
 
 a. " By their fruits ye fhall know them." Wc 
 need no other teft by which to prove the falfehood 
 of thofe dark and complex, thofe fanciful and bewil- 
 dering do&rines, which the brawling votaries of Fa- 
 
 B 
 
( * ) 
 
 naticifm * are fprcading abroad, inftead of the plain 
 and reafonable religion of the gofpel. The malignity 
 
 * Where I ufe the word Fanatic and Fanaticifm, the reader 
 may, if he pleafes, in mojl places, fubftitute the words Methodift 
 and Methodifm. Fanatics are very numerous among that 
 mads of people, who are called Methodifts, and who are di- 
 vided into two great factions, denominated, — the Calviniftic 
 and the Arminian Methodifts ; but who differ, as I have inti- 
 mated in the preface to the Anti-Calvinifts, little in the nature 
 of their doctrine, and nothing in the ?niJchicfof its tendency. 
 Both are furious fupporters of the destructive doctrine of innate 
 and hereditary depravity. — But in the ftrict fenfe of the word, 
 all 'Fanatics are not Methodifts \ nor are all Methodifts Fanatics ; 
 and, for this reafon, I have ufed, in the following pages, a 
 term of a larger iignification than the term Methodifts or Me- 
 thodifm, and not circumfcribed within the pale of any par- 
 ticular feet of Chriftians. Moft of the pernicious tenets, how- 
 ever, which I have expofed and refuted in this work, if they 
 be not exclujively profefTed by the Methodifts, are yet more 
 generally embraced, and more ftrenuouily defended by them, 
 than by any other Chriftians in this country. — Perhaps I 
 might add, that there are many Methodifts in the church as 
 well as out of it. Thofe clergymen, who aflume the fplendid 
 title of Evangelical preachers, are, for the moft part, Me- 
 thodifts, in the prefent acceptation of that word; and are united 
 in an pffenfive and defensive league with the ftationary and 
 the itinerant champions of Methodifm; preaching the fame 
 do6trine, and employing both art and i/uluftry to establish the 
 fame impojlure. — Let the fober and ferious part of the Clergy, 
 who hold faith in a good confeience, who are friends to ge- 
 nuine and reafonablo Chriftianity, exert all their diligence, and 
 all their zeal, to defeat the machinations, and to fruftrate the 
 <-;mpts of thefe Anti-Chriftian teachers. Let them endca- 
 . of to banifli the deftroyiog Demon of Fanaticifm from th<- 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 of Fanaticifm, in order to be detected, and when de» 
 tected, to be abhorrred, requires only to be obferved 
 in its effecls on the conduct of thofe, in whofe hearts 
 its baleful genius has fixed its dwelling, annulling the 
 fanctity of their promifes, imparting a fpirit of extor* 
 tion to their dealings, and fpreadirig the canker of 
 covetoufnefs over their affections $ for it feems as 
 impoflible to gather figs on thirties, or grapes on 
 thorns, as it is to find the obligations of truth, juftice, 
 and charity, refpected by thofe, whofe doctrine, whkh 
 is diametrically oppofite to the belief of their necessity, 
 neceffarily and uniformly relaxes their hold on the 
 confeience, and deftroys their influence on the life. 
 
 3. When the great moral duties, the weighty 
 matters of the law, which our Lord fo forcibly incul- 
 cated, and fo uniformly practifed, are affirmed not 
 to belong to the covenant of falvation, and when the 
 oppofite tranfgreffions are maintained to be the in- 
 herent propenfities of our nature, fuch doctrines 
 mud, unavoidably, caufe vice to flourifh, and virtue 
 to decay. — When iniquity is openly defended under 
 the banner of religion, and the fanctions of heaven are 
 forged to abet the lulls of fin, who can wonder that 
 the everlafling principles of truth, and juftice, anci 
 mercy, are delpifed ? 
 
 bofom of the Church of England ; and purfae it with the 
 unrelenting warfare, not of artilkry, but of argumtM, to tb# 
 very ends of the earth. 
 
 B 2, 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 4- Religion affords the only folid bads on which 
 to raife a fuperftructure of practical goodnefs; but 
 the Fanatics make even religion itfelf the foun- 
 dation of unrighteoufnefs. They fubftitute what 
 they call faith and grace; of which they entertain 
 the mod ftrange, confufed, and unfcriptural notions, 
 for the fanctity of moral obligation. They do not 
 confider grace as a help to goodnefs; but a certain 
 invifible fomething, which fuperfedes its neceflity. 
 It is rapturous fcnfation, not fober reafon, which efla- 
 blifhes their faith. They do not reprefent their con- 
 verfion as fpringing from the conviction of the mind, 
 and the perfuafion of the heart, working a flow and 
 gradual change in the date of their affections, and in 
 the habits of their conduct:;— they rather imagine it, 
 like the converfion of St. Paul, miraculous, fudden, 
 and inftantaneous. They pretend to know the very 
 hour when it took place; and thofe among them 
 who have not yet experienced this magic operation 
 on their nerves, are continually waiting for its arri- 
 val; till impatient expectation, working on the fancy, 
 and fermenting in the brain, at laft, in fome more 
 aufpicious hour, produces a thrill in their feelings * 
 
 * Calvin, no doubt, felt the fame rapturous vibrations at 
 his heart, when he fent Servetus to the flake. The great hu~ 
 manity which the fiery zealot difplayed on that occafion, may 
 be learned from the following extrad from Grotius. V* Cal- 
 vinu8j qui antequam Servetus (i.s autem ipfius judicium fuper 
 ierij)ti ; fuis expetiverat) veniret Genevum, fcripfit (exfiat ipfius 
 Lutetias manus) nd Farellum jiqutd fun valeret auftoritA 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 more delicious or more violent than ufual, which 
 they afcribe to the agency, or miftake for the defcen: 
 
 effeflurum ne vivus abiret. Stetit pollicitis; nam coquo fun 
 accufatore fubmiffo (de quo ipfe in epiftolis editis fe jactat; qua 
 erat au3oritate facile ejfccit ut zwvus ureretur Servetus, exemplo 
 valdc periculofo et facile in fuos auctores recafuro." On this 
 bloody tragedy Grotius makes the following very judicious 
 remarks. At de Trinitate non per omnia bene fenlit Ser- 
 vetUS : fieri poteft; facilis ejiim lapfus in rebus adeo fupra hu- 
 manwn captum pojitis . At Scrvcti exujior an ijio in argumento 
 fatisfecit omnibus ? Nihil minus. Sorbonici plures hereticarum 
 opinionum, Luther ani prope omncs Arianifmi eum accujant. Unn • 
 dus ergo fuit, Ji in judices incidijfet, apud quos tanta erat Sorbo- 
 nicorum aut Lutheranorum, quanta ipfius erat apud Allobroges 
 aucloritas. Grot. op. Ed. Tom. iii, p. 503. 
 
 Calvin not only felt no remorfe on this occafion, but avert- 
 ed, " Non mode liberum cjjh magijl rati bus pcenas fume re de ccelef- 
 tis do&rince corruptoribus , Jed, quod Wis Iicere nolunt imperiti, 
 Divi:nitus esse mandatum. Grot. Tom. iii, p. 655. No 
 doubt Calvin was vifited with what his modern followers 
 would term an experience of Grace, zvhen he deliberated on the 
 murder, when he fuborncd the acaifer, and fetfre to the faggot. 
 k was a maxim with the Calvinifts in the time of Grotius, 
 and which they, no doubt, bequeathed to their pious defcend- 
 ants, that " non auferreflatum gratice aduheria et homicidial 
 
 Calvin was as celebrated for the urbanity of hisjiyle, and the 
 gentlenefs of his rebuke, at leaf, as much as he ivasfor the tender- 
 nefs of his heart, and the purity of his condufi. For inftance, 
 when Caftellio oppofed his notions of prcdeftination, " nebu- 
 lorem et Satanam vocat : Coronhertinm et nebnlorem et ca- 
 rem : Scriptorem de officio pii viri in hoc religioHis diffidio, 
 qui erat Caflander, ipii autem putabatur elfe Balduinus., np- 
 pellat frontis ferreae hominem, pietatis expertem, profanum, 
 impudentem, impoflorem, oltt^^/q-j {Jine naturali affeciuj pe- 
 
 B3 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 6f the Holy Ghoft. When they have once felt this 
 tranfporting glow of devotional lunacy, or, as they 
 may term it, cc experience of grace, " they fancy them- 
 felves new creatures, purged from the lees of the old 
 Adam; and delivered from the manacles of the fiefh. 
 They then, for the moft part, think their falvation 
 fure. " The change," fay they," " has taken place; 
 and new light dawns on the darknefs of our hearts*" 
 
 5. Thefedelufionsof the Fanatics produce, as might 
 be expected, an extreme carelefihefs about the mo- 
 
 tulantise deditum. Ei fcripto cum fe oppofuiffet Balduinus, 
 vocat eum hominem nihili, obfeaenum canem, improbum fal- 
 farium, multa fcelefte ac nequiter cogitantem, et confpirantem 
 cum improbis nebulonibus, cynicum, fcurram, perfidum, 
 fatuum, belluina rabie, Satanae addictum. Caftandrum dv^xo-/) 
 (Jibif>lacentem) morofum, lamiam, larvam, ferpentem, peftem, 
 carnificem." Grot. op. Tom. iii, p. 655. Grotius continues, 
 rt hanc maledicendi libidinem Calvinus in epiftola ad Bu- 
 cerum xar, £v(pYjiu(r^ov (per emoUitionem) impatientiam vocat: 
 cum que ea magnam fibi ait eiTe lu6tam : et nonnihil fe pro- 
 ficere, fed nondum id confecutum ut belluam domuerit." — 
 On this penitent confeffion of the fanguinary bigot, Grotius 
 makes this fhrewd remark: <l Si quis poll id abeo fcripta 
 leget, inveniet eum profeciffe fed in pejus: adeo ei illud place- 
 bat, Quod non volo, facio." This, " quod non vo/o,facio" 
 is a favourite fentiment in the mouth of his admirers of the 
 prefent century; and I leave the reader to imagine to what 
 furpofes it is coynmonly applied. — I (hall conclude this note in 
 the words of Grotius : <( Haecnon adfero quod mini cum mor- 
 tuis libeat luctari, fed, auiA video ita plekumgue evenire, 
 
 UT QU1SQUE MORES 1MITETUR EJUS, ftUEM SI£I SUMSIT 
 
 masistrum. Grot. op. Tom. iii, p. 656. 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 rality of their conducts a contemptuous neglect of 
 the practical duties of religion. Making holinefs to 
 confift more in turbulence of fenfation than in recti- 
 tude of action; and meafuring the will of God by the 
 falfe and varying flandard of their feelings: it is no 
 wonder that they think themfelves privileged from 
 the obfervance of truth, of juftice, and all the endear- 
 ing charities of life. 
 
 6. The grace of the Fanatics,* to which they 
 afcribe fuch marvellous effects, operates on the fen- 
 timents, without the concurring agency of the reafon, 
 and changes the character without the confent of the 
 will. With them, grace invalidates the ufe of reli- 
 gious inquiry, and fuperfedes the neceffity of moral 
 exertion. — Who can calculate the mifchief of fuch 
 opinions ? 
 
 7* By the new covenant of falvation, and, pro* 
 bably, according to fixed and general laws, to which 
 the divine will may have made the fpiritual helps, 
 promifed in that covenant, fubfervient, good endea- 
 vours |, on the part of man, feem the conditions to 
 
 * The do&rine of grace is only fligbtly touched on here: 
 the reader will find it more fully difcuffed in that part of this 
 work which is entitled, The Doctrine of Grace. 
 
 + In the parable of the Tower we read that none of the Ce^d 
 brought forth fruit but that which was fown in good ground 
 
 B 4 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 which grace is appended on the part of God. They 
 appear introductory to its infufion, and the medium 
 of its agency. Good endeavours are affociated with 
 the free gift of grace ; and grace increafes their 
 flrength, and facilitates their execution. Wherever 
 there is an earned driving after moral righteoufnefs, 
 a third of the affections, and a labour of the will to 
 perform the law that is impreffcd on the confcience, 
 and infcribed on the heart (as in the cafe of Corne- 
 lius, whofe prayers and alms had gone up as a me- 
 morial before God), the grace or favour of God is 
 fried upon the fcul. 
 
 8. Grace is not only a bleffng on the actual exer- 
 tions of man to do the will of God, but a power given 
 us to do it more effectually. When grace is thus 
 ufed, it produces more grace j and the right and rea- 
 fonable application of the increafed and increafing 
 portions of grace, which the righteous receive, gra- 
 
 Good feed is no more fruitful than bad, unlefs there be, at the 
 fame time, goodnefs in the ground in which it is fown; and 
 the better the foil, the more prolific the feed, and the more 
 abundant the harveft. Grace is never operative and fruitful 
 in any but a good and honeji heart. The foil of the heart muft 
 be prepared to receive it: and what preparation of the heart 
 does God require, as fitting the individual for the infufion of 
 his favour, but the love of truth, of juftice, and of mercy; 
 and honeft endeavours, according to the utmoft of our natural 
 ability, to practice the duties of truth, of juftice, and of mercy? 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 dually promotes the growth, and matures the ftrength 
 of thofe habits of hoiinefs which lead to immortality. 
 
 9. If fenfation, according to the fanciful hypothecs 
 of the Fanatics, were the only channel through which 
 the communications of grace were made to flow, and 
 to which its experience were confined; then it would 
 be rather a pleaiure to be enjoyed, than a power to be 
 exercifed ; it would rather be an appeal to our animal, 
 than our rational nature -, rather an agreeable impulfe 
 on the flefh, than a purifying afpiration on the foul. 
 But if moral goodnefs be the covenanted condition 
 to which grace belongs, not of right, but by the mercy 
 cf God*, and if an increafed defire of improving in 
 righteoufnefs, and an increafed aclivity in doing t\\Q 
 will of God, be the only true fcriptural ted of its pof- 
 feffion, then grace muft, certainly, be not fo much 
 an ecftafy to ravifh, as a talent to employ; and it 
 appears, from various intimations in fcripture, and 
 from many analogies in the natural world, that grace 
 mud be ufed if we wifh it to be increafed j and that 
 it will not be increafed if it be not ufed. 
 
 -\ 10. The more continually we labour to do good, A" 
 the greater averfion we (hall feel to do evil. — Many 
 
 * In the Chriftian covenant the caufe of our falvation is the 
 Jove and mercy of God; and the conditions are our obedience to 
 his lavus,Jincere, though imp erf e 3 ; our hone/i, though iveah. en- 
 deavours', our upright, though, fometimes } not Jinlefs lives. 
 
( go ) 
 
 , a penitent, of whofe return to righteoufnefs there hay 
 f been the happieft promife and the faireft hope, has 
 . relapfed into fin, from indulging afalfe confidence, and 
 fuppofing that becaufe he had recovered from the 
 , pad, he was fafe for the future. When a man's vigi- 
 lance againft temptation relaxes, he is almoft fure 
 of falling into a fnare. — It is dangerous to rely entirely 
 ( on our own ftrength. He, who does it, thinks the 
 t help of God fuperftuouo, and the temerity of this 
 , vain imagination caufes that help not to be had, when 
 ! it is wanted; and not to be found, when it is fought. 
 ' Man muft, indeed, ftrenuoufiy exert, and feduloufly 
 ftrengthen his fenfe of right and wrong; he muft op- 
 f pofe his natural power to do good to his wayward 
 . inclinations to do evil, before God will afiift him 
 rwith fuccour from above. But he, who labours to 
 ♦ do good, ought always to remember with humility, 
 rthat he will labour in vain without divine co-opera- 
 i tion. He mould work ; but he mould work without 
 f pride; and drive without prefumption. He mould 
 i be animated with zeal, but his zeal mould be temper- 
 I ed with caution ; and he mould be refolute, but his 
 f refolution mould be moderated by a godly fear. Let 
 (us never be unmindful of him who dvvelleth on high; 
 , and without whofe favour all our thoughts are but as 
 j air, and all our exertions only vanity. As we are to- 
 i tally dependant, every moment of our lives, on the 
 I will of him who made us, it is our duty in all that we 
 1 do, in all that we plan, or all that we attempt, to im* 
 , plore him to work together with us, and to direcl: 
 
( » ) 
 
 our Heps in that way in which it is beft for us* 
 to go.-* 
 
 n. The growth of hoiinefs into a habit, or into 
 a fettled, undeviating difpofition to beneficence, is 
 not the effect of fome momentary glow of devotion, 
 or of fome tranfient longing after God; — it is, and 
 muft be, a work of time; and thofe who know them- 
 felves, and thofe who have fearched into the hearts, 
 and furveyed the conduct of others, know that many 
 relapfes and convalefcences, many deliverances from 
 fin, and many returns to unrighteoufnefs, ufuaiiy 
 happen before the good feed of the word is tho- 
 roughly rooted in the heart, and made fruitful in the 
 life. — Salvation in the way in which 1 confider the 
 nature of the covenant to which it is attached, is a 
 work of more difficulty and danger than is commonly 
 imagined; bacaufe it depends, conditionally, on the 
 habits of goodnefs which we form in this mortal life; 
 and which, amid the temptations by which we are 
 furrounded, and to whofe influence we are almofl 
 every hour expofed, feem difficult to acquire ; and 
 more eafy to lofe than to retain. — But if thofe no- 
 tions which the Fanatics propagate, be genuine 
 truths inftead of vain delufions, then the idle may 
 obtain admiffion into heaven, and the crown of glory 
 may be worn by the worthlefs, who can breathe the 
 ftream of felf-love upon their nerves, till they feem 
 to thrill with joys which feraphs feel. 
 
 i a. To the fcoffer it may be amufing, but to the 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 genuine Chriftian it muft be afflicting to obferve, how 
 the Fanatics garble the gofpel to promote their own 
 interefted ends. Whatever may be the meafure of 
 their understanding, they certainly do not want in- 
 genuity in perverting the fcriptures to fupport their 
 prejudices, and in making them utter a found in tune 
 with their whims. Neglecting thole parts of the cove- 
 nant of falvation, on which no clouds and darknefs 
 reft, they pay an almoft exclufive attention to the 
 moft obfeure and myfterious pafliges in the epifties 
 of St. Paul. By the help of what they call inward 
 light, which they think communicated exclufively to 
 their own feet, they deem themfelves qualified to 
 interpret the abftrufeft doctrines without thofe aids 
 of erudition which more fober people think necef- 
 fary for the purpofe. The inward light of the Fa- 
 natics enables them to dive into the profoundeft 
 depths of theology, and to unfold its darkeft myf- 
 teries: — As in the writings of the Evangelifts, they 
 meet with truths, little congenial to their unhallowed 
 speculations, — truths eafy to be underftood, and con- 
 sequently difficult to be perverted; they cull mod of 
 the hard fayings, with which they puzzle the ig- 
 norant, and entrap the unwary, from the epifties of 
 the apoftle to the Gentiles. 
 
 13. Abufing the writings of St. Paul*, as fome 
 
 * KaQw; y.cci dyccn'r j 'fog iju,o>v d$s\(po$ Udu/.oc xxrocryv autuj 
 
( i3 ) 
 
 unlearned and unfteady perfons feem to have done 
 in the apoftolic age, they wrefl them to their own 
 
 XolXiov sv dvrais tz£§1 rs-toov, sy oCtg s<m dv<rvoYjra, Tivcc, a 01 d^d- 
 Qei; kva acrrygiKroi (rrgEfixScriv w$ y.ai rocg \onrct$yocc(pa,$, vago; fyv 
 ifooLv oivrtjjv drftoXsictv. 2 Ep. Pet. iii. 15, 1(5. — In this paifage, 
 I know that the majority of editors and commentators read, 
 sv oiV, inflead of zv aXs, but fuppofing sv 61$ to be the true 
 reading, which is by no means certain, then ol§ mufr. refer to 
 Tsrajv; and the meaning will be, that, in the epiftles of Paul, 
 there are many topics difcufTed which are difficult to be un- 
 derftoodj and which had been fatally perverted by fome, who 
 wanted knowledge, and by others, who wanted principle. — 
 Whether St. Peter allude to the obfcurity of the manner, or 
 to the obfcurity of the matter, is not very necefTary to in- 
 quire \ but at prefent, it is certain, that many paflages in the 
 writings of St. Paul do contain ra £ycyOTjra, both on account 
 of the obfcurity of the ftyle, and the obfcurity of the fubjecV 
 The ftyle is tinctured with Rabbinical idioms ; and the matter, 
 perhaps, in fome degree, with the Rabbinical philofophy. 
 St Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel 3 and, before 
 his conversion, he had made a great progrefs in the learn- 
 ing of the Jews.— To the fagacious, I need not repeat an 
 old obfervation, "fervahit odorem Tefla diu," &c. Thofe who 
 know human nature, will immediately perceive the juftnefs 
 of the remark} and I mall not wafte my time in endeavour- 
 ing to make it fatisfactory to thofe who do not. St. James, 
 in his epiftle, 11, 14, 26, evidently intended to combat, and 
 to counteract fome of thofe erroneous and mifchievous notions 
 on the nature and efficacy of faith which begun to prevail 
 in his time, and which feem to have originated in the inno- 
 cent miftake, or the wilful perverfiqn of the doctrine itfelf, 
 as it is laid down in the epiftle to the Romans. In the pre- 
 face to his Five Points, Whitby refers to the learned Dodwell 
 
( 1* ) 
 
 deftruction; deducing from diem doclrines which 
 they do not countenance •, and encouraging themfelves 
 in iniquity, on the prefumed fanction of their autho- 
 rity *. 
 
 14. If forfie things in the epiftles of St. Paul were 
 hard to be underftood in the age in which they were 
 written, as St. Peter him felf confefTes, they muft cer- 
 tainly be more obfeure after the lapfe of fo many 
 centuries, than they were in that period when the 
 fac"ls, to which they alluded, were recent; when 
 the difienfions which they were intended to pacify, 
 the htrefies they were to combat, and the fophifms 
 they were to refute, Were matters of public notoriety, 
 
 (Proleg. ad I. Steam de obftin. § 41) as faying, * that St. Paul 
 being bred a Pharifee, fpake there (in the 9th chapter to the 
 Romans), and is to be interpreted, ermente Pharifaeorum, 
 according to the doclrinc of the Pharifee s concerning fate, ivhich 
 they had borrowed from the Stoicks." On Rom. viii. 2. Whitby 
 fays, " Here the apoftle feems to fpeak according to the phi- 
 lofophy of the heathens, with which the Jews began to be 
 acquainted, that man was not to be denominated from his 
 body, or his fenfual and carnal part, but from his mind, his 
 yac or Xoyur) foctvoix,, which, in Thilos' phrafe, is w SKOtfQi 
 qiMOV ctv Qgouiros, the man ivithin us" 
 
 * It is well known that St. Paul is very wont, psrxo-yjtAali- 
 gsiv, to fpeak in the pcrfon of another, whofe character he af» 
 fumes, and whofe fentiments he utters ; as Rom. iii. 7, and 
 pai -ticulaily in Rom. vii. 14 — 25, and other places, ivhich are 
 always perverted by the Fanatics. 
 
 I 
 
( t 5 ) 
 
 and topics of common converfation. — But the fta~ 
 tiortary preachers, and the itinerant heralds of Fanati- 
 cifm, fome of whom can hardly read a fentence in 
 Englifh, and the majority of whom are ignorant of 
 the learned languages, think themfelves qualified, by 
 the excefs of their inward light, to make clear what 
 St. Peter pronounced dark, and to unravel what he 
 thought intricate; and they pafs decrees as perem- 
 tory as the determinations of a Papal bull on points 
 of faith and doctrine, on which others, who are not 
 favoured with the fame miraculous penetration, think 
 with doubt, and talk with diffidence. 
 
 15. Where the gofpel is moft plain and moft for- 
 cibly practical, the Fanatics perplex it with fubtilties, 
 or make its energy of none effedr. by their interpola- 
 tions. In their devotions they pay much lefs ho- 
 mage to the Father than to the Son; and, indeed, 
 they often addrefs their petitions to the one, without 
 any reference to the other. They make the one 
 characterized by the inflexible Jeverity ofjuftice-, and 
 to the other they aflign, exclufivcly, the winning at- 
 tribute of mercy. To the Lord's prayer they allow 
 tittle authority; — they either pafs it over in fullen 
 filence, or they repeat it with unauthorized additions. 
 
 16. In their inftructions, the paftors ofFanaticifm 
 labour more earneftly and more efFe&ually to de- 
 prefs the fpirits, and to bewilder the minds of their 
 audience, by the ravings of myfticifm, than to im- 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 prefs them with thofe truths which, by coming home 
 to their interefts and bofoms, may fave their fouls. 
 With fcrupulous care they overlook, or with con- 
 temptuous fcorn they deride thofe paflages in the 
 fcriptures which are as clear as they are ufeful; and 
 which relate to thofe duties, of which the practice 
 will be necefiary as long as the world endures* 
 Though they pay fo great a deference, and fo exclu- 
 five a regard to the authority of St. Paul, they Jiften 
 with little fatisfaction, even to the teaching of their 
 favourite apoftle, when he extols charity above faith; 
 when he declares love to be the bond of perfednefs, 
 and the end of the commandment j when he exhorts 
 Chriilians to be ready unto every good work, and 
 denying iingcdlinefs and worldly lujls y to live Joberly> 
 right eoiifly, and godly in this prejent world. 
 
 17. That moral corruption has experienced a 
 great and unparalleled increafe of late years is what 
 no obferving man can deny, and what every good 
 one muft deplore. Within the period of the laft 
 thirty years, the once frefh, and healthy, and vigorous 
 morality of Englifhmen has withered away s and the 
 principles of the people have undergone a rapid 
 and fatal deterioration. Almoft every tender feel- 
 ing is chilled \ and almoft every generous fentiment 
 has decayed. The fancYity of truth and honefty 
 feem almoft effaced from the confeience of the peo- 
 ple; and I have ftrong reafons for believing that my 
 calculation is not exaggerated, when I fay, that the 
 
< 17 ) 
 
 practice of thofe virtues, and the reverence for their 
 immutable obligations are, at lead, ten times lefs now 
 than they were about half a century ago ** 
 
 * The following extracts from a book which prcfents many 
 curious, but afflicting details of the dying virtue of the peo- 
 ple, may afford fome faint idea of the prefent ftate of Englifh 
 morals. The facts themfelves are, for the moft part, confined 
 to the metropolis; but they will exhibit fome data, by which 
 we may form no very imperfect guefs of the general morality 
 of the country. The moral or immoral character of the people, 
 who are placed more within the vicinity of the feat of govern- 
 ment, exhibits an imperfect likenefs of the popular manners in 
 places more remote. For in the prefent ftate of luxurious civil- 
 ization, when the communication between the metropolis and 
 the diftant provinces of the empire is fo expeditious and fo 
 frequent, corruption foon fpreads from the centre to the ex- 
 tremities; and the villages become infected with the abomina- 
 tions of the capital. 
 
 " The numher of the receivers of Jlolen goods in the metropolis 
 alone has increased within the last twenty years 
 from 3CO to 3000."— Colquhouri on the Police of the Me- 
 tropolis, ed. 6th, p. 12. 
 
 " Scarcely a waggon leaves London, which does not carry 
 boxes and parcles of bafe coin into the country; particularly 
 to the fea-ports, camps, &c. — In the feveral public houfes, 
 hawkers, pedlars, gamblers, Jews, &c. &c. are regularly fup- 
 plied with counterfeit money at an advantage of near 100 per 
 cent, in their favour." p. 16. 
 
 " There are in the metropolis and country at leaft 120 
 principal dealers in, and coiners of, bafe money, beiides nume- 
 rous utterers; of whom more than 650 perfons have either 
 been profecuted or convicted, within the laft 7 years." p. J Q. 
 
 <f In the courfe of 7 years, not lefs than 4262 perfons who 
 
 c 
 
( i« ) 
 
 1 8. Not many years have etapfed fince the inha- 
 bitants of mod cf" our villages might go to fleep, in 
 
 had been put upon their trial by the grand jury, were let loofe 
 upon the public by acquittals." p. 21. 
 
 " The drivers of gentlemen's carriages are generally entruft- 
 ed to buy hay, ftraw, corn, &c. for their horfesj and they 
 ufually cheat their mailers of 5s. in every load of hay : of 
 2s. 6d. in each load of draw; and Is. in every quarter of corn." 
 — Middleton quoted by Colquhoun. 
 
 " It has been eftimated that 20,000 bufhelsof ears of wheat, 
 and other grain, are carried off every Sunday morning, in the 
 neighbourhood of Loi\don, and 10,000 more during the other 
 fix days of the week, or one million and a half in a year ; 
 which, valued at only 6d. each, would amount to £.37,500." 
 — Middleton, ut fup. 
 
 Mr. Middleton calculates that the depredations committed 
 on the landed intereft, amount to 4s. per acre per annum} or 
 eight millions fterlin gr. 
 
 " The principal gaming houfes, at the weft end of the town, 
 have dated days on which they have luxurious dinners (parti- 
 cularly Sundays), when merchants' and bankers' clerks, and 
 other perfons, intruded with money, are invited. The ex- 
 pences, attendant on fuch houfes, were fuppoled to amount to 
 £.150,000 annually." p. 140. 
 
 " The gambling and lottery iran factions of one individual 
 in the metropolis, are faid to be productive of, from 10 to 15 
 fuicides annually ! ! !" p. 325. 
 
 * The aggregate funis loft and won at the different gaming 
 houfes in the metropolis, in the courfe of a year, are fuppofed 
 to amount to £./,22<5,000," p. 143. 
 
 " The amount of fraudulent infurances in the lottery are 
 calculated at £.\0,A 60,000." 
 
 Such a hiftory of accumulated and rapidly accumulating 
 depravity, as Mr. Colquhoun's excellent work exhibits, is well 
 
. ( *9 ) 
 
 perfect fecurity, with their windows open, or their 
 doors unbarred, without any danger of moleftation, or 
 the hazard of a fingle depredation. At that time, 
 juftice and truth were more revered. An oath was 
 held inviolate j the roeaneft mechanic, and the poor- 
 eft day labourer were imprefled with an awful Jenje 
 of its importance: it was deemed an appeal to God; 
 and too facred to be trifled with; but at prefent, falfe- 
 hood is little more heeded, than if truth were only a 
 puff of air. 
 
 19. The moral principles of the people have re- 
 reived a terrible (hock; they have, indeed, almoft 
 undergone a total revolution in favour of vice. The 
 great increaie of luxury, and the great preffure of 
 taxation, a great luft of fplendour on the one hand, 
 and a great diminution in the means of fubfiftence 
 on the other, have certainly confpired to pour a rank 
 pollution into the national manners; and to fpread 
 the gangrene of guilt over the whole heart of the 
 community. But, among the other aftive and power- 
 ful caufesy a caufe whofe influence is vaft and con- 
 ftantly increafmg, is the wide diffufion of the deleterious 
 
 fitted to excite the reflections of the contemplative, the forrow 
 of the good, and the difmay of the provident. The genuine 
 religious principle, which was once fo operative, which once fo 
 powerfully impelled to good and difTuaded from evil, feems to 
 be daily lofing its influence on the heart, and its authority over 
 the confcience : and the more that falfe and mifchievous dofirim,, 
 'which the Fanatics teach, prevails, the more luill it decline* 
 
 c 2 
 
( 3° ) 
 
 tenets of the Fanatics ; which I am convinced, from 
 a diligent and difpafilonate obfervation of their effects, 
 have a direct tendency to wither every fhoot of inte- 
 grity on the confcience, and to accelerate the growth 
 of the mod deflructive crimes*. 
 
 * The propagation of vice is, likewife, not much impeded by 
 the diffufion of what is called the ncxv morality, which is the 
 old morality (I mean the morality of Jefus Chrift, whofe au- 
 thority is incon tellable, and whole origin is divine) diverted 
 of its fanclions; its ftrength wafted, its glory faded; a body, 
 full of animation and beauty, turned into a mats of putrefcence 
 and corruption. The principles of the Philofophifts, and the 
 principles of the Fanatics are not 'very d'fjimilar in their tendency 
 to do mifc/iicf. The latter gravitate to the centre of hereditary 
 corruption j the former to that of perfonal depravity. With 
 the Fanatics immorality is the decree of God j with the Philo- 
 fophifts morality is nothing but the whim of man. "With the 
 Fanatics immoiality is a matter of neceflityj with the Philofo- 
 phifts morality is only a matter of human convention. The Fa- 
 natics think that the practice of truth and jufticc will have na 
 influence on our happinefs in another life 5 the Philofophifts 
 maintain that there is no life beyond this; and,confequently, that 
 truth and juftice can have no relation to what has no exiftence. 
 In the agapas of the Fanatics defire is often indulged without 
 reftraintj becaufc it is thought to contribute to the perfecting 
 of the faints in love; in the fchools of the Philofophifts pro- 
 mifcuous concubinage is licenfed for the general good; and 
 which general good means the wayward appetite of every indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 Luft and cruelty are very common features in the picture 
 of Fanatics of all ages and countries. In thefe high diftinclions, 
 the Fanatics of theprefent day have, probably, been furpafied 
 by the Fanatics of old 3 but the former only want circumjlances 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 io. By decrying moral duties, or talking of them with 
 a contemptuous fheer (as if pure morality and pure 
 
 equally favourable, ignorance ainong their fellotU'creatures equally 
 dcnfe> and power in their own hands equally strong, 
 to make the latter hide their diminiflied heads; and yield to them 
 the proud pre-e?ninence in cruelty and lujt. The Fanatics of old 
 were fo much attached to continence, that they thought mar- 
 riage a crying fin; but hiftory teaches us that their pompous 
 pretentions to chaftity were a rank impofture. Speaking of 
 the intolerant bigots and hypocritical religionifts of former 
 times, " Certum eft," fays a great writer, and one of the pureft 
 friends to pure chriftianity, " quoniam omne aeftuantis libi- 
 dinis remedium cafti matrimonii ufu ipfis interdictum eft, in 
 illicitam venerem, omni abje6to pudore licentiofe proruere, 
 ac in voluptatibus carnalibus fcede volutari. Erafmus ad no- 
 tata Beddae, torn. ix. p. 401. ait : Eft apud Germanos Epif- 
 copus quidam, qui ipfe dixit in convivio, uno anno adfe delata 
 undecim ?nillia facer dotu?n i palam concubinariorum* Nam tales 
 fingulis annis pendunt aliquid Epifcopo. Item, in locis ple- 
 rifque, Epifcopi et eorum ofBciales, non folum facerdotum 
 tolerant concubinatum, dummodo certa perfolvatur pecunia : 
 fed et facerdotes continentes, et qui abfque concubinis degunt, con- 
 cubinatus cenfum perfolvcre cogunt, ajfersntes, Epifcopwn pecuniae 
 indigum cjfe> qua folutd, licere facerdotibus, ut vel ccelibcs perma- 
 neant, vel concubinas alant. Idem Erafmus in fuppatatione 
 errorum Beddae, torn. ix. p. 484. hcec habet. Quid mirum 
 ii aetate Auguftini dictae funt aliquot virgines fnnclimoniales 
 nupfiffe, cum hoc faeculo tot dicantur e(Te monafieria, quce nihil 
 a Hud funt quam publica lupqnaria, plura privata ; tian in his ip/is, 
 qiue maxime probatce difciplincc funt , multo plures funt quce velum 
 habeant, quam quce virginitatew, — Novi quofdam, qui puellas, 
 quibus fuerant abufi, auo res premeretur, sepellerun.t in 
 t monasteriis. — Magnince Bedda clarnat, afrit, abfit, ut qiuf- 
 
 c 3 
 
( « ) 
 
 religion could ever be divided), the bufy propagators 
 of Fanaticifm caufe morality to be an object of deri- 
 
 quam admittatur ad facerdotii dignitatem, qui carnis in totum 
 non contemnit illecebrasj quum hodie inveniantur, qui quin- 
 quaginta habent concubinas, ne quid addam fceleratius. lb. 
 p. 56g, et p. 985, de interdiclo carnium ufu. Inter facerdotes 
 quanta raritas eorum, qui cafte vivunt? De bis loquor qui 
 donii palara alunt concubinas uxorum loco. Necenim attin^o 
 nunc fecretiorum libidinum myfteria. Tanium ca loquor, qiuc 
 •vu/go quo que noiijfimafant. Sceleratius autem eft quod narrat 
 p. 1380, refpons. ad quendam febricitantem ; quendam Theo- 
 logian profefforem Dominicanum, nomine Joannem, fibi Ant- 
 verpias, in aedibus Nicolai Middelburgenfis Medici, nominafte 
 Thcologum Lovanienfem, unde acceperat, quod quendam paf- 
 torem facrarum virginum, qui confeffus eft> fe cum ducentis 
 habuiffe ftupri cor.fuetudinem, inabfolutum dimiferit. Sed 
 quid opus eft teftimonia ex autoribus fingularibus proferre? 
 Ipfae leges Inquifitionis, quae Sacerdotibus, non tan turn fcemi- 
 nas, fed proh fcelus ! etiam pueros in facramentali confeflione 
 follicitantibus, pcenas decernunt, indicium font, crimina haec, 
 in impuro ifto c<elibatu, nimis efle vulgaria et frequentia." 
 Vid. Limborch. Hi ft. Inquifit. Amftel. 1692, p. 33, 34. 
 
 That we may form fome faint conjecture of the tender mercies 
 of Fanaticifm, let us enter the walls of the Jnquifnion, taking 
 Limborch for our guide. 
 
 " Carceres hi in Hifpania et Lufitania. vocantur Junta eafa 
 hoc eft fancta domus. Omnia, fcilicet, in hoc officio funt 
 fancta. Strucuira eorum, prout earn defcribit autor hiftorioe 
 Inquifitionis Goanae, talcs eft, ut pluribus captivis aficrvandis 
 ftt accommodata. Condant nempe variis porticibus, quorum 
 ftnguli in varias exigtias cameras funt diftributi, liguraj quad- 
 ratae; quarum latera fingula funt decern pedum, lllorum duo 
 funt ordines, quorum alter alteri fupcrftructus eft; funtque 
 conftrudi opere fornicato. Superiores illnminantur per crates 
 
( n ) 
 
 fion rather than of reverence in the minds of their 
 converts. They are taught that heaven may be 
 
 ferreos, fed fupra viri etiam proceri ftaturam elevatos. Infe- 
 riores funt fubterraneae, obfcurae, fine ulla feneftra, et fuperio* 
 ribus anguftiores. Parietes funt craflitudinis quinque pedum. 
 Unaquaequae camera duobus oftiis clauditur; interius craftum 
 eft et ferro obductum ; pars illius inferior confiat crate ferreoj 
 in fuperiore parte exigua eft feneftella per quam captivo cibus, 
 lintea, aliaque neceifaria porriguntur, clauditurque du@bus 
 ferreis obicibus, Exterius ottium folidum eft line ulla aper- 
 tura; illud ordinarie mane ab hora fexta, ufque undecimam. 
 aperiri folet, ut aer carceris aliquatenus repurgetur." Limb. 
 Hift. Inquis. 158. " In Hilpania, ut mihi narravit Ifaacus 
 Orobio nonnunquam dantur carbones, qui igne accenduntur, ut 
 ipfi cibum fuumcoquant; aliquando conceditur candela; fed 
 qui in car cere fubterraneo detineniur, plerwnquc fedent in tcnebris } 
 in iifque ferannos aliquot detineniur ; vemini cos adire aut alhqui 
 licet ; nifi folis carceris cuftodibus; idque ftatis tantum horis 
 quando cibum porrigunt. Non licet ullos habere devotionis li~ 
 bros 5 Jed in tcnebris et folhudine detinentur, ut tarn tetri carceris 
 horrore frangantur, illiusque tcedio ea confiteantur QU7E 
 SJEPE non commiserunt." p. 159- " Nulli in carccre mutire, 
 ullumvc fonum cdere licet \ fed altum in eo fert'atur filentium. Si 
 quis ejulet, aut infortunium fuum deploret, aut, clara voce, 
 Deum precetur, aut cantet, five pfalmum, five hymnum fuo- 
 rum, mox adfunt carceris cuftodes, qui in porticu continuas 
 agunt excubiasj omnemque etiam minimum fonum, audire 
 poffunt, monentque in domo bac filentium effe fervandum. Si 
 non pareat captivus, iterato eum monent cuftodes. Si nihil- 
 ominus pergat captivus, cuftos, aperto carcere, fufte eum egre- 
 gie dedoiat ; non tantum ut ipfum caftiget, fed et deterreat 
 alios; qui, quoniam camerae funt contiguse altumque fervatur 
 filentium, et ejulatum et fonitum ictuum oui infliguntur, 
 
 C 4 ' 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 obtained on eafier condiiions, than thofe habits of 
 actual goodncis, which are (lowly acquired, and diffU 
 
 commode audire poftunt. Addam hie Darratiunculam, 
 ex quorundam ore habui, undequam fevere fileotium he 
 fervetur, colligere licet. Captwus quidam tu, adfunl 
 
 excubitores ; monent ut tuffim omittai, quia illicitum effet in ehmfk 
 hdc ullum emitter c Jonum. Ille refporidit, hoc arbitrii fui non 
 eife : nihilominus, cum fecundo monitus tujjim ?i r m omitterct, 
 ipfum dejiudatum piurihus ittibus mifere coniundwit: cum hue ra- 
 tione tujjh auger etur ', aliquotics •verberatus fuit ; donee tandem iter- 
 berum •vehementid mortuus fuit." p. l(5i, 1 62 The JcijtUve 
 confcienccs, and the rejined morality of the Lnquijitorial Fanatics 
 will be evident from the following relation: ** Hiipali homo 
 quidam pauper ac ex fudore fuo quotidianum fibi et familiae 
 vic"tum parans, cui Clericus quidam uxorem violenter abduc- 
 tam detinebat, nulla, interea, neque Inquifitione neque alterius 
 tribunalis autoritate atrocem injnriam vindicante. Is pauper, 
 dum inter alios ejufdem conditionis homines, de purgatorio, 
 forte, exoritur fermo, excepit ipfe rufiicana potius fimplicitate, 
 quam certo connlio, fe fatis quidem habere purgatorii, cui 
 peiiimus nebulo uxorem violenter averterit, Sec. Is fermo ad 
 aures boni Clerici delatus, ingemjnandi in pauperem injutiam, 
 pccafionem obtalit, illumque, ut male de purgatorio fentientem, 
 apud Inquifitores accufat. Erratum hoc pauperis fanfto tribu- 
 nali dignins eft habiium in qijod autoritate inquifitorid vindicarct, 
 quamfceJus Clerici. Itaque ob illud tantulum verbum mifer 
 capitur, detruditur in inquifitoriis ergaftulis biennio toto ; ac 
 demum in triumphum eductus damnatur ad geftandum San- 
 benitum per triennium, quod in private* carcere exigatj eoque 
 exa6to, an dimiftendus liber, retinendus ve adhuc lit in carcere 
 dominorum Inquifitorum arbitrium elio. Neque qualibufcun- 
 que, pauperis alioquin hominis, fortunis eft parcitum, ut uxor 
 Clerico, quod vero fupererat tenuilfmvaiiun fortqnarum, poil 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 cultly retained; which cannot be generated without 
 labour, and may be loft without watchfalnefs. — But 
 
 diuturnum ilium carcerem, inquifitorio cederet Fifco." p. 328. 
 The wanton manner in which the Inquihtorial Fanatics (lied 
 the blood of the innocent, and afterwards endeavoured to atone 
 for the moft atrocious murders by the fouleft lies, will appear 
 from the following narrative, which no man can well perufe 
 without horror: " Ceperunt, eodem fere tempore, in eadem 
 Hifpalenfj Inquifitione nobilem quandam fee mi nam Joannam 
 Bohorquiam, uxorem Francifci Varquii, viri imprimis clari ac 
 Kiguerae Domini, filiam vero Petri Garfiae Xerelii Hifpalenfis 
 civis opulentiHimi. Captivitatis caufa fuit, quod foror ipfius 
 Maria Bohorquia fpeclatee pietatis virgo, quam poftea ob piam 
 confemonem igni tradiderunt, in tormentis declaralfet, fe ali- 
 quoties, cum forore fua de ea. doctrina contuliffe. Quumillam 
 in carcerem conjecernnt, gerebat uterum femeftrem ferme qua 
 de caufa neque adeo arete earn recluferunt, neque cum ipfa 
 agebant ea fasvitia, qua cum aliis vinctis folent, feetui nimirum 
 confulentes. Octavo a partu die fastum illi auferunt j quinto 
 decimo vero earn recluduntj eandemque, cum aliis vinctis 
 omnibus, conditionem cogunt experirij ac caufa ipfius quo 
 rigore quibufque folent artibus agitari caepta. In tanta ca- 
 lamitate id tantum folatii amictae contigit, quod virgo qusedam 
 valde pia, quam ob pietatem poftea inquihtorius quoque ignis 
 abfumplit tetri illius carceris forte data eft comes. Earn puel- 
 lam ad torturam quadam die educlam, atque in carcerem a 
 torturis reductam, adeo quaifatam omnibufque membrorum 
 comDagibus diifolutam, ut in jnnceo le&ulo ad laborem potius 
 quam ad quietem utrique concevTo, vix ac nifl magnocum cru- 
 ciatu volveretur, fumma animi pietate, quando externis ofhciis 
 nullus, aut certe perexiguus ibi erat locus, profequuta eft. Vix 
 ilia caeperat a tortwras quaifatione convalefcere, quum ad eun- 
 dem ludum ilia educitur; ibi tanta atrocitate in burro torque- 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 the Fanatics reprefent their it/ward light as a better 
 guide to heaven, than purity of heart and holinefs 
 
 tnr, ut chordis ad ipfas brachiorum, femorum ac crurura tibias 
 ufque penetrantibus, earceri moribunda reftitueretur, fanguine 
 per os affatim e veftigio erumpente, difruptis baud dubie vif- 
 ceribus, octavo demum a tortura die mortua fit. Quum ad 
 earn condemnandam fufticienlia teftimonia, licet omnibus in- 
 quifitoriis artibus conquifita ac procurata, defecilfent, quando 
 accufata eo nata foret loco, ut negotii ipfius apud plebem 
 efiet omninb aliqua reddenda ratio, neque res ullo modo dif- 
 fimulari poifet, in primo triumphi actu, qui ab ipfius morte 
 fuit indictus, fententiam fuampronuntiari jubent in haec verba. 
 Q'uoniam haec domina in car cere abierit (fupprefiis baud dubie 
 caufis) et ejus caufa infpecta et diiigenter examinata innocens 
 fuerit deprehenfa, idcirco Sanctum Tribunal earn ab omnibus 
 gravaminibus, per Fifcalem illi intentatis, pronuntiare liberam, 
 licetque prorfus abfolutam in fua turn innocentia turn exifti- 
 matione reftituere jubereque bona ipfius omnia quae in Sequeilri 
 rationes venerant, eis reftitui ad quos ex jure pertinerent, &:c. 
 Ac ita demum pojrquam cam in tormentis belluina truculcntia 
 vecavcrunt, libcram pronuntiarunt" p. 319- 320. Let us now 
 enter the chamber of torture in which the Fanatic Demons 
 ufed to feaft their eyes on the favage barbarities which they 
 perpetrated. " Locus torturae in Inquiiitione Hifpana, ut 
 plurimum folct effe antrum quoddam fubterraneurp, ac perob- 
 fcurum, ad quo,!, muhis oitiis pra-tergrcilis, peryenituj. In 
 eo eft erect um tribunal, in quo Inqnintor et Provifor et Scriba 
 fedent. Accenfis luisinibns et ingreffo torquendo enrnifex, 
 qui alios ornnes intus jam exfpectat, inter omnes eft fpectacuio 
 et contemplation- <-\'\ pius. Is totus eft co,-opertus nigra veiie 
 ex lino ad pedes longa adfiri&a undique adhaerente torpori, 
 caput habet velatum obi on go nigroque caperone, quo fac: 
 totam contceit, rclictis duobus modi parvulis ad vifum fenef- 
 
of life; and they make the delirium of fenfation a 
 fubftitute for integrity of chara&er. 
 
 tellis. Hsec omnia eo tendunt, ut majore terrore concutiatur 
 animo ac corpore mifellus, hac imprimis diaboli alicnjus ima- 
 gine, cujus manibus torqueri debet.'' p. 321. <f Ratio autem 
 torquendi et tonnentorum gradus nunc in Hifpanica Inquifi- 
 tione ufitati, optime cognofci poffunt, ex hiftoria Ifaaci Orobio 
 Judaei Medicinae Docr.oris, qui a quodam Mauro fervo fuo, 
 ante hac ob furtum juifu fuo verberato, delatus fuit Inquifi- 
 tioni quail Judoeusj et poll quadriennium ab alio inimico fuo 
 de alio fatto, uncle judaeus agnofceretur, iterum delatus fuit? 
 quique fe pertinacillime Judasum negavit. Hiftoriam tortura?, 
 prout earn ex ore ipfi us habui, breviter hie adferibam. Poft- 
 quam, integro triennio, in carcere Inquifitionis detentus fuit, 
 et aliquoties examinatus, criminaque objecta ipfi mdicata, ut 
 ea confiteretur,* ipfeque ea conftanter negaret, tandem ex 
 carcere fuo fuit edu6tus, etjper varios anfraftus deductus, in lo- 
 cum torturae. Fuit id circa vefperam. Erat locus fubterraneus, 
 fads amplus, fornice ftructus, parietes undique velamine nigri 
 coloris tecli j muro afnxa erant candelabra, totumque conclave 
 illuminabant candelae iis impofitae. Ab una parte erat locus 
 quidam camerae inftar, feparatus; illic menfae aifidebat Tnqui- 
 fitor cum Notario; its ut locus hie ipfi vifus fuerit domiciiium 
 mortis, tetro afpectu undequaque terribilis. Hie eum Inquifi- 
 tor denuo monuit, ut veritatem confiteretur, antequam inchoa- 
 rentur torment a iniius. Cum refponderet fe veritatem dixilTe, 
 Inquifitor graviter protetiatus eft. quoniam ob pertinaciam ip- 
 fius ad torturam deveniendum effet, S.OfBcium innoxium fore, 
 fi inter torment a fanguinem emitteret aut animam efHaret. 
 fiis dictis linteum corpori ipfius obductum eft, et, ab utraque 
 parte, adeo violenter conftrictum, ut tandem anhelitus ipfi prae- 
 cluderetur: cum jam animo dericeret, fubito lintei extremi- 
 fates funt remiiTae, et cum jam denub refpirare inciperet, maxi- 
 
 I 
 
( 2« ) 
 
 21. In whatever village the Fanatics get a footing, 
 drunken nefb and (wearing, — fins, which being more 
 
 mam, ex fubita ilia mutatione, paffus eft animi auguftiam ac 
 dolorem. Hoc tormento fuperato, eadem monitio repetita fait, 
 fatere veritatem, antequam inchocntur tormenta tua; eaque 
 monitio, fuperato quovis tormento, antequam novo exponere- 
 tur, femper repetita fuit. Icaque cum in negaticne perfifteret, 
 pollices illius funiculis exiguis arctiiiinie conttricti funt, adeo 
 ut membra extrema admodum intumuerint, et fanguis inter 
 jnncturas unguium expelleretur. Poftea muro fuit applicitus, 
 €t exiguo fcabello impofitus. Muro affixae erant parvae troch- 
 leas ferreae, per quas funes £ucti variis in locis corpus ejus 
 ambiebant, praefertim brachia et crura : tortor, magna violcD- 
 tia, funiculos ho fee trahens, corpus ipfius muro applicabatj 
 interim manus ac pedes, digitique manuum ac pedum aretif- 
 iime funiculis conftrreli fummo percellebantnr cruciatu, non 
 aliter ac fi flammis diiiblveretur. In mediis hifce cruciatibus 
 tortor fubitb fcabellum pedibus ipfius fubtraxit ; adeo ut mifer, 
 fine ullo fulcimento, pependerit fanibus undique conftrictus, 
 et pondere corporis funium nodos ar&ius adftringente. Mox 
 novum tormenti genus fuccedit. Jnfuumentum exiguae fcv.l.e 
 inftar, duobus conilans lignis ereclis, et quinque tranfveriis 
 a uteri us acuminatis il!i ex adverfo oppofuit tortor, idquc, motu 
 quodam accommodate, maxima vi in utrumque ejus tibiam im- 
 pt git, adeo ut utraque tibia, quinque icribus fimul validiiiime 
 percuiTa affiigei'etur dolore intolerabili, adeo quidem ut in ani- 
 mi deliquium incident. Mox ad ie reverfo ultimum tormenti 
 genus infiictum eft. Funibus brachia ejus non procul a manu 
 aitricta funtj illis tortor fe implicuit, ita ut dorfo ejus corio 
 munito circumduct renturj turn fen -fupinavit, pedibus quemuro 
 oppofitis fumma vi fanes diftendit, donee brachiorum carneoa 
 ufque ad oflfa penitus perciderh j idque tormentum ter rej 
 titum eft, funibus illis duorum circiter digitorum fpatia a piioie 
 
( *9 > 
 
 expofcd to the eye of the world, would be ruinous 
 to their great pretenfions to fuperior fanctity, will, 
 perhaps, be found to decline ; but I am convinced, 
 from perfonal obfervation, that lying and difhoneily, 
 that every fpecies of fraud and falfehood, — fins, which 
 are not fo readily detected, but which feem more 
 
 vulnere brachio appofitis, eademque vehementia conftrictis, 
 Contigit vero, cum fecundo funes conftringerentur ut in prius 
 vulnus relaberentur, unde tanta violentia fanguis eiBuxit, ut 
 moriturus videretur. Mox vicino conclavi advocati funt. 
 Medicus et Chirurgus, quos feraper prosfto effe oportet, ut 
 iimili in cafu, fententia eorum rogetur, an, abfque mortis peri- 
 culo, tortura continuari poflit, ne irregulares iiant judices ecle- 
 iiaftici, ft forte reus in tormentis moriatur. llli Orobio minimi 
 inimici, refpondent, virium fatis fupereffe, ad reliqua tormenta 
 fuftinendum: et fie eum praefervaiant, ne tormenta jam fupe- 
 rata denub inn* infligerentur, quia fententia fert, ut omnia ilia 
 tormenta fucceflive uno tempore infliganturj ii ob morti.* 
 periculum definendum lit. poftea rurfus omnia tormenta, etiani 
 quae jam tolerata fuerant, fucceflive infliguntur ut fententiae 
 fatis fiat. Mox veilibus fuis involutus, in priorem carcerem 
 <leportatus eft 3 et feptuaginta dierum fpatio, vix a vulneribus 
 fuis fanatus. Quoniam in tormentis nihil confefTus fuerat, 
 condemnatus eft non ut Judaifmi convi&us, fed fufpeclus, ad 
 infamem veftem Sanbenita, integro biennio, geftandum, eoque 
 elapfoad perpetuum e regno Hifpalienfi exilium." p. 323, 324. 
 I have made thefe copious extracts from Limborch, becaufe 
 the reader will, I truft, find them both curious and intereftingj 
 and they will probably defcribe the genius of Fanaticifm and 
 the temper of Fanatics, better than the moft elaborate meta- 
 phyfical differtation. 
 
( 3° ) 
 
 clofely connected with worldly advantage, will be 
 found, invariably, to increafe *. 
 
 2 2. Inftead of inculcating truth, juftice, brotherly 
 kindnefs, charity, all the domcftic and focial virtues, 
 the Fanatics amufe their hearers with a great deal of 
 whining, unintelligible cant about their " dear fouls," 
 their " precious fouls;" while their bodies are cover- 
 
 * In feveral parities, when fome of the fenfible and incor- 
 rupt minifters of the eftablifhment, have been inculcating from 
 the pulpit the great obligations of truth, juftice, and mercy, 
 and enforcing their performance by every fanction which the 
 gofpel fupplies, and every perfuafion with which an Eternity 
 of good can operate on the heart, — the champions of Method- 
 iim, who happen to have erected their flandard in the fame 
 village, and who ufually fend two or three fpies to the parilh 
 church to bring them intelligence of what has been faid, make 
 a common practice of telling their audiences at the next meet- 
 ing, that difcourfes on truth, and juftice, and mercy, have 
 nothing to do with Chriftianity ; that moral works, being 
 only filthy rags (a favourite exprefiion with thole enemies to 
 goodnefs), will not conduce to their fnlvation; and that they 
 mult rely on Chrift's rigbteoufnefs, without troubling them- 
 ft-lves about any righteoufnefs of their own. 1 leave the reader 
 to judge what effect fucb preaching, enforced by a great deal 
 of cant, and often the moil confummate art, mutt have on the 
 ignorant and the credulous who arc plainly told that fraud and 
 falfehood are no obftructions in the way to heaven, provided 
 they only go to that meeting within whofe unhallowed walls 
 the Anti-Chriftian jugglers circumfcribe the capacity of fal- 
 vation. 
 
( 3i ) 
 
 ed with rags, incrufted with filth, or wafting with 
 difeafe; — a ftate of mifery and indigence, to which 
 they are too often reduced by neglecling their proper 
 calling, and the reafonable worfnip of their forefa- 
 thers, to liften to the pernicious jargon of fome jug- 
 gling fiend, who, inflead of edifying them by the 
 fimple truths, or cheering them by the fweet confola- 
 lations of pure Chriftianity, ufually breathes the fleam 
 of delufion on their minds, the blaft of diflenfion on 
 their homes, and the anguifh of fuperftition on their 
 hearts. 
 
 03. To teach the fimple and the ignorant as the 
 emiflaries of Fanaticifm teach them, that they come 
 from the womb utterly difpofed to evil and indif- 
 pofed to good, is in fac"l, to tell them that they are 
 born with an innate propenfity to commit theft, adul- 
 tery, murder, and every crime. When fuch a pre- 
 pofterous and mod pernicious doctrine has been 
 deeply rooted in their minds, and forcibly impreffed 
 upon their hearts, it muft neceffarily exert the moil 
 mifchievous influence on their cond u 61 * # 
 
 * The Fanatics are very induftrious in eftablifhing Sunday 
 fchools, in order to gangrene the principles of the country; 
 and to give an unkind, unfocial Calviniftic complexion to 
 the manners of the people. Sunday fchools are, in many vil- 
 lages, the fuccefsful medium of inftilling the poifon of Me- 
 tfiodiftic immorality into the young and innocent. 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 / 24* By teaching people as the Scripture, from the 
 / beginning to the end, encourages us to teach them, 
 • that they are born with a faculty to difcern good 
 / from evil, and with a capacity to choofe which they 
 I pleafe, by teaching them that the hrft is their happi- 
 r nefsj and the laft their mifery; that the firft is their 
 r glory, and the laft their fhame; by teaching them 
 I that God will punifh the one, and reward the otherj 
 1 and that if they will, with fincerity, exert their natural 
 j power to do good, the favour of God will ajjift them 
 fin the performance, we certainly are more likely to 
 \ make them (for we take a more reafonable and fcrip- 
 I tural method of making them) fober, honed, and 
 I true, of exciting the love of virtue, and the detefta- 
 ttation of vice, than by imprefTing them with a belief 
 I that they bring into the world a conftitution imbued 
 I with every evil, and devoid of every good propen- 
 
 , \ fity *. By the firft, we excite their endeavours to 
 
 * " Sin," fays Jeremy Taylor, " creeps upon nsin our educa- 
 tion fo tacitly and undifcernibly, that we miftake the caufe of 
 it; and yet fo prevalently and effectually, that we judge it to be 
 our very nature, and charge it upon Adam, to lcjjcn the Imputation 
 upon ?is, or to incrcafc the licence or the confidence; when every 
 one of us is the Adam, the man of sin and the parent of our 
 own impurities." Life of Chriit, fol. ed. 1O7S, p. 08. — Thofe 
 Fanatics who are the molt zealous fticklers for the doctrine of 
 original (in, are always mod remarkable for perfonal depravity. 
 Rejoicing in the toothing vanity of imputed righteoufnefs, or 
 patiently enduring the wounds and bruifes and putrefying 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 do good, by the laft we increafe their inclination to ' 
 do evils by the firft we animate the conference toj 
 
 fores of imputed guilt, they feel themfelves liberated from all 
 the reftraints of truth in their words, and all the reftraints of 
 honefty in their actions. 
 
 The doctrine of original corruption is, indeed, infome degree, 
 fanctioned by the ninth article ; but that article admits of aa 
 explanation, that will entirely do away the rniichievoufnefs of 
 the doctrine; and it muft be remarked that the doctrine itfelf 
 is not at prefent, and never has been fince the reftoration, the 
 belief of the great majority, and particularly of the moft learn- 
 ed and upright members of the Church of England. And 
 though the doctrine mould be more exprefsly authorized by the 
 articles than it appears to me to be, yet it cannot well be called 
 the doctrine of the Church of England, when it is not the doc- 
 trine of the majority of the members, who compofe that church. 
 For we muft remember that the Church of England is not 
 a non -entity, or an immaterial abftraction, but a vinble, palpa- 
 ble, corporeal reality. It is not a dead but a living body. 
 When therefore we with to afcertain the true doctrine and 
 belief of the Church of England, we are not to inquire fo much 
 what ivas the doctrine and belief of its clergy in pad ages, as 
 what is the do&rine and the belief of the clergy, or the church, 
 at the prefent day. That which ivas the doctrine and belief 
 of the clergy in paft ages, was the doctrine and belief of the 
 church in their time j and that which is the doctrine and belief 
 of the clergy in this age, is the doctrine and belief of the church 
 in our time: for a church is not only a mafs of brick and mor- 
 tar, or of ftone and fand, but a collection of faithful men, warm 
 with animation and life, inculcating the duties of the gofpel, 
 and iuftructing the people in the way of vighteoufnefs. The 
 fermons of a clergyman of the prefent day may not entirely 
 accord with the tenets of the majority of the Clergy who lived 
 
 D 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 'ftruggle againfl. iniquity, by the lad, we only deprcii 
 1 the fpirics, and make the natural frame of man, 
 
 two hundred years ago, and Co far may differ from the doctrintf 
 of the Church of England two hundred years ago; and yet 
 they may not differ from the preaching of the great majority 
 of the clergy in his own time; and therefore may be conform- 
 able to the doctrine of the church in his own time ; for as the 
 majority of the living members, and particularly the moft 
 learned, upright, and judicious members of the Church of Eng- 
 land, conftitute the Church of England, they may, without 
 formally repealing any of the articles, put any conftruction 
 upon them which they think bell; and that conftruction is 
 the legal doctrine of the church in their time; and, in that 
 fenfe, and according to that conftruction, the articles may and 
 ought to be fubferibed; and he, who thus fubferibes them, 
 maintains what it is fonecelTary to maintain, an unity of doctrine 
 with the majority of his brethren ; and is, confcquenlly, a better 
 friend to the Church of England, than he is ivho ?nay fubferibe 
 the articles in a fenfe more agreeable to the letter, but more adverfe 
 to the general conf ruction of the clergy ; and confcquenlly to the 
 received doctrine of the Church. As the Church of England is 
 not an union of dead men but of living, an unity of doctrine 
 muft mean not an accord of opinions with the dead fo much 
 as an accord of opinions among the living; and as the en 
 of the Church of England ought not to be coofidertd in any 
 other light than the general creed of its living teachers, thole 
 who oppofe that creed, though they may maintain opinions 
 more congenial to the articles, yet, as the opinions which tl 
 maintain, are holtilc to thofe of the great corporate body of 
 the eftabliihment, they muft be confidered rather as foes than 
 as friends to the real interells of the church to which they 
 long. Confider this, ye Evangelical pre sad take fcO 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 Which muft be the work of God, an invincible argu- f 
 ment for the practice of unrighteoufnefs.; 
 
 yourfelves the reproaches with which ye are fo eager to opprefs 
 the reputation of others. 
 
 As the framers of the articles were fallible men, they were 
 liable to err 5 and as it is probable that, in fome few inftances, 
 they have erred through ignorance or prejudice, they cannot 
 be deemed infallible expofitors of fcripture, We are not to 
 interpret the fcripture by the articles ; but the articles by the v 
 fcripture. Subfcription to the articles, by no means divefis 
 any minifter of the Church of England of all right of private 
 judgment ; but every clergyman would be dripped of this ina- 
 lienable right, if he were compelled to make the articles the 
 excluftve interpreters of tbeChriftian doctrines, the ftandard of 
 their purity, and the meafure of their truth. In this cafe, we 
 had better throw the whole mafs of commentators, and fcholi- 
 afts, and critics into the fire"; and even, inflead of ftudying the 
 fcriptures themfeives, fludy nothing but the articles; to whofe 
 dogmas we mould bow our heads and bend our knees. We 
 muft either furrender ourfelves pafiive flaves to the verdict of 
 the articles 5 or we muft allow thofe, who fubferibe them, the 
 right of private judgment 3 and, if private judgment be allow- 
 ed, we muft concede to individuals the privilege of differing 
 from the articles on any topics, in which thofe articles appear 
 to them to differ from the fcripture. The articles themfelves 
 do not appear to me to deny any one this right ; for the iixth 
 article fays, " Holy fcripture containeth all things necerTary to 
 iaivation ;fo thai 'whatfo&oer is not read therein, nor may he proved 
 thereby, is nut required of any man, that it Ihould be believed as 
 an article of the faith, or be thought requifite or neceffary tofal- 
 vation." Here the framers of the articles undoubtedly intended ' 
 to- give a tacit permiiTiun to the exercife of private judgment; 
 and to that freedom of inquiry which is fubfervient to the belt 
 
 D 2 
 
( 3« ) 
 
 25. That man does poflcfs a capacity either to do 
 good or evil, and which the fall did not deftroy, may 
 
 interefts of religion. In the twenty-fir ft article, the framers 
 filently confefs their own fallibility, when they fay, that general 
 councils may err, and fo?nelh?ies have erred, in things pertaining t* 
 God. 
 
 Religious knowledge, like knowledge of other kinds, is cer- 
 tainly progreflive; and its progrefs has been very rapid of late 
 years. The ancient languages are better understood, the man- 
 ners and cuftoms of the eaft have been more accurately invef- 
 tigated, and, above all, a more juft, and liberal, and Chriftian 
 mode of thinking has taken place. Controverfy is conducted 
 with more moderation ; and animated by a more enlightened 
 criticifm. The framers of the articles were wife and enlieht- 
 ened men for the age in which they lived; but they did not 
 poffefs fagacity to anticipate the difcoveries and improvements 
 of future ages ; nor ought we to fuffer their decifions to render 
 thofe difcoveries fruitlefs, or thofe improvements vain. 
 
 The fcriptures cannot be properly interpreted without the 
 exercife of our rational powers; and we are exprefsly enjoined 
 to ftudy the fcriptures ourfelves, and not be contented with let- 
 ting others ftudy them for us. We are not to embrace a doc- 
 trine, merely becaufe other fallible men, like ourfelves, have 
 embraced it before us ; but becaufe we, on mature inquiry, be- 
 lieve it to be a fcriptural do<5crine. Chrift only is the mafter 
 of our confeience upon earth; and we are to call no man mafter 
 but Chrift. We are not to abandon our private judgment in 
 religious matters; but are impartially and diligently to fearch 
 the fcriptures. This is the fovereign duty of every man who 
 undertakes to inftruct others in the way of righteoufnefs ; and 
 no fubfeription to any articles upon earth can invalidate the 
 obligation or fuperfede the practice. We are to pay all juft 
 and reafonable deference to the articles; and to the authority 
 of thofe great and good men who framed them 3 but their de- 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 be proved by the plain and incontrovertible autho- 
 rity of Scripture, which no mutilated or perverted 
 
 ci lions are no mcafure for our confciences 5 and their autho- 
 rity is to be lefs valued than that of Chrift. 
 
 The framers ; of the articles lived at a period when mankind 
 were j uft emerging from ages of the grofteft ignorance, and 
 the moft oppreflive fuperftition. They had befides, for the 
 molt part, been nurtured in Popifh prejudices j and though 
 thofe prejudices had undergone a violent revolution ; yet fome 
 portion of their influence feems to have remained ; and which 
 probably operated filenlly and imperceptibly on the conclu- 
 fions which they drew, and the doctrines which they taught. 
 The impreflions of youth are fcldom, perhaps never, entirely 
 effaced. We muft alfo confider that the framers of the arti- 
 cles living in a period when the human mind, difcerning the 
 impofture which the court of Home had pradtifed on it for fo 
 many ages, began to throw off the chains of fuperftition, and 
 when, as might be expected, the moft diflbnant opinions pre- 
 vailed on the moft important doctrines, had a moft difficult 
 tafk to execute, in order to fteer clear of all extremes; and it 
 muft be confeflfed that they finiihed their work with lingular 
 ability and moderation. Though they yielded, as prudent men 
 will always yield, to the fpirit and genius of the times in which 
 they lived, yet comprehenfion and charity are very remarkable 
 in their decifions. But though, when I compare the exem- 
 plary moderation and good fenfe which the fathers of the Eng- 
 lifh Proteftant Eftabliinment difplayed in the formation of 
 the articles, with the darknefs and intolerance of the age in 
 which they lived, I am ready to pafs the higheft encomiums 
 en their wifdom and their mildnefs5 yet I am far from think- 
 ing that their notions jn theology ought or were intended to 
 bind their fucceflbrs to the end of time. This would be to 
 fufFer them to eftablifh that dominion over the minds and con- 
 
 D3 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 texts that Fanaticifm can adduce, or fophiftry c 
 combine, can fet afide. 
 
 fciences of the minifters of the gofpel, from which they had 
 refolutely attempted, and happily accompliihed their own 
 emancipation. 
 
 There is a general ufage in matters ecciefiaiiical as well as 
 civil, which abolifhes fome laws, without formally repealing 
 them, and eflablimes others, without formally enacting them. 
 A law,- like many in the Englffh ftatutes, is often furTered to 
 die a peaceful death. The power of enforcing it is not taken 
 away ; but general difufe fufpends its operations; and it be- 
 comes as if it did not exilt. None of the articles of the Church 
 of England have been formally repealed ; but it is very certain, 
 that the literal fenie of foraie of them has been, in a great mea- 
 fure, explained away by the conftructions, and, if I may fo 
 exprefs it, abrogated by the unanimous confent of the moft 
 illuitrious divines. In the writings of Jeremy Taylor, Barrow, 
 Tillotfon, Clark, Whitby, Jeffery, Butler, Warburton, Balguy, 
 and other ornaments of the Church of England, we meet with 
 many paflages, which indirectly attack the fpirit, and with 
 others which are cirectly contrary to the plain fenie and letter 
 of the articles. 
 
 Now, the practice of the greateft divines gives to other 
 members of the Church of England the privilege of diflenting 
 and a right to diiTent from thofe articles which they oppofed; 
 and which the majority of the living Clergy, whofe animated 
 bodies conftitute the corporate legal reality, and whofe avowed 
 opinions conflitute the attual doctrine of the church, do not 
 approve. A literal repeal of any of the articles might, per- 
 haps, in the prefent temper of the times, be productive of more 
 evil than good ; but a filent repeal of them, luch as has taken 
 place, is calculated to produce great advantage without any 
 material inconvenience. 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 s6. In Genefis iv. y 3 the Lord is reprefented as 
 faying to Cain, whofe jealoufy was provoked by the 
 
 It will be faid, that oaths are to be taken in the fenfe in 
 which they are adminiftered. This is certainly true in moft: 
 cafes ; but it will not hold good in cafes where oaths are ad- 
 miniftered in terms, an which very different covjiruclions 7/iay 
 eonfcientioujly befut; and are ufually confcientiotifly put by 
 the different perfons whom they are adminiftered. Thus, if, 
 for inftance, every clergyman were obliged to fubfcribe to 
 the articles in the fenfe in which the oath of fubfcription is 
 adminiftered to him, the conftruction of the fame articles by 
 the fame perfon, might be made to change feveral times in his 
 life, in order that it might tally with the contraction of the 
 different parties, before whom the oath of fubfcription might 
 be taken. Thus, if a perfon were to be ordained deacon by a 
 Calviniftic bithop, he mull fubfcribe the articles in one fenfe, 
 and. if ordained prieft by an Arminian bifhop (fuch as a great 
 majority of the Englifh bifhops are), he muft fubfcribe them 
 in a different. Before the firft he muft fwear to believe in 
 the doctrine of abfolute perfonal election and reprobation, 
 &c. &c. and before the laft he muft fwear that he does not 
 believe any fuch things. To avoid thefe embarraffments, and 
 this impiety, it feems right that the articles thould be fub- 
 fcribed, not in that fpecific fenfe in which they are underftood 
 and believed by the perfon who adminifters the oath of fub- 
 fcription, but either in that particular fenfe which is moft 
 agreeable to the confcience of the individual who fubfcribes, 
 or in that general fenfe which is to be collected from the 
 writings of the moft learned and judicious members of the 
 Church of England who are dead, and its moft learned and 
 judicious members who are living. No falfehood can be prac- 
 tifed where there is no intention to deceive on the one handy and 
 where nobody is deceived on the other. Thofe who are fo for- 
 
 D 4 
 
( 4° ) 
 
 diftinguifhing marks of the divine favour, 'which 
 Abel had received, " If thou doeft zvell, Jhalt thou not 
 
 ward to caft the raoft flanderous imputations on the veracity 
 of the Clergy, would do well to confider this obfervation : 
 
 It is not to be fuppofed, that the minifters of the Church of 
 England mould ever agree in the conftru&ion, or unite in the 
 belief of thirty-nine proportions, fome of which relate to quef- 
 tions the moll dark and difficult in the whole compafs of hu« 
 man inquiry; queftions, too, which agitate the hopes and the 
 fears of men; their deareft interefts and their fondeft expecta- 
 tions; queftions, in the difcuflion of which, the wifeft may be 
 perplexed, and the fearlefs be difmayed. On many abftrufe 
 and intricate topics in theology, men of the fevereft probity, 
 the greateft penetration, of profound refearch, and various eru- 
 dition, have often differed from each other, and have as often 
 differed from themfelves at different periods of their lives. 
 Any man may give an affurance of what his belief has been 
 for the paft; but, on any matters of uncertain fpeculation, no 
 man can fafely or confcientioufly ftipulate what his belief fhall 
 be for the future. If any man mould undertake to think on 
 any doubtful queftion ten years hence in precifely the fame 
 manner that he does at prefent, he undertakes more than he 
 can perform; and no one is bound to impofiible conditions. 
 
 A man's prefent belief, as far as it is rational and fincere, 
 muft be always determined by the weight of evidence ; and it 
 will vary as the evidence varies; it will grow ftronger as the 
 evidence grows more convincing ; and it will become weaker 
 as the evidence decreafes; or as the probabilities in favour of 
 a contrary opinion are increafed. On any doubtful queftions, 
 which admit of degrees of proof, or of probability, an honed 
 and rational man will embrace that fide of the queftion, in fa- 
 vour of which the proofs are the ftrongeft ; or the probabilities 
 preponderate. Thus a degree of evidence, which at one period 
 
( 41 .) 
 
 fa accepted-, and if thou dceft net well,Jhi lieth at the 
 door" Here God himfelf, not long after the fall, 
 
 of life feems fufficient to determine the choice and to fix 
 the aflent may appear inefficient at another. No man can 
 bind over his confeience to believe, or his reafon to fupport 
 what he now believes, all the reft of his life ; and no power on 
 earth can give him the capacity to do it ; or take from him the 
 right of not doing it. The attempt would be as vain and 
 fruitlefs, not to fay as impious, as an attempt to fetter the 
 winds, or to ftill the waves. 
 
 The knowledge of every man who reads and thinks, as every 
 clergyman ought to read and to think, is and muft be in a 
 •ftate of continual progreflionj and of courfe his opinions on 
 many matters of doubtful speculation may undergo many 
 changes, without any change taking place in the purity of his 
 confeience, or the integrity of his heart 5 without any diminu- 
 tion of his regard for the church of which he is a member; 
 or any deduction from his ufefulnefs as one of its minifters.— 
 To diffufe a fpirit of good will between man and man, to con- 
 ciliate the affections of the people to the government, and to 
 awaken in the government an attention to the interefts of the 
 people} to promote the growth of all the domeftic and all the 
 focial virtues, to melt the obdurate and to confirm the peni- 
 tent, to raife the weak hands and to ftrengthen the feeble 
 knees, to animate the righteous and to direct the eyes of the 
 wretched to the realms of immortality;— -thefe are the great, 
 and noble, and worthy ends, and ufes of an eftablifhed church; 
 and thefe ends may be obtained, and this good may be pro- 
 duced, where there is not an uniformity of opinions among its 
 minifters on topics of doubtful inquiry; or where fomeof them 
 fubferibe the thirty-nine articles in their plain literal fenfe, 
 and others in one that is totally different. 
 
 In thefe remarks, in which I have fpoken my mind clearly 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 exprefily intimates that Cain had a power to choofc 
 cither good or evil; and that his happinefs depended 
 on the choice which he mould make. In conformity 
 to this pafiage: St. John fays, i Ep. iii. 12, thatCain's 
 works were evil; andthoje of his brother's righteous. But 
 had the fall To far vitiated the nature of man, as to have 
 ingenerated a permanent difpofition to evil, and in- 
 difpofition to good, the works of Abel muft have been 
 as unrighteous as thofe of his brother. In Genefis vi. 
 5, it is teflified of Noah, " that he was ajuft man, and 
 $erfe5f> and walked zvith God-," — a character totally 
 incompatible with the fuppofition, that the fall ren- 
 dered human nature vicious and unfound to the very 
 
 and intelligibly, but I truft with becoming moderation, my with 
 is to defend the great and good Anti-Calviniftic majority of the 
 Clergy againft the malicious afperfions of the Calviniftic mi- 
 nority; and to vindicate the rights of the former to freedom of 
 opinion, and freedom of inquiry; rights, which the latter, who 
 are enemies to truth and feafon, would willingly take away. 
 I love, I venerate the Church of England with all her imper- 
 fections. Though I am not fo warm an admirer as to panegy- 
 rife her wrinkles ; or fo infatuated a lover as to imagine that 
 her freckles add to her beauty ; yet I am confeious that the has 
 qualities which deferve the etieem of her friends, and the re- 
 fpect of her enemies. If her faults be many, they are greatly 
 exceeded by her virtues. And who is there, even among her 
 bittereft foes, who can cenfure the fimplicity of her rites or 
 the folemnity of her fervice? Who is there, not callous to 
 every emotion of piety, that will not laud the beauty of her 
 liturgy, the devotion with which it glows, and the charity 
 which it infpires? 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 core. Of job, it is faid that he was <c perfeil and 
 upright, one that feared God, and ef chewed evil" and, in 
 another pailage, God himfelf is reprefented as calling 
 Job u a p erf eft and an upright man, one that f ear eth God> 
 and ejchev:eth evil." S u reiy nothing can more ftrongly 
 prove St. Auftin's favourite doctrine of innate cor- 
 ruption to be unfcriptural and erroneous; for had 
 Adam's guilt been infufed into his potlerity, fo as to 
 produce a continual averfion to good, and an unceas- 
 ing converiion to evil, there could not, after the firft 
 tranfgreffion, have been a (ingle perfect and upright 
 man upon the whole face of the earth. But as there 
 have been, fince the fall, feveral perfect and upright 
 men who feared God, and efchewed evil, thefe exam- 
 ples prove, that men were under no natural or innate 
 biats to unrighteoufnefs; and that there were fo many 
 finners in the world, not becaufe fin was a mechani- 
 cal neceffity, but becaufe men grofsly ahufed their ca- 
 pacity to do good, and not to do evil. In A els x. we 
 read of Cornelius, a centurion, " a. devout man, and 
 one that feared God with all his houfej who gave 
 much alms to the people, and prayed to God always." 
 Indeed, in all ages and among all nations, there 
 have been righteous as well as wicked j there have 
 been fome who have obeyed, though there have been 
 more who have tranfgrefled the law written on their 
 hearts; the law whofe practice realbn approves, and 
 whofe obligations confeience feels. 
 
 27. If God be a moral governor, man muft be a 
 
 6 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 moral agent; that is, capable of choofing good or 
 evil; for, without fuch a capacity, human actions 
 would be no more fufceptible of the relations of mo- 
 rality, than the movements of a machine. Moral 
 agency confifts in the voluntary •preference of good to 
 evil, or of evil to good; and without which, God can- 
 not be, with refpect to man, a moral governor; for 
 the notion of a moral government is incompatible 
 with that of a mechanical neceflity. But the doctrine 
 of original fin, which is taught by the Fanatics, de- 
 flroys the moral government of God; for man could 
 not make a voluntary election between good and 
 evil, if he were, from the womb, indifpofed to good, 
 and difpofed to evil. 
 
 2,8. As the notions of original fin, which are en- 
 tertained by the Fanatics, invalidate the moral go- 
 vernment of God, they mud, of courfe, take away 
 all motives to righteoufnefs and devotion, to obedi- 
 ence and adoration. If God be not a moral gover- 
 nor, he mud be a carclefs fpectator of human actions, 
 indifferent to vice or virtue; and hence mankind 
 could cherifh no hope of conciliating his favour; and 
 need entertain no dread of exciting his difpleafure. 
 For, once fet afide the belief of God's moral govern- 
 ment ; and all actions, as they refpect the relations 
 between God and man, become alike. They lofc 
 the characleriftic dillinctions of good and evil; and 
 God himfelf ceafes to be an object worthy of reli- 
 gious adoration. For we might as well worfliip 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 wood and (lone, as a God who docs not concern 
 himfelf about us ; and who, whatever may be our 
 conduct towards him, regards us neither with pleafure 
 nor difpleafure, with fondnefs nor averfion. What 
 emotions of piety, of hope or fear, of love and gra- 
 titude, could the worfhip of fuch a being kindle in 
 the foul? 
 
 29. The great and glorious attribute of God, the 
 excellence of his excellencies, the perfection of his 
 perfections, is his gecdnefs-, that goodnefs which is 
 every where manifefted in the works of creation ; and 
 in the pages of fcripture. But the genius of Fana- 
 ticifm obfeures the unclouded funihine of the divine 
 glory; for it fuppofes that God conftituted all the 
 generations of men finners, appointed to damnation 
 before they were born ; and that of all thofe who 
 come into the world, only a very fmall portion is 
 elected to falvation, while millions and millions are 
 created on purpofe to be tormented for ever in fire 
 and brimftone. This doctrine, which is not more 
 replete with abfurdity than with blafphemy, ap- 
 proaches nearer to the chilling fyftem of the Atheift, 
 than to the cheering doctrine of the gofpel. The 
 Atheift denies the exiftence of God ; the Fanatic 
 annihilates the fuppofition of his goodnefs; and what 
 fentient and intelligent being is there who would not 
 prefer no God at all to a God without goodnefs ? 
 Strip God of his goodnefs, and the imagination in- 
 ftantly rcprefents the Deity as a Devil; for the divine 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 power, abftracled from that goodnefs, which dirtcl 
 its operations, excites fenfations more allied to trem- 
 bling abhorrence, than to thrillins; love. 
 
 30. What is the precife nature ofjufUce, 2s it re- 
 fpecls the government of God, it may be difficult to 
 define; but on this, I think, we may fafely rely, 
 that the proceedings of God towards man will not be 
 fuch as might reafonably be accufed of injuftice, if 
 they were the proceedings of one man towards ano- 
 ther. Our notions of jutlice are, for the mod part, 
 dirtincl and clear; and in which we feldom err, unlefs 
 from the abufe of reafon or the contempt of con- 
 fciencc. Our fenfations themieives, in a meafure, 
 teach us to diftinguifh juftice from injuftice; andihat 
 fenfe of right, which is either innate in the heart, or 
 which the lead exercife of reafon will diicover, will 
 prevent any considerable miftake in queftions which 
 fo nearly concern our own intereft, and the intereft 
 of our fellow-creatures. Now, we cannot i> nc 
 that God, in his dealings with us, will act contrary 
 to thole principles of jultice which he has made 
 evident to the mind, and fo genial to the heart; and 
 which he has, moreover, exprefsly cor to 
 
 obferve in our conduct towards each other. his 
 
 opofition would make God act contrary to i *n 
 
 will and his own decrees. No rood and wife 
 who impofes laws on others will violate them himfelf; 
 nor can we, for a moment beHeve 3 that God would 
 ordain laws, to which he hi mil k would not co n. 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 If God tell man to do no wrong to his brother man, 
 we may fafely truft that He will not tranfgrefs his 
 own decrees by doing wrong to mankind. — But the 
 perverfe and wicked doctrine of the Fanatics fup- 
 pofes that God is fallible, and inconuflent with him- 
 felf; that he does not conform to his own laws, and 
 does not abide by his own decrees *. According to 
 our fenfe of right and wrong, which is the gift of 
 God, and according to the fpirit and to the letter of 
 God's laws, it would be an ad of outrageous cruelty 
 in any human lawgiver, to punifh a man for crimes 
 which he never committed, or to hang him for a rob- 
 bery which was perpetrated by one of his remote 
 progenitors; and in the guilt of which his defendants 
 could not be involved. If any human legiflator 
 fhould attempt to put in practice fuch an opprefllve 
 fentence, it would revolt every heart; and every 
 hand would be raifed to refift the execution. If it 
 would be unjuft in any human tribunal to put the 
 innocent in the place of the guilty, a fimilar con- 
 duct, if practifed by God, would be contrary to the 
 laws of juftice, which he ordained; and it would be 
 reprobated by that fenfe of right and wrong, which 
 his goodnefs imparted to us ; and by which we dif- 
 tinguilh good from evil, and mercy from oppreiiion. 
 
 * The laws of God are the emanations of his wifdom, of his 
 juftice, and his goodnefs; and God can no more a fit contrary 
 to them, than he can act contrary to wifdom, to juftice, and to 
 good Daft. 
 
( 4« ) 
 
 3'. There feems no propofition in theology more 
 clear than this ; that God prefers the righteous to the 
 finner; that thofe who keep his laws are the objects 
 of his regard, and thofe who violate them, of his dif- 
 pleafure. But if all men were, according to the hy- 
 pothefis of the Fanatics, inherently and radically vi- 
 cious, utterly indifpofed to good, and difpofed to evil, 
 they would all be, in refpect to moral qualities, on 
 the fame level, and one could have no better claim 
 to preference than another. Whence then do the 
 fcriptures aflure us, that God does prefer fome to 
 others; the juft to the unjuft; for if human nature 
 were as corrupt as the Fanatics reprefent it, there 
 could be none that did good, or efchewed evil ; and, 
 in this cafe, God would be made to prefer one in- 
 dividual to another without a caufe for preference. 
 Such reafoning, with refpecl to God, is impious and 
 abfurd. 
 
 32. If fome individuals be more the objects of 
 God's love than others, it muft be becaufe fome ex- 
 cel in moral qualities more than others; for a differ- 
 ence in moral qualities can alone form a ground of 
 preference in the fight of the moral Governor of the 
 world. If moral qualities do form a ground of pre- 
 ference, and if God do, as the fcriptures fully aflert, 
 prefer fome men to others on this account, then all men 
 cannot be equally finners, or equally difpofed to evil, 
 and indifpofed to good; for this fuppofuion would 
 leave no motivt for a reafonable preference; ami wt 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 cannot fuppofe the preference of God to be unrea- 
 fonable. 
 
 33. But the Fanatics will pretend, that, though all 
 men are born finners, fome are made righteous by 
 the fpecial appointment of God; that, though all the 
 defendants of Adam do come into the world, reek- 
 ing with pollution, and infected with guilt to the very 
 core, God does, of his own free will, give to fome 
 few chofen people, his own eleff, a power to become 
 righteous, which he denies to others. But this fup- 
 pofition will not bear examination ; for it makes the 
 Father of Spirits act with the fullennefs of bigotry or 
 the wantonnefs of caprice, arbitrarily creating fome 
 for happinefs and others for damnation. 
 
 34. If God give to fome a power to be righteous 
 which he withholds from others, this power muft be 
 either a conditional or an unconditional gift, either 
 granted with or without any endeavour to obtain ir. 
 1{ it be an unconditional grant, then, as fome are 
 made righteous by a divine appointment, others are 
 made finners by a divine appointment; — that is, they 
 are made righteous againft their will, and finners 
 without their choice. This is entirely to confound 
 and to deftroy the diitincUons of good and evil: for, 
 without changing the language of morals, and abo- 
 lifhing every notion of right and wrong, a man can 
 no more be called a finner, who is made fo without 
 his concurrence, or righteous, who becomes fo againft 
 
 E 
 
( So ) 
 
 his Inclination, than he could be called black who is 
 born white, or white who is born black. 
 
 35. If the divine fuccour, by which people become 
 righteous, be a conditional grant, if any previous 
 moral exertion be requifite to obtain it, or any pre- 
 vicus moral fltnefs to receive it, then righteoufnefs 
 and unrighteoufnefs become very diftincT: things; for 
 the will is inftrumental in their production ; and there 
 is a caufe for preference in the one which is wanting 
 in the other. The firft, by a certain congruity which 
 feems invariably obferved in the economy of the 
 moral world, deferves the divine favour; and, by 
 the fame congruity, the lad incurs the divine dif- 
 pleafure. To the firft, which doeth good, belong 
 glory, and honour, and immortality; while tribulation 
 and anguifh are awarded to the laft, becaufe it doeth 
 evil. But the fuppofition, that the divine favour, 
 which flrengthens the feeble and refrefhes the faint, 
 is a conditional grant, is totally incompatible with that 
 fyftem, which the fanguinary zealot of Geneva ef- 
 poufed, and which fucceeding Fanatics have fupport- 
 ed. According to their doctrine, men are made 
 righteous againft their will, and wicked without theii 
 choice ; and God vouchfafes his regard to fome which 
 he denies to others; not becaufe the former vfc their 
 utmoft endeavours to obtain it which the latter do 
 not ufe, but becaufe He acts without motives, dif- 
 tinguifhes without a caufe of diftinftion^ prefers with- 
 out any reafon for preference, punifhes where there 
 
( 5* ) 
 
 is no guilt, and rewards where there is no integrity. 
 Such are the blafphemies which the Fanatics utter 
 againft the Mod High ! 
 
 36. That the Fanatics fhould make fo many con- 
 verts, is little to be wondered, when weconfider how 
 agreeable their doctrines are to fiefh and blood, and 
 on what eafy terms they promile an eternity of biifs 
 to the dupes of their impofturc. They throw wide 
 the gates of heaven to the finner; and fhut them 
 againfi: the righteous. Their religion is popular and 
 pleafing, becaufe it requires fo little felf-denial. 
 'With (hem falvation depends on the impulfes of feel- 
 ings j with us it is the confequence of righteous habit. 
 With them repentance is a miraculous infufion; with 
 us it is a forrow for fin, generating newnefs of life. 
 With them one tranfport of the nerves, beating with 
 devotional extravagance, is more likely to lift the fin- 
 ner to heaven, than a whole life fpent in the practice 
 of virtue. Great religious formality, great aufterity 
 in the manner, and great fanclity in the look canonize 
 their faints; while we reckon among the juft, only 
 thofe, who pofTefs that inward purity which cleanfes 
 the thoughts, and that goodnefs which is manifeft in 
 the conduct. The Fanatics reft their entire hopes 
 on the fiction of imputed righteoufnefsj but while 
 we judge the blood of the atonement the only caufe 
 of our falvation, we think that it is not that blood of 
 fprinkling by which individuals will be faved from 
 the wrath to come, unlefs it purify their fouls from 
 
 E 2 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 affualjin, and render them a peculiar people zea- 
 lous of good works. The Fanatics think grace 
 neccflary to perfeverance in righteoufnefs ; and we 
 think the fame; but they fuppofe grace irrefiftible; 
 while we think that it may be quenched; they fay 
 that it operates againft, we afTei t that it works in con- 
 junction with, our will ; and that it is a talent which 
 will be withdrawn if it be not turned to a good ac- 
 count. Their doctrine is a chaos of myftery; in 
 which the wife and the foolifh are alike bewildered ; 
 cur doctrine is plain, and artlefs, and intelligible ; 
 which the fimple cannot miftake ; and the way -faring 
 man may underftand. The religion which we preach 
 meliorates the heart; theirs only inflames the paffions. 
 We addrefs the understanding •, they agitate the in- 
 temperance of the imagination. We are fedulous to 
 promote active ufefulnefs; they excite only a barren 
 confidence or a comfortlefs defpondency. Our fyftem 
 is favourable to the growth of virtue and of happinefs; 
 theirs tends to the increafe of vice and mifery. We 
 deliver thofe inflructions which are fitted to make 
 good hufbands, good fathers, good children, which 
 encourage all that is amiable in domeftic, and all that 
 is upright in civil life; while the counfels which they 
 give, and the lefTons they teach, produce either a 
 fullen indifference, or a fierce contempt for all thofe 
 ties which are the deareft to the heart, and the moll 
 binding on the confeience. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 Man was a free agent , accountable for his a Bions before 
 the fatly and has continued Jo ever Jince. 
 
 T , That man was made an accountable being at 
 the beginning, and that he has continued Co ever 
 fince, is a truth which the fcriptures fully eftablifh; 
 and to which good and wife theologians of all ages 
 have aflented. 
 
 a. An accountable being means, a being endued 
 with a capacity to difcern good from evil, and refpon- 
 fible for the ufe of it. T he right ufe of this capa- 
 city conftitutes religious obedience; the wrong ufe of 
 it conftitutes difobedience or impiety, 
 
 3. As we pofTefs a capacity to difcern good from 
 evil, that capacity is a law of our natures which we 
 could have derived only from him who gave us this 
 
 e 3 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 mortal life, and placed us in this probationary world. 
 To prefer moral good to moral evil, is to obey the 
 law of our rational nature; as to prefer phyfical good 
 to phyfical evil, oleafure to pain, and food to hunger, 
 is to obey the law of our animal conftitution. To 
 obey the law of our rational nature, or rightly toufe 
 our capacity of difcerning good from evil, is to obey 
 the will of God ; who gave us the capacity and made 
 us reiponfible for the exercife. 
 
 4. If we are conftituted beings, accountable for 
 the morality of our actions, or, in other words, for 
 the conformity of our conduct to the law of our ra- 
 tional nature which is the will of God, it follows, 
 that we pofTefs not only the faculty of difcerning good 
 from evil, but alfo the free ufe of it, in choofing 
 either the one or the other, as it fecmeth to us belt; 
 in either conforming or not conforming our actions 
 to the law of our rational nature, or the will of our 
 Creator. We cannot be accountable for impoflibili- 
 ties. We cannot be refponfible to the Judge of all the 
 earth for not ufing that which we do not pofTefs ; or 
 which is not fubject to the will, or the rational fa- 
 culty of man. 
 
 5. We either do pofTefs the faculty of difcerning 
 between good and evil, or we do not pofTefs it. If 
 we do not pofTefs it, we cannot be called to account 
 for not exerting the energies of a nonentity j if we do 
 pofTefs it, we muft pofTefs the power of calling it into 
 
C 55 ) 
 
 action. If we poflefTed the faculty of difcerning good 
 from evil, or of diftinguifhing between the nature 
 and tendencies, the happy and unhappy confequences 
 of certain actions, and yet did not poflefs the faculty 
 of voluntarily exerting it, we could not be accounta- 
 ble for the voluntary exertion of it. If #c pofleflcd a 
 power of diftinguifhing between fweet and bitter, 
 between things noxious and things innocent, between 
 poifons and their antidotes, and yet when fugar and 
 gall, when a loaf of bread and a ftone> when a fifh 
 and a ferpent were fet before us, we did not poflefs 
 the power of reaching out our hands and taking that 
 which we knew to be good and wholefome and nu- 
 tritious, in preference to that which we knew to be 
 deftructive, the power of diftinction would beufelefs; 
 becaufe it could not be exercifed; and, in this cafe, 
 would it not be tyrannical, that we fhould be punifti- 
 ed for not exercifing it ? In the fame manner, if we 
 poflefs a power of difcerning moral good from moral 
 evil without the faculty of exerting it, the not exert- 
 ing it cannot juftly be laid to our charge by a rea- 
 fonable being, fuch as God mud be. 
 
 6. If, therefore, we do not poflefs the faculty of dif- 
 cerning between good and evil and next of choofing 
 between them, we cannot be accountable for oui ac- 
 tions. And if we be not accountable for our actions* 
 then there is no fuch thing as a law of our rational na 
 ture, to which our conduct fhould be conformable ; for, 
 in this cafe, it would be a law, firft, which we could not 
 
 E 4 
 
know, and next which we could not obey. It would, 
 therefore, be no law at all 5 for how can that be a law 
 to us, or a law which we can be required to obey, or 
 refponfible for not obeying, either whofe obligations 
 we do not know, or which the Iawg ; ver himfelf has, 
 by a conftrahit on our nature, prevented us from obey- 
 ing, and determined us to violate ? Such a fuppofi- 
 tion would be to make human nature and the whole 
 economy of the moral world a fyflcm of abfurdity, 
 and the. author of it a capricious demon, characterifed 
 by injuftice, and delighting in torture. Such are the 
 inconfiftencies and impieties into which thoie per- 
 fons are neceffarily carried who maintain that man 
 is, from the womb, utterly indifpofed to good and 
 difpofed to evil; and meriting eternal damnation for 
 a tranfgreflion to which he was noc accefTary; which 
 he had neither power to choofe or to refufe, to per- 
 petrate or to prevent. 
 
 7. As the advocates for the loathfome doctrine 
 of hereditary corruption pretend that the fall de- 
 itroyed the capacity of man to do good, and left him 
 nothing but a capacity to do evil, that it extinguimed 
 the life of religion in the foul, that it eftranged all 
 his affeclions from the law of God, and imprefled on 
 his difpofition and habits an irrefiftible bias to all 
 manner of iniquity, let us carefully examine the brief 
 and, probably, in Jome degree, allegorical account*, 
 
 * Le Clerc fays, <f banc hiftoriam nafcentis orbis, licet fim- 
 plici contcxtaui, ut videtur, ftylo, non carere fchematibusj 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 which the fcripture has left of that event, and we 
 mall find that it gives no authority whatever for fo 
 ftrange a fuppofuion. 
 
 8. The original anceftors of mankind were no 
 fooner feated in paradife, than they found themfelves 
 in a (late of trial. And the trial on which they were 
 put, at that time, was not the trial of their obedience 
 to the moral law, but to a pofitive precept, <c Thou 
 Jhalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil." 
 
 9. Our firft parents, when in paradife, where the 
 earth fpontaneoufly brought forth every thing to 
 fupply their wants, and where they were the only 
 inhabitants, were not tried by their obedience to the 
 law of moral obligation; becaufe they could, in that 
 Hate, be under no poffible temptation to falfehood, 
 to adultery, to injuftice, or any other immorality. 
 The violations of truth and juftice are ufually occa- 
 fioned by the force of temptations to which Adam 
 and Eve, placed in the garden of Eden, were inac- 
 ceffible. God, therefore, inftead of making their 
 enjoyment of his favour depend on their obedience 
 to the ftatutes of the moral law, which they had no 
 temptation to violate, made it depend on their obe- 
 
 uncle minus mirum videiur, fi cjutsdam in fuperioribus ut jacent 3 
 intelUgenda non fint, qua?nvis nuda ornamentis ?iarratio, primo 
 intuitu videtur" Cleric in Genef. iii. 22. See'Warb. Div. 
 Leg. b. ix. 
 
( 5* ) 
 dience to a fingle injunction, not to eat of the tree of 
 knowledge of good and evil; which did operate as a 
 charm upon their fenfes; which was grateful to the 
 eye, and pleafing to the fmell; and which, confe- 
 quently, exercifed their felf-'denialj and formed a fa- 
 tisfactory teft of their obedience. 
 
 10. A ftate of temptation is necefifary to beings 
 accountable for their actions. Accountablenefs fup- 
 pofes a capability of merit or demerit, or, in a reli- 
 gious fenfe, a power of obtaining the favour or of in- 
 curring the difpleafure of God. But how can a 
 capability of obtaining, or a qualifying fitnefs for re- 
 ceiving the divine favour, exift in actions, which did 
 not originate in •preference? A ftate of moral proba- 
 tion, or a ftate in which we are capable of merit and 
 demerit, of obedience and difobedience to the divine 
 will, necefTarily fuppofes the encounter of oppofite 
 motives in the bread of man; and the fitnefs or right 
 application of moral agency confifts in making a 
 right choice between them; in preferring the motives 
 to obedience to thofe which incline us to difobe- 
 dience ; and in regulating our conduct by the former, 
 rather than by the latter. 
 
 ii. Our firft parents, though they had no tempta- 
 tion to violate thofe laws of moral obligation, in 
 obedience to which righteoufnefs now confifts, were 
 yet placed in a ftate of moral agency, and capable of 
 merit or demerit, as far as they were capable of obe- 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 dience or difobedience. Even, in paradife, they 
 were, in fome meafure, operated upon by contend- 
 ing motives; and they were required to make a 
 right uie of the freedom of their will in choofing 
 between them. They were liable, as the hiftoiy 
 proves, to the external agency and the internal in- 
 fluence of temptation; and their moral agency con- 
 firmed in combating the one and repelling the other. 
 They beheld the tree of good and evil waving its 
 fair and beautiful fruit (probably more attractive in 
 its appearance, than the fruit that grew on any of the 
 other trees in the garden) before their eyes. The 
 outward attractions of the fruit operated on their 
 fenfes; and concurred with the prohibition to eat, to 
 inflame defire. In quenching the defire, and in obey- 
 ing the divine injunction, their morality and their 
 happinefs confifi ed. The command was pofitive 
 not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil; and obedience to it was enforced by 
 this denunciation, " In the day that thou eatefl thereof 
 thou Jhaltjurely die" 
 
 12. Our firfl parents were thus placed in a date of 
 temptation; and fubjected to the influence of oppofite 
 motives.' The forbiden fruit, acting on their fenfes, 
 inflamed their appetites, and inclined them to dif- 
 obedience; while the love of him, who had provided 
 for them fuch abundance of delights, and gave them 
 full power to enjoy all the varied luxuries of paradife, 
 ivtth this finale exception, combined with the fear of 
 
 3 
 
( 6o ) 
 
 incurring the penalty which he threatened, Teemed 
 more forcibly to impel them to obedience. 
 
 T :. But our firit parents, a good deal like their 
 defcentLntSj fcem to have been vanquifhed by the 
 defire ofprefent gratification. Beguiled by the imme- 
 diate pleafure, they difregarded the more diftant con- 
 fequences. They perhaps pra&iied upon themfelves 
 delufions of a fclf-impofture, fimiiar to that which 
 we are fo often accuftomed to practife upon our- 
 felves, in thofe cafes in which our appetites are in- 
 flamed by the nearnefs of fome prefent, but criminal 
 indulgence. They, perhaps, imagined, that if they 
 tranfgrcITeJ, the tranfgreflion might be concealed ; 
 or that the ccv. r quences might not be fo bad as were 
 threatened. Confcious of the goodnefs of God, the^ 
 might fondly hope that one (ingle offence would not 
 fo far provoke hi* wrath, as to caule him to depiive 
 them for ever of all the happinefs which his bounty 
 had provide^ to drive them from his prefmce and 
 doom them to mifcry and definition. Thus it is pro- 
 bable, that they liftcned to the vain imaginations of 
 their own hearts ; they fuffered the flame of feniual 
 defire to make its inroads into the foul, till it became 
 too violent to be extinguifhed. They ate of the 
 fruit which they were commanded not to eat; they 
 violated the injunction of God ; and brought death 
 into the world. 
 
 14. Hence we fee that our firft parents were no 
 
( 6i ) 
 
 fooner created, than they were tempted like as we 
 are; that they had, as we have, reafon and confcience 
 and freedom of will to vanquifh :emptation; but that 
 by not liftening to the fuggeftions of reafon and not 
 minding or not believing the denunciations of God, 
 and by abufing their natural freedom of moral agency 
 which his goodnefs had imparted, they fuffered a 
 temptation to overpower them, which they might have 
 overpowered, 
 
 15. That the moral powers, or the powers of re- 
 filling temptation, and of conforming to the law of 
 a rational nature or the wiJl of God, were flronger 
 in Adam, than they have been in many of his de- 
 fendants, by no means appears from any fuggeftions 
 in the account of the fall, or in any other parts of 
 fcripture. The contrary is rather proved by the 
 hiftory ; for Eve feems, as far as can be gathered from 
 the relation of Mo/es, to have yielded to the fir ft tempta- 
 tion, and to have been vanqui/ked by the fir ft impulfe of 
 unlicenjed defire. Many of the frail and fair daughters 
 of Eve, who from her derive forrow and travail in 
 the conception of children, feem to have (liccefsfully 
 refilled temptations flronger than thofe by which 
 their female progenitor was overcome. How then 
 can it be truly faid, that there was, in our firil parents, 
 an original righteoufhefs which has been entirely loft 
 in their defcendants ? Let us not be deceived, by 
 fine-founding words, or by the honeyed cant of 
 falhionable authorities; let us examine the fcriptural 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 account of the creation and the fall, and we fhall find, 
 that that which i- called original righteoufnefs never 
 exifted; and, confequently, could never be loft. For 
 what does the word righteoufnefs mean in the language 
 of fcripture, or what can it mean in the language of 
 common fenfe, but a habit cf doing right , of obeying 
 the divine will, in preferring good to evil, and obe- 
 dience to difobedience ? Our firft parents could not 
 have been created in, or born with this habit of 
 righteoufnefs j for if they had, they would have con- 
 tinued righteous. 
 
 1 6. When a habit is formed by repeated ads, it 
 becomes a permanent principle of action; that guides 
 us with eafe, and that we refill with difficulty j and 
 much more powerful would be an habit of righteouf- 
 nefs, incorporated in the frame, and ingenerated in 
 the foul by the author of our being; but that fuch a 
 habit was not ingenerated in Adam or in Eve, is clear 
 from this, that they appear to have embraced the 
 firft temptation to unrighteoufnefs ; and to have tranf- 
 grefTed, almoft as foon as they had an opportunity 
 of tranfgreffng. Real righteoufnefs (not the coun- 
 terfeited righteoufnefs of imputation *) confifts in a 
 
 * Whitby calls the imputation of Chrift's perfect and ac- 
 tive obedience to us, a very falfe and pernicious doctrine: and 
 he proves, that it is contrary both to fcripture and to reafon. 
 See his difcourfe on the imputation of Chrift's perfect righte- 
 oufnefs in his Teftament. " In the holy fcriptures," fays 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 vigorous habit of refilling remptations to fin, and of 
 folio wing the true motives to holinefs; but our firft 
 parents feem either not to have poffefTed, or not to 
 have exerted, the power to acquire fuch a habit; for 
 they were no fooner tempted than they fell. 
 
 17. It appears then, from the records ofinfpiration, 
 that what is called original righteoufnefs, is a mere 
 fiction, fit only for fome canting fanatic * to incul- 
 cate, or fome fuperflitious old woman to embrace ; 
 for, even for a minute, fuppofing that man did ever 
 poffefs an ingenerate habit of righteoufnefs, fuch an 
 habit could not have been implanted in the human 
 nature without annihilating all ideas of merit or 
 demerit, without totally deftroying the freedom of 
 choofing between good and evil, and abolifhing the 
 flate of moral probation in which man is placed; 
 
 Whitby, " there is no mention made of the imputation of any 
 man's fin, or righteoufnefs to another, lut only of the imputa- 
 tion of his oivn good deeds for righteoufnefs, or of his oivn evil 
 deeds for punijlwient ." See Whitby's N. T. vol. ii. p. 235. 
 
 * In proportion as a man is averfe to the cant of religion, he 
 is attached to the reality j and in the fame degree that he 
 pradtifes the cant, he is eftranged from the reality. This re- 
 mark may, perhaps, delerve the attention of the evangelical 
 preachers whofe continual cant about faith, grace, imputed 
 righteoufnefs, and imputed fin, is a convincing proof that they 
 love darknefs better than light, and myftery better than com- 
 mon fcnfe, hecaufe their deeds are evil. 
 
( «4 ) 
 
 and which fuppofes, in mod cafes at lead, fomething 
 like an equality in the motives, which incline the will 
 to good or to evil. But an irrefiftible bias to good, 
 fuch as what is called original righteoufnefb, fuppofes 
 in our firft parents, would have counteracted any 
 bias to evil, and have annihilated the influence of 
 the motives to difobedience; but that fuch a bias to 
 good was not impreffed on the firft anceftors of the 
 human race appears from this, that they wanted 
 (Irength and refolution to defeat one wayward in- 
 clination to unrighteoufnefs. 
 
 1 S. Man was originally created, as the fcriptureS 
 allure us, in the image of God ; and his image flill 
 remains in all who are born into the world ; and no- 
 thing but atls of difobedience to the divine will can efface 
 it in us, any more than in our firft 'parents *• Till acts 
 
 * Mr. Wilberforce feems to fuppofe, that the moral part of 
 human nature is a mafs of putrefaction. But Mr. Wilberforce 
 will not, I hope, think his authority depreciated, if I prefume 
 to pay lefs deference to his opinions, than to thofe of Sir Mat- 
 thew Hale, the righteous and the wife, and thofe of Eifliop 
 Butler, the penetrating and profound. Sir Matthew Hale, in 
 his primitive origination of mankind, fays. " I come now tocon- 
 fidcr of thofe rational in(tine~ls, as I call them, the connate 
 principles engraven in the human foul ; which, though they 
 are truths acquirable, and drducible by rational confequence 
 and argumentation, yet they feem to be inscribed in the very 
 crafn and texture of the foul, antecedent to any acquifition by 
 induftry, or the exercife of the difcurfive faculty in man ; and, 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 of fins are committed, there is the lovely imprefs of 
 a divine character uoon the human nature; fuch as 
 
 therefore, they may be well called anticipations, prenotions or 
 fentiments chara6terifed and engraven in the foul, bom with 
 it, and growing up with it, till they receive a check by ill cuf- 
 toms or educations, or an improvement and advancement by 
 the due exercife of the faculties. I mall (hew, firft, what they 
 are : fecondly, what moves me to think that fuch are con- 
 natural. 
 
 " 1. Touching the former, I think thofe implanted and con- 
 natural anticipations are thefe; namely, that there is a God ; 
 that he is ofgreateft power, wifdom, goodnefs, and perfection; 
 that he is pleafed with good, and difpleafed with evil; that 
 he is placable ; that he is to be feared, honoured, loved, wor- 
 fhipped, and obeyed ; that he will reward the good and punifh 
 the evil ; a fecret fentiment of the immortality of the foul, or 
 that it furvives the body to be capable of rewards and punifh- 
 ments, according to its deportment in this life ; certain common 
 notions of moral good and evil, of decorum and turpe; that faith 
 and promifes are to be kept ; that a man muft do as he would 
 be done by; that the obfeene parts and actions, though other- 
 wife natural, are not to be expofed to public view, obvelatio 
 pudendorum; that a man mull be grateful for benefit received. 
 Thefe, and fome fuch common notions or intimate propen- 
 lions, feem to be connaturally engraven in the foul antecedently 
 to any difcurfive ratiocination; and though they are not fo dif- 
 tinct and explicit, yet they are fecret biafles, inclining the hu- 
 man nature primarily to what is ufeful and convenient for it, 
 in proportion to the flate of an intellectual nature : That, as 
 we fee in brutes, befides the exercife of their faculties of fenfi- 
 tive perception and imagination, there are lodged in them cer- 
 tain fenfible inftincts antecedent to their imaginative faculty, 
 whereby they are pre-determined to the good and convenience 
 of the fenfible life; fo there are lodged in the very crafis and 
 
 F 
 
C 66 ) 
 
 we behold in the innocence of fmiling infants; on 
 whofe ccnfciences is no fin, and in whofe hearcs is 
 
 confiitution of the foul, certain rational inftincts whereby it is 
 pre-difpofe<i, inclined, and biafled to the good and convenience 
 proportionable to a rational and intellectual life j a certain con- 
 genite ftock of rational fentiments and inclinations, which may 
 go along with him, and fairly incline him to fuch a trade and 
 Way as is Suitable to the good of his nature; fo that he is not 
 left barely to the undetermination, incertainty, and unfteadi- 
 nefs of the operation of his faculties, without a certain fecret 
 and gentle predifpofition of them to what is right, decent, and 
 convenient for their manage and guidance by thefe common 
 anticipations, inclinations, and connatural characters engraven 
 in the foul. 
 
 " 2. And that which inclines me to believethis,is not only the 
 congruity of the fuppofition to the convenience of the human 
 nature, and the inftance of the fenfible inftincts in the animal 
 nature proportionate to their convenience, and the great import- 
 ance of them to the convenience thereof} but alfo that, which is 
 obfervable in the attentive confederation of the manners of 
 mankind in general, which feems to have thofe common fen- 
 timents in them, and to accord in them in a very great mea- 
 fure: and though evil cuftoms and education much prevails 
 among men, yet it doth not wholly obliterate thefe fentiments, 
 at leaft from the generality of mankind. It muft be agreed 
 that thefe rational inftincts, as I call them, are not always fo 
 vigorous and uniform in their actings as the animal inftin&s of 
 brutes are in their kind, which partly proceeds from that li- 
 berty of will tli3tis in the human nature, which many times 
 fufpends or interrupts tlnir energy and operation, partly from 
 that mixture of the fentient appetite with the actings of the 
 reafonable foul, which oftentimes tranfport it. Even the more 
 Simple and uncompoundtd any nature is, the more uniform, 
 are its motions and actings ; the natural inftinct* and propor- 
 1 
 
C 67 ) 
 
 no guile. Innocence, or a freedom from any moral 
 taint) which is the true image of the divine nature 
 
 tions even of things inanimate (as of heavy bodies to defcend) 
 are more uniform than the very inftincts of brutes, who have 
 a more complicated form or nature: but as this accidental in- 
 terruption of rational inftin&s doth not difprove their exif- 
 tences, fo man hath a greater advantage by the exeicife of his 
 reafon and intellective faculties, to remove thofe interruptions, 
 and improve thofe connatural fentiments or rational inftincts 
 to his lingular ufe and benefit, which abundantly recornpen- 
 feth thofe interruptions.'" 
 
 " Again," fays Sir Matthew Hale, " I appeal to the moft 
 knowing men in the world that have but had the leifure to 
 think ferioufly and converfe with themfelves, and that have 
 kept their minds free from the fumes of intemperance and ex- 
 cefs, paffton and perturbation, whether next under divine reve- 
 lation their belt and cleareft fentiments of morality at leaft 
 have not been gathered from the due animadverfion and in- 
 fpe&ion of their own minds, and the improving of that flock 
 of morals that they there find, and the tranfcribing of that 
 original which they found firfl written there. It is true, that 
 it is with the connatural principles infcribed in our minds as 
 it is with our faculties, they lie more torpid, and inactive, and 
 inevident, unlefs they are awakened and exercifed like a fpark 
 involved in allies; and being either fuppreffed or neglected, 
 they feem little better than dead; but being diligently attend- 
 ed, infpected, and exercifed, they expand and evolve them- 
 felves into more diftinclion and evidence of themfelves. And, 
 therefore, it was not without fome kind of probability that 
 fome of the ancients thought that fcience was little elfe than 
 memory or reminifcence, a difcovery of what was in the foul 
 before. But whatever may be faid of other matters, certainly 
 thefirjl draughts andjlri£lures of natural religion and morality art 
 
 F 2 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 imprefied upon the human, is born with us; and 
 if we die before we have learned to difccrn s;ood 
 
 ■naturally in the mind." See Hale's Primitive Origination of 
 Mankind, fol. London, 1677, p. 6l, 61, 63. 
 
 The following are fome of Biihop Butler's notions of human 
 nature: " There is not at all any lV.eh thing as ill will in one 
 man towards another, emulation and refentment being away, 
 whereas there is plainly benevolence or good-will : There is 
 no fuch thing as love of injultice, oppreflion, treachery, ingra- 
 titude, but only eager defires after inch and fuch external goods j 
 which, according to a very ancient obfervation, the mod aban- 
 doned would choofe to obtain by innocent means, if they were 
 as eafy and as effectual to their end : That even emulation 
 and refentment, by any one who will confider what thefe pat- 
 lions are in nature, will be found nothing to the purpofe of 
 this objection : And that the principles and paflions in the 
 mind of man, which are diftindt both from felf-love and bene- 
 volence, primarily and mojl di redly lead to right behaviour, and 
 o?ily fecondarily and wore remotely to ivhat is cz'il" Biihop Butler's 
 Sermons, p. 19, 20, 
 
 " There can be no doubt/' continues this great philofopher 
 and divine, " that feveral propenfions or inftincts, feveral prin- 
 ciples in the heart of man, carry him to fociety, and to contri- 
 bute to the happinefs of it, in a fenfe and a manner in which 
 110 inward principle leads him to evil. Thefe principles, froben- 
 Jlons or inJlinSls, which lead him to do good, are approved of by a 
 certain faculty ivithin, quite diftincl from thefe propen/lo?:s them- 
 /elves, p. 28. 
 
 " Every bins, inftinct, propenfion within, is a real part of 
 our nature, but not the whole: Add to thefe the fuperior fa- 
 culty whole office it is to adjuft, manage, and pri fide over them, 
 and yon complete the idea of human nature. And as, in civil 
 government, the conAitution is broken in upon and violated 
 
( h ) 
 
 from evil, and have become perfonal tranfgreflbrs 
 by perfonal acls of difobedience, by not obeying the 
 
 by power and ftrength prevailing over authority; fo the con- 
 stitution of man is broken in upon, and violated by the lower 
 faculties or principles within prevailing over that, which is, 
 in its nature, fupreme over them all. Thus when it is faid by 
 ancient writers, that tortures and death are not fo contrary to 
 human nature as injufticej by this, to be fure, is not meant, 
 that the averfion to the former in mankind is lefs ftrong and 
 prevalent than their averfion to the latter ; but that the for- 
 mer is only contrary to our nature contidered in a partial view, 
 and which takes in only the loweft part of it, that which we 
 have in common with the brutes ; whereas the latter is contrary, 
 to our nature, conjidercd in a higher fenfe ; as afyftem and conflitu- 
 tion, contrary to the ivhole economy of man. And, from all thefe 
 things put together, nothing can be more evident than, that, 
 exclufive of revelation, mankind cannot be contidered as a 
 creature left by his Maker to act at random, and live at large 
 up to the extent of his natural power, as paffion, humour, wil- 
 fulnefs, happen to carry him 3 which is the condition brute 
 creatures are in : But that from his make, covjlitution, or nature, 
 he is in the Jiricleft and moji proper fenfe a lazv to hi?nfclf. Hg 
 hath the rule of right ^within. What is iv anting is only that he 
 honeflly attend to it. , 
 
 The inquiries which have been made by men of leifure after 
 fome general rule, the conformity to or difagreement from 
 which mould denominate our actions good or evil, are, in many 
 'refpects, of great fervice: Yet let any plain, honeji man, before 
 he engages in any courfe of action, a/k himfelf, is this I am going 
 about rioht, or is it ivrong? Is it good, or is it evil ? I do not 
 in the leaf doubt but this quejlion ivould be anfwered agreeably to 
 truth and 'virtue, by almojt any fair ma?i, in ahuoji any circw/i- 
 Jiance. Neither do there appear any cafes which look like 
 
 F 3 
 
( 7° ) 
 
 fuggeftions of confcience, and by offending againft 
 what Sir Matthew Hale and Bilhop Butler call the 
 
 exceptions to this, but thofe of fuperftition and partiality to 
 ourfelves. Superftiiion may, perhaps, be fomewhat of an ex- 
 ception; but partiality to ourfelves is not, this being itfelf dif- 
 honefty. For man to judge that to be the equitable, the mode- 
 rate, the right part for him to n6t, which he would fee to be 
 hard, unjuft, oppreffive in another ; this is plain vice, and can 
 proceed only from great unfairnefs of mind. 
 
 rt But allowing that mankind hath the rule of right within 
 bimfelf, yet it may be aiked, what obligations are we under to 
 attend to, and follow it? I anfwer; it has been proved, that 
 man by his nature is a law to himfelf, without the particular 
 diftincl confideralion of the pofitive fandions of that law, the 
 rewards and puniiliments which, from the light of reafon, wc 
 have ground to believe are annexed to it. The queftioo then 
 carries its own anfwer along with it. Your obligation to obey 
 this law, is its being the law of your nature. That your con- 
 fcience approves of, and attefts to, fucli a courfe of action, is 
 itfelf alone an obligation. Confcience does not only offer itfelf 
 to (hew us the way we fhould walk in, but it likewife carries 
 its own authority with it, that it is our natural guide, the guide 
 afiigned us by the author of our nature. It, therefore, belongs 
 to our condition of being, it is our duty, to walk in that path 
 and follow this guide, without looking about to fee whether 
 we may not poffibly forfake them with impunity." p. 45, to 4Q, 
 
 Thefe fentiments, both of Sir Matthew Hale and of Bifhop 
 Butler, are very adverfe to thofe of Mr. W. and not very agreea- 
 ble to thedodtrine of the ninth article, which fays, that u man 
 is, of Jus oivn nature, inclined to eviiy But, according to the rc- 
 prefentation of Bifhop Butler, man is, of his own nature, in- 
 clined to good, and the practice of morality is mofl conformable 
 to the principles and frame of hiz co:i/Jitution. 
 
( 7* ) 
 
 law of our nature, we die not fubjecT: to wrath and 
 damnation j but with the fame image of God en- 
 
 The prevailing opinions about original (in refl principally 
 on the authority of St. Auftin ; whofe writings were, at the 
 time of the reformation, more read and better underftood than 
 thofe of the early Grrek fathers, who give no countenance to 
 the doctrine. Speaking on this futrject;, Jeremy Taylor fays, 
 c< There is nothing which, from fo flight grounds, hath got fo 
 great, and till of late, fo unqueftioned footing in the perfus- 
 ions of men. Origen laid enough to be miftaken in the quef- 
 tion. 'H dgct t& Aodu, xoivrj ■zuccvrcuv teprv xai ra. xa.ra. tvj 
 yvvxiKos, sy. etrri xctfr r t ; 8 Xsysrcci. Adarris curfe is common 
 
 i 
 
 to all ; and there is not a woman on earth to whom may not 
 be faid thofe things which were fpoken to this woman (Eve). 
 Him St. A.mbrofe did miftake, and followed the error about 
 explicating the nature of original fin, and let it fomething for- 
 ward. But St.AuJiin gave it complement and authority by his 
 fierce disputing againft the "Pelagians, whom he would over- 
 throw by all means. And if fuch a weak principle as his faying, 
 could make an error fpread over fo many churches, for fo many 
 ages, we may eafily imagine, that fo many greater caufes, as I 
 before reckoned, might infect, whole nations, and confequently 
 mankind, without crucifying our patriarch or firft parent, and 
 declaiming againft him (poor man) as the author of all our evil. 
 Truth is, we intend by laying load upon him to ex- 
 cuse OURSELVES J AND WHICH IS WORSE,. TO ENTERTAIN 
 OUR SINS INFALLIBLY} AND NEVER TO PART WITH THEM, 
 UPON PRETENCE THAT THEY ARE NATURAL AND IRRESIS- 
 TIBLE." Taylor's Practice of Repentance, p. 423, 424. 
 
 Whitby, as famed for his honefty as his erudition, and who, 
 Jike Jeremy Taylor, Clarke, and other great theologians, 
 thought it no deviation from truth and no violation of his 
 oath to deviate from the doctrine of the articles, when they 
 
 ' F 4 
 
( 72 ) 
 
 graven upon our fouh, with which we came into 
 the world. 
 
 deviated from the doctrine of fcripture, affailed the unfcrip- 
 tural hypothecs of hereditary depravity, and other fictions of 
 Calvihiftic fuperftition, with weapon.-, which the Cnlvinifts of 
 his day could not encounter, and which the Calvinifts of our 
 times will find it impomble to repel. 
 
 In the beginning of the preface to his Five Points, Whitby 
 fays, " They who have known my education may remember, 
 that I was bred up feven years in the univerfity under men of 
 the Cahinijiical perfuafion ; and fo could hear no other doc- 
 trine, or receive no other inftrnciions from the men of thofe 
 times, and therefore had once firmly entertained all their doc- 
 trines. Now, that which firft moved me to fearch into the 
 foundation of thele doctrines (viz. the imputation of Adams Jin 
 to all his pojlerity), was the ft range coniequences of it: this 
 made me fearch the more exactly into that matter, and by 
 reading Jofua Ptacazus, with the anlwer to him, and others on 
 that fubjeel, I soon found cause to judge that there 
 
 WAS NO TRUTH IN IT." 
 
 I am furprif-d, and not more furprifed than concerned., that 
 Mifs Hannah More, in her very fenfible, lively, and highly 
 polilhed work on education, Ihould have allotted a chapter to 
 the defence of the innate corruption of human nature-, a doc- 
 trine which is, I truft, fully proved in thefe pages to be con- 
 trary both to fcripture and to reafonj and which, as Jeremy 
 Taylor, the flower of Englifh theologians, has declared, is difa- 
 •voived by all cm li qui ty prior to the tunes of St.slu/lin; in whom it 
 found a champion, who had zeal without difcretion, and know- 
 ledge, without judgment. That St. Auflin, mould have enter- 
 tained fuch unworthy notions of human nature, I the lefs 
 wonder, when I confklcr the atrocious flinders which lie fabri- 
 cated againft the more amiable Jcx. " De carbonibus.' fays the 
 
"( « ) 
 
 1 8. Man did not: originally poffefs any thing like 
 an ingenerate habit of right eoujnefs-, but hepoflefled at 
 the beginning, as he has done in all ages and genera- 
 tions fnce, certain tendencies io good, implanted in 
 his nature; and which he is required to invigorate 
 by cultivation. He brings into the world certain 
 
 ungallant Father, whofe huge folios fupport the hereditary- 
 depravity of the world, " ignis fcintillse profiliunt, de ferro 
 rubigo nutritur, morbos afpides fibilant, et mutier fundit con- 
 cuplicentice peftitentiam; in r'ifum aliquando dijjlitvitur; nunc blan- 
 ditias exhibet ; et, quod eft <venennfius fuper cuncia, pfatlere drfec- 
 tatur aut cantare ; cujus cantu totcrabilius eji audire bafilifcum 
 ftbiluntun" — Aug. in lib. de fing. cleric. In another place he 
 fays, " Mutter nee docere pot eji, ?iec teji'is ejjc, nee fidem dicere. 
 nee judicare." Many, many are the ladies of the prefent day, 
 who have afforded a moft facisfaclory refutation of thefe ca- 
 lumnies ; and have {hewn that they are able both to inftruct and 
 to delight ; to teach the pureft morality to others 3 and to let 
 the brighter! examples of it themfelves. Nor can I believe, 
 that if the modell Father couid be again brought on earth to 
 hear fome of our EngliGi, and Scotch, and Iriih ladies war- 
 bling their fweeteft notes, he would any more compare the 
 harmonies of the fair creation to the venom of the afp, or the 
 hilling of the bafilitk. The Fathers, in general, feem to have 
 had no very favourable opinion of womankind. Jerom gives 
 this auflere, unfocial, and unnatural advice : u Kofpitiolum 
 tuum aut raro aut nunquam mulierum pedes terant; omnes 
 puellas aut virgines Chrifti aut, aequaliter, ignora aut sequa- 
 liter dilige. Vide, ne fub eoJem tedo, manferls" Hier. in 
 Epift. ad Nepot. Chryfoitom on the beheading of John the 
 Baptift, calls woman a confummatc mi/chief; and the JJiarpe/i 
 upon in the Devils armoury HI 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 powers, as thofe of reafon and the moral fenfe, which 
 are necefiary to him as a moral agent, accountable 
 for his a<5tion c ; he pofTeflcs the power of difcerning 
 good from evil, and of choofing between thcmj and 
 on the right ufe ofthefe powers, much of his prefent 
 and all his future happinefs depends. If he prudendy 
 cxercife and carefully improve thefe falutary faculties 
 of his nature, he doeth good; if he mifapply them, 
 he doeth evil. If he do good, he continueth in fa- 
 vour with God; if he do evil, he falls, as Adam fell, 
 under his difpleafure. 
 
 19. Our date of trial, at prefent, feems more dif- 
 ficult than that of Adam in paradife. He had only 
 one temptation to refill and one precept to obey ; 
 but a thoufand temptations are every where fpread 
 around us; which ever way we turn, it requires vi- 
 gilance to efcape a fnare ; and our duties, inftead of 
 being limited to the obfervance of a fingle precept, 
 embrace a multiplicity of important obligations. 
 
 20. Our fphere of moral agency is wider and more 
 extended than that of Adam. We expofe, as it 
 were, a broader furface to the influence of tempta- 
 tion; the obedience required at our hands fuppofes 
 the fubjedlion of the will, and the conformity of the 
 conduct to a variety of injunctions ; and in the cir- 
 cumftances in which we are placed, it requires vigor- 
 ous refolution not to do amifs. It requires a fenfe 
 of duty, not momentary, but permanent; it demands 
 
( IS ) 
 
 unwearied labour, and unceafing vigilance. It may 
 eafily be conceived how we, who are placed in cir- 
 cumftances more difficult than thofe in which our 
 firit parents were placed, fhould be frequently over- 
 come by temptation, and yield to fin, without hav- 
 ing recourfe to the imputation of Adam's unrigteouf- 
 nefs to his pofterity, or to the pernicious notion that 
 our actual tranfgreffions are the fruits of an hereditary 
 depravity. 
 
 Si. That no principle of moral corruption was 
 infufed into the nature of man after the fall, and that 
 no irrefiftible bias to moral evil was imprelTed on the 
 human will, we are taught by the fentence of con- 
 densation which was paffcd on our firft parents i in 
 which we do not perceive, that the Lord took from 
 man the power of difcerning between good and 
 evil, or making a free choice between them; and 
 certainly this part of the fentence, which would have 
 constituted the moil grievous part of the punifhment, 
 would not have been paired over in filence if it had 
 been inflicted. 
 
 22. The whole of the punifhment which Adam 
 differed, and in which his pofterity are involved, was 
 an expulfion from paradifes an expofure to bodily 
 toil and mifery, and a diffolution into the duft from 
 which he was taken, Adam being deprived of para- 
 dife could not leave it as an inheritance to his pof- 
 terity, any more than, in common life, a parent can 
 
( 7« ) 
 
 tranfmit to his children the patrimony which he has 
 wafted by his extravagance. The fentence palled 
 on Adam, though certainly a punifhment en him who 
 had offended, appears to have been rather a difpenfa- 
 tion of mercy to, than an infliction of revenge upon, 
 his innocent pofterity. It placed them in a (late of 
 difcipline, more fevere indeed, but, at the fame time, 
 more favourable to their improvement. The fhort- 
 nefs of this prefent life carries our hopes to another; 
 the frequent fpectacle of mortality in all around us 
 checks the extravagance of pride, and moderates 
 the intemperance of mirth; while the many afflic- 
 tions and cares with which life is ftrewed, tend to 
 foften the heart, and to teach us to fhew kindnefs to 
 others by the want of it ourielves. Moral improve- 
 ment is greatly accelerated by fuffering; it fobers 
 the thoughts; it exalts, it purifies, and, in fome mea- 
 fure, ianctifies the affections. 
 
 23. The eafe which Adam enjoyed was not fo 
 genial to the growth of habits of obedience to the 
 divine will, as the more arduous (late of probation, 
 to which we are born; for Eve appears to have yield- 
 ed to a temptation which many of her fair and amia- 
 ble defendants would now combat with fuccefs ; and 
 Adam complied with the wiihes of his partner with 
 more facility than fome of his children would comply 
 with the guilty wifhes of the woman they mod lov e. 
 
 . 24. As far, therefore, as I am competent to judge, 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 from a ferious investigation of the queftion, it ap- 
 pears to me, that the moral (late of man, as he comes 
 from the womb, is, at lead, not worfe than it was 
 originally, for moral improvement is proportioned 
 to the Strength with which we can combat, and 
 the fuccefs with which we can conquer temptation. 
 But the power of refilling temptation was certainly 
 not more inherently pofTeffed, or more vigorously 
 exerted, by our firfr. parents, than it has been by 
 their lateft defendants. The ftate of moral difci- 
 pline in which man is at prefent placed, and par- 
 ticularly in thofe countries which are acquainted with 
 the revelation of Jefus, feems, in a high degree, fa- 
 vourable to his progrefs in moral obedience and true 
 holinefs. Have we not, therefore, good reafon to 
 conclude, that man is born at prefent, as he was cre- 
 ated at the beginning, a being accountable for his 
 actions, endued with a faculty to difcern good from 
 evil, and capable of regulating his conduct by its 
 decifions; that the fall did not imprefs on the will a 
 bias to depravity ; but placed man in a ftate of dis- 
 cipline, in which fuffering is nicely accommodated 
 to the perfectioning of his nature; in which he has 
 more temptations to combat, and more difficulties to 
 furmount; but where temptations vanquished, and 
 difficulties overcome, will be found eminently to 
 contribute to his improvement in righteoufnefs ? 
 
 25. If it be aSTerted, as it may with truth be af- 
 ferted, that, by the tranfgreflion of Adam, his pof- 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 terity became liable to fin -, it muft, at the fame time, 
 be remembered that Adam himfelf was made liable to 
 fin ; or he would not have finned; and, as far as he was 
 the firfifmner, he may be truly faid to have brought 
 fin into the world. We are all born as Adam was 
 created, liable to fin ; but there is a very great differ- 
 ence between the being born liable tofin 3 and the being 
 born finners, depraved to the very core, obnoxious to the 
 divine wrath, and doomed to eternal perdition with- 
 out ANY PERSONAL ACT OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, 
 
 26. The great difference between the natural date 
 and privileges of Adam and of his ddcendants, is 
 this j that Adam was made capable ofhappinefs and 
 immortality on certain conditions, without even a tem- 
 porary extinclion, or fufpenfion of life \ but, at prefent, 
 man is born to trouble j and the grave is placed be- 
 fore him as a neceflary paiTage to an endiefs life. 
 Man became fubject to death by Adam's fall ; and, 
 therefore, many die almoft as foon as they are born: 
 and more before they are capable of difcerning good 
 from evils and, confequently, before their hearts can 
 be imbued with guilt ; for it is nothing but the taint 
 of actual perfonal guilt, that caufes us to forfeit the love, 
 or to incur the wrath of Cod, and to lofe the imprefs of 
 his image on ourfuls. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH, 
 
 Speculative and practical, pbilofophical, theological 
 
 and moral. 
 
 IN THREE PARTS. 
 PART I. 
 
 I. Faith is an affent of the mind to the truth of any 
 proportion. Of this affent, there are various degrees : 
 from that conviction which is produced by actual 
 certainty, to that which reds only on fome faint and 
 diftant probability. Of the truth of thofe things 
 which are within the cognizance of the fenfes, the con- 
 viction is firm and undoubting. There are, likewife, 
 many truths which are capable of actual demonftra- 
 tion, or of which the reality may be made fo palpable 
 to our perceptions, that we can no more refufe our 
 affent to them, than we can to the truth of our own 
 cxiftence. Of this kind, are thofe truths which are 
 called mathematical i and of which, when the terms 
 
( 8o ) 
 
 are underftood, and the feveral propofitions from 
 which they refult are clearly and perfpicuoufly ex- 
 plained, and, as it were, brought home to the under- 
 ftanding, the belief amounts to certainty. 
 
 Q. No one who rightly underftands the meaning 
 of the terms, can doubt that two and two make four. 
 Our afTent, therefore, to the truth of this proportion, 
 that two and two make four, is firm and immovea- 
 ble. It is a certainty which excludes doubt. There 
 are other propofitions of which the evidence is not 
 fo clear and conclusive ; and to which the afTent that 
 we yield is not of fo fixed and unchangeable a na-' 
 ture. It does not exclude doubt, or rife up to cer- 
 tainty. Many of the truths, which are the objects 
 of our aiTent, and the grounds of our practice in com- 
 mon life, are of this defcription : they are not ca- 
 pable of actual demonftration ; their reality cannot 
 be rendered fo palpable to the fenfes as to produce 
 that conviction of the mind which may be denomi- 
 nated actual certainty. They are the refult of many 
 probabilities, which amount to what may be called 
 moral certainty ; a certainty not like that which arifes 
 from mathematical proof, but which is fuited to a 
 rational nature ; and furncient both to convince the 
 mind and to influence the conduct. 
 
 3. In the autumn or in the fpring we bury the feed 
 in the earth, in order that it may produce a harveft 
 in the fummerj but that the one will be followed by 
 
( 8i ) 
 
 the other, is not an actual or a mathematical, but 
 only a moral certainty. At the time in which we 
 fow the feed, we cannot demonflrate the reality of 
 the future harveft; we cannot bring it before our 
 eyes, or make it palpable to our fenfes. All the 
 grain that is fown may perifh in the earth; it may 
 be deftroyed by infects, or nipped by blights -, waft- 
 ed by too much rain, or withered by too much fun- 
 fhine. But, from the obfervations and deductions 
 of many years pad, the connexion between feed time 
 and harveft is rendered, as it were, infeparable in our 
 minds j and we commit the grain to the bofom of 
 the earth, under almofi: as ftrong a conviction that it 
 will take root downwards and bear fruit upwards, as 
 if, at the time of fowing, we faw it waving o er the 
 fields in the fulnefs of its beauty and the maturity of 
 its flrength, 
 
 4. When we adopt any plan of conduct that has 
 a relation to the future, when we engage in any 
 exertions that have a reference to fomc diftant ad- 
 vantage, when we embark in any fpeculation that 
 requires fome facrifices of a prefent, and a certain,, 
 for a great probable, but uncertain, intereft, that 
 convi&ion of the mind which induces us to adopt 
 this conduct, or to engage in thefe meafures, cannot 
 amount to an actual, though it may to a rational and 
 moral certainty of iuccels. It may be the refuk of 
 accumulated probabilities, to which it would be un- 
 reafonable not toadem; and on which k would be 
 
 G 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 unwife not to aft. In the mod: intereiting fcenes, 
 and the mod important undertakings of our lives, 
 we are often contented to act on evidence, which is 
 very far removed from certainty ; and, from the ex- 
 pectation of events of which die iffue cannot be 
 known or the reality afcertained. 
 
 5. Belief may, generally, be confidered as of two 
 kinds; that which is an actual, and that which is a 
 moral certainty* that which depends en realons, which 
 amount to a demonstrative proof; and chat which 
 reits on thofe which are only the Cakula ions of pro- 
 bability. When many probabilities are accumulated 
 in favour of any truth, when they are fo nu i.erous 
 as greatly to exceed the probabilities in favour of a 
 contrary fuppofition, they amount to what may be 
 termed a moral certainty; and which, though it do 
 not exclude every particle of doubt, affords a juft 
 claim to aflent and a right principle of action. 
 
 6. The truth of revelation is not a demonftrative 
 but a moral certainty; a certainty arifjng from pro- 
 babilities; to which no probabilities of a contrary 
 tendency and an equal weight can be oppofed. Any 
 fober and reafonable man, who mould fairly and 
 impartially examine the different degrees of credit 
 that are due to thefe two que ft ions, whether the Chris- 
 tian revelation be true or falfc> will find fo many argu- 
 ments infupport of the former, and fo very fuperior, 
 both in number and in weight, to any that can be 
 
brought to countenance the latter, that he will 3 even 
 after the clofeft companion, and the minuted inquiry^ 
 afTent to the truth of the Chrillian religion, and con- 
 fide in the reality of the Chriliian miracles* 
 
 7. Faith, therefore, in the divine authority of the 
 Chriftian religion, is an alien: to a truth that is highly 
 probable -, fo probable as to be morally certain. The 
 truth of revelation is not a mathematical problem, 
 of which we can demonftrate the certainty, or make 
 its truth palpable to the fenfes. It is an historical 
 fact; of which the truth or the faliehood muft be de- 
 termined by the weight of evidence. 
 
 8. Revelation is a record of facts, which took 
 place in Judea about eighteen centuries ago; and on 
 the truth and reality of thefe "facts depends the truth 
 of the doctrines which they were intended to eftablifh. 
 If the miracles which are related in the gofpels be 
 fictions, then the whole fyftem is a fiction. If Jefus 
 did not rife from the dead, then the doctrine of the 
 refurrection of the dead, which is grounded on that 
 event, is nothing better than a vifion of the night. 
 Then our faith is vain, and our hope vain. Now 
 the refurrection of Jeius from the dead is not an 
 object of fenfes nor can the fact be made vifible to 
 the eye, nor palpable to the touch. We cannot, 
 like Thomas, fatisfy our doubts by feeing the print 
 of the nails in his hands, nor the mark of the fpear 
 in his fide; but, neverthelefs, though the actual truth 
 
 G % 
 
( U ) 
 
 of the refurrection is not a mathematical certainty, 
 nor a felf-evident proportion; though our faith can- 
 not be, like that of the eye-witnefles of the fact, a 
 fenfation which forces conviction on the mind, and 
 excludes every doubt from the heart, yet the fact 
 itfelf was fo well atteded at the time, and the tefti- 
 mony was fo ftrong and fo confident, and delivered 
 and maintained under fuch difcouraging circurn- 
 ftances, and has been tranfmitted to us with fo little 
 alteration, that the reality of the miracle itfelf is a 
 moral certainty j to which it is unreafonable not to 
 affent, and on which it is highly imprudent and peril- 
 ous not to act. For the probabilities in favour of 
 the truth of the refurrection of Jefus from the dead, 
 and, confequently, in favour of a future life, are fo 
 much flronger than any probabilities which the genius 
 of man can adduce to fupport the contrary, that not 
 to believe a fact, of which the evidence is fo clear 
 and convincing, and not diligently to feek to obtain 
 that intereft of which it demonftrates the reality, 
 would be called a folly, approaching to madnefs, in 
 the ordinary concerns of life. 
 
 9. When, indeed, we poffefs fuch an accumula- 
 tion of probabilities, amounting to a fatisfactory 
 proof of the truth of the Chriftian religion, it feems 
 as unwife and as unfafe not to regulate our prefent 
 life with a view to a future, not to lay up a treafure 
 of good works here, in order to promote our happi- 
 nefs hereafter, as it would be not to fow the earth in 
 
( «J ) ' 
 
 autumn, that we may reap in fummer. The proba- 
 bilities in favour of this proportion, that our prefent 
 life is relative to afuture y are as convincing, as they 
 are in fupport of this more familiar truth — that feed 
 time is preparatory to harveft. — In our worldly con- 
 cerns, we often act as if fome future, but diftant in- 
 tereft, at which we aim, were prefent to us; we do 
 not regard the uncertainties that may interpofe 
 between the day before us and the year to come, 
 when the chances of attaining the object of our wifhes 
 are greater than thofe of their being fruftrated. In 
 endeavouring to attain that happinefs which faith, 
 propofes as the end of our labours, we are not to be 
 difcouraged by any intermediate obflacles; or to fuf- 
 fer doubts, arifing from the circumflances in which 
 we are placed, to undermine our conviction, and to 
 fub vert our hopes. We mould remember, that our 
 faith in revelation is an aflent, not to what is a mathe- 
 matical, but a moral certainty; that it is a truft in the 
 truth of facts, which are fupport ed by highly credible 
 teftimony ; that it relates to an intereft which is not 
 feen, but hoped for; and of which the reality is evinc- 
 ed by probabilities, fufficient to work conviction in 
 the minds of beings endued with a power of inquiry 
 and a freedom of choice; with reafon to inveftigate 
 what is true, and with liberty to conform to what is 
 reafonable.. 
 
 10. When men violate their duty, they cannot be 
 imprefTed with a juft fenfe of its importance or have 
 
 G3 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 right notions of the good afibciated with it ; for all 
 men are governed by their intereft; and where there 
 is a juft fenfe of the importance of religious obedi- 
 ence, there holinefs will be, in fome meafure, iden- 
 tified with felf-intereft ; for it will then be perceived, 
 that a greater intereft is connected with the obfer- 
 vance of our duty than with the breach of it. A 
 ftrong fenfe of duty will always be blended with a 
 ftrong perfuafion of the intereft depending on its 
 practice. If men act, as all reafonable men will do, 
 from comparifons of good, and calculations of in- 
 tereft, then the practice of religious duty will always 
 be found greatly to exceed the cornmiflion of fin in 
 intereft and advantage. 
 
 it. The truth of revelation is not fo certain as not 
 to admit of doubt ; but the probabilities in favour of 
 its reality are fo numerous, and fo greatly exceed the 
 probabilities in favour of the contrary, that every 
 man would be efteemed guilty of an imprudence 
 approaching to infanity, who, on any common occa- 
 fion, would not acknowledge a truth fo plain, or act 
 on evidence fo convincing. When a merchant fends 
 out a fliip on a diftant voyage, he compares the pro- 
 bable advantages that will accrue from it, with thofe 
 which he might derive from fending the fame fhip 
 on a voyage nearer home; but if the chances offuc- 
 cefs greatly outweigh, in his mind, the chances of 
 failure; if the probabilities of an eventual lofs are 
 confiderably lefs than thofe of an eventual gain, he 
 
( 87 ) 
 
 will fubmit, like a wife and prudent man, to be go- 
 verned by the fair calculations of intereft, and conclu- 
 fions of probability. 
 
 12. Where the hope of advantage is flronger 
 than the fear of lofs, the latter, though it may, in 
 fome degree, affect the fenfations, will not alter the 
 conduct. The merchant who fends out his fhips 
 on dangerous ventures to remote and unfrequented 
 fhores, where they may be dafhed on the rocks, or 
 fwallowed up in the waves, acts all the while on rea- 
 fonable probabilities ; which caufe him to defpife 
 uncertainties, and to truft to the future. In the com- 
 moner!: concerns in the every-day affairs of life, men 
 are continually trufting to contingencies, and 1 fpe- 
 culating on uncertainty ; and yet the fame conduct, 
 which is thought reafonable in common life, is often 
 thought unreafonable in religious conduct. Reli- 
 gion points, it is true, to a diftant intereft ; and as it 
 is not within the cognizance of any of our fenfes, it 
 is uncertain. But if its reality be highly probable, it 
 is unwife not to regulate the conduct by the evidence, 
 
 13. Religion is as a voyage which v/e are defired 
 to make, in order to obtain an intereft which exceeds 
 calculation, and to which no prefent intereft in the 
 world can bear any comparifon. It is, indeed, a 
 voyage to eternity; a voyage in which much felf- 
 denial is to be practifed, and our unruly appetites to 
 be moderated •, and moft men prefer a voyage nearer 
 
 G 4 
 
C 83 ) 
 
 home, where fenfual pleafures may be more lavifhty 
 enjoyed-, and in which fewer facrifices are required. 
 But this is the great and awful confideration : Is not 
 the good which religion promifes to the righteous, greater 
 than that which any pleafures in this life can afford to 
 thefinner? None can deny the magnitude of reli- 
 gious intereft; yet, as it is uncertain, people flatter them- 
 fehes that it may be an illufion. But whether the in- 
 tereft may not poffibly be an illufion, is not what we 
 ought to confider; but whether it be not probable, 
 and in what degree probable, and if it be probable 
 only in a moderate degree, ftill the intereft is fo vaft 
 as to make that moderate degree of probability de- 
 ferve the attention of every ferious man; and much 
 more will it be found to deferve attention when reafon 
 fhows us, that the intereft which revelation has un- 
 folded is, in a high degree, probable, fo probable as 
 if not to preclude doubt, to fatisfy the inquifitive, 
 and aftonifh the profound. 
 
 14. In matters of religious faith, a certain degree 
 of doubt cannot be avoided*. As the human mind 
 
 * Hooker fays, *5 we have lefs certainty concerning things 
 believed, than concerning fenfible or naturally perceived. OF 
 thefe who doth doubt at any time ? Ofthent, at fome time ,tuhn 
 doubteth not ? I will not here allege the fundry confeflions of 
 the perfected that have lived upon earth concerning their great 
 imperfections in this iv ay ; which if I did, I fhould dwell upon 
 a ?natter fufficicntly knoixm by every faithful man that doth know 
 himfelf:' Hooker's Works, ed. Ox. I7y3, vol. iii. p. 523. 
 
( 89 ) 
 
 is conftituted, and in the circumftances in which we 
 are placed, fome degree of doubt is necefiary as a 
 
 After this quotation from Hooker, I cannot help remarking 
 that this great divine appears to have believed in what he 
 fomewhere calls the " foggy damp of original corruption," 
 which he feems to have fuppofed fpread over all our faculties} 
 but of which little was ihed upon his own. It was not a damp 
 that chilled the growth of virtue in his heart, or that clouded 
 the luftre of his intellectual light. Had I not long ago, when 
 only a beardlefs boy, adopted the principle of " nullius addictus," 
 &c. I might have fallen down in difmay, or have bent in paf- 
 five humiliation before the coloiTal authority of Hooker. I 
 might have declined the combat with his mighty genius as 
 Paris retired at the approach of Menelaus. "Avp r avsyjjo^crsv, 
 ur£fO£ Te piv iiXs rfa%eix(. But, even if the quefiion of ori- 
 ginal corruption were to be decided by authority, I might cer- 
 tainly, without any derogation from the merit of Hooker, op- 
 pofe to his decifions the great theological reputation of Jeremy 
 Taylor, who was by no means inferior to Hooker in vigour of 
 intellect, in depth of erudition, or in richnefs of fancy. Jeremy 
 Taylor, the firft Englilh divine of the eftablifhed Church with 
 whofe writings I am acquainted, that openly oppofed the doclrine 
 of the ninth article, fays, that " it is Jo far from being true, that 
 man after his fall did not forfeit his natural poivcr of election, that 
 it seems rather to be increased. For as a man's know- 
 ledge grows, fo his will becomes better attended and miniftered 
 unto. But after his fall his knowledge was more than before ; 
 he knew what nakednefs was, and had experience of the dif- 
 ference of things) he perceived the evil of difobedience and the 
 divine anger; he knew fear and flight, new apprehenfions, 
 and the trouble of a guilty confeience: by all which and m2ny 
 other things he grew better able, and instructed with 
 arguments, to obey God, and to refuse sin for the 
 time to come. And it is every man's C2fe; a repenting man 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 /pedes of trial. If religion did not admit doubt, the 
 mind would not be aftive in believing: faidi would not 
 be, in any degree, an operation of the underftandin°-; 
 nor would it be different in different individuals. 
 
 15. In order to exercife the reafon, religious evi- 
 dence was wifely made an aggregate of many proba- 
 bilities, each of which deferves fome consideration j 
 and to each of which different individuals may give 
 different degrees of credit. Some will prefer the 
 hiftorical, fome the prophetic, fome the internal, 
 fome the external evidence ; but the conviction of all 
 will generally be found to reft more on the aggregate 
 of evidence, than on the individual force of any par- 
 
 is wifer, and hath oftentimes more perfect hatred of fin than 
 the innocent ; and is made more wary by his fall." Taylor's 
 Practice of Repentance, ed. 1655, p. 410. 
 
 " Men," fays Taylor, '* fometimes by evil habits and by choof- 
 ing vile things for a long time together, make it morally im- 
 poflible to choofe and to love that good in particular which is 
 contrary to their evil cnjloms. Cujlom is the devil that brings 
 in new natures upon us ; for nature is innocent in this particular. 
 Nulli nos vitio natura conciliat: nos ilia integros ac liberos 
 genuit (Senec. ep. g4). Nature does not engage us upon a vice. 
 She made us intirej Jlie made us free ; but ive male ourfclves 
 frifoners andflavcs by vicious habits , or as St. Cyril (Catech. Q). 
 cxprefTes it iX^ovrzs avxpz^roi vjv fh ircooapscrsu}^ ajxacrayo- 
 psv. We came into the world without (in, but now we fin by 
 choice, and by election bring a kind of nccellity upon us. But 
 this is not fo in all men; and fcarcely in any man in all in- 
 stances." Taylor's Practice of Repentance, p. 421, 422. 
 
( 9* ) 
 
 ricular part ; more on the accumulated probabilities* 
 than on any Jingle probability. 
 
 1 6. The degree of affent which different indivi- 
 duals give to the truth will vary according to the 
 degree of underftanding, the power of inquiry, the 
 exercife of refearch, &c. ; and the higheft degree of 
 affent will be that in which theiperfuafion of the truth 
 approaches the neareft to that ftate of mind which 
 is produced, not by the evidence of probability, but 
 by that of certainty ; not fo much by the deductions 
 of reafon, as the demonftration of fenfe. But though 
 religious belief may approach very near to the con- 
 viction of certainty, yet it will never be found en- 
 tirely to reach it. The moft fincere believers are 
 fubjecl to moments of diilruft j the moft righteous to 
 emotions of defpondency. True faith will, indeed, 
 often make the future, as it were prejent; but there 
 will be often other intervals, when 'clouds and dark- 
 nefs will red upon it; when the apprehenfions of un- 
 certainty will (leal into the mind and fadden the 
 heart. Some degree of doubt will, therefore, in 
 fpite of all our endeavours to the contrary, be occa- 
 fionally mingled with the reality of our faith. Like 
 fhadows thrown acrofs our path, they will caft a 
 gloom around us, and perplex and bewilder our way. 
 
 17. But though religious diilruft will fometimes 
 arife in the mind, it is always to be reftfied. He who 
 cherifhes doubts is weak and unfettled in the faith; 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 as he who cavils at the infirmities of humanity is 
 ufually wanting in love to mankind. To fofter 
 doubts inftead of checking their growth, oppofing 
 their admiflion, and counteracting their malignity, is 
 to give them an undue influence, and to incline to 
 fcepticifm. A good and fober-minded man will, 
 indeed, maturely weigh every reafonable objeftion to 
 the truth ; but he will always feel a ftronger difpofi- 
 tion to embrace the good than the evil; to fpread 
 his heart open to the arguments for belief, rather than 
 to give admiflion to the perfuafions of infidelity. 
 
 1 8. As the truth of revelation is not a matter of 
 certainty, but only of probability, his faith is genuine 
 whofe conviction of the truth is much ftronger than 
 his diftruft ; and the more the former fentiment pre- 
 vails, or the more conviction precludes doubt, the 
 more will the practice of the life correfpond with 
 the conclulions of the reafon, and the perfuafions of 
 the heart. The lefs doubt of The Truth that there 
 is in the mind, the greater will be the certainty of that 
 reward which it promifes, and the ftronger the en- 
 deavour to obtain it. The more doubts gather round 
 the mind and prefs upon the heart, to the greater 
 diftance will the intereft of religion recede into fu- 
 turity, and the more problematical it will feem; but 
 the more that doubts vanifh from the imagination 
 and the lefs they trouble the affections, the nearer 
 will the intereft approach -, till it comes, as it were, 
 almoft within die edge of the fight, and the grafp of 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 die touch. Thus faith, in a meafure, makes the fu- 
 ture prefent, and operates on the conduct, in propor- 
 tion to its ftrength. 
 
 19, As faith increafes, goodnefsmuft increafe; but 
 as faith grows feeble, righteoufnefs will decay. For 
 the more lively faith is, the flronger will be the af- 
 furance of that eternal intereft to which faith directs 
 our attention; with which it drives to animate our 
 hopes and inflame our affections. And the more 
 mindful people are of the interefts of eternity, the 
 lefs they muft live for thole of time; for the interefts 
 of eternity, when beheld by the eye of faith, will 
 fwallow up thofe of time. The two interefts will 
 bear no comparifon ; and as far as man is governed 
 in his conduct by reafonable calculations of intereft, 
 fo far the faithful will make the gofpel a rule of life; 
 becaufe it will be the teft of their good and the ftand- 
 ard of their happinefs. 
 
 ao. Almoft every man has a certain ftandard of 
 intereft in his own mind to which he conforms, and 
 by which he, for the mod part, regulates his actions ; 
 and happy, thrice happy, is that man, the ftandard 
 ofwhofe intereft and the bafis of whofe happinefs is 
 obedience to the revealed will of God*. All men are 
 
 * A man may, perhaps, have a ftrong convl&ion of the truth 
 of revealed religion, and, in his way through life, may have his 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 governed by a fenfe of intereft, and, perhaps, none 
 more than he who entertains a f roper fenfe of the in- 
 ter eft which is connected with the duties of religion; for, 
 that inter eft is the great eft in degree, the fur eft in kind, 
 and the longeft in duration. It exceeds every other in- 
 tereft in quantity, in quality, in intention of degree, 
 and extenfion of time. Other interefts are often at 
 variance with a fenfe of duty; and cannot be ob- 
 tained without its violation. But religious intereft 
 and a fenfe of duty are never at variance. They are 
 indeed one and indivifible; and he who has a juft 
 impreilive fenfe of his religious intereft, will have 
 accurate, juft, and upright notions of every other 
 intereft. He will know and feel that he can have 
 no intereft diftinct from the obligations of morality. 
 
 21. The diftance at which our religious intereft 
 is placed does not diminim its magnitude, though it 
 may lefTen its credibility. Diftance dees not really 
 leflen the fize of an object, though it makes it appear 
 lefs to the eye. It does not deftroy its reality, or alter 
 its proportions, it only alters its relations to us in 
 point of fpace, and our relations to it in refpecl to 
 the capacity of apprehending it. The intereft of 
 
 heart conflantly and warmly afTe&ed with a fenfe of his eternal 
 intereft j and yet, oiving to fome pcrverfc and unfound notions of 
 j unification, or Jomc mi flake about the conditions of Jalvation, this 
 conviction may not have a f roper influence on his conduA, 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 eternity, too vaft for our conceptions in our prefent, 
 finite, imperfect ftate, was wifely made remote; that 
 its proportions might, in fome meafure, be fuitcd to 
 our capacity, and accommodated to our fituarion. 
 Beholding it only at a diftance, it is but as a fpark- 
 lingftar; to which if we could approach nearer, its 
 magnitude would appal our fenfes. To behold, in 
 its natural fize and its exact proportions, the vaft in- 
 tereft which religion promifes to the righteous, our 
 faculties mull be changed; our fenfes made more 
 vigorous; this corruptible muftput on incorruption ; 
 and this mortal immortality* 
 
 12, Were the truth of revealed religion a matter 
 of demonftrative certainty, and the reward connected 
 with obedience to its laws brought within the fphere 
 of our vifion, its brightnefs would be too ftrong for 
 our fight. It would, like wife, be deftru&ive of a 
 Hate of moral probation. Men's motives would all 
 incline one way; and a bias would be laid on the 
 will too ftrong to be counteracted. But the wifdom 
 of the Almighthy (thank the Lord, oh my foul! 
 thank the Lord for all his goodnefs!) appears, in his 
 having fo arranged the evidences of revelation, as to 
 make faith a matter of choice rather than of neceffity; 
 and in having caft juft fo much obfeurity about the 
 reality of the in tereft, as is fitted to leave it in that 
 ftate of doubtful light which does not dazzle the eye, 
 nor put an end to that probationary ftate in which 
 
( 96 ) 
 
 divine wifdom has placed us here \ and which would 
 be probationary no longer, if the affections were 
 more piaffed or the will more enflaved ; if it were 
 not left to our unconftrained choice, either to em- 
 brace or to reject the truth of Chriftianity. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 —^rZTt — 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH. 
 
 PART If. 
 
 I. That doctrine of faith which the Fanatics are in 
 general fo loud to proclaim, and fo eager to defend, 
 is a lhamelefs calumny on the credibility of revela- 
 tion, and the rational powers of man. They repre- 
 fent faith as the immediate gift of God; a miraculous 
 infufion poured into the foul without the confent of 
 the will. They afcribe it to a power, fuperfeding 
 the neceility of inftruction, and the ufe of inquiry. 
 
 2. That faith is the gift of God, no fober Chrhtian 
 will deny; but then it is no more the miraculous gift 
 of God, than any other part of knowledge. If God 
 give us the faculty to acquire any thing, he never in- 
 terferes * to fuperfede its exercife, or to give us the 
 benefit without that exertion on which he made it 
 
 * Except on very extraordinary occafions, and for very fpe< 
 cial purpofes indeed. 
 
 H 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 dependant. God has given us faculties to calculate 
 the revolutions of the planets, and to meafure the 
 diameter of the earth; but the pofTeflion offuch know- 
 ledge is always pofterior to and dependant on the 
 exertion of the power. The Almighty does not in- 
 fufe into the mind of man, either agronomical, ma- 
 thematical, or any other kind of knowledge; but he 
 gives the capacity to obtain it; and the pofTeflion is 
 the confequence of intellectual application. 
 
 3. It is God who gives us the bread which we eat; 
 but then, becaule this is true, who ever imagined, 
 that bread was not the product of human indufthy ? 
 Though it be a felf-evident truth, that God gives us 
 not the bread which perifhes, without much previous 
 labour and toil, yet, in fpite of this glaring analogy, 
 the Fanatics aflert, that He gives us the better bread 
 which endureth unto everlafting life, without any 
 perfonal endeavours to obtain it; that he infufes it 
 into our fouls, whether we labour for it with dili- 
 gence, or crofs our arms in idlenefs. 
 
 4. Thefe notions fuppofe, that God has communi- 
 cated a revelation to mankind, of which no man can 
 difcover the truth ; for if man, by the right exercife 
 of his reafon, can difcover the truth of revelation, why 
 Ihould God make faith independent of its exercife*? 
 
 * If ChriftVinity be fupported by fufficicnt evidence, nothing 
 more can be wanting, on the part of man, to attain a reafonabb 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 Thus the Fanatics entirely invalidate the ufe of reafon 
 in matters of religious opinion. 
 
 5. If faith be, according to the fanciful notions of 
 the Fanatics, a miraculous infufion, our belief is not 
 a matter of choice; and, then, with what juftice can 
 we be called to account for not believing? If reli- 
 gious belief be independent on the confent of the will 
 and the exercife of the reafon, then certainly, with 
 refpect to the morality of faith, the believer can pre- 
 fer no ftronger claim to the divine favour, than the 
 infidel. The believer being acted upon by a power 
 under whofe influence the will is paflive and the rea- 
 fon dumb, cannot help believing j and the infidel not 
 enjoying the fame arbitrary intervention of a miracle, 
 cannot help not believing. 
 
 conviction of its truth, than a fober examination of the evi- 
 dence which fupports it. The evidence by which Chriftianity 
 gained its firft footing in the world was that of miracles. To 
 thefe miracles Jefus of Nazareth appealed as the ftrongeft 
 proofs of his commiffion to declare the will of God to man- 
 kind. If thefe miracles were matters of fact, and if the ac- 
 counts of them, which have been tranlmitled to us, be genuine 
 and authentic, which I fee no reafon to difbelieve, then, why 
 fhould faith in revelation be a miraculous infufion ? If God 
 wrought miracles at firft to confirm the teftimony, why ihould 
 he Hill be obliged to work other miracles on the mind of every 
 individual to make it credited ? This would be to fuperfede 
 the neceffity, or to deny the authenticity of the firft miracles ; 
 for, if they be authentic, they are credible; and if credible, the/ 
 will produce belief, if their truth be rationally investigated. 
 
 H 2 
 
( ico ) 
 
 6. But the Fanatics found their notions of faith, as 
 they do their other tenets, on that rotten and crum- 
 bling pillar of their theology, the innate depravity 
 of man. Did, indeed, man ifiue from the womb, as 
 they pretend, a mafs of moral putrefaction, with his 
 heart ulcerated with guilt, and his mind darkened 
 with prejudice, he would, certainly, want capacity to 
 difcover, and honefty to confefs the truth. He would 
 not be able to comprehend the plained propofition 
 in morals or religion. A man born blind might as 
 eafily form juft and accurate ideas of the nature and 
 properties of light, as a man born radically corrupt, 
 and irrefiflibly propelled, by the bias of his nature, to 
 the com million of iniquity, could form of the nature 
 and tendencies of moral obligation. No man could 
 have a tafte cf what is fweet if God had fo organifed his 
 palate that he could tafte nothing but what was four; 
 and, in the fame manner, no man could acquire a 
 i dim for virtue, if the Creator had made him phy- 
 •fically ravenous of vice. 
 
 7. How contrary is this doctrine of the Fanatics 
 to the doctrine of Chnft, which tells us to /earth the 
 
 faiptures? to investigate the matter of belief; and 
 which, in order to ftimulate our capacity to do good, 
 tells us, that he who deeth the will of God, fhal! know 
 of the truth whether it be of God. God feems to have 
 made a belief in the Chriftian revelation dependant 
 on the right application of the reafon and the con- 
 fidence. If we will examine the evidence without 
 
( IOI > 
 
 any beam of prejudice obftructing the fight of the 
 mind, or any finfal luft reigning in the heart, the 
 light is too clear not to be feen ; and the doctrine 
 too pure not to be acknowledged as divine. 
 
 8. Many of the errors which are ufually enter- 
 tained on the docirine of faith * feem to originate in 
 the miftake, or the perverfion of the term, which 
 
 * Faith lays the foundation of our j unification. Juftifica- 
 tion in fcripture means, for the moft part, an admiflion into 
 covenant with God. As the Chriitian covenant flipulates cer- 
 tain privileges to be conferred, and certain benefits to be grant- 
 ed on the part of God, it requires certain conditions to be per- 
 formed on the part of man ; and we mult fincerely believe the 
 former, before we can earneilly fet about the performance of 
 the latter. As the conditions which the new covenant impofes 
 on man require great felf-denial, and many things difagreeable 
 to flefh and blood, faith is nccejjary to Jiimulate our exertions, to 
 elevate our hopes, and to purify our hearts. In this fcnfe, faith is 
 the only caufe of our j unification \ or it is the only condition of ad" 
 mijjion into covenant ivith God. But though faith juftifies, it 
 does not, of itfelf, make us righteous 3 though.it initiates us 
 into covenant with God, it does not make us partakers of its 
 privileges or its benefits, without the performance of the con- 
 ditions to which thofe privileges and benefits are appended. 
 The performance of the conditions is an object of our choice; 
 and faith, when it is fincere and lively, will,, necefTarily, ope- 
 rate in favour of their performance. It will give, a bias to the 
 will in favour of moral good ; and will not permit that (ppovTjij.x 
 cracy.os, that fpirit of fenfuality which is planted in us, in order 
 to afcertain our moral obedience, to fubjugate the reafon, and to 
 reduce us under the flavery of iin. 
 
 h 3 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 has various fignifications; the confufion or the ig- 
 norance of which has caufed many dilTcnfions in the 
 Chriftian world, and contributed only to perplex 
 thofe who, without a critical knowledge of the lan- 
 guage of fcripture, have attempted to explain the 
 dodtrines of Chriftianity. Ignorant people fuppofe 
 the word faith to have only one particular and fpe- 
 ciric fignification, which they apply promifcuoufly 
 to every paflage in which the word occurs. This 
 is, in a more efpecial manner, the practice of the 
 hardy champions of Fanaticifm, who transfer to the 
 term faith, in whatever part of fcripture it may be 
 mentioned, a conftruction fuitetl to their own illi- 
 beral prejudices, and calculated to favour their grofs 
 and wicked perverfion of the Chriftian religion. 
 That we may not be impofed on by that fenfelefs 
 jargon, which viiionaries and Fanatics, which the fu- 
 perftitious and the artful utter about faith, let us 
 examine fome of the principal fignifications in which 
 the word is ufed by the facred writers. 
 
 9. Sometimes the word faith is employed to fignify 
 the whole Chriftian doctrine, which is an object of 
 faith. Thus when St. Paul fays, " by whom we 
 have received grace and apoftlefhip for obedience 
 to the faith among all nations for his name." Rom. 
 i. 5. " He which perfecuted us in times paft, now 
 preacheth the faith which once he deftroyed." Gal. 
 i. 23. " Before faith came, we were kept under the 
 law." Gal. iii. 23. " After that faith is come, we 
 
C l0 3 ) 
 
 ^re no longer under a fchool mailer. " Gal. iii. 25. 
 cc Nourished up in the words of faith" dec. 1 Tim. 
 iv. 6. " A great company of the priefts were obedient 
 to the faith." Acts, vi. 7. "(Felix) heard him con- 
 cerning the faith in Chrifl." Acts, xxiv. 24. — In all 
 thefe paflages, to which many more might be added, 
 the word faith is employed to reprefent the whole 
 Chriftian doctrine, which is propofed for our belief. 
 In one comprehenfive term, it includes the tenets of 
 Chriftianity that are necefTary to be believed, and the 
 duties that are neceiTary to be pra&ifed. 
 
 10. Sometimes faith is taken, generally, for any 
 ftrong perfuaiion of the mind, whether originating in 
 a divine revelation, or produced by the force of argu- 
 ment; as in the paflages which follow : cc He ftag- 
 gered not at the promife of God through unbelief, 
 but was ftrong in faith" Rom. iv. 20. " Haft thou 
 
 faith? have it to thyfelf before God." Rom. xiv. 22. 
 <c Without faith it is impofTible to pleafe him; for 
 he that cometh to God muft believe thaj: he is." 
 Heb. xi. 6. — In thefe places faith denotes nothing 
 more than zfincere prfuafion of a particular truth. 
 
 11. In other places, faith is ufed to fignify Amply 
 veracity or truth which deferves aiTent; and as op- 
 pofed to faifehood which deferves none. <c Shall 
 their unbelief make the faith (truth) of God without 
 effect." Rom. iii. 3. " The fruit of the fpirit is 
 love, joy, peace, long-furTering, gentlenefs, goodnefs, 
 
 H 4 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 faith, meeknefs, temperance." Gal. v. 22, 23. In 
 tfiis laft pafiage, faith, which is mentioned among 
 the other virtues, of which the fpirit, or the word of 
 God, rightly underftood, and diligently practifed, is 
 productive, evidently fignifies veracity, or an in- 
 violable adherence to truth in our words, our pro- 
 mifes, in our dealings and intercourfe with each 
 other. Hence, by the bye, we learn, that a lying 
 tongue is incompatible with the gifts of the fpirit; and 
 that thofe who make fuch bold pretences to the pof- 
 feflion of thofe gifts, lay claim to what they cannot 
 pofiefs, whenever falfehood is practifed by their lips, 
 or guile is cherifhed in their hearts. 
 
 12. Faith is, occasionally, taken for thofe things 
 which are revealed by God, but are invifible to our 
 perceptions. In thisfenfe "faith is the fubftance of 
 things hoped for, the evidence of things not feen." 
 Heb. xL 1. 
 
 13. Sometimes faith is put for a fimple and lifelefs 
 ajfent to things which are not feen ; as to thefe pro- 
 pofitions, — that there is a God, that he made the 
 world, &c. &c. Such a faith is characterise of that 
 of devils, and is often mentioned by St. James in the 
 fecond chapter of his epiflle. ce What doth it profit 
 though a man fay, he hath faith and have not works, 
 can faith fave him?" James, ii. 14. In this pafTage 
 
 faith is ufed for a barren and dead ajfent to the truth 
 of the Chriftian religion; without the fruits of that 
 
( *° 5 ) 
 
 real goodnefs of heart and life which cannot be coun- 
 terfeited; and without which faith is not faving. 
 The word is ufed in this ienfe in feveral other places 
 in this chapter of St. James. cc Faith without works 
 is dead, being alone. " C( Thou believed that there 
 is one God, thou doeft well; the devils alfo believe 
 and tremble ; but know, oh vain man, that faith 
 without works is dead." The apoftle afterwards 
 declares, that <c by works a man is juftified, and not 
 by faith only." In thefe pafiages St. James ufes the 
 word to denote a vain, a dead and fruitlefs, as oppofed 
 to a living, a vigorous and prattical conviftion of the 
 truth ; and it is highly neceflary that we fhould attend 
 to this diftin&ion, and, if poffible, afcertain the pre- 
 cife fignification of the word in thefe days, when Jo 
 many ftrange doctrines are broached about the nature of 
 faith \ and when the ignorant and the credulous are 
 tolled about by the machinations of religious impof- 
 tors on a fea of errors. The apoftle James affec- 
 tionately and earneftly conjured the Chrillians of his 
 time to remember that fomething more than a bare 
 outward profefllon of the faith was effential to falva- 
 tion ; and that faith without works was as dead as a 
 body deprived of the principle of life. 
 
 14. Sometimes faith is ufed to fignify truft in the 
 divine promifes; and in the recompenfe referved for 
 the righteous ; and, in this fenfe, the word is repeat- 
 edly employed in the eleventh chapter of the epiflle 
 to the Hebrews, which contains an animated recom- 
 
( 8*6 ) 
 
 mendation tA this f pedes of faith, illuftrated by exam- 
 ples, and remarkable for the warmth of its piety, 
 and the ftrength of its eloquence. 
 
 15. Few are the people among the fcattered my- 
 riads of mankind who have not fornc glimmering 
 and indefinite notions of God, as the reward of 
 thofe thacdiligcntly feek him (fee Keb. xi. 6). A 
 belief in a flate of future rewards and punifhments 
 feems to conllitute one of thofe great objects of faith 
 about which all men are agreed ; a truth which the 
 wife and the good, in all ages and nations, have con- 
 curred to inculcate; and which, indeed, is conge- 
 nial with the univerfal expectations of the human 
 race. The knowledge of this truth may have been, 
 at firft, communicated by revelation ; but a certain 
 
 foreboding of the event feems naturally to originate from 
 that flate of things in which we are placed; and where 
 the often apparently confufed and fortuituous difpen- 
 fations of good and evil, of pain and pleafure, of fuf- 
 fering and enjoyment, lead the mind of man to look 
 for a future life ; in which thefe irregularities will be 
 corrected, and thefe diforders vanifhi when the finner 
 and the righteous will be recompenfed according to 
 their works. 
 
 16. St. Paul infinuates in the fir (I chapter to the 
 Romans, that the Heathen might, by the right ap- 
 plication of their reafon, have framed juft notions of 
 moral obligation and of the diftin&ions between vice 
 
( 107 ) 
 
 $nd virtue; that they might have obtained fotne 
 vvholefome information about the being of a firft 
 caufe and a moral governor of the world, by the 
 light of nature and the ftudy of his perfections, as 
 they are manifefted in the works of his creation. 
 And the apoftle informs us that the Heathen, by neg- 
 lecting the right ufe of their natural faculties, had 
 incurred the dtvine difpleafure, and were without 
 excufe. But let us hear St. Paul himfelf: " That/' 
 fays he, " which may be known of God is manifeft 
 in them (the Heathen); for God hath mown it unto 
 them; for the invijible things of him from the creation 
 cf the world are clearly Jeen, being iinderjiood by the 
 things that are made ; even his eternal power and God- 
 head; fo that they are without excufe; becaufe that 
 when they knew God, they glorified him not as God; 
 neither were they thankful; but became vain in their 
 imaginations; and their foolifh heart was darkened." 
 Rom. i. 19 — 21. Hence we learn, on the authority 
 of St. Paul, that the Heathen, by the right applica- 
 tion of their reafon, might have difcovered the being 
 of a God ; and, conjequently the knowledge of their dutyi 
 for a right fenfe of the being of a God, of his power 
 and goodnefs, cannot exift in the mind without a con- 
 comitant fenfe of our dependance upon him for all 
 that we poOfefs; and of our duty to give him thanks 
 for all that we enjoy. 
 
 17. But the Heathen world, though they were ca- 
 pable of knowing God and of afcertaining his being 
 
C io3 ) 
 
 and perfections, yet gave him not the glory that was 
 due to him as the maker of the world. Neither 
 offering him the incenfe of their praife, nor the tri- 
 bute of their gratitude, they paid Icfs homage to the 
 eternal Creator than to the perifhable creature. 
 They changed the glory of the incorruptible God 
 into an image made like to corruptible man, and to 
 birds and four-footed beads and creeping things. 
 Hence, their understanding became darkened, from 
 not being properly applied; their diftinftions of right 
 and wrong became confufed; and their affections, 
 devoted only to the pleafures of this vain world, be- 
 came corrupt. They were funk in idolatry and 
 wickedntfsj flaves to the vanity of their minds and 
 the lulls of their hearts. 
 
 1 8. God never left himfelf without witnefs in the 
 world, even among thofe nations to whom he never 
 made known his will by a direct revelation. The 
 great witnefs of the being of a God, and of his moral 
 perfection?, exifts in the earth and the heavens ; in 
 the reafon and the confcience of man. The reafon 
 of man can hardly be called into action without dif- 
 cerning palpable traces of an invifible Creator in the 
 vifible creation. And the confcience of man, fo 
 nicely fenfible of the diftinftions of right and wrong, 
 fo jealous, as it were, of preferving in our hearts a 
 juft fenfc of moral obligation, urging us to retain its 
 laws in our minds, and to praftife them in our lives, 
 fecretly imbuing our lenlations with pleafure when 
 
 
( 109 ) 
 
 we do good, and with anguifh when we do evil* 
 proves, that he who made us is a lover of moral excel- 
 lence, by planting fo powerful an advocate for its authority 
 and its praclice in cur hearts. 
 
 19. Our nature has, originally, a bias to moral 
 good, in preference to moral evil ; and when the 
 choice is offered to the will, reafon when it is not 
 darkened, and confcience when it is not depraved, 
 will always prefer virtue to vice, with as little hefita- 
 tion as we prefer fweet to bitter, pleafure to pain, 
 and happinefs to mifery. But the misfortune is, 
 that inllead of repreffing and moderating our ani- 
 mal appetites and our fenfual defires, we fuffer them 
 to grow rank and luxuriant ', to ftifle the confcience, and 
 impair the reafcn. Then our foolifh hearts become 
 darkened; then we become the fport of wayward 
 lufts and unclean imaginations. Then we put good 
 for evil, and evil for good; then we think righteouf- 
 nefs our bane and fin our advantage. 
 
 20. This was the miferable condition of the Hea- 
 then world with refpect to the knowledge of God, 
 and the practice of their duty; a condition to which 
 they were reduced by the neglect or the abufe of 
 thofe powers which God had given them to employ 
 in the inveftigation of his perfections, and in the 
 practice of righteoufnefs. Though the Heathen had 
 fome perception of a ftate of rewards and punifh- 
 ments, and, confcquently, of the importance of virtue 
 
( no ) 
 
 and theintereft which they had in being virtuous; and 
 though the knowledge of thefe weighty truths was never 
 entirely obliterated among them, yet their belief in them 
 was Jo faint that it had no influence on their lives. 
 
 if. In order to fupply the defects of natural rea- 
 fon, and to give undeniable proof of the moral go- 
 vernment of the world i to awaken the dormant at- 
 tention of mankind to a right fenfe of their greateft 
 intereft, to difpel the clouds of fuperftition, and to 
 abolifh thofe impoftures which men in all ages have 
 been too prone too practife under the name of reli- 
 gion, the Almighty has, at feveral times, interpofed 
 in a more vifible and palpable manner, to declare 
 himfelf the maker of all things, 3nd the only objecl of 
 hitman adoration. 
 
 22. Thefe revelations of the Deity were, at firft, 
 partial or exclufive; made to particular perfons, 
 or confined to particular nations ; but were all in- 
 tended to pave the way for the miraculous appear- 
 ance of Chrift Jefus, who was fent to manifeft his 
 will to all mankind; and to fublijh a religion Juited to 
 the r Joants and capacities of every people under heaven. 
 
 23. In the beginning, God (hewed himfelf as the 
 maker of the world, and the father of mankind, as 
 the lover of thofe that do good, and an avenger of 
 thofe that do evil. In the interval between the fall 
 and the deluge, God feems, more than once to have 
 
( III ) 
 
 manifefted himfelf to his creatures. After the de- 
 luge, the Lord appeared unto Abraham, defiring 
 him to forfake his kindred and his father's houfe, 
 and to fettle in a land in which he was a ftranger; 
 under an afTurance, that it mould, at fome future 
 jperiod, belong to his pofteiity; and that, in the 
 courfe of time, the whole world mould be blefTed in 
 the perfon of one of his offspring. The faith of 
 Abraham which, on this occafion, was counted to 
 him for righteoufnefs, was an unjhaken truft in the 
 fromifes of God, producing a willing obedience 
 
 TO HIS COMMANDS, 
 
 24. We next read of the great Maker of the 
 world appearing under the partial name of the God 
 of Ifrael; and we behold him interpofing with a 
 mighty hand, and a ftretched-out arm to refcue the 
 defendants of the favoured patriarch from the op* 
 preflion of the Egyptians. God, afterwards, chofe 
 Mofes as the fpecial inftrument of his providence 
 and the meffenger of his will. By him, he entered 
 into a covenant with the Ifraelites; at the fame time 
 enacling fome laws, which were to have a perpetual, 
 and publiihing others which were to have only a 
 temporary exiftence. The former are limited to 
 thofe moral obligations whofe truth and ufefulnefs 
 are fupported by the univerfal confent and approba- 
 tion of the world; and one tittle of whofe importance 
 will never pafs away; which find a protection, flrong 
 as adamant, in the principles of reafon and in the 
 
( M* ) 
 
 common fympathies of humanity. The ceremonial 
 Jaws of the Mofaic difpenfation were intended merely 
 to preferve unbroken the barrier between Jew and 
 Gentile, till the coming of him who was to break 
 down the wall of partition between them ; and to 
 teach that God is no refpecter of perfons ; but that he 
 regardetb every man who worketh right ecufne/s in all the 
 nations of the earth. 
 
 25. In each of the partial revelations which pre- 
 ceded the Chriftian, the Almighty exhibited many 
 fignsofhis love for his creatures; and gave fome 
 obfeure prefage of that glorious plan which he had 
 formed for reconciling the world unto himfeif, in. the 
 perfon of his fon, in whom he was well pleafed. In 
 the Mofaic law the great fcheme of redemption was 
 obfeurely infinuated, rather than diftinc'tly pourtray- 
 ed in types and figures, in the facrifices of the altar, 
 and the atonements of the prieft. The Redeemer 
 was, indeed, feen through the rites of the Mofaic 
 difpenfation, as through a veil or a glafs, darkly. 
 They were like the cloud that covered the taberna- 
 cle ; through which the eye could not penetrate; and 
 which infpired fenfations of awe without exciting 
 any lively perceptions of form and character. 
 
 26. The prophets who lived after the Mofaic dif- 
 penfation, particularly Ifaiah, exprefsly foretold a 
 Redeemer to Ifrael; but the mode of redemption 
 was left involved in obfeurity and uncertainty; till in 
 
( **3 ) 
 
 the fulnefs of time (Thrift came msnifefted in the 
 fiefh j the fpotlefs fun of righteoufnefs difperfmg the 
 fhadows of the law; clearing up the milts of the vi- 
 fion and the perplexities of the prophecy, and fted- 
 ding the light of immortality over the darknefs and 
 mifery of the world. 
 
 27. Hence Jefus, The Chrift, The Median, fore- 
 told by the prophets as our Redeedmer from the 
 grave and the future judge of all mankind, is the 
 principal object of Chriftian faith. This is the moft 
 common acceptation and moft important fignification 
 of the word faith in the fcriptures of the new cove- 
 nant; and which we cannot too often remember, or 
 too carefully retain. Faith, in this fenfe of the word, 
 is necetTary to falvation*. St. Paul fays, " if thou 
 (halt confefs with thy mouth the Lord jefus," (that 
 is, if thou malt fincerely aflfent to, and fearlefsly avow 
 this truth, that Jefus is the Mefiiah fent to declare 
 the will of God to mankind,) <c and ft alt believe in 
 thine heart that God hath raifed him from the dead, 
 thou (halt be faved." Rom. x. 9. This belief muft 
 not only be confefTed by the lips, but eftablifted in 
 the heart, fo as to be productive of real goodnefs 
 and righteoufnefs. Faith, thus underftood, is the 
 
 * In thofe countries which enjoy the light of revelation, or 
 among thofe whofe unbelief is more owing to the hardnefs of 
 their hearts, than to a defect in the means, or the opportunities 
 of conviction. 
 
 I 
 
( "4 ) 
 
 principle of a new life in the foul; it exalts the 
 thoughts, purifies the arTeclions, and fanclifies the 
 confeience. 
 
 a8. " With the heart, " fays St. Paul, cc man be- 
 lieveth unto righteoufnefs," Rom. x. 10.) that is, 
 when the heart is really iu preiTed with that faith, 
 which the gofpel requires, it will invariably mani- 
 fefl: its invifible exigence, by the outward fruits of 
 truth, iuflice, and mercy. This faith is infeparable 
 from a right practical fenfe of moral obligation; and 
 thofe who attempt to disjoin faith from a good con- 
 ference, only make fhipwreck of their fouls. (See i 
 Tim. i. 19.) The end of faith is to make us careful 
 to maintain good works (Titus iii. 8.) ; to perfuade us 
 that it is our greateft intereft to deny f£ ungodlinels 
 and worldly lulls, and live foberly, righteoufiy, and 
 godly in this prefent world." (Titus ii. 12.) To 
 give any other explanation of faving faith is to quit 
 the word of God, and turn afide from the wholefomc 
 preaching of Chrift and his apoftles, to the M vain 
 jangling;" to the " foolifh queftions and conten- 
 tions" of ignorant vifionaries or interefted impoftors. 
 
 ■ 
 29. We are, likewife, particularly to remember 
 
 that true evangelical faith is always off dated with a 
 
 beneficent difpcfition ; a difpofition prone to fympathife 
 
 with the didrcfTes, and, as far as we have opportunity, 
 
 to relieve the wants of our fellow- crcarures. For it 
 
 is a conclufion, enforced by the precepts of our Sa- 
 
( i;5 ) 
 
 viour, by the whole tenor of his life and the fpirit of 
 his doctrine, that charity is the end of the commandment '; 
 and that no faith availeth but that which wcrketh by 
 love. (See Gal. v. 6.) And the term love does not 
 fignify any grofs or licentious fenfations of affection, 
 but the fire of vital charity warming our hearts, ani- 
 mating our lives, and mewing its heavenly influence 
 in every part of the conduct of man, towards his 
 brother man. This is true Chriftian love* which is 
 not (hewed in word, neither in tongue, but in deed 
 and in truth* 
 
 I 2 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT Cx\NT. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF FAITH. 
 
 PART I I J. 
 
 i Faith, in its mod frequent acceptation in the 
 Chriftian fcriptures means a conviction of this truth, 
 that Jefus is The Chrift, the Son of God, and the 
 Saviour of thofe who regulate their lives by his laws. 
 It contains a firm perfuafion, that, if we obey him, we 
 fhall obtain remiffion of fins, and eternal life -, and a 
 vigorous refolution to render him the obedience 
 which he has commanded. This is that faith which 
 may truly be called faving -, and the fcriptures by no 
 means warrant the fuppofition that faith, confidered 
 in any other knk y will conduce to our falvation. 
 
 2. That faith, therefore, which will form the 
 ground-work of our juftiftcation before God, muft 
 be afibciated with moral goodnefs; for one of the 
 conftituent parts of faving faith is a perfuafion that 
 Jefus will be the Saviour of thofe who regulate their 
 
( "7 ) 
 
 lives by his laws ; and a right perfuafion of this laft 
 truth, operating on the foul, will neceffarily produce 
 obedience, in the general acts and habits of the indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 3. Thofe laws of Chrift, to which true faith tends 
 to render us obedient, are not ceremonial but moral *. 
 They are laws whofe obligations are unchangeable, 
 which were written on tables of ftone and on the 
 flefhly tables of the heart before he came into the 
 world; and of which he did not invalidate, but 
 increafe the importance, by eftabliihing their con- 
 nection with the intereft of eternity. 
 
 4. The laws of Chrift, on our obedience to which 
 our eternal welfare is at flake, inculcate nothing but 
 a pure, a vigorous, and an habitual morality of con- 
 duct, without any of thofe fubtile refinements, thofe 
 qualifications and referves, in which fophiftry de- 
 lights; and with which the vain genius of human 
 philofophy has too often perplexed the plaineft truths, 
 and invalidated the mod forcible moral obligations. 
 
 * "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adul- 
 teries, fornications, thefts, falfe witnefs, blafpheraies. Thefe 
 are the things ivhich defile a man; but to eat with unwathen 
 hands defileth not a man." Matt. x. ig, 20. Here we trace 
 the right distinction between ceremonial and moral purity. All 
 our Lord's fayings, by keeping which we are required to mani- 
 feft our love towards him, have a moral tendency ; and his life 
 was one continual funfhine of moral excellence. 
 
 1 3 
 
( r,3 ) 
 
 They are not made dark and ambiguous by equivo- 
 cations; they are clear, ditiiacl:, and comprchenftve; 
 not too obfcure for the apprehenfion of the mind, 
 nor too difficult for general practice. They tend to 
 make truth, juflice a and beni-volence the univerfal 
 rule of human action and the unchangeable ftandard 
 of human intereft. 
 
 5. When truth and juftice and benevolence are 
 made the maxims of conduct and the ;eft o( intertft, 
 we can experience little perplexity in any of thole 
 fituations which might embarrafs our choice, or be 
 productive of crimes, if we adopted any other rule 
 for the government of our actions, and eltimated hap- 
 pinefs by mere felfilh calculations. Were the laws 
 of Chi id unwerfally practifed, treachery and falfe- 
 hood, violence and wrong, cruelty and injuflice 
 would be banifhed from the world; in one word, 
 morality would mine with unclouded luftre; for the 
 will of God would be done on earth, as it is in hea- 
 ven. Such are the happy tendencies, and fuch 
 would be the beneficial operations of thefe precepts 
 cf Chrift, to which it is one effential part of faving 
 faith to adhere with inviolable affection and habitual 
 fidelity. 
 
 6. It is obedience to ChrifTs laws, which conftitutes 
 the moral goodnefs of a Chriftian. For the laws of 
 Chrift, of which he himfelf condenied the fpirit 
 2nd the practice into this one glorious and unrivalled 
 
( "9 ) 
 
 faying, cc whatfoever ye would that men fhould do 
 unto you, do ye alio unto them," comprehend the 
 whole circle of moral obligations. If, therefore, ge- 
 nuine faith do include, as I think the whole tenor of 
 fcripture proves, obedience to Chrift as a lawgiver: 
 and if his laws be moral laws, then moral goodnefs 
 muft be an infeparable adjunct of faving faith , and 
 without which it is but an empty breath of air. 
 
 7. The precepts of Ch rift differ, in a great mea- 
 fure, from thofe of other lawgivers, in being rather 
 pofitive than negative, in inculcating virtue rather 
 than prohibiting vice; in enjoining more what is to 
 be praclifcd than what is to be avoided; in fpeaking 
 of duties more than of crimes ; in commanding bene- 
 ficence more than juftice; and in deterring from evil 
 by urging to good. Thus our Lord comprefles 
 into this one emphatic faying " thou malt \owt thy 
 neighbour as thyfelf;" the whole of the moral law; 
 and he who fulfils only this one precept, cannot be 
 wanting in any duty, or guilty of any crime. For 
 love worketh no ill to his neighbour; and, therefore^ 
 love is the fulfilling of the law. 
 
 8. That beneficence which produces pofitive good 
 muft exclude pofitive evil; for the fajne principle 
 cannot operate as an incentive to good and to evil. 
 True benevolence, therefore, muft prove deftruclive 
 to falfehood and injuftice, and every fpecies of moral 
 depravity. Hence we fee why our Lord compreiTes 
 
 14 
 
( H6 ) 
 
 the whole fubftance of morality into one brief pre- 
 cept; fc thou (halt love thy neighbour as thvklf :" 
 and why he faid to his diiciples, towards the conclu- 
 fion of his miniftry, <c by this (hall all men know that 
 ye are my difciplcs, if ye have love one to another/* 
 The love which Chrift enjoined is the perfection of 
 morality ; morality cleanfed from the lees of fdfifh- 
 nefs. and refined into pure bene ficencej that morality 
 which confitts not only in an abhorrence of faliehood 
 
 * 
 
 and injuftice, but which animates the vigorous ener- 
 gies of active goodnefs j which not only indiipofes us 
 to do wrong to others, but which difpofes us, as far 
 as we have opportunity, to do good unto all men. 
 This is that morality of which the practice is a ne- 
 ceflary aflbciate ofjavmg faith. Thus faith, where- 
 ever it takes fuch a ilrong pofilflion of the foul, as to 
 be, in lome tneafure, the fubftance of things not leen, 
 will be not a pajfoe quality , but an afire e principle j full 
 of ftrergth and life; urging us not only not to work 
 iniquity, but to bring forth the fruits of charity. 
 
 9. Many perfons confine the feat and habitation of 
 faith, the bounds of its exigence, and the fphere of 
 its influence,, to the fenfationsj within whofe aafeous 
 atmofphere they circumfcribe its power, and to 
 whole invifible operations they reftricT: its evidence. 
 But the (criptures do not authorize, and reafon dis- 
 claims, any fuch vain, changeful, and pernicious teft of 
 religious belief; for both reafon and fciipture prove, 
 that the life is the only latisfactory evidence of its 
 reality. 
 
t M" ) 
 
 io. As far as faith is an invifible and inward prin- 
 ciple, confined to the impenetrable caverns of the 
 mind or to the unfeen chambers of the heart, we can- 
 not know that fuch a principle even exifts without 
 clifcerning fome teftimony,of its exigence in the out- 
 ward conduct. A mere profeflion of belief does not 
 conftitute belief, or make a man a Chriftian, any 
 more than a bare profeflion of agronomical know- 
 ledge makes a man an aftronomer; except fo far as 
 the profeflion anfwers to the fact, and the fact to the 
 profeflion. 
 
 ii. The profeflion of a faith in the Chriftian reli- 
 gion is a profeflion of thefe truths — that Jefus, the 
 founder of the Chriftian religion, is the Meffiah fore- 
 fhewn.to the Jews, and the Redeemer promifed to 
 all mankind i and that he will confer eternal life on 
 thofe who obey his laws. Genuine Ghriftiari faith, 
 therefore, implies a conviction of a future and eternal 
 life j with a pcrfuafion that its happinefs depends on 
 the conformity of our conduct to the precepts of the 
 gofpel. Now have we any reafon to believe that 
 any profeflion of faith of this kind is true, where we 
 fee thofe, who make it, giving no proof of irs reality 
 in their lives; where we fee them acting, as if this 
 life were the fum of their being, the termination of 
 their hopes and fears, and as if their prefent con- 
 duct had no relation to a ftate beyond the grave r* 
 
 12. When we fee the profeflion of religious faith 
 
( 122 ) 
 
 utterly at variance with the outward actions, when 
 we behold it exerting no influence en the character or 
 the conduct, not producing temperance, juftice, and 
 righteoufne fs ; not rnaking the heart kind and the 
 hand bountiful ; can we believe, that the inward f jrin- 
 ciple exifts ? A n an is not to make his own fen- 
 fations, however warn or rapturo* s they may be, a 
 teft of his believing in Chriti; when (Thrill himfelf 
 allowed no fu< h reft, but referred the evidence of 
 faith to the conduct Let us hear his own words, 
 and let them fink into our fouls: l< Every good tree 
 bringem forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth 
 forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth 
 evil fruit j neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good 
 fruit : Every tree that hringeth not forth good fruit 
 is hewn djwn, and cad into the fire." Matt. vii. 
 I/. i y . 
 
 13. If the blood be contaminated by any principle 
 of difeafe or any mattet of contagion, the effects foon 
 appear in the watte of the ilrength, the depreiTion of 
 the mind, or the ulcerations of the fiefh. Where the 
 body glows with 'the animating flame of vitality and 
 health, there the limbs are vigorous, alert, active; 
 the fiefh is firm, and the fpirits gay. If a principle 
 of moral purity be fixed in the thoughts, if truth, and 
 juftice, and humanity be enthroned in the affections^ 
 their inward reality will be vifible in their outward 
 operations. If moral corruption have feized the 
 mind, and fprcad its baleful putrefcence over the con- 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 fcience, the effects will correfpond with the caujfe* 
 The conduct will be bafe, polluted with injuftice* 
 with cruelty, or luft. The outward actions of a man 
 are the bed mirror through which the (rate of his 
 thoughts and his heart can be feen. <c Out of the 
 hearr," faid our Lord, " proceed evil thoughts, mur- 
 ders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, falfe witnefs, blas- 
 phemies." Matt. xv. 19. The outward conduct 
 diftinctly pourtrays the inward, workings of the foul. 
 It ihews, if I may fo exprefs it, the true complexion 
 of the heart, and marks the fluff of which the con- 
 fcience is made. 
 
 14. Whenever the principle of genuine Chriflian 
 faith is alive, warm, and vigorous in the heart, it will 
 diiplay its wholfefome energies in the moral character 
 of the man. There will not be occafion for an audi- 
 ble confeflion of the lips or any vifible infeription on 
 the forehead, to fhow that faith animates the bread. 
 'True faith is its own evidence. It wants no emblema- 
 tic tokens nor factitious proofs. It manifefts its fpi- 
 ritual ftrength, and, if I may fo term it, its bodily cx- 
 iflence by figns beyond the reach ofhypocrify or art; 
 and which bring conviction home to the mind of 
 the fpectator. Its fruits are the fruits of holinefs. Its 
 actions are ftamped with the facred irnprefs of truth 
 and juftice and that vital warm beneficence which 
 cannot be counterfeited j and whofe teftimony the 
 whole world cannot gainfay nor refill. 
 
( **4 ) 
 
 15. He who really believes in the truth of the 
 Chriftian religion will not live for this fnort life i he 
 will not purfue the perifhable things of this world 
 with greedy impatience or intemperate defire. His 
 faith will be " the fubftance of things hoped for ; 
 the evidence of things not Teen." Neglecting the 
 fordid concerns of time., his thoughts will be exalted 
 to the higheft heavens, and his affections rapt in 
 the bofom of eternity. 
 
 16. True faith, as far as it is the faith of a rational 
 being, muft be compounded of the affent of the mind 
 and the perfuafion of the heart. It fuppofes the un- 
 derstanding, from the inveftigation of the evidences 
 of religion, to be convinced of its truth j and the af- 
 fections to be interested in the practice of its duties. 
 
 r 
 
 Wherever the dictates of the reafon are thus in uni- 
 fon with the impulfe of the fenfations, and the fenfa- 
 tions accord with the decifions of the reafon, there 
 religious faith flourifhes in its greatefl beauty and its 
 utmoft flrength. 
 
 17. It does fometimes, and, perhaps, more often 
 than is fufpected, happen, that fpecuhtive belief is 
 united, if I may fo fpeak, with practical infidelity ; 
 or, in other words, that the mind fometimes a (Tents 
 to the truth of the Chriftian religion, when no warm 
 fenfe of its duties touches the heart; and the eon- 
 fcience is callous to its weighty obligations. As a 
 fpecuhtive belief in a God is by no means incompa- 
 
( **S ) 
 
 tible with practical atheifm *, fo a rational convic- 
 tion of the truth of revejation is fometimes aiTociated 
 
 * The Atheifm of the French, to which fome have imputed 
 all the exceffes of the revolution, was engendered by thr cor- 
 ruptions of popery j and confequently, thofe who afcribe fo 
 wide a fphere of agency to the fir ft, ought not to forget the 
 effects that originated in the laft. When they declaim on the 
 evil of the progeny, they mould not pais in filence over the 
 malignity of the parent. In inveftigating the caufes of thofe 
 great diforders which always accompany the revolutions of great 
 ftates, when an ancient government is overthrown; when infti- 
 tutions, a floriated with the affections of fome and the interefts 
 of others, are fubverted ; when the prejudices and paffions of 
 men are engaged, as it were, in a furious warfare; when new 
 opinions arq forced into a violent concuffi n with the old ; when 
 the firft, full of youthful vigour, are labouring for dominion, and 
 the laft are Struggling with the dying energies of felf-preferva- 
 tion ; we muft beware of imputing thofe diforders which muft: 
 neceffarily arife in fuch a complicated ftate of things, to any one 
 particular and exclusive caufe. Atheifm or irreligion had cer- 
 tainly a very exteniive influence in producing thofe accumu- 
 lated miferies, thofe acts of profcription, of injuftice, and 
 cruelty, which (lain the pages of the revolution : but Atheifm 
 itfelf was not equal to the production of fuch a mafs of calamity. 
 Atheifm met with a juncture of circumftances highly favour- 
 able to the explofion of its difaftrous principles; but the prin- 
 ciples themfelves would have been much circumfcribed in their 
 effects, if a variety of other caufes, all blending their mifchiev- 
 ous influence, had not affifted their operation ; had not increaf- 
 ed their ftrength, and dirTufed their rancour. Atheifm is cer- 
 tainly a very powerful caufe of calamity; but'we muft not im- 
 pofe on Atheifm a weight of effect greater than it canproduce. 
 The practical evils of atheifm are, generally, restrained by the 
 direct intereft which men have, and always will have, in re- 
 
( 1^6 ) 
 
 with glaring impiety. A belief in the being of a 
 God is not necefTarily or uniformly productive of 
 
 {training them. Whatever men may think of the fpeculative 
 principle, they muft, if they have a (park of common lenfe, 
 know its pra6tical tendency as adverfe to the inte.refl of the 
 individual as it is to that of the community. Atheifm can 
 never exert any very general or exteniive influence, except in 
 the crifis of revolutions; when fo many other caufes confpire 
 to render it actively pernicious, and increafe ,its will to deftroy 
 by arming it with the power of deftruction. 
 
 The atheifm of the French owed its origin to the corrupt 
 flate of Cbriftianity in France before the revolution ; and, per- 
 haps, many of the evils, which we afcribe to atheifm, would, 
 with more ju ft ice, be imputed to their primary caufe; that is, 
 the pollutions with which popifh fuperftition had adulterated 
 the Chriftian doctrine. Men of leifure, of a highly fpeculntive 
 turn of mind, and a morbid temperature of body, are fometimes 
 Atheifts; but the poiibn can never be difTufed through the bulk 
 of mankind. The former may not always be able to prevent 
 the in trillion of anxious doubts reflecting the firfl principle of 
 religion; the latter do not theorize on the fubject; and when 
 their actions are contrary to the principles which they profefs, 
 they do not proceed fo much from the want of religious belief 
 in the mind, as from the want of a religious fpirit in the heart. 
 There arefeTvfficcuIath'c, but many prafiical Athetfl$\ there are 
 few who really dilbelieve in the being of a God; but there are 
 many, very many, in all countries iv/io live ivit/iout any fear of God 
 before their eye:. The mob Of Paris, by whole hands molt of the 
 fanguinary deeds of the revolution were perpetrated, were not 
 properly fo much Atheifts as Fanatics; and as far as they were 
 AtheiftSj their Atheifm was certainly the effect of that corrupt 
 and polluted atftiehrifftan fuperftition in which they had been 
 educated. The diftance between extremes, though it feern 
 long, is in fact ihort. The change in the mind from one to 
 
( **f ) 
 
 that fanctifying fenfe of his perfections, that kdrftir^- 
 tion of his wifdom, and that iove ot his goodndsi 
 
 the other Is often rapid and inftantpneous. From lelkz'ing ton 
 7Hiich i men foon come to believe too tittle. 
 
 Superfiitkm always, lilently, favours the growth M 'nhdel : ty; 
 and, after a certain period, ahva. s hltH&atefy produces it. 
 Hence governments mould beware of or k ring the miaifiefs of 
 an eftabliihed church to bewilder the minds" of the ignorant 
 with uncertain doctrines, and to preach ablurd or pernicious 
 myfteries more than pra6tical godlinefs. 
 
 That Atheifm renders the fentiments ferocious and th* heart 
 favage I can readily admit; but I believe it w ill be found that 
 religion, dege?ieraied into Fanaticifm> is an enemy as deftruiStive 
 to tendernefs of feeling as the moft ftubborn Alheifm The 
 Atheift, who really believes not in a God is not reftrai :. in 
 the career of his crimes or the excels of his iuri.s by app»-ehen- 
 fionsofa future judgment; but he is liable, to fome reftraint 
 from the invilible operation of thofe fympatl ies which nature 
 planted in the heart, and which Atheifm iUelf cannot always 
 eradicate. But Fanaticifm e;vtinguilbes the benevolent affec- 
 tions, and it calls in the fuppofed iandtions of religion to coun- 
 tenance their extinction, and to encourage their violation. 
 When cruelty rages in the bofom of an Atheift, there is a total 
 w r ant of any religious influence to efiuage its fury ;. but vJun it 
 ra^es in the bofom of a " anaiic. the i? e ofrtligion, in (lead tf 
 
 reprcjjing its force, only incrcafes its ferocity. The Atheift may 
 be cruel from the violence of pafiion; but the Fanatic is snore 
 fo from the fedatenefs of principle. 
 
 The Fanatic often perpetrates atrocities the moft revolting 
 in order to do God fervice; for ? from a ftrange hallucination of 
 ideas, which turn the blood into gall and the heart into itone, 
 Fanaticifm makes the love of God compatible with the moft 
 unrelenting barbarity. The Atheift delights in ensming: the 
 Fanatic in torturing his victims; he thinks every groan which 
 
which engage che affections in his fervice, and make 
 obedience to his will the law of the heart i the itaid 
 
 they utter agreeable to God ; and he lengthens out the linger- 
 ing agony to the longer! capacity of furTering. The Atheift 
 "braves the terrors of eternity ; yet he does not always lofe the 
 tendernefs of a man : but the Fanntic gnthers motives from 
 eternity to juilify the mod atrocious violatiows of humanity. 
 
 The refinements of torture and the aggravations of woe, 
 which were practifcd in the Inquifition, give a ftriking repre- 
 fentation of the force, with which religion, corrupted into 
 iuperLiition and Fanaticifm, tends to flifle all the amiable fym- 
 pathies of the heart, and to fubftitute in their room the mod 
 favage cruelty and the moil implacable ferocity. The Atheitts 
 who, in September 1/92, wantonly fported with the lives of 
 their fellow-citizens, appear not to rank lower in the fcale of 
 humanity, than the Fanatics who fhed the blood of the inno- 
 cent in the maffacre of St. Bartholomew. 
 
 Our Lord makes religion to conlift in the love of God and 
 the love of man. What ever kind of prepofterous love Fana- 
 ticifm may bear to God, it certainly cheriihes very little re- 
 gard for its fellow-creatures ; for it is aflbciated with hate, bit- 
 ter and implacable to all who have not fwallovved, or who will 
 notfwallow the poifon of its corruptions. The Fanatic luppofes 
 that God delights in fuperftkious forms, and takes pleafure in 
 the mifery of his creatures. He fondly Hatters his own heart 
 that the divine favour is exclufively appended to only one par- 
 ticular form of worlhip, and that every other incites the di- 
 vine abhorrence. The Fanatic is, therefore, infiigated by the 
 moll powerful motives, motives drawn from the interefts of 
 eternity, to e.ercife the luft of cruelty on all who think not 
 as he thinks ; whole devotion is not manifefted by the fame 
 proftrations, or whofe adoration is not aflfociaied with the 
 fame forms. ' He feels no reilraiat from the kindly influence 
 of the lucial principle, urging him to be mindful of the happi- 
 
( 129 ) 
 
 criterion of intereft; and the perennial fountain of 
 pleafure and of happinefs. 
 
 nefs of his fpecies; for the force of that principle is annihilated 
 by the invifible demon that works within his breaft, chilling 
 the warmth of his affections, and infufinga deadly rancour into 
 his fenfations. 
 
 Fanaticifm perplexes and confounds the diftin6tions of right 
 and wrong ; it maies right to be wrong, and wrong to be right: 
 and, under its influence, religious belief which ought to be, and 
 which, in a well educated mind, always is the ftrongeft {lay to 
 right, gives the mod powerful impulfe to wrong The Fanatic 
 either imagines that he is exempted from the weighty matters 
 of moral obligation, or that God will permit their violation for 
 the fake of fome trifling penance or fome unfocial aufterity. 
 He deems them matters ofe^fy compenfation; and he, there- 
 fore, feels little compunclion in their infraction. Thofe who 
 do not like to practife the great duties of truth and juilice, are 
 always predifpofed -to imbibe the delufions, and to embrace 
 the demoniac principles of Fanaticifm. 
 
 The Atheift who believes not in a future judgment, and 
 feeks not the approbation of a fuperior power, can have no juft 
 notions of moral obligation ; he regards morality as a fort of 
 artificial contrivance, and truth and juftice as mere matters of 
 human convention; and he deems them obligatory no farther 
 than as they promote his prefent views, or contribute to his 
 perfonal gratification. But Fanaticifm, while it relaxes all 
 moral reftraints, often makes immorality a matter of co?ifcicnce. 
 It, therefore, often gives a greater encouragement and a flronger 
 itimulus to the violation of truth, of juttice, and humanity, than 
 even the molt obftinate Atheifm. The Fanatic ftrips God of 
 his refphndent attribute of univerfal good nefs, and makes him 
 a partial and capricious being : and it may be doubted whether 
 a belief in fuch a being, as Fanaticifm fuppofes God to be, be 
 not productive of as much mifchief as the non-belief in the 
 
 K 
 
( ijo ) 
 
 1 8. We have only to caft our eyes around us to 
 behold many who are by no means infincere believers 
 
 exiftenee of any God at all. The Atheift has no ftandard of 
 mora! excellence; the Fanatic has a falfe one. The principles 
 of the Atheift prevent his moral improvement; thofe of the 
 Fanatic promote his moral deterioration. The love of God, the 
 only genuine principle of practical religion, elevates the heart 
 towards heaven; it wafts the affections to the throne of mercy 
 in the perfume of player, from which they defcend again 
 upon the earth, frefh with the bloom, and warm with the glow 
 of univerfal charity. But of this principle of the love of God, 
 whofe fpirit is fo divine, and whofe operations are fo benefi- 
 cent, the Atheift is as deftitute as the Fanatic, and the Fanatic 
 as the Atheift. 
 
 The heart of the Atheift is cold and favage; infenfible to the 
 diftrelTes of thofe around him, as beings with whom he has 
 only a tranflentand accidental connexion here, and with whom 
 he is to hold no intercourfe hereafter. The heart of the Fana- 
 tic is not cold with apathy, but hot with hate; net fo much 
 infenfible to the diftrelTes of others, as rejoicing at their inflic- 
 tion, when they are the diftrelTes of thofe who are not of his 
 own perfuafion. He looks on all mankind, not only not as 
 brethren, but as people whom he has a commillion from hea- 
 ven to exterminate, and whom he perfecutes without mercy 
 whenever he has the power. The Fanatic puts the victims of 
 his r^ge to every torture which he can contrive in this world, 
 and then breathes fervent ivijJics to heaven for their eternal damna~ 
 t'ton in the next ! 
 
 The Atheift perfecutes, perhaps tortures, his victims; and 
 then fends them to the grave as to a place of eternal fleep. 
 The Atheift is a brute, who. when his pallions are excited, 
 rends and lacerates his fellow-men like fellow brutes ; the 
 Fanatic aggravates his cruelty by religious mockery, and lings 
 hallelujahs while the unfortunate objects of his malice are 
 
( i3i ) 
 
 in the being of a God, yet living, as it were, without 
 God in the world ; and many might be obferved who 
 have themfelves a reafonable conviction that reve- 
 lation is no fiction nor impofture, that the miracles 
 recorded in the gofpcls were actually performed, and 
 even fome might be noticed who have laboured to 
 impart conviction to others, by the ftrongeft reafon- 
 ing and the mod (Inking arguments, but who, not- 
 withstanding, by the whole tenor of their lives, by 
 their intemperance in the purfuit of animal pleafure, 
 their eagernefs in the race of temporal diftinction, by 
 their ambition of praife and their luft of gain, by the 
 brittlenefs cf their friendfhips and the rancour of their 
 enmities, feem to acknowledge that that Jefus, whofe 
 religion they profefs, never lived; that he never 
 preached temperance, humility, meeknefs, benefi- 
 cence, forgiveneis of injuries; that he ne* er rofe from 
 the dead, and that this world terminates alike the 
 joys and forrows, the hopes and fears of man. On 
 the other hand, we do meet with many perfons, par- 
 
 wafting in the flames. Of the butchery which has been per- 
 petrated, and th^defolation which has been produced both by 
 Fanatics and by Atheilts, hiftory will furnifh many a melan- 
 choly recital 5 and if it be difficult to determine on which fide- 
 the guilt preponderates, it lhould teach governments to labour 
 to prevent thefe hell-born fiends from fpreading their venom 
 among the people ; and this can only he done by compelling the 
 m'mifters of t lie eJlaWJJiment to teach nothing but that furb 
 
 MORALITY, WHICH CHRIST TAUGHT, WITHOUT ANT CANT 
 OR ANY MYSTERY. 
 
 K 2 
 
( 132 ) 
 
 ticularly thofe who are placed low in the vale of 
 poverty, who have neither had leifure nor capacity 
 to examine the evidences of revealed religion ; who 
 have not what may be called a rational conviction 
 of its truth, and who are unable to render to others 
 a reafonable account of the hope that is in them, but 
 yet whofe lives are an ornament to the religion 
 which they profefs, whofe actions manifeft its fruits, 
 and whofe affections kindle with its holy flame. 
 
 19 But as it mud be confefTed that, where the 
 mind is convinced without the heart being perfuaded, 
 faith is dead, becaufe barren and unfruitful in the 
 knowledge of the truth; fo, on the other hand, we 
 muft acknowledge that where the affections are en- 
 gaged in the practice of the duties, without the un- 
 derftandmg being exercifed in the examination or 
 acquainted with the evidences of revealed religion, 
 faith refts on an unfafe and perilous foundation, eafily 
 undermined by the fubtleties of ibphiftry, and fub- 
 verted by the (hock of argument. He who knows 
 not the ftrong pillars of evidence on which the reli- 
 gion of Jefus refts, who is not able to give him who 
 afketh a reasonable account of the hope that is in 
 him, will not long remain unmoved by the reafoning 
 of the infidel or the raillery of the fcoffer. The ig- 
 norant man almoft always receives his (trongeft im- 
 prefiion from the lad fpeaker ; and is liable to be 
 whirled about, here and there, by every eddy of 
 argument and every breath of folly. 
 
( *33 ) 
 
 20. Where a rational conviction of the truth is 
 wanting, faith is not eafily fixed; it fluctuates with 
 every new opinion, and changes with every wind of 
 doctrine. Hence ignorant people are always the 
 eafy prey of vifionaries or Fanatics ; whofe absurd- 
 ities they have not judgment enough to fee, and 
 whofe crafty machinations thev have not iagacity to 
 penetrate. Hence they are fomerimes perfuaded, 
 on the flighted grounds, and the weakeft reafons, to 
 forfake a pure, and plain, and rational worfliip, for 
 one that is polluted with fuperftition , to leave what 
 is Ample for what is myfterious ; to relinquish truth 
 for error i and to prefer darknefs to light. Hence, 
 in the prefent age, we have feen multitudes of the 
 ignorant and the credulous ledaftray, from the plain 
 paths of common fenfe, by itinerant impoflors; for- 
 faking the Ample, the dignified, and the well-digefted 
 prayers of the Church of England, for the confufed 
 and crude abortions, the whining cant, and wild ex- 
 travagance of extemporaneous devotion -, abandon- 
 ing the Ample morality of Cnriu: for unintelligible 
 doctrines, which have no foundation whatever in the 
 words of fcripture, critically understood, andjudi- 
 cioufly explained. 
 
 2f. Where the mind is not furnifhed with true 
 fcriptural knowledge, folly will often triumph over 
 wiidom; and the fuffrages of the illiterate crowd 
 will often run ftrongerin favour of thofe who inflame 
 their feelings, than in favour of thofe who fpeak 
 
 K 3 
 
( '34 ) 
 
 plainly, but gently to their affections; of thofe who 
 addrefs the imagination, than of thofe who endea- 
 vour to convince by ftrength of argument. 
 
 22. The religious faith, as I have faid, of a rational 
 being, ought to confift of the aiTent of the mind in- 
 corporated with the perfuafion of the heart. This 
 is that faith which is lead liable to change or decay; 
 and on whofe faving efficacy the greatefl: dependance 
 may be placed. For it is that faith which God who 
 has given us a faculty to difcern truth from error, 
 and who has fo difpofed the evidence of revelation 
 as not to fuperfede, but to encourage its exercife, 
 requires at our hands. It is a faith, in the formation 
 of which the mind concurs with the affections, and 
 in whofe operations reafon moderates and directs 
 the energies of fenfation. This alone is the charac- 
 ter of that faith which is a reafonable fervice; which 
 is moft agreeable to the father of fpirits, and to the 
 genius of Chriflianity. 
 
 23. In the formation and the operations of faith, 
 the reafon and the affections mould, as much as is 
 poffible, go hand in hand, and act in conjunction. 
 Thus faith is preferved from the extravagance of en- 
 thufiafm and the n.ifchievoufnefs of Fanaticifm; 
 from the frothinefs of delufion and the barrennefs of 
 inaction. If reafon lay the foundations of faith, the 
 bulding cannot rife into a fair and beautiful flructure 
 without the aid of the affections; but if the affections 
 
( '35 ) 
 
 alone are employed in rearing it, the edifice, wanting 
 the ftrong pillars of reafon, will hardly bear the beat- 
 
 ing of the ftorm. 
 
 24. The affections give to faith its beauty and its 
 ufefulnefs; beauty that delights the eye, and ufeful- 
 nefs that cheers the heart ; but reafon gives it ftrength 
 and folidity; ftrength that no blaft can lhake, and 
 folidity that is eternal. Reafon, uniting its force with 
 that of the affections, makes the prefence of religious 
 belief delicious to the individual and its operations 
 beneficial to humanity, 
 
 25. Without fome degree of rational conviction, 
 religious belief refts, as it were, on a cloud of vapour; 
 and it is fubject to all the alternations and capriciouf- 
 nefs of prejudice in fome cafes, and to its ^bilinacy in 
 others. We cannot give a rational affent to what we 
 know not, any more than we can be faid rationally to 
 prefer one thing to another without knowing or in- 
 veftigating the right grounds of preference. Our belief 
 in revealed truth, like our belief in any other truth of 
 importance, jhouldbe rational that it may be firm. It 
 fhould be the effect of the underftanding that it may 
 remain the fubject of the will. From that to which we 
 affent without knowing why, we are always liable to 
 diffent without knowing wherefore. We have ken 
 this truth exemplified in many recent inltances; and 
 it is to this principally that the Fanatics owe the pre- 
 fen: magic of infatuation which they poffefs, and the 
 
 K. 4 
 
( & } 
 
 prefent harveft of popular delufion by which they are 
 fed. As it is impoflible to fee clearly when the 
 vifion is dim, or the nerve of fight faint, or to hear 
 diftinctly where the organ of hearing is paralytic ; fo it 
 is impoflible to believe juftly when the organ of con- 
 viction, which is the mind, is either incapable of act- 
 ing, or has never been called into action. 
 
 26. The faith of thofe, who have not leifure to 
 profecute a diligent inquiry into the evidences of re- 
 ligion, muft indeed always, in fome degree, reft on 
 the authority of others. But, thanks be to God, 
 that, in this enlightened period of this enlightened 
 country, the faith even of the peafant or the artifan 
 need not be a blind affent to they know not what, or 
 they know not why. Their belief may be grounded 
 on knowledge. Their minds may, without a wicked 
 negligence on their own parts, be inftructed in the 
 evidences of Chriftianity, fufficiently to give a rea- 
 fonable account of the hope that is in them ; to com- 
 bat the arguments, and to penetrate the fophiftry of 
 the gainfayer. In a country in which there are few 
 Chriftians who cannot read, in which there are few 
 villages without fchools for the inftruction of the poor 
 in the rudiments of learning, and none without a 
 church for their improvement in righteouihefs, few 
 indeed mud be the perfons who can complain, with- 
 out injuftice, that they are deprived of the means of 
 religious information. 
 
( '37 ) ' 
 
 <&7« In thefe days many books have been publish- 
 ed, and widely circulated, in which the evidences of 
 revelation have been briefly, clearly, and forcibly ex- 
 plained. And though the poor may meet with none 
 of thefe treatifes, they may fupply the defect by the 
 fludy of the fcriptures; by comparing the prophecies 
 in the OldTeftament refpecting the Median with their 
 completion in the New ; in the perfon, the life, the 
 fuffe rings, the death, and the redirection of Jefus 
 Chrifl. They may diminifh their doubts, and in- 
 creafe their conviction by the ferious perufal of that 
 wonderful prophecy, relative to the difperfion of the 
 Jews, which occurs Deut. xxviii. and which they 
 may behold fulfilled before their eyes. They, may 
 fee its exact and almoft literal accompli foment in the 
 fate of that extraordinary people, who are fcattered 
 over the whole world, living among all the nations 
 of the earth, but yecpreferving the language, the 
 manners, and the inttitutions of their ancedors ; di- 
 vided from . each other by kingdoms, by feas and 
 mountains, but maintaining a fort of national inter- 
 courfe like an united people; denying the Chriftian 
 fcriptures, but bearing their concurrent teftimony to 
 the truth of thofe of the Old Tedament; believing 
 in the divine original of the law of Mofes, in whofe 
 writings their prefent difperfion is threatened and 
 defcribed, and, from many hints in the law and 
 the prophets, dill expecting, with undiaken confi- 
 dence, an end to their difperfion, and a reiteration to 
 the country of their fathers. And if the prophetic 
 
( '3* ) 
 
 proofs of the divine original of Chriftianity fhould be 
 deemed vague, indefinite, and un fat is factory, (till 
 even thofe of the meaneft capacities, who are not 
 wilfully remifs or criminally indifferent in a matter of 
 fuch great moment, may obtain a rational aflfurance 
 of the truth of revealed religion, by carefully perufing 
 only the Englifh transition of thofe memoirs of the 
 founder of Chriftianity, which are contained in the 
 writings of the four Evangelifts, of whom at lead two 
 were actual fpectators of what they related, and the 
 reft drew their accounts from the information of 
 thofe who had been with Jefus from the beginning; 
 who were well acquainted with the doctrines which 
 he preached, and the miracles which he wrought. 
 In the narrative of thefe four independant witnefTes, 
 in which there is every mark of honeft truth and art- 
 lefs fimplicity, let the unlearned inquirer confider 
 the perfect doctrine and the fmlefs life of Jefus; let 
 him compare the profound wifdom that is difplayed 
 in the one, with the patience, the gentlenefs, the be- 
 neficence that were vifible in the other; let him con- 
 trail the fublimity of his character with the lowlinefs 
 of his condition; the fplendour of his mi icles with 
 the humblenefs of his deportment; the fear which 
 he excited with the little power which he poiTcfTed; 
 the popularity which he avoided, with that which, 
 had he harboured any ambitious views, he might have 
 acquired ; let him confider the total ablence of any 
 thing like equivocation, duplicity, or lmpoflure in 
 every word that he Ipoke; the prudence with which 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 he conduced himfelf in the mod embarrafling cir- 
 cumdances ; the fagacity of his anfwers to the mod 
 perplexing quedions; the meeknefs with which he 
 endured the mod humiliating infuksj the filence 
 with which he abafhed the fcorner; the force and au- 
 thority with which he rebuked the hypocrite; the 
 tendernefs and affection with which he indrucled the 
 fimple; the concern which he fhewed for the bodies 
 and die fouls of men; the rcadinefs with which he 
 relieved their wants, and the fympathy which he dif- 
 covered for their iorrows; the love which he mani- 
 fefted for his friends, and the fervour with which he 
 prayed for his enemies; the fortitude with which he 
 iudered a molt ignominious death, and the glory 
 with which he role to an endiefs life. Thefe confi- 
 derations are, I think, fufficient to prove, whether 
 to thole who are funk in the vale of ignorance, or to 
 thofe who have icaled the heights of learning, that 
 Jefus was no irnpodor; but was what he declared 
 himfelf to be, — a man fent from God to reveal the 
 mod weighty truths, and to inftrucl and animate 
 the world in the way of righteoufnefs. 
 
 28-. But when the rich or the poor, the peafant or 
 the philofopher have, by the inveftigatibn of the 
 evidences of revealed religion, or by the dudyofthe 
 fcriptures, attained to a reafonable conviction of the 
 truth of Chridianity, let them well confider that faith 
 is vain without works; let them not endeavour to 
 fix the truth of religion in the underftanding without 
 
( i 4 o ) 
 
 kindling its fpirit in the affections. Let them all 
 remember, that an aflent to the truth of religion 
 ought to lead to living righteoufnefs; and let me 
 more efpecially admoniih the philofopher to con- 
 fider, that the fubde refinements, the profound de- 
 ductions, the fplendid fy (terns, or the lofty fpecula- 
 tions of learning and of genius, are but vain and ufe- 
 lefs things, unlefs they are affbeiafed with that wifdom 
 which mends the heart, and maketh wife unto Ja Iva 
 tion. 
 
 29. Faith, when taken in its Uriel: fcriptural fig- 
 nification, as comprehending, in one wordy the ajfent of 
 the mind and the perjuafion of the hearty is necejfarily 
 and uniformly productive of righteoufnefs. In this fenfe 
 the word faith means not only the feed, but the fruits 
 of righteoufnefs ; it reprefents the Christian religion 
 not only as approved by the mind, but principled in 
 the heart, and manifested in the conduct. In this 
 fenfe the word faith is often applied in the fcrip- 
 tures, as including a belief in the truth of the mif- 
 fion of Jefus, and the practice of his precepts. Faith, 
 when it fignifies only the conviclion of the mind, is not 
 uniformly and necefTarily productive of righteouf- 
 nefs. The understanding may be acquainted with 
 the evidences of religion, where the ipirit of piety 
 is not excited in the heart. 
 
 3c. When we endeavour to imprefs the mind of 
 an Athciit with a rational conviction of the being of 
 
( Hi ) 
 
 a God, we fhould endeavour, at the fame time, to 
 animate the heart with fuch a trull in his moral go- 
 vernment, and fuch a lively fenfe of his fatherly- 
 concern for the welfare of his creatures, as will cer- 
 tainly engender benevolence in the difpofttion, and 
 morality in the conduct. When we undertake to 
 bring the evidences of Chriftianity home to the un- 
 derstanding of a Deii't, we fhould, at the fame time, 
 endeavour to bring its duties home to his affections. 
 We fhould endeavour not only to make him believe 
 that the founder of Chriftianity was a perfon fent 
 from God to reveal his will, but fhould earneftly 
 perfuade him to imitate the goodnefs of Chrift, and 
 to follow the example of his finlefs life. We fhould 
 afliduoufly fix the thoughts on this wholefome con- 
 clusion, without which the glory of the Chriftian 
 religion withers and decays, that faith is vain if it 
 be not fruitful in good works 5 and we mould em- 
 ploy every exertion to produce fuch a juft fenfe of 
 the happinefs connected with the praftice of righte- 
 oufnefs, as may warm and intereft the foul in its 
 performance. 
 
 31. The great work of faith is but half-finifhed 
 
 where the mind is convinced without the heart being 
 
 touched, or where the heart is touched without the 
 
 mind being convinced. The faith of a being like 
 
 man, highly intellectual and exquifitively fenfitive, 
 
 fhould be the united effect of reafon and fenfation. 
 
 The reafon fhould be able to difcern, and to defend 
 
 
 
( 14* ) 
 
 the truth of religion, and the fenfations (hould glow 
 with the flame of piety. There fhould be a vital 
 principle of belief in the one, and a vital principle 
 of action in the other. 
 
 32. The perfection of faith con fit ft 9 in the convic- 
 tion of the mind blended with the periuafion of the 
 heart; or, in other words, in a ration j1 acknowledg- 
 ment of the truths to be believed with the habitual 
 performance of the duties to be pracli fed. The 
 truths to be beiieved were intended to favour the 
 growth and to promote the performance of the 
 duties to be practifed ; and the one cannot be feparated 
 from the other without doing violence to both. 
 The truths to be believed are, the refurre&kn of the 
 dead> a future life, and a day of judgment, in order to 
 multiply and itrengthen the motives to practical 
 obedience; and unlefs, through the operation of the 
 reafon and the affections, thefe truths do deter from 
 evil and animate to good, they are believed in vain. 
 
 33. It does too often happen that the truth of re- 
 ligion is acknowledged, and its evidences approved 
 by the underftanding, when its power is net prac- 
 tically evinced in the conduct. This melancholy 
 oppofition of the mind to the heart, and of the con- 
 duct to the judgment, generally takes place when 
 the affections, which ought to be engaged on the 
 fide of religion, are devoted to lefs worthy objects; 
 abforbed in the cares of the world or the pleafures 
 
( H3 ) 
 
 of fenfe, which wean the heart from God and caufe 
 thofe whofe opinions are by no means tainted with 
 the fpeculative tenets of infidelity to hold the truth 
 in unrighteoufnefs, and to live as if they were really 
 infidels. 
 
 34. "While we are difcufilng the nature and incul* 
 eating the neceffity of faith, it will, I think, be worth 
 our while to employ a little time in confidering what 
 are thofe ejfentials of belief without a fincere aflent 
 to which true Chriftian faith cannot exift; and what 
 are thofe acceflbries of belief which may be adopted 
 or rejected ; which may be believed or difbelieved, 
 without increafing the virtue of faith on the one 
 hand, or diminifhing it on the other. 
 
 35. The efTential matters of religious faith appear 
 to me to be thefe, — that there is a God j that he 
 made the world by his power, and governs it by his 
 providence ; that the founder of the Chriftian reli- 
 ligion was the favoured Son of God, who was put 
 to death by the Jews, and who rofe again from the 
 dead, fbefe are truths ejfential to be believed \ and 
 without an affent to which, faith is imperfe5f. From 
 thefe flow other indifptnfable truths, which have a 
 near relation to the former, and are the great incen- 
 tives to practical goodnefs 5 and which are principally 
 thefe, — that this life is a (late of trial; and that there 
 is a ftate of retribution after death, when all man- 
 kind will be judged according to their works, and 
 
C *44 ) 
 
 when the happincfs of Individuals will be proportion- 
 ed to their improvement in righteoufnefs in the life 
 which now is. Thefe are the truths, both fpecu- 
 lative and practical, moft neceffiry to be imprefied 
 upon the mind, and to be cherifhed in the heart , 
 and he, to whofe confcience they are facred, and to 
 whofe affections they are dear, cannot but be in the 
 ftrait path to eternal glory, though he may not fub- 
 fcribe to other points of doctrine which are lefs 
 clearly revealed or more ambiguoufly expreffed ; 
 which are more dark and dubious, and have no ne- 
 ceffary connexion with righteoufnefs To all tboje 
 Chriftiansy of all communions , who hold thofe effenttals of 
 faith which I have enumerated, (and what sincere 
 Chriftian of what communion is there who rejects 
 them ?) we may and ought to give the right hand of 
 fellowjhi-py however much we may differ from them about 
 fome abftnife and myfterious matters of f peculation. 
 
 36. Chridians are too prone to contend with each 
 other about points not eilential to falvation -, and 
 many of the religious difputes among Chriftians are 
 mere difputes about words. Some ufe the words 
 faith and grace in one fenfe, and others in a different; 
 and then they fight about the word, when, perhaps, 
 they are agreed about the doctrine. Few indeed 
 are the Chriftians, except thofe •; the ncceffity 
 
 of moral goodnefsy and think that the righteoufnefs of 
 Chrijly or the nr/rightcovfnefs of Adam is made theirs 
 by imputation, who do not concur in opinion about 
 
C 145 ) 
 
 the eflentials of religion. They ail agree in the be- 
 lief, that there is a God, that he is the moral gover- 
 nor of the world, that J efus is the Chrift, the Mef- 
 fiah, the Son of God, that he was put to death, and 
 rofe from the dead; that this life is a ftate of trial, 
 preparatory to another, in which every man will be 
 recompenfed according to his works. Thofe who 
 cordially acquiefce in thefe tenets, ought, in matters 
 oflefs moment, to hold the unity ofthefpirit in the bond 
 cf peace \ for thefe tenets are the main pillars of belief 
 on whofe adamantine ftrength genuine Christianity 
 will for ever reft ; defying the moil furious attacks 
 and the fiercer! dorms. 
 
 37. There are certain fubordinate articles of faith, 
 about which great heats have, at different periods, 
 been fomented in the Church, which have occafion- 
 ed bitter difTenfions and implacable animofities ; but 
 of which the profeflors of a religion, that breathes 
 charity in every precept, would have done well to 
 abandon the difcuflion, in order to provoke one ano- 
 ther to love and to good works. It is not a little 
 remarkable, that points of doctrine which tend not 
 unto holinefs, and which cannot be important, be- 
 caufe they are not distinctly revealed, are ufually 
 difcufTed as if they were of the lad importance; as if 
 the very exiftence of religion depended on their fup- 
 port ; and as if, were they removed from the Chris- 
 tian fabric, the foundations would give way, and the 
 whole building fall to ruins. 
 
 L 
 
( '46 ) 
 
 5$. In religion, men are too much governed by 
 the force of imagination. Hence, they are fo much 
 captivated with the myfterious and the obfeure. 
 They are delighted with fomething vaft and invifible, 
 which they do not know and which cannot be known; 
 but whofe heights fancy exalts and whofe dimenfions 
 it expands. What appears before their eyes, they 
 think little and dwarfifh ; becaufe it is not too vail 
 for their perceptions. What is removed beyond 
 the utmoft ftretch of the underftanding, they prize 
 beyond meafure, becaufe it is hid in darknefs. Thus 
 they think doctrines important in proportion as they 
 are obfeure. What is eafy and fimple they depre- 
 ciate ; what is difficult they extol ; what is obvious 
 they neglect; and where the wayfaring man would 
 not err, they are loft in an endlefs maze. Little do 
 they confider that thofe points of uncertain fpecula- 
 tion, to which as much confequence is attached as 
 if they alone divided the confines of heaven and of 
 hell, cannot be of fuch great importance, or they 
 would not have been Jo ambiguoujly exprejfed-, that 
 God would not have left any tenets ejjential to falvation 
 liable to fitch a ftrange diverfity of opinions, that the 
 moft confeientious Chrifiians have entertained Jentimen! $ 
 the moft oppofite on their importance and their truth. 
 But, forgetting this plain inference, which common 
 fenfe fuggefts and found piety enforces, thofe Chrif- 
 tians who love darknefs better than light, and pre- 
 fer one impulfe of imagination to a thoufand deduc- 
 tions of reafon, labour to explore the labyrinths, or 
 
( 147 ) 
 
 to traverfe the clouds of myftery, while they lofe 
 fight of truths which are as pure as they are plain, 
 and which come home to the interefts and the bo- 
 foms of all mankind. But there is, perhaps, to an 
 ill-regulated mind and a vitiated tafte, a certain irre- 
 fiftible attraction in the fhapelefs maiFes of abfurdity 
 with which the myftic theology abounds; as, on 
 fome occafions, a certain degree of darknefs feems 
 to i-ncreafe, to an immeafurable bulk and ftature, the 
 vapours rifing from fome fpreading moor; making 
 the landfcape vantfti from the fight, and perplexing 
 the traveller on his way. 
 
 40. The Sceptic, who feoffs on religious fubjects, 
 who derides all revelation as an impofture, who 
 fpeaks with contempt of its evidences and without 
 reverence of its author, who indulges himfelf in fool- 
 ifh jetting and impious blafphemy on fubjects of 
 which every ferious man who does not affent to 
 the truth will confefs the importance, is a wretch 
 unworthy the fociety of his fpecies, and hardly de- 
 ferving the common offices of humanity. There is 
 fuch a vaft accumulation of probabilities in favour 
 of the truth of revealed religion as may well make 
 the rafh paufe, and the fcorner dumb ; and even if 
 the evidences of Chriflianity were not half fo fatis- 
 faclory as they are, Hill the belief of it is fo nearly 
 connected with the dearefl interefts of mankind, with 
 their moil refrelhing hopes and their fweeteft confo- 
 lations, that 71a unbeliever, whofe bofom glows wit& 
 
 L2 
 
( '43 ) 
 
 only one /park of tendernejs for his fellow- creatures y 
 would difcufs its truths with levity, or load its fupporters 
 with infult. But a fober and humble difTent even 
 from the truth of revelation, though it may excite 
 our concern, ought not to provoke our rage. It 
 fhould rather awaken the feelings of companion than 
 the virulence of fcorn ; it fhould rather produce 
 gentlenefs of exhortation than intemperance of abufe. 
 On any topics, and particularly on the weighty mat- 
 ters of religion, it is not becoming to fpeak unad- 
 vifedly with our lips. The unbelief of any man, as 
 far as he employs no fcurrility to revile, and no fo- 
 phiftry to fhake the belief of others, is fubject to 
 the cognizance of God alone*. As there is one 
 who judgeth we are not to pafs Jentence on the infidel 
 before his time\ but are to leave him, though with 
 
 * " Omnes in feipfum armat, qui in alios, quos errare credit, 
 armatur. Par omnium in omnes jus eft. Qui fibi jus tribuit coer- 
 cendi alios, idem aliis in fe ipfum idem jus ul concedat, necefie 
 eft. Nulli homini aut ecclefiae judicium infallibile de errori- 
 bus aliorum delatum eft. Quare ft coercitiones ullae admit- 
 t.untur, quid erit Chriftianifmus aliud, quam gladiatorum in 
 1"c invicemconcurrentium arena, ac mutua inque vicem rediens 
 incarceratio, relegatio et flagellatio? Hie itaque primus obex 
 ponendus eft, alioquin facile ulterius ad fanguinem et caedem 
 ibitur. Facilis ab una poena ad aliam progrelTus eft ; et ubi 
 femel horror poenarum animo exemtus eft, fanguis etiam tan- 
 dem vilis haberi incipit. Nee praetextus defunt. Crudelitas 
 dum fibi indulget, facile manlellum repent, quo fe tegit." Vid. 
 Epifcop. op. torn. ii. Apol. Coufeif. Rcmonft. p. 210, 2 11. 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 trembling apprehenfion, to the great day of account, 
 when the fecrets of all hearts fhall be revealed. 
 
 41. The confcioufnefs that men do not fometimes 
 notice what is placed before their eyes, and do not 
 always comprehend truths that feem to others too 
 plain to be miftaken, fhould check the riling ebul- 
 litions of intolerance in the human breaft; fhould 
 make us bear with the froward, and conduct our- 
 felves with gentlenefs toward thofe who oppofe 
 themfelves. 
 
 L3 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT Cx\NT. 
 
 -« 
 
 ¥he Docfrine of Regeneration, rational, fcriptural, and 
 
 prafticaL 
 
 T. The doctrine which principally engrofies the 
 confideration of the Fanatics is that of regeneration -, 
 on which they arc unfparing of their cant, and lavifh 
 of their impofture. It is the pillar of their hypo- 
 crify, and the corner (lone of their fuperftition. 
 When they attempt to explain this important arti- 
 cle of the Chriftian religion, they utter only a con- 
 fufed heap of words without meaning. Indeed words 
 without meaning and founds, by which no certain 
 ideas are conveyed, are the props of their fraud, and 
 the engines of their extortion *. 
 
 * V If the trumpet," fays the Apoftle, " give an uncertain 
 found, who fhall prepare himfelf to the battle." The trumpets 
 which the Fanatics blow in our flreets and villages, in our 
 churches and conventicles, are, indeed, very fonorous; but that 
 they utter any very diflinft founds, I cannot take upon me to 
 
( i5i ) 
 
 2 The Fanatics fuppofe regeneration to be a 
 change wrought in the foul in direct oppofition to 
 the will and the affections. According to their no- 
 tions, the rational faculties of the creature are as 
 little concerned in the production of the new birth 
 as they are in that of our original formation in the 
 womb. They feign that man is, by the conftitution 
 of his nature, fo prone to evil, and fo averfe to 
 good, that his depravity is inherent and incurable. 
 This depravity, they fay, expofes us, from the ntft 
 moment of our exigence, to God's wrath and dam- 
 nation. Thus they reprefent God as angry with us, 
 for no other reafon than becaufe we are born. 
 But this is fo grofs a perverfion of fcripture and 
 reafon, that it hardly deferves a confutation. God 
 cannot be angry with us merely for being born; for 
 we are born without our confent, and have no choice 
 given us either to be born or not, either to have or 
 not to have exiftence. 
 
 3. Our natural birth can be no tranfgreflion, for 
 there can be no criminality in any act whatever to 
 which the will does not confent. All Cm mull ne- 
 
 1 
 
 declare j and their hearers feem, in general, no more edified by 
 the noife, than by a dream arifing from indigeftion. St. Paul 
 (1 Cor. xiv. 19.) prefers five words fpoken with the under- 
 standing to ten thoufand words fpoken in an unknown lan- 
 guage. Let the Fanatics abandon their fenfelefs jargon for 
 plain common fenfe. 
 
 L 4 
 
( 152 ) 
 
 cefTarily be the violation of Tome known law, and the 
 doing of fomething which our confcience or our rea- 
 fon tells ought not to be done; but as we cannot be 
 the fubjects of any legal obligation before we have 
 exigence, and, moreover, as we can do neither right 
 nor wrong, before we have any perception of right or 
 wrong, it is clear that we are not f inner s hy birth ; 
 and that we are not, and cannot be created in guilt 
 or wickednefs. 
 
 4. It is God who makes us. It is his power 
 which fafhions us in the womb ; and it is only by 
 his permiffion that we come into the world. As 
 our exiftence, therefore, is the gift of God, and our 
 birth is the exertion of his will, we cannot fuppofe 
 that he, who directs us to do good, would have given 
 us a nature incapable of doing it -, or that he would 
 threaten us with punifhment for working iniquity, if 
 he had rendered our nature fo addicted to fin, that 
 we could not help finning. God defires us to work 
 righteoufnefs; and he has given us a capacity to do it. 
 He has not by an arbitrary decree made us finners, 
 and then, by an act of tyranny, threatened to punifri 
 us for not obeying a law which he had previouQy 
 made us incapable of obeying. But, if we came into 
 the world, fuch vile, debafed, and corrupt creatures, 
 as the Fanatics tell us, with fo much depravity in 
 our flefh, and (o much guilt clinging to our fouls, fin 
 would be unavoidable on our parts. Sin would be 
 our inftinct, our nature; and it would be as natural 
 
( *S3 ) 
 
 for us to commit all manner of crimes, as it is for a 
 horfe to eat grafs. We mould have as ilrong a bias 
 to moral corruption, as we have to drink when we 
 are dry, or to eat when we are hungry. But this 
 would be to deftroy the very nature of fin •, for fin is 
 an abufe of our free will; and if the will were not 
 free to choofe either good or evil, we mould no 
 longer be accountable for our actions. But God, 
 evidently, fuppofcs that we have a capacity either 
 to keep his commandments, or to break them j for 
 he would not otherwife have determined to judge us 
 according to our works. 
 
 5. The fuppofition that we are born finners makes 
 God the author of our fin ; for, as it is by his will 
 that we are born, it mufl be his fimplejfo/ that con- 
 ftituted us finners, if we came into the world in a (late 
 of fin. Thus this abfurd doctrine would throw the 
 blame of all our tranfgre (lions on our good Creator. 
 Let us beware of indulging fuch horrid blafphemy; 
 let us beware of harbouring notions fo totally oppo- 
 fite to the goodnefs of God. If God had made us 
 finners, as he certainly would have made us if we 
 were finners from the womb, he could not with any 
 reafonable (how of juftice have propofed to punifh us 
 for our fins, or to judge us by our works *. For, 
 
 * The following text is frequently urged by the advocates 
 of original corruption as decifive in their favour: " Behold 
 I was ihapen in wickednefs; and in fin hath my mother con- 
 ceived me." Pfalm li 5. " The words," fays Jeremy Taylor, 
 "are an Hebraifmj and flgnify nothing but an aggranda- 
 
( »54 ) 
 
 would it not be not only rank injuliice, but revolt- 
 ing cruelty in any parent, to punifh a child for ac- 
 
 tion of hisfinfulnefs." u If David," continues this great Theolo- 
 gian, " had meant this of himfelf, and that in regard of original 
 fin, this had been Jo far from being a penitential exprtjjion, or a 
 c0?l f c JJ- n ^, °fhisfn, that it had been a plain accufation of God, and 
 an excufng of himfelf As if he had faid, " O Lord, I confefs I 
 have fumed in this horrible murder and adultery, but thou, O 
 God, Jinoivejl hozv it comes to pafs, even by that fatal punijhment 
 •which thou didjl, for the Jin of Adam , injlitl on me and all man^ 
 hind 3000 years before I tuas born, 'hereby making me to fall into 
 fo horrible corruption of nature, that, unlefs thou didjl ir re fifthly 
 force me f ro77i it, I cannot abjlain from any fin, being 77iofi naturally 
 inclined to all." Who would fuppofe David to make fuch a 
 confefiion, or, in his forrow, to hope for pardon for upbraiding 
 not his own folly, but the decrees of God ?" See Practice of 
 Repentance, 394, 3q6. John Taylor, of Norwich, makes many 
 obfervations on this text, firnilar to thofe of his name-fake 
 the Bifhop of Down and Connor. He calls it " an hyperbolical 
 form of aggravating fin, whereby he (the Pfalmift) loadcth him- 
 felf, and ftrongly condtmneth the impurity of his heart, and 
 the loofe he had given to his own unlawful inclinations." See 
 John Taylor's Scripture Doctrine of O. S. 4th edit. p. \Z~ . 
 On this expreflion of the Pfalmift, Grotius fays, " Senftis eft 
 J\on 72unc tamu77i, fedet a pueritia meafspius peccain. Eft enim 
 loquendi genus l,Vc;ooA<hcv (fupt rji ctivum) ut oftendit col- 
 latio." Job xx:a. 18. Pfalm xxii. 10, II. lviii. 4. Ixxi. 0, 0. 
 Efaiae xlviii. 8. Vid. Grot op. torn, 1. p. 231. The note of 
 the great Le Clerc on this paflagc is well worth reading. I 
 fhall extract a part of it. — " Earn refpicit setatem, qua deliu- 
 quere potuit, non cum primum formanetur in uteio matris, 
 quo tempore peccare rcquibat; omne cnitn peccatum, cum fit 
 violatio legii Divin.e, notam cam noceflarid ft at uil ; aut certe 
 nofci potuiife a delinquente, nee nifi ejus culpa ignotum 5 pof- 
 
( Hi ) 
 
 tions of which he himfelf was the author; or for a 
 
 rnode of conduct which he had irrefiflibly compelled 
 him to purfue ? And, yet, if we fuppofe that we 
 are born finners, fo difpofed to evil that we ruih 
 into moral corruption from neceflity rather than 
 
 tulatque ut is rationis compos fit, hoc eft, norit quid agat, ab 
 eoque etiam abllineat, fi velit, fine quibus rebus, nemo reus 
 h^hieri queat. Haec, quae recH ratione et ufu fcripturae nitun- 
 tur, nunquam aliter intellecla fuiflent ; ft femper chriftiani 
 ratiocinandi et interpretandi artibus asque polluirTent. Sed 
 temporibus , quitus hce artes parum notcc> aut negledtce erant> fine 
 declamitandi et argutandi facilitate, not a funt dogmata f ante ra- 
 tioni plane contraria, nee magis fcripturce confentanea, ad qiue 
 Scrigtorum facrorum ab wiper it is pojlea detorta funt. Et tajnen 
 nobis ea fazcula y quafi norma veritatis, hodie proponuntur, eorum- 
 que commenta, injiar religionis Chri/liance defenduntur /" Vid. 
 Cleric. Lib. Hagiog. fol. Amftel. 1/31. p. 314, 315. Another 
 paflage, on which much ftrefs is laid by the patrons of this 
 pernicious doctrine, is Job xiv. 4. " Who can bring a clean 
 thing out of an unclean ? Not one." John Taylor, in his maf- 
 terly book, fays, that " this is a fentence of the proverbial kind; 
 and ufed to fignify that nothing can be more perfect than its ori- 
 ginal. And, therefore, as it fuits all cafes, muft be underftood 
 according to the fubject to which it is applied. Here it evidently 
 flands in relation to our mortality. As if he had faid, Man is 
 born of a woman. We fpring from a mortal flock, and there-' 
 fore are frail mortals" Taylor, p. 142. 
 
 I muft here flay to remark that, in this place, Job xiv. 4, the 
 feventy read *{$ yap xaQctoo; select aito fuirs ; literally, who fhall 
 be clean from pollution ? A man that has told a lie cannot, in 
 refpedl to moral purity, be in the fame ftate as if he had always 
 fpoken truth ; nor can he who has violated his integrity be as 
 if he had been uniformly juft. 
 
( '56 ) 
 
 from choice, we cannot help cafting the imputation 
 of injuftice and of cruelty upon God. But the fcrip- 
 tures, when rightly underftood, and not perplexed 
 and obfcured by thofe who make God the author 
 of fin, and ufe the gofpel as a cover for their un- 
 godly practices and pernicious doctrines, — the fcrip- 
 tures lead us to a very different conclufion. They 
 exprefbly declare that man is born pure, upright, and 
 innocent j fo innocent that our Saviour reprefented 
 righteous perfons under the emblem of little children. 
 Nothing can be more harmlefs, and fimple, and 
 lovely than little children; and inftead of being born 
 depraved, guilty, and objects of God's indignation, 
 they are created unvitiated and finlefs, and more 
 efpecially objects of the divine love and protection. 
 
 6. It is clear, then, from the authority of our Sa- 
 viour, who could not lie, and who mud have rightly 
 underftood the doctrine which he had received com- 
 miffion from his father to preach, that little children 
 are born innocent -, and that confequently the nature 
 of man is not neceffariiy, and by an arbitrary ap- 
 pointment made vitiated or depraved. If little chil- 
 dren were born, as the Fanatics aflert, corrupt and 
 finful creatures, objecls of wrath, and fubject to pu- 
 nifhment, the unhappy parent might well mourn 
 over his offspring* 3 fome of whom are, perhaps, 
 
 * The Calvinifts will tell you that hell is full of little chil- 
 dren not a fpan long. 
 
( Hi ) 
 
 hardly put into the cradle before they are carried to 
 the grave, or who do not arrive at years of difcre~ 
 tion before they are covered with the darknefs of 
 death *. If guilt and wickednefs were the inherent 
 and efifential properties of human nature, well might 
 the parent lament the untimely deiiruclion of his 
 children, who would be carried into a place of tor- 
 ment, and born only to be eternally miferable. 
 
 7. But as the doctrine of hereditary depravity is 
 an unfcriptural fiction, and as the guilt of Adam is 
 not tranfmitted to his pofterity, let no parent forrow, 
 as one without hope, for his little innocents who are 
 fuddenly nipped by the blaft of death ; for the mo- 
 ment they expire, they are conveyed by angels into 
 Abraham's bofom. They are only taken from the 
 evil to come, and dying before they can diftinguifh 
 right and wrong, they die without tranfgreflion, and 
 pafs from the realms of mortality into manfions of 
 
 s lor y- j 
 
 8. Before men can pofllbly deferve punifhment 
 for fin, they mud be per/anally finners. They muft 
 have wilfully violated fome divine law ; for we can- 
 not fuppofe that God would punifh one man for 
 the offences of another. God exprefsly declares 
 that every man (hall bear his own burthen 5 fufier 
 
 * If the doclrineof hereditary corruption were true, it would 
 fee a duty, paramount to all others, not to marry. 
 
( '58 ) 
 
 for his own fins ; and be recompenfed according to 
 his own righteoufnefs. Before men can be fubject 
 to the punifhment of human laws, they muft have 
 violated thofe laws; and before thev can become ob- 
 noxious to the punifhment of the divine laws, they 
 muft have been guilty of actual tranfgrefilon. But 
 how can infants offend againft laws of whofe obli- 
 gations they cannot be fcnfible? No guilt can be 
 imputed where there is no capacity of diftinguifhing 
 good and evil, and of choofing between them. But 
 do any of us poffefs this capacity till we have been 
 fome years in the world, till reafon begins to dawn, 
 and confeience to expand ? Infants cannot, there- 
 fore, be born finners, nor fubject to the divine dif- 
 pleaiure. Indeed the fuppofnion is the abfurdeft of 
 all abfurdities, and can be entertained only by thofe 
 who are as ignorant of the fcriptures as they are 
 infenfible to the divine perfections. 
 
 9. But if men are not born finners, how do they 
 become fo ? The anfwer is eafy. By neglected 
 education, vicious example, and wilful infraction of 
 the faiutary dictates of reafon and of confeience. 
 Sin is not an innate (late of the difpofition, but an 
 acquired habit. Its growth is flow and gradual. So- 
 lomon, the v/ifeit of men, and whofe reafonings on 
 human nature prove him to have been intimately 
 acquainted with the human heart, has bequeathed 
 this prudent exhortation to thofe who have the care 
 of the early years of man. Train up a child in 
 
( '59 ) 
 
 the way that he fhould go, and when he is old he 
 will not depart from it.* The king of Ifrael would 
 never have delivered this fage counfel, if the nature 
 of man were radically depraved and vicious ; for it 
 would be impoffible, by the moft judicious educa- 
 tion or management, to make a child walk in the 
 right way, in whofe dipofition the Author of nature 
 had planted an irrefiftible propenfity to go in the 
 wrong. But God has imparted no fuch bias to evil 
 to the human will; he has left man free to choofe 
 either good or evil. Sin is, therefore, not a matter 
 of neceffity but of choice. 
 
 10. U fuch be the nature of man, pure and in* 
 corrupt, free to choofe either good or evil, but lia- 
 ble to temptation and capable of corruption, it is 
 plain that man must be a sinner before he 
 is a penitent; and that no change is neceffary to be 
 wrought in the heart and' difpofition of mati, till habits 
 cf fin are incorporated in his frame. But, according 
 to the doctrine of the Fanatics, that change of mind 
 and affections which is called the new birth, is full as 
 neceffary to the falvation of an infant that is born in 
 a ftate of innocence as of an old man that is harden- 
 
 * " Si malos habitus anteverterimus, bona educaticne, ad 
 fene&utem ufque, lint excluli, certe magna ex parte. Non 
 fequitur tamen hinc, ut male edacati femper lint nequam, aut 
 bene educati boni: fatis eft hoc etfe plerumque - veruro, aut 
 certe fkpius." Cleric, in Prov. xxii. 6. 
 
( i6o ) 
 
 ed in habits of fin. If people came into the world 
 a rotten mafs of corruption and depravity, their 
 doctrine would be true ; but as children are born 
 ktnoeentj and fpecial objects of God's love and pro- 
 tection, no change can be neceffary to be wrought 
 in their minds and affections, their difpofitions and 
 habits, till, by an abufe of their free-will and their 
 rational faculties, they have tranfgrefied the divine 
 law, and become obnoxious to punifhment. For 
 if children be born innocent, their difpofition is as 
 pure as it can be, till it becomes tainted by depravity, 
 
 ii. The innocence of little children fits them for 
 heaven; for our Lord has declared "theirs is the 
 kingdom of heaven /' This proves that no change is 
 wanting in the human heart till it is vitiated with 
 moral corruption ; for the great end of the new birth 
 is to promote that wholefome change in the habits, which 
 makes the pojeffcr meet for the kingdom of heaven. Our 
 Saviour tells his difciples that unlefs they be con- 
 verted, and become as little children, they cannot 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven. Here he is fo 
 far from declaring human nature to be originally 
 corrupt and vicious, that he fuppofes depravity not 
 to be the effect of our nature but the growth of our 
 habits ; and he makes true righteoufnefs to confifi in a 
 return to that Jtmplidty and innocence which we bring 
 into the world, and which we do not lofe till after 
 1b me continuance in it; till a perverfe education, 
 evil examples, and bad habits have corroded our 
 
( i6i ) 
 
 original purity, and given us an unnatural bras to 
 iniquity. 
 
 12. But when we have loft the purity, the fim- 
 plicity, and innocence in which we were born, then 
 a change in the mind and difpofition becomes ne- 
 cefTaryj then we cannot hefaved unle/s y in the language 
 of our Lord, we be converted, and become as little chiU 
 drew, that is, unlefs the heart be cleanfed from ma- 
 lice and from guile. 
 
 13. A man muft be a Tinner before it is neceflfary 
 for him to be a penitent. Repentance implies a 
 ftrong conviction of finfulnefs ; but a man cannot 
 repent of fins which he never committed, and which 
 confequently can make no impreffion upon his torn 
 fcience. Moral guilt mud, therefore, be firft con- 
 traded by fome aclual> perfonal tranfgrej/ions, before 
 we can be accounted finners in the fight of God : 
 and when perfonal difobedience has made us finners, 
 it is neceffary that a change be wrought in our mo- 
 ral difpofition and habits, that we turn from fin unto 
 holinefs, and be renewed in the fpirit of our minds. 
 
 14. Thus the doctrine of regeneration becomes 
 clear and eafy; for regeneration implies a reforma- 
 tion from bad habits unto good ; a return from the 
 paths of iniquity unto thofe of righteoufnefs : it is, 
 in fact, only another name for repentance confirmed; 
 that repentance, which caufeth not only ibrrow for 
 
 M , 
 
( i6i ) 
 
 fin, but produces newnefs of life. The change 
 which a repentance, thus genuine and fincere, ne- 
 ceffarily occafions in the mind and affections, is very 
 aptly reprefented in fcripture as a new birth. It is 
 a change which caufes the finner to be fo different 
 in his temper and conduct from what he was before, 
 as to deferve the name of a new creature. He is 
 ameliorated in heart and mind j he loathes fin ; and 
 he glows with zeal in the purfuit of righteoufnefs. 
 The love of God, by degrees, becomes the ruling 
 paffion of his foul. He is warmed with a pcr- 
 fuafion that fin is his greateft mifery, and goodnefs 
 his greateft advantage. Thus there is a total change 
 in his moral qualities. The outward form of the 
 man continues the fame -, but his inward difpofition 
 is altered. This is called in fcripture, a renewing of 
 the mind. Thus, for inftance, when a drunkard, 
 who has long lived in habits of intemperance, be- 
 ginning to fee his error, and to apprehend his dan- 
 ger, fummons up refolution to forfake that fin which 
 fo eafily befets him, and in whofe fnares he has been 
 fo long entangled : or, when a liar returns to the 
 practice of truth; a thief to the paths of integrity; 
 when a mifer conquers his love of money, and in- 
 ftead of being hard-hearted and felfifh, becomes 
 kind and charitable to his fellow-creatures ; in thefe 
 cafes, thefe different tranfgreffors, by turning away 
 from their fins, their bad propenfities and habits, to 
 habits, purfuits, and affedtions, more fuitable to the 
 Chriftian character and the commands of the gof- 
 
( $9 ) 
 
 pel, become new creatures. Their hearts are purg- 
 ed, and their thoughts purified 5 their inclinations 
 improved, and the whole man ameliorated. Such 
 changes are abfolutely neceffary in Juch fmnersy for he 
 who dies hardened in habits of only a fingle fin, can- 
 not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Neither 
 fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effe- 
 minate, nor abufers of themfelves with mankind, 
 ■ 
 
 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor re- 
 vilers, nor extortioners, (hall inherit the kingdom of 
 God. 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. 
 
 15. In the fcripture, inveterate habits of Cm are 
 called the old man, fee Eph. iv. 22. which we ,are 
 defired to put off, and, in its (lead, to put on the 
 new man, or habits of righteoufnefs and true holinefs. 
 While we live in habits of fin, we are the fervants 
 of fin -, fin is our matter, and rules us at difcretion : 
 but when we forfake our fins, and repent from our 
 dead works, or thofe works of ungodlineis which 
 will end in eternal mifery, we become, as it were, 
 new creatures, created again in Chrift Jefus unto 
 good works, which lead to glory and immortality. 
 
 16, The fcriptures feem to intimate that there 
 are fome perfons who need no repentance. See Luke 
 xv. 7. And our Saviour himfelf exprefsly declares, 
 " I came not to call the righteous, but finners to re- 
 pentance;" Luke v. 32. evidently fuppofing that 
 all men are not polluted with the guilt of tranlgref- 
 
 M 2 
 
( '64 ) 
 
 fion, and that there are fome who are rrii Jlaves to 
 fin. Such perfons are ufually thofe who are brought 
 up under pious parents in habits of righteoufnefs, 
 and pafs from the cradle to the grave without any 
 flagrant or mortal fin. They make the divine law 
 the rule of their lives, the ftandard of their conduct, 
 and the meafure of their intereft and their happinefs. 
 They live (tcq from all habitual offences, from drun- 
 kennefs, from uncleannefs, from lying and injuftice ; 
 and commit none of thole immoralities, on account 
 of which men will be excluded from heaven. Now, 
 as repentance implies a total change of heart and 
 life, of the mind and affections, it is not required 
 in thofe whofe lives are regulated by the rules of 
 the gofpel, and in whofe affections the love of God 
 prevails. But, neverthelefs, even the righteous, of 
 whom the Jcripture declares that they need no repent- 
 ance, will be found occqfionally to offend; but their 
 tranfgreffions will not be thofe which indicate rooted 
 depravity, but only human infirmity; and we may 
 fafely believe, that a good and merciful God will 
 not lay to the charge of his creatures any trifling 
 and venial trefpaflfes, which do not indicate fo muGh 
 the perverfenefs of guilt, as the imperfections of 
 humanity. 
 
 17. Though there may be fome, who fo feldom 
 offend, or whofe offences are fo few and fo venial, 
 who are fo entirely free from all habitual fins, and 
 from all flagrant vices, as to be faid, in fcripture, to 
 
t m ) 
 
 need no repentance j yet the greater part of man- 
 kind are fo imbruted in corruption, and fo fallen 
 from the uprightnefs of their nature, that, unlefs they 
 are renewed by the power of repentance operating 
 on the fpirit of their minds, they cannot efcape the 
 wrath to come. Mod men, from neglected educa- 
 tion, vicious parents, and evil examples, are foon 
 imbued with moral pollution. They depart from 
 the innocence of their youth, and the integrity in 
 which they were created. They begin the career 
 of their unrighteoufnefs with fingle fins, which, by 
 being often repeated, ftrengthen into habits. Then 
 guilt grows entwined around their hearts, and fin 
 reigns in their members. As their affections be- 
 come depraved, their underftanding becomes dark- 
 ened. Their evil habits hold them in chains -, they 
 are a law in their members, whofe force they find 
 it hardly poflible to controul; for nothing is fo des- 
 potic as habit, and the fcriptures reprefent it as 
 almoft invincible. 
 
 1 8. Habit is juftly called a fecond nature, and 
 we are told by the higheft authority, that it is ar 
 difficult for an Ethiopian to change his fkin, or a 
 leopard his fpots, as for a tranfgreffor to depart from 
 the fins which have become rooted in his heart and 
 mind by long indulgence. But, woe to the habitual 
 finner, if he die unregenerate, if no change take place 
 in his habits before death hath made that change 
 
( 166 ) 
 
 impoffible! Woe, I fay, to the impenitent and 
 hardened tranfgreffor, for he will pafs into mifery 
 and torment ! 
 
 19. The change that is wrought in the mind and 
 affections of the finner muft not be fictitious, but 
 real ; not diffembled, but fincere. Let us therefore 
 fee how this change begins, and what are the figns 
 of its having taken place. 
 
 20. The firft beginning of any faving change in 
 the breaft of a finner is a forrow for fin ; a forrow 
 pricking the confcience, and troubling the foul. 
 This forrow will always be affociated with a ftrong 
 conviction of having tranfgreffed the law of God, 
 and of deferving punifhment for our difobedience. 
 It is a forrow that, in its firft commencement, is 
 ufually excited more by the fears of hell than the 
 hopes of heaven. It is a ftronger fenfe of the juft- 
 ice of an offended, than of the tender mercies of a 
 reconciled and reconciling God. But as repentance 
 begins to fhew its fruits not only in the dereliction 
 of habits of fin, but in the performance of acts of 
 righteoufnefs, the terrors of a troubled confcience 
 gradually fubfide in peace of mind, and fear vanifhes 
 in joy of heart. 
 
 a 1. The law of God, as manifefted in the gofpel 
 of Chrift, and which requires us to live foberly, 
 
( i6 7 ) 
 
 righteoufly, and godly, in this prefent world*, was 
 intended for our benefit. If we keep it, it will lead 
 us to happinefs ; if we violate it, to mifery. All fin 
 confifts in the tranfgrefiion of this law, which re- 
 quires fincere obedience ; and a fteady conviction of 
 its juftice, of our duty to obferve it, and of the pu- 
 nifhment that awaits the violation, can alone lay the 
 foundation, and prepare the heart for the practice 
 of repentance. For we cannot repent without 
 knowing that we are finners, or being confcious that 
 we have fomething to repent of. We are finners 
 only fo far, and no farther than we have difobeyed 
 the divine will, or acted contrary to the fober dic- 
 tates of our reafon and our confcience ; only fo far 
 as we have trefpaffed againft the law infcribed in the 
 gofpel, or the law written on our hearts. 
 
 22. We cannot violate a fingle precept in the law 
 of that gofpel whofe authority we acknowledge, or 
 of that unwritten law of confcience whofe obliga- 
 tions we feel, without offending God; and when 
 God is offended, nothing but repentance can reftore 
 us to his favour; and we are affured that there will be 
 
 joy in heaven over one /inner that repenteth. 
 
 23. No repentance can be acceptable to God, 
 but that which works not only contrition of heart, 
 
 * The gofpel of Chrift is nothing more than a rule of life. 
 See Anti-Calvinift, Second Edit. p. 25—28. 
 
 M 4 
 
( i68 ) 
 
 but newnefs of life. The confclence muft not only 
 be racked with remorle, but a change muft be pro- 
 duced in the pratlical habits, equivalent to a new crea- 
 tion. To the regenerate man old things are pafled 
 away. He forfakes his former habits ; his affections 
 are fixed on new and better objects j he becomes lefs 
 grofs and fenfual; he learns to refift, to combat, and 
 to conquer the vicious propenfities of his animal 
 nature \ and the more the outward man decayeth, 
 the more he is ltrengthened with might in the inner 
 manj his mind and affections are renewed day by 
 day. As the great work of repentance proceeds, 
 the mind becomes more ftrongly imprefied with a 
 fenfe of duty, and the affections more fervid and 
 zealous in the practice. When the affections are 
 fet on any thing, the practice is eafy, becaufe it is 
 pleafant. When the heart is warmed with the ge- 
 nuine flame of holinefs, the practice becomes de- 
 lightful; for it is affociated with a pleafure that 
 pafTeth knowledge. 
 
 24. He who is hardened in habits of iniquity, 
 thinks righteoufnefs a foe to pleafure and an enemy 
 to happinefs; but little does he know of the plea- 
 fantnefs that is to be found in her paths ; and little 
 can he imagine the joy of heart which fhe fupplies. 
 But when the finner turns to God, he finds that he 
 had formed a very miftaken notion of the nature of 
 religion and the power of piety. For he foon learns 
 by experience, that the joy which flows from per- 
 
( i-h ) 
 
 Jeverance in goodnefs cannot be compared with the 
 utmoft pleafure that can fpring from habits of un- 
 godlinefsj and that the confolation to be derived 
 from keeping the commandments of God is fo great 
 as not to bear any comparifon with that pleafure 
 which can in any circumiiances accrue from their 
 violation. 
 
 25. The ftrongeft token of the reality of our con- 
 verfion to God, and of the deftruction of the power 
 of fin in our hearts, is conftancy, and zeal, and de- 
 light in doing the will of God. For the righteous 
 are perfuaded and convinced that their greater!: in- 
 tereft and happinefs confift in the practice of right- 
 eoufnefs. 
 
 26 Obedience to the divine will, to the law of 
 reafon and of confeience, and to thofe rules of con- 
 duct which our Lord inculcated, muft increafe the 
 fum of our earthly enjoyments; and it has the pro- 
 mife of eternal glory. But, though obedience to 
 the divine will be evidently our greateft gain, yet 
 men are too apt to imagine that it is their greateft 
 lofs. They place their affections on perifliable 
 things , on the gratifications of animal defire ; and 
 they forget that the carnal mind, or the mind, which, 
 inftead of governing, is governed by the appetites, 
 is enmity againft God. 
 
 27. Before men who have long gone aftray in the 
 
( 170 ) - 
 
 paths of unrighteoufccfs, whofe hearts h?.ve been 
 depraved, or whofe minds have been darkened by 
 long continuance in iniquity, can be brought to 
 know that godlinefs is great gain, they mud, in the 
 language of the fcripture, be born again. The dif- 
 pofition of their minds muft be regenerated, and a 
 new fpirit infufed into their fouls. 
 
 28. In fome finners, the change which is wrought 
 by the fpirit of holinefs is more complete than in 
 others. In fome the word of God brings forth 
 thirty fold, in others fixty, in others ninety, in pro- 
 portion to the fincerity and honefty of the heart to 
 which it is communicated. And repentance has 
 different degrees of fruitfulnefs. In fome finners a 
 more thorough and radical change of the mind and 
 affections takes place than in others ; but no finners 
 can be faid to be eftablifhed in repentance, or to 
 have had that change effected in their moral difpofi- 
 tion which (hall fave their fouls, in whom all habitual 
 
 fins are not forfaken, and who do not abftain from the 
 commiffion of thofe tranfgrefiions, of which St. Paul 
 declares, that he who commits them (hall not enter 
 into heaven. 
 
 29. Even the regenerate will indeed fometimes 
 offend, but their offences will be few, and will favour 
 more of infirmity than of guilt. Thev will not trcf- 
 pafs in any matter which fhews deliberate malice 
 and wickednefs, great obliquity of principle, of fet- 
 
( i7i ) 
 tied corruption of heart. Trifling errors and venial 
 imperfections may difcolour the purity of their con- 
 duct, but which will difappear in the charity that 
 glows in their affections, in the truth that will cha- 
 racterize their promifes, and the integrity that will 
 be manifefted in all their actions. 
 
 30. For thofe little offences or cafual overfights 
 which the regenerate may at times commit, they 
 have a heavenly interceflor conftantly fitting at the 
 right hand of God j an interceflor who has felt, and 
 who can companionate the wayward thoughts and 
 the unliable refolutions of humanity; and for whofe 
 fake the Father of Spirits will not be fevere to mark 
 the imperfections of the humble, or the frailties of 
 the juft. 
 
 31. In the gofpel of Chrifl finlefs perfection is 
 not expected of us ; but we are defired to endeavour 
 to be per/eft; and the more we endeavour to attain 
 perfection, the higher we fhall rife above our prefent 
 (late of imperfection. Abfolute and unqualified per- 
 fection belongs to God alone, and every created being 
 mufl be comparatively imperfect. But it is the duty 
 and the intereft of all created beings, endued with 
 intelligence, to drive to make continual advances in 
 moral excellence. For this purpofe man is endued 
 with improveable faculties, and both his heart and 
 his mind are fufceptible of amelioration. Chrifti- 
 anity not only calls on us to labour to be perfect, as 
 
( m ) 
 
 oUr Father which is in heaven is perfect, but, in- 
 order to aftift our endeavours, and to animate our 
 hopes, it has placed before us, in the life and cha- 
 racter of Chrift, a pattern of practical goodnefs, a 
 goodnefs that cannot be exceeded by any, but which 
 ought to be imitated by all. His example ihould 
 be the ftandard of our conduct ; and the more we 
 put on his likeneis, the nearer we fhall approach to 
 divine perfection j for, in him, the goodnefs and the 
 perfections of God were incorporated in the human 
 form. 
 
 32. The more our difpofition and habits, the 
 benevolence of our affections, and the fpirit of our 
 minds, are conformed to the likenefs of Chrift, the 
 more will the image of God be imprefTed upon our 
 hearts. In the character of Chrift there was no- 
 thing vicious, nothing imperfect. It is, indeed, not 
 poflible for the moft upright among men ever to 
 attain the degree of his righteoufnefs. In thofe 
 perfons, in whofe habits the power of holinefs feems 
 to prefide, there will dill adhere much imperfection. 
 Though the general tenor of their lives may be pure 
 and finlefs, though juftice and charity may be the 
 ruling principles of their conduct, yet many ftains 
 of corruption and depravity will fully the beauty of 
 their character. But though the moft perfect among 
 the fons of men will retain fome blots of imperfec- 
 tion, we ought not to contend with the lefs zeal to 
 grow better and better every day of our lives. In 
 
( m ) 
 
 the great work of acquiring habits of goodnefs we 
 fhould never (land frill, but endeavour to advance 
 from one degree of perfection to a higher. 
 
 33. The life of the Chriftian mould manifeft a 
 great and unwearied, a continually increafed and in- 
 creafing activity in doing good. This is to grow in 
 grace ; it is to increafe in favour with God, whofe 
 love and fpiritual affiftance will always he fro-portioned 
 to our labours after real gocdnefs. One portion of 
 grace rightly employed will produce another ; and 
 the quantity beftowed will be increafed in proportion 
 as it is ufed. 
 
 34 Men are always very fedulous and eager in 
 improving their temporal condition 5 and happy 
 would it be for them, if they were but as earned, as 
 vigilant, as indefatigable in their endeavours to im- 
 prove their moral condition, and to grow in ftrength 
 and conftancy of obedience to the will of God. 
 Their temporal defires are vafl and rapacious, but 
 their fpiritual ones are eafily fatisfied. They think 
 that they can never accumulate too many of the 
 gifts of fortune, but they feel no warm defire to 
 attain the perfect ftature of the goodnefs of Chrifh 
 
 35. We are too apt to meafure our own worth 
 by the ftandard of our neighbours' imperfection. 
 If we fee many others more vicious or lefs uprigKt 
 than ourfelves, we rejoice in the fuperiority. Our 
 
( 174 ) 
 
 felf-love makes us imagine ourfelves as good as wc 
 need to be$ and the illufion caufes us to relax our 
 endeavours to become better. The uncharitable 
 companions, or the fallacious calculations of our 
 own worth by the worthlefTnefs of our fellow-crea- 
 tures, always leffen the frequency, or palfy the vigour 
 of perfonal exertion. 
 
 3 J. Thinking ourfelves fafe, we take no precau- 
 tions againft danger. But Chriftians, inftead of 
 appreciating their excellencies by the defects of 
 others, ought to meafure themfelves by no other 
 ftandard than that of the righteoufnefs of Chrift, 
 When we adopt this ftandard of comparifon, and 
 this criterion of excellence, we (hall find more oc- 
 cafion for humility than for arrogance, for zeal than 
 indifference, for diligence than inaction. If we con- 
 traft our virtues with thofe of Chrift, we fhall per- 
 ceive the former ta be light as air upon the balance. 
 By frequendy inftituting this comparifon, and by 
 examining how far our lives and conduct tally with 
 his precepts, or accord with his example, we (hall 
 be able to afcertain the degree of our obedience, 
 the extent of our tranfgreflion, and the meafure of 
 our danger; and at the fame time, a fenfe of infe- 
 riority will be felt on our minds, that will forcibly 
 impel our exertions, and accelerate pur progrefe in 
 righteoufnefs. 
 
 36. The Chriftian life is reprefented as a warfare 
 
( 175 ) 
 
 and a race; expreffions which ftrongly enforce this 
 conclusion, that there is a necefiicy on our parts for 
 the mod ftrenuous activity, for courage and con- 
 ftancy, for the glow of zeal and the third of excel- 
 lence, for vigilance on the one hand, and forperfe- 
 verance on the other. We are never to remit our 
 exertions, but are continually to endeavour to ex- 
 ceed in thofe genuine virtues which the gofpel re- 
 quires as the conditions of falvation, and on which 
 alone will be bellowed an incorruptible crown of 
 glory. 
 
 37. But the Fanatics imagine that a very fmall 
 mare of moral purity will fufnce for their falvation. 
 Alas ! little do they know, that God requires purity 
 in the inward parts -, and little do they think that 
 without real holincfs no man fhall fee the Lord ! 
 He who has long lived in habits of fin, does not 
 become righteous by an inftantaneous converfion. 
 The power of fin is not conquered by one fiidden 
 blow. Great preparation of the heart is neceffary 
 before it can be fit to enter into heaven. This life 
 is a way intermediate to a better; but if we perfilt 
 in tranfgreffion, we make it only a pafTage to a 
 worfe. Inftead of leading to glory and happinefs, it 
 conducts the impenitent to deftrudlion and mifery. 
 
 38. When habits of depravity have taken root 
 in our affections, they cannot be removed without 
 a long and painful ftraggle againfl their dominion. 
 
( "76 ) 
 
 As they are formed by degrees, they can only be 
 relinquished by degrees. Sin is an obftinate enemy, 
 mighty in ftrength, and fertile in ftratagcm. And 
 in order to fubdue his power, and fhake off his do- 
 minion, we muft not only exert our utmoft natural 
 energies, but muft: ufe thofe means which are ap- 
 pointed in the gofpel, in order to obtain help from 
 above. For this purpofe we muft gird on the whole 
 armour of God, taking the bread- plate of faith and 
 love, and for an helmet the hope of falvation. Dif- 
 trufting our own refolutions, we fhould earneftly 
 implore counfel from the Wife, and fuccour from 
 the Mighty. 
 
 • 
 
 39. By continually ftruggling againft the arbitrary 
 fway of fin, and habitually fupplicating the Father 
 of all goodnefs for affiftance, the penitent will, by 
 degrees, be eftablifhed in the good work which he 
 has undertaken. He will be renewed day by day in 
 his mind and affections. The lefs corrupt and im- 
 perfect he becomes, the more he will ftrive after 
 incorruption and perfection. He will not remain 
 ftationary at any point of obedience which he may 
 attain, but will confider one degree of holinefs only 
 as a ftep to another ; and the nearer he approaches 
 the termination of his days, the more meet he will 
 become for the communion of the juft. 
 
 40. When we perceive the luft of fin becoming 
 lefs unruly and irrefiftible, when we find corruption 
 
 7 
 
( i77 ) 
 
 vanifhing from our hearts, and purity, and modefty, 
 and delicacy, gaining the afcendant in our thoughts, 
 and benevolence lighting its hallowed flame in the 
 affections, it is a certain and undeniable proof that 
 our repentance is becoming effectual; that it is 
 taking root in the mind, and bearing fruit in the 
 foul. Let no man deceive himfelf, or attempt to 
 deceive others by vain words : let nim not imagine 
 himfelf a new creature, or fit for heaven, while any 
 one fin reigns in his member s> en/laving his reafon and 
 his conscience. Let every one who wifhes foberly to 
 calculate the chances of his fafety, or to know the 
 imminence of his danger, diligently compare his 
 conduct by thofe rules of life which were enforced 
 by the holy Jefus. If his actions are modelled by 
 this ftandard, or if, after making all fair allowances for 
 human imperfection, they are found diametrically 
 oppofite to the fpirit and precepts of the gofpel, if 
 he find himfelf under the yoke of any one habitual 
 tranfgreffion, let him confider that his danger is 
 great, and his ficknefs unto death. 
 
 41. Let no man think to fave his foul by merely 
 fkinning over the wounds of confciencej let him 
 rather probe them to the bottom, and be fatisfied 
 with nothing fhort of a perfect cure. The majority 
 of people leave the work of their repentance half 
 finifhed. Some apprehenfion of their danger makes 
 them anxious to amend their lives, but felf-love 
 blinds them to the excefs of theix* iniquity, They 
 
 N 
 
( i 7 8 ) 
 
 flatter themfelves that they are not fo bad as they 
 really are; and they omit the proper meafures to 
 obtain a radical recovery. They, perhaps, perform 
 fome few acts of obedience to the divine will, but 
 they violate it in more. They refrain from fome 
 individual or occafional fins, but they do not forfake 
 the habit of finning. And thus they remain fuf- 
 pended in a fort of middle date between impeni- 
 tency and repentance ; but, in the end, they become 
 the fervants of fin, and the children of the devil. 
 
 42. If we wifh in earned to fubdue the power of 
 fin, we muft not enter into any truce or compromife 
 with fo formidable an adverfary. We muft not con- 
 clude, as it were, a treaty of partition with him, or 
 think that there can be any fort of faving coalition 
 between iniquity and righteoufnefs •, for God admits 
 no half fervice •, he requires us to worfhip him with 
 all our ftrength, all our heart, and all our foul. 
 We cannot ferve God and the devil. If we cleave 
 to the flrft, we muft abhor the laft. The fervant of 
 Satan muft be truly changed in his difpofition, and 
 thoroughly cleanfed in his affections, before God 
 will receive him into favour ; or bind his brow with 
 the crown that is referved for the righteous. 
 
 43. Let me then finally conjure the readers of 
 thefe pages, not to be deceived by that cant of re- 
 ligion which the fanatic, the fuperftitious, and the 
 hypocrite, are endeavouring to difleminate among 
 
C 179 ) 
 
 mankind Let me conjure them not to be led far 
 and wide away from the light of truth to the dark- 
 nefs of error, from the path of fafety to the brink 
 of perdition, by that popular but fenfelefs jargon, 
 which is brawled abroad loud as the wind, and hi- 
 deous as the dorm. Believe not, O Chriftian ! that 
 thou corned into the world with a heart indifpofed 
 to good, and difpofed to evil, full of corruption and 
 iniquity j but rather know that thou art born inno- 
 cent and upright, and that it is only by perfonal acts 
 of fin, hardening into habits of fin, that thou be- 
 comeft a tranfgreiTor, fubject to the wrath of God, 
 and, without repentance, liable to damnation. Re- 
 member, that, like the firft parent of the human 
 race, thou art placed here in a date of trial 5 and that 
 thou wilt be happy or miferable after death, in pro- 
 portion to the habits of goodnefs or depravity which 
 thou acquired in this mortal life. When thy heart 
 and affections are edranged from the love of God, 
 and when habits of unrighteoufnefs are incorporated 
 in thy fleih, when fin becomes, as it were, a law in 
 thy members, fo that thy reafon is fubjugated by its 
 influence, and thy fenfe of right has become too 
 impotent to prevent the practice of wrong; then 
 let me befeech thee to remember, that nothing but 
 true and unfeigned repentance can fave thy foul; 
 and that no repentance can be fincere or faving, that 
 does not purify the mind and affections, that does 
 not convince the mind of the neceflky of obedience 
 to the divine will, and intered the affections in its 
 practice. 
 
 N 2 
 
( *8o ) 
 
 44. Religion, pure and undefiled, not fpoiled by 
 the wicked, nor perplexed by the fubtle, confifts in 
 loving God with all our mind and all our foul ; and 
 our neighbour as ourfelves. In whatever place, 
 and among whatever people, whether in London or 
 in Rome, in Paris or Jerufalem, this doctrine is 
 preached, there pure Chriftianity is taught -, but 
 wherever any notions are maintained contrary to it, 
 or fubverfive of it, there the religion of Jefus is 
 corrupted, there its defign is perverted, its precepts 
 are reviled, and its fpirit is unknown *. 
 
 * Inftruclions, like thofe which I have here delivered, how- 
 ever adverfe they may be to the reigning tafte, and to that 
 fpirit of delufion which feems to have feized the religious 
 world, appear to me neceffary at all times, in order to abalh 
 the prefumption of the wicked, and to increafe the virtue of 
 the juft; but they feem more efpecially neceffary at this dif- 
 aftrous period, when deceivers, who turn the truth of God 
 into a lie, and make religion an inftrument of mifchief, and an 
 engine of corruption, are roaming among us, feeking whom 
 they may devour, polluting the principles of the young, and 
 troubling the happinefs of the old. Like the fenfelefs Phari- 
 fees of old, whofe hypocrify our Saviour fo warmly rebuked, 
 and againft whofe accumulated immoralities he denounced 
 fuch heavy judgments j they make a great parade about the 
 mere forms and externals of religion, while they neglect its 
 weightier obligations; and vainly think to atone by the excefs 
 of their fuperftition, and the fplendour of their hypocrify, for 
 the habitual contempt of truth, of juftice, and of mercy. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 The dottrine of Grace, Jcripural, rational, and 
 
 praclical. 
 
 i . JL h e doctrine of grace has been abufed by the 
 wicked, perplexed by the fubtle, and miftaken by 
 the credulous. Some have employed it as an en- 
 gine of mifchief j and others have made it minifter 
 to the propagation of folly. I (hall therefore, per- 
 haps, be not wholly undeferving the gratitude of 
 the reafonable part of the Chriftian Church, if I 
 endeavour to refcue this wholefome doctrine from 
 the delufions of vifionaries, and the artifices of in> 
 poftors. 
 
 a. Mod of the promifes of grace which occur 
 in the fcriptures, are reft rained to the apoftolical 
 age. At prefent, the operations of the Spirit, of 
 whatever nature they may be, are certainly carried 
 on in fecret. They are neither vifible to the eye, 
 nor palpable to the touch ; and they neither fuper- 
 
 N 3 
 
( >8* ) 
 
 fede the exercife of the rational faculty, nor controul 
 the freedom of the will. 
 
 3. The firft Chriftians could afford demonftrative 
 proof of their pofleflion of fpiritual gifts by working 
 miracles, by the powers of prophecy, by different 
 kinds of languages, by the interpretation of lan- 
 guages. See 1 Cor. xii 8 — :o. Such powers are 
 evidently no longer beftowed, however confidently 
 the fanatics may lay claim to the pofTeflion ; and de- 
 ceive the credulous by the boldnefs of their pre- 
 tenfions. 
 
 4. The following expreffions in St. Luke, though 
 more peculiarly applicable to the Chriftians of the 
 apoftolic age, have, probably, a relation to the faith- 
 ful in all future ages. " I fay unto you, afk, and it 
 fhall be given you ; feek, and ye (hall find ; knock, 
 and it fhall be opened unto you. For every one 
 that afketh, receiveth; and he that feeketh, findethj 
 and to him that knocketh, it fhall be opened. Now 
 if a fon fhall afk bread of any of you that is a father, 
 will he give him a fione ? or if he fhall afk a fifh, 
 will he for a fifh give him a ferpent? or if he fhall afk 
 an egg, will he give him a fcorpion ? If ye, therefore, 
 being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
 children j how much more fhall your heavenly father 
 give the holy Spirit to them that afk him?'* Lukexi f 
 
 9—13- 
 
( i«3 ) 
 
 5. Thefe words fhew the outward means by 
 which the grace or favour of God is to be obtained, 
 and which is reprefented as confequent on prayer and 
 ftrenuous exertion on the part of man. cc AJk, and 
 it /hall be given you ; Jeek, and ye Jh all find - y knock, and 
 it Jh all be opened unto you. " In the natural courfe of 
 things, man is condemned to labour; he is to earn 
 his bread by the fweat of his brow; but the world 
 is furnifhed with various powers and influences to 
 invigorate his induftry, and aflift his toils. 
 
 6. There are various powers in nature which 
 man, by the active force of his body or his mind, 
 may in fome meafure controul, and render iub- 
 fervient to the purpofes of life. The earth is full 
 of vegetable juices, but labour is required to elicit 
 their beneficial properties, and to make them fub- 
 fervient to the fuftenance of man. When man has 
 carefully tilled and fown the earth, he can do no 
 more; then other powers, the fun, the air, the dew, 
 the rain, the meteor, and the ftorm, all acting under 
 the wife controul of a providential hand, combine 
 their varied influences to fuccour the varied opera- 
 tions of human art and human toil. In the moral 
 world, it is highly probable, that many fecondary 
 influences are made to contribute, under the fuper- 
 intending agency of the moral governor of the 
 world, to the moral welfare of man ; and that his 
 moral endeavours are the conditions of obtaining 
 their afliftance. 
 
 N 4 " 
 
( i8+ ) 
 
 7. The fpirit of God is univerfal. We live and 
 move and have our being, in the unfeen but infinite 
 orbit of its power •, and it is probable that its favour- 
 able influence on every fentient and intelligent indi- 
 vidual bears a certain fixed relation to the right ufe 
 which he makes of thofe faculties that are given him 
 to profit withal, to the fincerity of his devotion, 
 the fervour of his charity, and the zeal of his obe- 
 dience. 
 
 8. If man will exert his natural ftrength, God 
 will fuccour his natural infirmities by ftrength from 
 above. If man will exert his moral powers, God 
 will further the growth of moral goodnefs in his 
 foul. In proportion as we labour to become fit for 
 heaven, God will work the fitnefs within us. Reafon 
 leads us to this conclufion, and revelation fanctions 
 it j revelation teaches us that if we wifh to reap fpi- 
 ritual things, we muft fow fpirituai ; that if we are 
 fincerely zealous to improve in righteoufnefs, we 
 muft firft make a juft ufe of our reafon and our 
 confciencej and that then God will favour our pro- 
 grefs, and invigorate our exertions. 
 
 9. When grace, or the favour of God, is fhed 
 upon us, we are not to confider it as an apology for 
 idlenefs, but an incentive to exertion. The more 
 our power of doing good increafes, the more we are 
 fenfible that the word of God is taking root in our 
 fouls, the more we Jhould endeavour, and with the 
 
( «8 5 ) . 
 
 greater fuccefs, we may endeavour to fulfil all righteouf~ 
 nefs* This is to ufe the manifeftation of the fpirit to 
 profit withal, to walk in the fpirit, to be worthy of the 
 vocation whereto we are called, and to prove that 
 we are the workman/hip of God, created in Chrift Jefus 
 unto good works* 
 
 jo. Let us not imagine that grace, in the fenfe 
 in which I have explained it, is an imaginary thing, 
 becaufe its fpecific agency is not the object of any 
 of our fenfes. We know that there are many 
 powers whoje mode of agency is infcrutable, but whofe 
 benefits are felt, and whofe effects are feen. In the 
 natural world, heat, light, electricity, and, perhaps, 
 many other powers, whofe precife nature we do 
 not underftand, and whofe fpecific agency we can- 
 not difcover, have a very fenfible influence on the 
 frame of man, and the fruits of the earth. In the 
 moral world, it is probable, that there are various 
 influences employed, peculiarly fitted to act on the 
 moral powers of men, and to give them ftrength in 
 proportion as they are fitted to receive it. The moral 
 government of God, in fome meafure, fuppofes the 
 exertions of fuch influence, for if God be a moral 
 governor, he muft prefer the righteous to the linner, 
 and is it not highly probable, that he has arranged 
 the moral order of things to favour moral, as he has 
 arranged the natural order of things to favour phy- 
 fical induftry ? 
 
( i86 ) 
 
 ii. The laws which regulate the moral world, 
 are probably, as regular and uniform as thofe whicli 
 regulate the natural. In the natural world, effects 
 follow their caufes in a chain of connexion that is 
 not, except for moral purposes *, permitted to be 
 broken. In the moral world, the connexion be- 
 tween caufe and effect is probably as clofe and in- 
 diffoluble. In the natural world, certain beneficial 
 effects are the confequence of certain actions; in 
 the moral world, good or evil feem to follow in a 
 determinate courfe, according to the previous con- 
 duct of the individual. 
 
 112. The labours of piety, and the exercifes of 
 devotion, do not change the general courfe of moral 
 laws, any more than induftry alters the uniform 
 courfe of the laws of nature. But if, in the moral 
 order of things, mifery be affociated with vice, and 
 happinefs with virtue, he who avoids the firft, ne- 
 ceffarily attains the laft ; as the induftrious derive 
 benefit from the laws of the natural world, of which 
 they would have been deprived, if they had perfe- 
 vered in idlenefs. Thus it may be underftood how 
 devotion and prayer, by exciting us to conform our 
 conduct to that moral order of things, according to 
 which, the difpenfations of good and evil are regu- 
 lated, operate on our improvement in righteoufnefs 
 and in happinefs. That portion of divine favour 
 which prayer produces, is not miraculous or fuper- 
 
 * As In the cafe of the Chrifiian miracles. 
 
( i»7 ) 
 
 natural, the one is afTociated with the other in the 
 moral order of things, as the fruitfulnefs of a field is 
 generally proportioned to the cultivation bellowed 
 upon it, 
 
 i f. Demotion, when pure, fervent, and fincere, 
 naturally produces grateful feelings, and imprefles a 
 ftrong fenfe of duty upon the confcience. But though 
 devotion excite the mod agreeable fenfations, thefe 
 Jen fat ions ought not to be efteemed fupernaiu^al calls, or 
 miraculous experiences-, for they proceed from natural 
 caufes, and are generated by the moral organization 
 of man, as agreeable fenfations, arifing from nervous 
 excitement, are connected with, and flow from, his 
 phyfical conftitution. 
 
 14. Prayer is a help to holinefss and when fer- 
 vent and fmcere, procures a refrefhing fupply of 
 thofe wholefome moral energies, thofe fpiritual gifts, 
 which, by whatever name they may be exprefled, 
 are certainly ultimately derived from the Father of 
 fpirits ; not by any immediate and miraculous inter pofi- 
 tion of his power, but through the channel of that moral 
 order of things, which he eftablijhed, and the moral 
 conftitution of man, which he ordained, 
 
 15. If men are negligent in their worldly con- 
 cerns, they do not profper ; and the neglect of their 
 moral welfare is attended with fimilar effects. The 
 
 firft produces poverty, the laft vicej and, by the 
 6 
 
( >88 ) 
 
 conititution of the natural and the moral world, both 
 are alTociated with mifery and ruin. 
 
 1 6. Secondary means are necefTary in the natural 
 world, in order to derive advantage from the ge- 
 neral courfe of the laws of nature ; and fecondary 
 means are alfo neceifary in the moral world, in order 
 to profit by the moral economy of the univerfe. 
 Prayer is among the principal of thofe means which 
 we are to employ for this purpofe. " AJk> and ye 
 Jhall receive " Prayer affifts the right culture of the 
 affections ; it is a mean of fixing the love of God in 
 our fouls, of invigorating the moral principle within 
 us, and of arming it againft the deftructive influence 
 of temptation. Prayer cheers the heart when it is 
 fad, foftens it when it is hard, and purifies it when 
 it is unclean. It fits it for the reception of grace, 
 and makes it a temple meet for the Father of fpirits 
 to inhabit. 
 
 17. It is not the mere act or ceremony of devo- 
 tion, which caufes grace to be fhed on the foul, but 
 it is that devotion, which, by habitual exercifes, in- 
 creafes our love of God, our truft in his providence, 
 and our fenfe of his goodnefs, which makes us ob- 
 jects of his favour; which brings us, as it were, nearer 
 to his regard; and places us in different relations to 
 bim y than we could other wife have ken. It is y there- 
 fore, prayer generating mora! improvement , which caufes 
 
( »89 ) 
 
 God to give us the good things which we afk> becaufe 
 we afk them according to his will. 
 
 1 8. If thefe notions of grace be true, and they 
 have the fanction of reafon and the warrant of fcrip- 
 turej then thofe of the vifionaries and fanatics of the 
 prefent day, muft be falfe. They reprefent grace 
 as a mere matter of fenfation, they aflert that fenfa- 
 tion is the centre of its agency, that it is independent 
 on the will, and that the affections are the utmofl 
 boundaries of its influence. They do not confider 
 grace as an energy to be procured by moral means, 
 and to be applied to moral ends. Hence they think 
 a Hate of grace compatible with a flate of fin *; for 
 they confider it not as a blefling given to good en- 
 deavours, vaccording to any fixed laws of the moral 
 governor of the world, but as fome impulfe, inde- 
 pendent on any moral endeavours to acquire it, or 
 any moral fitnefs to receive it. Their grace is often 
 vouchfafed to the vileft of mankind, to thofe who 
 are hardened in long habits of unrighteoufnefs, and 
 from whofe confcience the very fenfe of moral ob- 
 ligation feems to have vanifhed for want of being 
 exercifed. With them, grace is not the confequent 
 of devotion and alms, but is diftributed with a ca- 
 pricious and partial hand, often withheld from the 
 
 * Treading in the fteps of Calvin, they maintain that the 
 favour of God is not loft by the pollutions of the confcience; 
 non auferre Jlatum gratice adziUerta et homicidia. 
 
( *9° ) 
 
 contrite, and often lavifhly accorded to the hypo- 
 
 crite. 
 
 19. If grace be, acceding to their fyftem, a free 
 gift, independent on the exercife of the moral powefSj 
 and, in the attainment or which, no previous exertion 
 is required, and no preparation neceflary, then ic 
 is an unconditional grant \ and in this cafe, why did 
 our Lord teach us the means by which it might be 
 obtained, and enjoin us to put them in practice ? 
 For, it God beftow the influence of divine grace on 
 man without any regard to his moral fitnefs, if he 
 require the performance of no conditions previous to 
 its infufion, then men cannot juftly be blamed for not 
 endeavouring to obtain it, nor juftly be condemned for 
 not poffeffing it. But, if grace be a bleffing on the 
 earned and vigilant exertions of man to conform his 
 conduct: to the will of God, if it be accorded to the 
 fervor of his prayers, and the liberality of his alms, 
 then it is, like other blefllngs in the natural world, 
 dependant on caufes which it is our own fault if 
 we do not put in motion. In this caje> grace operates 
 by general laws, and Chriftians are juftly accountable 
 for not performing the conditions to which it L> 
 appended. 
 
 20. Grace is one of the glorious privileges which 
 belong to that covenant into which we gain ad- 
 mifTion by baptifm and by faith. God (hows man 
 the means by which he may acquire fo ineftimablc 
 
( i9i ) 
 
 a blefling; and, therefore, the perverfenefs of man, 
 rather than the goodnefs of God, mud be accufed, 
 if the former neglect the right application of his 
 faculties. If any man, faid our Lord, love me, he will 
 keep my words, and my father will love him, and we 
 will come unto him, and make our abode with him, John 
 xiv. 23. But the fanatics, in their doctrine of grace, 
 entirely neglect the previous moral endeavour and 
 the confequent moral fitnefs ; and, by omitting thefe 
 important confiderations, their ideas on the fubject 
 are dark, myfterious, and deftructive. Inftead of 
 promoting goodnefs, they encourage fin; they make 
 the tranfgrefTor rejoice and the righteous defpair. 
 
 21. As the fanatics do not confider grace as the 
 confequent on moral qualities, fo they do not regard 
 the pofleffion as productive of them. With them, 
 grace is rather a glowing temperature of the feel- 
 ings, than an active (late of the rational and moral 
 powers; rather agitating the paffions within, than 
 vifibly improving the conduct without. As they 
 confine its agency within the volatile gas of the fen- 
 fations, the tokens of its prefence vary with the phy- 
 fical temperament of the individual. 
 
 0.2. When moral qualities are regarded as a teft 
 of grace, it cannot be miftaken ; but if the warmth 
 or ecftafies of fenfation are made the figns of its 
 poffefiion, we are foon loft in the delufions of pride, 
 or perplexed by the tricks of impofture. We fet 
 
( *9 2 ) 
 
 the imagination to work, and that myfterious faculty, 
 when operated on by fo powerful a ftimulus as that 
 of religious intereft on one fide, and fpiritual ambi- 
 tion on the other, produces the mod furprifing 
 effects upon the feelings. When the fancy, per- 
 turbed with this delirium, caufes any violent tranf- 
 port or tumult in the bread, the fanatics call it an 
 experience of grace. But fuch feelings, uniefs as far 
 as their fruits are manifefted in the integrity of the 
 conduct, and in the purity and kindnefs of the heart, 
 favour more of madnefs than of reafon ; of fuperili- 
 ticn, than of piety. 
 
 23. The power of fpiritual pride is well known, 
 and its delufions are very common. The inward 
 feelings of the fanatics are, for the moft part, either 
 the refult of an overweening pride, or an irregular 
 imagination, often operating in conjunction and often 
 by themfelves. And as they refer the evidence of 
 grace to the invifible tribunal of their own fenfations, 
 the pofTefiion may be readily counterfeited; and the 
 ignorant, whofe credulity makes them eafy to be 
 duped, do not as readily difcover the deception. 
 
 24. Grace, of whatever nature it may be, is an 
 invifible power -, but the exiftence of an invifible power 
 can be afcertained only by its vifible effects. No 
 man in his fober fenfes, or who pretended to reafon, 
 would make the invifibility of the wind the criterion 
 of its exiftence -, or aflfert that it is, only becaufe it 
 
( *93 ) 
 
 is not feen. He would rather refer to its vifible 
 effects; he would fhow its agency in the heavens 
 above, and on the earth beneath ; in the motion of 
 the clouds, and the agitation of the waters. But 
 the fanatics, who defpife every thing like plain com- 
 mon fenfe and fober reafoning, who think abfurdity 
 the teft of truth, and darknefs the proof of light, 
 pretend to demonftrate the exiftence of grace, not 
 by its outward properties, but by its Jecret and un- 
 known operations. They make their feelings the 
 centre and fource, the beginning and the end of its 
 agency. And thefe feelings, for aught any one 
 knows, may be fpurious or genuine, real or coun- 
 terfeit. 
 
 25. Grace, being an invifible power, can be known 
 only by its vifible effects. Our Lord Jefus, who, 
 no impoflor himfelf, was an enemy to all impofture 
 in others, never authorized us to conclude that our 
 inward feelings were any proof whatever of the prin- 
 ciple of righteoufnefs abiding in us. He told us to 
 judge of the qualities of the tree by its fruits; and 
 I know of no other way in which the reality of 
 grace can be afcertained j or any other fign, which 
 Qznfafely be trufted as the criterion of its poffefiion. 
 
 26. That grace does never operate on the fenfa- 
 tions as a vehicle of its agency or a medium of its 
 power, cannot be precifely determined ; but whether 
 it do or do not thus operate, the former hypothefis 
 
 O 
 
( i?4 ) 
 
 is only a harmlefs theory in theology, as long as we 
 agree that thofe fenfations are not that ttftimony of its 
 exigence in which we can rationally confide. What 
 then are we to ccnfider as the evidences of grace ? 
 Certainly the only credible evidences are the pofTefTion 
 of thofe moral qualities, whofe effects are palpable, 
 whole character is fixed, and whofe impreffions arc 
 lafting. 
 
 27. A good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but 
 a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Grace can 
 be known only by the fruit which it produces; and 
 what the fruits of the fpirit are, St. Paul has dis- 
 tinctly told us. They are " love, joy, peace, long- 
 fuffering, gentlenefs, goodnefs, faithfulnefs, meek- 
 nefs, temperance.'' Galat. v. 22, 23. Thefe word? 
 certainly characterife the ordinary influence ofthejvirh> 
 Juch as is probably Jhed on fin cere Chrijlians in all ages; 
 and as oppofed to thofe miraculous operations of the 
 fpirit, which are detailed 1 Cor. xii. 4 — 11. and 
 they well deferve our attentive confideration. They 
 intimate that a pleafurable ftate of the affections, 
 that kindnefs and finglenefs of heart, with juflice and 
 beneficence, are indications that grace is prefent and 
 operative in the foul. A pleafurable ftate of the 
 affections is included in the words (< love, joy, peace, 
 weeknefs, gentlenc/s" a ftate cf mind very adverfe to 
 the uneafy terrors and chilling apprehenfions of the 
 fuperftitious, to the lowering brow of the fanatic, 
 to the impetuofity of the turbulent, and the rancour 
 
( *9S ) 
 
 of the malevolent. In " goodnefs, faithfulnefs, tem- 
 perance" we behold the energies of the fpirit brought 
 into action, contributing to the well-being and the 
 happinefs of mankind. They increafe all the inno- 
 cent enjoyments of the individual, by keeping his 
 fenfations, his temper, and his pafiions, in a due and 
 reafonable fubjection ; and difpofing them to the 
 production of particular and of general good. They 
 infufe life and activity into the benevolent affections, 
 and keep our moral powers alert and vigorous for 
 the practice of juflice towards others, and of tem- 
 perance in the government of ourfelves. 
 
 28. Such are the characteriftic marks of the ope- 
 rations of the Holy Spirit, as they are defcribed by 
 St. Paul; and if thefe marks be genuine, thofe of 
 the fanatics mud be counterfeit. The teftimony of 
 grace, to which the fanatics moil confidently appeal, 
 and the proofs on which they mod implicitly rely, 
 are, turbulence and fervour of fenfation, a wildnefs 
 of the imagination bordering on delirium, and of the 
 pafiions approaching to frenzy; while the benevolent 
 fympathies are extinguished by bigotry, or benumbed 
 in apathy ; and the moral powers, without animation 
 or ftrength, are imbruted in corruption. 
 
 29. It may not be improper here to contraft the 
 tokens of grace which are enumerated by the apof- 
 tle, Gal. v. 22, 23, with thofe which are difplayed 
 by the fanatics. For love they fubftitute a frozen 
 
 O 2 
 
C 196 ) 
 
 apathy, or favage hate ; for joy, a weeping counte- 
 nance *; for peace, fcdition and ftrife ; for long-iuf- 
 
 * St. Paul fays very emphatically, " Rejoice evermore." 
 TheiV. v. 16. M Rejoice in the lord always, and again I fay 
 
 rejoice." Phil. iv. 4. A relilh for innocent checrfulntis and 
 a difpofnion to harmlefi mirth are no uncertain indications 
 that the benevolent principle is prefent and active in the heart ; 
 but a fullen dejection of the fpirits* and a cold averfion to 
 focial joy, are very credible tokens that the malevolent prin- 
 ciple has erected its ftandard in the bread: and that the affec- 
 tions are imbtsed with its noxious influence. The fanatic.-, 
 and particularly thole who belong to the feet of the metho- 
 difts, forget the injunction of our Lord, " not to be of a fad 
 countenance" nor to disfigure their faces; which they do by 
 twifting them into all pofiible contortions of woe of which the 
 mufcles are fufceptible. And like the heathen, they think to 
 be heard for their much [peaking ; they feem to imagine that 
 they can never tell God enough j and, as if he were a corporeal 
 idol, and a little inclined to deafnefs, they feldom fail to brawl 
 out their petitions on the higher! pofiible key. Their devotion 
 is one continued monotonous diapafon. Religion, pure and 
 undented, is a cheerful fervice, and nothing is Co well fitted to 
 produce cheerfulnefs. It fpreads an artlefs fmile of compla- 
 cency upon the countenance ; and it caufes fweet vibrations of 
 joy in the heart. It naturally generates that peace with God 
 which pali'eth all underitanding ; which is a fourcc of the moft 
 refined and rational delight ; which banilhes impatience, bit- 
 ternefs, diftruftj and every emotion allied to malice and to mi- 
 fery; and is a foretalte of that reward which is referved for the 
 juft. The dejectipn of the great ma Is of the fanatics prove* 
 that they either want the fpirit of true religion, or that they 
 are confeious of not deferving the polVeffion. Whoever is ac- 
 quainted with the methodiils, mud hive remarked their long 
 faces; and perhaps they are not lefs remarkable for their long 
 
( *97 ) 
 
 fering, a fierce impatience of controul; a whining 
 cant about perfecution when they are weak, and a 
 
 graces. As the Pbarifees would not eat without firft warning 
 their hands,, fo the methodifts will feldom eat, except in pri- 
 vate, without many previous ejaculations of their hypocrisy. 
 I once drank tea with two methodift paribus, and an evange- 
 lical clergyman, as much a methodift as the other two. Before 
 we were permitted to regale on this ealtern luxury, it was firft 
 neceftary that a pious oration fhould be made. The perform- 
 ance of this ceremony, having been firft humbly declined by 
 me, was turned over to the evangelical preacher; who, riling 
 from his feat, made no very brief addrefs j and accompanied it 
 with fuch a forlorn caft of the eyes, and fuch hideous contor- 
 tions of the body, that I could hardly keep my countenance. 
 One fimple benediction, coming from the heart, is, in my opi- 
 nion, more impreilive, and more acceptable to the Father of 
 Spirits, than a grace five minutes in length, with all the de- 
 vout accompaniments of methodiftic grimace. The intent of 
 grace before meals is, to elevate the heart to God as the giver 
 of all good things 3 and, after meals, the fenfe of his goodnefs 
 to us lhould make us think of the wants of others. There is, 
 in good bifhop Wilfon's works, a grace to be faid after meals, 
 as near as I recollect, in the following words. " O God, who 
 haft provided for our wants, make us mindful of the wants of 
 others, for Jefus Chrift's fake." This grace, though not very 
 long, would feem prolix and affected in particular companies j 
 for graces muft, infome degree, be timed to perfons and places ; 
 but, of this prayer of the apoftolic bifhop, I muft fay, that 
 every good man will always feel the fentiroent in his heart, 
 though, he may not pronounce it with his lips; for it is the 
 immediate, nay, almoft the inftinclive feeling of every grateful 
 man, (and no ungrateful man can be a religious man), after 
 having tafted the goodnefs of God. But the methodifts, as 
 far as I have had an opportunity of obferving them, inftead 
 
 o 3 
 
( 198 ) 
 
 fanguinary ferocity when they are ftrong*; for gen- 
 tlenefs, the mod iupple adulation, veiling the mod 
 
 of endeavouring, in their verbofe fupplications, to flrengthen 
 the impreilions of thankfulnefs in the hrft place, and to excite 
 the fpirit of beneficence in the fecond, ufually make long 
 prayers for what they call fpiritual things, when a good repaft 
 of animal food is fet before them. But though they implore 
 fpiritual bleflings with as much fanctity as if their bodies wen 
 cut out of a cloud, inftead of being carved out of the clay, they 
 are not exceeded, even by Homer's heroes, in the carnivorous 
 capacity. Every Chriftian may, certainly, without 2ny of- 
 fence, eat and drink in moderation j but I abhor that hypo- 
 crify, which, while it is inwardly as ravenous as a wolf, out- 
 wardly whines, and prays, and talks, as if a man could live on 
 air, or as if a focial being were defigned by the Almighty to 
 be debarred from all focial pleafures. 
 
 Gentle reader, after having faid Co much on graces, let us 
 leave the fubjec~t; left, from the bufy in trillion of fome aftb- 
 ciated ideas, thou or I fhould begin to dream of hofpitality 
 which we cannot realize ; and perturb our fpirits with the re- 
 collection of happier days, which, like the fwift waters, have 
 palTed away. 
 
 * Epifcopius remarked the fame difpofition in the fanatics 
 of his time; while they were in the minority they were ftre- 
 nuous advocates for freedom of worfhip and liberty of con- 
 science; they exclaimed againft all reflraint as a breach of cha- 
 rity, and an unauthorized ufurpationj but they no lboner be- 
 came the majority, than they praclifed an opprellion on others, 
 greater than ever had been practifed on themfelves. Profperity 
 made them info/en t; the foj/lffion of poivcr intolerant ; and no- 
 thing BUT AN UNCONDITIONAL ACQUIESCENCE IN ALL THEIR. 
 POGMAS COULD APPEASE THEIR CRUELTY. " Tcmpori (fayS 
 
 Epifcopius) et fecnte fervitis. Hinc varia et difhmilis eft veftra 
 oratio. Sub jugo gementes, corporales omnes coercitiones 
 
C l 99 ) 
 
 malicious guile j for gcodnefs, a bufy defire to do evil; 
 for faith », injuftice and deceit; for meeknefs, pride in- 
 fatiate lurking beneath the affected extravagance of 
 humility ; for temperance, a more than heathen excefs 
 in the gratification of their lufts. Such ate fome of 
 the diftinguifhing features of factitious as oppofed 
 to real, of fanatic as contrafted with apoflolic grace : 
 features which are not exactly the fame in every fa- 
 natic ; which vary in degree with conftitution and 
 circumstances ; but, of which, with a few exceptions 
 in favour of individuals, a general likene& will be 
 found in the whole fraternity. 
 
 30. The fanatics feem to imagine that grace fu- 
 perfedes the ufe of the moral powers of man, of his 
 reafon and his confciencej and this miftake caufes 
 them to neglect the culture of the one, and to defpife 
 the dictates of the other. Grace may indeed, and 
 always does invigorate our natural power to do good j 
 
 damnatis ut illicitas ct a Chriftiana caritate prorfus alienas; ubi 
 jugo colla veftra fubJuxiflis, per fas ei ntfas, ibi, Ji tempora atque 
 ingenla populi non ferunt Janguinaria conjilia, Juppliciorum ei poe- 
 narum omnium jugum atiis imponitis , folo fanguine excepto. At 
 
 UBI, PRO VOTO RERUM FOT1MINI ET POPULQRUM RECTORUM- 
 ftUE VOLUNTATES AD NUTUM VESTRUM HABETIS, IBI EXTREMA 
 OMNIA TENTARE ET SANGUINEM K .qERETICORUM EFfUNDERE 
 GLORIOSUM ZELUM DUCITIS 3 PLANE UT ALTERUTRUM NE- 
 CESSE SIT FIERI, AUT MARTYRES VOS ESSE AUT FACERE. ReC- 
 
 te Seneca " Multorum, quia imbecilla funt, latent vitia, non 
 minus aufura, cum illis vires fuse placuerint." Vid. Epifcop. 
 op. torn. ii. Apol. pro Confeff. Remonft. p. 241 . 
 
 Q 4 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 but it by no means lays fuch a bias on the will as 
 prevents us from doing^evil. It ftrengthens the na- 
 tural capacity, but without annulling our moral re- 
 fponfibility; which it would do if it abolifhed our 
 capacity to difobey. It increafes the power to refill 
 temptation ; but it does not hinder us from being 
 tempted. It kindles a flronger third after holinefs; 
 but it does not clofe up every avenue through which 
 unrighteoufnefs may (leal into our hearts. In fact, 
 grace by no means alters our prefent ftate of trial, 
 though it infpires us with fortitude to combat its 
 dangers, and minifters confolation to its forrows. It 
 accelerates our progrefs in goodnefs and happinefs, 
 without fuperfeding the voluntary powers of the 
 individual. 
 
 31. That grace, inftead of controuling the will, 
 is fubject to its fway, is the undoubted doctrine of 
 fcripture. For even the extraordinary gifts of the 
 holy Spirit, which were imparted to Chriftians of 
 the apoftolic age, were fubject to the will of the 
 individual j or St. Paul would not otherwife have 
 recommended their fober ufe, or have reprehended 
 their vain-glorious, idle, and oftentatious exhibition. 
 See 1 Cor. xii. xiv. And indeed our Lord intimates 
 that many who had prcphefied*, caft out devils, and 
 done mqny wonderful works, would yet be rejected at 
 
 * The fpirit of the prophets are fubject to the prophets. 
 1 Cor. xiv. 32. 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 the loft day> becaufe they had worked iniquity. See 
 Matt. vii. 22, 23. Thefe had tailed the heavenly 
 gift, but had made an improper ufe of it *. 
 
 32. If the extraordinary gifts of the holy Spirit 
 were fubject to the will, and liable to abufe, we can- 
 not fuppofe that the ordinary operations are inde- 
 pendent of our volition. Grace, therefore, is a 
 power vouchfafed to us in order to be improved by 
 exercife, and ftrengthened by ufe. To this purpofe, 
 St. Paul fays, " the manifeftation of the fpirit is given 
 us to profit withal" All our phyfical faculties are 
 made capable of improvement, and their improve- 
 ment depends on their proper application. The 
 various faculties of our bodies and our minds are 
 capable of being invigorated by exercife. The ana- 
 logies of nature, independent of the exprefs autho- 
 
 * A fimilar remark is made on Matt. vii. 22, 23, by arch- 
 bifliop Newcome in his revifed translation of the New Cove- 
 nant, printed at Dublin in 2 vols. 8vo. 1796, for J. Johnfon, 
 London. I ftrenuoufly recommend the perufal of this excel- 
 lent work, by the late learned primate of Armagh. Dr. New- 
 come has made many improvements, and corrected many de- 
 fects in the old vernon; and he has followed the text of Grief- 
 bach. The notes are very fenfible and judicious ; the ignorant 
 will rind them inftruetive, and the learned fatisfadkny. Gra- 
 titude will not lufFer me to refrain from adding, that I owe 
 the poffemon of this work, and many other favours, to the kind- 
 nefs of a Nobleman who has few equals among the great, many 
 inferiors among the learned, and no fuperior among the good. 
 
\ 
 
 ( £02 ) 
 
 nty of icripture, leads us to conclude that grace is a 
 poiTeffion which we may either ufe or abuie; and 
 which, if it be not improved, will be withdrawn. 
 It is not a candle that is to be hid under a bufhel, or 
 a talent that is to be laid up in a napkin. It b to 
 be vigoroufly exercifed, and applied to thofe great 
 moral ends, to which the Creator led it to be fub- 
 
 fervie:>:t. St. Paul tells the Ephefians " to grieve not 
 the holy Spirit" Eph. iv. 30. the Theilalonians u not 
 to quench the Spirit ," T hell. v. 19. and he enjoins 
 timothy to ftir up the free gift of Gcd" Hence it 
 clearly appears that grace is to be ufed ; and that it 
 is fubmitted to the government of our reafonablc 
 faculties. 
 
 23> If it be afked, how is grace to be ufed P we 
 may reply that it is a moral power to be directed to 
 moral ends; and that, infxead of difcharging us from 
 a fingle moral obligation, it is bellowed that we may 
 fulfil thofe obligations with greater facility. It is fhed 
 on the foul, that we may make a continual progrefs in 
 habits of juftice, of mercy, and of truth. And the 
 more we excrcife, or, in the language of fcripture, 
 fiir up this divine gift of God> the more will its energy 
 be increaied. 
 
 34. One meafure of grace, rightly ufed, will bring 
 us another. One temptation combated and van- 
 quished, brings flrength to refill a (tronger; till, by 
 degrees, the habit is formed, and the fiercell afTaults 
 
 1 
 
( 203 ) 
 
 of the adverfary are derided. In the parable of the 
 talents, which refers to fpiritual as well as natural 
 gifts, and for the application of which God will cer- 
 tainly hereafter reckon vnth us, it is plainly intimated 
 that thofe talents, which, by vigilance and induftry, 
 we turn to a good account, will produce other talents ; 
 while the neglect of them will occafion our condem- 
 nation. To him who hath, to him fhall be given; 
 and from him that hath not, (hall be taken away even 
 that which he hath. 
 
 35. The fanatics will fay that grace of itfelf, and 
 without any co-operation of our will or natural fa- 
 culties, enables us to perform our moral duties, and 
 to become wife unto falvation. That this is not 
 the cafe, we may learn from this, that fome of the 
 firft Chriftians, to whom the grace of God was 
 vouchfafed in a far fuperior degree than to Chriilians 
 of the prefent age, were not free from immorality. 
 And the reafon was, that they abujed the talent that 
 was given them. The manifeftation of the fpirit was 
 given them to profit withal; but they did not profit 
 by it ; becauje their moral powers were ?iot exercifed in 
 a way conformable to reafon, and agreeable to the will 
 of God, Grace was vouchfafed to them in order to 
 invigorate their natural capacity to difcern good 
 from evil; or their natural power to choofe the one 
 in preference to the other ; but, by not duly exerting 
 the faculty they pofTefTed, they abufed the divine 
 gift which they had received. They fowed to the 
 
C a©4 ) 
 
 flefh inftead of the fpirit. They neglected the power 
 that was in them. They yielded to the lufts which 
 they fliould have combated and fubduedj and they 
 worked iniquity when they might have praclifed 
 godlinefs. 
 
 36. That grace, without the free cooperation of 
 thole moral powers by which we difcern good from 
 evil, does not enable us to perform our moral obli- 
 gations, we may learn from the conftant, uniform, 
 and energetic addreffes of St. Paul, to thole whom, 
 though they pofTeffed the extraordinary gifts of the 
 ipirit, he did not ceafe to exhort to do the will of 
 God. He urges them to put azvay lying* not to 
 give place to the devil; to let no corrupt communication 
 proceed out of their mouths ; to put away all bitternefs> 
 wrath, and anger, and clamour } and evil -f peaking, ivitb 
 all malice -, to be kind unto one another, tender -hear ted: 
 all which exhortations would have been vain and 
 fuperfluous, and indeed a reflection on God, if the 
 gifts of his holy Spiiit were as independent on the 
 will, as the fanatics, and particularly thofe among 
 them who pafs under the name of Calviniils, main- 
 tain, and have long maintained. For, in this cafe, 
 thofe who pofTciTcd thefe gifts would have performed 
 thefe obligations, as if by a mechanical necefiity, 
 without any injunction from the apotile. But that 
 the grace which was fhed abroad even in this age 
 did not operate by necelTity, or work its effects by 
 the fubjugation of the will, is fully proved by his 
 
C 205 ) 
 
 earned intreatirs to the Chriftians then living, not 
 
 to quench the fpirit which they had received, but 
 
 to ufe it to profit withal ; and by the examples of 
 
 thofe, who, inftead of thus ufing it, either hid the 
 
 light, with which they had been favoured, under a 
 
 buihel, or abufed it to their own dtflruclion. Kence 
 
 it is plain, that grace alone is not dcilgned by God 
 
 to deliver us from the power cf temptation, or to 
 
 prevent the intrufion of evil into our fouls; and that 
 
 our will mud co-operate with the grace which is 
 
 given i for if grace operated on the foul in any other 
 
 way, it would take us out of a (late of moral refpon- 
 
 fibility for our conduct. It wculd put an end to 
 
 that (late of trial and probation, in which the fcrip- 
 
 ture univerfally fuppofes us to be placed ; and from 
 
 which, it will be found, that the influence of grace 
 
 does not deliver us. God will judge us according 
 
 to our works ; but if God overruled our actions by 
 
 any principle which we could not refill, he would 
 
 be the author of our actions; and then, how could 
 
 it be affirmed by the apofiie, that, every man JJjall 
 
 bear his own burden; and that, wbatfoeroer a manfow- 
 
 eth> that Jh all he alfo reap. Gal. vi. 5. 7. 
 
 37. But fome will go to fuch lengths of blaf- 
 phemy, as to aflert that grace is a fpecial exemption 
 from moral obligations. Perverting to the word of 
 purpofes, this declaration of the apoftle, that we are 
 not under the law, but under grace ; they make the 
 ignorant believe, that grace fuperfedes the import- 
 
( MB ) 
 
 ance, and annuls the neceuity of practical obedience. 
 They make grace a cloak for licentioufnefs •, to work 
 all iniquity with greedinefs. They do not confider 
 that St. Paul is not here fpeaking of the moral law, 
 but of the ritual; which grace, or the gofpel, which 
 is the grace of God, abolifhed. The moral law ex- 
 ifted in the will of God before the foundations of 
 the earth were laid ; and it will certainly continue 
 till the heavens are rolled up like a fcroil, and the 
 elements (hall melt with fervent heat. 
 
 38. Fie who is under grace, that is, whofe life is 
 a teftimony to the truth, and whofe conduct is a 
 glorious manifeftation of the power of righteoufnefs, 
 is fo far not under the moral law, as that he is not 
 fubjecl: to its condemnation ; for againfl righteoufnefs 
 there is no law ; but he is, and muft for ever be under 
 that law, fo far as he is not exempted from its obli- 
 gations. For, between being free from the con- 
 demnation of the moral law, and being releafed from 
 obedience to it, there is a wide difference. A man 
 may be free from the penalties of injuftice, but can 
 never be privileged from the duties of jufcice; he 
 may, by his good life and conduct, not be obnoxious 
 to civil punifhment ; but he cannot, therefore, be 
 exempted from the prohibition to Heal or to flay. 
 
 39. Thofe who are led by the fpirit are not 
 under the law, Gal. v. i3. and why? becaufe they 
 walk in the fpirit ; becaufe their faith worketb by love-, 
 
( soy ) . 
 
 &nd they do not fulfil the lufis of the fiejh. They arc 
 not guilty of " adultery, fornication, uncleannefs, 
 lafcivioufnefs, idolatry, hatred, variance, emulation, 
 wrath, ftrife, feditions, herefies, envyings, murders, 
 drunkennefs, revellings, and fuch like ;" which are 
 exprefsly excluded from the kingdom of God : but 
 they {how forth the fruits of the fpirit, in love, joy, 
 peace, long- faltering, gentlenefs, goodnefs, truth, 
 meeknefs, temperance, againft which there is no law. 
 Thus grace does not exonerate us from fabjection 
 to the law, from the terror which it infpires, and the 
 penalties it denounces, only fo far as it gives us 
 flrength to lead a more holy life, and to do ihoje 
 things which no law condemns. 
 
 \ • 
 
 40. But if, inftead of ufing the grace that is given 
 
 us to profit withal, we ufe it only for a cloak of 
 licentioufnefs, and not as a help to our progrefs in 
 goodnefs, then we fall from grace given; we lapfe 
 into fin ; and the law, from whofe rigorous fentence, 
 grace, rightly ufed, would have delivered us, feals 
 our condemnation. Graceas given us to fow to the 
 fpirit; that our hearts may yield the fruits of right* 
 eoufnefs and true holinefs, whofe end is everlafting 
 life; and to extirpate thefe vicious habits, and that 
 moral corruption, whofe confequence will be mifery 
 and torment. 
 
 41. The gofpel, as oppofed to the law, is a voice 
 of glad tidings ; a covenant of favour : the law, as 
 
( aoS ) 
 
 oppofed to the gofpel, is 3 fyftem of implacable fe- 
 verity; it denounces death on the tranfgrefibr, and 
 without any promife of mercy to the penitent. But 
 grace comes with healing in its wings; not abolifbing* 
 but ejiablijhing the law, while it moderates its rigour 
 and mitigates its penalties. Grace does not grant 
 an exemption from any of the duties which the law 
 requires; but, by helping our infirmities, it gives 
 ftrength for their performance ; while, by more 
 powerful motives, more awful fanctions, and more 
 interefting perfuafions, it infpires zeal to do thoje things 
 again ft which there is no law. Under the law we are 
 flrictly prohibited from doing evil; but, under grace, 
 we are excited to do good; the law ordains juftice; 
 grace infpires charity ^ which is the bond of perfedt- 
 nefs. ColoiT. iii. 14. The law inculcates duty from 
 motives of fear; but grace from thofe of love. 
 
 42. The law is inflexible; it demands unerring 
 obedience; but grace is mild and flexible; it calls 
 for repentance when we have done amifs; and, 
 though it do not demand perfection, yet it will not 
 accept imperfection without fmcerity. Under the law 
 the finner had no pledge of fecurity in the day of 
 vengeance ; but, under grace, we have an advocate 
 with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous; and he 
 is the propitiation for our fins. Thus grace rather 
 eftablifhes than annuls the obligations of the law, 
 by affording us help to fulfil them ; and by temper- 
 ing juftice with mercy when we offend. Under the 
 
( 20 9 ) 
 
 law, every fin was utter deftruction ; but under grace 
 charity " is made" to cover a multitude of fins, i Pet. 
 iv. 8. Under the law, the end of the command- 
 ment was unvarying obedience ; but under grace, 
 the end of the commandment is charity out of a 
 pure heart, a good confcience, and faith unfeigned, 
 i Tim. L 5. 
 
 43. What then, in the language of St. Paul, mail 
 we fin, becaufe we are not under the law, but under 
 grace ? God forbid ! This cannot be ; becaufe when 
 we are admitted into covenant with God, by baptifm 
 and faith, we are fuppofed to be dead unto fin ; and 
 how fhall they, who are dead unto fin, live any longer 
 therein ? For we cannot, in the fcriptural fenfe of 
 the words, be dead unto fin, without becoming the 
 fervants of righteoufnefs. 
 
 44. The influence of the holy Spirit, which is 
 given to help our infirmities, is defigned to mortify 
 the deeds of the body; Rom.viii. 13. Gal. v. 16— 
 25. and it is by this means alone, that " the ipirit 
 of life in Chrift Jefus makes us free from the law 
 of fin and death 5" Rom. viii. 1. for there is cc no 
 condemnation to them who walk not after the flefh, 
 but after the fpirit." Rom. viii. 1. 
 
 45. The genuine energy of the fpirit, when fhed 
 on our hearts, infufed into our affections, and vigo- 
 roufly exercifed by the reafon and the confcience, 
 
 P 
 
( 210 ) 
 
 not only does not fuperfede, but eftablifhes the ne- 
 cefiitv of moral ri^hteoufnefs. For St. Paul uni- 
 formly fuppofes a Mate of grace to be a {late in which 
 the appetites and paflions are kept in a due fubjeclion; 
 and in which thofe qualities are acquired, which our 
 Lord To uniformly difplayed in his life, and fo ear- 
 neflly inculcated in his doctrine. A (late of grace, 
 therefore, when grace is rightly applied, mud al- 
 ways BE A PROGRESSIVE STATE OF RIGHTEOUSN V SS J 
 
 for the right and wife ufe of one portion of the divine 
 favour brings another, and enables us to keep the 
 moral law perfected by the fovereign excellence of 
 Chriftian charity. 
 
 46. It muft not, indeed, be fuppofed, but that 
 thofe who are under grace, will occafionally violate 
 the law. The mod righteous will fometimes offend. 
 But the tranfgre (lions of thofe, who are really in a 
 ftate of grace, — of grace not quenched but flirred 
 up, will never be marked by any flagrant violation 
 of the greater, or by any habitual deviation from the 
 fmaller commandments. In many things they may 
 and will offend; on many occafions mortal infirmity 
 will be vifible in their conduct. ; but notwithstanding 
 their accidental lapfes, the general tenor of their lives 
 will prove, that they are, really, dead unto fin, and alive 
 unto right eoufnefs. 
 
 47. It is not by fome occafional mifdoings that 
 we are to pafs fentence on any man. Habits of 
 
( 2" ) 
 
 rlghteoufnefs, like habits of fin, are not fo uniform 
 as to admit of no tranfient variations. A drunkard 
 may be accidentally fober; and a fober man may be 
 accidentally drunk. But when we eftimate the 
 worth of the human character, we are not to form 
 our calculations on the conduct of one (ingle day, 
 but are to take the average of many days and years, 
 and lee what proportion a man's violation of his 
 duty bears to its performance; his virtues to his 
 vices ; or his fins to his righteoufnefs. In many 
 things we offend all : it is the condition of our im- 
 perfect nature, placed in a ftate of arduous trial, and 
 conftantly affailed by numberlefs temptations; but a 
 few occafional offences, a few venial and tranfient 
 errors, will not countervail the merits of a life de- 
 voted unto righteoufnefs. 
 
 48. For the occafional mifdoings of the righteous, 
 the covenant of grace, lefs ftern and unbending than 
 that of the law, offers many means of reparation; 
 for, demanding fincere rather than finlefs obedience, 
 it promifes forgivenefs to the contrite; and it fets no 
 limits to the difpenfations of its mercy. It does not 
 fay that pardon can be obtained only feven times; 
 it rather fays feventy times feven. Did not the co- 
 venant of grace thus overflow with mercy, our hopes 
 of falvation would be precarious indeed ; for even of 
 thofe who have tafted the heavenly gift, how few 
 ever lay down their heads at night without having 
 fome little fins of omiflion, if not of commiflion, to 
 
 P % 
 
( 212 ) 
 
 remember? But thofe, whofe faith is frefti, vivid, 
 and active, and on whofe fouls grace has been fhed, 
 and not fhed in vain, will no fooner feel a confcioui- 
 nefs of having offended, than remorfe, hearty and 
 unfeigned, will expiate the offence. And though 
 the righteous may fall into fins of infirmity, they 
 will efcape the fnare of thofe tranfgrcfiions which 
 indicate malignity of difpofition, in which malice 
 meditates deliberate revenge, or the conlcience is 
 feared againft the obligations of truth, of juftice, 
 and of charity. 
 
 49. We are expofed on all fides to fo many 
 temptations, that it is lefs to be wondered that the 
 righteous fhould fometimes be vanquifhed, than that 
 they fhould fo often conquer. The only genuine 
 criterion of righteoufnefs is a power to refifr, tempta- 
 tion; and the greater and more numerous the tempta- 
 tions we refift, the greater the degree of our obe- 
 dience. The increafing power of conquering tempta- 
 tion, is a token that our fuith is increafing, and that 
 we are grczving in grace. 
 
 50. Mod fins fpring from fome temptation af- 
 fented to by the will; as moil acts of real righteouf- 
 nefs fpring from fome temptation oppofed and over- 
 come by the will, aflifted by the favour of God. 
 Temptations fugged motives of action oppofite to 
 righteoufnefs, and contrary to the will of God ; and 
 they place before us motives to do evil, in order to 
 
( 2IJ ) 
 
 counteract our inclination to do good. As, during 
 our (lay on earth, we are continually expofed to 
 their influence, our Lord enjoined us continually to 
 watch and pray that we enter not into temptation, 
 
 51. As our moral trial is made up of a variety of 
 temptations from within and from without, acting on 
 our fenfes, our thoughts, and affections, produced by 
 the objects around us, or excited by the force of ima- 
 gination, it behoves us to be conftantly aware of our 
 danger, and to be on our guard againft the enemy. 
 It behoves us to beware of our danger, that we may 
 not be furprifed ; that a fenfe of duty may be always 
 prefent to our confcience ; and that we may have 
 grace to help in time of need, 
 
 52. Men are too apt to defpife temptations; and 
 confequently, to put themfelves in their way, when 
 they ought to get out of it; or to folicit their admif- 
 fion when they ought to fecure every avenue of the 
 heart againft their entrance. It is thus that they 
 fall, by thinking themfelves fafe ; and that they are 
 furprifed, by taking no precaution againft their dan- 
 ger. We ought conftantly to remember, what we 
 too conftantly forget, and what none forget fo much 
 as thofe who believe, or pretend to believe in the 
 innate corruption of mankind, that we are here in 
 a ftate of probation, and on our trial for eternity, 
 
 53. He who had on the morrow to ftand at the 
 
( 2I 4 ) 
 
 bar of a human tribunal, would not neglect the 
 means of his defence, and the proofs of his integrity. 
 And while we are living, ready, every moment, to 
 be called hence to anAver for the talents committed 
 to our trufT, fhall we wafte the time in apathy and 
 inaction ? Shall we not guard againft temptation; 
 and do thofe things, which, for Chrift's fake, will 
 appear pleafing in the fight of God, when he fum- 
 mons us to judgment ? 
 
 54. A Mate of life, like ours, in which we are 
 made accountable for our actions, mud:, necefia.ily, 
 be a (late of tempation ; a flate, in which different 
 motives urge us to actions that have very different 
 tendencies and effects. Without this conflict of 
 motives and of interefts in our hearts, there would 
 be no morality in human actions j for without fome 
 inclinations to good as well as to evil, and to evil 
 as well as to good, we could not be moral agents; 
 and it is the right choice between good and evil, 
 or the cheriflrng and exercifing the inclination to 
 one, and counteracting and refilling that to the 
 other, in which the principle of moral rectitude 
 refides. 
 
 55. The perfection of moral rectitude confifts in 
 fo regulating our pafiions and purfuits in life, as to 
 choofe that which is mod fitted to our own indi- 
 vidual good, as we are fentient and reafonable be- 
 ings; to the good of others, as we are focial beings; 
 
( its ) 
 
 and to the will of God, as we are religious beings. 
 That, therefore, is morality, pure and undeflled, 
 which teaches us to connect our own good with the 
 good of others, and with the will of God. As we 
 are fentient beings, accefllble to the varied influences 
 of pleafure and pain, and as the love of life, or the 
 principle of fclf-prefervation is clofely incorporated 
 in our frame, we cannot help making what we call 
 Jelf a part in mod of our confiderations refpe&ing 
 the end and tendencies of our conduct. As we are 
 focial beings, we pofTefs various fympathies which 
 tend to diminim our felf-love, and to connect our 
 intereft with the intereft of others : and as we are 
 reafonable beings, not governed merely by inftinct, 
 or the force of fenfation, we are to prove that our 
 own individual good is increaled by being fhared, 
 and multiplied by being divided. And as we are 
 religious beings, for man is fo conftituted that reli- 
 gion is an effential part of his nature, and the only 
 folid groundwork on which he can reft his happi- 
 nefs ; and particularly as we are beings, to whom 
 the light of revelation has made known the duties 
 of true religion, we cannot feparate the confidera- 
 tion of the good which we do to others, or contri- 
 bute to fociety, from the will of God; for what his 
 will decrees, mud be our good; and what it forbids, 
 our bane ; both as we (land in relation to ourfelves, 
 or as we form part of a large community. 
 
 56. As we cannot fuppofe that God would have 
 
 P-4 
 
( 216 ) 
 
 enjoined any thing contrary to out real intereft, as 
 we are fentient and reafonable, or focial and reli- 
 gious bein^Sj it follows that pure morality confitls 
 in doing his will, as that will has been made known 
 to us, without (laying fcrupuloufly to calculate how 
 much fuch obedience may conduce to our own im- 
 mediate advantage, or to the advantage of others ; 
 becaufe, as God is infinitely wife and good, he cannot 
 have appointed laws for our conducl, of which the ob- 
 servance is not relative to our own good, and the good 
 of others. 
 
 57. Pure morality then confifls in doing God's 
 will; but here is our mifery, that we are often 
 powerfully tempted not to do it, and that various 
 caufes confpire to make us violate it. Though a 
 comprehenfive confederation of the fubject might 
 prove obedience to the will of God to be our pre- 
 fent intereft identified with our future, yet, expofed 
 as we are, to the fudden impulfes and violent agita- 
 tions of luft and paflion, we cannot wait the refult 
 of fuch calculations. 
 
 58. Lulls and pafiions are incorporated in the 
 frame of man, as antagonifls to his reafon and his 
 confeience; that they may afford opportunity for 
 reafon to exercife its flrength, and for confeience to 
 druggie againfl the enemy that oppofes it. In the 
 frame of man, fenfation is often at variance with 
 reafon -, and appetite with confeience. Reafon calls 
 
( 2i 7 ) 
 
 for felf-denial; fenfation demands felf indulgence. 
 Senfation regards merely the prefent; reafon looks 
 to the future. The one is the fkfh luftihg againft 
 the fpirit; the other the fpirit lufting againft the 
 flefti ; the one is the animal, the other the moral 
 part of man ; and thcfe two are, for wife reafcns, and 
 in order to inftrutl man in the difficult art of f elf- 
 government , for which no room could other-wife have 
 been afforded, made often contrary the one to the other. 
 
 59. By refitting his pafiions, which call for im- 
 mediate gratification, and controuling his feniuil pro- 
 penfities, man is trained up to habits of obedience, 
 and fitted for a better (late, in which, fenfe and luft 
 will have no fway. The lufts and paffions of men 
 (the flefh warring againft the fpirit, ftir up their will 
 againft the will of God. Intended to be a fubor- 
 dinate part of our nature, and to find exercifc for 
 our moral powers, they often become, through the 
 neglect of a reafonable fclf government, thedefpots, 
 to whofe influence we yield, and under whofe flavery 
 we crouch. They keep the little ftate of man in a 
 perpetual commotion. If they are not governed, 
 they foon govern. They fix in the very core of the 
 heart the ftandard of rebellion againft heaven. A 
 conftant watchfulnefs is necefTary to keep them in 
 fubjecYion. Our fenfe of duty ihouid be always 
 burning; it is the oil, which fhould never be want- 
 ing in the lamp of conference s and it is that oil, 
 
( 218 ) 
 
 which we cannot borrow of others, but muft pro- 
 vide for ourfelves. 
 
 60. A fenfe of duty, fuch as will enable us to 
 quell the tumult of our lufts and pafiions, of our 
 irregular defnes and our inordinate appetites, mud 
 not be only a cold faint belief that Chriftianity is a 
 true religion; a belief that will not banifh one evil 
 thought, or quench one unruly defire, but it muft 
 be a conviction operating on the mind, and a per- 
 fuafion warming the heart; whofe united ftrength 
 will, in fome meafure, bring the future and the pre- 
 fent into contact ; that will identify the intereft of 
 eternity with that of time; and make the law of the 
 Lord our ftudy and delight, our glory and our hap- 
 pinefs. A fenfe of duty, compounded of a con- 
 viction fo rational, and a perfuafion fo affectionate, 
 can alone diffolve that forcery which the flefh ex- 
 ercifes over the confeience, and arm the moral prin- 
 ciple with ftrength to combat the attacks and to 
 moderate the rage of fenfual defire. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 The praclice of Repentance plainly and affectionately 
 
 recommended. 
 
 i.JljLow little do we know onrfelves! how feldom 
 do we meditate on the nature or the number of 
 our fins ! We no fooner tranfgrefs fome law of God, 
 than we feek excufes to palliate the offence 3 and if 
 confcience upbraid us we call in fophiftry to footh 
 the pang. Thus we pracliie the groiTeft dim*mula- 
 tion, even upon our own hearts. 
 
 2. Few are they who do not know their duty; few 
 are they who cannot diftinguifh juftice from injus- 
 tice, truth from falfehood, humanity from cruelty. 
 But, though we cannot plead want of knowledge, 
 how feldom do we act on the knowledge we poffefs? 
 Intent on the pleafures of fin, we blind our eyes to 
 the danger of finning. We rufh toward the brink 
 of ruin, confcious, but carelefs, whither we are goingc 
 O ftrange infatuation ! 
 
( 120 ) 
 
 3. Sin is, in the firft place, a violation of the 
 moral law. Chriftians cannot pretend ignorance of 
 that law, for it is not only imprinted on their con- 
 ferences, but is clearly, diftinctly, and authoritatively 
 made known to them by revelation ; and, as our 
 Saviour declared, though heaven and earth fhall be 
 diffblved, not a tittle of it fhall ever pafs away. The 
 doctrine of Chrift is the eternal wifdom of the moral 
 law, enforced with the higheft fanctions, and pro- 
 pofed to our obedience on the pain of damnation. 
 Whenever we fin againft any of the precepts of 
 Chrift, we fin againft the moral law; and we cannot 
 trefpafs againft any part of the moral law, without 
 offending againft fome exprefs and revealed rule of 
 the gofpeL The moment, therefore, we have vio- 
 lated any one duty of truth, juftice, and humanity, 
 or any one faying of the perfect law of Chrift, that 
 moment we are polluted with guilt; and, without 
 repentance, obnoxious to punifhment. Then we 
 have need of forgivenefs; then we ought to exclaim 
 with the publican in the parable, " Lord have mercy 
 upon me a finner [" 
 
 a. We ought frequently to meditate on the good 
 and perfect law of God, that we may know how 
 oft we offend, We ought never to lay down our 
 heads on our pillow at night, without reflecting on 
 our tranfgre Prions in the day. We ought, every 
 night, to try and examine our thoughts, words, and 
 actions, that we may know how far they have been 
 
( 111 ) 
 
 regulated according to the rules of the gofpel. Wc 
 ought to fay to ourfelves, have I tranfgreiTed this 
 day in thought, word, or deed ? and what was the 
 nature, and what were the circumftances of my tranf- 
 greflion ? Let us put thefe queftions to our own 
 hearts, that we may diftinclly fee what we have done 
 amifs. This practice would aid our piety, and haiten 
 our improvement. It would teach us to be on our 
 guard againft fin, and to know ourfelves. St. Paul 
 fays, " let not the fun go down upon your wrath ;" 
 and, doubtlefs, we mall mod effectually confult our 
 prefent, and provide for our future happinefs, if we 
 do not fuffer the night to end and the morning to 
 dawn, while we have one fin, unrepented of, hanging 
 on our fouls. 
 
 5. Men are prone to forget their tranfgreffions ; 
 they fin day after day without thinking of their fins, 
 or being aware of their danger; and they, perhaps, 
 continue this practice for many years, till they have 
 committed innumerable trefpalTes, which they have 
 forgotten, but which God will remember. Fie will 
 bring to light the hidden things of darknefs, and 
 difclofe to the trembling and impenitent culprit, the 
 evil of all his days that are pad ! How much then 
 does it behove us to repent while we know what 
 we have to repent of; and not to poftpone this moft 
 important duty, till our fins have become more in 
 number than the hairs o( our heads, and our ini- 
 
( 212 ) 
 
 quities have accumulated till we know not their 
 amount ? 
 
 6. It is always dangerous, even in our worldly 
 concerns, to run in arrears with time. It is always 
 dangerous to put off till the morrow what ought to 
 be done to day. Much more dangerous is it, in 
 our fpiritual affairs, to run in debt with time, and to 
 defer the work of our falvation, which it is perilous 
 in the extreme to begin late, and which can never 
 be begun too foon. Let us not attempt to veil our 
 danger under the cover of that felf impofture, which 
 caufes us to miftake the fictions of hope for a rock 
 of fafetyl The impenitent fmner can never be fdfe. 
 He is always Handing on the brink of the gulph of 
 perdition ; and he may be plunged into it in a mo- 
 ment ! In a moment he may pafs into that ftate, 
 where repentance will be impoffible, and tears will 
 be fried in vain. 
 
 7. Repentance, it is to be feared, is ufually begun 
 too late ! People tamper with their foul's everlafting 
 welfare. There are, perhaps, few perfons, however 
 profligate, who do not flatter themfelves with fome 
 hope of improvement. They fix on fome ima- 
 ginary period, in which they refolve to carry it into 
 effc6l j but this period no fooner arrives than it is 
 found inconvenient) and the great work is deferred to 
 fome period ftill more diftant; and is thus fuccef. 
 
( 223 ) 
 
 fively poftponed from time to time, till life has 
 ebbed away ! 
 
 8. Some are fo improvident of their future hap- 
 pinefs, as to imagine that it will be time enough to 
 repent, when their hairs are grey with age, or fome 
 dangerous ficknefs indicates their approaching diflb- 
 lution. But, alas ! how vain and deceitful are thefe 
 expectations ! Few live to grow old, compared to 
 the many who perifh in their prime. On a reafon- 
 able calculation of the value of life, there is nor, 
 perhaps, more than one perfon in ten, who attains 
 his feventieth year. Many are cut off in their in- 
 fancy; fome in the flower of youth; others in the 
 vigour of manhood ; and how many are there whofe 
 end is fudden and unexpected ? Thefe confederations 
 fhew the neceffity of beginning our repentance to- 
 day, while it is called to day, and not putting it off 
 to the night, when no man can work* 
 
 9. Repentance, begun late, is likely to be in- 
 effectual. If we furfer habits of fin to grow with 
 our growth, and to flrengthen with our ftrength, 
 they will become, as it were, incorporated in our 
 nature, and our exertions to eradicate them muft be 
 vain. We may, perhaps, imagine that the divine 
 favour will affift us in this arduous undertaking; 
 but we have no reafon to expect that affiflance. \£ 
 we have led lives, entirely repugnant to our fenfe of 
 right and wrong, and to the laws of the religion we 
 
C 22 4 ) 
 
 profcfs; if we have (lighted the words of eternal life 
 in that period when we had health and ftrengthi and 
 all our faculties were in their full vigour, can we 
 think that God will be thus gracious when we re- 
 pent becaufe we can fin no longer ? Let us not in- 
 dulge fuch treacherous expectations. I do not, in- 
 deed, fay that a death- bed repentance was never fin- 
 cere, or never accepted ; but this I fay, that it is 
 always unfafe, and feldoni practicable. The fcrip- 
 tare, by no means, encourages us in trufting to fb 
 precarious a flay. It tells us to be wile in time. 
 It tells us to watch and pray; and fufFcr nothing to 
 put us off our guard againft the enemy of our fouls. 
 
 10. Some fmners aflurfte a falfc confidence from 
 the example of the thief upon the crofs, who was 
 forgiven when in the agonies of death. But his 
 example holds out little encouragement to Chriftians 
 at the prefent day. We are initiated into the church 
 of Chrifl: foon after we are born; and who among 
 us can plead ignorance, unlefs it be a perverfe and 
 wilful ignorance of the truth, and the duties of Chrif- 
 tianity? To us Chrifl is known; to us he is preached ; 
 to us the words of immortality are proclaimed; and 
 it is our own fault if we have eyes, and fee not ; ears, 
 and hear not ; and do not make a wife and timely 
 application of the knowledge we pcfTefs. The poor 
 malefactor on the crofs had probably but one op- 
 portunity of knowing Jeius, or at lead, of being 
 convinced of his divine character ; but he did not 
 
( 225 ) 
 fuffer that opportunity to efcape: he made an inftant 
 and laving ufe of it ; his heart was pierced with con- 
 trition i he implored pardon ; and obtained the par- 
 don he implored *. But in what a different fitua- 
 
 * As this pafTage in Luke xxiit. 3Q — 43, is frequently rnif- 
 underftood, and encourages many in truiling, more than they 
 ought, to a death-bed repentance, I {hall give the whole paf- 
 fage in Dr. Clarke's admirable paraphrafe. " One of the rob- 
 bers alfo, that were crucified with him, being a man of a def- 
 perate and incorrigible temper, not duly fenfible of the great- 
 nefs of his own crimes, nor confidering the tokens which jefus 
 gave, in his whole behaviour, of his being an innocent and 
 holy perfon, faid to him, in a difcontented and fullen manner, 
 If you be the Messiah, ivhy do you not refcue yourfelf and us? 
 But the other, being of a meek and penitent difpofition, truly 
 fenfible of the greatnefs of his own crime, and of the juftice 
 of his puniihment 3 and, obferving at the fame time, the ex- 
 traordinary marks which appeared in this whole tranfadtion, of 
 Jefus's being a very great and good man, fo that he became 
 fully convinced in his own mind that Jefus was indeed the 
 expected Mefjiah, he rebuked his companion, faying, How 
 can you be fo profane and impious, void of the fear of God, 
 and fo defperately infeniible of your own condition, as to in- 
 fult over a dying perfon, at the fame time that you yourfelf 
 are actually in the fame condemnation ? efpecially, when what 
 ive fuffer is only the juft puniihment of our crimes, and no 
 more than we deferve ; but this man does not appear guilty 
 of any fault at all. Then directing himfclf to Jefus, he faid, 
 Lord, I believe you to ba the Mc/Jiah- t and that, after all your 
 fufferings, God will exalt you to great glory and power j I 
 befeech you, when you come to be eftablimed in your king- 
 dom, remember me with thoughts of mercy and compaflion. 
 Jefus replied ; Verily, I tell you, this day thou fhalt be with 
 
( 126 ) 
 
 tion are we from this criminal ? How many oppor- 
 tunities have we of knowing Jefus; of attending to 
 his inftructions, and of keeping his fayings ! but, 
 how often do we flight thefe opportunities, and let 
 them glide by us like the waters of the brook ? 
 Alas ! this is the caufe of our ruin. We are not wife 
 in times we defpife the day before us, and let the 
 the fun of life let before we think that it is going 
 down. 
 
 ii. If we wilh to finifh that repentance, which 
 is not to be repented of, we muft begin it early. 
 Repentance, which imp' its a thorough converfion 
 unto holinefs, cannot be accomplifhed in an hour, 
 or a day, or any fhort time. It is a work of years; 
 and its operations are (low and gradual. As no man 
 becomes profligate in aninftant; fo no one becomes 
 righteous on a fudden. It is only by degrees, that 
 
 me in the ftnte of happy fouls departed." u Tis probable." 
 fays Dr. Clarke, " from the admonition mentioned in verfes 
 40, 41, that this robber had been brought to ferious confider- 
 ation and true repentance fome time before he came to exe- 
 cution ; and that having formerly heard of Chritt, and com- 
 paring what he now law with what he had before heard con- 
 cerning him, he was convinced of his being the true MeJJiaJi. 
 But, however that be, and whether he was a penitent before 
 his coming to execution, or not; 'tis certain his believing in 
 Chrtfi at this firjl opportunity, hears ?io fimUitiuh to the late re- 
 pentance of Chrijiians, zv/io 'have believed and dijbbcyed him all 
 
( 227 ) 
 
 the firmer is hardened in unrighteoufoefs ; and it is 
 only by degrees that he becomes righteous. Habits 
 of fin, and propenfities to evil, cannot be fubdued 
 without a long and laborious conflict. They drug- 
 gie againd fubjeclion > and even when thcy/eem ex- 
 tinguifhed, they will fome times rife, as it were, from 
 their afhes, and lead us captive at their pleafure. 
 Thus we fee in what a fatal delufion thofe perfons 
 are enfhared, who imagine that their converfion is 
 fudden and indantaneous j that they hear a divine 
 call 5 that they feel a celedial impulfej that they are 
 finners one minute, and righteous the next j that 
 this inftant they are in danger, and the next in fafety; 
 that this moment they tremble on the verge of hell, 
 and that the next they thrill with rapture in the hod 
 of heaven. Such grofs impofitions only ferve to 
 engender a faife fecurity, and to make thofe who 
 indulge them carelefs of their conduct, and utterly 
 negligent of all the great obligations of morality. 
 
 12. The penitent is never entirely fafe; he is 
 always in danger of falling ; and the tempter is ever 
 watching an opportunity to entangle him again in 
 the fnares from which he has efcaped. Thus, then, 
 even the righteous have occafion for abundant watch-* 
 fulnefs ; and much more occafion have thev, whofe 
 repentance is only begun, and not yet confirmed. 
 
 13. When the converfion of a finner firft com- 
 mences, there is a great inward druggie between his 
 
 Q^2 
 
( 218 ) 
 
 appetites, his pafilons, and his confcience ; till, by 
 flow degrees, he learns to refill temptations, and to 
 replace evil habits by habits of goodnefs. But, 
 if repentance be a work of time, if the converfion 
 of the (inner cannot, without the extraordinary grace 
 of God, be completed in an inftant, it is certainly a 
 itrong reafon, why none ought to put it off to a 
 diftant and uncertain period ; and much lefs ought 
 they to poftpone it, till the fand of life is almoft run 
 out. A death-bed repentance is not to be trufled to. 
 It is madnefs in any man to hazard his falvation on 
 fo perilous and defperate a venture. 
 
 14. And let us not forget, what too few remem- 
 ber, that repentance means not only forrow for fin, 
 but forrow producing newnefs of life. It means 
 contrition generating moral improvement. It means 
 a change from fin unto holinefs ; a recovery from 
 the fnares of the devil to the fervice of the living 
 God. That repentance is not fincere or faving, 
 where the heart and life are not changed. The re- 
 pentance of the drunkard is not fincere, unlefs it 
 make him foberj of the liar, unlefs it generate the 
 love of truth ; of the hard-hearted man, unlefs it 
 infpire humane affection ; of the covetous, unlefs it 
 extinguifh the luft of wealth; of the ambitious, 
 unlefs it kindle the fpirit of humility; of the frau- 
 dulent, unlefs it end in habits of plain-dealing; of 
 the" deceitful, unlefs it produce fincerity. 
 
( 229 ) 
 
 15. If that repentance be vain, which bringeth 
 not forth good fruits meet for repentance, we more 
 forcibly fee the extreme clanger of delaying it till 
 the clofe of life, when health and ftrength are gone, 
 and the foul is troubled with the fears of death. 
 At that period, when all the nobler faculties of our 
 nature are difordered, what reparation can we make 
 for a whole life of fin ? At that period, how can we 
 extirpate or reverfe thofe habits and affections which 
 we have cherifhed from our earlieit years ? 
 
 16. As the repentance of a fick man feldom lads 
 longer than the period of his ficknefs •, fo we have 
 too much reafon to apprehend that the repentance 
 of a dying man is feldom real and fincere; and that, 
 if his life were fpared, his fins would not ceafe. He 
 would again return to his old ways, and perfift in 
 his former tranfgreffions. 
 
 17. If we wifh to make our repentance effectual, 
 we ought not to truft to the uncertainties of the 
 future. We ought to begin the work of our falva- 
 tion to-day, while it is called to-day; as none of 
 us know how the day may end, or what the morrow 
 may bring forth. The prefent, that ineftimable 
 prefent, by which we fet fo little (tore, is the only 
 fafe and convenient feafon for repentance. Let us 
 then not wait till that feafon be over 1 Let us not 
 forget how ftiort and uncertain life is ! Let us not 
 
 CL3 
 
( 230 ) 
 
 forget the difficulty of correcting evil habits, when 
 they have been fuffered to grow rank by indulgence, 
 and to gather ftrength by age. Let us not fuffcr 
 one day after another to pafs by us, without reflect- 
 ing ferioufly whither we are going, and how great 
 will be our mifery if we perifh in our fins ! 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT Cx\NT. 
 
 'Temptations -, how to combat 3 and how to conquer. 
 
 l.JUiFE is a (late of trial; and, confequently, of 
 temptation. In the circumftances in which we are 
 placed, we find motives to very oppofite modes of 
 conduct. Temptations chiefly operate by oppofmg 
 the animal to the rational nature of man ; they arm 
 his appetites and paffions agamft his confcience. 
 Addretfing their perfuafions to our grofs fenfes, they 
 aflail us in that quarter in which we ufually make 
 the lead refiftance. Under the form of forne pre 
 fent good, or the attraclions of fome immediate 
 pleafure, they invite us to forego that conduct, which 
 is followed by no remorfe, and that intereil which is 
 more real, though it may be more remote. 
 
 2. Reafon and confcience are the great anta^o- 
 nifts, with which God has provided us, to combat 
 temptation. Would we but carefully cultivate our 
 
( 2ja ) 
 
 rational faculties, and our natural fenfe of right and 
 wrong, and which are fo capable of improvement, 
 no temptation would be able to bring us into fub- 
 jeclion. 1 he right exercife of our reafon will always 
 invigorate the feeling, and incline us to the practice 
 of cur duty. But if man, who pofleffes powers fitted 
 to exercife, and capable of exercifing a fovereign 
 iway over his inferior appetites, will neglecl: their 
 cultivation, or rebel againft their government, he 
 mud neceffarily become the flave of temptation, 
 and fall into fin and mifery. 
 
 3. When man does yield to the impulfes of 
 temptation, he can, juftly, blame no one but himfelf. 
 God places us in circumfUnces of temptation, in 
 order to prove our obedience, and to exercife our 
 reafon and our confcience ; but he never permits the 
 temptations which we meet with to be greater than 
 our ftrength, or able to overpower us without the 
 confent of our will. Did God place us in circum- 
 ftances of temptation greater than our power to 
 refill, or more than the right ufe of our reafon and 
 our confcience could conquer, he would be the au- 
 thor of our fins ; and man would by no means de- 
 ferve to be accountable for his actions, or punifh- 
 able for his offences. But the Father of fpirits deals 
 not fo cruelly and unreaibnably with his creatures. 
 He never fuffers our temptations to be greater than 
 our ftrength ; or, in fcriptural language, he never 
 tempts us above that we are able to bear. He does 
 
( *33 ) 
 
 not permit the perfuafions to do wrong to be natu- 
 rally ftronger than the power to do right. 
 
 4. Motives to vice are continually offering them- 
 felves to our minds, fuggefted by the pbjects around 
 us, the circumftances in which we are placed, or the 
 oftcn-ihifting fcene of our lives -, but thofe motives 
 are never fo powerful as that they cannot be refilled. 
 If we fuffer them to overcome us, it mult be by 
 our own free choice, and we are refponfible for the 
 delinquency. When God permits us to be tempted, 
 he always makes, with the temptation, a way to 
 efcape -, fo that we can never accufe him as the au- 
 thor of our mifconducl. He has given us arms, 
 with which to refift, and by which to fubdue every 
 temptation that may afTail us, through the infirmities 
 of the fiefh, or the circumftances of our condition. 
 
 5. Though the bleffed author of Chriftianity or- 
 dered us to make this one of our daily fuppiications, 
 <{ lead us not into temptation " we ought not to con- 
 flrue the petition as in the lead implying that God 
 ever does, or ever will fuffer any temptations to 
 occur, which we are too weak to refift, or too frail 
 to overcome. Such a notion of God is downright 
 blafphemy; and it is contrary to every idea which 
 we can form of his juftice and his goodnefs. But, 
 as we know that God, for wife and good purpofes, 
 hath defignedly placed us in a ftate of things which 
 offer frequent occafions of temptation, the peri- 
 
( *34 ) 
 
 tion Cf lead us not into temptation," muft be fup- 
 pofed to contain a fervent fupplication that, in all 
 thofe temptations in which his wifdom places us, or 
 permits us to be placed, he would give us intima- 
 tions of our danger, and place the obligations of 
 our duty fo ftrongly before our eyes, that we may 
 be prevented from violating it, not only by the ap- 
 prehenfions of fear, but by a vivid fenfe of intereft. 
 And when we pray thus to difcern our danger, and 
 thus to know and feel that our duty is our intereft, 
 we take the mod effectual method to imprefs the 
 faiutary perluaficn on our hearts. 
 
 6. If we duly confider the danger of fin, with the 
 great prefent, and the ineftimable future intereft, 
 which is connected with the performance of our 
 duty, the confederation is furely enough to make us 
 paufe before we liften to the fuggeftions of tempta- 
 tion, even when it offers itfelf under the mod fpe- 
 cious and infinuating appearance. Temptations ge- 
 nerally operate by the lure of fome prefent grati- 
 fication ; and it is thus, for the mod part, that they 
 prevail againft us. Did they promife only fome 
 future and diflant good or pleafure, we might have 
 due time to reflect on the danger of liftening to 
 them; confederation might come to. our aid; and 
 we might prefer ve our integrity. Eur, by offering 
 fome immediate advantage or enjoyment, they ufually 
 take us, as it were, by furprife. They deny leifure 
 for reflection ; they place themfelves within our 
 
( «3S ) 
 
 reach ; we think, that if we fufTer the opportunity 
 to efcape, it will no more return; and we inftantly 
 fwallow the bait without thinking on its pernicious 
 confequences. Thus the young and the old are 
 feduced into fin. They fee the prefent opportunity 
 of Tome finful gratification before them, and they 
 greedily fcize it without (laying to reflect how iilufory 
 it is, or how deftructive it may prove. Thus thou- 
 fands are led into a thoufand excefles and crimes; 
 excefTes, which fometimes cannot be repaired; and 
 crimes, which penitence itfelf can hardly wafh away. 
 Hence, do we not fee the great wifdom of Him 
 who had duly confidered the circumftances of our 
 prefent fituation, and our many occafions of falling, 
 in directing us to watch and pray, left we enter into 
 temptation ? By watching againft the deceitfulnefs of 
 iin, in prayer and fupplication, we are kept con- 
 ftantly on our guard ; and temptations cannot take 
 us unawares. If they do attempt our conlcience, 
 they find it a ftrong hold, fortified againft their ir- 
 ruption. They affail it when armed in the panoply 
 of devotion, and prepared to make a vigorous re- 
 finance. 
 
 7. When we are defired in fcripture to watch and 
 pray left we enter into temptations, the injunction 
 teaches us to be vigilant, and prepared againft their 
 ingrefs ; to adopt prudent meaiures of precaution 
 againft thsir open force, or their fecret wiles. We 
 
( 236 ) 
 
 are not fupinely to give them admifiion into our 
 hearts, and then imagine that we can (top their pro- 
 grefs, or prevent their victory. No, we are to (hut 
 the gates againtl them. It is too late to oppofe an 
 enemy when he is already pad the walls, hist >o 
 late to watch againfl temptations when they have 
 found an entrance into our breafls '.t is too late 
 to pray againfl their enchantments, when they have 
 polled themfelves in our affections. 
 
 8. The advice of our Lord, " pray that ye enter 
 not into temptation," is in exact conformity to that 
 petition which he enjoined, <c lead us not into temp- 
 tation ;" that is, he exhorts us to implore Him who 
 reads our thoughts, and knoweth whereof we are 
 made, to difpofe our hearts and minds to have fuch 
 a firm perfuafion of our duty, that we may not wil- 
 fully enter into temptation, or unwarily Juffer temptation 
 to enter into us. By often ufing this petition, and 
 fervently feeking help from God againfl the tempta- 
 tions of the world, we are kept conflantly on our 
 watch againfl their inroads. We are prepared to 
 ftruggle with them on their firfl approach, and to 
 extinguifh the fpark before it kindle into a flame. 
 As temptations are ufually bufy in working on the 
 imagination, and captivating the will by the allure- 
 ments of prefent pleafure ; prayer, by fanctifying 
 our hearts and invigorating our faith, enables us to 
 difcern that the pleasures of fin are fallacious as the 
 
( *37 ) 
 
 apples of Sodom *. Prayer animates and frefhens 
 our hopes of immortality, while it renders us lefs 
 fenfible to the fafcination of fenfual and fhort-lived 
 gratifications. It makes us fee injuftice, intempe- 
 rance, and lull, in all their real deformity and dan- 
 ger -, while it clothes juftice, temperance, and chaf- 
 tity, in all their native fimplicity and lovelinefs ; and 
 fhows them connected with lading fecurity and hap- 
 pinefs. 
 
 9. Though many temptations to which we are 
 fubject, evidently originate from thofe circumftances 
 in which God has placed us, yet it is probable, that 
 the principal part of them, and particularly thofe, 
 whofe venom is mod powerful, and whofe bite moft 
 mortal, originate more immediately from ourfelves. 
 St. James fays, " every man is tempted when he is 
 
 * " It (the country of Sodom) was of old a moft happy land, 
 both for the fruits it bore, and the riches of its cities, although 
 it be now all burnt up. It is related how, for the impiety of 
 its inhabitants, it was burnt by lightning j in confequence of 
 which there are ftill the remainders of that divine fire, and the 
 traces, or ihadows, of the five cities are ftill to be feen, as well 
 as the ajlies groiving in their fruits ; which fruits, if you pluck 
 them with your hands, they difiblve into fmoke and alhes. 
 And thus, what is related of this land of Sodom, hath thefe 
 marks of credibility, which our very fight affords us." See 
 Jofephus' Jewifli war, B. IV. C. viii. § 4. I quote from Whif- 
 ton's tranftation. 
 
( 23* ) 
 
 enfrired and allured by his own evil defire *." Evil 
 thoughts, whole prefence we invite, wh fe (lay we 
 folicit, and whofe numbers we cherifh, till they iwarm 
 into a legion of fiends, that fliut up every avenue to 
 the conference, feem the mod formidable emifiaries 
 o r temptation, and the principal caufes of our falling. 
 We th ; nk and ruminate on fin till it lofes its de- 
 formity, or till its mifhapen uglinefs appears grace 
 and beauty. 
 
 10. By indulging impure and unrighteous thoughts, 
 though only for a fhort time, they often become too 
 i ng to be refitted. They attract one another till 
 they rather into a hod, which the reafon cannot dif- 
 pe: fe, nor the confeience witnftand. Acting with a 
 fort of fatal forcery on the imagination, they magnify 
 the pleafures of fin to a degree fo intenfe, or give 
 the n a form fo inviting, that defire becomes inflamed 
 beyond the power of refinance. 
 
 ii. By meditating on injuftice or adultery, or 
 any unlawful gratification, the fond hallucinations 
 of pleafure get fuch a firm poffefiion of the pafTions, 
 that they banilh all concern about the danger, the 
 fhame, or the fin. The imagination, interefto] in 
 the piclure of fome ideal blifs, palfies the exertions 
 
 * " By his animal part, to whkh his rational part can always 
 be fuperior." Newcome on James i. 14. 
 
( *39 ) 
 
 of the confcience, and prevents all reflection on the 
 confequences. Any man may eafily govern his ap- 
 petites, who can mafter the fenfual luxuriance of 
 his imagination ; but be who gives the reins to the 
 voluptuoufnefs of fancy, will foon find himfelf op- 
 prefTed by the more than iron bondage of his lufts. 
 He who will vigilantly avoid all evil thoughts, and 
 refolutely oppofe his ideas when they feem difpofcd to 
 Aide into lafcivious combinations, may prevent every 
 inordinate defire, and triumph over every unhal- 
 lowed pafiion. 
 
 1 2. To contend, therefore, with fuccefs asainfl 
 temptation, we mull learn to keep the fancy in fub- 
 jection. Inflead of wantonly cherifhing one evil 
 thought, we ought to ftifle it at its birth, before its 
 affociates, obeying its call, and haflening to its aid, 
 fucceflively combine into images of enjoyment, from 
 which the attention cannot be withdrawn, and from 
 whofe fpells the affections cannot be difentangled. 
 Thofe who have acquired the habit of governing 
 their thoughts, of cherifhing the pure, and fupprefting 
 the unclean, will feldom be wanting in flrength to 
 fhut out temptation from their hearts. But as, not- 
 withftanding all our endeavours, fome impure and 
 unholy ideas, the evil progeny cf paft adociations, 
 will at times crofs the mind, as if endeavouring to 
 captivate the attention, recourfe mud often be had 
 to thofe fervent intreaties which piety will fugged, 
 and which the founder of Chriftianiry fo ftrongly 
 i 
 
C 240 ) 
 
 recommended. Thofe who, with a pure and up- 
 right heart, afk fuccour of God, will never find it 
 to fail. But when, notwithstanding our firft in- 
 treati^s, we feel evil thoughts gaining ground on 
 our attention and getting the maftery over our will, 
 we rnuft not only pray, but be importunate in prayer. 
 Our firft fupplications are often not granted, to try 
 our faith, and, by increafing our devotion, to make 
 us better qualified to receive the fivours we implore. 
 Difficulties, in the way of the refolute and the ftrong, 
 only increafe their exertions to overcome them ; and 
 many occafions there are, in which help refufed to 
 the righteous, will only add to the intenfity of defire 
 and the fervour of fupplication. Our Lord did not, 
 till after reiterated refufals, grant the prayer of the 
 Canaanirifh woman *, that he might try the conftancy 
 
 * See Matt. xv. 21 — 28. The behaviour of our Lord on 
 this occafion deferves our attention ; and it will in fome mea- 
 fure ferve to illuftrate the manner in which God often tries 
 our trull in his gooclnefs, and our patience in prayer. To the 
 firit requeft of the unfortunate ttranger, Jefus anfutereil not a 
 ivorJ. And yet there fecms to have been Co much diltrefs 
 painted in the manner and the cries of the fupplicant, as to have 
 excited the compaflion even of his difciples, who interceded 
 with their matter to grant her rcquctt, and fend her home. 
 But Jefus, as if unmoved by the lamentation of the mother 
 furrowing for her child, and by the intercettion of his dilciplcs, 
 replies fternly, "I am not lint but to the loll fheep of the 
 houfe of Jfrael." The woman then came and did him obei- 
 fancej opprelTed with gruf, flic fell at his feet, and, cafting 
 up he: to his, endeavoured to intcrett his fympathy; but, 
 
( ^41 ) 
 
 of her faith, by the ardour of her importunity. To 
 pray coldly and negligently, with languor and dif- 
 
 "it is not right," faid Jefus, " to take the children's meat and 
 cad it to dogs." Did this harfh refufal provoke her fcorn, or 
 offend her pride? Noj endeavouring to foften his feverity by 
 her meeknefs, me returns an'anfwer which fhews the gentle- 
 nefs of her difpofition, and the lowlinefs of her heart. " Truth, 
 Sir, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their matter's 
 table." Jefus could hold out no longer; he fent the petitioner 
 away happy in his commendation of her piety, and in the 
 recovery of her daughter. The reiterated denials which the 
 Canaanitifh woman experienced from him, whom fhe knew 
 to be the teacher of truth, and the minifter of compaffion, 
 only made her intreaties more intenfe inflead of more remifs; 
 and rather invigorated hope than produced defpair j till, at laft, 
 her faith and her piety fo ftrongly manifefted her moral fitnefs 
 to receive the favour (he implored, that it could no longer be 
 denied. " Woman !" faid Jefus, " great is thy faith ; he it unto 
 thee as thou defiirefl? Prayer always tends to bring us what 
 we afk, when it increafes our moral fitnefs to receive what we 
 pray for. And hence the neceflity of praying, and of praying 
 with earner! importunity. See Luke xi. 5 — I J. In order to 
 avert many of thofe phyfical evils which often make exiftence 
 fo deplorable, and which feem the immediate vifitation of God, 
 as fome cafes of ficknefs, and various misfortunes, lofles, and 
 cafualties, which providence pours from the vials of his wrath, 
 it feems fir ft neceffary to avoid thofe moral evils, zvith ivhich fuch 
 afflictions are ajfociated in the ?noral order of the vuorld. Perhaps 
 few fufferings are inflicted on us in the courfe of our lives, 
 which we do not deferve \ and certainly none by which we 
 might not profit, if we would ufe them well. When, then, 
 we pray to be delivered from thofe harms which may happen 
 to the body, or impair our temporal happinefs, le us not fail 
 to confider that the mofi efficacious method o>i averting them, is 
 
 R 
 
( *42 ) 
 
 tfuft, is to make ourfelves unfit to receive the fa- 
 vour we afk, and, confequently, to indifpofe God to 
 
 by efcheiving evil, and doing good. Righteoufnefs hath not or 
 the promife of the life which is to come, but of that which 
 now is. It is not, indeed, often allied to great wealth or dil- 
 tinguilhed honours; (for fuch things are a common fource of 
 corruption and mifery;) but it is feldom found connected with 
 torment of body or anguifh of heart. Goodnefs is the Car 
 way to happinefs; and as far as happinefs regards a pleafurable 
 flate of the heart and confeience, and which, perhaps, conftitutt-s 
 the pureft kind of earthly happinefs, it will, I think, be found 
 always nicely apportioned to our moral qualifications. But, it 
 might be faid, if no furTerings be inflicted on us which we do 
 not deferve, and which have not, at the fame time, a benevo- 
 lent defign, why mould we pray againit them ? The fame ob- 
 jection might be made to the ufe of prayer in general ; but we 
 are to confider that we do not pray, in the vain defign of 
 averting ills that have already happened, or which are in- 
 tended to happen ; for this would be to pray in order to alter 
 the will, or fruftrate the plans of providence ; but we pray, in 
 order that the thoughts of fufFering, and the confeiou fuels that 
 God can inflidt, and will infli£t it, ivhere there is a moral neevf- 
 fity, may be fo ftrongly impreiTed on our minds, that, by acting 
 Jo as not to deferve the puni/Junent, ice may take the fureji tuojf 
 not tojujferit. Thus prayer enables us to profit by the general 
 operation of moral laws, as indufu# r enables us to take advan- 
 tage of the beneficial tendencies of the laws of the natural 
 world. Hence there is, therefore, a great and unfpeakable ad- 
 vantage in earneftly and habitually imploring a deliverance 
 from bodily furTerings and temporal calamities; becaufe though 
 we do not thereby prefume to change the courfe of the moral 
 fyftem, we give it a favourable direction, as far as it refpe&s 
 ourfelves; by altering, not its rcta'lons to us, but our relations 
 to it; not by turning it out of its €9urfe, but by putting ourfelves, 
 
( 243 ) 
 
 grant it. To fupplicate divine affiftance, if I may 
 fo ipeak, without the fpirit of fupplication animating 
 our requefts, and warming our hearts, is, inftead of 
 making prayer a protection to ourfelves, to render 
 it an advantage to the enemy. Such refiftance will 
 not avail againft the flrength of temptation ; but 
 warm, fincere, and earned and devout appeals to 
 the throne of mercy, will banifh thofe impure ima- 
 ginations which labour to enfnare us; and repulfe 
 thofe blafts of corruption that feem fent from hell 
 on purpofe to fear and canker our virtuous fenfi- 
 bilities, and harden our hearts in unrighteoufnefs. 
 
 our oivn hearts and difpojitions, in that Jlate, ivhich, being morally 
 good, is, in the ivife arrangements of that moral government under 
 •which toe live, invariably connected ivith, and productive qftem-. 
 foral good, and prcfent felicity. This appears to me the only 
 truly philofophical and fcriptural mode of explaining the effi- 
 cacy of prayer 5 and hence we may fee how what is called a 
 particular and perfonal, is compatible with a general provi« 
 dence. 
 
 £ 
 
 
RELIGION "WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 Caufes of religious error and unbelief* 
 
 I. JL he principal caufes of religious error and un- 
 belief, may be traced to the ignorance and preju- 
 dices of the mind, or the corruptions of the heart. 
 
 a. Our Lord, who was certainly a friend to the 
 free exercife of the rational faculties, was well aware 
 of the confequences, that would flow from their 
 abufe. He accordingly admonifhed his difciples : 
 " Take heed that the light which is in thee be 
 not daiknefs." Luke xi. 35.* Let not thy reafon 
 
 * ^.y.orsi oiv, y.y rl fw$, ro £y <ro], crr.oros i<niv. Luke xi. 35. 
 Grotius fays, " Laudo eos qui vertunt, confident an non lux tua 
 tencbrce fint. Many of the commentators have, as ufunl, per- 
 plexed this palTage in their endeavours to find meanings that 
 were never meant. Rofenmuller is brief and clear. " Senfu* 
 .eft," fays the fober and judicious fcholiait, " conlidera an non 
 mens tua ignorantias et pra-judidorum vitio laboret." May I 
 refer the reader to Dr. Clarke's paraphrafc? 
 
( 245 ) 
 
 which was given thee as a flay to virtue and a guide 
 to truth, become the means of bewildering thee in 
 error, or of hardening thee in fin ! In another place, 
 our Saviour compares the underftanding to the eye; 
 the organ of knowledge to the organ of fight. u The 
 lamp of the body is the eye ; if, therefore, thine eye 
 be clear, thy whole body will be enlightened. But 
 if thine eye be dim, thy whole body will be in dark- 
 nefs. If, therefore, the light which is in thee be 
 darknefs, how great mufi be that darknefs*!" Matt, 
 vi. 22, 23. When the vifion is clear and vigorous 
 we fee our way diflinclly ; we behold objects as they 
 are, in their true figure and proportions. When the 
 underftanding is in a found and healthy ftate, neither 
 warped by prejudices, dimmed by fuperftition, nor 
 torpid through inaction, it readily diftinguifhes truth 
 from error. It examines queftions propofed to its 
 consideration, with impartial feverityj it gives to op- 
 pofing arguments their due force 5 and its decifions 
 
 * I follow Dr. Newcome's tranflation. In his fupplement 
 to Wolnus, Koecher fays, on this palfage, " Domini fententia 
 haec eft; lucerna corporis oculus exiftit ; quod ii igitur oculus 
 tuus fanus et integer eft, totum corpus tuum recte move,tur 
 ac regitur; fin vero oculus tuus vitio laborat, totum corpus 
 tuum motibus et actionibus rite perfungi nequit. Si, itaque, 
 quod in te exiftit lumen, nempe intellects tuus, tenebris^ id 
 eft, ignorantia et erroribus repletus eft; quanta? hae tenebrae 
 mentis prae tenebris oculorum, quam perniciofae erunt, quan- 
 tum tibi damni afferent ? Plus fane quam oculus male confti- 
 tutu's." Koecher, Supplem. in Wolf. p. 15G, I67. 
 
 R 3 
 
( 2 4 6 } 
 
 are influenced only by the weight of evidence. But 
 ■when the mind is under the mifrule of prejudices, 
 when fuperftition has clouded its horizon, or (loth 
 has numbed its energies, it lees objects through a 
 falfe medium; a medium which changes their colour 
 and their form; and difturbs and confufes their rela- 
 tions. Then, things that are ftraight, appear crooked ; 
 that are light, become obfeure; propofuions that are 
 plain, fcem abftrufe-, conclufions that are jufl, irre- 
 gular. And thus, when that power, by which God 
 defigned to fhew us the true relations of things, to 
 fix the limits of right and wrong, truth and error, 
 becomes itfelf darkened, how great, in the language 
 of our Saviour, mud be that darknefs ! The under- 
 standing, oppreiTed under a cloud of prejudices, can 
 no more difcern the truth, than a blind man can 
 behold the fun. 
 
 3. Some of our earlieft notions are, often, of a 
 religious caft. The curiofity of children is often 
 remarked, and is very remarkable ; it (hows itfelf in 
 an infatiable defire to learn the caufes of the objects 
 around them ; and they are continually bufy in put- 
 ting queftions to their parents and others, to obtain 
 the information they defire. They afk, " whence 
 this or that came, who made this thing or that." 
 They are informed of one caufe after another, till 
 their inquiries end in God. They are told that God 
 is the author of all things ; that he made the fun, 
 the moon, and the flars ; that he caufes the thunder, 
 
( 247 ) 
 
 the lightning, the wind, and the rain •, that he is the 
 great creator of every thing which they behold. 
 Thus fome kind of religious knowledge is often the 
 firft which children acquire; and if their parents, or 
 thofe who have the care of their childhood, are of 
 a religious difpofition, they will naturally endeavour 
 to furnifh them with other religious information, 
 befides that which their own cafual inquiries might 
 fupply. 
 
 4. It is certainly necefTary that juft notions of 
 right and wrong mould be impreiTed on children 
 from their earlieft years ; and it is equally necefTary 
 that thofe notions fhould be ftrengthened and en- 
 forced by the fanclions and perfuafions of religion. 
 Children ought not to be left without the ftay of 
 moral principle or religious belief, till they come to 
 years of difcretion, and are capable of abftract rea- 
 foning. They ought to be influenced by a fenfe of 
 moral duty, and a pcrfuafion of religious truth, long 
 before they can inveftigate the grounds of the one, 
 dr the evidences of the other. But as much care as 
 is poflible, mould be taken, not to impart to them 
 falfe and erroneous opinions ; for, as religious notions 
 are generally among the firft irripreffions which are 
 made on the mind, they are the mod difficult to 
 eradicate. They are often unalterable by the cleared 
 deductions of reafon, and defy the moft vigorous 
 exercife of the underftanding. When, therefore, 
 pernicious tenets on religious fubje&s have been 
 
 R 4 
 
( * 4 8 5 
 infufed into the mind, and, as it were, identified with 
 the phyfical organization of the brain, in the period 
 of infancy, tenets fubverfive of found morals, of 
 juft notions of right and wrong, of God and provi- 
 dence, it may readily be conceived, how deftru&ive 
 they mud become in their confequences, and how 
 difficult in their cure. 
 
 5. Even many perfons of quick apprehenfion, 
 penetrating fagacity, and powerful intellect, often 
 feel a trembling unwillingnefs to examine their re- 
 ligious creed, to fift it to the bottom, to feparate 
 falfe from right notions, to burn the chaff, and pre- 
 ferve the wheat. Religion is connected with fo vaft 
 and incalculable an intereft, and is often aflbciated 
 "with fuch overwhelming fenfations of myfterious 
 dread, that many, who are attracted to the invefti- 
 gation by its importance, are yet withheld from 
 purfuing it by its awfulnefs. The facrednefs of the 
 theme makes them regard freedom of inquiry as a 
 fort of unlicenfed profanation ; the pleafurable tran- 
 quillity of their faith is, befides, not undifturbed byk 
 certain anxieties of fkepticifm ; and their veneration 
 for the truth, or their confeioufnefs of its connexion 
 with their happinefs, makes them loath to inquire, 
 left they Jhould inquire too far, or difcover more than 
 they would wijh to know*. Thus, if they are inclined 
 
 * Many timid people want refohuion to caft their eyes to 
 that quarter which is expofed to danger, or from which danger 
 
( ^49 ) 
 
 one moment to put forth their hand and touch the 
 ark of their creed, they draw it back the next with 
 fenfations of dread and uneafinefs. Thus, many 
 remain all their lives long, willing victims to the 
 moft deftructive errors, for want of courage to em- 
 brace a more falutary fyftem. If religious notions 
 operate thus on fome who pofTefs a confeioufhefs 
 that they are erroneous, and have power to detect 
 their erroneoufnefs, how mull they operate on others, 
 who feel that they are infallible, and who deem it 
 iacrilege and blafphemy to fuppofe themfelves, or 
 to permit others to fuppofe, that they are in an 
 error * ? 
 
 is expected ; and thus fear makes them neglect the means of 
 defence, while it deprives them of the pleafure of fecurity. 
 
 * 11 n'y a rien d'exclufif, d'affirmatif, comme le prejuge j 
 moins il raifonne lui-meme, et moms il permet le doute dts 
 autres. Tout a fes yeux eft evidence immediate, parce que 
 rien n'eft deduction : il fe manifefte avec impetuofite, parce que 
 Vhomme livre au prejuge, n'eft point maitre de fon efpritj il 
 s'irrite de la renftance, parce qu'il fe lie fouvent aux paflions, 
 et que le mouvement des paflions croit en raifon des obftacles. 
 Lorfque le prejuge ne nait pas de la paflion, il devient bientot 
 une paflion, lui-meme. Car on fe paflionne pour une idee comme 
 pour un jnteret. Une idee dominante devient un de nos be- 
 foins. Son triomphe fe He & celui de notre amour-propre; 
 fouvent nous la perfonnalifons en quelque forte, nous nous 
 attachons a elle comme a un ami ; les contradictions qu'elle 
 eprouve femblent interefler en fa faveur la generofite de notre 
 caractere, du moins elles la font refibrlir plus vivement pour 
 notre efprit j elles rendent done fon action fur l'imagination 
 plus energique. Que fera-ce done n* la perfecution de 1'au* 
 
( 250 ) 
 
 6. Hence it may be conceived how much preju- 
 dices on religious fubje&s, when they have taken a 
 ftrong hold on the confcicnce, and a deep root in 
 the affe&ions, tend to ' obfcure the light, and to 
 numb the exercife of the understanding. By the 
 word prejudices, as I ufe it in this place, I mean 
 iblely, falfe and erroneous notions on religion, notions 
 fubverfive of genuine piety and morality, which cart: 
 a thick darknefs over the light of the mind, prevent 
 it from feeing the cleared truths, and from being 
 convinced by the ftrongeft arguments. There are 
 fome prejudices *, which were embraced from the 
 perfuafion, or adopted on the authority of others, 
 which will bear the teft of examination, and (land 
 
 torite pent fe joindre a la contradiction du difcours, fi des fen- 
 timents d'iudcpendance, li des peifpe&ives de gloire viennent 
 fe reunir a lopiDion que nous avons foutenue, et fi on nous 
 donne lieu de nous aUacher a elle par les fouffranccs quelle 
 nous coute !" Degerando, des ngnes, &c. t. iii. p. 326, SJ.J '. 
 
 * Any notions adopted on the authority of others, without 
 a rational investigation of their truth or falfehood, may be de- 
 nominated prejudices. Thus prejudices may be cither good or 
 bad, ufeful or mifchievous. There is, if I may ufe an harm- 
 lefs play upon the word, too great a prejudice aga'mji prejudices* 
 Children ought to be nurtured in good and ivhokfome preju- 
 dices ; but, at the fame time, as much care as is poflible mould 
 be taken to invigorate the rational faculty, and to render its 
 exercife eafy and delightful ; that when they come to years of 
 difcretion, they may have the will and the capacity to analyfe 
 the notions which they have taken up on truftj to examine all 
 things, ami to hold fajl that which is good. 
 
( *y 3 
 
 the fcrutiny of intellect. But fuch prejudices are 
 not falfe and erroneous, but true, .and juft, and 
 wholefome : and too many fuch prejudices cannot 
 too foon be engraven on the memory, impreffed 
 upon the mind, or incorporated in the heart. By 
 the prejudices, therefore, which I am condemning, 
 I mean only thofe tenets, which are falfe, abfurd, 
 and pernicious ; which will not endure the ten: of 
 impartial inquiry ; which would not have been em- 
 braced by the underftanding in the maturity of its 
 power j and which no matured judgment, not afraid 
 of looking truth in the face, or irrefiftibly prejudiced 
 in favour of error, could poffibly fcrutinize without 
 being convinced of their mifchief, their falfehood, or 
 abfurdity. 
 
 7. The hi (lory of the Jews, in the time of our 
 Saviour, clearly illuftrates the nature, and forcibly 
 demonftrates the malignity of religious prejudices. 
 tfheir prejudices, which had been tranfmitted from 
 their anceftors, and which were cherifhed and 
 ftrengthened by the whole courfe of their education, 
 ran, at the time of our Lord's birth, fo ftrong in 
 favour of a temporal Meffiah, a victorious chiefi 
 and a worldly potentate, that they rejected the pre- 
 tentions of Jefus of Nazareth, without the leaft ex- 
 amination; notwith (landing the vaft, the multiplied, 
 and apparently irrefragable proofs, which he gave of 
 the reality of his character, and the truth of his 
 pretentions. In the ftrange infatuation of their 
 
 7 
 
C 252 ) 
 
 hearts, they feem to have loft the right ufe of their 
 fenfes. They had eyes, and faw not; ears, and 
 heard not; and their power of difcrimination was 
 paralyfed by the poifon of their prepefieffions. Great 
 blindnefs of mind had happened unto Ifrael; and fo 
 obftinate was it in kind, and fo excefiive in degree, 
 that it rendered them infenfible to the evidence of 
 miracles, and the glorious manifeftation o( the power 
 of God, 
 
 3. St. Paul himfelf, is a ftriking inftance of the 
 flrength and the danger of religious prepofleiuons. 
 By what ftrange delufions was he opprefled previous 
 to his converfion ! His prejudices in favour of the 
 Pharifaic ordinances and fuperftitions, and againft 
 the fimple doctrine of the gofpel, were fo violent 
 and fo invincible, fo full of rancour and acerbity, 
 that though poMefTed of a vigorous mind, and no 
 fmall fbare of penetration, he could not only not fee 
 the truth, but laboured to (top its progrefs by the 
 ckftrudtion of its advocates. The obfeuring power 
 of his prejudices is well reprefented by the fcales 
 that fell from his eyes at the period of his converfion. 
 Prejudices are, indeed, fcales that prevent the influx 
 of the light of truth into the mind, 
 
 9. Let us not fuppofe that the delufions of error 
 and the obftinacy of prejudice belong to the Jews 
 and the Gentiles only; they are often found rank 
 snd full-blown even among Chriftians alfo. Chrif- 
 
( *S3 ) 
 tians arc, in general, too much bigoted to the notions 
 of the fe£t to wh'iGh they belong. They are too 
 prone to imagine that their peculiar notions arc alone 
 agreeable to God, alone confonant to his nature, 
 alone worthy of his acceptance. They fuppofe that 
 none can be wrong who think as they think j and 
 that none can be right who think otherwife. This 
 prepofTefilon renders them flubborn in their belief 
 and intolerant in their practice. It makes them, 
 like the Pharifees of old, friends to the few who will 
 proceed to the fame lengths of bigotry, and enemies 
 to all the world befides. People who are fo vio- 
 lently prepofTefTed in favour of their own opinions, 
 as to think their fyftem of theology alone jufl, 
 their ordinances alone reafonable, or their tenets 
 alone true; cannot but think the fyftems, ordinances, 
 and opinions of all others, erroneous. Hence, they 
 vainly fancy their worlhip exclufively entitled to the 
 divine regard j and they confider the worfhip of 
 others as great an abomination in God's eyes, as 
 it is in their own. Hence, with fuch perfons, into- 
 lerance is a principle of faith, and an efTential ingre- 
 dient in their religion. If they cannot convert, they 
 think it juft to perfecute ; and with them a fpirit 
 of ferocity is fubftituted for the fpirit of Chriitian 
 charity. 
 
 10. Let us not entertain fo fond a conceit of the 
 increafe of genuine philanthropy, as to fuppofe that 
 there is no wim remaining to employ perfecudon in 
 
( l?4 ) 
 
 the fervice of religion. Clouded by innumerable 
 delufionS;, and hardened by the fullen genius of fa- 
 naticifm, many are flill living, and perhaps daily 
 increafing in iircngth and numbers, who, like the 
 Papifts of old, would forget the feelings of humanity 
 in the rage of their intolerance. Thinking their 
 own tenets alone true and infallible, they cannot but 
 feel it a duty paramount to all others to bring the 
 whole world over to their communion j nor will any 
 compunctious vifitings of confeience prevent them 
 from endeavouring to convince by force thofe whom 
 they cannot convince by argument. In the genuine 
 perverfenefs of bigotry, regarding only the imaginary 
 goodnefs of the end, they would be reftrained by no 
 favagenefs in the means of bringing it to pais. 
 
 1 1. The tendencies to fuch diabolical intolerance, 
 and the tendencies to it, from the fuggeftions of 
 pride, or the imperceptible illufions of felf-love, are 
 more frequent and more ftrong than we ufually 
 imagine, might be, in a great degree, counteracted 
 by the prudence of this confideration ; that while 
 many points of faith and doctrine are dubious, points 
 of practice are always clear-, that confequently, he 
 who confults the gofpel only as a rule of faith, may 
 fometimes err ; but that he who confcientiouflyy?«^>j 
 it as a rule of life, can never go wrong. 
 
 12. All modes of faith, though they may not be 
 confonant to each other, or agreeable to the deter- 
 
( 255 ) 
 
 minations of fcripture, will, probably, be acceptable 
 to Gou, if they do not encourage immorality of 
 conduct •, for, while fome points of faith and doc- 
 trine feem too dark to be made clear, and too intri- 
 cate to be unravelled *, the duties of morality are 
 always fo ftrongly and plainly enforced, that any 
 faith, which is adverfe to moral obligation, muft necejfarily 
 be contrary to the doufrine of Chrift. For Chrift can- 
 not contradict himfelf ; and as he has moji Jlrenuoujly, 
 and diftintlly, and authoritatively , required the practice 
 of moral duty, he cannot, at the fame time, have com- 
 manded a belief definitive of it, or contrary to it. Of 
 two different modes of belief, therefore, that muft 
 be the bed, becaufe the mod agreeable to the ge- 
 neral fpirit of Chriftianity, and the general injunc- 
 tions of Chrift, which moft encourages the growth of 
 morality. 
 
 13. If points of faith be left dubious, men may 
 embrace different opinions refpecting them, and yet 
 not err in the fight of God. That many points of 
 faith are left dubious, appears from this, that while 
 different churches adopt different creeds, learned 
 and confcientious members of the fame church 
 often differ in certain fpeculative matters of belief. 
 Some think that there are three perfons in the god- 
 
 * From primary defign, or fubfequent corruption ? 
 
( *# ) 
 
 head, others only one*; Tome think that grace is a 
 miraculous infufion, others think that what is called 
 grace, is that divine bleffing, which, in the moral 
 order of things, and, according to fixed and efta- 
 blifhed Jaws, as confbnt and uniform as thofe in the 
 natural world, always attends on the operations of 
 goodnefs. On thefe, and many other knotty quef- 
 tions in Chriftian theology, individuals have differed, 
 and may, and perhaps always will differ; but they 
 cannot fo eafily differ about the duties of Chriftian 
 practice s becaufe thofe duties are not obfeurely ex- 
 
 * I wifh that Dr. Prieftley, inftead of laviming To much 
 time and talents on a fruit lefs controvert)-, had profited by the 
 following remarks of Grotius. " Vix eft ut cum de Deo loqui- 
 mur, utamur vocibus, quae omnes incommodas interpretationes 
 effugiant. Scholae Grrecae et Latinae, poft multas curiofas et 
 audaces difputationes, in verbis tandem convenerunt, in eorum 
 explicatione faepe diffident. Gr<rci vetcres quidam appellant 
 rgQifO'JS vird^tsu); (fubfiftendi modos) id quod Latini Pcrfonas. 
 Caeterum commodiilima ac minime intricate mihi videtur ex- 
 plicatio, quam ecclefia Grazca, qu?e erat Conilantinopoli, tunc 
 cum urbs ca capeietur, exhibuit Turcarum Sultano. Res fe- 
 cundae delicatos faciunt, res adverfne fobrios. Veru7ita7>xn 
 •vecikus tfnologicis, qu<r. conaViorum tmbuerfaiiutn auLiorhate aut 
 magno conjenfu erud'ttorum receptee Junt, rcluclirnJum non ej}. 
 Non enim ita imprudenter fictae lunt, ut non commodam inter* 
 pretationem recipiant, atque" etiam a multis commode fint-cx- 
 plicatoe. Quibus se addere, aut certe tacere, multo 
 
 EST SATIUS, QUAM OB FES SI B I NON MINUS QUAM ALUS OB- 
 SCUKAS, ET NIHIL AD EMEND ATI O N BM MORL'M PCRTINENTFS 
 Tl'ltBARB REM MAX1MAM PACEM ECCI.I SJ/E." Grot, QD, tom. 
 
 iii. p.6'15. 
 
( *57 ) 
 
 preffed, or of doubtful and equivocal conftrucYion. 
 They do not admit of a diverfity of opinions on 
 their fanctity or importance ; and that faith, there- 
 fore, cannot be agreeable to the will of God, or 
 confident with the gofpel of his Son, which generates 
 a practice oppofite to thofe rules of life, which the 
 author of chriftianity both taught and practifedj 
 from whofe yoke no man is free, and whofe obligations 
 no man, whatever may be his speculative belief, has a 
 •privilege to violate. No man can be found in his 
 faith who is unfound in his morals. This feems a 
 clear, felf evident, fcriptural truth ; and the prefent 
 flate of the world, and the foolifh difputes and per- 
 nicious errors at prefent prevailing among Chriftians, 
 require it to be fo univerfally known, that I with I 
 had flrength of lungs to make it heard, and ftrength 
 of mind to make it underftood from one end of the 
 earth even unto the other. 
 
 14. All Chriftians mould endeavour, as far as 
 they have capacity and opportunity, to form their 
 faith in the doctrines of Chriftianity, according to 
 the ftandard of fcripture ; but they mould at the 
 fame time remember, that it is lejs incumbent on them 
 to penetrate with Jcrupulous care and bufy curiofity into 
 the myjleries of faith, than to lead lives conformable to 
 that law of holinefs which Chrift eftablifhed -, without 
 which no man's faith can be pure ; and with which 
 God will accept any mans faith, though it may be 
 
 S 
 
( *s* ) 
 
 Jilled with involuntary errors ; errors arifingfrom early 
 prejudice, a limited capacity, or deficient information, 
 
 15. In matters of faith a man may err through 
 ignorance, but, in matters of practice, no man can 
 well err without wilful ignorance, an ignorance for 
 which he is accountable, and for which no excufe 
 will be accepted in that awful hour when every man 
 fhall receive according to his works. In matters 
 of practice, a man knows his duty without much 
 inftruction. He wants not much learning to know 
 that truth, juftice, and temperance, are his duty; and, 
 in this refpect, the law, written on his confeience, 
 enforces and confirms the law which is written in 
 the gofpel. No man, therefore, can well offend 
 againfl the great and facred duties of moral obliga- 
 tion, without doing violence to his own fenfe of 
 right and wrong, as well as violating the precepts of 
 Chiiftian duty. 
 
 16. When any man has endeavoured, with a pure 
 and upright heart, to form thofe notions of faith 
 which are moft agreeable to the genuine fenfe of 
 fcripture, he may fecurely tfuft, that, if his practice be 
 conformable to the practical precepts of Chrift, his 
 faith will be accepted, though it fbould happen to be 
 erroneous. No man can do more than exert his 
 utmoft ftrength to difcover the truth; and if, after 
 fuch exertion, his endeavours fail, God, who isjuft 
 and merciful, will not, certainly, punifh him for an 
 
( 2?9 ) 
 
 iitvolimtary overfight, or an harmlefs error. God 
 only knows the particular ftrength of mind which is 
 allotted to each individual; and he, certainly, requires 
 no more than its vigorous application. When man 
 has employed all the opportunities which his (ration 
 alio -vs, and all the ftrength which nis capacity admits, 
 in unfolding he obfeurity, or in feparating the per- 
 plexities <;f religious truth, he has done his utmoft; 
 and the Father of {pints does not demand any more 
 to be done. To iuppof* that God will punifh a 
 man for forming a wrong judgment on matters of 
 faith, after the mod confeientious endeavour to form 
 a right, or for embracing any tenets that are falfe, 
 after the mod fcrupulous fearch for thofe which are 
 true, is to make God cruel and unjnft. For God, 
 as far as he is juft and good, cannot certainly make 
 any man accountable for talents which he never re- 
 ceived, or opportunities which he never enjoyed. 
 He, therefore, whofe religious belief, however he- 
 terodox it may feem, is the refult of a fair and honeft 
 and rational examination of the fcriptures, need be 
 under no alarm about the falvation of his foul: at 
 the folemn day of reckoning he will hear this com- 
 fortable fentence, " Weil done, thou good and faith- 
 ful fervant ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 17. Superftition is another frequent fource of 
 religious error. It is one of the chara&eriftic pro- 
 perties of fjperftition, to fu >pofe that a ceremonial 
 worfhip is more agreeable to God, than the wonhip 
 
 S 2 
 
( i6o ) 
 
 of the heart and life. Thus it afcribes extraordinary 
 virtues to ceremonial obfervances, and practifes them 
 to the neglect of the weightier matters of religion, 
 juftice, mercy, and truth. It demands and obferves 
 a fcrupulous and inviolate exactnefs in little and 
 unimportant matters, while it regards neither reafon 
 nor confcience in matters of greater moment. It 
 ftrains at a gnat, and f a allows a camel; it puts the 
 means of religion for the end ; it clings to the forma- 
 lities of devotion, and fets the fan&ity of mora] 
 obligation at defiance. 
 
 1 8. Our Lord was, certainly, no friend to religion 
 degenerated into fuperftition, as any one may dis- 
 cover in the twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew, 
 which contains a mod animated invective againft the 
 Pharifees. The excefs of their fuperftition was ma- 
 nifefted in a punctilious attention to minute and 
 frivolous forms. It was feen and heard in the gaudy 
 fhow and the fugared cant of external adoration. 
 They made broad their phylacteries, and enlarged 
 the borders. of their garments; they devoured wi- 
 dows* houfes, and for a pretence made long prayers; 
 they fulfilled the ceremonial law; they made clean 
 the outfide of the cup and of the platter, while, 
 within, they were full of ex:ortion and excefs; they 
 refembled whited fepulchres, beautiful outward, but 
 within, full of dead men's bones and all uncleannefsj 
 they affected a fludied reprcfentation of righteouf- 
 nefs in the fight of the world, but, in the fi^ht of 
 
( a6i ) 
 
 God, they were polluted with hypocrify and iniquity. 
 Such were the diftinguifhing features of Pharifaic 
 fuperftition, and though fome of them may be varied 
 by lapfe of time, and the change of opinions and 
 manners, they will be found to bear a general re- 
 femblance to the character of fuperftition in all ages 
 and nations. 
 
 19, If we examine the fuperftitions which are 
 prevalent among Chriftians, we fhall find that they 
 do not differ in any considerable degree, from the 
 fuperftitions of the Pharifees in the time of our 
 Lord. How many Chriftians are fiercely zealous 
 about forms and ceremonies, forms that are vain, 
 and rights that are indifferent, while they are coldly 
 negligent in matters of greater fanctity and impor- 
 tance ! How many Chriftians fet profefiions of faith, 
 and creeds, and fyftems, the mere fhadows and 
 colourings, above the practice of piety, pure and 
 unde filed ! 
 
 20. Falfe and irrational notions of God always 
 pave the way for the introduction, and always afford 
 materials for the ftructure of fuperftition. If we 
 fuppofe God a corporeal, a fallible, or partial being, 
 which many feem to fuppofe by the vain mummery 
 of their adoration, by the infincerity of their homage, 
 and the intolerance of their opinions, we can hardly 
 help being fuperftitious. If God were a corporeal 
 being, if he were made of flefh and blood, if he had 
 
 S 3 
 
( 262 ) 
 
 anv particular form, any appropriate outward per- 
 fbnality, the a r tiricial oblations of the fuperftitious 
 rnighj be pleafing in his eyes, fuited to his ch raJer, 
 and agreeable to his natun . When we addrefb aa 
 enthly prince, we ufually >poroach him with the 
 fhow ' great reipeTt and uverence ; the .nvv ird 
 feelings m iv be concealed by the outward geftuxe, 
 anc tht effufions of flatteiy may be miftaken for the 
 h^mag.- of finccrity. But as God has no corporeal 
 fhape, and feeth not as man feerh, he cannot be thus 
 deceived; and the mere extern.] forms of dev< oon 
 will not recommend the worfhipper to his favour, 
 except fo far as they are unfeigned tokens of inward 
 adoration. He cannot be deceived by the trea- 
 cherous fmile, the unfek thankfgiving, and the 
 mimic prayer. His eye penetrates the mod fecret 
 recedes of the human bread; he difcerns the exa£b 
 correfpondence between the heart and the coun- 
 tenance, the thoughts and the profeflions ; and his 
 difpleafure cannot but be excited by the unmeaning 
 oblations of a counterfeited piety. 
 
 21. As God is not a fallible, neither is he a partial 
 being. He is fubjecl to no fudden changes of dif- 
 pofuion, no unreaionable likings or diflikes ; no 
 violent affections and antipathies He is the uni- 
 verfal father, and the name by which Chriit himfelf 
 taught us to ad Irefs God, "Our Father!" implies 
 that, naturally, all minkind are placed in the fame 
 ftate of relacionfhip to him, and equally entitled to 
 
( *6* ) 
 
 his regard. As a good and wife parent will never 
 make any invidious or unreafonable diftindlions be- 
 tween his children, but where he does fhow any dif- 
 ference of love, will fhow it mod to thofe who mod 
 excel in what is amiable; fo we may be affured that 
 God, who is the father of the univerfe, will fhow no 
 unreaforiable tokens of fondnefs to one, or of aver- 
 fion to another. And if he do (hew any preference 
 in his regard, it will not certainly be fhewn to thofe 
 who pay him only a formal worfhip; he will mod 
 prefer thofe who mofl exceed in goodnefs. Of 
 (Thrift, it is mofl emphatically laid in fcripture, that 
 he went abcut doing good ; goodnefs was the caufe of 
 his coming, and the end for which he came into the 
 world; goodnefs was the drift of his inilruclions, 
 the defign of his preaching, the motive of his mi- 
 racles, rhe practice of hib life; and thofe accordingly, 
 who make the nearefl approaches to this perfection 
 of his character, will have many fenfible tokens of 
 the divine favour in this world, and w.ll receive the 
 fulnefs of their recompence at the refurre&ion of the 
 juft. 
 
 %%* Thofe notions of God, which teach us that 
 he is not a corporeal, a fallible, or partial being; 
 that he delights not in forms and ceremonies, and 
 that real vital goodnefs is the facriftce mofl agree- 
 able to his nature, and mod acceptable to his will, 
 mud tend to banifh thofe falfe, irrational, and mif- 
 chievous notions of religion, by which fuperdition 
 
 S 4 
 
( *6 4 ) 
 
 is engendered, which add malignity to its venom, 
 and violence to its ferocity. 
 
 23. Immorality of conduft is another frequent 
 caufe of relgious error and unbelief. The under- 
 ftanding is not always prevented more by its dulnefs 
 or irs prejudices from decerning the truth, than the 
 heart is, by its corruptions, from embracing it. The 
 confeience is often as feared as the mind is dark ; 
 and if a heart, hardened by vicious habits, be not 
 the univerfal and infeparable, it is a common and 
 often affociated caufe of infidelity*. 
 
 24. The mind may, at times, without any falfe 
 bias given by the paflTions, be too dull to lee the 
 weight of evidence, or the force of thofe probabilities 
 on which religious truth depends, and by which 
 every fober and rational man will think it prudent 
 to regulate his conduct. But it ufually happens, 
 that a man's unbelief is more to be imputed to his 
 vices than to his capacity, and that he is prevented 
 from believing and embracing the truth, rather from 
 fome perverfenefs in his temper, or fome obliquity 
 in his affections, than from the errors of his judg- 
 ment, or the weaknefs of his underftanding. A 
 man's vices cannot fail of prepofTefhng him ftrongly 
 againft thofe truths by which thole vices are con- 
 
 * Immorality is not always either the caufe or the confe- 
 quence of deifm. 
 
( 26 5 •) 
 
 demncd. No one is willing to attend to that mo* 
 nitor who upbraids him with his folly and his fins ; 
 who fternly commands him to abandon fome fenfual 
 propenfity, or fome imperious paflion, which he 
 feels an intereft in retaining, or wants courage to 
 renounce. The finner cannot readily bring himfelf 
 to examine the evidences of that religion which 
 threatens him with puniihment, and which he could 
 not believe true without changing that courfe of life 
 which he may find productive of gain or pleafure. 
 He rather voluntarily (huts his eyes againft the light, 
 than opens them to behold it. The vicioufnefs of 
 his heart prevents him from making a right ufe of 
 the faculties of his mind. His affections, entangled 
 in the fnares of tranigrefiion, impofe upon his reafon; 
 and he finds an intereft in inventing plaufible excufes 
 to conceal his danger, or to juilify his unbelief. He 
 is ever ready to iiften to any objections, however 
 frivolous, which add to the number of his doubts, 
 or increafe the ftubbornnefs of his infidelity. 
 
 25. Our Lord himfelf, evidently confidered im- 
 morality of conduct as the malignant principle that 
 generated and cherifhed infidelity. <c Every one," 
 faith he, " that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither 
 eometh to the light, left his" deeds mould be re- 
 proved j" and as he thought badnefs of life paved 
 the way to fkcpticifm, fo he thought that goodnefs 
 bad a natural tendency to produce faith in revelation. 
 " He that doeth truth (righteoufnefs), eometh to the 
 
( 266 ) 
 
 lijht;" an * he likewife gives to i proper fenfe and 
 practice of moral oDlig.m«>n, a full afiuraoce or be- 
 liefs for he fays, if any man will do his will, tut 
 is, if any wan w II fmcerciy defiie, and fLeuuoufly 
 endeavour to work righceoufneis, he fhall, on a due 
 inquiry, know of the doctrine, whether it b of G 1. 
 Th 1c impttilive declaration of the author of Chi if- 
 tianity, certainly indicate that thofe, who perfnt in 
 disbelieving the gofpel, ought rather to accufe t:ie 
 unnghteoulnefs of their lives, than, the iniufficiency 
 of the evidence. Before, therefore, any man pre- 
 fume to deny the truth of revelation, let him fe- 
 rioufly examine whether fome inordinate appetite, 
 fome tyrannifing fin, or fome unbridled lull, do not 
 give a falfe and undue bias to his opinions, clouding 
 the clearnefs of his judgment, and perverting the 
 rectitude of his underftanding. Chriftianity requires 
 great purity and felf-denial; and, therefore, it is not 
 much to be wondered, that it is fo ofcen rejected by 
 thole who do not only not refpecl the duties it en- 
 joins, but who burn with a vehement d^fire to com- 
 mit the fins it forbids*. To a perfon whofe eye is 
 
 * The hiPory of the Jews fhows the (irong tendency which 
 great corruption of manners and profl'gacy of co duet h ve 
 towards making men thut then eyes again ft the moft plain 
 and ftriking truths. The Jews were not more blind of mind 
 than they were hard of heart. Their prejudices refpecling a 
 temporal Mefliah were one caufe of their rejettmg Chrift; but, 
 I think, that a Jlrongcr and more powerful caufe may be dif- 
 covercd in the enormity of their vices, and tiie extent of that cor- 
 
( 26 7 ) 
 
 jaundiced, the colours of objects appear very diffe- 
 rent from what they are. To one whofe mora) i'en- 
 timents are corrupted, and whofe affections are de- 
 praved, the truths of revelation mult appear of a 
 lefs lovely afpect than they really are ; he naturally 
 feels indifpofed to embrace a fyflem which places 
 terror and deft ruction before his eyes, and wnich, in 
 his gay ell moments, prefents the fatal iiand- writing 
 on the wall, to the fignt of his guilty confeience I 
 
 ruptions. Their pride, their avarice, and. perhaps, more than 
 all, the libidinoufnefs and vindi&ivenefs of th^'r hearts, in 
 which, at the time of our Saviour, they feem to have exceeded 
 the ferocity <»f the wildeft favages, and to have furpaflcd the 
 excefles of the molt intemperate voluptuaries, and which were 
 fo oppoflte to the pure, the humble, the benevolent, the gentle 
 and forgiving do<5trines of the holy Jefus, made them loath a 
 preacher, all whofe layings were deemed a reproach upon their 
 co lu&, and a libel on their crimes. The eafy yoke of Chnft 
 feemed to them an intolerable bondage ; became *hey could 
 not forego their lulls and paffions, and bring their hearts and 
 Jiv?s in fubjettion to his doctrine. The fame reafons which 
 operated on the Jews to reject the million of Chrift, will, where- 
 ever they exift, operate on others of all Fucceeding ages, todeny 
 the truth, and to fpurn at the duties of the golpel. 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 Evils of dijjenjion. Temperate fuggeft ions. Eccleftaflical 
 union. The juft medium between indifference and 
 intolerance in particular diverfities of opinion. 
 
 I. A large portion of human mifery originates in 
 the want of a peaceable difpofuion. Hence, the 
 fwoid is unfheathed to make widows and orphans ! 
 Hence, the attention of mankind is diverted from 
 the purfuits of induftry, which diffuie cheerfulnefs 
 and plenty, to purfuits which occafion nothing but 
 famine and woe ! Hence, the progrefs of civilization 
 is fufpended, and the profpenty of nations is de- 
 ftroyed ! 
 
 1. The few fhort intervals of peace, which Euro- 
 pean policy allows to weary man, are feldom owing 
 fo much to an aveifion to the principle of war, as 
 to the want of refources to carry it on. Pride, am- 
 bition, and revenge, the love of falfe glory, the jea- 
 loufies of power, and the lufts of domination, are 
 not extinguished •> the flame is finothered for a fea- 
 
( 269 ) 
 
 fon, but the next guft of fortune blows it into another 
 blaze. Thus the peace that fubfifts between na- 
 tions, and particularly nations between whom jea- 
 loufy is occafioned by proximity of fuuation, and 
 war is prompted by the facility with which it may 
 be waged, is feldom any thing more than a fhort 
 ceffation of hoftilities. It is rather an exhauftion of 
 flrength, than an extinction of pafllon -, rather too 
 great feeblenefs to hold the fword, than a cordial 
 defire to place and to keep it in the fcabbard. Thus 
 the peace of dates, not originating in a peaceable 
 difpofition, nor in a religious dread of the guilt and 
 atrocities of war, but being occafioned only by fome 
 temporary advantages, or fome momentary conve- 
 nience, is violated when they ceafe j and the banners 
 of blood are again unfurled as foon as fome finifter 
 policy can generate or feize new pretexts for deftruc- 
 tion. This perpetually-recurring ftate of favagc 
 butchery and incalculable woe cannot be expected 
 to have an end, till a fincere indifpofition to ftrife 
 fhall be more prevalent in the world, and obedience 
 to the peaceful precepts of Chriftianity (hall become 
 the imperial guide of human conduct and human 
 intereft. 
 
 3. The love of peace always promotes an union 
 of affections, and often of opinions. An union of 
 opinions on all fubjects, particularly on doubtful 
 queftions, on which different opinions may reafon- 
 ably be entertained, is impofiible. The topics on 
 
( 270 ) 
 
 which men mod frequently differ, and which engen- 
 der the moft bitter animofities, are political jld] re- 
 ligious. When political opinions are connected 
 with temporal emolument, or are fpecial objects of 
 public patronage, it is eafv to conceive why thofe 
 who profefs them, defend them with zeal, and why 
 thofe who oppoie them, oppofc them with violence. 
 In this cafe, the advocate* of the different opinions 
 muff, in fome meafure, regard each other as per- 
 fonal enemies, and their affe&ions are kept divided 
 by the divifion of their interefts. In this conflict of 
 opinions, truth is feldom either the only object rhat 
 is Tough: *, or the only end that is purfued. For, 
 on all occafions, in which no fecret intereft biaflcs 
 the parties to any particular conclufions, the male- 
 
 * The following remarks of one of the lateft, the moft fober 
 and moft judicious of ihe French metaphyficians, are deferving 
 of attention, and are applicable to a very large portion of 
 thofe difputes on which nv n wafte their talents and their time. 
 " Lrf decouvertc tie la veritc a etc plutot encore le fruit que Tocca~ 
 Jion des difputes des liommes, la v trite eft auili lente a ie montrer, 
 que Terreur eft prompte a paroitre; ainft la lutte des erreurs 
 op po fees entre elles, a du conmiencer avant celles des erreurs 
 contre la verite. L'opinion vraie confifte fouvent a douter la 
 oii l'erreur affirme avec affurance; ainft il fcmble qu'il y a une 
 oppofition moins ouverte entre le fage et l'efprit errone, qu'en- 
 tre ceux qui s'abandonnent a des erreurs diflercntes. Hnfin a 
 une feule verite correspondent toujours on tres grand nombre 
 d'erreurs, comme a cote de la ligne direcle, qui conduit au but, 
 fe trouvent nrille autres lignes, qui en divergent dans tons lei 
 ftns." Degerando, vol. iii. 325, 
 
( 2 7 I ) 
 
 volent pafiions cannot intervene to perplex the quef- 
 tion, and to inflame the combatants. 
 
 4. Till the genuine, benign, and peaceable fpirit 
 of the gofpel of Chrift, fhall be more cherifhed and 
 more venerated by public men, we may hope, but 
 we (hall hope in vain, that the conflict of political 
 fentiment fhould occafion no coldnefs in their friend- 
 fhip, and no rancour in their enmity. But, more 
 fliange it feems, that individuals, who are placed 
 farther fro n the brink of political contention, who 
 can hardly have any perfonal intereft in the fubver- 
 fion of one faction, or in the triumph of another, 
 fhould not be able to think differently on public 
 men and public meafures, without the rnofl: furious 
 diffrnfions. Thofe who are unacquainted with the 
 great actors on the political theatre, and who know 
 nothing of the very intricate machinery which is 
 required to keep the wheels of any government in 
 motion, that prefides over a rich and powerful, but 
 a corrupt and vicious people, can feldom judge with 
 tolerable correctnefs, on meafures of policy, or the 
 characters of politicians. And yet, what company 
 do we enter, in which we do not hear fome men 
 applauded as if they were patriots, exempt from 
 every vice, and others reviled as ruffians deflitute of 
 every virtue ? On thefe occafions, we frequently hear 
 meafures, apparently intended by the advifcrs for 
 the public good, inveighed againft with as much 
 
( 2 7 2 ) 
 
 warmth, and as much bitternefs, as if they were pur- 
 pofely planned for the public deftruction. Such are 
 fome of the rafh and unfair judgments, which men, 
 fometimes, peremptorily affirm, and paffionately de- 
 fend; and of which they often hate, and even, as far 
 as their power extends, perfecute thofe who queftion 
 the truth, or refufe an unqualified afTcnt to their pre- 
 cipitate affertions. In fpeaking of public characters, 
 men are, ufually, lefs directed by the conviction of 
 knowledge, or the evidence of facts, than by the 
 rumours of common fame, the bitter afperfions of 
 enemies, or the glowing encomiums of friends ; the 
 virulence of flanderers, or the adulation of depen- 
 dants. Political judgments are feldom impartial or 
 correct:, becaufe the ideas, out of which they are 
 formed, are ufually made to diverge from the ftraight 
 line of truth, in palling through the cloudy medium 
 of ignorance, prejudice, and malignity. 
 
 5. What is called the public good, which it is 
 the duty of public men to confider, and, as far as 
 they have power, to promote, is, from the intricacy 
 of the fubject, and the multiplicity of particulars 
 which it includes, fo difficult to be known, and, 
 when known, from the chaos of jarring inttrdts that 
 are to be reconciled, fo d'fficult to be executed, and 
 fo many different ways of doing it may leem the 
 bed to different individuals, that the me.ifures which 
 public men adopt, or the counicls which they &ive, 
 
( 273 ) 
 
 ought not to be promifcuoufly cenfured becaufe the 
 happen to run adverfe to our own opinions, or to 
 obftruct our narrow and partial views. 
 
 6. It is very eafy for any one private individual 
 to determine what meafures he would judge mofb 
 expedient for the national welfare j for men in gene- 
 ral are too ready to imagine that what would be 
 beneficial to themfelves, could not be hurtful to the 
 community. But, is it not probable, that a council 
 of flatefmen, raking a larger view of the fubjecl, and 
 confidering it not fo much in its partial, in its local, 
 or its perfonal, as in its general relations, will fugged 
 very different meafures, and more conducive to the 
 good of the community * ? 
 
 7. When fo few poffefs the ability to analyfe the 
 complex idea of the public happinefs, or to trace it 
 through only half its diverfified relations, we may 
 readily difcern how, without any finifter intentions, 
 or difhoneft views, people may think very differently 
 from each other, on queftions which concern the 
 public welfare. The difficulty of afcertaining which 
 opinion is right, or which is wrong, which has the 
 ftrongeft tendency to promote, and which to coun* 
 
 * Different men, placed at different heights of the fame 
 mountain, will form different notions of the features, the pofi- 
 tions, and produce of the furrounding country. I mail leave 
 the application to the reader. 
 
 T 
 
( *74 ) 
 
 teract the public good, ought to teach their feveral 
 defenders diffidence and moderation. On fuch to- 
 pics, what fhould deter us from maintaining oppofite 
 fentiments without the lead diminution of our mu- 
 tual regard, or the lead interruption of our domeftic 
 and focial intercourfe I 
 
 8. Differences of opinion on religious fubjects, 
 are another fruitful fource of animofity. Different 
 fects, who efpoufe different doctrines, in a great 
 meafure, refemble the different factions in a (late, 
 in the fincerity of their mutual ill-will, in the ardour 
 of their ambition, and the purfuit of an exclufive 
 intereft. Political factions hate each other, becaufe 
 each regards the reft as obftrudtions to the attain- 
 ment of fome temporal end ; and religious factions 
 glow with no lefs mutual hatred, as if the future 
 good, to which each afpires, were totally incom- 
 patible with the good of its competitors for eternal 
 happinefs. The firfl feek to obtain the fole, un- 
 fhared poffeffion of the honours that perifh; the 
 fecond feek to appropriate to themfelves the crown 
 of glory, that fadeth not away. They are both in- 
 flamed with the fpirit of monopoly; but while the 
 one is all greedinefs to engrofs the good things pf 
 this prefent world, the other is no lefs greedy to 
 engrofs thofe of another. In the flruggle for tem- 
 poral and fpiritual dominion, the political faction 
 feems, on the whole, to difplay, though not, per- 
 haps, more benevolence, more fagacity than the re- 
 ligious. The temporal diftinctions, honours, and 
 
( 275 ) 
 
 emoluments, which the firft purfues, are limited 
 both in number and in quantity, and there is not 
 enough to appeafe the ravenous appetites both of 
 themfelves and of their rivals. The richelt mo- 
 narch on earth cannot fatisfy the demands of all the 
 candidates for his favour, or of all the petitioners 
 for his bounty. He cannot even gratify every 
 moderate wifh, or every reafonable expectation. 
 Hence we may readily conceive how envy and 
 jealoufy, and all the malignant paffions, arife 
 among the competitors for political preference ; and 
 why their different interefts, which are fo incompa- 
 tible, fhould be fo difficult to be reconciled. But 
 the rewards which are promifed to the juft in heaven, 
 are not fo circumfcribed in number, or fo fcant in 
 quantity. The favours which the Almighty has to 
 bellow are infinite ; and the regard which he (hows 
 to one, can be no deduction from, and no obflruc- 
 tion to that to which another may afpire. If the 
 area of a palace be capable of holding only a few 
 of thofe who are eager to pufh themfelves into it, 
 there will be fpace enough in the courts of the man- 
 fions above, to contain all the generations of all 
 nations and ages, who deferve admiffion. It feems, 
 therefore, not lefs the excefs of felfifhnefs than of 
 folly, in the advocates for different creeds and doc- 
 trines, to deprive of happinefs thofe with whom they 
 do not agree, and to engrofs heaven to themfelves. 
 But if man be cruel, God is juft, Whatever opi- 
 nions individuals may entertain on fpeculative points 
 
 T 2 
 
( * 7 S ) 
 
 of religion, the everlasting gates will not be 
 (hut againft them, who* as far as they have capacity, 
 imitate God in his perfections ; and, as often as they 
 have opportunity, do good to their fellow-creatures. 
 Such confiderations, plain and fimple as thefe are, 
 may tend to afliiage the rancour of religious animo- 
 fity, and to fhow the abfurdity of thofe anathemas 
 which one feci: hurls againft another. 
 
 9. Thofe religious opinions which are productive 
 of the mod bitter diffenfions, ufually relate, not to 
 the weighty matters of religion, but to fome inex- 
 plicable tenets, or fome frivolous forms. Few are 
 the perfons who do not agree, at lead in theory, 
 however much they may differ in practice, refpect- 
 ing the importance of purity of manners, and holi- 
 nefsoflife; and thofe, who thus acquiefce in believ- 
 ing the ejfentials of found doclrine, fhould not contend 
 about thofe things which have no reference to right- 
 eoufnefs. 
 
 10* It is becoming, and it is necefTary, that Chrif- 
 fcians fhould maintain with warmth, but without 
 pafiion, with zeal, but without intolerance, the effen- 
 tial articles of religious belief-, becaufe fuch articles 
 have always an intimate connexion with the practice 
 of piety. Thus, thofe articles of religion which are 
 eflential, may be clearly diftinguifhed from thofe 
 which are not effential. The firft will always be 
 found favourable to the growth of goodnefs ; while 
 
( 277 ) 
 
 the lad, ufually afford nothing but occafion for ftrife, 
 and fuel for difTenfion. Eflential articles of religion, 
 fuch as thefe, that there is a God; that he is the re- 
 warder of thofe that diligently feek him; that the Chrif- 
 tian religion is a revelation of his will, cannot be dis- 
 believed without faith being imperfect; while thofe 
 articles which are not efTential, fuch as thefe, that 
 the refurreflion of the dead will be a corporeal refur- 
 retlion\ that the ft ate of the foul in the interval between 
 the death of the individual and the loft judgment, will 
 be a ft ate of inconfcioufnefs, may be either believed or 
 difbelieved, without any addition to, or any deduction 
 from, the fubftance of religious faith; which, if I may 
 fo fpeak, may be believed without gain, and dis- 
 believed without lofs. Our regard for the un- 
 changeable and eternal obligations of morality, mould 
 caufe us vigorouQy to defend the eflential articles 
 of religious belief; while the fpirit of peace mould 
 incline us neither pertinacioufly to fupport, nor fu- 
 rioufly to oppofe, thofe articles which are not eflen- 
 tial, becaufe they have no connexion with vital 
 righteoufnefs. 
 
 II. If a man believe that there is no God, which 
 is the fundamental principle of natural religion, on 
 which all its truth depends, and all its importance 
 refts, it is more than probable, that the unfoundnefs 
 of his faith will be manifefted in the impurity of his 
 conduct. Difbelieving that which is the great fpring 
 of practical goodnefs, his unbelief will become .£, 
 
 T 3 
 
( *7« ) 
 
 fource of practical corruption. As morality confifts 
 in a conformity of the conduct to the divine will, 
 it is abfurd to fuppofe that he will take any pains 
 to conform his conduct to the will of God, who 
 does not believe in his exiftence, or who denies his 
 fuperintending providence. The difference of opi- 
 nion, therefore, that mud exift between a man who 
 difbelieves, and another who fincerely believes in the 
 being of a God, muft be fuch as will necefiarily 
 occafion a linking difference in their mutual con- 
 duct, and forcibly tend to alienate them from each 
 other in affection as well as in fentiment *. The 
 opinions and the feelings of an atheift, cannot accord 
 with thofe of a religious man ; nor can the fenfations, 
 the fentiments, the emotions and dcfires of a reli- 
 gious man, be in unifon with thofe of an atheift. 
 The warm, the artlefs, the fmcere regards of friend- 
 fhip, can never be extended towards him, who fays 
 in his heart that there is no God; for friendfhip can- 
 
 * It will generally be found, that a man who does not be- 
 lieve in a God, never entertains any hearty good will towards 
 thofe who do believe 5 and, probably, becaufe he thinks them 
 more happy and more fafe. A fecret confcioufnefs of his own 
 insecurity, an undivulged, a perpetually ftifled, but a con- 
 stantly corroding and corrofive perception of his own wretch- 
 ednefs, impel the efforts of the atheitt to drive others from 
 the rock of their confidence, and to plunge them into mifery 
 as hopelefs as his own. Hence we difcern why atheifts often 
 e-xceed even the moll bufy fe&aiies in the zeal of making 
 profelytes. 
 
( 279 ) 
 
 not flouriih without confidence; and can he ever 
 be an object of confidence, or ever ceafe to be an 
 object of diftruft, who, wanting the only folid prin- 
 ciple of fidelity, muft excite an habitual dread of 
 perfidy and infincerity ? With feelings of commife- 
 ration an atheift may be regarded; but the warm 
 fentiments of our efteem he can never fhare. Can 
 we enter into a bland communion with his thoughts, 
 with his forrows, or his joys ? Can we fympathife 
 with his fpirits in their loweft deprefiion, or their 
 highefl exaltation ? Is he not placed either too far 
 above, or funk too deep below the ordinary level 
 of human interefls, ever to be interefting to our 
 affections ? Does he not deem happinefs or mifery 
 as mere fortuitous combinations of events that are 
 uncaufed, or of caufes that do not originate in intel- 
 ligence ? Does he not receive good without thank- 
 fulnefs, and fuffer evil without hope ? Does he not; 
 deride the paternal affection of Jehovah ? Does he 
 not defpife his juftice, and flight his mercy* ? 
 
 * There is great juftnefs in the following remarks of one 
 of the wifeft of the heathen philofophers. " Sunt," fays he, 
 " philofophi, et fuerunt, qui omnino nullam habere cenferent 
 humanarum rerum procurationem deos. Quorum fi vera fen- 
 tentia eft, quae poteft effe pietas? quae fanctitas ? quae religio? 
 haec enim omnia pure ac cafte tribuenda deorum numini ita 
 funt, (i animadvertuntur ab his, et n* eft aliquid a diis immor- 
 talibus hominum generi tributum: (in autem dii nequepoflunt 
 nos juvare, neque volunt, nee omnino curant, nee quid aga~ 
 mus, animadvertunt, nee eft quod ab his ad hominum vitara 
 
 t 4 
 
( 28o ) 
 
 1 2. The great and primary principle of the Chril- 
 tian revealed religion is this, that Jefus, the founder 
 
 permanare poflit; quid eft quod ullos diis immortalibus cultiH, 
 honores, preces adbibeamus? In fpecie aatem fi&ae fimula- 
 tionis, ficut reliquae virtutes, ita pietas incefle non poteft ; cum 
 qua firaul et fanctitatem et religionem tolli necefle eft; qui bus 
 fublatis perturbatio vitae fequitur et magna confufio. Atque 
 haud fcio, an, pictalc adverfus dcosfublatd, fides ctiam et focietas 
 humani generis, et una excellentijjima virtus jujlitia tollatur" 
 Cicero de Nat Deor. lib. i. § 3. ed. Lallemand, p. 131. See 
 Grot, de Jur. Bell, et Pac. lib. ii. § 44, 4/. 
 
 Locke goes fo far as to fay, " thofe are not at all to be tole- 
 rated, ivho deny ihe being of a God. Promifes, covenants, and 
 oaths, can have no hold upon an atheift. The taking away of 
 God, though but even in thought, dilTolves all. Befides alio 
 thofe, that by their atheifm undermine and deftroy all religion, 
 can have no pretence of religion, whereupon to challenge the 
 principle of a toleration." Locke's Works, fol. vol. ii. p. 251. 
 In another place, this warm friend to civil and religious liberty, 
 declares, " jVo opinions contrary to human fociety , or to thofe mo 
 rules "which are neceffary to the preformation of civil foe it. ty, arc to 
 he tolerated by the magiflrate" lb. 250, When Mr. Locke faid 
 that thofe ought not to be tolerated ivho deny the bebig of a God, 
 he certainly did not mean that they mould either be ftrangled or 
 burnt alive, but only that they mould be reftrained in the pro- 
 pagation of their pernicious tenets, and excluded from all places 
 of civil truft and power. Few are the opinions which ought, or 
 which can reafonably be the object: of penal reftraint, till they 
 are embodied in fome overt act ; yet cafes may occur, in whicli 
 the d.fTufion of mifchievous principles ought not to be en- 
 couraged by impunity. A man may entertain an opinion that 
 there is no God 5 and fnch an opinion is certainly not a fair 
 fubject of judicial cognizance or civil punimment ; but, if an 
 individual, not contented with the undilturbed poifeilion of 
 
( 2 8l ) 
 
 of it, was a perfon commifiioned by God to declare 
 his will to mankind -, to fhew what fpecies of wor- 
 
 this notion, fhould travel up and down the country to make 
 profelytes to it, and to fpread it abroad among the ignorant 
 multitude, he would, certainly, deferve an exemplary punifh- 
 mentj nor do I think, that in this cafe, it would be either 
 juft or prudent to fufpend the puniihment till the evil effects 
 of the opinion had become vifible and palpable in fome open 
 violation of the laws. If I find a man fowing thiftles in my 
 field, am I to fuffer him to proceed till the thiftles come up 
 and choke my corn ? That an atheift ought to be excluded 
 from all places of civil and ecclefiaftical truft and power, every 
 friend to piety will allow; but then, what teft mail we frame, 
 by which to diftinguiuh him who really is an atheift, from 
 him who really is not an atheift? An atheift is a man who 
 denies the being of a God ; and the being of a God may cer- 
 tainly be denied in two ways ; in ivord, and in deed. Now, 
 to deny God in practice, is certainly worfe than to deny him 
 in word only ; but if we were to rank as atheifls all thofe who 
 deny God in practice, that is, ivho Irv&.as if there ivas no God 
 in the ivorld to ivhom they tuere accountable for their actions, I 
 fear that fome of thofe who now pafs for ftridt religionifts, 
 would themfelves be objects of the very intolerance which they 
 defend ! And yet what better teji can you have of a man's 
 belief or unbelief, his religion or irreligion, than his conduct ? 
 Let, therefore, no man be admitted to any flation of power 
 or truft, to civil or ecclefiaftical honours, ivhofe life isfuch as 
 to prove that he has no fear of God before his eyes ; who has been 
 convicted of perjury, fraud, extortion, adultery, or any heinous 
 violation of morality. And as all punifhment ought, as much 
 as is poffible, tend to the reformation of the criminal, let the 
 exclufion continue only for a certain period, or till con- 
 trition of heart is manifefted in a reformation of conduct. 
 Such regulations, adopted by the legiflature, would be more 
 
( *82 ) 
 
 /hip was mod agreeable to the divine pleafure, and 
 moft conducive to their own eternal happinefs. He 
 who denies this, is not a Chriftian ; and we cannot 
 regard him with the fame affection as we fhould if 
 he belonged to the fold of (Thrift. Such a divifion 
 in our fentiments, will prevent a thorough union in 
 our hearts. We love, and we cannot well help 
 loving thofe moft, whofe principles are moft con- 
 genial to our own, whofe modes of thinking and of 
 action we moft approve, and with the varied changes 
 in whofe affections and circumftances we feel the 
 ftrongeft propenfity to fympathife. A fincere be- 
 liever in the Chriftian revelation, may contemplate 
 a deift without averfion and without fcorn ; but how 
 can he regard with unmingled fatisfaction and un*> 
 alloyed efteem, one who regards that fyftem, in which 
 he finds a perennial fource of prefent confolation, 
 and from which he derives a cheering affurance of 
 future glory, either as an artfully contrived or a well 
 defigned impofture; who looks not unto Chrift with 
 affection and with reverence, as the beloved fon of 
 God; who imitates not the perfections of his life; 
 who venerates not the memory of his death ; ancj 
 
 likely to ftop the fpread of atheifm, than all the laws that were 
 ever framed, and, perhaps, all the fermons that were ever 
 preached. In vain {hall we endeavour to Hem the torrent of 
 irreligion which is rapidly fweeping away all the virtuous 
 principles of the people, while we heap riches and honours on 
 thofe who, if they do profefs great zeal for the glory of God 
 with their ltps, do fhew ific ranhji athafm hi their lives! 
 
 7 
 
( *8 3 ) 
 
 who rejoices not in the hope of his refurre&ion? 
 Though in all who glory in the profeffion of Chris- 
 tianity, and in whom that profefilon is aflbciated 
 with vivid feelings of relped, of admiration, and of 
 gratitude for the beloved name of Chrift, fuch dif- 
 ferences of opinion may, and mud produce a dimi- 
 nution of our perlbnal regard, yet they ought not to 
 exclude the individual from that degree of regard 
 which the genuine philanthropic will feel for every 
 particular member of the human fpecies. 
 
 13. As God made of one blood all the nations 
 of men that dwell on the face of the whole earth, 
 every fingle member of the univerfal family of man- 
 kind has a claim to certain fenfations of humane 
 regard; a claim which is indefeafible and inalienable; 
 which he cannot part with, and which we ought not 
 to caft away. The fentient nature of man alone, 
 without any reference to his religion or his country, 
 to the nearnefs or the remotenefs of his relation to 
 us by any particular, any local or moral ties, ought 
 to be his protection from cruelty, and his ihield 
 againfl: injury*. But at the fame time, the na- 
 tural claim to regard which any individual has, as 
 a being pofTefling the fame common properties of 
 the fame common humanity, is greatly increafed by 
 the ties of kindred, friendfhip, neighbourhood, which 
 
 * Injury is here ufed as any harm done with a malicious 
 intention. 
 
( *s 4 ) 
 
 render the general feeling more lively, diftinft, par- 
 ticular; and in proportion as thefe endearments of 
 family, friendlhip, neighbourhood, of the fame civil 
 and religious inftitutions are diminimed, our affection 
 for the individual decreafes till it fubfides into a fort 
 of ferene complacency, which will often border on 
 indifference, and, in fome cafes, approach averfion ; 
 but which ought never to be fuffered to fwell into 
 rage, or inflame into rancour. 
 
 14. Whatever ferves to increafe or to ftrengthen 
 our particular attachments, invigorates and multi- 
 plies the motives to preference, becaufe it renders 
 that general good-will which we feel towards the 
 univerfal fpecies of man, more exclufively appro- 
 priate to the individual. And thefe attachments, 
 thus individuated by family, friendship, neighbour- 
 hood, by affinities domeftic, local, civil, and reli- 
 gious, are greatly heightened by the moral approba- 
 tion of the perfon, 
 
 15. If a man be our brother, cur friend, or ac- 
 quaintance, he may reafonably have a particular 
 claim to our regard, merely upon th^ fcore of kin- 
 dred, friend (hip, acquaintance, but thefe claims will 
 be found, in all cafes, to be ftrengthened, anJ, in 
 fome degree, hallowed by our moral approbation 
 of the individual •, and which, in calamity, increafes 
 the willingnefs to relieve, and the pleafure in re- 
 lieving. If a man be connected with us by na 
 
( **S ) 
 
 particular relations, but only as he is a being of the 
 fame fpecies, fubject, like ourfelves, to pain and 
 pleafure, to imperfections and uncertainties, his 
 claim to any preference in diftrefs, mud depend 
 almoft folely on the moral eitimation of his charac- 
 ter. In the operations of beneficence, moral qua- 
 lities will perhaps, in fome cafes, demand a pre- 
 ference even in the prefence, but always in the 
 abfence of other motives. 
 
 1 6. A communion in religious opinions has a 
 ftrong tendency to increafe our good-will towards 
 the individual ; and this increafe of affection may 
 very reafonably be ex peeled to take place, when 
 thofe opinions have a direct and intimate affociation 
 with goodnefs of conduct ; and confequently raife 
 the perfon in the fcale of moral eftimation. Moral 
 approbation may, indeed, often neither be dimU 
 nifhed nor augmented by a difference or agreement 
 in particular tenets of religion; for the tenets in 
 which we differ or agree, may have no real or ap- 
 parent connexion with moral worth; may neither 
 favour its growth, nor promote its*decline; and, 
 confequently, ought not to make any addition to, 
 or any deduction from, our moral approbation of 
 him, by whom they are efpoufed. 
 
 17. An individual may differ from me in be- 
 lieving that the day of judgment, as mentioned in 
 fcripture, is not to be literally conftrued, but to be 
 
( 286 ) 
 
 underftood as an adaptation to human forms of 
 fpeech** but fuch a difference ought not, and can- 
 
 * Since the greater part of this work was written, and the 
 former fheets printed off, I have been favoured with the pe- 
 rufal of Dr. Parr's Spital fermon, in which he fays with his 
 accuftomed moderation, " Numerous and weighty indeed are 
 the reafons which induce far the greater part of enlightened 
 Christians to believe, that the fcriptural paffages in which 
 )j tyjs x§i<rzuj$ yp&S&f o r what is fometimes equivalent, ij i}ue£<% 
 is mentioned, ihould be interpreted literally, and that the re- 
 wards and punifhments of another life will be difpenfed judi- 
 cially. There are, however, fome perfons, who, with equal 
 folicitude for the intereft of virtue, and equal reverence for 
 the authority of fcripture, contend, that the well-known prin- 
 ciple of dytjcuirfortdhicc may be applied to fuch paffages 5 and 
 that the jujlice of the Deity will be adminiftered by a regular 
 feries of caufes and effefls, producing happinefs to the righteous, 
 and mifery to the wicked." p. 152, 153. There may be fome 
 few queftions, political, moral, and religious, in which I do 
 not coincide in opinion with Dr. Parr j but, on all the great 
 and fundamental principles of policy, morality, and religion, 
 I truft that there are only fuch fhades of difference be- 
 tween us, as there muft neceffarily be between perfons, who, 
 equally attached to the interefts of truth, will not lurrender to 
 others the right «f thinking for themfelves. 
 
 Whatever be the fubject which engages the attention of Dr. 
 Parr, whether it relate to the delicate refinements of philology, 
 the intricate abftraclions of metaphyfics, the plained truths in 
 morals, or the loftieft fpeculations in philofophy, we never fail 
 of receiving equal instruction and delight from the variety of 
 his erudition, the depth of his refearch, the largenefs of his 
 views, the warinefs of his conclufions, and the richnefs of his 
 eloquence. The ornaments of his fiyle are often coftly, and 
 fplendid, and gorgeous j but exquifitely wrought, nicely pro. 
 
( a8 7 ) 
 
 not, reafonably, detract from> r^ir moral approbation 
 of each other; for it is of ?* f little confequence to 
 the great interefts of morally, and it can neither 
 add to, nor take from the common perfuafions to 
 moral obligation, whether the laft judgment be un- 
 derflood, according to the popular opinion, in the 
 ftriclnefs of the letter, or whether, as intimating that 
 every individual will be perfonally judged, if I may 
 fo fpeak, the moment that he dies ; that is, will pais 
 immediately after his diflblution, into that condition 
 of happinefs or mifery, for which he is fitted by the 
 pad habits of his mortal life. 
 
 1 8. Whether the lad fentence be pafTed colleftively 
 and at the fame time, on all the individuals of all 
 countries and ages, or whether every particular in- 
 dividual be, feparately> fentenced to receive accord- 
 ing to his works, is a queftion more curious than 
 important; and the interefts of morality will not 
 fuffer, whichsoever opinion we embrace. But when 
 any individual profeiTes tenets which are entirely 
 adverfe to the fundamental principles of true reli- 
 gion, the cafe is altered ; our moral approbation of 
 the peribn vindicating fuch opinions is dirninifhed ; 
 we regard him not only as an alien from the houfe- 
 hold of faith, but an enemy to the happinefs of 
 
 portioned, and happily combined ; they refemble the exuberant 
 magnificence of an eaftern palace, difpofed with the fimple 
 tafte of a Grecian artift. 
 
( 288 ) 
 
 fociety. The mor^Lriiflatisfaftion, which we feel* 
 chills the warmtl,v e ^ dihevolent fenfation, and re 
 preffes the adtivity'o/iv.ae benevolent principle. The 
 claim to compaflion is more weak, and the motives 
 to fuccour are lefs ftrong. But we are to remember 
 that benevolence may be cooled, without malice 
 "being inflamed; and that an union of the fentiments 
 can never be effected by an oppofuion of the paf- 
 fions. There is no tendency, in the genius of con- 
 tention, to refute errors, to extirpate prejudices, to 
 fettle principles, or to harmonife opinions. Reafon 
 difallows, humanity profcribes, and religion forbids 
 fuch methods of vanquifhing falfehood, or of aiding 
 the triumphs of truth. 
 
 19. Thofe differences of opinion among Chrif- 
 tians, which create fuch deadly animofities, feldom 
 relate to effential matters of belief, but to points, 
 about which we may differ, without erring from the 
 way ofrighteoufnefs. As the members of the fame 
 family may think very differently on many little 
 points of domeftic intereft, without any reafonable 
 deduction from thofe tender regards which the ties 
 of family prefcribe ; fo, among Chriftians, diverfities 
 of fentiment on many queflions of uncertain doc- 
 trine, as the co-eternity and co-equality of the three 
 perfons in the godhead, the formalities of the future 
 judgment, or the duration of future punifliments, 
 ought not to produce diffenfions, feparations, and 
 fchifms in the great family of Chrift. 
 
( *°9 ) 
 
 20. In order, as much as pofilble, to prevent 
 divifions in the church of Chrift, the apoftles ear* 
 neftly enjoin us, cc to follow peace," Heb. xii. 14. 
 to endeavour to <c live peaceably with all men/' 
 Rom. xii. 18. to "follow righteoufnefs, faith, (that 
 is, truth,) love, peace, together with thofe that call 
 on the Lord out of a pure heart." 1 Tim. ii. 22. In 
 this lad pafTage it particularly deferves our attention, 
 that peace> or the prefervation of amity and fellow- 
 fhip with all good Christians *> is claiTed among the 
 primary Chriftian virtues, and placed by the fide of 
 juftice, truth, and charity. And hence we may learn 
 the crying and damning fin of difturbing the peace 
 of the houfehold of Chrift by mifchievous divifions 
 and invidious diftinctions. The guilt of fchifm (for 
 fchifm, being a violation of Chriftian charity, is cer- 
 tainly a fin) is incurred, when thofe, who ought to 
 agree in one communion, erect hoftile churches, and 
 form feparate congregations, without fufficient rea- 
 fons j\ 
 
 * Mera rwv sifiyiccXovu^vooy rov Kvoiov hi K6c$BLpa$ x&piiaf. 
 
 f May I addrefs the prefent champions of ecclefiaftical 
 diflenfion in the eloquent interrogatories of the venerable Cle- 
 ment, the companion of St. Paul, and the fucceffor of St. Peter? 
 '* tX Iva ri zpeic, xai Svpo], xa} foxoo'ra.cicu, xai a-yja-^ccroL, tfoXsuos 
 re Iv uafv; n o-}yj 'hcc ®£ov %%pfj,sv 9 koa. \v% Xpirrov; kcli gy 
 tfVEvpot rvj$ yJ>-MTo<; ro ekVoQev s<f yySc, xai ^lOCKXyjrigsv Xpicrw, 
 ivart Ci2Av.ou.sv y.cci oicccirw^cy rx (xsAry rs Xpirrs, new G-roLcrid^opzy 
 1:00s ro cuJlix ro /&ov, xai s$ roo-ccvrr^ dtfovoizv spyo^x, tiers 
 §iti\a$&trfei rjpots art /xsPoj sfpsv aAXijAwyj" Vid, S. Clem, ad 
 
 u 
 
( *9° ) 
 
 St. The only reafons which can juftify a ieceflion 
 from the bofom of that church, or houfchold of 
 faith, which is eftablifhed in the country in which 
 we live, are either great and notorious corruptions in 
 its doctrine, or in the practice of its members, fuch 
 as caufed our anceftors to feparate from the com- 
 munion of papal Rome. But can any reafons, fimi- 
 lar in kind, or equal in ftrength, be alleged to ex- 
 cufe the prefent numerous feparations from the Pro- 
 teftant Church of England ? Is her doctrine defiled 
 with the fame pollutions? Are her rites encumbered 
 with the fame mummeries, or her minifters dif- 
 graced by the fame enormities i If there be fome 
 fuperfluities in her liturgy, or fome erroneous con- 
 clufions in her articles, are they of fuch a nature as 
 to afford a reafonable pretext to the majority of dif- 
 fidents, for the defertion of her communion ? 
 
 22. No liturgy can well be fo framed as to appear 
 blamelefs to men of different opinions, or to fuit the 
 taftes and widiesof all fects^ but though the Englifh 
 liturgy may be, and certainly is, liable to particular 
 objections, does it, notwithltanding, not deferve the 
 fincere, if not the unqualified approbation, of all 
 feds of Chriftians ? In its detached parts, faulty paf* 
 
 Corinth. Epift. i. 46. Coteier. Patr. Apoftol. vol. i. p. 174, 175. 
 Ed. Amftel. 1724. May I, at the fame time, and on the fame 
 authority, add? that " dyditr] c^ia-^a. o-x €%-*, dyditrj ou 
 crocaridgsi, dyditt] itxvra, iroih zv o/xovo/a* and that £<'%& dydrfrjs 
 ovtiev tudpso-riv hri rev ©ex-." p. l J6, 
 
( *9x ) 
 
 fages may appear ; fome prejudices may be remarked 
 which were not fo much the errors of the authors, 
 as of the age in which they lived ; but, confidered 
 as a whole, it breathes the moft liberal fentiments, 
 the moft enlightened piety, and the moft compre- 
 henfive charity: it contains petitions fuited to all the 
 neceffities, and to all conditions of mankind; not a 
 fupplication is wanting that we can ever have oc- 
 cafion to utter, for our own good, or the good of 
 others ; and it can never be devoutly read, or atten- 
 tively heard, without the moft beneficial influence 
 on our thoughts and actions, our hearts and lives. 
 None of the prayers are polluted by cant, or embar- 
 rafTed by hypocrify; they afford the ftrongeft internal 
 teftimony, that thofe who compofed them did not 
 write what they did not feel 5 they are characterifed 
 by fimplicity and fincerity; and hallowed by the 
 genuine afpirations of unaffected piety. In fuch a 
 liturgy, fo far fuperior to all the extravagances of 
 extemporaneous devotion, fo falutary in its tendency, 
 fo benign in its fpirit, and fo fublime in its compo- 
 fition, the particular defects are loft in the general 
 beauty; and fome few pafTages, which defer ve cen- 
 fure, may well be forgotten in the many, on which 
 it would be rank impiety not to beftow unqualified 
 approbation. 
 
 23. Thofe fects who pretend that the partial 
 blemifhes or the particular defects, which they defcry 
 in the Church of England, are the grounds of their 
 
 U 2 
 
( 292 ) 
 
 ieparation, ought furely to confider whether its ge- 
 net al excellence and its general ufefulnek might 
 not, with more reafon, become the grounds of their 
 conformity. The latter furnifh ftronger arguments 
 for fupport, than the former for oppoficion ; the one 
 ftronger motives for afitnt, than the other for dif- 
 fenfion. If the evil be more than balanced by the 
 good, the eftabliihment * is not to be leprobated, 
 
 * No rational man will, I think, deny, ths? a ftate ought to 
 guard the moral, with as much tendernefs and vigilance as the 
 temporal wtlfare of its fubje&sj to protect their hearts from 
 the inroads of vice, with as much circumfpeclion as topveferve 
 their property from injuftice, or their lives from deftruction. 
 Indeed, that government, which does not attend with fcrupu- 
 lous anxiety to the morals of its people, appears to me crimi- 
 nally indifferent to their profp^ity, and its own Security. In 
 the providential economy of the world, moral and phyficai 
 good feem intimately connected ; and, though this wife order 
 of the divine government may often elude our fearch, or 
 efcape our obfervation, in the affairs of individuals, it is very 
 apparent in thole difpenfations which regard the fortune of 
 nations. In the vicifiitudes of nations, in their ebbings and 
 flowings, their elevations and depreflions, a moral government 
 of the world is too ftriking not to be remarked; and, accord- 
 ing to the eftablifhed laws of that government, the profperity 
 will, generally, be found to bear a certain relative proportion 
 to the virtue of any people. Ancient hiftory, and more efpe- 
 cially, the divine records of the Old Teftament, will furnifh us 
 with many memorable and impreffive examples of this falutary 
 truth. Confider the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, the deflruc- 
 tion of Nineveh, of Babylon, and of Tyre; the depreflion of 
 Egypt, the fubverfion of the Peril an and Macedonian empires; 
 the defolation of Jeruialem 3 the dcclenfion and the fall of 
 
f m ) 
 
 becaufe the good is not greater than it is, or fo great 
 "s it might- be * for, of what civil, or what religious 
 
 confular, of imperial, and of papal Rome ! Even the phyfical 
 ftate of the atmofphere feems, according to fome fixed but in- 
 fcrutable appointment of divine wifdom, to fympathife, if I 
 may fo exprefs it, with the moral ftate of man j and where 
 fupemiifon has defcribed the malign influences of the planets, 
 the operations of genii, or the ravages of demons, the Chrif- 
 tian philofopher, who labours to inveftigate the affinities of 
 the moral and the natural world, fees awful manifeftatibns of 
 the mora! government of God. How any changes in the 
 moral, do produce any thing like ccrrefponding changes in the 
 natural world, it may be impoffible to explain j.bul hiftory and 
 obfervation will furnifh fome finking analogies to countenance 
 the fuppofition. Indeed I hardly fee how any fober and con- 
 templative man, who has, for the laft few years, compared the 
 flate of the earth with the figns in the heavens, the convulled, 
 difordered, and corrupt ftate of the nations, with the unwhole- 
 fomenefs of the air, the unfruitfulnefs of the feafons, the 
 ftorms and tempefts, the droughts and rains, the blights and 
 mildew, the dearth, and fever and difeafe, that have prevailed 
 in different parts of the world, can doubt but that moral and 
 phyfical evil are more clofely connected than is commonly 
 imagined. The hifro.y of the Jews (if we fuppofe that hif- 
 tory true, and what hiftory is true if that be falfe?) proves the 
 intimate connexion fubfifting between the moral and the 
 natural world ; we fee the heavens opened or fhut, the feafons 
 fruitful or unproductive, the air wholefome or peftilential, the 
 land parched with drought or refrefhed with rain, according to 
 the righteoufnefs or the .depravity, the moral good or the 
 moral evil of the people. And, if there be, at prefent, any 
 cQ7mexk?i fubfifting between the moral ftate of man, and the 
 natural ftate of the feafons, the air, the earth, and the ocean, 
 it is certainly an argument of no fmall weight to prove how 
 
 v 3 
 
( 294 ' 
 
 inftitutions, that ever exifted in the world, was the 
 good produced entirely anfwerable to the expecla- 
 
 important it is for thofe governments which regard the happi- 
 nefs of their fubjects, and the profperity of their country, to 
 make the interefts of morality a primary object of their policy. 
 It does not feem poffible for any government to keep up a 
 lively fenfe of moral duty among the great mafs of its fubjects, 
 without giving to moral precepts the authoritv of religious 
 fanctions, and invigorating the practice by the l of 'reli- 
 gious motives. Neither the blandifliments of phile phy, nor 
 rhetorical pictures of the beauty of vice or the uglinefs of vir- 
 tue, nor even the terrors of penal law, can, independent 
 of the motives and fanctions of religion, give flrength and 
 energy, animation and conjiancy, to a fenfe of moral duty. 
 Without fome aid from the devotional habits of religion, our no- 
 tions of moral duty will, notwithstanding the raoft affiduous 
 endeavours to prevent it, wither and die ; fall off from the 
 heart, and fade from the confeience. 
 
 It is not fo much by a dread of punifliment, as by a fenfe 
 of duty, that a good and wife government will labour to check 
 the increafe of crimes, and to promote the growth of virtue. 
 But can a fenfe of moral duty by any artifice or fop hi ft ry be 
 rendered frefh, vigorous, and lafting, without afibciate feelings 
 of religious reverence, without any trufl in the being of a God, 
 
 i 
 
 who will reward the righteous, and punim the wicked ? It is this 
 perfuafion of thefe truths, that gives ftrength and confifter.cy 
 to virtuous conduct ; that makes men fearful to tranfgreis, and 
 anxious to do the will of God. Penal laws, for the moll part, 
 operate as preventives of evil ; but religious perluafions as in- 
 centives to good. The hrft deter from crimes, the laft prompt 
 to acts of virtue j perjury and injuftice may be difcouraged by 
 the one, but truth, and righteouinefs, and charity, are enli- 
 vened by the other. And the influence of religious belief is 
 more conftant and permanent than that of penal law. When 
 
( *9S ) 
 
 tion, to the capacity or the pofllbility? If it be 
 objected by Tome fects, that they cannot continue 
 
 a criminal fees the gallows before his eyes, on which fome 
 delinquent has paid the forfeit of his crimes, the image may 
 imprefs a momentary terror on his heart, but it leaves no 
 wholefome impreflion on his confcience. It produces fenla- 
 tions of danger, but it does not trouble his foul with a fenfe 
 of guilt j it does not excite his abhorrence of moral evil, nor 
 , a conviction of moral good. It may generate caution, but it 
 does not favour the growth of virtue. Penal laws may be, 
 indirectly, but are never directly, beneficial. They contribute 
 a negative, not a pofitive quantity, to the fum of moral good- 
 nefs. On the other hand, right perfuafions of religious duty 
 never deter from evil without inciting to good. They not 
 only mow us that we have no intereft in doing evil, but that 
 we have a great intereft in doing good. They operate on the 
 foul of man by the dread of furfering, and the hope of blifs. 
 Taking hold of our ftrongeft feelings, hope on one fide, and 
 fear on the other, whofe united ftrength, when combined in 
 due proportions, produces the greateft will to act, and the 
 greateft energy in action, they operate on the conduct by the 
 ftrongeft poffible motives, and render us unwearied in well 
 doing. Hence it will, I think, he evident of what vaft and 
 inconceivable importance it is, to furnifh fuch a being as man 
 with religious motives to moral action. But. is it poilible to 
 furnifh religious motives without religious indruction ? and 
 how can any ftate diiTeminate religious belief, or fpread reli- 
 gious inftruetion among the great mai's of its fubjects. with >ut 
 the intermediate aid of an order of men fpeciallv educated for, 
 and fpecially devoted to, that important purpofe? As if aware 
 of thefe int< refting truths, few have been the governments, 
 which hiftory record?, who have not inftituted and n aintained 
 a particular clafs of men to keep up the fear of God among 
 the people, and to flrengthen the precepts of morality by the 
 
 U 4 
 

 ( 2 9 6 ) 
 
 in communion with the Church of England, becaufe 
 fhe holds tenets which they deem unfcriptural j may 
 
 fandions of religion. And thofe governments which have not 
 been bleflTed with the light of true religion, have, ufually, found 
 it expedient to invent a fulfe; and forge divine fanctions 
 to give ftability to human inftitutions. Ail religion has for 
 its bafis the moral government of God, or, at leatt, fuppofes 
 that there are powers above which intereft themfelves in the 
 affairs of the world below. Such a perfuanon, whether it be the 
 produce of fiction or of truth, muft be falutary; but, in thofe 
 countries, in which the will of God has been clearly evinced 
 by the glorious light of revelation, it is incumbent on every 
 government- to make the truth of that revelation univerfally 
 known, and its precepts univerfally refpected. It may be laid, 
 that religious truths are fo congenial to the reafon, and reli- 
 gious feelings fo entwined around the heart, that the belief 
 and the practice of Chriftianity would be as prevalent without, 
 as it is with an eftablifhed miniftry. To this, I would anfwer, 
 that the fact might poffibly be fo; but, that it probably would 
 not ; and that no government feeling a fatherly concern for the 
 good of its fubjects, ought to leave a matter of fuch infinite 
 importance, as the knowledge of religious truth and moral ob- 
 ligation, to uncertainty and accident. And we are to consider 
 that it is not only the duty of every government to communi- 
 cate religious inftruction to its fubjecls, in order to prevent 
 the growth of immorality, but of fuperftition ; that their hearts 
 may not be depraved, nor their minds bewildered by religious 
 jugglers ; that they may be taught to confider religion, not as 
 a topic of contention, but a rule of life ; not as fupplying ali- 
 ment for diiTenfion, but motives to righteoufnefs. I (hall be 
 told, that religion, being entirely a perfonal concern, indivi- 
 duals fhould be at liberty to choofe a religious paftor for them- 
 fehes. Enlightened people may do this 5 but are the majorily 
 thus enlightened? Are they capable of determining what are 
 
( * 9 7 } 
 
 we not, without offence, exhort them to confider 
 that tc charity is the bond of perfection ," and " the end 
 
 the qualifications bed fuited to a minifter of the gofpel of 
 Chrift ? Certainly not. if the religious minifters of the diffe- 
 rent parithes throughout the kingdom were appointed by 
 the furl rage of the multitude, we mould have all our churches 
 filled, not with fober Chriftian teachers, but with brawling 
 fanatics and canting hypocrites, who ufually poffefs thofe qua* 
 liflcations which are more likely to win the attention, and to 
 impofe on the credulity of the multitude. Such preachers, 
 inftead of inftrucling the people in moral duty, would caufe 
 them to wander far and wide from the ftraight track of corn- 
 noon fenfe, till they were loft in the wilds of myftery. Mo- 
 rality would be driven, as fome profane and merely nominal 
 Chriftians have attempted to drive it, from the Chriftian fanc- 
 tuaryj and the religion of Jefus would be evaporated in the 
 heat of controverfy, or buried under a mafs of Pharifaic forms. 
 The fimple fayings and reafonable decrees of the Chriftian 
 lawgiver, would be forgotten in a rigorous devotion to fuper- 
 fiitious ordinances j and the milk of the gofpel would be 
 converted into the poifon of the afp. 
 
 The Frenc-h philofopbers committed a fignal error in policy, 
 and lhewed an aftonifhing ignorance both of the nature and 
 the hiftory of man, when they fuppofed that the ftrength of, 
 their civil, would be diminiihed, or their purity defiled by an 
 alliance with religious inftitutions. Political power is always 
 moft ftable and fecure when it refts on the columns of religion. 
 Religion, I mean not corrupt, but pure, undefiled religion, ren- 
 ders it venerable, and gives it an influence over the public 
 will and affections, which nothing elfe can beftow. Jt ferves 
 to convert the political into a moral government ; it arms the 
 fovereign with a power, in fome meafure, more than human; 
 and makes obedience to the civil magiftrate a part of our duty 
 to the God of heaven. The Chriftian religion, I am well con- 
 
( *9* ) 
 
 cf the commandment ;" and that ecclefiaftical peace, 
 which is dilturbed by their ichifms and broken by 
 their divifions is a part of charity ? 
 
 vinced. does not need the frail flay of civil power j but it is 
 quite another thing to fuppofe that a date needs a religious 
 eftablifhment, and that religion needs a ftate eftablifhment. 
 The latter pofition may be falfe, and the former true; for 
 human power and human inftitutions may want the aid of 
 religion, though religion may not want their aid. The alliance 
 between church and ftate is for the benefit of both; but the 
 advantages of the union preponderate greatly in favour of the 
 latter. An eftablifhed church muft conduce to the preferva- 
 tion of civil liberty. It fpreads over the country jufl and true 
 and rational notions of the natural equality of mankind j it 
 teaches the prince that, in the eyes of the Father of fpirits, he 
 is no greater than the meanefl of his fubjecls j and it tends to 
 make the peafant contented by impreffing his fuperiors with 
 humility. It rcpreffes the two extremes of behaviour, which 
 are equally adverfe to public liberty, abject fervility on the one 
 fide, and hard-hearted infolence on the other. It infpires ten- 
 ements of independance; it cherifhes in every mind right 
 notions of the eftfcntial dignity of human nature ; it brings the 
 rich and the poor together, and by teaching them their com- 
 mon origin, and their common end, their mutual wants and 
 infirmities, their relative dependance on each other, and their 
 abfolute dependance upon God, it promotes the growth aDd 
 expansion of all the focial virtues, which are the fource of fuch 
 a variety of happincis. The remarks, which I have here made, 
 on religious eftabltfhments, may be coniidered as fupplementil 
 to thofe which 1 have inferred in " Morality united with Po- 
 licy - *." At fome future period, if a convenient opportunity 
 
 * I particularly refer the reader to that pamphlet from page 85 line 17, to 
 page 91 line iz. 
 
( 299 ) 
 
 24- If the multiplication of fed: againft feet and 
 church againft church keep on increafing in the 
 fame rapid ratio in which it has increafed for the laft 
 few years, Christians will at laft be fplit into almoft 
 as many fects as there are individuals ; and the ge- 
 nuine fpirit, and the effential duties of Chriftianity 
 will be loft and forgotten under the cloud of their 
 diflenfions *. In order, as much as poflible, to flop 
 the progrefs and to counteract the mifchief of thefe 
 endlefs divifions, let the fpirit of mutual charity and a 
 bond of univerfal concord be eftablifhed among Chrif- 
 tians of all feels and denominations by this important 
 and tranquillizing confideration, that Christianity is 
 
 NOTHING MORE THAN A RULE OF LIFE f j and that, 
 
 (hall occur, I fhall not fhrink from a more full difcufiion of 
 this important fubjecl. At prefent I cannot help expreffing 
 my ardent wifh, that every national church were founded on 
 truly catholic principles, fuch as would allay the jealoufies of 
 the fectary, and appeafe the violence of religious animofity. 
 
 * If the well meaning and honed difTenters of different feels 
 and opinions fhould, inftead of erecting hoftile churches, think 
 it more accordant with the fpirit of Chriftian charity, to af- 
 femble themfelves together in the bofom of the Church of 
 England, ftrict orders fhould be given to the minifters of the 
 eftablifhment never to preach on any uncertain, difputed, and 
 unprofitable doctrines 5 but to forfake the fpurious and pole- 
 mical, for the genuine practical theology; and to make it their 
 primary ftudy to illuftrate and to enforce thefe great Chriftian 
 virtues which relate to the government ef the thoughts, the 
 affections, and the conduct. 
 
 t See Anti-Calvinift, 2d edit. p. 25—28. Perhaps the 
 reader, who may not like to aflent to this moH intereftirtg 
 
( 3°o ) 
 
 confequently, thofe only are meet to receive the 
 favour of God in this world and in the next, who 
 
 conclufion on the authority of the humble curate of Harbury, 
 may give it his cordial aflTent when it is prefented to him in 
 the words of Dr. Samuel Clarke. " Since," fays this great or- 
 nament and fupport of the Englifh proteftant church, " God 
 truly and fincerely de fires to make men happy by the exercife 
 of virtue ; and frnce that virtue, which is the condition of this 
 happinefs, is no other than the practice of thofe great moral 
 duties of godlinefs, riglueoufnefs, and temperance, which are 
 the eternal and unchangeable law of God j it follows necef- 
 farily, that the great a?id ultimate defign r f all true religion can 
 be no other than to recommend thefe 'virtues, and to enforce their 
 practice. Other things may be helps and ajjijlanccs of religion; 
 many external obfervances may, for wife reafons, be pofitively 
 commanded ; and may be of exceeding great ufe as means to 
 promote devotion and piety: but the life and substance 
 
 OF ALL TRUE RELIGION, THE END AND SCOPE IN WHICH ALL 
 THINGS ELSE MUST TERMINATE, CANNOT, POSSIBLY, BE ANY 
 OTHER, THAN THE PRACTICE OF THESE GREAT AND ETERNAL 
 
 duties." Clarke's Works, vol. iii. p. 587, 588. 
 
 " The bell definition," fays Jeremy Taylor, '• I can give of 
 it (Ghriftianity) is this; It is thf wisdom of God brought 
 
 DOWN AMONG US TO DO GOOD TO MEN." See Supplem. tO 
 
 "Taylor's Sermons, p. 5. That the Christians of the primitive 
 times, confidered Chriftianity as nothing more than a rule of 'life , 
 the reader will readily di (cover by a peruial of Caves' primitive 
 Chriftianity, parts 2 and 3; a book which I once heard very 
 ftrenuoufly recommended in a plain, judicious, and unaffrctcd 
 charge, delivered to the clergy by the Bifhop of Lichfield and 
 Coventry. In Bifhop Watfon's excellent collection of theolo- 
 gical tracts, the reader will find, in vol. vi. a work entitled, 
 "The Defign of Chriftianity j" which may be perilled with 
 advantage by thofe who think that Chriftianity is either fome- 
 thing Itfs or fomething more than a rule of life. 
 
( 30i ) 
 
 fhow greater zeal in running the race of goodnefs 
 than the more vain and inglorious race of fpeculative 
 altercation. When Chriftians mail embrace and 
 hold fad this great reafonable and fcriptural truth, 
 to which the diligent ftuJy of the doctrine of Chrirt, 
 as it is intimated in the actions of his life, and de- 
 clared in the words of his difcourfes, will inevitably- 
 lead every honed inquirer -, the different fects of 
 Chnllians, feeing the little profit, and feeling the 
 great impiety of their mutual contentions, will agree, 
 notwithstanding the countlefs variety of their opi- 
 nions, to hold the unity of the fpirit in the bond of 
 peace. Inftead of fomenting idle and caufelefs 
 fchifms in the body of the church of Chrift, and 
 needle fs and infiJious feparations from each other, 
 they will coalefce into a benevolent and holy union, 
 lifting up their hands in the fame houfe of prayer, 
 bending their knees at the fame altar, cherifh- 
 ing in their hearts the precious recollection of the 
 founder of their faith, breathing the true fpirit of 
 righteoufnefs, and animated with the flame of uni- 
 verfal charity. 
 
 25. Though it be our duty to endeavour, by every 
 argument which reafon approves, and every perfua- 
 fion which charity fuggefts, to bring all Chriftians 
 of all denominations, into the fellowmip of one com- 
 munion, we are to ufe no compulfory meafures what- 
 ever in order to promote fo defirable an end. Their 
 fellowfhip muft not be the effect of force, but the 
 
( 3°* ) 
 
 fruit of affection ; it muft be voluntary, that it may 
 be lading. We have no right whatever to the lead 
 dominion over the private judgment of the meaneft 
 individual in matters of religion. All attempts to 
 fetter the confciences of men is the ufurpation of a 
 power, which it is arrogance to claim, and impiety 
 to exercife. We are rather to conduit ourfelves 
 with gentlenefs towards thofe who oppofe them- 
 felves ; we are to bear with the froward, and to Ihew 
 patience toward the ftubborn. 
 
 q.6. When Chriftians come rightly to diftinguifh 
 the eflentials of true religion from things indifferent, 
 they will carefully avoid foolifh and unlearned ques- 
 tions, which do gender ftrifes*. The eflentials 
 of the pure unfophifticated Chriftian religion confift 
 mfoherntfs, right eou[nefs y and godlinefs\ -, to the habi- 
 tual exercife of which we are incited by the awful 
 profpect of a day of judgment, and the hope of a 
 happy immortality. Sobernefs relates to the preven- 
 tion of all excefs in the indulgence of our appetites 
 and paffions ; to the due obfervation of temperance 
 in act and in defire; rigbteoufnefs includes truth and 
 juftice, and all thofe duties which cannot be violated 
 without wrong being done to others; godlinefs com- 
 prehends all our acts and expreffions of rJigious 
 adoration; and it more particularly implies the 
 imitation of God in the operations of his benefit 
 
 * See 2 Tim. ii 23. f See Tit. ii, 1 1, 12. 
 
( 303 ) 
 
 cence*. He, therefore, and he only, can be deno- 
 minated truly religious, whofe appetites and pafiions, 
 whofe mind and afFe&ions, are under the heavenly 
 government of temperance, of truth, of juftice, and 
 of charity. 
 
 27. If fcbemefs, righteoufnefs, and godlinefs, be the 
 only effential p inciples of the true Chriftian religion, 
 it will, I think, be found that all feparations are 
 groundlefs, and all fchifms contrary to the genius 
 and temper of the Chriftian religion, which are not 
 occafioned by fome glaring difference of opinion 
 refpecting the fanctity of the performance of thefe 
 eternal obligations. If Jobernefsy righteoufnefs y and 
 godlinefs y if temperance, truth, juftice, and mercy, the 
 weighty matters of the Mofaic law, and the weightier 
 matters of the Chriftian gofpel, be the caufe for 
 which we feparate from any national church, the 
 ground of our feparation is well founded, and ought 
 to be maintained. Not to feparate for fuch reafons 
 is impiety; to feparate on any other account feems 
 a want of charity f. 
 
 * True and genuine piety, svospBHX, is the active imitation 
 of the goodnefs of God. Hear St. James; " The religion 
 which is pure and undefiled before our God and Father is this; 
 to take care of orphans and widows in their affliction, and to 
 keep one's felf unfpotted from the world." 
 
 f To feparate from any church becaufe the facrament is 
 received kneeling inftead of ftanding, or {landing inftead of 
 kneeling, becaufe there happens to be a picture of the cruel* 
 
( 3°4 ) 
 28. If any national church authorize orexcufe any 
 corruptions, which are contrary to the immutable 
 precepts of the moral law, which tend to relax its 
 hold on the confcience, or its influence on the life, 
 it becomes a duty in every faithful follower "of Chrift 
 Jefus to abjure the communion of fuch a church, 
 in which fuch immoralities prevail. If any church 
 alTume a right to difpenfe with the obligations of 
 truth, juftice, and charity, if (he grant fpecial ex- 
 emptions from the punifhment due to perjury, to 
 injuftice, to brutal cruelty, or brutal lull *, {he be- 
 comes an enemy to the glory of God, and the hap- 
 pinefs of mankind. She violates her vows, and be- 
 trays her trufL Then, the voice of confcience will 
 exclaim to us, as it did to our anceftors of old, when 
 they renounced the church of Rome, " come out of 
 her, my people -, that ye be not partakers of her 
 plagues, and drink not of the cup of her abomina- 
 
 fixion over the altar, becaufe the minifter wears a hood cr a 
 furplice, or becaufe the fo-m of church difcipline is not accord- 
 ing to the Calviniftic reprefentations of primitive leveritVj — to 
 feparate for thefe reafons, or reafons fiinilar to thefe, mews 
 great imbecility of mind, and great contraction of heart. 
 
 * It is well known that when the corruptions of the Romitri 
 church were at their higheti, a licence might be purchafed 
 for the commillion of the moll atrocious crimes. I fnall men- 
 tion only one in fiance, but a little fearch would eaiilv furnilh 
 a thoufand. The Cardinal of St. Lucia re'queiled of Pope Six- 
 tus IV. permiliion for himfeif and his family to commit 
 ****** during the three hot months in the year: to which 
 7nocl"jl petition the indulgent father replied, " Fiat ut fctitur" 
 
( 305 ) 
 
 tions." On fuch occafions, the prefervation of peace 
 with a fociety fo polluted and fo polluting, is to be 
 facrificed to the vital interefts of righteoufhefs. 
 
 29. But, can it be pretended, with any colouring 
 of reafon, even by the mod inveterate enemies of 
 the church of England, that her doctrine or her 
 prayers, her institutions or her practice, do, in any 
 way, difcourage the interefts of real virtue, or the 
 practice of real piety? Her errors, whatever may be 
 the errors for which fo many abjure her fellowship, 
 are not fubverfive of true righteoufnefs and godli- 
 nefsj and confequently, are inefficient to jnftify 
 their feparation. Though every good and every 
 wife man muft fincerely wifh that fuch alterations 
 were made in our articles and our liturgy, as to re- 
 move every ftone of Humbling and caufe of offence, 
 yet, I think, that even at prefent, there is not one 
 fingle feet of difTenters, who can, on any broad and 
 and liberal principles of reafon or of conscience, 
 fquared by the meafures of Chriftian charity, refufe 
 to addrefs the great Father of Spirits in our churches, 
 and to celebrate the memory of his crucified Son at 
 our altars. In the Englifh ritual all the weightier 
 matters of religion are powerfully recommended to 
 the attention, and impreffed upon the confeience, by 
 the moil fublime effufions of devotional piety ; and 
 if, on fome myfterious points of faith, all fects can- 
 not affent to the tenets of the Englifh church, yet, 
 very different opinions on thofe tenets being clearly 
 
 X 
 
( 3o6 ) 
 
 compatible with the culture and the practice of thefe 
 fbvereign Chriftian virtues, fobernefs, righteoufnefs, 
 and godlinefs, which are the alone conditions of fal- 
 vation, ought neither to alienate their affections from 
 her, nor her affections from them. Inftead of 
 making every trifling cavil a pretext for dirtenfion, 
 the feparatifls from the church of England ou»hc 
 rather to forego their prejudices, and to facrifice their 
 fcruples, when they are not fortifies relative to -points of 
 moral obligation^ in order to preferve the relations of 
 amity and good neighbourhood with the eftablifhed 
 houfhold of their fellow Chriftians; and to crow 
 ftrong in the fpirit, and the practice of that love 
 which is the fulfilling of the law. Eager contentions 
 about forms that are infignificant, and myfteries that 
 are infcrutable, profit nothing ; but> by cherijhing per- 
 <ve?fenefs and engendering malignity ', they may bring de~ 
 firutlion on the foul; while ecclefiaflical peace, at the 
 fame time that it contributes largely to prefent hap- 
 pinefs, is one of the modifications of that heavenly 
 temper which will cover a multitude of fins*. 
 
 * It mull be confciTed that, without any breach of chari- 
 table fuppoiition, there are ftrong reafons for believing that 
 many late feparations from the Church of England have not 
 originated fo much in honeft fcruples of confcicnce, as in the 
 wanton pride of oppofition ; not fo much in the love of truth, 
 as the luft of Angularity j not fo much in the fervour of artlefs 
 piety, as in the extravagance of a certain wild and prurient 
 cnriol:ty. From thefc caufes, and caufes fimilar to thefe, reli- 
 gious diilenfions have been be^jun in our towns, and fcattered 
 
( 307 ) 
 
 • 3°- Some occafions there are, but they will rarely 
 occur, in which a diverfity of opinions can reafon- 
 ably juftify a diminution of our benevolent regard. 
 The opinions of an individual may, indeed, be fo 
 hoftile to the bed interefts of fociety, as to give our 
 fentiments and affections a tendency to averfion, 
 greater than any tendency in our nature to more 
 
 through our villages. Hence has arifen an hoft of fanatics, 
 who are grown powerful by our fupinenefs, and ftrong by our 
 divisions; and who have lately become objects of fearful appre- 
 henfion to the friends of rational Chriftianity, from the increafe 
 of their numbers, and the clofenefs of their union. Such ter- 
 rors may feem ideal ; but they are ideal only to thofe who 
 have not analyfed the genius of fanaticifm ; who have not efti- 
 mated its energies, nor calculated its refources. Fanaticifm is 
 always dangerous; but when her votaries, inftead of being 
 only a few individuals, thinly fcattered over a large expanfe of 
 country, incapable of co-operation, and without ftrength to co- 
 operate with effect, are condenfed into large mafles in different 
 parts of the kingdom; when the detached parts, obeying one 
 centre of action, may be made to combine with the greateft 
 facility in the moft definitive projects; then the terrors of 
 fanatics and fanaticifm are not imaginary. They are not the 
 terrors of hobgoblins or apparitions, of ihadows on the wall, or 
 of warriors in the fire; they are the terrors of vifible, tangible, 
 corporeal realities. The fpirit of fanaticifm, particularly when 
 religious emotions give it birth, and the enrapturing vifions of 
 eternity increafe the delirium, imparts incredible excitement 
 to the phyfical and the moral powers of the individual ; to the 
 faculties of the body, and the paffions of the foul; and per- 
 haps, one fanatic, thus excited, poflefles greater capacity to do 
 mifchief, than can be counteracted by five ordinary men, not 
 fo fublixned by airs from heaven, or by blafts from hell. 
 
 X a 
 
( 308 ) 
 
 benevolent emotions, can counteract. But no opi- 
 nions fhould chill our affection towards the indivi- 
 dual, but thofe which indicate not only error in the 
 judgment, but depravity in the heart; opinions which 
 are advcrfe to the virtue and the welfare of ibciety * . 
 
 * It was well l"iid, that one bad maxim is capable of doing 
 more mifchief than a hundred bad examples. The influence 
 of a bad example is confined to the narrow fphere of agency 
 which almoti: every individual occupies. The fpace is very. 
 limited in which it can become an object of imitation, or over 
 which its baneful influence can be ipread. But one bad 
 maxim may diffufe its poifon over a wider circumference} it 
 may put in motion an indefinite number of agents, and em- 
 brace a vaft extent of attion. It may find admiflion into the 
 minds and hearts of thoufands, who may not have fagacity to 
 detect its falfehood, to difcern its tendency, or to meafure its 
 effects. Made attractive by eloquence, and captivating by its 
 favourable appeal to the ftrongeit pailions of human nature, it 
 may do mifchief which cannot be calculated, and, perhaps, 
 never be repaired. Such a principle as that which is dignified 
 with the name of the general good, would, if it were generally 
 acted upon, hi the ivay that Mr. Godiv'm recommends, be found 
 more definitive to the peace and happineis of the world, than 
 all the plagues that ever defolated the earth. 
 
 The wm> morality, as it is called, though its progrefs has been 
 checked, and its virulence corrected by the united exertions of 
 feveral writers, has, I fear, been the ruin of thoo-fands. It mar 
 be agreeable to the tafte, it may be beautiful to the eye, but it 
 js no fooner fwallowed than death enfues j the death of every 
 principle that is upright or amiable, or praileworthy in the foul 
 of man. Falfe theories of religion and of morals, ought to be 
 oppofed by every meafure tuhich is cwifijUnt ivith jujiicc a 
 rvith charity, but the only force which, in fuch a fervice, we 
 can employ with prudence and fuccefs, is the moral force of 
 
( 3° 9 ) 
 
 31, If we meet with thofe, who think that pro- 
 mifes are not binding any longer than while they 
 
 reafon ; and reafon certainly can never be exerted in a caufe more 
 agreeable to the will of him, by whom it was bellowed, than when 
 it is exerted in the defence of genuine religion and morality. 
 The principles of morals, and the truth of religion, can receive 
 no lading injury from the fulled and the freed difcufiion. The 
 principles of morals are fo fixed in the immutable relations of 
 things, and fo congenial to the natural feelings and fympathies 
 of human nature* that, though they may be occasionally ex- 
 punged from the confeience of individuals, they can never be, 
 entirely, erafed from the mind and the heart of the fpecies of 
 man. They have been in exigence dnce the world began; 
 and they will laft while the world lads. The intrinlic value 
 of revelation depends entirely on its truth; and that truth, 
 being a well-grounded probability, its approximation to cer- 
 tainty can be afcertained only by a fober calculation of the 
 weight due to the different arguments which have been, or 
 which can be adduced againft it, or in its fupport. When the 
 evidences are thus compared with the objections, the degree of 
 probability is, in fome meafure, reduced to a definite idea, and 
 we fee more didinctly and more forcibly the preponderance of 
 the proof. The writers in favour of revelation, are ufually 
 redrained, as if by timidity, from dating in a plain and candid 
 manner, the objections of their adverfaries. Are thefe writers 
 fearful of the ground on which they tread ? Have they any 
 fecret fufpicion, any lurking dread that Chridianity is an illu- 
 fion ? Do they not know that objections againd the truth of 
 Chridianity, if they are weak, will give it drength ; and that, 
 if they are drong, they will have the fame effect, if they can 
 be fubverted by arguments which are dronger. Chridianity 
 is not valuable only becaufe it is imagined to be truej but 
 becaufe it is actually true j and the actual truth can be made 
 known only by a full, and fair, and unreferved inveftigation 
 
 x 1 
 
( 3 l ° ) 
 
 have an intereft in keeping them ; that gratitude for 
 benefits received is not to be cherimed * that reduc- 
 tion is no fin ; and that chaftity may be violated as 
 often as any wayward appetite prompt to the vio- 
 lation ; we are not to fuffer a falfe delicacy, or a 
 fpurious politenefs, to prevent us from flighting their 
 intercourfe, and fhunning their fociety. In imita- 
 tion of our Divine Matter, we may, and ought, not 
 only not to refufe, but to feek ad million into the 
 company of the profligate, when there feems a fair 
 probability of reclaiming them by counfel, or of 
 relieving them by charity; but when we poflfefs no 
 
 of the whole evidence. If Chriftianity be true, no arguments 
 can overturn it; they can only make the degree of the proba- 
 bility more definite; and the more definite the probability is, 
 the better will people in general be able to eftimate the danger 
 of not making its precepts the rule of their conduct, and the 
 ftandard of their intereft. If the accumulated objections againft 
 the truth of Chriftianity can be proved, as I am of opinion 
 that they might be proved, by a fair comparifon of the num- 
 ber and weight of oppofing probabilities, to be only as —, 
 then the probable truth, or the approximation to certainty in 
 the evidences of revelation, would be as - 9 - 2 , or there would be 
 ninety nine chances in favour of the truth to one againft it. 
 Would not fuch an argument, fully made out, and perfpi- 
 cuoufly ftated, have a great influence on the private and the 
 public conduct, on the thoughts and actions of mankind ? 
 Would they be fo ready to do evil in thought, word, or deed, 
 when they were convinced that there were fo many probabi- 
 lities in favour of a future judgment, when every fecret thing 
 fhall be revealed, and men fhall receive according to the mea- 
 fure of their righteoufnefs ? 
 
( 3" > 
 
 power to do, or fee no chance of doing them any 
 moral or phyfical good, the love of virtue will caufe 
 us to fhun the ways in which they walk, and the 
 houfe in which they dwell. To live in habits of 
 familiarity with men, who contemptuoufly deride or 
 violate the known laws of God, is to countenance 
 their principles, and to be accefTary to their impiety. 
 
 32. It is a falfe notion that a man's conduct is 
 not, in moil cafes, aiVimilated to his opinions. If 
 the principles and the practice of men be often at 
 variance, they will, I truft, be found more often to 
 agree. But, as we mark the variations more than 
 the agreement, we are too apt to draw general con- 
 clufions from particular facts, and to imagine that 
 a man's conduct is not regulated by his princi- 
 ples, becaufe it does not accord with them in all in* 
 fiances* A good man may occasionally act. wrong; 
 and a bad man may occasionally act right. But if 
 a man's heart and confcience be imprefTed with right 
 notions of moral obligation, his actions will, in a 
 great majority of cafes, accord with his opinions. 
 He will adhere to what he deems morally good, and 
 fhun what he thinks morally evil. But, if a perfon 
 really believe the obligations of truth, juftice, gra- 
 titude, chaftity, to be only empty names, and not 
 binding on the confcience \ what fruits can we expect 
 to be the product of fuch opinions ? Mult we not 
 expect to find favours received without thankfulnefs, 
 
 X 4 
 
 / 
 
( 3** ) 
 
 promifes broken without reluctance, juflice violated 
 without remorfe, and chaftity without fhame ? 
 
 23- To greet with the fmile of affection, or the 
 right hand of friendfhip, men profeffing opinions 
 inimical to the interefts of religion and morality, is 
 to lend our individual aid to counteract the public 
 opinion *, by which they are oppofed. Public opi- 
 nion, when wifely directed, is one of the ftrongeft 
 barriers which virtue poffcffes againft the inroads of 
 vice; for, hardened indeed mud: be the offender, who 
 can endure the general difapprobation of his fellow- 
 creatures. Thofe violations of the will of God, or 
 of the decencies of fociety, againft which the public 
 opinion fets fo ftrong, that he who commits them 
 becomes the theme of public reproach, and the mark 
 of public fcorn, will always be lefs frequent than 
 they would be if no fuch difcouragement operated 
 in favour of their prevention. 
 
 34. Some offences are, perhaps, punifhed more 
 feverely, and prevented more effectually by the 
 public difapprobation, than by any other mode of 
 punifhment, or means of prevention. Public dif- 
 approbation condemns the culprit to the w T orft kind 
 of folicude. It renders him, in a meafure, folitary 
 
 * The ftate of public morals may generally be afcertalned 
 by the ftate of the public opinion refpedting any particular 
 violations of moral duty. 
 
( 3*3 ) 
 
 in the confluence of foeiety; and his fufFerings arc 
 more excruciating than if he were placed in a defert, 
 barren of inhabitants, where he could trace no foot- 
 fteps but his own ; but where he could not read in 
 the countenance of others the fentence of his con- 
 demnation * ! 
 
 35. The feeling of fhame is for the mod part a 
 painful confcioufnefs of degradation in the eyes of 
 others ; a confcioufnefs of inferiority deierved, and 
 brought on ourfelves by the contempt of rules, to 
 which we ouojit to have conformed our conduct. 
 And this feeling is the ufual afTociate of thofe actions, 
 which, being contrary to the public opinion, expe- 
 rience the public difapprobation ; for, if thefe very 
 actions, inftead of being the objects of pubiic aver- 
 fion, were the topics of public praife, they would 
 in all cafes, be perpetrated with lefs reluctance, and 
 often with perfect felf- approbation. 
 
 36. Self- approbation has, u/iially, Jome reference to 
 the approbation of others. In fome licentious com* 
 panies, an unprincipled man will boaft, with no 
 fmall degree of felf- approbation, of the number of 
 virtuous women he has feduced. In this cafe, the 
 felf-complacency which the perfon feels in recount- 
 ing the fuccefs of his rtratagems, or the fkilfulnefs 
 of his addrefs, is, in a great meafure, occafioned by 
 
 * See Adam Smith's Moral Sentiments, y. i. p, 210, 6th ed. 
 
( 3*4 ) 
 
 the applaufes of his aflbciates. Bur, place the fame 
 man in any company where a juft fenfe of moral 
 rectitude prevails; not one around him will fympa- 
 thize with the vain recital of his guilty pleafures; 
 not one will echo the filthy jeft, or applaud the 
 wanton tale. Inflead of the fmiles of bafe congra- 
 tulation, he will fee on every forehead the frown of 
 abhorrence, and in every eye the flafh of indignation. 
 Hardened, indeed, muft he be in iniquity, if, in fuch 
 a fituation, fome emotions of fliame do not agitate 
 his heart; and though his countenance may not be- 
 tray any outward figns of remorfe, yet certain it is, 
 he will experience a fecret, inward ielf-difTaiisfaction. 
 There will be a fenfation of fclf-loathing ; a painful 
 feeling of unworthinefs ! 
 
 37. Thefe confederations fhew how important it 
 is for individuals, who regard the welfare of fociety, 
 and who confider juft notions of religion and virtue 
 neceflary to the peace and the happinefs of the world, 
 not to encourage, directly or indirectly, by their ap- 
 probation avowed or implied, any actions, or any 
 principles, which are adverfe to genuine religion 
 and found morals, to the endearing charities, or even 
 the elegant decencies and modefi proprieties official life, 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 The Genius of Chrijiian Charity. 
 
 
 I. X hat part of piety which regards our duty 
 towards each other, is comprehended in two words ; 
 juftice and charity. Juftice and charity united, 
 conftitute the perfection of morality; and the obli- 
 gations of both are contained in that golden rule, 
 which tells us to do to others what we would that 
 others mould do unto us. We cannot experience 
 injuftice or inhumanity, without fenfations of pain and 
 averfion ; nor can we.acl: unjuftly or cruelly towards 
 others, without their feeling as we fhould feel in the 
 like circumftances. As this law of the gofpel teaches 
 us to make our perceptions of fuffering, or fenfations 
 of mifery, the ftandard by which we eftimate the 
 fufFerings of our fellow-creatures, it fhows us how, 
 in the beft poflible manner, to refrain from every 
 violation of juftice and humanity; and, at the fame 
 time, by enjoining us, in the varied tranfa&ions of 
 life, to place ourfelves in the fituation of our neigh- 
 
( 3«« ) 
 
 bour, it perfuades us not to be regnrdlefs of his 
 happinefs and intereft, when we are purfuing our 
 own. It identifies the relative obligations of juftice 
 and charity in the mindj and it confecrates their 
 union in the heart. 
 
 2, Juftice and charity are the fubftance of the 
 law and the prophets. They are the pillars, on 
 which the great fabric of piety is erected; and which 
 mud inevitably crumble into duft when they are 
 taken away. For, once erafe juftice and charity 
 from the duties of religion, and what will religion be 
 but a mifchievous fuperftition ? The practice, there- 
 fore, of juftice and of charity, are the moft efTential 
 parts of religion. They are the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of that law which God hath written on the 
 confeience of man, and eftablifhed iri the gofpel of 
 Chrift. 
 
 3. The duty of charity is more often mentioned, 
 and more (Irenuoufly inculcated in the gofpel, than 
 that of juftice, becaufe charity cannot exift where 
 juftice is violated. When, then, our Lord and his 
 apoftles, infift on the obligations of charity, they 
 always ftippofe that thofe of juftice are already ful- 
 filled. Charity, as it is the greater duty, neccflarily 
 includes juftice, which is the lets. For this reafon, 
 charity is called in fcripture the bend < eft, 
 becaufe it contains in its capacious bofom all thole 
 duties in which true ri^hteoufnefs confttls; while its 
 
( 3'7 ) 
 
 prefence gives them a luftre in the eye of man, and 
 a favour in the fight of the Father of Spirits, which 
 they could not otherwife poffefs. 
 
 4. Charity is, as it were, the funfhine of moral 
 excellence; it gives it radiance and beauty; it in* 
 vigorates its growth, and multiplies its fruits. Thus, 
 St. Paul, defcribing the comprehenfive efficacy of 
 charity, fays, " all the law is fulfilled in one wo?d>— 
 thou Jhalt love thy neighbour as thy f elf" Gal. v. 14. 
 In another place he fays, " he that loveth another, 
 hath fulfilled the law" Rom. xiii. and the reafon is, 
 that £C love worketh no ill to his neighbour-, therefore 
 love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. xiii. 10. Cha- 
 rity excludes all moral corruption; adultery, murder, 
 injuftice, falfe witnefs, covetoufnefs, every evil 
 thought, and every malevolent defire. 
 
 5. Our Lord, on being afked which was the great 
 commandment in the law, anfwered, Thou malt love 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy foul, and with all thy mind ; this is the fir ft and 
 great commandment; and the fecond is like unt.o it ; 
 Thou jhalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf On thefe two 
 conrmaitdmentrhang all the law and the "prophets. Matt, 
 xxii. 37 — 40. Here, it is well worth our obferving, 
 that Jefus makes the love of our neighbour and the 
 love of God one and the fame indivinble principle 
 of piety. He fays, <c the Je.cond commandment is like 
 unto thefirft ;" thus he makes charity not an advenii- 
 
( 3«S ) 
 
 tious party but the fubfl mice of true religion* He fup- 
 pofcs that the love of God cannot exiil in the foul 
 apart from the love of mankind. Genuine charity, 
 therefore, is genuine adoration; and the worfhip that 
 is offered to the Father of Spirits, is acceptable only 
 when it is breathed from a heart which benevolence 
 warms with its prefence, and hallows with its flame. 
 
 6. Charity is denominated the bond of perfeclne/s, 
 bccaufe it contains, in one word, the fubftance of 
 the two tables of the decalogue. The firft table of 
 the commandments is incomplete without the fe- 
 cond ; the firft table points to the fountain; the laft 
 exhibits the beneficent effects of true religion. The 
 firft exclaims glory to God ; the laft pronounces 
 good-will to man ; but charity, pure and undefiled, 
 embraces both tables; it bows to God while it em- 
 braces man; it gives honour to the firft, while it 
 does good to the laft; it places its hopes in the 
 heavens above, while it fti ives to diminifh the mifery 
 of the earth below. 
 
 7. Charity is the perfection of godlinefs. As God 
 does not need our homage, as he is not glorified 
 by our prayers, nor benefited by our devotion, he 
 commands our worihip, that it may, by producing 
 juft notions of our dependance on his will, make us 
 poor in fpirit; and, by exciting a juft fenfe of his 
 goodnefs, render us kind in heart. The end of 
 thankfgiving is to melt us with companion, and to 
 
( 3i9 ) 
 
 increafe our fympathy for the wants of others. Thus 
 the worfhip of God tends to infpire the fpirit of 
 benevolence ; and thus charity is the perfection of 
 godlinefs ; without which the adoration of God is 
 vain ; which is the beft hymn of praife for his good- 
 nefs, and the beft fong of thankfgiving for his 
 mercies. 
 
 8. Charity is the perfection of juftice. Juftice 
 confifts in giving to every one his due; charity im- 
 parts to others that which belongs to itfelf, and to 
 which others have no juft claim. Juftice teaches us 
 to do no wrong to our neighbour; charity excites us 
 to do him all the good in our power. Juflice con- 
 fifts in preventing mifery; charity has a direct ten- 
 dency to promote happinefs. Juftice regards only 
 the obligations of ftrict right; charity confults the 
 fofter obligations of humanity. Charity is gratui- 
 tous ; juftice is compulfory. The laws of fociety 
 may force us to be juft ; but chanty is a matter of 
 difcretion. Juftice is the fatisfaclion of a debt; 
 charity the conferring of a favour. Juftice ma'y 
 produce veneration; but charity conciliates love. 
 Juftice may fatisfy the confcience ; but charity cauJes 
 hope and joy and tranfport in the foul. Juftice 
 deferves the meed of human refpect; but to chanty 
 more efpecially belongs the promife of eternity. 
 Juftice receives the applaufe of the wife and the 
 good on earth ; but charity furvives the grave, and 
 will be welcomed into heaven by the hofannas of 
 angels. 
 
C 320 ) 
 
 9. Charity, in fcripture, denotes the external a<5b 
 of beneficence, and the internal principle from which 
 thofe acts fpring, and without which, they are vain. 
 By the internal principle of charity I mean the love 
 of God ; which is the true benevolent principle, alive 
 and vigorous in the foul, diffufing its influence over 
 the whole furface of the affections, and warming the 
 very core of our hearts. It is this principle of cha- 
 rity which produces patience and meeknefs ; that fweet 
 complacency of manner with which vanity is never 
 mingled, and which envy does not canker; that fen- 
 fitive, affectionate fympathy with the feelings, the 
 interefxs, with the hopes and fears, the joys and for- 
 rows of our fellow-creatures, which befpeaks the 
 abfence of every unkind thought and every male- 
 volent fenfation. This is the true charity, which 
 never faileth ; and which may flourifh in the heart 
 in all fituations and circumftances ; in the ftorm of 
 misfortune, and the funfaine of profperity. 
 
 10. Charity is that love of God, which excludes 
 all doubt concerning his providential care; and 
 which, confequently, generates refignation under fuf- 
 fering, equanimity in danger, and hope in affliction. 
 To charity belongs that fenfe of dependance upon 
 God, which produces humility of foul ; that con- 
 fcioufnefs of his protedtion, which, makes us feel 
 that vengeance is his ; which renders us placable 
 when we have been offended, and eager to mStkc 
 reflitution when we have given offence. To charity 
 
C 321 ) 
 
 belong thofe exalted notions of the great Father of 
 the univerfe, who maketh his fun to ihine and his 
 rain to fall upon the juft and the unjuft; which make 
 us willing to return blefTing for reproach, and to do 
 good, even where we have received evil. This is 
 that charity, without wnich, even the tongue of 
 angels would be but as a founding brafs, or a tink- 
 ling cymbal ; without which, though we had faith fo 
 that we could remove mountains, we fhould be as 
 nothing. 
 
 11. The charity which is fo highly extolled by 
 St. Paul, in the thirteenth chapter of his firfl epiftle 
 to the Corinthians, as the fummit of Chriftian per- 
 fection, and the crown of moral excellence, does not 
 belong exclufively either to the mean or to the noble, 
 to the poor or to the rich. A man may be opprefTed 
 with want, without a mite to beftow in alms, and 
 yet be animated with the flame of a purer charity 
 than he, who, having thoufands, lavishes them on 
 others with indifcriminate prjfuienefs. A man may 
 even give his body to be burned for the benefit of 
 others, and beftow all his goods to feed the poor; 
 and yet, wanting the true principle of chanty, may 
 fail of his reward. 
 
 12. Actions, apparently the moil generous, and 
 exertions of beneficence the mod extenfive, ftriking 
 the mind with admiration, and imprefiing the heart 
 with gratitude, may fpnug from motives which true 
 
 Y 
 
C 322 ) 
 
 charity difclaims. The dream may look clear, and 
 yet fome deftru&ive mixture may be diflblved in 
 the waters ; the air may fcem pure and refrefhing, 
 when fome peftilential vapour floats in every gale. 
 Vanity or malignity> the advancement of fome tempo- 
 ral end, or the indulgence of fome unlicenfed dtrfire, 
 may lurk at the bottom of the mod fplendid efforts 
 of human charity. He, who mould endow alms- 
 houfes or build hofpitals, as he would erect temples 
 or grottos, merely to gratify his vanity, or to attract 
 the gaze and admiration of the world, is not rich in 
 charity towards God. That charity which is de- 
 figned for a public fhow, is charity reviled. It wants 
 that elementary principle of religious love which 
 confecrates its worth. The very oftentatioufhefs of 
 beneficence may give it a value, and gain it a cur- 
 rency among men ; but it is the fecret Rift which is 
 moft acceptable to God. He values not the offering 
 of him who is panting for the noify breath of praile, 
 fo much as that alms which is beftovved in filence, 
 and is bellowed by him who looks not to man for 
 his recompence. Our Saviour flrongly forbad his 
 difciplcs to make vanity the groundwork of their 
 beneficence, by this forcible injunction, Let not thy 
 left hand know what thy right hand doeth. He made 
 the love of God, as the father of mankind, the foun- 
 tain of charity; that we might do good to each 
 other, not to obtain the applauie of men, which is 
 vapid and tranficnt, but to conciliate his favour, 
 which is everlafling. 
 
( 3*3 ) 
 
 13. When the love of God is the root of charity, 
 it excludes every evil thought and every malevolent 
 fenfation. Genuine charity, therefore, whether re- 
 garded as a fingle act 3 or an accumulation of ads 
 wrought into a habit, is inleparable from a benevo- 
 lent (rate of the affections. He would not be truly 
 charitable, who mould make fuch a facrifice of felfc- 
 love, as to give his body to be burned for the fake 
 of fome, while he cherifhed any ill-will in his heart 
 towards others. Charity loves its friends; but cha- 
 rity is not vindictive towards its enemies. It pro- 
 motes the intereu: of the one; but without obftruct- 
 ing the welfare of the other. It fmothers its ani- 
 mofities ; (tifles its refentments ; it feeds its enemy 
 when he is hungry; fuccours him when opprefTed; 
 and refrefhes him when faint. 
 
 14. Acts of beneficence are fpurious, where the 
 malevolent principle is not extinguiflied. One (ingle 
 act of charity, performed when the fpirit of forgive- 
 nefs has got entire poffefilon of the heart, afcends to 
 the throne of mercy with a fragrance more fweet, 
 and an influence more availing, than a thoufand alms 
 which are beftowed when one malevolent wifh refts 
 brooding on the foul, or one particle of rancour pol- 
 lutes the heart that pities, or the hand that gives. 
 The mite of the widow was accepted more than all 
 the coftly offerings of the rich, becaufe the bene- 
 volent principle that prompted the act was (Ironger 
 in her foul than it was in theirs. In her no bitternefs 
 
 Y 2 
 
( 3*4 ) 
 
 was to be found ; the love of God reigned fole So- 
 vereign of her mind ; breathing on evcrv thought 
 fhe entertained, and every defire fhe cherifhed, 
 good-wiil unfeigned, and charity undcfiled. 
 
 15. Let no man, therefore, vainly fuppofe that he 
 is excufed, or can be exempted by the meannefs of 
 his condition, or the penury of his circumftances, 
 from the obligations of Chriftian charity. That 
 immortal principle of benevolence, without whofe 
 Sanctifying prefence all external acts of beneficence 
 are, in the fight of God, nothing worth, may be 
 cherifhed in as much purity, and burn with as much 
 luftre, in the affections of the peafant, as of the 
 prince. Though the poor man may not have it in 
 his power to beftow one mite upon one fuffering 
 fellow creature, yet it is in his power to exercife that 
 charity, " which fuffereth long, and is kind, which doth 
 not behave itjelf unjeemly, which is not erfily provoked, 
 which thinketh no evil-" that charity, in fliort, which 
 preferves the mind from pollution, and prevents the 
 heart from being cold; which cleunfes the thoughts 
 of the one, and mollifies the fenfations of the other. 
 
 16. Wherever wealth gives the means, there no 
 plea can exempt from the exertions of actual bene- 
 ficence. Where providence has provided the re- 
 sources, there nothing can privilege us from thofe 
 Specific acts of charity, by which the wants of the 
 poor are relieved ; by which the naked are clothed, 
 
C 325 ) 
 
 and the hungry fed ; by which the fatherlefs are 
 comforted, and the widow's heart is made to fing 
 for joy. Thefe are the fruits which the genuine 
 benevolent principle will always produce, wherever 
 it finds a foil capable of their production. Thefe 
 a;e the fruits, by which it will delight to mow its 
 life, and to manifefl its reality. He, who is warmed 
 with the fpotlefs flame of Chriftian benevolence, will 
 not only do good, but will take pleafure in doing it. 
 He will not eftimate his own enjoyments like the 
 felfifh man, by their exclufivenefs ; he will appre- 
 ciate them by the degree in which they are made 
 fubfervient ro the enjoyments of others; he will mea- 
 fure his happ'nefs by the happinefs which he im- 
 parts, and the m.fery which he alleviates. He will 
 not drive to engrofs, but to diffufe blifs; and the 
 pleafurable fenfations that thrill in his own bofom 
 will' be increafed in proponi >n to the number of 
 prrfons with whom they a.e (hartd, and the wide- 
 nels of the furface over which they are fpread. 
 
 17. The object of our acts of charity is our neigh- 
 bour ; a name, of which the fignification is fomewhat 
 different under the Mofaic and the Christian difpen- 
 fations. Under the former, it more particularly de- 
 noted an Kraelite, a cerfon of the fame religion and 
 nation ; though, on fome occafions, it was extended 
 to the ftranger, the fatherlefs, and the widow of other 
 countries. But, under the Chrivtian difpenfation, 
 the diftinctions of Jew and Gentile are abolifhed, 
 
 Y 3 
 
( 3^6 ) 
 
 and ail national differences done away. The term 
 neighbour, therefore, as it is employed in the new 
 covenant, has no partial, no local, nor circumfcribed 
 meaning; but relates, as we may infer from the 
 parable of the good Samaritan, to every individual 
 among the fcattered thoufands of mankind, who 
 wants our relief, and whom we can relieve. 
 
 1 8. The God of the Chriftians is no refpecler of 
 perfons; but, in every nation, he that feareth him, 
 and worketh righteoufnefs, is accepted with him. 
 Acts x. 34, 35. Under the difpenfation of the gof- 
 pel there is no invidious diftinction made between 
 Jew and Greek, bond and free, male and female ; 
 for we are ail one in Chrift Jefus, See Gall. vi. 28. 
 But though, according to the Chnftian fcheme, there 
 is no diftinclion between perfons, places, and nations, 
 though there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcifion 
 nor uncircumcifion, bond nor free, but Cnrift is all 
 in alh though Chriftian charity, animated by the 
 enlarged views of the founder of Chriftianity, will 
 embrace all who want its fuccour; yet, in its actual 
 operations, it will make thofe wife and prudent dif- 
 tinctions between kindred and flrangers, friends and 
 enemies, which the genius of Chrillianity does not 
 difclaim ; and to which we are impelled by the dic- 
 tates of realbn, and the fympathies of humanity. 
 
 19. The glow of univerfal philanthropy will be 
 warm and vigorous in every Chriftian heart ; and he 
 
( 3*7 ) 
 
 is no Chriftian, whofe bofom is infenfible to its ani- 
 mated and animating flame. But, as the means of 
 actual charity, even in the moft opulent individuals, 
 are fcanty indeed compared to the aggregate of hu- 
 man woe, fo it is neceffary for every individual, in 
 the diftributions of beneficence, to pay a more efpe- 
 cial regard to the ties of family and of kindred, of 
 friend (hip, of religion, and of country. Where other 
 circumftances are the fame, and where, in other re- 
 fpects, the degree of want or the claims to com- 
 panion may be equal, thefe ties are rational grounds 
 of preference, which it is inhumanity to violate, and 
 impiety not to reverence. Thefe grounds of pre- 
 ference we are not contemptuoufly to deride, but 
 affectionately to cherifh •, not coldly to neglect, but 
 diligently to obferve; as we are connected with each 
 other by the endearments of blood and friendfhip, 
 or the more diftant affinities of a common religion, 
 or a common country. 
 
 20. We cannot do good to all men ; we muft, 
 therefore, be contented with doing good to indi- 
 viduals ; and, in fnccouring the wants, relieving the 
 neceffities, promoting the interefts, or alleviating the 
 miferies of individuals, we mud pay a juft attention 
 to the ftrength of their refpective claims. We mud 
 regard the degree of their relationship, and, if I may 
 fo exprefs it, of their proximity to our affections; 
 and, often, even to our homes. In the diftributions 
 of beneficence, we are to regard thofe firft who are 
 
 Y 4 
 
( 3*8 ) 
 
 poor and deftitute in our own family j then amoncr 
 our friends; then among our acquaintance. We are 
 to iuccour a difheffed citizen of our own country 
 bet >re a foreigner, and a Chriftian ihould relieve a 
 fuifcriiig Chriftian before a fuffering Heathen. 
 
 21. That boafted practice of univerfal philan- 
 thropy, which has been extolled as the pe rfr^ion of 
 morals, is vain in theory, and impoflible in practice. 
 He who forgets the fiifFcring individuals to whom 
 nature or iy.i pathy has given a claim on his affec- 
 tions, while he is vainly attempting to embrace a 
 wider fphere of beneficence, or is fpeculating on 
 fome airy fcheme of univerfal good, is like a man 
 who fhould abandon the wife of his bofom, or the 
 friend of his heart, to perifh with hunger, while he 
 vainly attempted to convey food to all the nations 
 on the globe, by featuring a few bafkets of bread 
 upon the ocean. 
 
 22. Chriftianity, wifely attending to the narrow 
 limits of our capacity, and to the vaft fum of human 
 wants, enjoins us, not only, as far as we have oppor- 
 tunity, to do good unto all men-, but, especially, unto 
 them who are of the houfhold of faith. While it 
 enjoins us to do univerfal good in the degree in 
 which we are capable cf doing it, it does not fanc- 
 tion the illufions of promifcuous benevolence. It 
 orders us to attend to the diftinctions of family and 
 religion. We are to calculate the claim upon our 
 
(-3*9 ) 
 eompaflion not only by the degree of diftrefs, bat 
 by the degree of relation and affinity. 
 
 23. As the apoftle tells us more especially to do good 
 to thofe, who are of the houfehold of faith y we fhould 
 beware not to make this exhortation a pretext for 
 cherifhing religious animofity. Though we are to 
 prefer thofe who profefs the Chriftian faith to thofe 
 by whom it is oppofed, yet we are not to foiter a 
 narrow fpirit of fectarian antipathy and bitternefs. 
 We are not only to cherifh fentiments of regard for, 
 but are to live in habits of amity with all Chriflians 
 of all fects and denominations, however diflimilar 
 their modes of worfhip or of dodlrine may be from 
 our own, as long as their tenets are not repugnant to 
 the genius, or their lives do not reflect a Jcandal on the 
 frofeffion of Chrifiianity. 
 
 24. Though thofe who profefs the Chriftian re- 
 ligion will generally have a claim to our fympathy, 
 and 3 if diftrefied, to our alms, fuperior to thofe who 
 do not profefs it, we are not to permit our zeal for 
 Chrifiianity to make us indifferent to the happinefs or 
 to the interefts of the reft of mankind. Though 
 Chrifiianity, by incorporating us as members of the 
 fame body, under one head, Chrift Jefus, has formed 
 a clofe bond of relationfhip among Chriftians j yet we 
 are to remember that Chrifiianity was not jent to make us 
 aliens from the great and univ erf al family of mankind. — 
 We are to confider that God made of one blood, 
 
( 33° ) 
 
 all nations that dwell on the face of the whole earth ; 
 and that, confequently, we are not to look with fullen 
 averfion or malignant fcorn on the followers of Con- 
 fucius or of Mahomet. We are to love without hy- 
 pocrify, even Jews, Turks, and infidels* we are to 
 behold with a compaffionating regard all thoie, who, 
 in the blindnefs of their minds, or in the folly of 
 their hearts, bow the knee to idols made of wood 
 and (lone ; or who worfhip the fun by day and the 
 moon by night. We are to pray, with that fervor 
 of charity, which will give to the fupplications of 
 man the eloquence of cherubim or feraphim, that 
 fuperflition may be banifhed from the earth -, that 
 all mankind may at lad come into one fold, under 
 one fliepherd, Jefus Chrift the Lord. 
 
 25. Chriftianity, though it directs the free and 
 unreftrained exercife of the benevolent affections, 
 requires them to be exercifed in their due order and 
 cherifhed in their due proportions. Our affections, 
 as if by a law of our nature, gravitate mod forcibly 
 toward thofe with whom we have the clofefl com- 
 munion of intereits and fenfations ; in whofe good 
 or bad fortune, in whofe joys or forrows, we are in 
 fome meafure perfonally concerned. The intercfts 
 and fenfations of our relations, of our parents, our 
 wives, our children, are moll nearly identified with 
 our own. Their profperity or adverfity, their fick- 
 nefs or their health, come, if I may lb exprefs it, 
 more in contact with our feelings, than the profperity 
 
 3 
 
( 33i ) 
 
 or the adverfitv, the ficknefs or the health of others. 
 Hence they have and ought to have a ftronger hold 
 on our affections, than thofe, in the variation of 
 whofe circumfUnces, or interefts, or fenfations, we 
 are lefs concerned. 
 
 26. Affections are generally the ftrongeft where 
 the reciprocations of pleafure and pain are the mod: 
 frequent, where they are the fooneft excited and 
 the mod forcibly fcit. Hence, in mod cafes, accord- 
 ing to the common courfe of nature, which it has 
 often '>een the aim of metaphyfical fubtilty to invert, 
 or of falfe philofophy to deftroy, the reciprocations 
 of pleafure and pain muff, generally be more frequent, 
 and comequcntly more forcible, between kindred 
 than betwten friends, between friends than between 
 ftrangers> between the inhabitants of the fame town 
 than the inhabitants of the fame country, between 
 the inhabitants of the fame country than foreigners, 
 between fubjects of the fame government than thofe 
 of a different, between members of the fame, than 
 thofe of a contrary communion. 
 
 27. The power of what I call the reciprocations of 
 pleafure and pain in producing affection, and in in- 
 vigorating it when produced, is very vifible in the 
 growth of maternal love. The mother who fuckles 
 her child at her own bread:, and often fondles it in 
 her own arms, who watches its fleeping and its wak- 
 ing hours, who plays with it in health and tends it 
 
( 3«* ) 
 
 in ficknefs, has alwavs a warmer and Wronger affec- 
 tion tor it, than that more un latural mother, who 
 commits her offspring to be reared at the bread and 
 nurild in the arms of a drang"r. The affection of 
 the firiL has a fource of drength and a means of in- 
 creafe which the other wan;s. The one reciprocates 
 more with the pleafjres and the pains of its child 
 than the other. 
 
 28. Where ftrength of benevolence is mod 
 wanted, there Providence has taken mod care to 
 favour its production ; to render its growth mod 
 eafy and its increafe mod certain. We fee this, par- 
 ticularly in the aff clion between parents and chil- 
 dren} for the 1 elation between parents and children 
 occafions fuch a continual reciprocation of pleafures 
 and pains, of Iv^pes and fears, of joys and forrows, 
 fuch an unremitted interchange of fympathies, as 
 muft neceiTaiily produce parental love on one fide, 
 and filial on the other. Family love was intended 
 as a day to the helpleflhefs of individuals, as a ftaff 
 to the aged and a pillow to the young ; as a fuccour 
 to the indigent, and a confolation to the miferable. 
 Strength of benevolent affe&ion is therefore highly 
 neceflary among kindred ; and the providential dif- 
 poficions of nature tend to plant it in our boloms, 
 and to fix it in our hearts. It begins in the early 
 intercourfe of brothers and fillers, and it is gradually 
 diffufed to the remotcd branches of relationfhip. 
 Brothers and Oilers foon learn to iympathize with 
 
C 333 ) 
 
 each others wants and embarraffments. Their fuf- 
 ferings, their pains and pleafures are often mutual ; 
 and the happinefs of the one is generally affrciated 
 with that of the other. Hence, by degrees, they 
 learn to feel for and with each other, in circum- 
 fiances in which there could be no participation of 
 actual fuffering between them ; in circumftances, in 
 which fympathy could not be prompted by felfifhnefs, 
 or by any dread of wanting the aid we give, and the 
 confolaticn we be (low. 
 
 29. The feeds of kindred love, which are fown in 
 the nurfery, when properly cultured, fpring up into 
 a tree of luxuriant verdure and {lately growth, from 
 which depend the bloffoms arid the fruits of all the 
 benevolent affections. Though kindred love may 
 be contracted in its expanfion, nipped in its buds, 
 or withered in its leaves, by injudicious management 
 or unpropitious circumftances ; yet it is a plant of lo 
 hardy a nature, and the circumftances of life in which 
 we muft be placed do neceflarily fo favour its pro- 
 duction, it takes fuch deep root in the heart, and 
 fpreads its fibres fo clofelv over the furface of the 
 affections, that there is rarely a bofom on which it 
 has not made fome imprefiions or on which it exerts 
 no influence. 
 
 30. There can hardly help being more frequent 
 reciprocations of pleafure and pain, ftronger affocia- 
 tions and fympathies, and confequently ftronger af- 
 
<( 334 ) 
 
 fections between relations than between ftrangers* 
 The interefts and fenfations of kindred muft come 
 more into contact with our own than thofe of per- 
 fons not allied to us by blood, nor connected with us 
 by intercourfe. Family love commonly fjws the 
 firft feeds of benevolence, which are afterwards ma- 
 tured into all the focial virtues. 
 
 31. Before the benevolent affections can flourifh, 
 the fclfi Ti principle mud be brought under proper 
 regulations. The felfih principle counteracts the 
 growth of the benevolent affections j and the bene- 
 volent affections abate the rancour and prevent the 
 increafe of the felfifh principle. The more our in- 
 terefts are, as it were.; divided, the more the fenfations 
 of our hearts are communicated to others ; and the 
 more the fenfations of others vibrate in our own, the 
 lefs we are abforbed in the purfuit of exclufive gra- 
 tifications. Family love makes the firft divificn in our 
 interefts and fenfations, by mingling them with the in- 
 terefts and fenfations of others, 
 
 32. The maturation of the benevolent principle 
 is greatly affiled by marriage, by friendfhip, and 
 fociety ; till the foul, animated with the flame of be- 
 nevolence, is difpofed to fympathize with the interefts 
 of all mankind. Marriage, on Chriftian principles, 
 in a more efpecial manner encourages the expan- 
 fion of the benevolent affections. It weakens the 
 force of the felfilh principle, by making our own 
 
( 335 ) 
 
 intereft one and indivifible with that of another; and 
 when it gives. birth to children, it ftill farther pro- 
 motes the increafe of benevolence, by rendering 
 our intereft one and the fame with that of many 
 others. The benevolent principle will, in general, 
 for thefe reafons be feldom found fo ftrong in un- 
 married as in married people. 
 
 33. Friendfhip is another foil very genial to the 
 growth of the benevolent affections, and, indeed, 
 true friendfhip never warmed a heart that true be- 
 nevolence did not warm. True benevolence gives 
 birth to the moft fincere, the moft ardent and lafting 
 friendfhip. A benevolent man mud have friends, 
 becaufe he muft be friendly. The benevolent man 
 loves his kind ; and even the experience of treachery, 
 of favours ill requited, or kindnefs not returned, will 
 not chill his bofom, or indifpofe it to delight in the 
 good of others. The benevolent affections teach us 
 how to overcome evil with good ; they teach us 
 how to conquer without righting for victory, to con- 
 ciliate the vindictive, to bend the (lubborn, and to 
 appeafe the paflionate. , 
 
 34. The happinefs of nations muft be the greater 
 the more that the benevolent affections warm the 
 breads of individuals. Nations are only families on 
 a larger fcale ; and the happinefs of the great family 
 of nations is only an aggregate of the happinefs of 
 all the individuals who compofe it. The more in- 
 
( 336 ) 
 
 dividuals are happy, the greater is the public happi- 
 nefs. The benevolent affections infpire the indivi- 
 duals whom they animate, with zeal and vigour in 
 promoting the hnppinefs of others, of their kindred, 
 of their friends, of thofe connected with them bv 
 blood or acquaintance, by the ties of religion, of 
 neighbourhood, or country -, or by any of thofe 
 fympathies that bind man with man in all the na- 
 tions of the earth, and through the whole circum- 
 ference of humanity. The more individuals there 
 are in a fingle family, in whofe bofoms the benevo- 
 lent affections glow, the lefs flrife, the lefs envy, and 
 the lefs ill-will there will be in each condiment part; 
 and confequently the greater tendency to promote 
 the happinefs of the whole. If every member of a 
 family were animated by the benevolent affections, 
 no mifery could well be felt. One would be a (lay 
 to the other. The bitternefs of family hate would 
 be loft in the fweet intercourfe of family affection. 
 Jealoufy between brothers and filters, between near 
 and more diftant kindred, and which fpring from a 
 divided intereft, would be at an end. They would 
 be united by a reciprocity of interefts and fenfations. 
 The rich would not (hun the intercourfe, or be in- 
 fenfible to the wants of their relations in diftrefs. 
 The profperity or adverfity of the one, would in 
 forne meafure be the profperity and adverfity of the 
 other. They would be fcen together in the fun- 
 fhine and in the dorm. 
 
( 237 ) 
 
 35« True benevolence, though it will bear pref- 
 
 "ti 
 
 fure, loves expanfion. It breaths the moft exhila- 
 rating fweetnefs over the adjoining region of the af- 
 fections ; but it alfo fcatters its fragrance far and 
 wide, from thofe who have the nearer! claims on the 
 heart, to thofe whofe claims are more remote. It 
 fpreads from the wife of our bofom, or the child of 
 our hope, from the father, who was the flay of our 
 infancy, or the brother who was the companion of 
 our youth, to the friends, with whom we have taken 
 fweet counfel together, to the companions with 
 whom we have travelled in the road of life ; to thofe, 
 whofe fields and homes border on our own \ to thofe, 
 who kneel with us at the fame altar ; or who are 
 united in the intereft or endeared by the name of 
 one common country, till it embraces the whole 
 peopled world. 
 
 36. Whenever a fpirit of benevolence (hall ani- 
 mate the councils of nations, and the governments 
 of the earth, public oppreffion will ceafe, and want 
 will be felt no more. Liberty, pure and genuine, 
 fuch as is worthy of a rational nature, that liberty 
 which impofes no reftraints on harmlefs or innocent 
 gratification, which allows freedom of fpeech and 
 liberty of inquiry, which encourages the growth of 
 reafon and the growth of virtue, which protects the 
 rich from the ravage of the poor, and the poor from 
 the infults and extortions of the rich ; this liberty 
 would flourifh in all its beauty, not like that tree of 
 
 Z 
 
( 33* ) 
 
 liberty, which, in thefe calamitous clays, has (6 often 
 been planted by the fword j which has been watered 
 by the tears of the widow and the orphan ; whofc 
 trunk has been fattened with flaughter ; and whofe 
 boughs have been hung with the trophies of outraged 
 humanity and violated juftice. That liberty which 
 would naturally grow out of the fovereign fway of 
 the benevolent affections, would fhelter the father- 
 lefs and the widow ; under its fpacious boughs the 
 rich and the poor might dwell fafely; humanity 
 would tend its growth, juftice would prune its 
 branches, and the favour of heaven, fmiling on Co 
 fair a plant, would protect its leaves from the canker, 
 and harden its trunk againft the florm. 
 
 37. Under a government where the benevolent 
 affections prefided, fwaying the fceptre of policy 
 and moderating the feverity of juftice, infurredlions 
 could not happen , for mankind, by a fort of in- 
 flictive impulfe, neceflarily love a government 
 that confults their happinefs, that protects their pro- 
 perty, that is tenderly alive to the fecurity of their 
 rights and the prefervation of their freedom. A 
 people, that was animated by the true principle of 
 benevolence, would cherifh fuch a government with 
 a more than filial affection, and would be ready to 
 fpend their laft (hilling for hs neceffities, and fpill 
 their laft drop of blood for its fupport. 
 
 9 
 
( 339 ) 
 
 38. In whatever nation a fpirit of benevolence 
 animated the people and the government, the hearts 
 of individuals and the councils of the (late, that na- 
 tion would, as far as in it lay, remain at peace with 
 all the world. It would not lightly or wantonly un- 
 iheach the fword j it would engage in no wars of 
 aggrefiion or ambition ; and, if attacked by another 
 power, it would not carry on hoftilities with rancour 
 or malevolence ; but would efteem the reftoration 
 of peace of more importance to the happinefs of its 
 people, than the vain boafts of conqueft, or the idle 
 trophies of ambition. 
 
 39. The Divine Author of Chriftianity, by en- 
 joining the benevolent affections fo forcibly in his 
 doftrine, and, above all, by his example, by fo power- 
 fully enforcing their cultivation, and by lending the 
 fanctions and promifing the bleffings of eternity to 
 their practice, acted as the bed friend of man. Con- 
 fcious of our wants, fenfibie of our diftreffes, and un- 
 equalled in wifdom and in goodnefs, he propofed in 
 his counfels, and recommended by his life, that 
 remedy, which alone can wipe all tears from all eyes, 
 and drive heavinefs from all hearts. Whenever 
 Chriftianity fhall be univerfally profefied in all its 
 truth, and practifed in all its purity, the world will 
 be one univerfal monarchy under the reign of Love. 
 Truth and Juftice will dwell among the nations ; and 
 Benevolence will cover the earth as with a fhield, 
 
 Z a 
 
RELIGION WITHOUT CANT. 
 
 Moral good the great eft good, or the nature, tendencies, 
 and effefts of moral aclion, theologically defcribed, 
 philosophically dif cuffed, and praclic ally enforced. 
 
 i.VJod gives to his intelligent creatures various 
 faculties, of which he requires a right ufe. The right 
 ufe of the faculties, which we poflefs, confifts in their 
 conformity to the end for which they were defigned ; 
 or, in other words, in their conformity to the will of 
 him by whom they were bellowed. 
 
 2. Of the faculties which God gives to his intelli- 
 gent creatures, he does not interfere, by any imme- 
 diate a£t of power, to controul the agency; for this 
 would render the faculties of intelligent beings like 
 the wheels of a piece of machinery, which are put in 
 motion by a power foreign to the machine itielf. 
 
 3. Of thofe laws, according to which God directs 
 but does not compel our faculties to be employed, 
 
he gives us reafon to difcover the utility, or he 
 makes their exiftence fo plain by their effects, that 
 they cannot be unknown. It is in conformity to 
 thefe laws, or in obedience to the will of the lawgiver, 
 that our happinefs confifts ♦, and we cannot violate 
 them, without taking fomething from the fum of 
 our happinefs, or adding fomething to that of our 
 mifery. 
 
 4. We cannot violate thofe laws of temperance, 
 to which God defires the faculties of our bodies to be 
 kept fubfervient without impairing our health ; and 
 though the effect of a fingle act of intemperance may 
 not be apparent, it is not the lefs real ; it feems not to 
 admit the relations of quantity, but, if often repeated, 
 it foon accumulates to a fum of phyfical evil, under 
 the preffure of which the health difappears and the 
 body decays. It is probable, in like manner, that 
 we cannot violate the great laws of truth and juftice, 
 by whofe immutable decrees our words and actions 
 ought to be governed, even in a fingle inftance, 
 without deducting fomething from the fum of good, 
 which would otherwife be our portion. Though 
 the effect be not immediate nor palpable, its influence 
 operates, though it operates unfeen. It falls in, as it 
 were, with the great and powerful ftream of moral 
 caufes, which are in a ftate of continual motion; and 
 which invariably tend to carry evil to him by whom 
 evil has been done. 
 
( 34* ) 
 
 5» Every immoral adl, or act of difobedience to 
 the divine will, (for I confider morality in no other 
 light than the will of God,) has a necefTary and uni- 
 form tendency to bring us, as it were, within the con- 
 fines of mifery *. As phyfical evil is hurtful to the 
 body, fo moral evil is destructive to the foul of 
 man. 
 
 6. Why does God require us to obferve the moral 
 law, but becaufe he wills us to be happy ? And why 
 does he require us not to violate ic, but becaufe he 
 wills that we mould not be miferable ? The moral 
 law is an emanation of his goodnefs, and the practice 
 of it was commanded for the good of his creatures. 
 The good of his creatures is the object of the will of 
 
 * Oh that kings and governments would remember this ! 
 That they would confider themfelves as the fervants of God 
 upon earth, whofe duty it is to execute his will rather than 
 their oxvti! Let the defpot, before he ififues his arbitrary " fiat," 
 confider whether it be agreeable to the law of the moral Gover- 
 nor of the world. No governments fhould enact any laws, ad- 
 verfe in their fpirit, or hoftile in their tendency, to thofe of the 
 Great King of heaven and earth. They mould make the moral 
 laiv the bafis of the civil and criminal laws of the land. They 
 fhould make a conformity to it, the ftandard of their intereft 
 and the pillar of their policy. Then nations would be happy, 
 and the governors of nations would erect their power on the 
 immoveable rock of truth, of juftice, and of mercy 3 inftead of 
 railing it on the fluffing fand of Machiavelian firatagem cruelty, 
 and injuftice. See " Morality united with Policy," pp. 4cj — 52. 
 Printed for White, Fleet Street. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
( 343 ) 
 
 God ; for God in fcripture is ftiled love, to denote 
 his benevolent concern for his creatures, and his dif- 
 pofition to contribute to their happinefs. And as 
 the moral law is the will of God, a conformity to its 
 decrees mud tend to make us happy ; for God, who 
 is love, cannot will his creatures to be miferable. 
 
 7. God has appointed laws for the government of 
 theflefh and of the fpirit; laws to direct our agency, 
 as we are animals, fufceptible of pleafure and of 
 pain j and laws to govern us, as we are moral agents, 
 refponfible in another life for our behaviour in this. 
 On our conformity to thefe laws, our prefent and 
 our future happinefs depends. The firft relate to 
 good, circumfcribed within the period of this life 5 
 the lad to good, that extends beyond it. 
 
 8. Every deviation from the laws of the flelh, or of 
 our animal conftitution, muft indeed, in fome mea- 
 fure, be a deviation from the laws of the fpirit or of 
 our moral conftitution, for both originate from the 
 fame divine will, and a deflection from one is an 
 offence againft the power that appointed the other. 
 What (inks us lower in the fcale of animality, de- 
 prefTes us proportionally in that of intelligence ; the 
 excefs of the animal is the depravation of the moral 
 man. 
 
 9. Every fenfual excefs, as far as it is the acl: of a 
 rational being, pofTeffing a diftinct fenfe of right and 
 
 z 4 
 
( 344 ) 
 
 wrong, is a deduction from the fum of prefent and of 
 future good ; from that good, which is hounded by 
 the horizon of mortality, and that which awaits the 
 righteous after death. A man may, indeed, deviate 
 from the lavvb of his animal nature, he may be guilty 
 of excefs in eating and drinking, and in criminal plea- 
 fures, and which may have a direct influence on his 
 prefent phyfical good ; but he may not be confcious, at 
 the time, that he is doing any thing morally wrong; 
 and therefore, the act, not being a wilful breach of 
 any moral obligation, may have no connection with 
 his condition in another life. It may not be a tranf- 
 greflion for which he will be called to account ; for 
 a man may offend againft thofe laws, by which a 
 due moderation of all the appetites is made fubfer- 
 vient to his prefent intereft, without knowing that he 
 is finning againft the will of a fuperior power, which 
 it is his duty to obey ; and therefore the tranfgrefiion, 
 though it may be phyfically injurious, may not be 
 morally deft ructives though it may, from the natural 
 affociation of caufe and effect, be hurtful to the body 
 in this world, it may not affect the ftate of the foul 
 in the next. 
 
 io. Nothing will operate againft the happinefs of 
 man in another life, but moral difobedience in this ; 
 and moral d ; fobedience implies a perverfe applica- 
 tion of that faculty by which we difcern evil from 
 good, and good from evil. A man may trefpafs 
 againft the wife laws of his animal conftitution, by 
 
( 345 ) 
 which pain is affociated with excefs of indulgence, 
 and yet not fin againft the moral law, becaufe he may 
 not know, or be capable of knowing, that there is 
 iuch a law in being. 
 
 ii. Before any man, as a being accountable to 
 God for his actions, can do what is morally wrong, 
 there mufl be a fenfe of what is morally right and 
 morally wrong upon his conference ; or he mult have 
 a faculty of difcerning their differences, which it is 
 his duty to exert ; or the differences themfelves 
 muft have been obliterated by long continuance in 
 iniquity. No man can be excufed for doing what is 
 morally evil, becaufe he neglects the ufe of the power 
 which he poffefles to difcover what is morally evil ; 
 or becaufe he has fuffered the moral fenfe to wade 
 away through difufe, or to be para'yfed by wicked- 
 nefs. 
 
 12. The laws which relate to the prefent animal 
 economy of man are inflexible and univerfal in their 
 operation. Neither the tool nor the wife man can 
 trefpafs againft them with impunity. When an idiot 
 tranfgreffes the laws of health, the effect follows the 
 courfe; the aggregate of phyfical good, which he 
 could otherwife have enjoyed, experiences a certain, 
 though not an immediate and vifible diminution *. 
 
 * The idiot wants reafon, but he poffeffes fenfation ; and 
 fenfation alone will teach the necefiity of temperance. The 
 
( 34<S ) 
 
 But, if another perfon, who has a right ufe of his 
 rational faculties, and on whofe conference the dif- 
 tinctions of right and wrong, of moral good and 
 moral evil are engraven, mould be guilty of the 
 fame offence, the confluences may be extended 
 beyond this fphere of things. 
 
 13. Wherever there is a faculty of making juft 
 diftinctions between right and wrong, there moral 
 and phyfical good are the fame ; there prefent is 
 identified with future good; there the interefts of 
 time are incorporated with thole of eternity. The 
 intemperance of the idiot, who has no right fenfe of 
 moral obligation, may affect only his preient good j 
 but the intemperance of a wifer man may be a de- 
 duction from his future. 
 
 14. The laws which relate to the government of 
 the flefh, or the animal economy of man, embrace 
 the whole fentient human race; but thofe laws 
 which relate to the government of the fpiric, of the 
 thoughts, the affections, and the whole moral eco- 
 nomy of man, can concern only thofe who know the 
 differences between good and evil, and understand 
 the weighty matters of moral obligation. But, as in 
 
 ignorant may, in many cafes, draw conclufions from lenfation 
 without any intermediate fteps of rea facing, as well as the 
 philofopher can by the more laborious proctls of ratiocination. 
 Senfation often difcovers wife axioms of conduft, by bringing 
 'is as it were, into contact with their benefits. 
 
( 347 ) 
 
 the firft cafe, every deviation from the laws of our 
 animal nature, takes fomething from the fum of 
 phyfical good, which we mould otherwife enjoy, fo 
 it is highly probable from analogies in nature, and 
 from the intimations of fcripture, that every indivi- 
 dual deviation from the laws of our moral nature 
 muft fubtract fomething from the fum of our future, 
 or what 1 call moral and eternal, in oppofition to our 
 prefent, phyfical, and tranfient good. 
 
 15. It feems the exprefs doctrine of fcripture, 
 that the more righteous, or the more obedient to 
 God's will men are in this life, the more happy they 
 will be in another. Now, as every individual act of 
 difobedience takes fomething from the fum total of 
 our righteoufnefs, and confequently fomething from 
 the fum of our future happinefs, fo every individual 
 act of obedience adds fomething to the fum total of 
 our righteoufnefs, (for a righteous life is only an ac- 
 cumulation of many particular acts of obedience,) 
 and confequently will make fome addition to the 
 fum of our biifs, in that ftate to which this life is 
 leading us. Thefe are weighty confederations,, and 
 highly neceffary for us to cherifh, that we may not 
 make a mock of fin, and count any one act of difo- 
 bedience to the divine will a matter of little mo- 
 ment. 
 
 16. A righteous life is only an accumulation of 
 many particular acts of obedience ; and, on the con- 
 
( 34* ) 
 
 trary, an unrighteous life is only an accumulation of 
 many particular acts of di (obedience. How many 
 particular acts of obedience or of difobedience will 
 caufe us, through the mercy of God operating in 
 the atonement ofChrift, to appear juft in his divine 
 prefence on the one hand, or will occafion cur ex- 
 clulion from his favour on the other, we cannot af- 
 certain, nor does it become us to inquire -, but this 
 weighty truth it is highly important for us to know 
 and to remember, that every individual act of good 
 or of evil, of obedience or of difobedience, will have 
 fome influence on our eternal deftiny. Oh that we 
 would lay this truth to heart ! That we would medi- 
 tate on it ere we deep at nights and ponder it well 
 when we wake in the morning ! 
 
 17. The greateft good which man can feek on 
 earth, or enjoy in heaven, which can animate his ex- 
 ertions here, or reward his labours hereafter, is the 
 favour of God. And the only condition, by which 
 this perfect gift can be obtained, or to the perform- 
 ance of which it is appended, is a conformity to the 
 moral law, the law of righteoufnefs and true holinefs. 
 Every act of immorality, being a tranfgrefTion of 
 the will of God, muft caufe a diminution of his fa- 
 vour towards us. As God is a perfect being, and 
 all his perfections of power, of wifdom, of juftice, 
 and goodnefs, though confidered feparately by us, 
 in order that they may be brought more within the 
 grafp of our narrow apprehenfions, are, in fict, only 
 
( 349 ) 
 
 one and indivifible, the will and the favour of God 
 mud coincide. The only way to obtain his favour 
 "is to do his will; and thofe who mod zealoufly 
 drive to perform the one, will enjoy the greateft por- 
 tion of the other. 
 
 1 8. The will of God, confidered as operating in 
 the moral world, fuperintending its government, and 
 difpofing its whole economy for the encouragement 
 of moral good, and the punifhment of moral evil, 
 may be confidered as a {trait line, pointing to our 
 greateft happinefs, and ftretching through this life 
 into eternity. The more we violate the divine pre- 
 cepts, the more we recede from this line, and the 
 farther we depart from happinefs ; and, if inftead of 
 fleering our way through life by its direction, we 
 keep removing farther and farther from it, from the 
 time when the power of making juft diftinctions 
 between right and wrong commences to the period 
 when it ends, we may lofe the favour of God, with- 
 out being reftored to it again for ever * ! 
 
 * If this fuppofition be true, the punifhments denounced 
 in tcripture againft the wicked, may be not only figuratively 
 but literally accomplished. They may be eternal l Here, O finful 
 man! paufe and consider thy danger before thou rufheft into 
 irretrievable deftru&ion ! 
 
 In the Picture of Christian Philofophy, 3d edit. pp. 58 — 60. 
 t have fuggefted that the puniinment of the wicked in another 
 world will probably be of long, but not of infinite duration; 
 and I have laid that an eternity of punifhment for temporal 
 
( 3S° ) 
 
 19. Continual a<5h or habits of goodncfs caufe us, 
 as it were, to keep a courie parallel with the will of 
 
 offences appears repugnant to any enlarged notions of the 
 juftice and the goodnefs of God. At the moment I am writing 
 this note, (Friday morning, Jan. 2d, 1801,) 1 do earneftly hope 
 that all, even the greateft Turners may, and I do furmife that 
 they ivill be Hived. I have many reafons for believing that 
 the punifhment of the wicked will tend, though flowly, and 
 through a long feries of fullering, to extirpate the evil habits, 
 which they have formed, and to bring about their reconciliation 
 with the God whom they have offended. But then this belief 
 is rather the expreflion of hope, than the aflurance of certainty j 
 rather a conjecture which I love to indulge, than a position 
 which the fcripture gives me any exprefs authority to fupport. 
 The language of the facred writers upon the fubject hardly 
 warrants the conclusion which I with to draw 5 and though 
 that language may poflibly be, and probably is, only the com- 
 mon inflation of the eaftern idiom, yet when I confider that 
 this life is a ftate of trial for eternity, and that when this pro- 
 bationary fcene of things is over, it may never be fucceeded by 
 another, in ivh'ich there ivill be any room left for repentance or for 
 pardon, and that, confequently, in this cafe, the finner would 
 retain to all eternity the corrupt habits in which he left the 
 world, and would thus remain for ever unfit for the communion 
 of the juft ; when T confider this, I dare not pronounce rafhly 
 on fo weighty a queftion. And this truth it behoves us feri- 
 ouily to weigh, and attentively to remember, that whether the 
 punifhment referred for the (inner in 'another life be temporal 
 or eternal, godlinefs in this ivorld ?mijl he great gain -with refpeel 
 to another. Reader, whoever thou art, or to whatever feci thou 
 mayeft belong, if thou haft turned afide from the path of good- 
 nefs, which, believe me, is the only path of happinefs, let me 
 conjure thee as a friend, interefted in thy welfare, to meafure 
 back thy way, ere the long night fet in, and the thick darknefs 
 overwhelm thee! 
 
( 3$* ) 
 
 God ; or, at lead, with only fome occafional and 
 tranfient deviations from it, fuch as are hardly to be 
 avoided by human imperfection. But from fuch de- 
 viations to moral evil, a return is eafy to moral good, 
 when the principle of righteoufnefs is fixed in the 
 mind and engraven on the heart. And even the (in- 
 ner who has made not only fome few and occafional 
 deflections, but who has long continued in a (late of 
 defle&ion from the (trait line of obedience, though 
 he may never, in this life, be able to attain to that 
 point of obedience, at which, if he had not fo often 
 or fo long erred, he might have arrived *, yet he 
 may approach it in an indefinite degree ; fo as to 
 efcape the being carried after death into the abyfs 
 of mifery. But every (lep that a finner removes 
 farther from the line of religious obedience, the 
 
 * How great, how incalculable is the importance of early 
 impreliions of piety ! Impreflions, which, by a careful culture, 
 may be confolidated into habits that the company of the diflb- 
 lute cannot afterwards deprave, nor the arts of the infidious 
 undermine. A man may turn to God in his old age ; but habits 
 of righteoufnefs begun at that late period, though they may 
 deliver from the wrath to come, cannot be fo productive of 
 future happinefs, as thofe habits of righteoufnefs, of which the 
 feeds were fown in youth. Ye guardians of the young, before 
 all other accomplishments, labour to inftrucl: their minds in the 
 knowledge, and to imbue their affections with the fpirit of 
 true religion ! Ariftotle fays with great truth, a [uxgov sv 8ia.$e§ei 
 to tstwg rj 8tou$ eu§v$ ek vsuvv s§i%E<r&a.i aXXa, Tta^itoXv, waXXov Ss j 
 to itav. Ariftot. Eth. Nicom. lib. ii, c. 1. Ed. Pet. Victor. 4to. 
 
 Francofurti 1584. p. 22, line 1?. 
 
( 35* ) 
 
 more difficult it will be for him to retrace his way to 
 the point of deviation ; for the momentum of bad 
 habit increafes as he proceeds, and die more his pace 
 is accelerated towards destruction. 
 
 20. Every Tingle act of fin is a deflection from the 
 ftrait line of duty, and confequently deducts fome- 
 thing from the happinefs which we frVuld other- 
 wife enjoy ; for duty is conformity to the will of 
 God, and to this conformity his favour is appended, 
 in which alone true happinefs conjifts. Hence we fee 
 the neceflity of abftaining, with all the vigilance, 
 which we can exert, even from thofe fmall indivi- 
 dual tranfgrelTions which we are too apt to regard 
 as matters of little moment ; which feem not at the 
 time to fubtract any thing from our happinefs, or 
 add any thing to our mifery. But, habitual fins, 
 though they may be habitual violations of only one of 
 the leaft of the commandments* are a continual infraction 
 of the will of God ; a continual turning from our 
 duty, and, confequently, a continual facrifice of our 
 only real and fubftantial intereft and glory. 
 
 21. The mod: righteous in this world will make 
 fome occafional deflections from their duty ; but 
 thofe mult be the happielt who make the feweft. 
 The nearer we approach that line of perfect obe- 
 dience and abfolute fubmiffion to the will of God, 
 where true glory and happinefs begin and end, or, in 
 other words, the more our habits of goodnefs in this 
 
 i 
 
( 353 ) 
 
 life advance in ftature and increafe in flrength, the 
 greater will be our portion of blifs in the life to 
 come ; and if the righteous grow, as they probably 
 will grow in goodnefs to all eternity, they mud in- 
 creafe in happinefs to all eternity. 
 
 22. The felicity of the righteous muft keep pace 
 with their moral improvement > and the one may ad- 
 vance perpetually like the other. Eternity does not 
 admit the relations of time -, but as it is poflible to 
 fuppofe any given portion of time capable of end- 
 lefs accumulations, fo it is poflible to imagine any 
 particular portion of virtue or of happinefs to be 
 increafed, and to go on increafing through all eternity. 
 
 23. The perfections of God, being infinite, can 
 never be changed 5 they admit of no limitations or 
 additions ; they cannot be enlarged or diminifhed in 
 number or in fize ; but the perfections (perhaps I 
 ought rather to fay the imperfections) of man being 
 only a finite quantity, may be continually augmented, 
 or continually diminifhed ; continually ameliorated 
 or continually depraved. The increafing perfections 
 of man bear a conflant relation to his paft imper- 
 fections. And the comparative perfections of the 
 creature may keep continually growing in vigour and 
 in fize, without ever becoming infinite j they may 
 be extended to an immeafurable diftance from the 
 point of imperfection at which they kt out, and yet 
 attain no nearer to the infinite perfections of God, 
 than they were at the beginning. What is finite, 
 
 .A a 
 
( 354 ) 
 
 however vaft it may feem to what is, if I may \o 
 exprefs it, more finite than itfelf, can bear no pofftble 
 proportion to what is infinite; no, not fo much as 
 a mite does to the fubftance of the world. 
 
 24. The will of God, in a conformity to which 
 morality confifts, is the perfection of his power, of 
 his wifdom and his goodnefs. When God, by his 
 fimple volition, created light, his will was the 
 image of his attributes, of his power, his wifdom, 
 and his goodnefs. The moral law, by which he 
 governs the intellectual world, and the relations 
 of which muft have exilted in the divine mind 
 from the beginning of time, was as much the refult 
 of his fimple volition, as the creation of light, 
 or the eftablifhment of the laws which regulate the 
 univerfal fyftem. The moral law fhews his wifdom 
 in contriving it, his power in fixing and perpetuating 
 its relations, and his goodnefs in fo arranging the 
 wonderful economy of caufes and effects, of actions 
 and their confequences, as, without controuling the 
 free agency of man, makes obedience to its decrees 
 always ultimately productive of good and affociated 
 with happinefs. 
 
 25. The more we obferve the moral law, the 
 more we do the will of God ; and the more we do 
 his will, the more we approach his perfections; for 
 the divine will and the divine perfections are identi- 
 fied. The will of God, according to the different 
 lights in which it is wiewed, is the abftract idea, th* 
 
( 3SS ) 
 colle&ive fum or the aclive force of all his perfec- 
 tions. And the moral law, according to the differ- 
 ent relations in which it is confidered, may be re- 
 garded as a provifion made by the divine wifdom, 
 power, and goodnefs, for the happinefs of the whole 
 rational creation. The moral perfectionning* of man 
 confifts in the increafing conformity of his conduct 
 to the moral law, or in his increafing obedience to 
 the will of God. We cannot do all his will, for that 
 fuppofes infinite perfection ; but we may keep on* 
 through all eternity, improving in the faculty of 
 doing it f. 
 
 16. In the whole univerfe, there can be but one 
 perfeclj being, and that is God 5 for every created 
 
 * Had the philofophers Condorcet, Godwin, and others, 
 confidered perfectibility not as an acquifition of phyfical and 
 intellectual powers, which can never be attained by individual 
 man in his mortal ftate -, but as a gradual growth in goodnefs, 
 a continual increafe in our fingle acts of obedience to the 
 divine will, and a confequent approximation to the divine 
 image ; a moral perfectionning begun in this world and con- 
 tinued in the next ; who could have objected to their hypo- 
 thefts? Who could have derided fuch a Speculation ? Who 
 could have difputed its great practical utility ? The mind of 
 man can entertain few reflections more ufeful or more juft. 
 
 •f- We are not to fuppofe that man will continue ftationary 
 in that ftate to which death will lead him; it is more reafon- 
 able to fuppofe, that he will keep through all eternity advan- 
 cing from one ftate of intelligence to another, and from one 
 degree of glory to a higher. 
 
 % Here the word perfect is taken in its abfolute fignification, 
 as excluding every idea of imperfection ; and not as before, 
 
 A a 2 
 
( 356 ) 
 
 being (and every being is and muft be created, 
 God alone excepted) muft be imperfect ; and though 
 there may be many, nay infinite degrees of imper- 
 fection, when one created being is viewed in its re- 
 lations to or confidered in comparifon with another, 
 yet as the difference between that which had a be- 
 ginning, and that which had none, is infinite, all 
 created beings muft be placed equally diftant from 
 his perfections, in whofe eyes the heavens are not 
 clean, and who chargeth his angels with folly. 
 
 27. But though the imperfections of man, con- 
 fidered in their ftrict philofophical relation to the ab- 
 folute perfections of God, may always continue in the 
 fame date of inferiority, though no created nature 
 can, in any period of its improvement* though that 
 improvement fhould be carried on through an endlefs 
 fuccefiion of ages, ever 'approach ivithin any given 
 dijlance of the infinite power by which it was pro- 
 duced ; yet the perfections of man, viewed either as 
 relative to the pail ftate of the individual, or in com- 
 parifon with the ftate of other created natures, may 
 keep continually improving; and it is in the perpe- 
 tual accumulation of that improvement that moral 
 perfectionning confifts. We are to ufe the utmoft 
 endeavours, and make the molt ftrenuous exertions, 
 
 when I was fpeaking of the perfe&ions of man, where the 
 word is taken as relative to fomething greater or fomething 
 left. 
 
( 357 ) 
 never to be ftationary in the race of moral improve- 
 ment. Not looking back, but preffing forward, we 
 are to labour continually to go beyond that point in 
 the race of goodnefs, at which we lad arrived. We 
 are to drive to excel both ourfelves and others, who 
 are running the fame courfe, and panting to reach, 
 the fame goal, in the great work of obedience to the 
 will of God -, and we are to confider that obedience 
 as the greatefl good, which we can purfue, or which 
 we can attain. 
 
 a8. It may be objected, that obedience to the will 
 of God does not always conftitute our greateft good, 
 but is often productive of great pain and inconve- 
 nience. If, indeed, the connection between morality 
 and intereft were terminated by the grave, obedience 
 to the will of God might not always be our intereft; 
 for circumftances may occur, in which one act of 
 juftice or one exertion of humanity may coft a man 
 his life. But, as the relations between morality and 
 intereft are carried beyond the grave, and though they 
 are very clofe and eafily difcoverable here, they will 
 be indiflbluble and felf-evident hereafter -, and though 
 they are fubject to certain contingencies in this world, 
 they will be liable to no interruptions in the next ; the 
 conformity of our conduct to the moral law or the 
 will of God, muft always, in all circumftances, and 
 under all poftibie combinations of prefent good or 
 evil, be our greateft good ; for the greateft good^ 
 which it is poftibie to attain in this fhort life, can 
 
 Aaj 
 
( jH ) 
 
 bear no proportion to the eiTenrial and endlefs good 
 that is promifed in another. 
 
 29. The more narrowly and attentively we fook 
 into the moral economy of the univerfc, a field of 
 fpeculation well fitted for the rational powers of man, 
 where they may range with the greater!: freedom, and 
 exert their vigour with the greateft fuccefs j where 
 truths of the higheft importance to the welfare of the 
 world are to be explored ; and where alone that true 
 philofophy is to be found which connects earth with 
 heaven, and elevates rational man to the precincts of 
 pure intelligence j the more we fhall find that God 
 has, in the moral order of things, made as immutable 
 distinctions between right and wrong, between truth 
 and falfehood, juftice and injuftice, as he has made 
 in the phyfical order of things, between fweet and 
 bitter, pain and pleafure, mifery and happinefs. 
 
 30. Pleafurable fenfation in a moderate degree 
 is always phyfical good ; but animal pleafure may 
 be fo long continued as to cloy, or fo often repeated 
 as to produce a pain greater than itfclf can counter- 
 act; but obedience to the will of God, which is 
 moral good *, can never be too long in duration, or 
 
 * Moral good in this acceptation of the words, is fpiritual 
 joy; and joy so truly spiritual, never springs from any 
 other source. The Calviniils think that fpiritual joy can 
 flow only from the wild orgafnis Qf devotion; but. in the moral 
 
 1 
 
C 3S9 ) 
 too intenfe in degree. It teems with delight that 
 never tires j with pleafure that never cloys. Moral 
 pleafures, or pleafures refulting from the practice of 
 truth, of juftice, and of charity, are not iubjedt to 
 any repletion of enjoyment. They admit an infinite 
 augmentation, and the more often they are tailed, 
 the greater becomes their capacity to give pleafure 
 and ours to receive it. Senfual pleafures are ufually 
 greater in the fond illufions of anticipation than in 
 the reality of pofTefiion. But moral pleafures, being 
 no> illujion, the reality only can delight ; they are there- 
 fore little known till they are experienced, and the 
 experience always furpaiTes the higheft expectation. 
 Senfual pleafures flourifh mod in the bloom of youth, 
 but moral pleafures increafe with increafing years. 
 Endued with an immortal principle, they charm 
 when the glow of phyfical fenfibility expires ; they 
 extend their delight even to our hoar hairs ; and 
 promife to the dying an eternity of blifs. 
 
 31. Our nature is fb conftituted, that, as what is 
 fweet is agreeable to the tafte, or what is fmooth to 
 the touch, lb what is morally good, inftantly, and 
 without any labour of preparation, gratifies both the 
 mind and the heart. As a tafte for what is fweet is 
 natural, and a tafte for what is bkter artificial, fo a 
 
 improvement of their conduct ', they would find joys more fweet and 
 ?nore genuine, raptures more delicious but /nore rcafonabU\ and f 
 though more tranquil, more fublime. 
 
 Aa4 
 
( 36o ) 
 
 tafte for moral good is the inftindtive propenfity of 
 the foul, and a tafte for moral evil is the product of 
 habit. 
 
 32. Pleafurable fenfation is the primary object of 
 man; but pleafurable fenfation, the pureft in kind 
 and the greater! in degree, is connected with and 
 refults from acts of goodnefs. Thus God has given 
 to our nature a bias to moral good in preference to 
 moral evil * ; and our fenfations themfelves are, in 
 fome meafure, capable of diftinguifhing their differ- 
 ences. The practice of truth, juftice, and mercy, 
 feems a natural fource of agreeable fenfation, to 
 which the reafon cannot deny its allent nor the heart 
 its fanction. But the practice of falfehcod, of in- 
 juftice, and of cruelty, is a natural caufe of painful 
 feelings f, for it is abhorrent to the plain dictates 
 
 * Juft in the fame manner as he has given us a defire of 
 happinefs in preference to mifery. Moral good is happinels, 
 moral evil mifery ; though perverfe aiTociations and a rapa- 
 cioufnefs of pre lent pleafure make us blind to this truth, and 
 indifferent to the confequences. 
 
 -f If painful feelings be not always produced by falfehood, 
 injuflice, &c. it does not follow that they have not a natural 
 tendency to produce them. For, the tafte of tobacco and of 
 many other things has a 7iatural tendency to produce naufca 
 and excite averfion ; though it fometimes produces neither the 
 one nor the other, but quite the contrary. In the hift cafe, the 
 phyfical tafte is impaired, or a new and unnatural one has been 
 Superinduced by habit; and whenever vice is relimed, or virtue 
 
 
( 36 1 ) 
 
 of common fenfe, and the unvitiated fenfiblllties of 
 humanity *. 
 
 loathed, the natural healthy moral tajle has been corrupted from its 
 
 original fimplicity. 
 
 * There feems a ftrong propensity in mankind to be fpefcta- 
 tors of fcenes of mifery Children, as I have often obferved, 
 affemble in greater crowds to fee a funeral than a wedding, 
 and the populace will always quit a puppet ibow to attend a 
 criminal to the gallows. Sympathy, when it is ftrong and 
 vivid, always forcibly attracts us towards the object; and it is 
 this fympathy which carries men to witnefs an execution in 
 preference to other fcenes apparently more agreeable. It muft 
 not be fuppofed, that becaufe men are thus powerfully im- 
 pelled, by a certain principle in their nature, to be fpectators 
 of others fufferings, they feek to derive, or that they actually 
 do derive pleafurable fenfations from the fufferings of their 
 fellow-creatures j for the principle of fympathy which, if I 
 may fo fpeak, accelerates our fteps to fome fcene of mifery, 
 •was made thus operative in our brcajls on purpofe iojlimulate us to 
 relieve it. It may be afked, how can fympathy impel us to be 
 fpectators of mifery, which we have no profpect of relieving, 
 to fee pain inflicted and anguifh felt, which we can neither 
 prevent nor alleviate ? But the principle of companion, which is 
 one of the aboriginal principles of the human nature, always 
 poffeffes a general tendency to attract us towards objects of 
 mifery; and this paffive Hate of companion ufually precedes 
 its active operations. In a populous city, when the news of 
 any terrible accident or calamity is made known, multitudes 
 infiantly rufh to the fpot ; but in this cafe, I do not believe that 
 the majority are actuated more by emotions of curiofity, than 
 by the principle of companion. When companion impels us 
 to take a near view of the pains and fufferings of others, it 
 feems to do it in order that thofe pains and fufferings may excite 
 our benevolence into action. Mifery which is feen, is more 
 
( .362 ) 
 
 33» We derive pleafure from the practice of 
 truth, of juftice, and of mercy, abftradted from the 
 
 likely to make ins 'Vive to relieve the fufferer, than that mifery 
 which, being out of our fight, does not fo powerfully aft on our 
 feiifations. A few, indeed, will gaze icily on the fufferer and- 
 pafs on, but the many will make fome effort to relieve him, and 
 where circumftances render relief impolTible, the delireof afford- 
 ing it will be expreffed on the countenance and felt in the 
 heart. The miniftration of comfort to the dejecled, or help to 
 the needy, affords pieafure ; and the fimple but heart-felt de- 
 lire of adminiftering it, produces a pleafurable flate of felf-fa- 
 tisfa&ion. Thus fympathy feems the principle which fo forci- 
 bly impels men to be fpe&ators of executions, of fights of 
 wretchednefs, and fcenes of woe; and in general, except in 
 cafes of atrocious guilt, or in one or two individuals, who may 
 leek to gratify the paffion of revenge in beholding the fuffer- 
 ings of an enemy, it will be found, that the fpe&ators do not 
 only companionate the fufferer, but feel a ftrong defire to avert 
 or to abate his fufferings. 
 
 In beholding the fufferings of others, we may, in fome cafes, 
 involuntarily feel a fort of negative pleafure in the confciouf- 
 nefs of perfonal fecurityj for the fight of mifery may induce 
 us to make agreeable companions in our own favour. But 
 though the motive which impels men to be fpectators of the 
 fufferings of others may often be of a very mixed and complex 
 kind, compafiion is always, in the great majority of cafes, one 
 of its principal confiituents ; and perhaps its force is more than 
 equal to that of all the reft. Thus the wifdom and goodnefs 
 of God are very obfervable in his having made compaliion one 
 of the mafter-principles of our nature, and to the influence of 
 which fo many others are fubfervient. 
 
 It has been faid that our active habits are ftrcngthened, and 
 our paffive weakened by exercife. Thus the pain which is 
 felt at the fight of miserable obje&s, is diminithed by the fre- 
 
( 3*3 ) 
 
 confideration of any perfonai advantage, to which 
 they may tend, or with which they may be con- 
 
 quency of the fpectacle; but if the active principle of com- 
 panion be exercifed as well as the paffive, the willingnefs to 
 relieve objects of mifery is increafed in proportion as the pain 
 which they canfe becomes lefs, or as the difagreeable impreflions, 
 which they make on the fyftem, wear away. Hence it is right 
 not only to indulge a paffive fympathy, but, as much as poffible, 
 to cheriih and to exert the principle of active beneficence"} for, 
 by this means, the painful feelings which a miferable Object 
 caufes, will become lefs in degree, while the pleafurable feel- 
 ings derived from active gooduefs will increaie as the habit 
 is matured. But if we cheriih only the paffive feeling, with- 
 out exerting the active energies of compaffion, the difpofition 
 will receive a tendency to cruelty ; for the impreflions which 
 fights of wretchednefs make, being diminifhed in ftrength by 
 familiarity, and the decay of the paffive not being aflbciated 
 with a proportionate increafein the active habit of benevolence, 
 the perfbn will at laft come not only to be affected with no 
 painful feelings from, but to take pleafurein the fpectacle, and 
 perhaps even in the production of mifery. Hence we may 
 eafily learn, how, in many cafes, that character which is termed 
 cruel is formed. The feeling of compaffion is, by degrees, 
 weakened, and the active principle of beneficence is not pro- 
 portionably ftiengthened, till the raifery of others ceafing to 
 excite pain, caufes at laft pofitive pleafure. I need not, I truft, 
 anticipate the fagacity of the reader, in applying fome of the 
 remarks, which I ha\e made in this note to the practice of 
 education^ nor need I remind him, that they tend to iliow in 
 what manner the habit of fentimental and pathetic novel- 
 reading, while it feems to foften, tends in fact to harden the 
 heart; and I think that they will furniih a clue to difcover 
 why Roufleau, Sterne, and other writers, who were fo remark- 
 able for a paffive fenfibility, were fo deficient in practical bene- 
 ficence. 
 
( 3*4 ) 
 
 nected ; but when we derive pleafure from the 
 practice of falfehood or injuftice, the pleafure is not 
 produced by the tranfgreffion, but by the emolu- 
 ment with which it may be connecled, or the intereft 
 which it may promote. The mind always difap- 
 proves the practice of falfehood or injufttcej though 
 its difapprobation may have lefs influence on the 
 will, than the gratification with which the vice flatters 
 the fenfes. We never approve faifehood as falfe- 
 hood, or injuftice as injuftice, though fome tempo- 
 rary advantages connecled with the practice, or fome 
 animal pleafure refulting from it, may make us blind 
 to their deformity and infenfible to their tendency. 
 But, on the other hand, we always approve juftice as 
 juftice, and truth as truth ; they want no aiTociated 
 circumftances to give them an intereft in our hearts; 
 they need no adventitious ornaments to make them 
 pleafe, no artificial luftre to make them captivate ; 
 and pleafures, pure and exquifite, always flow from 
 an inviolable adherence to their obligations. 
 
 34. All the pleafure that can be derived from the 
 mod fuccefsful violations of truth and juftice, is ani- 
 mal pleafure ; and which is always diminished, it not 
 entirely deftroyed, by moral dijjathfciuion. On the 
 other hand, when, refilling the allurements of falfe- 
 hood or injuftice, we make any confiderable facri- 
 fices at the fhrine of truth and juftice, our ftnfations, 
 ruffled, perhaps, for a fhort feafon, always ultimately 
 fettle into that \ leafurable ftare of moral fatitfacUon, 
 
( 3^5 ) 
 
 which converts the lofs into gain *, and infpires that 
 feeling of confeious rectitude, of which the poiTeffion 
 is better than all the accumulated interefts of unn>ht- 
 
 o 
 
 eoufnefs. And though, on fome occafions, we may 
 be required to cut of an arm, to pluck out an eye, 
 or to part even with life itfelf, for the fake of truth, 
 of juftiee, and humanity, we ought not to ihrink 
 from the facrifice ; for if it diflblve our connection 
 with the fleeting interefts of time, it will confolidate 
 it with the interefts of eternity. He, fays the Lord, 
 <who lofes his life for my fake fh all fdve it \ that is, he 
 
 * If God have made morality our intereft, if he have im- 
 planted in the mind, fuch a ftrong fenfe of its utility, that we 
 never can, rationally, approve falfehood and injustice, and never 
 rationally condemn truth and juftiee, how can it be faid that 
 we are born altogether corrupt and abominable, radically dif- 
 pofed to evil and indifpofed to good ? For, it appears, that if 
 any constitutional bias be laid on our choice, it is rather in fa- 
 vour of virtue than of vice. When pain and pleafure are 
 rightly diftinguimed, we always prefer pleafure to pain; and 
 when moral right and wrong are offered to the choice, the 
 mind always prefers moral good to moral evil, unlefs when it 
 is corrupted by the dominion of fenfual appetites and perverfe 
 aflbciations. Moral good, rightly conjnlered, is the higher! and 
 mod refined corporeal pleafure ; and it is the fweetefi: pleafure 
 which we can tafte, for it is pleafure, in conformity to thole 
 laws of the author of our being, in whofe favour is life, and 
 without nvhofe regard there can beno Tajting meafiire. Con rider 
 this, ye (ticklers for the innate moral corruption of man ! Con • 
 fider this, and no longer make the great Father of fpirits the 
 contriver and abettor of human depravity ! - 
 
( 366 ) 
 
 who keeps my fayings, and is obedient to my laws, 
 even unto death, fhall receive his recompenfe in a 
 better world. Blefied, therefore, thrice bleffed are 
 thofe, who are undefiled in the way, and walk in the 
 law of the Lord. Truth and juftice, falfehood and 
 injuftice, are not mere matters of human convention; 
 they are not the random conjectures of the ignorant, 
 or the barren fpeculations of the wife; their relations 
 do not originate in the mind of man, but in the will 
 of God; and inftead of being dependant on the ver- 
 fatile changes of opinion or of policy, they have been 
 eflablifhed and incorporated in the nature of things, 
 by a decree which cannot alter, which has been fixed 
 from the beginning, and will continue to the end of 
 time. 
 
 35. Chriftianity, by 'placing human conduct in 
 its true relation to the interefts of eternity, proves 
 that moral good is our greateft good, and moral evil 
 our greateft evil. By promifing to recompenfe us 
 according to cut works *, it fhows that the ftate which 
 we fhall pafs into after death, has a clofe connection 
 with our prefent habits ; for when Chrift declares 
 that he will judge us according to our works, we 
 cannot fuppofe that the fentence which he will pafs 
 upon us, will be determined fo much by a few fingle 
 acts as by the general habits of our lives. He will 
 take a large and impartial furvey of our whole con- 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 27. Rom. xi, 6*. 
 
C ' 367 ) 
 
 duct from the beginning to the end of our^days. The 
 more pet feci therefore our habits of obedience to the 
 law of God have been, the greater will be our hap- 
 pinefs after death. He that foweth fparingly, Jhall reap 
 alfofparingly. Now the only feed which we can fovr 
 in this life, preparatory to a rich harveft of future 
 glory in the next, is acts of obedience and righteouf- 
 nefs gradually ftrengthening into an habitual confor- 
 mity of the conduct to the will of God. The more 
 numerous our acts of obedience are, or the lefs inter- 
 ruption they experience from acts of a contrary ten- 
 dency, the more robuft and vigorous is the habit 5 
 and confequently the greater will be the capacity of 
 the individual for immortal blifs. 
 
 36. Every fingle ad of obedience to the divine 
 will may probably have fome influence on our fu- 
 ture happinefs, as far as it adds fomething to the in- 
 tenfity of thofe habits of righteoufhefs, which are con- 
 ditional qualifications for eternal glory. An habit of 
 religious obedience may be confidered as formed of 
 many particular and individual acts of obedience, 
 each of which has Jome Jhare in its formation. Thus, 
 therefore, the power of the habit muft increafe in 
 proportion to the number of the particular acts of 
 obedience from which it refuks, of which it is the 
 collective growth and the accumulated force. 
 
 37. Every particular act of religious obedience 
 carries on the increafe of the habit in the foul, and 
 
( 3«3 ) 
 
 caufes our moral energies to expand more and more 
 to the fulnefs of the ftature of Chrift. Habits of 
 truth, of juftice, and of temperance, grow, as it were, 
 out of the many particular occafions in which truth 
 has been fpoken, and juftice and temperance prac- 
 tifed ; or in which the temptations to falfehood, to 
 injuflice, and intemperance, have been refilled. The 
 habit of righteoufnefs advances with an accelerated 
 pace, according to the number of the individual acts 
 of righteoufnefs that we have performed and the 
 flrength and number of the temptations which we 
 have fubdued. 
 
 38. Every temptation withftood by the reafon, 
 and made fubject by the confcience, is not only fo 
 much power taken from the flrength of fin, but fo 
 much added to that of righteoufnefs ; and, in the 
 fame manner, every particular act of obedience to 
 the law of righteoufnefs tends to augment the force 
 of the habit, and confequently to abolilh the law of 
 fin which may reign in our members. Hence, it 
 may be readily underftood, how every particular act 
 of religious obedience adds fomething to the inten- 
 fity of the habit of obedience -, and hence, we fee the 
 neceflity of ufing our utmofl endeavours to abflain 
 from every particular violation of the law of righ- 
 teoufnefs, and even from the infrafHon of thofe fmaller 
 moral obligations, which we are wont to tranfgrefs 
 with indifference, and think to tranfgrefs with impu- 
 nity. But as every fingle act of obedience adds ibme- 
 
( Sh ) 
 
 thing to the intenfity of the habit, and every act of 
 diibbedience takes fomething from it, fo the infrac- 
 tion of what our Lord calls the leail commandments 
 mud have fome influence on the moral character ; 
 and confequently on the preparation of the heart for 
 another life, 
 
 39. The more intenfe our habits of religious obe- 
 dience are, the greater mud be our fitnefs for future 
 happinefs; for a future life will be, according to the 
 intimations of fcripture and the fuggeftions of reafon, 
 aflate of moral retribution - 9 when glory and honour 
 ihall be rendered to him who hath done good, and 
 tribulation and anguifh to him who hath done evil. 
 A future life being therefore aflate of moral retribu* 
 Hon, its happinefs mud be proportioned to the de- 
 gree of moral obedience in the individual, or to the 
 intenfity of his habits of righteoufnefs *. The more 
 intenfe and vigorous the habit is, or the nearer ap- 
 proach that the individual makes, proportioned to the 
 opportunities which he enjoys, to the goodnefs which 
 was manifeiled in the life of Chrifb Jefus, the greater 
 
 * The intenfity of the habit muft bear a certain determinate 
 relation to the time allotted to the individual to acquire it. 
 Thus, habits of righteoufnefs acquired by an individual, who 
 periihes in his youth, may be considered in relation to the time 
 allowed for the acquisition, as intenfe, and contain a reafonable 
 fitnefs for as high a Hate of future happinefs, as the habits of 
 righteoufnefs acquired by another who lived to a good old age. 
 
 Bb 
 
( 37° ) 
 
 will be his capacity for happinefs in the life to 
 
 come. 
 
 40. The word of God bears fruit, in different 
 degrees, in different perfonsj in fome it brings forth 
 thirty, in others fixty, in others ninety fold ; but 
 thofe who, with equal opportunities, make it yield the 
 greateft increafe, will receive the largeft recompence 
 at the refurrection of the juft. Thofe in whom the 
 doctrine of Jefus has been mod prolific of righteouf- 
 nefs, will occupy the higheft ftation among the fpirits 
 of good men in heaven. Though there feems no 
 truth lefs regarded, yet there is none in the whole 
 compafs of fcripture more clear than this. In the 
 parable of the ten pieces of money, (Lukexix.) he 
 who had converted the one pound which he had re- 
 ceived into ten pounds, received authority over ten 
 cities; he, who with one pound, had gained five 
 pounds, received authority over five cities ; while he 
 who kept his pound laid up in a napkin, not only 
 received no reward, but was deprived of all that he 
 had ; as in the parable of the talents, (Matt, xxv.) 
 the unprofitable fervant was caft into outer darknefs, 
 where there is weeping and gnafhing of teeth. So 
 will it be at the great day of retribution ! O ponder 
 this ! ye, who either make a mock at fin, or do not 
 ftrive with that diligence and zeal,, which become 
 men who are one day to give an account of their 
 thoughts, words, and actions, to improve in habits of 
 obedience, to the will of the only Juft, the only 
 
( 37i ) 
 
 Wife, and the only Good ! O ponder this ! ye who 
 hold the truth in unrighteousness! Confider, before 
 it be too late ! that every a 61 of difobedience is a 
 Hep towards mifery and detraction. O ponder 
 this ! and labour to advance in the race of righteouf- 
 nefs ; the only race in which true happinefs is to be ob- 
 tained or lofting glory to be won ! 
 
 41. The more we do the will of God, the more 
 we become like God •, for to do the will of God, is 
 to imitate the perfections of God, whofe will is the 
 ftimofhis perfections. In whatever he wills, his 
 infinite wifdom, power, and goodnefs, are engaged. 
 All his works are contrived with wifdom, executed 
 with power, and perfected in goodnefs. The voli- 
 tions of man are ofcen feparated from wifdom, power, 
 and goodnefs. Man often wills to do that which he 
 has not fagacity to devife, or ftrength to execute, or 
 of which the execution anfwers no good end. There 
 is often folly in the beg : nning, weaknefs in the pro- 
 grefs, and detraction in the confummation of his 
 fchemes. When man wills any thing, fome interval 
 of time, greater or lefs, always elapfes between the 
 volition and the accomplishment; but when God 
 wills any thing, we cannot imagine the intervention 
 even of a fecond time between his fiat and the exe- 
 cution. 
 
 • 
 
 42. When we fay that God wills our obedience to 
 the moral law, we do not mean that God has, by any 
 
 B b 2 
 
( 37* ) 
 
 abfolute decree, impofed on man the neceflity of 
 obeying it, any more than he has impofed the necef- 
 fity of violating it. This would be to enflave the 
 human will, and to deftroy the morality of human 
 actions, by making them the refult of a mechanical 
 compulsion. We do not therefore allert that God 
 willed our obedience to the moral law in the fame 
 manner as he willed the creation of light, ( cc let 
 there be light, and there was light;") but that he 
 has appointed to the moral agency of man barriers, 
 which cannot be paffed with impunity ; that he has efta- 
 blifhed an order of things, by which obedience to the 
 moral law becomes the intereft, and difobedience to 
 it the bane of man -, that He has made a clofe and 
 permanent connection between truth, juftice, bene- 
 volence, and happinefs ; and between falfehood, in- 
 juftice, malevolence, and miiery ; and that thefe re- 
 lations which the All Wife, and All Good, has or- 
 dained for the promotion of human virtue, and the 
 extenfion of human happinefs, though they fome- 
 times appear imperfect, broken and difordered here, 
 will take place without any confufion, any failure or 
 imperfection hereafter. 
 
 43. Morality, or a conformity of our conduct to 
 the will of God, does not, in this world, for wife and 
 good purpofes, always conduct to prefent happinefs ; 
 but the occafional miiery which it experiences 
 fhould be regarded as the fatherly correction of the 
 moral Governor of the uaiverfe^ defigned to extend 
 
( 373 ) 
 
 the expectations of the individual towards another 
 life, and at the fame time to increafe the fitnefs for 
 its enjoyment. Though God has eftabliflhed the 
 moral law, he does not fo conftrain the human will, 
 as to force the performance of its obligations. He 
 gives man a faculty to difcern between right and 
 wrong, and an inward monitor to keep their differ- 
 ences alive in his fenfations, and he then caufes his 
 happinefs to depend on the choice which he makes. 
 If God have fixed a clofe, and eafily perceptible 
 connection between morality of conduct and prefent 
 good, and an indiflbluble connection between righ- 
 teoufnefs and future good, it is plain that he wills 
 the morality of our actions, as a kind father wills 
 the welfare of his children, without controuling their 
 choice, or annihilating their freedom. Morality 
 muft therefore be our greateft good ; end every act 
 of immorality muft be a dereliction of our greateft 
 intereft. 
 
 44. True, plain, rational morality *, whofe obli- 
 gations, when clearly explained and forcibly incul- 
 cated, come directly home to the bufmefs and the 
 bofoms of all mankind, is the perfection of natural 
 religion, which confifts in the imitation of God j and 
 
 * I do not mean the morality of the metaphyfician or the 
 cafuift, of which the practical efficacy is loft in the clouds of 
 fpeculation, in the fubtleties of evafion, or the perplexities of 
 ingenious impofture. 
 
 b b 3 
 
( 374 ) - 
 
 the fame morality is the perfection of revealed re- 
 ligion, which qonflfts in the imitarion ofChrift. 
 
 45. Natural reafon, by investigating the attributes 
 of God, as they are difpiayed in the natural, or as 
 they may be deduced from the order of the moral 
 world, may form a fort of abftraft model of excel- 
 lence, in the imitation of whole virtues the beauty 
 and perfection of natural religion will confift i but 
 in revelation we behold, as it were, all the divine per- 
 fections embodied in an individual. In revelation, 
 we fee exhibited a diftinct, corporeal model of prac- 
 tical righteoufhefs, exciting the admiration of the 
 mind, and warming the fenfibilines of the heart. It 
 is a model on which the virtuous look with love, and 
 which the vicious cannot hate. The molt illiterate 
 cannot be infenfible to its beautv, and the wileft are 
 difmayed in the contemplation of its majefty. It is 
 a fpcclacle interefting to the philofopher, who, like 
 Newton, has furveyed the fpacious heavens, or who, 
 like Bacon and Locke, or Hartley and Butler, has 
 inveftigated the moral economy of man ; and it is 
 equally interefting to him, whofe ideas do not foar 
 above the preffure of his animal neceflitics, and 
 whofe affections are in a great degree circumfcribed 
 by his privations. It is, in one word, interefting to 
 all, who poffefs the common feelings of humanity. 
 It is a model of perfection, not too depreffed for the 
 high, nor too elevated for the low - t it is fuited to the 
 imitation of man in all regions and climes, under all 
 
( m ) 
 
 changes of manners and opinions, and all poffibie va- 
 rieties of laws and governments*. In the imitation 
 
 o 
 
 * Nothing can more Strongly Show the truth of Chriftianity, 
 •than the Angularly Striking adaptation of Chrift's character, as 
 a pattern of excellence and a model of imitation to univerfal 
 man. Had the character been fictitious, taken from no living 
 archetype, copied from no corporeal reality, can we imagine it 
 poflible for ignorant people, like the Evangelifts, to have fa- 
 ihioned it with the niceft philofophical accuracy and discrimi- 
 nation, fo as to fuit all the neceffities of man ? — a pattern of 
 excellence for the human race in all ages and nations, and abs- 
 tracted from all considerations of place and time j whofe practi- 
 cal ufefulnefs can never befuperfeded by the progreflion of the 
 world in wifdom, or by its improvement in virtue; which is 
 calculated to excite love the more it is Studied, and to diftufe 
 happinefs the more it is imitated. All the accumulations of 
 historical proof that have been fo induftrioufly collected by 
 Lardner, and fo judicioufly arranged by Paley, do not amount 
 to half that fulnefs of proof in fupport of the truth of revela- 
 tion, .as the confideration of Chrift's character alone will furniih 
 to a thinking mind. Were I a iked on what particular part of 
 the evidence I would reft the truth of Chriftianity,, I fhould 
 inflantly reply, on the tranfcendant excellence of Chrift's cha- 
 racter^ confidered as an inimitable reprefentation of every mu- 
 table virtue ; and compared with the circumftances of the 
 authors, by whom it was drawn, and with the manners and genius 
 of the people, among whom the glorious original lived and 
 died. On the imitation of this character, which we not only 
 read, but fee, in the memoirs of the Evangelists, the moral per- 
 fcctionning of man depends; and the more its virtues are ab- 
 ferbed into the manners, the difpofition, and the conduct of the 
 human fpecies, the lefs muft be the fum of its imperfections. 
 And in proportion as the practical excellencies of Chrift's cha- 
 racter are receded from, the greater muft be the deviation of 
 
 Bb 4 
 
( 376 ) 
 
 of this character, the character and the virtues of 
 Jefus of Nazareth, who is God with us *, the per- 
 fection of revealed religion confifts j and thcfe who 
 
 individuals and of nations from the path of true happinefs and 
 glory. 
 
 On the external evidence of Chriflianity all feems to have 
 been laid that can be laid ; but the internal evidence has not 
 yet been exhaufted by the refearch of the learned, or the re- 
 flections of the wife. Some juft, and inftructive, and acute 
 obfervations, may be found in Wakefield's Evidences of Chrilti- 
 anity. I do not coincide with Mr. Wakefield in all his theo- 
 logical or political opinions, but I admire his learning, and I 
 -revere his virtues. 
 
 * Without meaning to enter into the dark controverfy 
 about the doctrine of the Trinity, which I leave to older theo- 
 logians, and more recondite fcholars, I cannot help remarking, 
 that all the perfections of the Godhead, power, wifdom, good- 
 nefs infinite, did refide in a bodily form, in the perfon of Jefus 
 of Nazareih; and that, confequently, he wis, according to the 
 doctrine of the church of England, perfect God and perfect 
 man But whether the divine attributes which he exercifed 
 were hypottically and eternally inherent, according to the Tri- 
 nitarian, or only delegated according to the Unitarian fcheme, 
 whether he were God per fe, or inverted with the power, and 
 wifdom, and goodnefs of God, as his reprefeutative, ftill it muft 
 be conferled that he was God manifested in the flesh. 
 On this fubject, the moft difficult in the whole compafs of 
 theological inquiry, let us not be bitter towards others for think- 
 ing differently- from ourfelves. Let the zealous Trinitarian con- 
 lidcr, that though he underfland all myfterics, and have not 
 charity, he is nothing. 
 
( 377 ) 
 
 endeavour to make it confift in any thing £fe y will only 
 mar its beauty and deftroy its ufefulnefs *. 
 
 46. The divine perfections, as they are difplayed 
 in the vaft and magnificent fyftem of creation, are 
 beyond the utmoft ftretch of mortal comprehenfion. 
 Of the works of God, of the operations of his pro- 
 vidence, the exertions of his power, the contrivances 
 of his wifdom, and the confummations of his good- 
 nefs, it may truly be faid that their effulgence dazzles 
 
 9 May I exprefs a few fentiments very genial to my heart, 
 in the words of Epiicopius? " Veram theologiam credimus 
 mere practicam efie, et proinde quaecunque in ea traduntur, eo 
 unice referenda, ut ad officium fuum fedulo faciendum, et 
 mandata Jefu Chrifti obfervandum acrius aptiufque homo in- 
 flammetur atque animetur. Arida enim, efFaeta, fterilis, et pro- 
 inde fpuria eft theologia, qne intra inanem fpeculationem, et 
 contemplationem meram confiltit, quaeque poftquam diu mul- 
 tumque vigilantiffimi cujufque induftriam fatigavit, atque inge- 
 aium folum operofe exercuit, ad voluntatem tamen non pene- 
 trat, et debitum Deo obfequium in ea non gignitj eoque nee 
 veram ac falutiferam Dei Chriftique notitiam in nobis efficit. 
 " Qui enim dicit, fe Deum norTe, et mandata ejus non fervat, 
 mendax eft et in eo Veritas non eft." Prima igitur ac praecipua 
 theologize laus in eo fita eft, ft animum hominis in obfequium 
 Dei fie&at, et earn noftri partem, quam libertate naturali dona- 
 vit Deus, et quafi fui juris atque arbitrii fecit, ita inclinet, ut 
 Deo fefe totam fponte fua iterum fubjiciat, et abdicato priftino 
 libertatis fuae abufu, du&um divinae tantum voluntatis fequa- 
 tur. Cetera 07nnia> niji ad hunc fcnpimi dirigantur i coram Deo 
 vana Junt etfrivola, et per fe minimi prccii, adcoque gene nihili 
 ducenda" Prefat. ad ConfefT. Remonft. p. 73. 
 
( 373 ) 
 
 our fight, and their obfcurity mocks our penetra- 
 tion ; that their variety eludes our fearch, anJ their 
 fublimiry exceeds the utmoft elevation of the human 
 faculties. But, in the perfon of Chnft, we behold, 
 as it were, thefe inconceivable perfections reduced 
 to the fize of our aprrehcnfion, and brought within 
 the angle of our fight. We behold a pattern of ex- 
 cellence, of which we can, in fome degree, meafure 
 the dimenfions, and which we are capable of imi- 
 
 tating* 
 
 47. In the character of Chnft, we fee the higheft 
 abftraiftions of goodnefs, which the mind can feign, 
 moulded into a certain diftinct figure and fhape ■> in 
 his life and in his doctrine we obferve every fpecies 
 of moral excellence, that can be attained in practice, 
 or imagined in [peculation *. 
 
 48. If there be any part in ChrinVs charadter, 
 where all is purity without a fpot, and fplendour 
 
 * Hence the great fuperiority of the Chriftian over every 
 other fyftem of theology. In all other fyftems, fuch an ex- 
 ample is wanting, and no other fyftem befides polfclTes the 
 effential cbaracteriftics of, and the neceffary fitnefs for an uni- 
 verfal religion. True religion admits not the narrow limita- 
 tions of time and place, of cufloms, manners, &c. 5 but on what 
 religion but the. Chriftian can this piaife be beftowed? All the 
 nations and governments of the earth may live, and move, and 
 have their being, under its influence. Jr puts nothing out ol 
 i i.- place, it promotes good will inliead of itriie, and calm 
 acouiefcence initcad of factious. difcontent. 
 
( 379 ) 
 
 without a cloud, which more particularly excites 
 our love and engages our efteem, it is the conftancy 
 of his benevolence. The benevolent affections give 
 morality its fragrance, virtue its attractions, and re- 
 ligion its ufefulnefs. There is no place, and there 
 can be no clrcumftances, in which their cultivation 
 is not required for the good, and in which their 
 practice is not effential to the happinefs of mankind. 
 They produce content, and cheerfulnefs, and mirth, 
 in the filent hamlet and in the obftreperotis city; in 
 the vale of ieclufion and in the throng of fociety; 
 in the affairs of families ana in the councils of nations. 
 They alone make the eye to fparkle with genuine 
 joy, and the heart to thrill with lafting pleafure. 
 Thefe affections, fo aufpicious in their influence, 
 and fo inexhauftible in their benefits, (hone with an 
 inimitable lultre in the fentiments and in the con- 
 duct of Jefus; and nothing can fo powerfully pro- 
 mote their growth in the heart, and their diffufion 
 through the world, as the vigorous and general imi- 
 tation of his character. 
 
 49. Chriftianity, by being delivered in the form of 
 a hiftory, and that hiftory containing the delineation 
 of a perfect character, mowing the man Jefus an un- 
 rivalled example of humility, meeknef , and every 
 virtue, enduring infults with gentlenefs, injuries uith 
 forbearance, fubduing oppreffion by patience, and 
 malevolence by charity, endeavours to keep a pat- 
 tern of righteoufnefs conftantly fixed before our eyes. 
 
( 38o ) 
 
 Had the precepts * been delivered in a more dry 
 and abftracT: form, without being fo diftinctly per- 
 fonified in a corporeal reality, or had they been tranf- 
 mitted to us in the fhape of a philofophical treatife, 
 diftinguifhed by the nicety of the arrangement, and 
 thejuftnels of the reafoning, by the eloquence of 
 the ftyle, and the conclufivenefs of the deductions, 
 and had this treatife even been confirmed, at its ori- 
 ginal publication, by certain miraculous appearances, 
 yet it could not have excited fo much intereft, or 
 been affociated with fo much good, as the fimple 
 narrative of the Evangelifts ; in which we meet with 
 hiflorical relation inftead of elaborate difcufiion j 
 with accidental difcourfes inftead of premeditated 
 orations; with fhort authoritative fayings inftead of 
 logical argumentation. The character gives weight 
 and dignity to the precepts, and the precepts add to 
 the intereft and the authority of the character; the 
 force and juftnefs of the one, and the beauty and the 
 fitnefs of the other, imprefs a convi&ion on the 
 mind, and gain an afcendency in the heart, which 
 could not eafily have been produced by the more 
 abftrufe and lefs popular method of philofophical 
 inquiry. 
 
 50. Chriftianiry, bv holding a model of fuch per- 
 fection before our eyes, takes the fureft and the 
 
 * The precepts nre a perfect rule of life; but it is the cha- 
 racter which gives them fo much beauty and effect, which ren- 
 ders them fo perfuaiive and fo interefting. 
 
( J8i ) 
 
 ihorteit way to facilitate our improvement in righ- 
 teoufnefs, to animate our exertions, and to accelerate 
 our progrefs. The view of a character fo excellent 
 tends to produce that jufl fenfe of our own inferio- 
 rity, which generates humility, and, at the fame time, 
 it infpires an honed zeal, and inftigates to vigorous 
 efforts to attain perfection. 
 
 51. The imitation of any individual, confpicuous 
 for wifdom or for virtue among our fellow-creatures, 
 tends to improve the character. It generates a 
 hearty defire to get rid of our own imperfections, to 
 amend what is evil, and to improve what is good; 
 to ftrengthen what is weak, and to eftablifh what is 
 ftrong. But, in the wifeft and the bed of men, 
 though there may be much to imitate, there will be 
 fomething to ihun. There will be fome blemifhes to 
 abate our admiration, and to excite our companion, 
 if not our fcorn. But, in the character of Chrift, 
 which is perfection abfolute, integrity without blemifh, 
 and innocence without guile, there is nothing which 
 we may not love and ought not to imitate. There 
 is nothing to extenuate regard or to produce difguft; 
 there is no littlenefs to take off from the greatnefs ; 
 the goodnefs is not debafed by one particle of evil ; 
 and the wifdom is not blurred by the prefence of a 
 fingle abfurdity. We behold a perfon like ourfelves, 
 a man pofTefTing all the characteristics of humanity, 
 without any of thofe defects which excite averfion,and 
 with all thofe virtues which generate cordial eflecm 
 
( 3«2 ) 
 
 and every pleafurable fenfation. We fee nothing 
 but perfection ; but it is the perfection of mortality. 
 It is a perfection exactly fuited to our apprehenfions; 
 it is not an indefinite, imaginary fomething, which 
 our minds cannot grafp, or with which our hearts 
 cannot fympathize. We behold Jefus endued with 
 that wifdom which bears with the froward and in- 
 ftrudta the fimple, and with that beneficence which 
 condoles with the fad and rejoices with the happy. 
 He appears, indeed, inverted with the fceptre of 
 the power of God, but his power does not excite 
 dread fo much as love, for he exerts it only in doing 
 good. 
 
 52. In the natural world, we may difcern nume- 
 rous appearances, from which to deduce and collect 
 numerous arguments, by which to eftablifh the good- 
 nefs of God ; but we do likewife obferve fome things 
 whichy^;/? to indicate an indifference to the happi- 
 nefs of mankind. We behold evident marks of a 
 defign to impart happinefs; but do we not difcover 
 fomething like the features of a being that delights 
 in mifery ? We fee, and we feel a great deal of good, 
 but it is, at lead to our grofs perceptions, mingled 
 with a great deal of evil. We behold the wifcft and 
 the kindeft arrangements made for the prefervation 
 of man -, but there are others which feem contrived, 
 as if, in mere wantonnefs, for his deftruction. In 
 contemplating the Deity, in the natural and moral 
 economy of the world, we meet with certain mani- 
 
( 3*3 ) 
 
 feitations of great regard for his creatures ; but we 
 fometimes obferve good and evil difpenfed with a 
 fort of fortuitous extravagance. We fee all things 
 happening alike to all, and the rain and the dew 
 falling on the righteous and the (inner. The fields 
 of the liberal are fometimes parched with drought; 
 while thofe of the covetous are fertilized by conti- 
 nual mowers. The property of the fimple and in- 
 duftrious peafant is fwcpt away by a torrent, while 
 that of his corrupt and luxurious neighbour feems 
 purpofely exempted from its violence. We fee the 
 hopes of the upright withered and decayed, while 
 the fraudulent flourifo beyond their mod fanguine 
 expectations. The earth is decorated with flowers 
 and enriched with fruit ; but whole cities are fome- 
 times buried under the eruptions of volcanoes ; and 
 the innocent are not fpared in earthquakes and con- 
 vulfions. Man occafionally enjoys, as it were, the 
 full funlhine of the divine benevolence ; but he often 
 mourns under the (hadow of adverfity, and groans 
 under the oppreffion of the Mod High. In (hort, 
 the goodnefs of God, many as are the proofs of it, 
 which are palpable to fenfe and obvious to inquiry, 
 is liable to objections, which may well prevent ac- 
 quiefcence in his decrees and refignation to his will; 
 unlefs we take a future life into our view of this > and' 
 confider the prejent evil world as a paffage to a better* 
 
 53. If the good which there is in the world, and 
 which is fufficient to prove the benevolence of the 
 
( 384 ) 
 
 Creator, were more predominant than it is, men could 
 not reafonably expect a future life; and if the pro- 
 portion of evil were much greater than it is, they 
 could feel little pleaiure in the contemplation. For, 
 if the evil abounded much more than it does at 
 p relent, the proofs of the divine benevolence would 
 be proportionally diminifhed ; and in this cafe, even 
 on the fuppofuion that there were a future life, fa 
 for would the probability be decreafed of that life's 
 being a ft ate of happintfs. Bur, under the prefent 
 fyftem of things, the good is juft fo predominant as 
 ftrikingly to demonftrate a difpofition to produce 
 happinefs, and juft enough evil is mingled with it, 
 to cherifh the expectation of a better, a lefs preca- 
 rious, and lefs miierable exiftence*. 
 
 * It is a vain attempt to reafon men out of their fenfations 
 by abftraft propofuions. That there is much pain and mifery 
 in the world cannot be denied : but then I think that every one 
 ■will acknowledge them to be terms of degree and of compa- 
 rifonj and that in the individual they maybe considered as 
 relative to what is paft and to what is to come. A greater 
 pain abforbs a lefs, and a lefs following a greater is comparative 
 pleafure. Whether the Deity could not have constituted this 
 world without any intermixture of pain and mifery it is ufelefs 
 to inquire ; nor does it belong to us to meafure the pollibilities. 
 But, taking .the world as it is, we are to confider whether 
 marks of benevolent defign be not widely fcattered through the 
 whole fyttem, and whether the portion of pain and lbrrow 
 which we do experience, and under which creation often feems 
 to groan, do not, on the whole, increafe the balance of enjoy- 
 ment; and, by divcrjifying the fenfations of man augment his hap- 
 
( 3«5 ) 
 
 54. Were there much lefs mifery than there is m 
 the world, were the good lefs allayed with evil, were 
 
 finefi. It may, indeed, very fairly be afked, whether, in a 
 being fo conuituted as man, there could be a fenfe of happi- 
 nefs without any acquaintance with mifery, or a confcioufnefs 
 of pleafure, if there were a total inconfcionfnefs of pain ? Bat 
 however this may be, certain it is, that the experience of pain 
 always heightens the relith for pleafure. The fcheme of the 
 univerfe is probably fo ordered, that every intelligent being is 
 rendered capable of a continual and endlefs progrefflon in hap- 
 pinefs j and this progreffion, with refpect to the individual, 
 may be an interminable feries of comparifons in the experience 
 of fucceiiive dates of happinefs. In our future exigence, there 
 may be always fomething beyond us to animate exertion j 
 and this fomething obtained, new deiires may fucceed as the 
 old are gratified. Thus we may keep on for ever and ever 
 advancing from one degree of excellence and of blifs to another, 
 in a perpetual and never ceating approximation to the un- 
 clouded fun (hine of the glory of God. The ftate of the fpiri- 
 tual man in heaven, of the mortal cloatheu" with immortality, 
 cannot be fuppofed a ltateof torpid quiefcence but of increafed 
 activity j a ftate in which defire mall never ftagnate and im- 
 provement never end. 
 
 Happy would it be for us, if we would confider the feveral 
 degrees of pain and mifery which we meet with in this world, 
 as relative to pleafure and happinefs, either in the life which 
 now is, or in that which is to come. This would teach us to 
 bear afflictions with patience, and to be cheerful when all looks 
 difmal around us. It would keep hope freih and the fpirits 
 gay. We mould reflect that the various forrows and troubles 
 which we meet with in life (thofeonly excepted which are 
 owing to our vices) are neceffary ingredients in our condition j 
 and that in the difpenfations of providence, nifry often be- 
 comes the {hortelt way to the temple of blifs. In this world, 
 we begin our being, in a ftate of things in which there is a 
 great mixture of affliction, and of which no fon of man eve.r 
 
 C c 
 
( 336 ) 
 
 this mortal life lefs chequered with uncertainty and 
 misfortune, this (late of things would furnifh fuch 
 ftrong arguments for, and fuch powerful perfuafions 
 to frefent acquiefcence and unmingled JatisfaElion, as 
 would make the mind too well contented, and the 
 heart too much delighted with its prefent fituation. 
 There would not be that longing after immortality, 
 that bufy expectation of fomething to come after 
 death, which there now is. Man rinding this world 
 a ftation of eafe and reft, not oppreflfed with diffi- 
 culties nor faddened with care, would take up his 
 reft here. He would fay to his foul, " Soul ! take 
 
 falls into the grave without experiencing his (hare. But when 
 this life is coniidered as connected with, and preparatory to 
 other happier modes and ftates of exigence, all, even its fe- 
 verefl miferies, dwindle into infigniricance, and become lighter 
 than air upon the balance. Thefe confiderations prove that 
 the mifery which there is in the world,, viewed in the light in 
 which 1 have placed it, inftead of being any argument againft, 
 is one of the ftrongeft arguments for the divine benevolence; for 
 the goodnefs of God muft be infinite, even as exerted towards 
 the leait unit of intelligent nature, if he have fo arranged the 
 economy of the univerfe, that every individual intelligent 
 being is made fufceptible of an endless progression in 
 happiness. That a created being cannot, like the one un- 
 created God, enjoy infinite happinels, is a truth that will not 
 be contefted. How then is fuch a being to be made moft 
 happy ? Certainly not by being allotted to his greaielt degree 
 of happinefs at once, and there kept liationary ; but, by being 
 rendered progrcilive in blils, and lb progrcilive, that though 
 ever tending to, he may never arrive at that point where blifs 
 will no more inereafe. In this note I have attempted to give 
 a plain and intel igible folution to many difficulties, which 
 have often perplexed the moiaiift and the divine. 
 
( 38? ) 
 
 thy full glut" of pleafure ; eat, drink, and be merry, 
 for there is nothing; to come hereafter !" But the 
 vexations and uncertainties of this prefent life do not 
 permit this unclouded tranquillity of the mind, and 
 this unruffled joy of the heart. Man is born to 
 trouble ; and feeing no Jure refuge from forrow on 
 this fide the grave, he naturally looks to one beyond 
 it. Obferving virtue often diftrefTed and vice pros- 
 perous, the wicked riding in triumph, and the righ- 
 teous proftrate in the dud, and yet beholding amid 
 all this apparent confufion, finking and irrefragable 
 proofs of the moral government of the world, he can 
 difcover no end to his perplexity, and no refolution 
 to his doubts, but in the fuppofition of a future life. 
 The prefent ftate of things, therefore, furnifhes ar- 
 guments for a future life, in which the mind may 
 reafonably acquiefce ; by which the incredulous may 
 be Satisfied, and the forrowful confoled *. 
 
 * The reader will obferve that, in this paffige, I am consider- 
 ing the probabilities which natural reafon may difcover in 
 favour of a future and happier life ; where good thall be lefs 
 chequered with evil, pleafure lefs balanced with pain; where 
 the wicked fball ceaff from troubling and the weary be at reft. 
 But all the moil profound deductions of reafon on this impor- 
 tant fubjeft, are very infrrior in ftrength toconvince, and in in- 
 tereft to perfuade, to that palpable proof of it, which the refur- 
 re6tion of Jefus affords ; and the probabilities in favour of the 
 fadt of his refurrection, greatly exceed any probabilities which 
 reafon can adduce in favour of a future ftate, when unaftifted 
 by that light which the Chriftian revelation has fpread over 
 the world. 
 
 C C 2 
 
( 383 ) 
 
 $5- In fending his Ton into the world, the exprefs 
 image of his perlbn, the fchechinah of his prefence, 
 and the reprcfentati ve of nib glory, God has diitini5r.lv, 
 palpably, and incontrovertibly, manifefted the per- 
 fection of his goodnefs. In Jefus we behold good- 
 nefs which no argument can invalidate, and no faris 
 or occurrences in his hulory can dimini h. Chrift, 
 therefore, is the Divine Goodnefs, difplayed in a 
 vifible and tangible model of peifcction. And as 
 goodnefs is the elTential principle of morality, with- 
 out which it is rotten and lifelefs ; fo the perfection 
 of morality mut confift in the imitation of the cha- 
 racter of Chrift, who is perfect goodnefs -, in whofc 
 heart was no malice and no guile. 
 
 56. That morality which confifts in the imitation 
 of Chrift, in the practice of his virtues, and the ob~ 
 fervance of his fayings, while it is more pleafing to 
 God than all the fubtle (peculations of all the wife 
 men of this world, has likewife a flronger tendency 
 than any fyftem of morality, formed on any other 
 model, or regulated by any other laws, can have to 
 make us happy. Of the Chriftian virtues, while the 
 principle forcibly inclines us to love our fellow-crea- 
 tures, the exertion naturally inclines them to love 
 us. It is not fufEcieat to object that the proud will 
 trample on the humble, that the infolent will opprefs 
 the meek, the vindictive the forgiving, and the hard- 
 hearted the benevolent; for the practice of that pure 
 morality which confifts in humility, meeknefs, for- 
 givenefs, brotherly kindnefs, charity, muft, by the 
 
( &9 ) 
 
 powerful operation of natural caufes, by the invifible, 
 but in a great meafurc irrefillible agency of the com- 
 mon fympathies of humanity, in a vail majority of 
 inftances, occafion the warm and artleis reciproca- 
 tions of efteem and love *. 
 
 57. The Chriftian virtues, having no tendency to 
 excite envy or fear, but tending to produce a ftate of 
 the fenfations, totally oppofite to the experience of 
 thole baleful paffions, pave the way for the intro- 
 duction of all the kind fentiments into the heart. 
 Where neither hate, nor envy, nor fear, have died 
 their mildew on the bread, benevolence will eafily 
 kindle its holy flame. Thofe amiable and inoffen- 
 five qualities ; thofe ferene, unoftentatious, and in- 
 terefting graces, the culture of which the Chriftian 
 doctrine cherifhes and matures, and the practice of 
 
 * There is nothing like what is commonly called philosophical 
 reafoning in the gofpelj yet the rules of life there delivered are 
 all philofophically juji ; and the more they are "analy fed into their 
 elementary principles, and the more they are traced through all 
 their ramifications and tendencies, through their near and their 
 remote confequences, the more they will be found conformable 
 to the moft elaborate abftra&ions of philofophy. By the phi- 
 lofophy here mentioned, 1 do not mean fuch philofophy as that 
 of Voltaire, Diderot, or Godwin ; bat that philofophy which is 
 confecrated by the illuftrious names of Bacon, Locke, Clarke, 
 Hartley, Butler, &c. Thefe men were true philofophers, and 
 their writings are a fpaeious, and I truft a lafting refervoir of 
 falubrious philofophy. The term philofophy has of late been 
 greatly abufed 5 but let not therefore the thing itfelf be held 
 in derifion. 
 
( 3$P ) 
 
 which °u r Lord fo ftrcnuouflv recommended by the 
 captivating eloquence of hisdifcouries, and the more 
 eloquent captations of his example, by cleanfmg 
 the affections from every ienfacion of ill-will towards 
 others, muft operate, with no ordinary efficacy, tq 
 extrude every fenfation of ill-will from the hearts of 
 others towards us*, 
 
 * The love of God is the only firm and lafting foundation of 
 benevolence. The love of God is not like the principle of the 
 general good, a cold abftraftion, but a warm reality. The fenfe 
 of the Divine Prefence, as Bilhop Butler has moft ably taught 
 us, may be realized, fixed in the mind, and embodied in the 
 heart; and when it is thus brough', as it were, into contact 
 with the thoughts and fenfations, who can doubt the falutary 
 influence which it mutt exercife on the benevolent affections? 
 Where be; evolence does not reft on this immutable principle, 
 (the love of God,) it is furject to the moft capricious variations, 
 liable to be chilled by ingratitude, and to be extinguished by 
 perfecutioq. It is not, it cannot be fixed or permanent; it 
 may fubfide into apathy, or be converted into hate; but the 
 love of God gives it vigour and conftancy, breathing into it 
 the fpirit to ac\ and producing confiftency in action. Ani- 
 mated by love divine, cherifhed by its flame, and hallowed by 
 its prefence, the benevolent principle lofes its frail and peri (li- 
 able nature. Tt ftrikes root in the foul, and it bears fruit in the 
 conduct. No blaft withers its leaves, and no ftorm (hakes its 
 trunk. 
 
 Hence, we fee the wifdom of our Lord in commanding us 
 firft to love God and then to love mankind; thus making the 
 religions principle the root of the benevolent, making that 
 principle which prompts our adoration and binds our hearts to 
 the Father of fpirits, give life and ftrength to the benevolent 
 affections; which attach us to the intra ft of our fellow -crea- 
 tures'; which pcrfuade us to minifter comlort to the wretched 
 and relitf to the diflrefted. 
 
( 39* ) 
 
 58. The genuine principles of Chriftianity* 
 whether in their immediate operations, or their in- 
 
 The love of God, particularly when affifted by thofe increafed 
 motives to love him, which are furnifhed by revelation, re- 
 freshes the benevolent affections with a fecret but conftant 
 afpiration. Natural religion, or that theory of our intereft and 
 our duty, which reafon forms from the light of nature, urges 
 11s to love God as the author and preferver of our being; but 
 revelation teaches us to love him, not only as the giver of life, 
 but a deliverer from death j not only as the author of all the 
 good things which we enjoy here, but of a glorious immortality 
 which is referved for us hereafter. Revelation fhows us in a 
 manner more clear and by arguments more convincing than 
 unailifted reafon could fuggeft, that the regard which God has 
 for man, is not confined to this ihort life, but extends through. 
 all eternity. 
 
 Without the pervading, the cherifhing, and preferving flame 
 of theopathy, the benevolent affections foon expire. Hence the 
 benevolence of an atheift, if, from fane happy imprejjions made 
 on him in his infancy, tvhofe influence remains ivhen the caufe is 
 forgotten, it be poj/iblefor an atheift to be benevolent, can be only 
 an occasional emotion of goodnefs, in which the favage fpecu- 
 lations of his reafon difappear in the fympathies of his huma- 
 nity. But the benevolent principle itfelf, in the heart of an 
 atheift, mufl want vigour and conftancy; one ill requited kind- 
 nefs, or one fpark of enmity, will wafle its ftrength or fufpend 
 its operations. The majority of atheifts, of whom, happily, 
 there are not many in the world, are feldom warmed even by 
 one glow of the benevolent principle ; their hearts are either one 
 tranflent chill and uniform expanfe of apathy, or one torrid mafs 
 of malicioufnefs. They are either totally infenfible to the mifery 
 of others, or they delight in beholding, and glory in promoting 
 it. Were the world governed by atheift rulers and legiilators 
 for about a century, more than half the human fpecies would 
 probably be exterminated by the end of it. 
 
 C c 4 
 
( 39* ) 
 
 direct influence, have a tendency to extinguifri hate, 
 and to kindle love, and conh-queiuly to duiinifh 
 
 let not Mr. Godwin, the terror-ttriking fceptick of the day, 
 who has attempted to rear a ly item of benevoience on a mcta- 
 phyiical abttraction, imagine that any fyltem which will effec- 
 tually counteract the mtlevolent, and diffuie the benevolent 
 fpirit among men, can be erected on an>' other principle than 
 that which the Divine Found' r of Chriuianity recommended. 
 Let Mr. G (tody (and, as a minitter of the gofpel, 1 mo ft affec- 
 tionately exhort him to ftudy the motives to action, and the 
 incitements to beneficence, which are to be found in the fimpie 
 and incorrupt doctrine of Chrilt; let him confid^r the perlua- 
 fions by which it prompts to the production of individual and 
 general good ; and he will then difcover that the pealant of 
 Galilee, who was not inftructed in the fubtleties of logic, or 
 in the refinements of metaphyseal fpecnlation, in the art of 
 obfeuring what is clear, or perplexing what is plain, was a 
 greater philofopher than Helvetius, Voltaire, Diderot, Rouifeau, 
 D'Alembert, Condorcet, or any of his favouiite French authors. 
 In Mr. Godwin's St. Leon, 1 perceive, and I perceive with 
 pleafure, traces of a difpohtion to return from the wilds of 
 mctaph)fic» into the regions of common fenfe; and to retract 
 thofe pernicious tenets which he once propagated with lo much 
 induiiry and fo much zeal. God gnnt that the converfion of 
 Mr. Godwin, which feems begun, may be happily tmithed! 
 Ma) he look on Him, wholt religion he has pitted wi'h infults, 
 whole name he hat> loaded with reproaches | May repentance 
 touch his heart ! and may the angi 1 ot favour mini Iter peace to 
 his troubled foul ! 
 
 Refpecting the literary merits of Mr. Godwin's St. Leon, I am 
 happy to coincide in opinion with Mils Seward of Lichfield^ a 
 lady, whofe genius can furnith amufemem tor the idle, reflection 
 for the ferious,and instruction for the wife ; whofe poetry unites 
 delicacy of fentiment with vigour ot expreflion ; the hmplieity 
 of nature with the polilh of art; a tafle fenfitive, difcrimina- 
 tive, correct, with an imagination various, expanded, ancj 
 fnblime. l 
 
( 393 ) 
 
 xtiifery and to generate happinefs. The experience 
 of oenevolence always gives an agreeable flow to the 
 current of our fenfations ; whofe frefhnefs malevo- 
 lence taints, and whofe ferenicy it difturbs. That 
 difpofition of the foul, which belt fits us to commu- 
 nicate happinefs to others, at the fame time beft 
 prepares us for the perception of happinefs ourfelves. 
 True benevolence, therefore, which mod favours the 
 production of focial, mod favours the increafe even 
 or fclfifh bills What tends to make the individual 
 contribute largely to the happinefs of his feilow- 
 creatures, will be found, when rightly underftood, 
 molt inftrumental to his own. Hence, when the 
 founder of Chriftianity gives us this rule of life, to 
 love our neighbour as ourfelves, he delivers a precept, 
 which, whenever it be generally acted upon, will be 
 fo nd to contribute more to the folid enjoyment of 
 him, who praclifes it, than any other more feififh 
 mode of conduct, or more exclufive and narrow 
 fcheme for obtaining happinefs. 
 
 5q. The Chriftian morals, which in their begin- 
 ning originate, and in the whole circumference of 
 their action gravitate to this great principle, cc Then 
 Jbalt love thy neighbour as thy f elf" or what, in its 
 practical tendency, comes to the fame thing, " Thou 
 Jbalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and all 
 thy Joul*" are nicely adapted to produce not only 
 
 * Matt. xxii. 36—30. 
 
( 394 ) 
 
 individual but general good, to make every man ad- 
 vance his own intereft and the intereft of his fpecies. 
 Hence we fee the profound intelligence of Jefus, 
 TheChrift; whohas exhibited in theChriftianfcheme, 
 that comprehenfion of view, and that minutenefs of 
 detail, that vaftnefs of de.fign in the whole, and that 
 nicety of proportion in every part, to which we find 
 many correfponding anal ^gics in the conftitution of 
 the natural world j and which may well incline us to 
 believe that He who made the ftars in the firmament 
 above, and arranged this fair and beautiful order of 
 things on the earth below, was likewife the provi- 
 dential author of the Chriftian revelation. His 
 wifdorn planned it, his power eftablifhed it, and his 
 goodnefs will bring it to a happy confummation. 
 
 60. That goodnefs of heart and life which the 
 principles of Chriftianity, whenever they are atled 
 upon> will invariably produce, muft tend, in all in- 
 fiances, to promote the good of others ; and in the 
 majority of inflances, it will be found, even in the 
 prefent degenerate ftate of public morals, to be mod 
 favourable to the increafe of our own individual fa- 
 tisfa£tion and enjoyment. Goodnefs, which tends to 
 diffufe happinefs, not only gives the individual a 
 greater capacity for happinefs, but greatly multiplies 
 the probabilities of his being happy. 
 
 61. The principle of gratitude is natural to manj 
 it is homogeneous with his frame and fhoots up fpon- 
 
( 39S ) 
 
 tajieoufly in his foul -, and, ranch as may be faid 
 about the rarenefs of the virtue, or the infrequency 
 of the practice*, it will, I b lieve, be found in ninety, 
 nine inftances out of an hundred, that men never re- 
 ceive any benefits from others, without having fen- 
 fations of gratitude excited in their biealls. 'I hefe 
 fenfations may not indeed always ripen injro action; 
 they may die away with the pleaiure which the be- 
 nefit produces ■, but if they be always, or aimoft 
 always felt, this fact alone is fufficient to prove that 
 there is in the heart of man a natural tendency to gra- 
 titude \. The fenfation of gratitude which is oica- 
 fioned by any benefit received, is afTociated witn a 
 certain pleafurable idea of him who conferred it; 
 and this idea is thps brought into contact with the 
 affections, and Jome dejire of remuneration is excited. 
 Such a defire mud not be fuppofed not to be (dt, 
 when it is not exprefted by words or indicated by 
 any outward figns; for though when there is a fenle 
 qf favours received impreiTcd upon the heart, it will 
 ufually burfl trom the lips in praties, and acknowledge- 
 ments, and.good withes £, yet the true feat of graci- 
 
 * The complaint will be found mod common with tbofe, in 
 uhofe difpohtion there is an acerbity. to I ich favours oi mian- 
 thropy ; or who e.p S. more than a quid pro ^uo, a fair retribu- 
 tio7i proportioned to the means ®fjhe indiyiuual 
 
 f May 1 refer the reader to my Picture of Christian Philo- 
 fophy, 3d edit. p. 105. 
 
 | I do not mean the cant or mechanical acknowledgments of 
 beggars and vagrants; but mankind in general, when they re- 
 ceive favours, can feldom retrain irem the vocal expreffion of 
 
( 396 ) 
 
 rude is in the affections, and that gratitude, is fome- 
 times moft forcibly felt, which works in fecrei in the 
 foul, but which the tongue want* eloquence to utter. 
 
 62. Many are the caufes which cenfpire to prevent 
 the pofnive remunerations of beneficence, and the 
 active operations of gratitude; but there is a princi- 
 ple in what Sir Mathew Hale calls the crafis of man, 
 which gives birth to the fenfation, and which nothing 
 can deltroy. It is interwoven with the phyfical or- 
 ganization, and it is a condiment part of the moral 
 economy of man. The alleviation of our wants, or 
 the removal of our pains, the increafe of our happi- 
 nefs, or the diminution of our mifery, mud necefla- 
 rily caufe pleafurable emotions in the mind, and 
 pleafurable fenfations in the heart \ and thefe plea- 
 furable fenfations and emotions can feldom be un- 
 connected with a kind difpoficion towards the author 
 of them ; and what is gratitude but a kind difpofuion 
 towards its object ? The fenfe of benefits conferred 
 on us, does, in mod cafes, except where fome per- 
 verfe afTociations of pride or envy interpofe, work 
 as agreeably on the moral part of man, as food taken 
 into the domach does on his phyfical conditution. 
 
 63. True Ghriftian goodnefs, whether confidered 
 in its pallive influence on the heart and as adbciated 
 with meeknefs, humblenefs of mind, an unwilling- 
 
 praife and love, of a confeioufnefs of hnppinefs imparted, and 
 a reciprocal defi re of imparting happinefs, eveniohcn the bene- 
 factor is not prefeht, and when thc\- can be no £<fjible temptation 
 to make a J/ioiv of ' thank) 'ultnj's which is not felt. 
 
( 397 ) ' . 
 
 nefs to offend, and a readinefs to be reconciled, or 
 confidered in its active Rate, as roufing the vigorous 
 exertions of beneficence, mud directly tend to in- 
 creafc our own happinefs and the happinefs of 
 others*. And whatever produces or aflifts in the 
 production of happinefs, favours the growch of gra- 
 titude. Gratitude feems, in its incipient (late, nothing 
 more than a certain agreeable feeling of kindnefs 
 towards its object; but, as its influence is fpread over 
 the affections, it calls forth, as opportunity offers, 
 the active reciprocations of beneficence. 
 
 64, The Divine Founder of Chriftianity, whofe 
 plain authoritative fayings, whether we confider their 
 philofophical juftnefs, or their practical ufefulnefs, 
 the accumulated wiidom of ages will never excel, 
 was well acquainted with that tendency, which there 
 is in the human heart, when not incruftcd by pride, 
 by jealoufy, and prejudice, to abforb fenfations of 
 gratitude, and in the human mind to call them into 
 action ; and it is very obfervable, that he lays the 
 greateft ftrefs on that morality, whole operations, 
 manifefling our good- will towards others, do, by 
 their natural influence on the moral organization of 
 
 *■ What may be called, or what is often called the indirect ac- 
 tion of moral caufes, is often ftronger than the dire6t. Thus 
 the exertions of a charitable difpofition directly tend to the 
 good of others ; but they probably always, though indirectly, 
 and by a fort of re-action, do a greater good to onrfelves. He 
 that hath pity upon the poor hndeth unto the Lord. The inference 
 is plain ; but the confederation of this fubject in all its relations 
 and bearings would lead me into too wide a field of difcuflion. 
 
( 398 ) 
 
 man, naturally excite the good-will of others towards 
 us. Thus the Chriftian graces, meeknefs, gentlenefs, 
 forbearance, humblenefs of mind, complacency of 
 manners *, and love unfeigned, which diffufe a plea- 
 furable influence over the whole fphere of their 
 agency, do tend, in mofl in/lances, to produce a prefent 
 remuneration to the individual, 
 
 6$. If the Chriftian virtues will feldom be found, 
 in refpect even to the production of prefent happi- 
 nefs, not to yield an ample compenfation to thofe 
 who cukivate them, their cultivation mud be highly 
 neceflary as a means of increafmg our prefent good ; 
 (for nothing elfe will be found to yield fenfations fo 
 pleafurable or blifs fo exquifuej) but mod important 
 muft it be to us to cherifh their growth and to en- 
 courage their expanfion, when we confider their in- 
 timate connection with our futuie glory and happi- 
 nefs in that world, of which every moment that glides 
 away is carrying us nearer to the confines. 
 
 « 
 
 * In the fermon on the mount all thofe qualities are recom- 
 mended which contiitute true politenefs; that peaceablenefs 
 and ferenitv, and unarTe&ed mildnefs of behaviour, which pre- 
 vents ftrife and conciliates affection. The more man becomes 
 civilized, the more he will fee the neceffity of cultivating, and 
 the more he will cultivate the patiive but truly magnanimous 
 qualities by which our Lord was fo eminently diftiiujuifhed, 
 and by which he enjoined his followers to labour to attain dif- 
 tin&ioo. We mull learn of him, who was meek and lowlv in 
 heart, if we wiih to hnd red to our fouls; if we with to lafte or 
 to communicate unmingled iatisfa&ion. 
 
C 399 ) 
 
 66, Every individual ad of obedience to Che 
 Chriftian precepts has probably fome influence on 
 our happinefs; but individual acts of obedience, 
 (trengthened into habits of rjghteoufnefs, muft pro- 
 mote our happinefs in a high degree here, and in the 
 higher! degree hereafter. As our funefs for the bills 
 of another life will be proportioned to the goodnefs 
 which we manifcft in mind and heart, in thought, in 
 word, and deed, in the life which now is, our capa- 
 city for future enjoyment mud be greater the more 
 perfect our habits of obedience have been, or the 
 fewer tranfgreffions we have committed, by which 
 their continuity has been broken and their operations 
 interrupted. 
 
 67. In another life we fhall probably have a 
 nearer view of the divine perfections 5 but it is only 
 that goodnefs which is an approximation to the na- 
 ture of God, that can enable us to enjoy his prefence, 
 or to behold him as he is. " Without holinefs no 
 man (hail fee the Lord." God is loves he is good- 
 nefs abfolute and perfect 5 and goodnefs is the only 
 object of love,; but nothing but goodnefs can really 
 love goodnefs*. In proportion as a man grows in 
 goodnefs the love of God will expand within his foul ; 
 and the more God is loved, the more beneficent will 
 the individual become. 
 
 * For this reafon, a malevolent man cannot love God ; and 
 if ever he do love him, he muft ceafe to be malevolent, for ma- 
 levolence and the love of God are two fenfations that can never 
 
( 4°^ ) 
 
 6ft. Tn the perfou and character of Jefus of Na- 
 zareth we behold the divine goodnef>, as it were, in 
 a boJi y fhape; and therefore to love G >d with all 
 our heart and all our foul, is to endeavour wit ! i all 
 our heart and all our foul to iirrtate the conduct of 
 his earthly reprefentative, or, in other words, to put 
 on the Lord Jefus, This is that morality, which is 
 the fum and fubftance of Chriftianity, and which 
 alone can recommend us to the favour of God, be- 
 caufe it alone can generate a conduct agreeable to 
 his will. 
 
 69. Let u< con fider that in the favour of God 
 our only true happinels confiits; and that every in- 
 di-idual tranfg Hi m is iome deduction from that 
 portion of his favour, which we mould otherwife 
 enjoy, and that if individual tranfgrehVns be re- 
 peated till they harden into habits of fin, our cafe is 
 defperace. If we die in hah;ts of unrighteoufnefc, 
 we die in a flate of difpleafme with God ; and, after 
 death, we (hall be aliens .rorn hispreience, and Gran- 
 gers in the outer darknejs. 
 
 exift m the fame hearty at the fame t!we> Our Lord was well ac- 
 quainted with this truth, and there feems to have been a moft 
 powerful perfuafioh of its importance on the heart of the diiciple 
 whom he ioved ; for throughout the firft epitile of fbhn, there 
 is conftant and earned endeavour to impreis it on thole whom 
 headdreifed. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 T. Bfci":ry, Printer, Eolt Court, Fleet Street. 
 
( 4° J ) 
 
 ADDITIONS. 
 
 To come after " homicidia," p. 5, L 23, note. 
 
 " Haec eft, piorum confolatio," faid they, 
 " non ilia pecca fortiter, fed crede fortius ; et 
 nihil tibi nocebunt centum homicidia et mille 
 ftupra." " Peccata ilia, qualia Davidis, id eft 
 homicidia et adulteria elect! s non imputari verba 
 funt Marlorati. Dicitis quidem," fays Grotius, 
 addrefTing the Calviniftic champions of religious 
 difcord, " in juftificatis omnibus pcenitentiam 
 femper fequi : quod ego verum non arbitror. 
 Et deinde quae eft ilia pcenitentia ? vivere at 
 lubet : deinde inftante morte dicere Miniftro, 
 Nollem factum, et credo juftitiam Chrifti mihi 
 imputari, idque verum eiTe, quia id credo. Cum 
 hoc viatico ftatim ille in ccelum evolat : deque eo 
 dubitare Stygise eft incredulitatis." Vid. Grot, 
 torn. III. 676. 
 
 Additions to the note printed p. 25(3. 
 
 On the doctrine of the Holy Trinity the reader 
 will, I think, derive both inftruction and delight 
 from the following pafTages in the works of Jeremy 
 Taylor; and which fhow at once the depth of 
 his refearch, and the folidity of his judgment. 
 " As the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is fet down 
 
 D d 
 
( 4°2 ) 
 
 in fcnpture, and in the Apoftles creeds I know- 
 no difficulties it hath ; what it hath met withal 
 fince, proceeds from the too curious handling of 
 that which we cannot nnderfland. The lchool- 
 men have fo pried into this fee ret, and have fo 
 confounded themfclves and the articles, that they 
 have made it too unintelligible, inexplicable, in- 
 defenfible in all their minuits and particularities ; 
 and it is too iadly apparent in the arguments 
 of the AntitrinitarianS) whofe foplufms againft the 
 article itfelf, although they are moft eafily an- 
 fwercd, yet as they bring them againft the 
 mhmtia and impertinences of the fchool, they 
 are not fo eafily to be avoided. Concerning 
 Gcd we know but very few things ; and con- 
 cerning the myjterious Trinity that which is re- 
 vealed is extremely little ; audit is general, with- 
 out defcending to particulars : and the difficulty 
 of the feeming arguments againft that, being 
 taken from our philofophy, and the common 
 manner of fpcaking, cannot be apportioned and 
 fitted to fo great a fecret ; neither can that at all 
 be meafurcd by any thing here below. When 
 the church, for the underiianding of this fecret 
 of the Holy Trinity, hath taken words from 
 metaphyseal learning, as ferfon, hypoftufis, confub- 
 Jiantidliiy, o^osuio:, and fuch like, the words of 
 themfclves were apt to change their iignifica'ion, 
 and to put on the fenfe of the prefent fchook 
 But the church was forced to ufe fuch words as 
 
( 403 ) 
 
 Hie had, the higheft, the neareft, the moil fepa- 
 rate and myfterious. But when fhe frill kept 
 thefe words to the fame myftery, the words 
 fwelled or altered in their fenfe ; and were ex- 
 acted according to what they did lignify among 
 men in their low notices ; this begat difficulty in 
 the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. For better 
 words fhe had none, and all that which they did 
 lignify in our philofophy could not be applied to 
 this myftery ; and therefore we have found diffi- 
 culty ; and fhall for ever, till, in this article, the 
 church returns to her ancient limplicity of ex- 
 preffion." Taylor's Polem. Difc. third edition, 
 p. 242, 243. " He that goes about to fpeak of 
 and to underftand the myfterious Trinity, and 
 does it by words and names of man's invention, 
 or by fuch which lignify contingently, if he 
 reckons this myftery by the nlythology of num- 
 bers, by the cabala of letters, by the diftinclions 
 of the fchool, and by the weak inventions of dif- 
 puting people -, if he only talks of effences and 
 exiftences, hypoflafes and personalities, diftinc- 
 tions without difference, and priority in cocqua- 
 lities, and unity in pluralities, and of fuperior 
 predicates of no larger extent than the inferior 
 fubjecls, he may amufe himfelf, and find his 
 underftanding will be like St. Peter's upon the 
 mount of Tabor at the Transfiguration : he may 
 build three tabernacles in his head, and talk 
 fomcthing he knows not what. But the good 
 
(* 404 ) 
 
 man, that feels the paver of the i r. and lie to 
 whom the Son is become wifdom> right < on fnefs, 
 J ancliji cation, and redemption ; lie in zvhqfe heart 
 the love of the Spirit of God is fpread, to whom 
 God hath communicated the Holy Ghojl, the Com- 
 forter -, this man, though he understands nothing 
 of that which is unintelligible, yet he only under- 
 stands the myfterioufnefs of the Holy Trinity. 
 No man can be convinced well and wifely of the 
 Article of the Holy, Blejfed, and Undivided Trinity, 
 but he that feels the mightinefs of the Father 
 begetting him to a new life, the wifdom of the 
 Son huildhtg him up in a mojl holy faith, and the 
 love of the Spirit of God, making him to become 
 like unto God." Taylor's Suppl. Scrm. p. 91. 
 Of this laft pafTage I truft I may affert, without 
 exaggeration, that he is deftitnte of piety who is 
 not imprefTed by its devoutnefs; and of taflc, who 
 is not ravifhed with its eloquence. 
 
 Lately publi/Jjed by the fame Author, and printed for 
 
 J. White, Fleet Street, 
 
 A Pi£ture of Chriftian Philofophy, Third Edition, Price 
 6s." Boards 
 
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