Glass. 
 Book 
 
 13 3 
 
 
THE MORALITY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Digested under various Heads: 
 
 COMPREHENDING THE DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO GOD, TO OURSELVES 
 AND TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION, ADDRESSED TO DEISTS ; 
 
 IN WHICH THE CHARACTER OF 
 
 3)mts ©ijrisst 
 
 Is vindicated against the Aspersions of Modern Unbelievers ; 
 
 AND ALSO PROVING THAT THE RELIGION TAUGHT BY JESUS CHRIST WAS 
 THE PURE RELIGION OF NATURE AND OF REASON. 
 
 The whole concluding with 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON A LATE TREATISE, 
 
 INTITLED, 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF GRACE, 
 
 WRITTEN BY DR. WARBURTON, BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER; 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 An Enquiry how far the Belief of any Doctrine may be necessary to Salvation ; 
 AND SOME OBSERFATIONS OX THE 
 
 ARGUMENTS OF MR. LOCKE AND DR. LELAND. 
 
 tot 
 
 25p a National C&risttan. 
 
 Reprinted from the 4to. Edition of 1765, and 
 EDITED BY JOSEPHUS TELA 
 
 Aliis nullns Deorum respecttfs, aliis pudendus.— Plin. 
 
 LONDON! 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR, 
 
 By Jas. Adlard and Sons, 23, Bartholomew Close; 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. SOUTF.R, 73, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD, AND TO 
 
 15E HAD OF EVERY BOOKSELLER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 1818. . 
 
 //or 
 

PREFACE, 
 
 BY A FRIEND OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 To free the minds of men from superstition and en* 
 thusiasm, to expose folly in religion, to correct error, 
 to inform ignorance, to detect fraud, to combat 
 priestcraft, and to rally false zeal and false devotion, 
 is the noblest work, the sublimest task, a man can be 
 employed in, and will ever be worthy the labour of 
 patriots and lovers of their country. The next ami- 
 able office is to inculcate true knowledge, virtue, 
 piety, charity, and universal benevolence; or, in 
 other words, to enforce the practice of the duties 
 which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellow- 
 creatures, from the most exalted and rational motives. 
 Now, this I conceive to be the intention, the bene- 
 volent design, of the author of the following Tract. 
 But, before these salutary plants can be cultivated 
 and improved in the human mind, it is necessary to 
 eradicate and clear the soil of the above-mentioned 
 pernicious weeds, when they have taken root therein. 
 Before we can learn what is right, we must unlearn 
 what we have imbibed that is wrong. The preju- 
 dices of education must be questioned, and submitted 
 to the test of reason; the falsehoods embraced by 
 
 a2 
 
IV. PREFACE. 
 
 ignorance and credulity, sucked in by implicit faith, 
 or planted by authority, must be purged off, if we 
 would fully improve our minds in the knowledge of 
 our duty, — if we would act like rational beings, and 
 attain true happiness here and hereafter. 
 
 The author's zeal for charity and universal bene- 
 volence is so striking, and his warmth for the exten- 
 sion and propagation of these amiable virtues so 
 ardent, that, if in some things he should be mistaken, 
 yet he certainly deserves applause for the goodness of 
 his heart, and for the purity and sublimity of his 
 views : at least, he deserves pardon for the errors he 
 may have committed in the execution of his plan. 
 Men are but men ; and, where their intentions in 
 general appear to be benevolent, they are justly en- 
 titled to excuse, though some foibles and frailties 
 should appear to be blended with their virtues, and 
 mixed with their compositions. To err is human; 
 to intend well is divine: to be perfect belongs only 
 to God. 
 
 Men, endued with the faculties and powers which 
 have been found among the species ever since there 
 have been men, must have reflected, by contempla- 
 tion of their own abilities and powers, and by ob- 
 serving the beauty, order, and harmony, of the 
 universe, that there was an eternal self-existent Cause, 
 or reason of the existence of all things ; and that this 
 principle was infinite in power, wisdom, and good- 
 ness. From hence must have arisen reverence, love, 
 and gratitude ; and these would naturally produce 
 adoration and tvorship. Here we see the commence- 
 ment of religion : but how simple, how clear, how 
 4 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 uniform! Could men, with no other notions than 
 these, ever think of pleasing this infinite, all-power- 
 ful, all-good, and all- wise, Mind, by offering sacrifices 
 to him ? Could they think that He could ever be in 
 want, who so profusely scattered his bounties around 
 them ? Could they think that the Giver of all things 
 would ever expect any thing to be given him in re- 
 turn, but the pious ejaculations of a grateful heart? 
 Surely no. Offerings of any other kind appear to be 
 extremely unnatural, and could be the effect only of 
 studied fraud and consummate artifice. Nature and 
 reason never pointed out such absurdities, nor dic- 
 tated any thing so very ridiculous. 
 
 Men's notions of God, and the manner of worship- 
 ping this First Cause, have been, we own, infinitely 
 various, as we collect from the history of mankind : 
 but this vast variety respecting those matters must 
 have arisen from the craft of priests, the cunning of 
 politicians, and the united efforts of designing men, 
 who have, from the earliest ages, laboured with all 
 manner of artifice and complicated sophistry to dupe 
 mankind, for their own private emolument : for it 
 appears to me, that the dreams of superstition are all 
 unnatural and irrational, the work of study and con- 
 trivance, — not the offspring of nature or reason, nor 
 even of ignorance. 
 
 By the same rational faculties, with the use of 
 which men discovered that there was a God, the 
 Cause of the universe, their Benefactor, the Giver of 
 their being, and of all good things' to delight their 
 senses, relieve their necessities, and make that being 
 happy : I say, by means of the same faculties, they 
 
VI. PREFACE. 
 
 must have most clearly perceived that He could re- 
 quire nothing of his creatures but their love and 
 gratitude, evidenced by purity of heart and rectitude 
 of life ; and that no other sacrifices could be accept- 
 able to him. If they erred and strayed from the ways 
 of their duty, they surely would as clearly have per- 
 ceived that nothing but repentance and amendment 
 could render them the objects of divine complacency, 
 and restore them to the favour of their Creator. To 
 suppose that he might be rendered placable by the 
 blood of any innocent creature, is contrary to all our 
 ideas of propriety, order, goodness, benevolence, and 
 moral government. A penitent creature, and a pla- 
 cated God, are the clearest notions in nature : but to 
 suppose a sinful creature obtaining pardon from God 
 by gifts and sacrifices, Plato says, is downright 
 atheism. 
 
 The vast extent and comprehension of the human 
 understanding, of the powers and faculties with 
 which our great Creator has endowed man, are most 
 clearly and gloriously displayed in the discoveries 
 which man hath made in astronomy, geometry, arith- 
 metic, and in every branch of the mathematics and 
 natural philosophy. After this, is it probable, as 
 some philosophers pretend, that, through ignorance, 
 mankind fell at first into the system of planetary 
 worship, when they could observe that those bodies 
 seemed calculated only to diffuse heat and light, and 
 that they were circumscribed and limited bodies, — 
 properties inconsistent with the attributes and per- 
 fections of self- existence ? St. Paul was of a different 
 opinion ; for he says, that the Creator's eternal power 
 
PREFACE. VII. 
 
 and godhead, his invisible properties and attributes, 
 were clearly seen from the beginning of the world. 
 The same apostle proceeds, and says to this effect — 
 " The attributes of God were so visible in his works, 
 that men could not choose but know him ; and, there- 
 fore, that they were left without excuse when they 
 glorified him not as God," &c. 
 
 Hence, it is clear the apostle believed that man 
 did, at first, actually discover the divine attributes 
 by the light of nature ; but that he afterwards suffered 
 his reason to be greatly corrupted, by yielding him- 
 self up a victim to the delusions of interested men. 
 It, indeed, appears 'that idolatrous worship, and blas- 
 phemous notions of God, were the corruptions and 
 offspring of priestcraft, and not of ignorance or the 
 want of sufficient light. One of our great poets 
 says — 
 
 Superstition 
 
 Here fix'd the blest, aiid there the dread abodes ; 
 Fear made her devils, and weak Hope her gods. 
 
 We have already proved that men, by contempla- 
 tion and inspection of the order of the universe, might 
 readily discover a First Cause, who, being self- 
 existent and eternal, must be possessed of all possible 
 perfection, and of course be infinitely good, as well 
 as infinitely wise and powerful. In consequence, 
 they must have perceived that he designed the good 
 of his creatures ; otherwise, he would not have cre- 
 ated them. From hence it follows, that they must 
 have concluded that injustice, fraud, violence, the 
 indulgence of exorbitant sallies of the selfish passions, 
 
VIII. PREFACE. 
 
 or any vice which would tend to lessen the happiness 
 of mankind, must be contrary to his beneficent de- 
 signs ; and, therefore, that persons guilty of these 
 could not be the objects of the divine favour ; and 
 hence, that misery must be the consequence of in- 
 dulged wickedness. 
 
 Men must have observed, too, that peace, ease, 
 tranquillity, and health, were the natural consequence 
 of inflexible justice, diffusive charity, unbounded 
 benevolence, and a temperate and regular conduct 
 in the gratification of the passions; and, upon the 
 M'hole, they must have concluded, that virtue and 
 happiness, vice and misery, in the common course of 
 things, were connected together by the wise Author 
 of our beings: and hence they must have inferred, 
 that virtue was agreeable to his nature, and that vice 
 was the object of his disapprobation. 
 
 Natural religion teaches us, as is observed in the 
 following Tract, that nothing can render offending 
 man an object of complacency to the Deity but 
 sincere repentance, and a reformation of life and 
 manners, — an abhorrence of sin, and a conformity to 
 virtue; and that by this alone a recovery of moral 
 purity, in heart and life, can be obtained and evi- 
 denced. The priest might have told repentant man, 
 that, his affections being reformed, his soul purified, 
 and a thorough hatred of sin produced in it, he was 
 become a proper object of the divine favour, and that 
 all his past transgressions were forgiven : but this 
 would have brought no advantage, power, or domi- 
 nion to the priesthood ; nor must the cure, by any 
 means, be wrought without their assistance. The 
 
PREFACE. IX. 
 
 balm of Gilead, which they pour into the wounds of 
 the sinner, and which, according to them, is so 
 necessary to his cure, must be a balm of great price. 
 And, indeed, if there is no other remedy, — if the 
 favour of God is not to be obtained without it, — who 
 would not give up every worldly enjoyment to pro- 
 cure peace of mind, to assuage the agonies of a 
 wounded conscience, and purchase a passport to 
 everlasting happiness? Of what vast importance 
 must a set of men be, who can do all this ? What 
 power, what dominion, is too great for such men to 
 assume? 
 
 Now, one great part of the business of Jesus Christ 
 was to destroy the dominion and power of Satan, or 
 Sin, and to tread idolatry, superstition, and priest- 
 craft, under his feet : but it is a melancholy truth, 
 that his benevolent design hath not been attended 
 with much success in these particulars : so much 
 fraud and imposture have prevailed, that we know 
 not what hath been palmed upon us for true, primi- 
 tive, genuine Christianity. This pure system is so 
 deformed and distorted from its original shape, that, 
 if Jesus Christ was to return into the world, and to 
 search the records of priests for his religion, he could 
 not know it again. 
 
 Where it is acknowledged that such artifices were 
 made use of, and that at a time when books were 
 scarce, with difficulty come at, and could not be 
 purchased but at a great price, — and hence, of course, 
 could be but in few hands, and be examined only by 
 a few persons, — we may well be dubious of the 
 authenticity of those which have reached us. Nobody 
 
X. PREFACE. 
 
 hnoivs by whom the compilation, called the New 
 Testament, was made. But, by whomsoever it was 
 done, doubtless the collection was formed according 
 to the knowledge, taste, genius, tempers, views, and 
 dispositions of the compiler or compilers, who adopted 
 and rejected according to their inclinations, interests, 
 and designs. However, it is generally allowed that 
 there were upwards of twelve gospels, some say 
 many more, which were current, and stood on an 
 equal footing of authority for more than an hundred 
 years after Christ ; and that the canon was not settled 
 till after that period. To assert that those who com- 
 piled the New Testament were guided by inspiration, 
 or that they were too honest to be corrupted, too wise 
 to be deceived, too cautious to be abused, too disin- 
 terested to be prejudiced; — I say, to aver all this, 
 without knowing who the compilers were, especially 
 as the compilation was certainly made in an age 
 when imposture abounded, must tend to provoke 
 ridicule, rather than to procure credence ; at least, 
 with persons of judgment, who are not under the in- 
 fluence of interest. Hence it is clear that we cannot, 
 at least, be satisfied of the divine authority of the 
 mysterious parts of the Scriptures. This, I think, has 
 been clearly proved in the conclusion of the following 
 Tract. Our author has also shewn, in this excellent 
 performance, that the moral doctrines of Christ and 
 his apostles are agreeable to the nature and reason of 
 things, and tend to promote the honour of God and 
 the good of mankind ; that they contain nothing 
 above our comprehension ; nothing mean, low, tri- 
 fling, or ridiculous ; nor any thing contrary to our 
 
PREFACE. XI. 
 
 ideas of the nature and perfections of God ; and that 
 they carry in them the marks of truth, and the signa- 
 tures of divine authority. 
 
 To inculcate the noble principles of Christian cha- 
 rity, rational toleration, the indulgence of mankind 
 in their natural rights, and the liberty of judging for 
 themselves in religious matters, seems to have been 
 his benevolent and laudable design. 
 
 As a religion which sets the Divine Being in an 
 odious light is worse than atheism, so a religion void 
 of charity, and which is made the instrument of 
 kindling hatred and animosity among mankind, is 
 detestable superstition, and cannot be directed by that 
 divine precept of doing to others as we icould they 
 should do unto us. That religion which, in order to 
 favour itself, inculcates hatred to others, or which 
 teaches any thing injurious to man, is certainly a 
 false religion ; for, that God intends the happiness of 
 his creatures, I think we may venture to assert. It 
 farther appears to me, that no religion can be true 
 which teaches that God can be pleased with any thing 
 but purity of heart and rectitude of life ; every other 
 way being inconsistent with all our ideas of infinite 
 perfection. 
 
 No principle in nature can be clearer or more cer- 
 tain than this, viz. — that, if a Being of infinite per- 
 fection produces other beings, it must be with a view 
 of communicating happiness to them, and not with 
 that of increasing his own : hence we may be assured 
 that God will require nothing of mankind, but the 
 practice of those virtues which will tend to promote 
 their own happiness. 
 
 b2 
 
XI 1. PREFACE. 
 
 Creation, or the causing of beings to exist, and all 
 the operations of the Deity, seem to be the eternal 
 necessary effects of the nature" of God, — that is to say, 
 of his attributes, attended with consciousness, or a 
 knowing and voluntary exertion of them. As he has 
 no passions like those which are found in man, nor 
 any such wants as are incident to the nature of man, 
 so neither could a regard for his own glory, reverence, 
 or honour, have been any motive to his causing crea- 
 tures to exist, or to his communicating to them 
 powers and faculties capable of discerning his exist- 
 ence, and of collecting, from a contemplation of the 
 beauty, order, and harmony, of the universe, his 
 adorable attributes. 
 
 God has none of the little selfish passions of kings, 
 princes, and governors, of this world, who are jealous 
 of their dues, attentive to their rights, prerogatives, 
 and honours, and who become peevish, froward, and 
 out of humour, if they conceive that there is not suf- 
 ficient respect paid them by their subjects. Jf some 
 of God's creatures should be unable to perceive his 
 divine, ineffable nature and attributes ; or if some of 
 them should never have heard of him ; or, from their 
 ignorance, or want of opportunity, could never be 
 instructed in his laws, nor be made acquainted with 
 the rules of his moral government ; or if they should 
 be deceived by those who undertook to instruct them, 
 (provided they are not slothful, and neglect inform- 
 ation ;) in such cases, God does not become pettish 
 and morose, or pour out the vials of his wrath upon 
 them : nor is it consistent with our ideas of infinite 
 goodness to suppose that he would become cruel and 
 
PREFACE. Xlll. 
 
 inexorable, and, for their frailties, ignorance, or de- 
 ception, resolve to inflict eternal punishments on his 
 poor, weak, mistaken creatures. 
 
 " If a frail mortal should have a numerous train of 
 the most violent passions to oppose ; if he should be 
 obliged to labour through the surrounding demands 
 and allurements of selfish appetites ; if it should be 
 necessary to subdue and overcome the solicitations of 
 affection, when it opposes the dictates of pure bene- 
 volence ;" would it be at all extraordinary that weak 
 man should become an easy conquest, and fall a 
 victim in such an unequal combat : I say, if frail 
 man, after a struggle in so unequal a conflict, should 
 be overcome, can we suppose that an infinitely wise 
 and good God will deliver him over to the malice of 
 the worst of beings, to be eternally tormented, with- 
 out any view of curing his intellectual maladies, of 
 making him wiser, better, and happier ? which must 
 be the case, if punishments are eternal, Would not 
 such conduct have rather the appearance of malice 
 and revenge, than of parental correction? And shall 
 we dare venture to ascribe it to the kind Parent of the 
 universe, whose only motive (conceivable by us) for 
 making creatures at all, was to render them happy 3 
 — Surely we ought not to do this. 
 
 Man does not sin out of malice, or with a design to 
 affront his Maker; but from his ignorance, his frailty, 
 and the violent solicitations of his passions, which 
 flatter him with a false appearance of happiness, and 
 dazzle his understanding with a delusive prospect of 
 pleasure. As this is the case, an infinitely good Being- 
 will surely punish such a delinquent only in order to 
 
XIV. PREFACE. 
 
 cure his moral maladies, and restore him to virtue 
 and happiness. 
 
 God cannot approve of sin, because it counteracts 
 his plan of universal happiness; and he certainly 
 keeps this benevolent plan in view, even when he pu- 
 nishes a sinner. It appears, indeed, as if God had 
 necessarily connected vice and misery, virtue and 
 happiness, together, in the nature of things, with the 
 most kind and benevolent intention. In this view, 
 the wicked man withdraws himself from and re- 
 nounces his God, and thereby removes himself from 
 happiness, and involves himself in misery. 
 
 Punishment appears to be a necessary result or 
 concomitant of sin, and, consequently, a benevolent 
 and amendatory means of approximation to happiness. 
 This seems agreeable to our ideas of the nature and 
 attributes of God, as collected from the display of 
 them in the system of the universe. 
 
 If we suppose that God wills the happiness of his 
 ereatures, we must also suppose that he has this end 
 in view through every part of his conduct towards 
 them. Whatever revelations he makes of himself to 
 his creatures, must be intended to produce general 
 good and universal happiness. What he communi- 
 cates must be agreeable to his own perfections, must 
 be intelligible, rational, and good. If a revelation 
 contains in it any thing repugnant to these signatures, 
 and marks of divine authority, it cannot be a revela- 
 tion from God. 
 
 What can we think of a system, where God is 
 represented as punishing one being with eternal 
 damnation for the disobedience and folly of another? 
 
PREFACE. XV. 
 
 Or what can we think of the goodness, the justice, 
 the rectitude, and moral government, of a Being, who 
 could not pardon sinners upon their contrition, re- 
 pentance, and reformation ; but required the blood 
 of innocents, to appease his wrath and pacify his 
 vengeance ? Surely a system in which the infinitely 
 perfect God is thus represented is repugnant to all 
 our ideas of goodness, justice, mercy, righteousness, 
 and moral perfection ; and, though the other parts of 
 it may be rational and moral, worthy of God, and 
 productive of happiness, yet we cannot believe these 
 to have the same authority. 
 
 From the metamorphoses which Christianity has 
 undergone since the advent of Christ, have arisen 
 various sects in Christendom, who hold different 
 tenets and opinions, with regard to revelation in ge- 
 neral, and to the religion of Christ in particular. 
 These sects and opinionists may be reduced to the 
 following classes, viz. — the Believers, the Rational 
 Christians, the Sceptics, and the Deists. 
 
 The Believers are the bulk, and these swallow, 
 without hesitation, all that is recommended to them 
 by the priest, let it be ever so contrary to reason, oppo- 
 site to experience, or inconsistent w r ith rational ideas 
 of the attributes and perfections of God. They are 
 either slothful, or so engaged in the pleasures of the 
 world, that they give up the trouble of examination to 
 others ; or they are fearful of trusting to their own 
 powers, and of judging for themselves in religious 
 matters, — leaving their eternal interest to the care of 
 interested men. 
 
 The Rational Christians embrace every thing ia 
 
XVI. PREFACE. 
 
 revelation that appears consonant to the attributes of 
 God, to the reason and nature of things, to the good 
 of society, and the happiness of mankind in general ; 
 and reject every thing that is mysterious, unintelli- 
 gible, or absurd, as being interpolation, corruption, 
 imposition, and forgery. 
 
 The third class are the Sceptics, or Doubters, 
 composed of those who never boldly assert or deny 
 any thing, but remain neuter, for ever floating in 
 the duplicity and ambiguity of things, without de- 
 termining either way ; and considering all nature as 
 incomprehensible, and certainty as not being the lot 
 of humanity. 
 
 The fourth and last class are the Deists. These 
 hold it to be impossible, in the nature of things, that 
 any supernatural revelation can be made by God to 
 man, consistent with the divine attributes ; it being- 
 impossible for any man to prove that he is not de- 
 ceived himself, and that he has no design to deceive 
 others : for, though a man may be convinced himself, 
 vet that can be no rational foundation for the con- 
 viction of another. To this may be added, that the 
 Scriptures themselves have renounced all proofs aris- 
 ing from miracles and prophecies, as being liable to 
 rational objection, and that they appeal to reason 
 only for the confirmation of religious truth. The De- 
 ists embrace the divine concession, and direct their 
 faith by this unerring guide. 
 
 Our author appears to belong to one of the four 
 classes of opinionists specified above, viz. — a rational 
 Christian. The design of his most excellent Tract 
 seems to be, to separate and distinguish between 
 
 3 
 
PREFACE. XV11. 
 
 pure and simple Christianity, or Christian morality, 
 as it was taught by its great Author, and the adul- 
 terated, sophisticated, clerical Christianity, which has 
 prevailed in Christendom, and which has elbowed 
 and jostled the Christianity of Jesus Christ almost 
 out of the world. He has endeavoured to shew that 
 the true sterling coin of Jesus Christ has been adul- 
 terated by artful men, and that their brass has been 
 palmed upon the world, and passed with the vulgar 
 for pure gold : that superstition, and foolish rites and 
 ceremonies, have been substituted in the room of 
 pure morality, true virtue, and genuine religion. 
 
 The Christianity of Jesus Christ is one thing : 
 clerical Christianity, or the Christianity taught by- 
 Christian priests, is another, of a quite different ge- 
 nius, nature, and complexion. The Christianity of 
 Jesus Christ was the love of God, and of our neigh- 
 hour; but the Christianity of the Christian clergy is, 
 assent to incomprehensible creeds, and the belief of 
 unintelligible doctrines ; — a belief that three distinct 
 consciousnesses may be one consciousness, and that 
 one consciousness may be three distinct conscious- 
 nesses ; that something besides repentance and re- 
 formation is necessary to the favour of God ; and that 
 this cannot be obtained without the blood of an in- 
 nocent and immaculate Being. — The belief of these 
 doctrines is insisted upon, in the Protestant church, as 
 necessary to salvation. 
 
 Many of the Pagans objected, that the impieties, 
 absurdities, inexplicable doctrines, and incomprehen- 
 sible mysteries, contained in the books of the Old and 
 New Testament, rendered Christianity so incredible, 
 
 c 
 
XV1U. PREFACE. 
 
 that they thought it ridiculous to embrace it, and 
 renounce their own creeds and doctrines, which were, 
 in their opinions, more rational and intelligible. The 
 doctrine of a dying God was rejected by their philo- 
 sophers with disdain and contempt. This, and many 
 other of the mysteries of Christianity, gave to the 
 Gentile philosophers, and to so great a number of 
 Pagans, such an aversion to Christianity, that Mons. 
 Claude, a French Protestant refugee teacher, avers 
 that, had it not been for the severe edicts of Constan- 
 tine and his son against Paganism, or the old Gentile 
 religion, three parts in four of all Europe would have 
 been at this day Pagans. No wonder this should be 
 the case, when one of the Fathers observes, " that, 
 if the doctrines of the Old Testament were to be taken 
 literally, he should blush to own it ; the laws con- 
 tained in it being far inferior to heathen institu- 
 tions ■." 
 
 It appears, from what has been offered, that, as 
 the religion of nature and reason was corrupted by 
 priestcraft and power, so the religion of Jesus was 
 soon contaminated and defiled by the same means. 
 Hence our author, in the Tract before us, has la- 
 boured to purge Christianity from its base mixture, 
 to refine the mass, to separate the pure gold from the 
 dross with which it is alloyed, to shew it in its 
 native excellency and lustre, and to demonstrate how 
 worthy it is of our regard and admiration when 
 cleansed from the dregs with which it is incrusted, 
 and under which it has been long buried. Pure 
 Christianity is a beauty, which has been dressed up 
 in the filthy rags of human invention ; so that none 
 3 
 
PREFACE. XIX. 
 
 of her native charms could be seen, unless by the 
 penetrating and curious eye. She has been so masked 
 and disguised, by those who have pretended to recom- 
 mend her to the world, that she has rather appeared a 
 ichor e of Babylon than a daughter of the skies. Our 
 author has stripped her of the ridiculous tinsel trap- 
 pings with which she has been covered, and made her 
 appear simplex munditiis ; — the character of a true 
 beauty, capable, by her genuine simple charms, of 
 attracting the admiration of all men of true taste and 
 genius. Peace on earth, good will to men, the love of 
 God and of our neighbour, universal charity and 
 benevolence, and the doing to others as we would they 
 should do unto us, is the summary of the religion of 
 Jesus. How short and full her apothegms! how 
 sweet and enchanting the voice of pure and genuine 
 Christianity ! Good God ! what have we now got in 
 its stead! 
 
 The train of piety, benevolence, sobriety, integrity, 
 and sociability, which runs through our author's per- 
 formance, is very remarkable. His maxims are honey 
 extracted from the New Testament, and the practice 
 of them seems to be all that is necessary to promote 
 universal happiness. His precepts and doctrines are 
 not new in themselves — not of his own invention ; but 
 the precepts and doctrines of Christ and his apostles, 
 recommended to our practice by motives entirely 
 rational, set in a new and advantageous light, and 
 such as must claim the regard and attention of all 
 good Christians. 
 
 The ignorance and weakness of some, — the appe- 
 tites, passions, private interests, and craft of others, — 
 
 c 2 
 
XX. PREFACE. 
 
 will all conspire to corrupt the most rational, clear, 
 and beneficent doctrines. The ambiguity of language 
 will always afford opportunities for designing men to 
 render the plainest truths, and clearest precepts, liable 
 to alteration, to various interpretations, and a variety 
 of corruptions. But what a field do metaphor, alle- 
 gory, criticism, &c. open for dispute! what an ex- 
 tended broad canvass for priests to paint on, and draw 
 a thousand scenes of absurdity and superstition ! 
 
 Mankind have been thus corrupted by crafty and 
 designing priests : Jesus Christ (as our author sup- 
 poses) undertook to republish the law of nature, to 
 restore natural religion to its primitive purity, to 
 recall mankind to the use of their reason, and to ex- 
 punge and banish out of the world Pagan and Jewish 
 superstition, by the promulgation of the Gospel, which 
 originally contained nothing but rational incitements 
 to the practice of moral virtue ; free from rites, cere- 
 monies, and unintelligible mysteries, in which all 
 other religions were then involved, and with which 
 the religion of nature, and the law of reason, had been 
 clouded, — nay, even obliterated, — among the vulgar. 
 This was certainly an arduous undertaking, consi- 
 dering the prejudices, weakness, and bigotry of 
 mankind, and how difficult it is to eradicate any es- 
 tablished foolery. Yet, with a noble resolution, Jesus 
 undertook the task : — but no sooner had he in some 
 degree succeeded, than his followers corrupted his 
 religion, and restored again the kingdom of darkness. 
 Perhaps it may be asked, What is necessary to 
 reclaim mankind from their stupidity as to natural 
 theology? The reply is short: — Enjoin, as credenda 
 
PREFACE. XXI. 
 
 in religion, only that there is one God, who distributes 
 rewards to the good, and punishments to the bad, 
 both in this and in another life : that goodness con- 
 sists in universal charity and benevolence, evinced by 
 doing to others as ice would they should do unto us : 
 that, upon a breach of these duties, the favour of 
 God and happiness are only to be procured by repent- 
 ance and amendment. This is the system of the 
 author of the following Tract ; a system of morals, 
 which he hath recommended and enforced throughout 
 his whole work ; and this is a broad foundation, on 
 which all religionists may stand easily together, with- 
 out jostling each other. In a word, this is the system 
 of a Rational Christian. As these principles are the 
 foundation of all rational religion, and the only creed 
 necessary to be assented to for the support and hap- 
 piness of society; all other things should be left as 
 indifferent matters, and be referred to men's own 
 prudence, without any penal injunctions, either su- 
 pernatural or civil. 
 
 Quakerism is, perhaps, the most simple system of 
 Christianity that ever obtained in the world. The 
 people of that persuasion are, or seem to be, among 
 Christians, what the Essenes were among the Jews, 
 as to their lives and moral conduct. Does not their 
 theology answer all the honest ends which rational 
 religion can effect in society, or for which it could 
 be instituted? I believe there is more rational reli- 
 gion, true piety, good sense, integrity, sobriety, in- 
 dustry, benevolence, charity, and brotherly love, among 
 the Quakers, than among any sect of Christians be- 
 sides in the world, in proportion to their numbers. I 
 
XXil. PREFACE. 
 
 know it is said of the Quakers, that they confine their 
 benevolence to those of their own persuasion. This 
 notion has probably arisen from those large sums 
 which, at their meetings, they collect for the support 
 of their own poor ; — a laudable example for Christians 
 of every other denomination ! but this, I know, does 
 not prevent the diffusions of their charity to proper 
 objects, though of different denominations in religion. 
 Many instances of this sort I have myself been ac- 
 quainted with ;* and I must add, to the honour of 
 the Quakers, that they appear to excel in that more 
 noble branch of Christian charity, which covereth a 
 multitude of faults. You will seldom, if ever, hear a 
 Quaker speak ill of his neighbour. They seem to 
 make a point of this ; and also of never depreciating 
 any religious opinion, let it differ ever so widely from 
 their own. Thus they do honour to the religion they 
 profess, and become (especially in these particulars) 
 examples worthy the imitation of Christians of every 
 other denomination. That the Quakers are ready to 
 extend their friendship, and to do offices of kindness 
 to those who differ from them in religious tenets, I am 
 
 * The Editor of this work can, from his own knowledge of 
 many worthy Quakers, and personal acquaintance with them, testify 
 several instances of their general acts of charity and henevolence 
 towards those of different sects. It is no more than an act of jus- 
 tice, which he conceives to be due to the character of the Quakers, by 
 naming one individual belonging to their Society, — the present Mrs. 
 Fry, of St. Mildred's Court ; who, even at the risk of her life, visits 
 the prisoners in Newgate, for the purpose of relieving the distressed, 
 and improving their morals, though there is not one person of her 
 own persuasion to be found there as a prisoner, for any crime what- 
 soever. — Editor. 
 
PREFACE. JCXUI. 
 
 myself well convinced ; and the author of the follow- 
 ing Tract has often assured me, that his experience 
 has furnished him with the same opinion of them, 
 and that he is in a particular manner obliged to one 
 gentleman* of that persuasion, who is requested to 
 excuse this public acknowledgment of gratitude. — 
 But, after all, the Socratic dogma and political prin- 
 ciples of the Quakers seem liable to some exceptions, 
 as the world stands at present. 
 
 The main end and design of religion ought to be 
 the production of good morals, and the end of good 
 morals the augmentation and diffusion of human 
 happiness: but priests, in their artificial theology, 
 have taught their disciples to quarrel about the means, 
 so far as to sacrifice and destroy the end. If moral 
 and religious institutions be not recommended to our 
 observance, in order to make us wiser, better, and 
 happier ; for what end are they instituted ? Yet, if 
 the means prescribed prevent the end, do they not 
 carry in themselves the marks of their own absurdity ? 
 
 When we say, Virtue is beautiful, orderly, right, 
 fit, becoming, prudent, wise, good, and the like ; 
 what do all these epithets mean more than that virtue 
 actually conduces to the happiness of conscious, per- 
 
 * Mr. John Gurney, of Norwich ; who, though a merchant in 
 very extensive business, employs a considerable part of his time in 
 arbitrating differences, determining intricate disputes, and establish- 
 ing peace and good neighbourhood, not only among those of his 
 own religion, but also, and perhaps fully as often, among per- 
 sons of a different persuasion. His capacity is very great, his 
 judgment is strong and clear, and his integrity is so well known to 
 be inflexible, that he has very frequent opportunities of thus ex- 
 pressing his universal benevolence. 
 
XXIV. PREFACE. 
 
 ceptive beings ? God cannot command us to do any 
 thing contrary to our own happiness : the very sup- 
 position is absurd, because it contains in it a pre- 
 sumption that God may be malevolent; which is 
 inconsistent with the nature of self -existence, since 
 that implies all possible perfection. 
 
 If, then, it be impossible for God to command any 
 thing inconsistent with the happiness of his creatures, 
 shall we be so absurd as to take the word of a priest, 
 when he tells us that God does so? Surely we ought 
 not. 
 
 When the internal sentiment of a doctrine is con- 
 trary to the attributes of God, to the good of man, 
 to propriety, order, and perfection, — not even oracles 
 and prophecies can support its pretensions to divine 
 authority ; nor can the belief of thousands, their suf- 
 fering, nor even their dying in the defence of such 
 doctrine, carry any weight with rational and unpre- 
 judiced minds. 
 
 From what has been advanced, we conclude, that 
 nothing can prove the divine authority of any revela- 
 tion, but its internal moral excellence, its consonancy 
 to the reason of things, and its tendency to promote 
 the happiness of the creatures to whom it is made. 
 Reason and conscience are the only guides to be de- 
 pended upon in religious matters ; and, if we renounce 
 their directions and admonitions, we lay ourselves 
 open to all manner of delusion, hateful to God,* and 
 destructive to mankind. This is so clear, that, when 
 the Protestants opposed the corruptions of Popery, 
 
 * See Romans, chap. i. 
 
PREFACE. XXV. 
 
 they appealed both to Scripture and Reason-, but 
 what a misfortune ! they soon forsook their founda- 
 tion, advanced a set of principles which destroyed 
 the very spirit of the liberty they claimed, and began, 
 in their turn, to punish those who would not subscribe 
 to their creeds and doctrines. 
 
 Instead of this cruel and persecuting spirit, our 
 author has endeavoured to establish love, peace, cha- 
 rity, and universal benevolence ; to expunge all mys- 
 teries and unintelligible doctrines out of religion, and 
 to reduce it to a plain brief system of useful mo- 
 rality; such as was delivered by Jesus Christ to 
 mankind. 
 
 The principles of religion, necessary to promote 
 peace, order, and happiness in society, are few, sim- 
 ple, and plain. As they stand in our Author's Tract, 
 they seem to be all comprehended in the following 
 articles : — 
 
 First, That there is a God, who ought to be wor- 
 shipped. 
 
 Second, That he rewards the good, and punishes 
 the bad, both in this life, and in the life to come. 
 
 Third, That only repentance and reformation are 
 required, to enable sinful man to attain the first and 
 escape the last. 
 
 Fourth, That all morality is contained in the ride 
 of doing to others, as you would they should do unto 
 you. 
 
 A late writer* says, " Some, for what end I hardly 
 know, have written against the religion of their 
 
 * See Enquiry into the Life of Homer. 
 
XXVi. PREFACE. 
 
 country, and, without substituting any thing in its 
 place, would deprive us of it, for the pleasure of doing 
 mischief." I would ask this gentleman, whether the 
 substitution of the religion contained in the above 
 principles, and the abolition of all clerical engraft- 
 ments on this pure Christianity, would be doing 
 mischief? 
 
 To root out all clerical impiety, to rescue Christi- 
 anity from the impurities ascribed to it by interested 
 men, and to restore the religion of Jesus Christ to its 
 original perfection, by separating it from the unin- 
 telligible mysteries and gross absurdities which have 
 been blended with it, seems to be the beneficent 
 design of the following Tract, from which I will no 
 longer detain the reader. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 TO THE DEISTS. 
 
 Of Deism. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 To you, who glory in the title of lovers of truth and 
 free enquiry, I now address myself, — having under- 
 taken to vindicate the characters of Christ and of 
 his Apostles from the false aspersions and ground- 
 less calumnies of modern unbelievers ; and to prove 
 that the religion which they taught was the genuine 
 religion of nature and reason, as it existed from all 
 eternity, — the very religion that you boast of, — as 
 being more pure, more perfect, more clear, and easy 
 to be understood, than any other ; and, therefore, by 
 you, styled Deism, or the Religion of God, written by 
 him in the hearts of all his intelligent creatures, and 
 suited to all the various relations in which we stand 
 to him and to each other. 
 
 Of the Excellency of the Laws of God above human 
 
 Laws. 
 
 I readily agree with you, that such a religion can 
 admit of no improvement ; that no other can be so 
 
 d2 
 
28 INTRODUCTION- 
 
 perfect and complete in all its parts, or so well adapted 
 to promote the happiness of mankind ; and that these 
 maxims must be allowed by all, if they deliberate a 
 moment, and consider who was their Author. What 
 can be more perfect than the law of God? Who, ber 
 sides the Maker of the universe, can be so capable of 
 framing laws fit to govern it] who can so well know 
 the wants and necessities of mankind as God, whose 
 omniscient eye penetrates all nature? How easy 
 must it have been for that infinitely wise Being, who 
 made all things, to make laws which would always, 
 and in all countries, answer the purposes of his go- 
 vernment? It is, indeed, a degree Of blasphemy to 
 say he could not do this, or that his laws should ever 
 stand in need of alteration or amendment. 
 
 The law of virtue is as immutable as God himself; 
 and therefore must be the same at all times and in all 
 places, and never can require to be repealed, like 
 human laws. Human laws may be suited to different 
 situations and circumstances ; but the laws of God 
 (which are engraven on the hearts of his creatures) 
 are universal, unchangeable, and of eternal obligation. 
 Now this cannot be said of any positive laws which 
 have been established since the creation ; and such 
 laws cannot be universal, as part of mankind cannot 
 be supposed to have been acquainted with them. 
 
 All Men are bound by the Laws of Virtue. 
 
 The laws of virtue, of reason, of nature, of God, 
 which are all the same, have their foundation in the 
 nature of things. The first man, — nay, the first 
 angel, the first intelligent being that ever existed, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 — was bound by these laws the moment he began to 
 exist, and will be bound by them so long as he conti- 
 nues in existence : for, as they are suited to all the 
 various relations which intelligent creatures stand in 
 to God, and to one another, so, while these relations 
 subsist (which doubtless they will to all eternity), 
 no other laws can be necessary to answer the wise 
 and beneficent purposes of God's government, or to 
 promote the happiness of his creatures. 
 
 Some Reason in all Religions. 
 
 A religion dictated by God must be the most pure 
 and perfect possible ; and, as a proof of its being 
 universally thought so, there is scarce one, among all 
 the various religions now in the world, but has a 
 mixture of this pure religion of nature and reason in 
 it, though greatly alloyed by superstition and enthu- 
 siasm, by human inventions, and by " the command- 
 ments of men." 
 
 Christ taught and revived the pure Religion of 
 Nature. 
 
 I farther agree with you, Gentlemen, who call 
 yourselves Deists, that the religion of nature and 
 reason must be a religion which came from God, be- 
 cause it can easily be traced to its divine original ; 
 and the value of all other religions may be found by 
 comparing them with this standard : but surely these 
 are no reasons why this religion should not also be 
 the religion taught by Christ and his apostles. 
 
 The religion of reason and nature, this pure stream 
 from the eternal source of perfection, was almost 
 
 3 
 
30 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 choked up by ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, 
 (among the vulgar at least,) when Christ undertook 
 to clear it of the rubbish which the Jewish and Hea- 
 then priests had thrown into it, that it might again 
 flow, fraught with happiness to mankind: and this he 
 did, by pointing out to them the obligations they were 
 under to follow the dictates of reason and nature. 
 
 The Morals of the New Testament are the. pure 
 Religion of Nature, and Christ is not the Author of 
 its mysterious Parts. 
 
 This glorious intention of his is what I shall at- 
 tempt to prove ; and I think it will not be a difficult 
 task, because the moral part of the New Testament is 
 entirely consistent with, and appears to be a perfect 
 transcript of, the religion of nature. 
 
 As to the other parts of the New Testament,— 
 namely, the mysterious and supernatural, — I shall 
 take very little notice of them in this work, farther 
 than to remark that they have not the seal of God, 
 nor can they be proved to have the same divine 
 origin : neither does it appear to me that our happi- 
 ness or misery at all depend upon them, they being 
 above the reach of our capacities, and therefore can- 
 not belong to human nature. 
 
 Mysteries are not for Man, because they produce no 
 good Actions. 
 
 The moral parts of the New Testament are those 
 only which can concern mankind ; as they clearly 
 point out the duties which we owe to God, to our 
 neighbour, and to ourselves. Whatever interested 
 
INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 and designing men may have introduced by craft, 
 and blended with the pure religion of Christ, or 
 howsoever any adulteration may have been made, 
 such corruptions cannot be allowed to be any essen- 
 tial part of his religion ; because such unintelligible 
 mysteries cannot at all influence our conduct, or tend 
 to promote virtue and happiness, which are the main 
 end of true religion. That religion, which cannot 
 influence the practice of man, cannot belong to man, 
 however happy priests may have been in amusing 
 mankind with words, and in making them believe 
 that unintelligible jargon represents divine mysteries 
 and sublime things. 
 
 The intention of religion, originally, was to make 
 mankind good ; for goodness will, upon the whole, be 
 productive of happiness : but a man may read, study, 
 write, and argue all his life, about original sin, re- 
 demption, faith, justification, sanctification, the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity, and the like, without adding one 
 tittle to the goodness of his moral character, or being 
 induced thereby to perform one benevolent action. 
 Yet it is certainly a man's actions that will constitute 
 him good or bad. 
 
 An unintelligible Religion is useless. 
 
 A religion which a man, by the best use of his 
 faculties, cannot understand, surely cannot influence 
 his moral conduct This is too clear to admit of a 
 dispute, or to require illustration. 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Of (jroodness. 
 
 Goodness, at least in man, is a relative term, and 
 includes in it the claims which God and our fellow- 
 creatures have on us. There must be some exertion 
 of a man's powers in promoting the happiness of 
 others j in order to constitute him a good man, a friend 
 to his country, and a benefactor to society in general. 
 Such a character is distinguished in the strongest 
 manner, in the Scripture, from that of a merely righ- 
 teous man ; particularly when it is said, " For scarcely 
 for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure 
 for a good man some would even dare to die," Rom. 
 v. 7. If goodness, then, consists in the practice of 
 the moral virtues, and is to be learnt from the 
 moral parts of the New Testament, and from no other 
 parts of it; this is sufficient to justify any preference 
 which we may ascribe to the moral parts, and to ex- 
 cuse any doubts we may entertain about the other 
 parts of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 Christ's genuine Character. 
 
 It is from the moral parts of the New Testament 
 that we must learn the character of Christ. By these 
 he appears highly worthy of our imitation ; by these 
 he appears to be a wise and good man, one concerned 
 to promote the happiness of his brethren ; and by 
 these he appears to be one whose justice was inflexi- 
 ble, whose charity was diffusive, and whose benevo- 
 lence was universal. Add to these virtues, that 
 meekness and humility which he so much recom- 
 mended, and for which he was so eminent, and you 
 w 7 ill have a sketch of his genuine character. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 Corruptions of his Religion. 
 
 Whatever savours of pride, or of a lust of power, 
 or of assuming to be equal with God, and the like, 
 has not been proved to be a part of his writings, but 
 rather to have been introduced, amidst the warm 
 disputes with the Jews, after his death; at which time 
 the prophecies of the Jewish prophets were turned 
 against them, and were interpreted for them, by 
 Christians, in a way quite opposite to what they had 
 been taught to believe or assent to. 
 
 Scripture Proofs of his not being equal to God the 
 
 Father. 
 
 I do not find that Christ himself ever assumed a 
 higher character than that of a messenger from God ; 
 and such he might well be said to be, as he was em- 
 ployed in the republication of the religion of nature, 
 which is the law of God : nor was it necessary for 
 him to produce a commission immediately from God 
 to claim the regard and attention of mankind, seeing 
 that what he taught them was plain and clear, and 
 had a natural tendency to promote their happiness. 
 He refused the worship that was offered him, and 
 directed mankind to the only proper object of it — his 
 Father, the God and Father of the whole world : and 
 in this sense he might with great propriety call God 
 his Father, and direct us to call him our Father. 
 He says to Mary, (John xx. 17,) "' Go to my bre- 
 thren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, 
 and your Father ; and to my God, and your God.' 1 
 As to his assuming an equality with God, in the 
 
34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sense in which we generally accept the word equal, I 
 think it is clearly evident that he did not ; particu- 
 larly from his conversation concerning the day of 
 judgment, the knowledge of which he ascribes to the 
 Father only : " But of that day or hour knoweth no 
 man, — no, not the angels of heaven, — but my Father 
 only." Matt. xxiv. 36. As if he had said, of this 
 important day knoweth no man : therefore ye cannot 
 know, nor can I tell it you, since even the angels of 
 heaven know it not, but God the Father only. 
 
 Indeed, when St. Mark relates the same conversa- 
 tion, he does it differently; for, after he has men- 
 tioned that neither men nor angels know that day, he 
 goes on, " No, not the Son, but the Father only :" 
 from whence some have believed, that Christ speaks 
 here of himself as the Son of God, in that peculiar 
 and distinguished sense which our church supposes 
 when she calls him God the Son. But let such con- 
 sider that he ascribes the attribute of foreknowledge 
 to God the Father only ; which appears to me to be 
 a full and perfect confutation of that weak argument, 
 namely, — that, as man, he did not know it, though he 
 knew it as God : this, I say, appears to me, in this 
 particular instance, to destroy the notion of that per- 
 fect equality with God the Father which some have 
 ascribed to him ; for, though Christ is called God, 
 he is never called the Father: and, therefore, if the 
 Father only knew the day of judgment, Christ, not 
 being God the Father, could not know it in either 
 sense, and, consequently, in this particular know- 
 ledge, he could not be equal to him who knows all 
 things. I mention this here, the rather to shew how 
 
INTRODUCTION. 35 
 
 puzzling and uncertain every thing but the morality 
 is, and how much it is out of the power of human 
 reason to form any judgment about the mysterious 
 parts of the New Testament. 
 
 Whether Christ was, in a supernatural way, in- 
 spired by God with resolution, steadiness, fortitude, 
 wisdom, patience, and perseverance, in this great 
 work — the republication and revival of the law of 
 nature, human reason cannot determine : but this, I 
 think, may be allowed, that, if ever God does su- 
 pernaturally interpose to direct the actions of men, 
 he never could have a motive for so doing more 
 worthy of himself than to assist in the republication 
 and more effectual propagation of that religion which 
 he had originally planted in the minds of his intelli- 
 gent creatures, but which, by the abuse of their free- 
 dom, they had shamefully neglected, notwithstanding 
 the practice of it would have made them truly happy 
 in this or in some future state of existence.* 
 
 God is the source of all good ; and, whatever tends 
 to promote the happiness of mankind, is originally 
 derived from him. That regard for the moral virtues 
 which Christ taught, is founded in reason, and in 
 the nature of things. The moral law is most certainly 
 the law of God, and therefore the obligations to obey 
 that law must be invariable and eternal : nor could 
 it be made more obligatory upon us, whether Christ 
 was supernaturally assisted by God in the propaga- 
 
 * Indeed, according to Dr. Warburton, this might be done a 
 much shorter way, namely, — by internal impressions* See his 
 Doctrine of Grace, page 68. 
 
 £3 
 
36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tion of it ; or whether, like other philosophers, he, 
 by study and application, by making use of his facul- 
 ties in opposition to ignorance and enthusiasm, made 
 the glorious figure in the world which he did. 
 
 The Conduct of Christ most excellent. 
 
 However, this must be acknowledged by you 
 Deists, that Christ discovered as much meekness, 
 patience, resolution, and perseverance, as Socrates, 
 Epictetus, or even any one before or since his time. 
 Yet I have heard some of you mention his fear of 
 death as a blemish in his character : but I think this 
 charge of imperfection in him to be without founda- 
 tion. That he should shrink at the approach of 
 death, and pray to have the bitter cup pass from him, 
 is not at all to the prejudice of his character, and 
 serves only to prove that he was a man of like pas- 
 sions and feelings tcith other men, though possessed 
 of more virtue, knowledge, benevolence, and good- 
 ness of heart, than other men. 
 
 Apology for his Fear of Death. 
 
 But the most consummate virtue is not always 
 sufficient to support human nature in that dreadful 
 hour. Besides, the behaviour of persons at that im- 
 portant moment may depend more on constitution, 
 and the texture of their nerves, than on their real 
 virtue. You say, that Socrates appeared to die with 
 less concern than Jesus Christ ; but you cannot make 
 it appear that Socrates was a better man than "the 
 man Christ Jesus." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 Deists censured. 
 
 I have heard, with concern, the character of 
 Christ, and that of his apostles, treated with fami- 
 liarity, and even with contempt, by persons who have 
 called themselves Deists ; while they spoke of Plato, 
 Socrates, Epictetus, and others of the ancient philo- 
 sophers, with great reverence. Now, I apprehend 
 that this can arise from nothing but the want of 
 knowing his true character, or from their taking that 
 for a part of his religion, which, in reality, had nothing 
 to do with it. I do not mention this as a reflection 
 on the religion of a Deist ; for I am well apprised 
 that there are knaves and fools in all religions , and 
 that even the Protestant religion gains very little ho- 
 nour from the lives of many of its professors. 
 
 The pure religion which Christ taught appears to 
 me to be the same that God himself originally im- 
 pressed on the minds of mankind, founded in the 
 reason and nature of things, and on the relation 
 which we stand in to him and to one another. Now, 
 if this maxim be true, as I think it will appear, from 
 considering the doctrines and precepts of Christ and 
 his apostles, what are you Deists doing by opposing 
 it? It is like dividing a house against itself, and giv- 
 ing cause of triumph to superstition and enthusiasm. 
 
 Deists should oppose Priestcraft. 
 
 But here I would willingly check any rising vanity 
 you may feel from supposing that these arguments 
 are brought to prove that Christ and his apostles were 
 really Deists like yourselves ; since they are only 
 
38 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 designed to shew how easy it is for a Deist to become 
 a rational Christian, without renouncing his favourite 
 attachment to his " heaven -appointed guide" reason. 
 But, be this as it may, it is certainly your business, 
 as well as mine, to level your batteries against super- 
 stition, enthusiasm, bigotry, and priestcraft. You 
 should exert your wit and abilities in pointing out 
 what is really a part of the religion of Christ, and 
 what can be no part of any rational religion what- 
 ever ; what must concern and influence the conduct 
 of intelligent creatures, and what they can have no 
 concern with, because it is above the reach of their 
 faculties to form any judgment concerning it. 
 
 Christ's Religion purely Rational and Moral 
 
 You call yours a rational scheme of religion : that 
 of Christ appears to be so too. Why then will you 
 depreciate the character of one whom you, if you 
 are good men, must imitate? His religion was pure 
 morality : you say yours is so too. Surely you should 
 speak honourably of a person who lost his life in the 
 support of that religion which you yourselves profess. 
 
 Christianity without Mystery. 
 
 I contend only for the moral parts of the New 
 Testament ; nor shall I endeavour to account for the 
 introduction of those other parts which are blended 
 with them. But that pure morality and unintelligible 
 mystery should be propagated together by the same 
 person, is hardly to be conceived. However, the 
 general character of Christ will best determine which 
 part was his, aad which not. 
 3 
 
INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 The Revival very necessary at his Advent 
 
 That a revival, or republication, of the religion of 
 nature and reason was very necessary when Christ 
 made his appearance in the world, will easily be seen 
 by taking a view of the general state of mankind at 
 that period. 
 
 The Religion of the Jews. 
 
 Whatever notions Moses, the Jewish lawgiver, 
 might himself have of the supreme Being, it is evi- 
 dent that the ideas which the generality of the Jews 
 had of him were low, grovelling, partial, and imper- 
 fect. Instead of believing God to be the maker and 
 governor, the father, friend, and benefactor, of the 
 universe, they vainly thought him to be the God of 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, — the God of the Jews 
 only ; and that he had chosen them as his peculiar 
 people, they being the descendants of his friend and 
 favourite Abraham. It appears as if they thought the 
 Deity were a local, partial, finite, comprehensible, 
 visible, capricious, and revengeful Being, like them- 
 selves ; that he loved only them, and hated all the 
 world besides ; and, from this principle, they were led 
 to hate and despise all mankind except themselves. 
 Charity and universal benevolence, those grand and 
 essential parts of the religion of nature and of Christ, 
 do not appear to have been inculcated among them, 
 or to be a part of Moses's plan ; nor does it appear 
 that he impressed on their minds any ideas of a fu- 
 ture state. 
 
40 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Their Religion was Ceremony ivithout Virtue. 
 
 Their religion consisted principally in ceremonies, 
 in which there could be no real virtue, in which the 
 purity of the heart could have but little share ; and, 
 therefore, it is not apparently stamped with the di- 
 vine seal. The virtues of justice, charity, and bene- 
 volence, were in nowise influenced, or the practice of 
 them promoted, by this religion.* God was to be 
 appeased and rendered kind to them by sacrifices and 
 ceremonies, not by virtuous actions. In this igno- 
 rance of their duties to God and to mankind, in this 
 dark and gloomy situation, the Jews continued till the 
 time of Christ, who benevolently endeavoured to take 
 them off from those low and grovelling notions of 
 God, and exalt their souls to a more sublime and 
 spiritual worship of the Deity ; and likewise to lead 
 them to the practice of the moral virtues, which were 
 more pure, more humane, more social, and more be- 
 nevolent, than what Moses had ever taught them. 
 And, notwithstanding they now continue the cere- 
 monial of their religion, they certainly have more 
 exalted ideas of God than they had before the time 
 of Christ. 
 
 * Plato, in his tenth Book of Laws, divides Atheists into three 
 sorts, viz. — those who deny a God ; those who acknowledge him, 
 but deny his providence ; and those who acknowledge both, but 
 teach that the gods are to be appeased, placated, and rendered kind 
 and propitious to wicked men, by prayers, vows, gifts, sacrifices, 
 and honours paid to them. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 41 
 
 Moses's Miracles prejudice the Jews in favour of 
 their Religion, and they believe him to be a divine 
 Teacher. 
 
 The prejudices of the Jews in favour of their reli- 
 gion were very great ; which I do not at all wonder 
 at, as they had the same external evidence of the 
 truth of their religion which Christ gave of his : for 
 the miracles of Moses, their great law-giver, must 
 claim, with them at least, an equal regard with those 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Jews were then, and are still, too fond of their 
 rituals, and of the ceremonial parts of their religion : 
 at least, they appear so to us, who are convinced that 
 things of this sort are absolutely indifferent. But we 
 should not blame them for this ; always remembering 
 that nothing can appear indifferent, which we believe 
 to have the sanction of a divine command ; which is 
 the case with regard to them and their religious ce- 
 remonies. They believe that both the moral and the 
 ceremonial parts of their religion were of divine ori- 
 ginal, or institution; and that Moses, their great 
 prophet and lawgiver, was commissioned by God to 
 teach them. This Christ himself never disputed with 
 them ; nor do the generality of Christians at this day 
 deny the divine legation of Moses. 
 
 The religion of the Jews is allowed, by modern di- 
 vines, to be the most ancient of any religion in the 
 world,* and to have been originally instituted by 
 
 * The Abrahamic religion, which was different from the Mosaic, 
 seems to have been the oldest religion. 
 
42 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 God himself. Indeed, if they allow not this, they at 
 once give up all the proofs brought from ancient pro- 
 phecies of the divinity of the Christian religion; and 
 then the boasted harmony between the Old and New- 
 Testament can be no longer asserted. Why, then, 
 are the Jews unjustly treated with so much contempt 
 by the Christians, instead of having, as elder bro- 
 thers, the right hand of fellowship given them ? 
 
 The Christians' false Charge against the Jews 
 answered. 
 
 But Christians charge the Jews with obstinately 
 sinning against the conviction of their own minds, 
 and with crucifying the Son of God, knowing and 
 believing him to be such. This is a heavy charge ; 
 but it appears to me as if they did not deserve it. — 
 Let us consider this matter. 
 
 Is it reasonable to suppose, that this people could 
 be not only weak enough, but mad enough, to attempt 
 the life of a person whom they believed to be the 
 Son of God, in that peculiar and distinguished sense 
 in which our church believes him to be so] — namely, 
 one armed with the power of omnipotence, and who 
 could have crushed their whole state with a single 
 nod. Surely it is not reasonable to suppose this, but 
 rather that they had not sufficient evidence of his 
 being the Messiah. They have, indeed, been told by 
 Christians, that the prophecies of their ancient pro- 
 phets have had their completion in the person of Jesus 
 Christ ; and that what they take in a literal sense is 
 merely allegorical, and relative to a spiritual, not 
 to a temporal kingdom. But this they still confidently 
 
INTRODUCTION. 43 
 
 deny, and give those prophecies a very different 
 turn. 
 
 The Jews justified. 
 
 I own I can see no reasonable claim that Christians 
 can have to interpret, for the Jews, their sacred 
 books, or to have a better understanding than they 
 have of their own prophets. However, I shall leave 
 those things to be disputed by the learned. Yet, 
 God forbid that I should have so little charity as to 
 think the Jews in general insincere, and that all their 
 external show of religion is mere farce and deceit. 
 Surely, we should think it hard to be thus censured ; 
 and should imagine that we had a right, at least, to 
 the milder and more candid epithet of being mis- 
 taken. 
 
 Jews not designed to be converted to Christianity. 
 
 I confess it appears to me, that God never yet 
 intended the conversion of the Jews, in general, to 
 Christianity, for this plain reason, viz. — if he had, 
 they would have been converted : for who can defeat 
 the intentions of the Almighty ? or what heart is so 
 obstinate and perverse that God cannot turn it if he 
 please ? 
 
 Besides, the death of Christ, the manner of his 
 death, and the persons by whose hands he was to die, 
 all seem, from the mysterious parts of the New Tes- 
 tament, to be parts of God's original plan. 
 
 f2 
 
44 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Of Foreknoivledge. 
 
 He foreknew that Adam would fall, and therefore 
 he provided a remedy : so that, if the Jews had 
 believed, Christ had not died; and, if Christ had not 
 died, the redemption of mankind would have been 
 unaccomplished; from whence they must still have 
 remained in their sins. 
 
 Farther, — if God foreknew that Christ should die 
 by the hands of the Jews, he also foreknew that they 
 would not be converted ; and, notwithstanding the 
 prejudices caused by blind scholastic opinions, and 
 disputations about foreknowledge and free-will,* it 
 is clear that, whatever God foreknows, that thing will 
 certainly come to pass, as no power in heaven or 
 earth can prevent it: and, though it be allowed that 
 the foreknowledge of God may not influence the ac- 
 tions of free beings, yet it is a contradiction in terms 
 to say, that God foreknows a thing will come to pass 
 which may not come to pass ; for, if it does not come 
 to pass, God did not know that it would. This is 
 certainly too plain to admit of a dispute ; and it is 
 equally plain that, if God foreknew that Christ was 
 to die by the hands of the Jews, to have given them 
 evidence sufficient to have converted them, would 
 have been contradicting his own prescience, and act- 
 ing inconsistent with himself. The Jews, according 
 to this plan, were the instruments of salvation to the 
 rest of the world ; and are thereby entitled more to 
 our regard and esteem, in a religious character, than 
 any other people. 
 
 * Warburton. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 45 
 
 Scripture Proofs that the Jews were not intended to 
 be converted to Christianity. 
 
 I hope I have said enough to prove that the con- 
 version of the Jews to Christianity could not be in- 
 tended by God, in the time of Christ: but, to bring 
 proofs of much better authority to Christians, I shall 
 turn to the New Testament, where it is written, and 
 plainly relates to the Jews, or the crucifiers of the 
 Lord of glory, viz. — Acts, ii. 7, 8, 11. " But we 
 speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 
 hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world 
 unto our glory ; which none of the princes of this 
 world knew ; for, had they known it, they would not 
 have crucified the Lord of glory." And again, Mark 
 iv. 11, 12, " And he said unto them, unto you it is 
 given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God ; 
 but unto them that are without, all these things are 
 done in parables, that, seeing, they may see and not 
 perceive, and hearing, they may hear and not under- 
 stand ; lest at any time they may be converted, and 
 their sins should be forgiven them." From these 
 texts of Scripture, I think, it plainly appears that the 
 -conversion of the Jews, at the time of Christ, was 
 an event rather guarded against than intended to be 
 accomplished ; which, if true, takes off all blame from 
 them, and entirely absolves them from the imputation 
 of wilful sin, or obstinately resisting sufficient evi- 
 dence of the divinity of Christ's mission. But, far- 
 ther, as I said above, if God did indeed intend the 
 conversion of the Jews, what could prevent its taking 
 place ] 
 
46 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Warburtoris Effects of Grace. 
 
 The conversion of the first Gentiles to Christianity, 
 according to that celebrated writer, Dr. Warburton, 
 bishop of Gloucester, was effected " by the miracu- 
 lous operation of the Holy Spirit, in a sudden and 
 instantaneous manner, rooting out in a moment the 
 inveterate habits of vice." — See p. 68 of his Doctrine 
 of Grace. Likewise, in p. 72, he says, " When, 
 therefore, we see the deepest impressions of evil cus- 
 tom, and the darkest stains of corrupted nature, thus 
 suddenly wiped out and effaced, to what must we 
 ascribe so total a reform but to the all-powerful ope- 
 rations of grace?" 
 
 Jews convertible instantaneously. 
 
 Here we are taught by the good bishop's argu- 
 ment, that the obstinacy of their wills could be no 
 reason why they were not converted, provided God 
 intended their conversion. I know no reason why the 
 hearts of the Jews should be more obdurate than the 
 hearts of the Heathens: but, even if they were, surely 
 no Jewish heart could withstand the all-powerful 
 operations of the Spirit of God. The freedom of the 
 will seems here, according to the good bishop, to have 
 been, if this was the case, miraculously controlled ; 
 and if so, the same power could have effected the 
 conversion of the whole body of the Jews, provided 
 God, in his infinite wisdom, had thought it fit and 
 necessary. Therefore, we may fairly conclude that 
 their conversion to Christianity was not intended, 
 at that time ; and that evidence sufficient to have 
 
INTRODUCTION. 47 
 
 produced that effect was denied or withheld from 
 them. 
 
 Conversion of the first Christians miraculous. 
 
 Indeed, the good bishop above-mentioned says, in 
 p. 72 of the same work, — " Nor could this sudden 
 conversion of the first Christians be the effect of mere 
 rational conviction. We know it to be morally im- 
 possible for reason, however refined and strength- 
 ened by true philosophy, to root out in an instant the 
 inveterate habits of vice."* 
 
 We should have Charity for all Mankind. 
 
 This argument, if applied to the Jews, tends to 
 clear them of the charge of obstinacy, and of acting 
 against the conviction of their own minds. It is, in- 
 deed, a very heavy charge; and Christians ought, at 
 least, to be convinced of the truth of it before they 
 make it: otherwise they fail in that virtue which 
 the Christian religion holds to be, of all others, the 
 greatest, and without which all the other virtues fade 
 
 * If, as the bishop asserts, so thorough a change can be wrought 
 in a man by the immediate operations of the Spirit of God, and 
 that men may, in an instant, have their habits of vice changed to 
 habits of virtue and goodness, — may it not be asked, why a Being 
 of infinite mercy should ever make use of severe methods with his 
 children ? or why he should work a miracle to destroy a world, as 
 in the case of the Flood, when another miracle, equally easy to him, 
 might have made them all good and happy in an instant? Would a 
 good earthly parent drown his children, when he could as easily 
 preserve their lives, and make them virtuous and happy? Surely no. 
 How, then, can we suppose it to have been done by God, whose 
 very nature and property is, ever to have mercy and to forgive? 
 
48 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and dwindle into empty sound. Charity should in- 
 cline us to think the best of every one, but more 
 especially in religious opinions; because in these 
 every man ought to be left to judge for himself. In 
 this particular, we should hope all things for the best, 
 notwithstanding appearances, and rest satisfied that 
 every person has sufficient reasons for his own 
 conduct ; provided his opinions do not incite him to 
 deprive others of their liberty of thinking, or giving 
 the world their sentiments, on religious matters. We 
 should always steadily regard, and constantly attend 
 to, that rational, noble, and Christian principle, of 
 doing to others as we would they should do unto us. 
 This would effectually bar all persecution for the sake 
 of religion, because no man would choose to be per- 
 secuted for the profession of his own. Our charity 
 should be extended to all ; even to those who are so 
 ignorant as not to see God in his works, and who pay 
 their adoration to idols instead of the living God.* 
 Thus much for the situation of the Jews at the time 
 of Christ. They appear, in their religious character, 
 to be entitled to our regard, equally, at least, with 
 the votaries of any other religion. 
 
 Of the Heathen Religion at the coming of Christ. 
 
 When Christ first made his appearance in the 
 world, the bulk of the Heathens were sunk in igno- 
 
 * We are informed by Captain Cope, that the Peguers, even 
 those who are clergymen, never enquire which way a stranger wor- 
 ships God ; but, if he is human, he is the object of their charity. — 
 An excellent and divine example for all Christians to follow, though 
 taken from among the Pagans. 
 1 
 
INTRODUCTION. 49 
 
 ranee, superstition, and idolatry. Divine honours 
 were paid to stocks, stones, and brute beasts; to 
 images, the work of men's hands, — which had eyes, 
 but could not see the distresses of their adorers ; 
 which had ears, but could not hear the prayers of 
 their supplicants; which had hands, but could not 
 stretch them out to the assistance, support, rescue, 
 or delivery, of their deluded votaries. Such were the 
 gods of the Heathens; and, through the cunning of 
 the priests, such was the ignorance which had been 
 propagated, with progressive and unhappy enlarge- 
 ment, from generation to generation. 
 
 Difference between Christ and the Philosophers. 
 
 The few philosophers among the Heathens, who 
 had adhered to the dictates of nature and reason, and 
 who could distinguish the true God by his works,— r 
 these saw clearly through the cheat, but wanted 
 sufficient resolution openly to oppose the power of the 
 priests, and publicly to discountenance the worship 
 of their national gods. 
 
 This glorious task was reserved for Jesus Christ. 
 He nobly undertook to combat the ignorance, and to 
 oppose the vicious passions, of mankind ; as well as 
 to point out to them the paths of reason and virtue, 
 from which they had most shamefully strayed.* This 
 
 * Were Christ living in the present day, and should he attempt 
 to remove the gross errors and useless ceremonies which have been 
 substituted for primitive Christianity in the church of Rome, in 
 the same manner as he attempted to correct those abuses in the 
 Jewish church, of which he was a member, — if he were not cruci- 
 fied a second time, he would, at least, be certain of suffering under 
 the power of the holy Inquisition and the malice of priestcraft. — 
 Editor. 
 
50 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 glorious work he bravely pursued, though he had 
 reason to believe that his life would be made a sacri- 
 fice for the liberties he took in reprehending his 
 countrymen. And so successful and efficacious were 
 his endeavours, that the power and influence of the 
 priests began soon to decline, and their temples were 
 no longer crowded. 
 
 Of the Progress of Christianity. 
 
 This was the event in almost every country where 
 Christ and his apostles made their appearance. The 
 persecutions which they met with tended to the 
 spreading of the religion with they taught ; and their 
 deaths established their pious system.* The philo- 
 sophers and wise men, before it was corrupted by- 
 priestcraft, embraced it as their own ; and the igno- 
 rant soon found the practice of it to be productive of 
 happiness. The very things which appeared at first 
 severe, and opposite to their gross desires, — such as 
 temperance, chastity, sobriety, charity, forgiveness of 
 injuries, and the like, were soon found to be of great 
 use to society. The peace of the minds of men, and 
 the health of their bodies, were the natural conse- 
 quences of the practice of these virtues, and greatly 
 contributed to the spreading of the religion of Christ. 
 
 Why called the Christian Religion. 
 
 The first converts, or disciples, called themselves 
 Christians, as a mark of their gratitude to Christ, the 
 
 * Monsieur Claude attributes the spreading of Christianity to the 
 edicts of Constantine and his sons, and says, that persecution wa* 
 the chief obstacle to the continuance of Paganism. 
 
 3 
 
INTRODUCTION. 51 
 
 founder of this (according to them new) religion ; 
 agreeable to a common practice among the disciples 
 of philosophers in those days, of calling themselves 
 after the names of their masters. Nor do I find any 
 other reason for denominating the religion taught by 
 Christ, the Christian religion. However, his system, 
 — I mean all of it that may fairly be called his own, — 
 appears to me to be no other than the religion of 
 nature and reason republished ; that religion which 
 God had originally implanted in the minds of his 
 intelligent creatures, and which the wise men in all 
 ages constantly practised ; but which the ignorant, — 
 that is, the bulk of mankind, — had almost entirely- 
 lost sight of, owing principally to the interested arti- 
 fices of their spiritual guides. 
 
 Of Priestcraft. 
 
 But, if those deluders of mankind had taken as 
 much pains to make the multitude wise as they did 
 to keep them in ignorance, idolatry, and polytheism, 
 ridiculous ceremonies, barbarous sacrifices, impious 
 and blasphemous notions of God and religion, would 
 never have been so general ; perhaps they would never 
 have been at all. 
 
 This unhappy state of the world made the repub- 
 lication of the religion of nature very necessary. The 
 bulk of mankind had been so corrupted as to turn 
 their backs on the glorious light of reason, and were 
 groping in the dark, taking that for religion which 
 was really no part of it, nor had any connection with 
 it, or with any part of our duty. The priests made 
 great gains of the ignorance of the laity, spreading 
 
 g2 
 
52 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the thick clouds of superstition between them and 
 the light of nature ; and would have wrapped them 
 in everlasting darkness, if the refulgent rays of the 
 Sun of Righteousness had not dispelled those clouds, 
 and made way for reason to beam in upon their 
 souls. 
 
 I wish there was no reason for fearing that the 
 clouds of mystery and superstition might again ga- 
 ther, and darken the light of reason and nature ; for 
 the priests of almost all religions have now, as well 
 as formerly, an interest in the ignorance of the laity, 
 so far as relates to religion. They would willingly 
 have it thought that God has entrusted them only 
 with the key of knowledge ; nay, that he has put the 
 keys of heaven and hell into their custody. No 
 wonder, then, that the world is still kept in gross 
 ignorance, and is still oppressed with detestable su- 
 perstition. 
 
 Old Rome and new, akin. 
 
 The most Christian, the Roman Catholic church, 
 appears to me to be much upon a footing with the 
 Heathen church in the days of Christ.* There is a 
 complaisance due to the opinions of collective bodies 
 of men, and more especially to their religious opinions ; 
 but, if any religion deserves to be treated with ridi- 
 cule, it is that of the Papists, as now promulgated by 
 
 * The Editor is fully justified in saying, that we have too much 
 of the leaven of the church of Rome in the service and ceremonies 
 of the established church of England, which shuts out many good, 
 moral, and pious men from being teachers of truth and the genuine 
 Gospel doctrines of morality. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 53 
 
 their popes and priests, in which pride, vanity, am- 
 bition, and a lust of rule, have introduced superstition 
 and idolatry ; and these constitute the very essence 
 of their system. The religion of reason, of nature, 
 and of Christ, is perverted, corrupted ; and the most 
 absurd doctrines, established on its ruins, are sup- 
 ported by the civil power, and severe corporal punish- 
 ments. I am sorry that I cannot find a corner of my 
 heart wherein to entertain charity for the priests of 
 this religion, who, unless it be a few that are ex- 
 tremely ignorant, must be insincere : for, instead of 
 leading their flocks in the pleasant paths of reason, 
 virtue, and happiness; instead of enlightening their 
 minds, opening and enlarging their understandings ; 
 instead of pointing out to them the relations in which 
 they stand to God and to one another; instead of 
 explaining to them the duties arising from these re- 
 lations, and shewing them that the practice of those 
 duties tends to promote their happiness here and 
 hereafter ; instead of inculcating the divine principles 
 of charity and universal benevolence, — these impos- 
 tors do all in their power to keep the people in igno- 
 rance, and to lead them blindfold in the road of 
 superstition, vice, cruelty, folly, and misery. This 
 they do under the specious pretence of serving the 
 church, which the ignorant multitude are taught to 
 believe is serving God ; and under this notion they 
 engage them in most horrid and bloody persecutions, 
 in which all the rights of nature, reason, justice, and 
 charity, are violated, to defend perhaps only a mys- 
 tery , a ceremony, or a relic. Thus 
 
 The Indians combat for the truth 
 
 Of elephant's and monkey's tooth. — Hudibras. 
 
54 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Priestly Cruelty is both odious and wicked. 
 
 There is something in cruelty so opposite to our 
 ideas of God, and so contrary to all our natural feel- 
 ings, that some have thought even ignorance itself 
 will be no excuse for it, and that persecution cannot 
 be justified, though it should be the effect of sincerity 
 and good intentions.* However, perhaps the crime 
 will principally, or in a great measure, lie at the doors 
 of those who inculcate such wicked doctrines in ig- 
 norant minds. 
 
 Religion toithout Charity is Diabolism. 
 
 That religion which excludes charity for those who 
 differ from it has the mark of the beast, and must be 
 a bad religion. I cannot quit this subject as yet, 
 but must pursue the many-headed monster a little 
 farther. 
 
 That the doctrines of the church of Rome are dia- 
 metrically opposite to the pure religion of nature and 
 reason, is very clear : for, if we examine them, we 
 shall find that the great design of the priests of that 
 church is to deprive the laity of the use of their rea- 
 son, in order to make them the more readily believe, 
 and embrace, their absurdities : so that reason is ex- 
 cluded, as well as charity, as far as it is in the power 
 of the priests to exclude it ; which is another mark 
 of a bad religion, or rather an abominable super- 
 stition. 
 
 * If error be the consequence of sloth, it must be criminal. To 
 renounce reason, and take the word of a priest, is not only a folly, 
 but a crime. Sincerity, if the produce of sloth and ignorance, will 
 not palliate and excuse the guilt of such conduct. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 55 
 
 Of Transubstantiation, Absolution, and Infallibility : 
 all ridiculous. 
 
 What can be more inconsistent with sense and 
 reason than transubstantiation? What more ridicu- 
 lous and foolish than to suppose that the priests have 
 power to forgive sins? These two articles, one would 
 think, should open the eyes of the most ignorant. 
 One would imagine that this was carrying the matter 
 too far ; and that the power and influence of the 
 church would be greatly entangled, if not quite hung 
 up, in this enormous length of rope. But, alas ! no- 
 thing is too absurd to be believed ; nothing too unpa- 
 latable to be swallowed by ostrich-throated credulity, 
 when presented as an article of religion,* which re- 
 quires only assent, and not a virtuous life. Gild it 
 with the hopes of happiness ; represent it as accept- 
 able to God; or mix it up*with fear of everlasting 
 damnation, and it will go glibly down. 
 
 What can be more ridiculous than to ascribe in- 
 fallibility to a human being, who, in some instance or 
 other, errs every day of his life ? It is more than ri- 
 diculous — it is wicked — to ascribe to a man, a worm, 
 a creature but of yesterday, one of the incommuni- 
 cable attributes of Deity. I doubt not but the Pope 
 blushes at the thought, and, in his heart, disclaims all 
 such pretensions. 
 
 * Of this egregious credulity we have had a striking example in 
 England, even iu the present day, by the late Joanna Southcott's 
 obtaining upwards of fifty thousand adult believers during her life- 
 time ; and which, in all probability, was a much greater number 
 than what Christ ever obtained or converted before his crucifixion. 
 —Editor. 
 
56 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Of the gross Absurdity of Image- War ship. 
 
 But, after all, what can be so ridiculous, — what 
 can bring the church of Rome so much on a level 
 with the Heathen temples in the time of Christ , — as 
 the worship of images, crucifixes, and pictures? 
 Though here, indeed, the more sensible part are 
 ashamed, and tell you that " they only pray to Christ, 
 to the Virgin Mary, and to saints, under the forms of 
 crucifixes, images, and pictures, in order that they 
 may intercede for them with God." Just so did the 
 Heathens : they also had their inferior and subordi- 
 nate deities and mediators ; for they held their superior 
 deities as above attending to the addresses of such 
 despicable creatures as they were. 
 
 But is it not amazing that, in this enlightened 
 age, where reason shines out with such resplendent 
 lustre, — where the knowledge of the one true God, in 
 his moral character, is so well established, — inferior 
 beings should be addressed as mediators? Here I 
 must observe, how very imprudent, how dangerous, 
 and, I may add, how wicked it is, to withdraw our 
 worship from the only proper object of it — the one 
 eternal God, and to give it to any other being, per- 
 son, or thing, however distinguished, or whatever we 
 may be taught to believe about them : for there is no 
 knowing where such ridiculous and impious idolatry 
 will end. A fear that the supreme God will be of- 
 fended at our addressing ourselves immediately to 
 him, is a sure foundation for idolatry ; because as this 
 fear will operate strongest in weak minds, so the 
 gradation will be, from God to Christ, from Christ 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ol 
 
 to the Virgin Mary, and from her it will descend to 
 saints " who never had a being, — or being, ne'er were 
 saints ;" from saints, to images and relics of saints, 
 till we come to the lowest step of ignorance, super- 
 stition, and idolatry, and do as the Egyptians did 
 formerly, — namely, worship onions, garlic, cats, dogs, 
 crocodiles, and other vermin; and, as the Africans do 
 now, adore serpents and other reptiles as gods. 
 
 God only to be ivor shipped. 
 
 God is the Father of the universe ; more ready to 
 hear the prayers and relieve the distresses of his crea- 
 tures, than the most tender earthly parent can be to 
 attend to those of his beloved offspring. 
 
 He made us, not to increase his own happiness, 
 but to communicate happiness to us. Hence, is it 
 possible that he should neglect the work of his own 
 hands ? or that his children should stand in need of 
 any mediator but an upright heart, and the virtues of 
 a well -spent life? If he who made us will not have 
 mercy on us ; if he who formed us will shew us no 
 favour ; to whom can we address our prayers ? To 
 whom can we fly for refuge in time of distress? Cer- 
 tainly we can apply to no other being with propriety. 
 
 Old Rome and New equally corrupt. 
 
 Thus have I lightly touched on the errors of the 
 church of Rome ; and I believe that all who judge 
 impartially will allow, that a reformation is as neces- 
 sary in this church now as it was in the Heathen 
 temples in the time of Christ. 
 
 H 
 
58 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Protestant Church not entirely free from 
 Corruption. 
 
 But perhaps I shall be told, that there is one pure 
 religion, every way consistent with reason and nature, 
 and that no alteration can be necessary in the Pro- 
 testant church. I wish I could think so, and be fully 
 satisfied that none of the old leaven of the church of 
 Rome remained in it ; that it was thoroughly purged 
 of all her errors ; that it had no creeds, no sick-bed 
 absolutions, no laying- on of hands, and the like ; 
 since all these are relics of popery and superstition. 
 I should rejoice to find that, on the contrary, its doc- 
 trines formed a religion of pure morality, — a religion 
 of things, and not of icords arid ceremonies; of the 
 heart, and not of the letter ; and that its universal 
 charity and benevolence would always witness its 
 purity. Christians would then no longer look on you 
 Deists to be as bad as Atheists ; and you Deists 
 would cease to ridicule and despise Christians, for 
 making those things a part of their religion, which, 
 in fact, can be no essential part of any true religion. 
 I say, it appears to me that the Protestant church 
 would be more pure, if creeds, absolutions, laying-on 
 of hands, and the like, were left out of its service. 
 But, perhaps, the whole bench of bishops think it 
 best that it should remain as it is ; and I give up the 
 point. 
 
 Tlie Deists censured again. 
 
 You Deists have been exerting your wit in depre- 
 ciating the characters of Christ and of his apostles, 
 3 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 69 
 
 and in opposing doctrines in the New Testament 
 which are really no part of the religion of Christ : 
 whilst, on the other hand, Christian writers have 
 been exhausting their erudition in defence of tenets, 
 which, upon the whole, are not defensible on any 
 principles of reason or common-sense. 
 
 The Gospel worthy of God. 
 
 I would gladly reconcile all the contending parties, 
 by proving the genuine morality of the New Testa- 
 ment to be a correct transcript of the law of nature ; 
 and by demonstrating it to be a system of morals 
 worthy of having God for its author, worthy of hav- 
 ing Christ for its republishes and worthy of the 
 regard of every rational being. 
 
 Learning not necessary to understand the Gospel. 
 
 If any considerable degree of learning had seemed 
 to me necessary to this end, I should never have un- 
 dertaken it ; but pure morality will always be on a 
 level with common sense. The unlearned are as 
 much concerned in it as the learned. It is the same 
 in all languages, in all places, and at all times : the 
 practice of it is required universally, without dis- 
 tinction ; and therefore all paraphrases, all commen- 
 taries, all explanations of the Scriptures, would be 
 superfluous and unnecessary, if the moral parts only 
 were regarded. Indeed, it appears to me that a rule 
 given for universal use by a Being of infinite wisdom 
 can never want explanation. 
 
 h2 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Arts of Divines, as to Scripture. 
 
 Many of the other parts of the New Testament are 
 above the reach of our capacities : some passages are 
 difficult to be understood ; and some appear, to un- 
 learned men, to contradict one another. To reconcile 
 these, divines tell us, that some passages must be 
 taken literally, and some allegorically ; while some 
 are said to be translated wrong, and to have a dif- 
 ferent meaning in the Greek language, from what is 
 given them in the vulgar tongue. But this cannot 
 be said of the purely moral parts, which are so plain 
 that " he who runs may read" them. 
 
 Mysteries enforce no Obligation. 
 
 How can duties be of universal obligation, if they 
 are not universally understood ? How can God re- 
 quire, of the illiterate and unlearned, the practice of 
 duties which none but the learned understand ?* Such 
 demands and exactions are inconsistent with all our 
 ideas of an infinitely perfect and good Being. A 
 person cannot be bound by any law which is out of 
 his power to understand. An ideot, for this reason, 
 is bound by no human law. Now we are all upon 
 the footing of ideots with regard to the mysterious 
 and unintelligible parts of the New Testament. 
 
 * And even the learned of every age and country do not appear 
 to understand the true meaning of the mysterious parts of the reli- 
 gious duties and obligations, as contained in the New Testament, 
 which they profess to believe ; since they are continually quarrelling, 
 and disputing with and contradicting each other, from age to age. — 
 Editor. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 61 
 
 The law of nature is universally understood, so far 
 as to constitute a rule " perfect in its direction for 
 the conduct of human life ;" and is, therefore, of uni- 
 versal and eternal obligation. 
 
 The Deists censured for ridiculing the Gospel. 
 
 I am, in a particular manner, willing to convince 
 you, Deists, how very improper and absurd it is for 
 you to ridicule and depreciate the character of Him who 
 lost his life in the cause of reformation, virtue, and true 
 religion. The religion of Christ, unadulterated , is pure 
 morality : now the practice of morality has a direct 
 tendency to promote the happiness of society, by- 
 making better fathers, better husbands, better wives, 
 better children, better servants, better subjects, better 
 masters ; in short, a strict attachment to it will exalt 
 human nature to that glorious height which God, 
 the maker of the universe, intended it should attain. 
 You cannot, upon your own principles, be enemies to 
 morality. You believe there was such a person as 
 Jesus Christ, and that he taught morality to man- 
 kind : nay, some of you have gone so far as to say 
 that you believed him to have been a Deist. How 
 inconsistent, then, is it for you to endeavour to de- 
 preciate his character ! 
 
 Whether Christianity be Morality. 
 
 But, after all, perhaps I may be told, by Roman 
 Catholic Christians, Protestant Christians, and also 
 by you Deists, that I am quite mistaken in the reli- 
 gion of Christ, and that morality was the least part 
 of it : that he required much more than mere mo- 
 
62 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rality to render us acceptable to God. Let this be 
 proved, as well as asserted, and then I shall yield my 
 assent, and give up the point. In the mean time, I 
 cannot be styled an enemy to Christ, or to Christianity, 
 for endeavouring to prove what the greatest advo- 
 cates for Christianity have asserted; namely, — that 
 the religion of Christ produces the noblest and most 
 perfect system of morality that any religion can 
 boast of 
 
 The Author a Friend to Deists and to all Mankind. 
 
 I cannot surely be accounted an enemy to you, 
 Deists, for endeavouring to make it appear that the 
 religion of Christ and the religion of nature are the 
 same : neither can I be justly thought an enemy to 
 mankind in general, for reminding them of the duties 
 which they owe to God, to themselves, and to their 
 fellow-creatures ; because the practice of those na- 
 tural and reasonable duties will tend to promote 
 their happiness, both here and hereafter. If any are 
 displeased, it can be only the silversmiths of the 
 great Diana, whose craft may suffer, and whose 
 power may be diminished, by the establishment of 
 pure religion, untainted with worldly interest, and 
 unadulterated with useless ceremonies and unintel- 
 ligible mysteries. Be this as it may ; I am enlisted 
 under the banner of truth, and will stand up in her 
 defence, or fall an honourable victim in her glorious 
 cause. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 63 
 
 The Author's Motives for Writing must be approved 
 by the Honest. 
 
 The love of truth, of liberty, and of free enquiry, 
 is my motive for writing ; being conscious that, while 
 these prevail, ignorance, enthusiasm, superstition, 
 and priestcraft, will hide their heads ; persecution on 
 account of religion will every where be discouraged ; 
 and patience, justice, charity, and benevolence, will 
 universally abound. 
 
 My intention must certainly be approved by the 
 wise, the virtuous, and the honest. However, I wish 
 my capacity for doing good, in this or any other way, 
 were equal to the love I bear to mankind, which, I 
 can truly say, is universal and unbounded. 
 
 Difference of Opinion no Bar to Charity for all 
 Mankind. 
 
 Difference in sentiment cannot be avoided ;* nor is 
 such difference at all inconsistent with that affection 
 for one another which nature and reason require. 
 But, however we may differ in opinions, let us love 
 one another as brethren, and strive to excel in those 
 virtues which will recommend us to God, who is 
 good to all, and whose tender mercies are over all 
 his works. 
 
 I am, Sec. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 * Unity of opinion is a thing morally impossible in nature. 
 Were all mankind of the same opinion to-day, to-morrow they 
 would think differently, from seeing the same objects in a different 
 point of view.— Editor. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 
 
 ©gap. I. 
 
 OF THE BEING OF GOD. 
 
 Rom. I. from the 20th to the 24th verse. — For the invisible things of him, 
 from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the 
 things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; so that they 
 are without excuse : Because that when they knew God, they glorified 
 him not as God ; neither were they thankful, but became vain in their 
 imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves 
 to be wise, they became fools ; and changed the glory of the incorruptible 
 God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four- 
 footed beasts, and creeping things. 
 
 This article does not strictly appertain to morality ; 
 but, as it is the ground-work and foundation of it, I 
 hope I shall be excused for beginning with some 
 thoughts on the Being of God, and of his production 
 of other beings ; from which we shall naturally be 
 led to admire, adore, and love, the first and last, the 
 infinitely greatest, and best, of Beings. 
 
 The Jews, to whom Christ and his apostles first 
 addressed themselves, were already believers of the 
 existence of God, though their notions of him were 
 low and imperfect. The Heathens also believed the 
 existence of superior beings, but had the most un- 
 
66 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 natural and unreasonable sentiments 
 them : so that the business of Christ and of his 
 apostles was, it seems, principally to give both Jews 
 and Heathens more just and worthy notions of the 
 Supreme Being : this being the proper foundation for 
 true religion, — the religion they were about to teach. 
 Hence, if they had multiplied arguments to prove the 
 existence of God, such arguments would have been 
 superfluous and unnecessary. Accordingly, I find 
 but one made use of upon this topic in the New 
 Testament, — namely, that which I have produced 
 above. This is the strongest and most natural that 
 could be introduced, it being drawn from the visible 
 objects around us. St. Paul seems so conscious of 
 the force of this argument, that he charges the Ro- 
 mans with a crime for not worshipping the true God, 
 although he had -so clearly revealed himself to them 
 in his works. St. Paul's reasoning agrees exactly 
 with the reasoning of those philosophers who had 
 steadily adhered to the light of nature. In every ob - 
 ject which they contemplated, they could perceive an 
 exertion of infinite power and wisdom ; and fhey 
 were convinced that, without the concurrence of such 
 almighty power, nothing could have been produced. 
 But a consideration of their own beings, and the 
 manner of their own production, led them directly to 
 a First Cause ; for, how far soever their ideas might 
 be carried back in a train of successive generation, 
 or of effects and causes relative to the existence of 
 man, yet it is clear, in the issue, that there must be 
 a beginning of human generation ; and their ideas 
 must stop at an original pair, formed and impressed 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 67 
 
 so as to produce their kind, in the way they are now 
 produced, in order to people this new little world, 
 which perhaps succeeded the destruction of some 
 former system, among the numberless ones which 
 eternal power had before produced. Formed and 
 impressed — by whom? The very next step confesses 
 a God, and infinite perfection closes the scene of 
 their enquiry. 
 
 Thus did the philosophers of old find, — thus do we 
 find, — that we are the production of infinite power, 
 wisdom, and goodness. But let not pride take place 
 in our hearts on this account ; for the meanest reptile 
 has as much to boast. 
 
 Let us not think that we are the most ancient, or 
 most noble, of the works of God. This world is very 
 little, compared to others within the reach of our 
 observations ; but probably there may be millions of 
 millions of other systems and worlds, which have 
 never reached the knowledge of us mortals ; and our 
 world, in comparison of others, may be but of yester- 
 day. God is from eternity, and the display of his 
 goodness must consequently be from eternity. The 
 lowest and most grovelling idea we can have of a 
 God of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, is — 
 that there was a time when he began to create ! but, 
 if there was a time when he began to create, there 
 must be an eternity before. To suppose a time when 
 God began to create, is to suppose that the infinitely 
 benevolent and merciful Deity had been eternally 
 inactive, contemplating his own perfections, what he 
 was, and what he could do; possessed of every re- 
 quisite for the communication of happiness to an 
 
 i2 
 
68 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 infinite number of beings, but without doing any 
 thing. Such notions destroy at once all our ideas of 
 his attributes. Infinite power, wisdom, and good- 
 ness, must be active, or not be at all. We have no 
 ideas of the terms, if we do not suppose them to be 
 exerted ; and, to suppose a Being eternally possessing 
 these attributes, and not exerting them, is having the 
 most unworthy idea of him, if it does not actually 
 amount to a complete contradiction. 
 
 On the contrary, what an illustrious idea is it of 
 the divine perfections to suppose all this vast and 
 endless concatenation of beings and things to have 
 been eternally proceeding from God, their source ; 
 and that every world which he has made is as replete 
 with delegated bliss as it is possible for it to be, con- 
 sistent with the attributes of God and the established 
 order of things. To maintain the contrary of all this 
 is to make God a malevolent Being, which is tvorse 
 than Atheism. 
 
 To strengthen this argument, I shall here make an 
 extract from one of Mr. Bourn's excellent Discourses 
 on the Evidences of Natural Religion and the Chris- 
 tian Revelation, published in 1760, by R. Griffiths : 
 — " Before the breath of life inspired our first proge- 
 nitor, before the mountains were brought forth, or 
 the soil of the earth was formed ; before the rivers 
 flowed, and the ocean filled the spacious cavities of 
 the earth, from everlasting there teas God, — the first 
 and only Potentate, who holds immortality, life, and 
 existence, in himself, — whose wisdom, goodness, and 
 power, were without a beginning, the same in the 
 past eternity, and will be the same without end. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 69 
 
 " In revolving backwards the interminable series 
 of ages past, before this world was made, can we ever 
 come to a period when there w T ere no creatures exist- 
 ing, — nothing but the sole, self-sufficient Deity? 
 Were there not always w r orlds and systems without 
 number, peopled with myriads of intelligent beings, 
 beholding the glory, and rejoicing in the goodness, 
 of their Creator? Could infinite Wisdom ever exist, 
 with no designs in execution? Could almighty Power 
 ever lie dormant and inactive? Could exuberant 
 Goodness ever be barren and unprofitable ; and the 
 Fountain of all life and good send forth no streams 
 of beneficence? The works of Almighty God are 
 now, ever were, and ever will be, adequate to the 
 inexhaustible plenitude and absolute perfection of his 
 own nature. 
 
 " But, if the power, the wisdom, and the goodness 
 of Deity never were, in any age of past eternity, in- 
 active or unbeneficent, it follows that there may be 
 exalted spirits now existing in a glorious state, who 
 are not of yesterday like ourselves, but who have been 
 from millions of ages, and who may not be able 
 themselves to trace back their own existence, through 
 so vast antiquity, to the remote beginning; who, 
 nevertheless, may at first have inhabited a world, and 
 animated bodies similar to our own ; and, having 
 acquired virtue, and passed the trials of life and 
 death, became the proper objects of divine favour, 
 and arose to glory and immortality." — Discourse ix. 
 vol. 1. 
 
 The philosophers of old might probably reason in 
 this manner ; and, by contemplating the works of 
 
70 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 creation, they were naturally led to believe the Being 
 of God; and, by farther contemplating the beauty, 
 the harmony, the grandeur, the simplicity, the uni- 
 formity, and variety, of the works of God, and how 
 they were calculated to promote the happiness of man, 
 they justly concluded also that God must be a good 
 Being, that he delighted in goodness, and that good- 
 ness must be productive of happiness. 
 
 The argument which Mr. Addison puts into the 
 mouth of Cato is extremely beautiful and natural, 
 and shews that it was also his opinion that the Being 
 and Attributes of God were discoverable by the light 
 of nature. I shall be excused for transcribing here 
 part of that celebrated speech : — 
 
 •If there's a Power above us, 
 
 (And that there is, all nature cries aloud 
 Through all her works,) he must delight in virtue; 
 And that which he delights in must be happy. 
 
 The power and wisdom of a First Cause were seen 
 in the grandeur, magnificence, and regularity of the 
 works of creation; and his goodness was known, 
 from those works being adapted to promote the hap- 
 piness of his creatures. 
 
 The light of nature taught them, that God was the 
 Father of the universe, and that he produced beings 
 to make them happy : therefore, the warmest returns 
 of gratitude were his due. The light of nature also 
 taught them, that, as children of the same Father, all 
 mankind must be brethren ; and, as God intended to 
 make us all happy, so we should do all in our power 
 to carry on this infinitely benevolent plan. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 71 
 
 I hope that I shall be excused for this short digres- 
 sion from my subject ; as the relation we stand in to 
 God, and to one another, so naturally arose out of the 
 arguments brought to prove his existence. 
 
 To proceed then. — The being and attributes of 
 God appear to have been known to the philosophers 
 and sages of antiquity ; and that only seems to have 
 been unknown to them, which is also unknown to us, 
 and must ever remain so,— namely, the mode and place 
 of his existence; the knowledge of which is .either 
 unnecessary or else could not be revealed to such 
 creatures as we are, who cannot comprehend or have 
 any idea of spirit. Indeed, it appears to me that all 
 our enquiries of this kind are useless. This thought 
 is finely expressed by Job, (xi. 7,) " Canst thou, by 
 searching, find out God? Canst thou find out the 
 Almighty to perfection?' — which expression cer- 
 tainly relates to the mode and place of God's exist- 
 ence. It was in this sense that God was unknown to 
 those sages of antiquity ; and to this unknown God, 
 I doubt not but one or other of them erected the fa- 
 mous altar which St. Paul took so much notice of, 
 and attributed to the superstition of the Athenians ; 
 but in this I cannot help thinking there was some 
 mistake. An altar, with such an inscription, could 
 hardly be set up by the priests of that country, be- 
 cause it rather tended to destroy superstition, and 
 subvert their power and influence, than to establish 
 either. Their gods were local, their names and 
 temples publicly known ; and their priests strove who 
 should gain the greatest number of profitable vota- 
 ries. This altar, then, must surely have been erected 
 
72 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 by some philosopher to the One True God, who was 
 known by the effects of his infinite power, wisdom, 
 and goodness, but unknown as to the mode and place 
 of his existence. The One True God (whom we 
 now adore) was neither known nor worshipped by 
 the ignorant, deceived, Heathen multitude ; neither 
 was he ignorantly worshipped by philosophers : for 
 they might, and every one who exercises his reason 
 in the enquiry may, from the works of creation, trace 
 out the Being and Attributes of God. 
 
 ©&ap. II. 
 
 Of THE WORSHIP OF GOD 1 PURE AND SPIRITUAL 
 WORSHIP ONLY ACCEPTABLE. 
 
 Acts, xvii. 24, 25. — He dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; neither is 
 he worshipped with men's hands, as though he needeth any thing, seeing 
 he giveth to all life and breath, and all things. 
 
 John, iv. 24.— God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him 
 in spirit and in truth. 
 
 God is a spirit, and requires of us pure and spiritual 
 worship. He is. not to be worshipped with men's 
 hands ; that is to say, not by sacrifices and oblations, 
 — not by forms and ceremonies, — not by fastings, 
 penances, stripes, and the like, — but with sincerity 
 of heart : and this doctrine is exactly conformable to 
 the opinion of the Heathen sages. They well knew, 
 from the works of creation, that the one true God 
 was not a material Being like themselves, but that he 
 4 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 73 
 
 was immense and omnipresent, and not to be cir- 
 cumscribed by the narrow bounds of a temple ; as 
 were the idol gods, which the vulgar Heathens wor- 
 shipped. They knew that the worship pleasing to 
 him must be pure and spiritual, and must flow from 
 a good and upright heart. They knew, from the light 
 of nature, that forms and ceremonies were not of the 
 essence of true devotion; and that the religion which 
 had least of these was likely to be the most pure and 
 spiritual, and, of course, most acceptable to an infi- 
 nitely pure Spirit. 
 
 ©gap. III. 
 
 OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 Matt, xviii. 20.— For where two or three are gathered together in my 
 
 Name, there am I in the midst of them. 
 Hebrews, x. 25. — Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as 
 
 the manner of some is. 
 
 From the first of the above texts, and likewise, per- 
 haps, with a view of inspiring persons with rever- 
 ence, and rendering their public devotions more pure 
 and spirited, most divines, who have written on this 
 subject, have represented God as being more imme- 
 diately present in religious assemblies. This opinion 
 is not only unphilosophical, but injurious to the cha- 
 racter of an immense Spirit, who fills the universe, 
 who is every where present, who is extended through- 
 out all extent, who pervades and supports every- 
 thing, and who cannot possibly be more in one place 
 
74 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 than in another. If just and proper notions of God 
 are the proper foundations of true religion, wrong- 
 notions of God must always be injurious to man, as 
 they may lay the foundation of a false religion. How 
 far Moses, the great lawgiver of the Jews, can be 
 justified for representing the eternal immense Spirit 
 as being locally present in the camp of the Israelites, 
 is not my business here to enquire : yet it is gene- 
 rally believed that this notion of a local Deity was 
 the foundation of all the idolatry that ever took place 
 in the world. 
 
 The propriety and utility of public worship may 
 readily be made appear, without introducing an opi- 
 nion which derogates so much from the honour of 
 God, and which is fraught with so much mischief to 
 mankind. 
 
 External public worship is a duty which we owe to 
 God ; as it is a public acknowledgment of our belief 
 in, and dependance on, him. It tends to make piety 
 more universal, from the influence of example : and 
 if piety be a virtue, as it most certainly is, then it is 
 fit that it should universally prevail. Examples are 
 often more prevalent than precepts : and hence the 
 practice of piety is the most powerful recommenda- 
 tion of it, and tends to affect the heart more, perhaps, 
 than lectures of morality. 
 
 These are sufficient reasons why we should attend 
 the public worship of God, without having recourse 
 to any thing so strained and unnatural as the suppo- 
 sition of God's being more immediately present in 
 our churches and places of public worship : nay, if 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 75 
 
 we attend to the actions of some of the priests, we 
 may fairly suppose that they imagine, not only that 
 God is more immediately present in the church, but 
 that he is more immediately present in a particular 
 part of the church : else whence all those turnings 
 and bowings to the altar, which border so nearly on 
 Popish idolatry. Weak minds are much hurt by such 
 practices as these : for they are led to believe that 
 there is somewhat of the essence of true devotion in 
 those things, when, alas ! nothing can be more dis- 
 tinct from that pure and spiritual worship which 
 alone is pleasing to God. 
 
 ©fiap. IV. 
 
 OF PRIVATE WORSHIP. 
 
 Matt. vi. 6. — But, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and, when thou 
 
 hast shut the door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, 
 
 who seeth in secret, will reward thee openly. 
 Matt. xiv. 25. — And, when he had sent the multitude away, he went up into 
 
 a mountain apart to pray; and, when the evening was come, he was there 
 
 alone. 
 Acts, x. 9. — On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh 
 
 unto the city, Peter went up to the house-top to pray. 
 
 Here we see that private worship is commanded by 
 Christ, and is also recommended by his own exam- 
 ple, and the example of the apostle Peter. Though 
 public worship be also recommended in the New 
 Testament, and very consistent with reason and na- 
 ture, yet to me there appears to be many advantages 
 attending private worship. 
 
 When a man enters into his closet to pray, he 
 
 k2 
 
76 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 seems to be more collected and retired within him- 
 self, and his sole business seems to be to recommend 
 himself to God. His devotions are less interrupted 
 by earthly objects, and are generally more pure, and 
 less liable to insincerity ; because they are not calcu- 
 lated to raise the esteem or admiration of mankind, 
 or to answer any worldly ends. There is nothing to 
 call off his attention. It is entering, as it were, into 
 a private conference with God ; and it hath always 
 appeared to me to be more solemn and affecting than 
 public worship: for, while I am thus privately and 
 singly addressing myself to God, I seem to be in a 
 more particular manner regarded by him. At such 
 time, methinks I see the omniscient Eye penetrating 
 my very soul ; and hence I am, as it were, excited 
 to call up all my powers and faculties, to exert 
 themselves in the proper discharge of this important 
 duty. 
 
 But it is not necessary that we should always enter 
 into our closets, or any other private place, to pray to 
 God; nor is any form of words particularly to be 
 regarded. There is a kind of internal worship, or 
 language of the heart, which is certainly as accept- 
 able to that Being, who knows the heart, as the most 
 perfect form of words that ever was composed. This 
 kind of worship must also be founded in a just sense 
 of the infinite perfections of God, of our constant 
 dependance on him, and of the numberless obliga- 
 tions we are under to him. This internal heart- 
 worship hath one great advantage, — namely, that of 
 not being confined to time or place. Every thing we 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 77 
 
 see that discovers to us, in any new and striking 
 manner, the wisdom, power, or goodness, of God, is 
 an immediate call upon us to express our love and 
 reverence. Adoration of his power, and gratitude 
 for his goodness, are, as it were, spontaneously wafted 
 up to heaven, from a good and pious heart. Such 
 grateful and pious ejaculations, pure and unmixed 
 with forms and ceremonies, are incapable of hypo- 
 crisy or ostentation, and therefore are certainly most 
 acceptable to God. 
 
 ©Sap. v. 
 
 GOD OUR FATHER AND BENEFACTOR. 
 
 Acts, xvii. 28. — For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain 
 also of your own poets have said ; for we are also his offspring. 
 
 I. Peter, v. 7.— Castiug all your care upon him, for he careth for you. 
 
 Luke, xii. 28. — If then God so clothe the grass of the field, which is to-day 
 in the field, and to-morrow in the oven, bow much more will he clothe you, 
 O ye of little faith.— V. S2. — Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's 
 good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 
 
 There are other passages in the New Testament, 
 and many in the Old, expressing that God is our 
 Father and Benefactor ; but those above will be suf- 
 ficient proofs of the truth of this principle, especially 
 as reason and nature strongly confirm them. God 
 is the Father of all his creatures, from his being the 
 cause of their existence: but farther, he brought 
 them into being for no other end, conceivable by us, 
 but to make them happy ; and hence, in this view, he 
 is more properly the Father of his creatures than any 
 3 % 
 
78 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 earthly parent can be of his children, and is more 
 strictly entitled to our filial affection and gratitude. 
 
 That he is our Benefactor, I think none in their 
 senses will dispute : if there be any who will, I am 
 sure it is not worth my while to dispute it with 
 them ; nor do I write to such irrational unfeeling 
 minds. It has been observed, " that there is no cure 
 for a hard heart." I am sure that heart must indeed 
 be incurable, which is not penetrated with the sense 
 of God's goodness, and that will not acknowledge 
 him to be the Benefactor of the universe. The un- 
 happiness of some in this life is no just argument 
 against God's universal goodness. 
 
 If we do not believe that God hath made this world 
 as perfect in its kind, and as happy as it was possible 
 for him to make it, consistent with his attributes and 
 with the nature of things, we believe him to be a 
 malevolent, instead of a good, Being. 
 
 Men are often unhappy in consequence of their 
 vices ; and this is rather a proof of the goodness of 
 God, than the contrary. But, from whatever cause 
 we are unhappy, if we consider this world as only 
 one short stage of an eternal journey, the ills we 
 suffer here are surely no proofs that God will not 
 (taking in the whole of our existence) be our Father, 
 Friend, and Benefactor. If we had been to live here 
 for ever, it is probable that God would have formed 
 us less liable to sickness, pain, and other misfortunes 
 of the present life, and have made us capable of 
 higher degrees of happiness than we now meet with 
 in this short and precarious state. But, as this is 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 79 
 
 not our home, — as we take up our lodging here, as it 
 were, for a night only, — it is mean and irrational to 
 be disturbed and impatient at the evils we meet 
 with. Let us look into the works of nature, and see 
 how the different parts, even of this world, are con- 
 trived and adapted, by infinite wisdom, to promote 
 the happiness of man, and we shall be forced to ac- 
 knowledge, notwithstanding the ills we feel, " that 
 God is good to all, and that his tender mercies are 
 over all his works." He made us ; and he upholds 
 us in being, by abundantly supplying all our wants. 
 Every day's experience witnesses his goodness to us ; 
 and every rising sun opens a new scene of wonder, 
 and excites fresh emotions of gratitude and praise. 
 He must, indeed, be blind who cannot see this truth ; 
 and he deserves to be for ever dumb who does not 
 gratefully acknowledge it, and whose tongue is not 
 employed in sounding forth the praise of the univer- 
 sal Father and Benefactor of all his creatures. 
 
 The love of God comes next in order to be consi- 
 dered, as being a natural consequence of his love to 
 us ; and it is strongly recommended, — nay, even 
 commanded, — by Christ himself. 
 
80 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 ©8ap. VI. 
 
 OF THE LOVE OF GOD. 
 
 Matt. xxii. 37. — Jesus said unto hiin, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 
 James, i. 12. — Blessed is the man that endureth temptation ; tor, when he is 
 
 tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to 
 
 them that love him. 
 Coll. iii. 2. — Set your affections on things above, and not on things on the 
 
 earth. 
 Jude, the former part of verse 21.— Keep yourselves in the love of God. 
 
 The love of God is the most natural and rational 
 passion that can take place in the mind of man. 
 Whether love be a proper subject for a command,* I 
 cannot determine : however, it was extremely natural 
 and proper for Christ and his apostles to enforce it 
 by every motive and argument in their power. With 
 these, the love of God to us is the strongest : this 
 being a certain proper foundation of our love to him. 
 That man must be insensible to all the feelings of 
 virtuous humanity who can be so ungrateful as not 
 to love his Father, his Friend, and Benefactor : nay, 
 if any person love not God, it must be for want of 
 considering him under these endearing titles and 
 relations. God's love to his creatures is the most 
 disinterested of all love ; for it is easy to discover 
 that he did not bring them into being with a view of 
 increasing his own happiness. An infinitely perfect 
 Being cannot receive an accession of happiness from 
 
 * The volition of the mind, — such as love, belief or disbelief of 
 any creeds, doctrines, &c. — is a thing not in our own power, and 
 which we cannot command in ourselves at pleasure. — Editor. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 81' 
 
 goodness ; for the manifestation of his love, in the 
 communication of happiness. He is himself the 
 eternal source of everlasting happiness ; and all na- 
 ture is united and upheld by him. His goodness 
 Very evidently appears in the creation of this world ; 
 which is replete with every thing, not only useful, but 
 ornamental. It is not only amply furnished to supply 
 the wants and necessities of his creatures, but also to 
 improve and heighten their pleasures. The more we 
 contemplate the world, the more grandeur, order, 
 beauty, and variety, we perceive in it ; all pointing 
 out to us the beneficent hand of that Being who 
 formed it, and adapted all its parts to promote the 
 happiness, not only of man, but of every creature that 
 inhabits it. The very method which God has taken 
 to furnish this little world of ours with a succession 
 of creatures of every kind, calls on us, not only to ad- 
 mire and adore, but also gratefully to acknowledge, 
 his infinite wisdom and benevolence ; and, though 
 perhaps seldom thought of, it may not be the least 
 proof of his love to all the creatures who inhabit this 
 globe, that the most exquisite gratification of the 
 senses is made the means to all of propagating their 
 species.* We are not only formed with intellectual 
 powers and faculties, the due use of which will pro- 
 cure for us the most exalted and rational felicity, but 
 
 * If the pain which women have in bringing forth children should 
 be alleged as an objection to this proof of God's benevolence, be it 
 remembered that this is not a general case with women, nor perhaps 
 a natural one, as is found by experience in very warm climates ; 
 and that other creatures bring forth without pain, unless in parti- 
 cular circumstances. 
 
82 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 all our senses are also made the inlets of delight and 
 pleasure, and we are kindly furnished with the mean* 
 of satisfying all our natural and rational desires. 
 How can we choose but love so benevolent a Being I 
 " Thy works praise thee, O Lord! and we, among 
 the rest of thy intelligent creatures, will for ever bless 
 thee. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
 night sheweth knowledge.' , The light of the day, 
 the darkness of the night, with all the various revo- 
 lutions of the seasons, — all contribute to the happi- 
 ness of man, and evidently prove the infinite love and 
 benevolence of God to us. Surely such thought* 
 ought to excite in us the warmest gratitude and af- 
 fection for this infinite source of all our happiness. 
 
 No man, who duly considers the goodness of God, 
 can help loving him : it is out of his power to do 
 otherwise ; and, therefore, the command to love God 
 seems unnecessary, unless it relates to the manner of 
 expressing that love ; which is certainly best done by 
 acting agreeable to the dictates of reason and nature, 
 contributing all we can to our own happiness, and 
 the happiness of our fellow-creatures : this being the 
 nearest approach to perfection that such imperfect 
 creatures as we are capable of. This will be consi- 
 dered at large, when I come to treat of the social 
 duties. 
 
 From what hath been said, it seems clearly to ap- 
 pear that infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, have 
 all been exerted in promoting the happiness of man- 
 kind. Surely, then, God ought to be the supreme 
 object of our most ardent affection, as well as of our 
 reverence and adoration. His love to his creatures 
 4 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 88 
 
 the existence of other beings. He created us through 
 the plenitude of his bounty, and the exuberance of his 
 is constant, invariable, and immutable, like himself. 
 * His ways are not as our ways." He is not capri- 
 cious in his love, like to us mortals. He does not, 
 from mere arbitrary will, prefer one person to an- 
 other, but desires the happiness of all, (kings and 
 peasants are with him the same ;) and, therefore, the 
 best way we have of expressing our love and grati- 
 tude to him, is to contribute all we can to the happi- 
 ness of our brethren. Our best services cannot 
 possibly increase the Tiappiness of the infinitely per- 
 fect God ; and, therefore, the only way we can, with 
 any propriety, be said to serve him, is to do all in 
 our power to carry on his benevolent plan of universal 
 happiness. 
 
 We are told, (Acts x. 34, 35,) " that God is no 
 respecter of persons, but that, in every nation, he that 
 feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted 
 with him." 
 
 Here we have a most perfect example of universal 
 benevolence. Persons of all nations, and conse- 
 quently of all religions, provided they be workers of 
 righteousness, will be accepted of God, So should 
 they be with us, or we ourselves cannot reasonably 
 expect to be accepted. The condition of our accept- 
 ance with God is, the working righteousness ; or, in 
 other words, being pious, just, charitable, and bene- 
 volent. This should also be the condition of appro- 
 bation with us. Whatever a man's religious opinions 
 or professions may be, though ever so different from 
 our own, yet, if he be a good man, a worker of 
 
 j-2 
 
84 OF THE DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 
 
 righteousness, then we should be ready to do him 
 good ; which is the best way we have in our power 
 of expressing our love to God. If a man be a worker 
 of righteousness, and an example of virtue in his 
 conduct, it should be a sufficient recommendation of 
 him to our charity and brotherly love ; especially as 
 every man, who reflects on his own necessities and 
 frailties, must perceive what strong motives these are 
 to universal benevolence. A man's actions, and not 
 his religious opinions, (provided he has charity for 
 others,) should regulate our conduct towards him. 
 All mankind are our brethren : difference in opinion 
 by no means destroys the relation. Besides, we are 
 told that, if we love not our brethren, we cannot 
 Jove God. 
 
;■*-•. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 
 
 ©Sap. I. 
 
 OF WISDOM. 
 
 Janes, i. 5.— If any of you lack wisdom, let bira ask of God, who givetli to 
 all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given bim.— iii. 17. — 
 But the wisdom that is from above, is fir*t pure, then peaceable, gentle, 
 and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, 
 and without hypocrisy. 
 
 I have hitherto considered the duties which men owe 
 to God, as their Creator, Preserver, and constant 
 Benefactor. Now, from these relations, an entire 
 submission to the divine commands is clearly to be 
 deduced. From a sense of his being our Maker and 
 Sovereign, arises our homage and adoration; and 
 from a sense of his being our Benefactor, arises the 
 most pure and ardent affection for him. 
 
 I am now to consider man as divested of all his 
 relations to God, and to point out his obligations to 
 himself. These will arise out of that rational love of 
 himself, which is required and necessitated by the 
 law of nature, where reason presides. Now, here I 
 would distinguish between that self-love which con- 
 
86 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 sists in a gratification of irregular desires, out of 
 which arises pride, vanity, and arrogance ; and that 
 ardent rational affection for himself, and desire of 
 pleasure, which nature inspires in every man, and 
 out of which will arise the practice of those virtues 
 which will best promote his true and rational happi- 
 ness, both in body and in soul. But, as the soul is 
 far more excellent than the body, its happiness should 
 always be first consulted. Our reason and resolu- 
 tion should always be exerted in forcing the body to 
 obedience, whenever its irregular passions obstruct, 
 or would sacrifice, the happiness of the soul. I mean 
 not, by this, that we should deprive the body of those 
 gratifications which are essential to its happiness, 
 which are lawful, and which are made necessary by 
 nature : so far am I from it, that it appears to me to 
 be our duty to heighten and improve the pleasures of 
 the senses. 
 
 It seems very clear, that our natural and sensual 
 gratifications are not displeasing to God : and so far 
 are they from being contrary to his beneficent scheme 
 of creation, that he appears to have made myriads of 
 perceptive beings, capable of pleasure and pain, for no 
 other end, as to themselves, but the enjoyment of the 
 natural pleasures of their senses. He has likewise 
 furnished the world with an infinite variety, which 
 appears to be calculated for no other end but to sup- 
 ply matter, and produce entertainment and pleasure, 
 for the senses. The desires of the body have God 
 for their author, as well as those that are intellec- 
 tual ; and, therefore, it must not only be innocent, 
 but our natural and reasonable <$uty, to improve 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO GOD. 87 
 
 them, and to give them the highest relish. In this 
 view of the case, all voluntary penances, abstinences, 
 fastings, floggings, and the like, are not only ridicu- 
 lous and foolish, but also unnatural and displeasing 
 to God, who delights in the happiness of his crea- 
 tures, " who is paid when man receives. To enjoy 
 is to obey." 
 
 But, while we are endeavouring to improve and 
 heighten the pleasures of the senses, we should always 
 remember that it should be done in due subordination 
 to the pleasures and happiness of the soul ; the one 
 being only a fabric of clay, that will soon be reduced 
 to dust ; the other a celestial being, whose existence, 
 as we suppose, will be eternal. 
 
 By improving sensual pleasures, I would not be 
 understood to mean the most frequent gratification of 
 bodily desires : on the contrary, I mean the using 
 them with due moderation, by not exceeding the 
 laws of nature. 
 
 This restriction, and curb on our appetites, nature 
 exactly teaches : take her then for your guide, and, 
 through all the pleasures of the senses, she will be a 
 proper cheek on every exorbitancy, provided you 
 listen attentively to her voice. When, instead of sa- 
 tisfying oujr hunger and thirst, (those calls of nature 
 for the preservation of life,) we run into intemper- 
 ance, she checks us by a sick stomach, an aching 
 head, trembling nerves, and often by taking away, 
 for a time, the very power of farther hurting our- 
 selves. This is also the case with every other sensual 
 gratification ; and in this the wisdom and goodness 
 of the Ood of nature are abundantly displayed. Men 
 
S3' OP THE DUTIES 
 
 of very strong constitutions may not so soon feel the 
 ill effects of intemperance and debauchery, but still 
 let such remember that they are sapping the very 
 foundations of life ; and that an immature and un- 
 timely death will, sooner or later, be the fatal conse- 
 quence* 
 
 A proper and moderate use of sensual pleasures, of 
 every kind, will most certainly improve them, raise 
 their relish, and give them a zest which hardly ever 
 accompanies intemperance and debauchery. 
 
 The law of nature is exactly followed, in this parti- 
 cular, by the brute creation ; and hence their plea- 
 sures are thought to be more exquisite than ours. If 
 nature then teaches the brute creation, and leads- 
 them to the highest improvement of their pleasures, 
 which are merely sensual, shall reason and nature 
 both be unable to teach us our duty and our interest, 
 and to curb our vicious and irregular appetites? Let 
 us love ourselves rationally. Let us improve the 
 pleasures of the senses by a proper and moderate use 
 of them, which is certainly our duty ; but let us be 
 careful, as I said before, always to observe a due su- 
 bordination between these and the more pure and 
 exalted pleasures of the soul or mind. In order to 
 raise and improve the pleasures of the soul or mind, 
 take the light of nature, and the doctrines of Christ' 
 founded thereon, for your guide ; and these will direct 
 ^outo that heavenly wisdom mentioned above, by St. 
 James, namely, — -" that you should be pure, peace- 
 able, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and 
 good fruits, without partiality, and without hypo- 
 crisy." These are the signatures of true wisdom, — of 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 89 
 
 that wisdom which originally came down from God, 
 — which nature ever taught, — reason always recom- 
 mended, — and which Christ and his apostles revived 
 in the world, at a time when idolatry, superstition, 
 enthusiasm, and priestcraft, had overspread the face 
 of the earth, like a deluge, and left no room for the 
 heaven -born virtues of charity and benevolence to 
 grow up and exert themselves. 
 
 ©gap. II. 
 
 OF PRUDENCE. 
 
 I. Thess. v. 21, 22. — Prove all things; hold fast that which is good : abstain 
 from all appearance of evil. 
 
 This important duty is no where, that I have ob- 
 served, particularly taken notice of in the New 
 Testament ; yet it is certainly included in St. Paul's 
 advice, above mentioned. Prudence, if duly attended 
 to, will contribute more to our happiness than per- 
 haps any other virtue. " He who possesses prudence 
 has a divine guide in his own breast." 
 
 In speculation, prudence will guard the mind 
 against too readily assenting to propositions, without 
 first thoroughly examining them ; which wijl prevent 
 our being grossly imposed upon. This branch of 
 prudence is what St. Paul so strongly recommends in 
 the foregoing text. I wish his advice was more duly 
 attended to. We are too apt to embrace opinions 
 
 M 
 
90 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 without examining them ; and more especially reli- 
 gious opinions and dogmas, which, above all other, 
 should be brought to the bar of reason, for a fair and 
 impartial trial, before they are adopted ; because 
 reason is the best test of the truth of religious opi- 
 nions. Nature, as well as St. Paul, teaches that we 
 must try before we can distinguish ; and that we 
 must distinguish before we can be certain of holding 
 fast that which is good. Nothing that is above the 
 reach of our capacities, or that we cannot form any 
 judgment of, can by us be determined to do good: it 
 may, for aught we know about it, as well be bad, 
 and not proper to be held fast and made a part of our 
 creed, or a principle of our conduct. No religious 
 opinion, or moral rule, can properly be called good, 
 or fit to be held fast by us, but such as is a proper 
 foundation for right action ; and such must be deter- 
 mined by reason. 
 
 Prudence is an important branch of true wisdom ; 
 and is a consequence of due attention, a sound judg- 
 ment, and an inflexible resolution. Thus formed, 
 her office is to regulate and direct our choice of ob- 
 jects. If a man desires an object inconsistent, upon 
 the whole, with his own happiness, he is wretchedly 
 imprudent ; and yet the appearance and allurements 
 of present good so engage the attention, and captivate 
 the soul, that we often make a precipitate choice; 
 neglecting to deliberate, consult, and weigh the con- 
 sequence in the scale of reason. We cannot choose 
 evil as evil : our wrong choice arises from our igno- 
 rance, and our being deceived by an appearance of 
 good, where, in truth, there is nothing but real evil. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 91 
 
 Plato says, " If a man falls into a wicked course of 
 life, it arises from his ignorance in mistaking evil for 
 good, and misery for happiness ; for, as all virtue is 
 voluntary, so all vice is involuntary, and arises from 
 mistake, — it being impossible for a man to choose 
 evil as evil." 
 
 The business of prudence, then, is to keep the 
 mind upon its guard, and to prevent any rash deter- 
 mination, with regard either to speculation or to 
 practice ; so that it may be always determined, and 
 fixed on the most worthy objects. 
 
 The embracing religious opinions as true without 
 examining them, is, to the last degree, imprudent ; 
 for, without the trial recommended by St. Paul, we 
 may adopt false opinions for true, and bad for good; 
 by which our happiness in this life, as well as in a 
 future, may be affected, if not destroyed. I shall 
 conclude this chapter by observing, that no arrows 
 wound us so deep as those which we sharpen by our 
 own imprudence. 
 
 M 
 
92 ctf the duties 
 
 ©fiap. III. 
 
 OF PRIDE AND HUMILITY. 
 
 I. Tim. vi. 17, IB, 19. — Charge them that are rich in the world, that they be 
 not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who 
 giveth us richly all things to enjoy : That they do good ; that they be rich 
 in good works ; ready to distribute, willing to communicate ; laying up in 
 store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they 
 may lay hold on eternal life. 
 
 James, iv. 6. — God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 
 — V. 10. — Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift 
 you up. 
 
 Matt, xxiii. 13. — And whomsoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and 
 he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 
 
 Though pride and humility are directly opposite to 
 one another, and cannot well find place in the same 
 mind, yet I choose to bring them into one chapter, 
 and consider them together, because they will serve 
 to illustrate each other ; and because the deformity of 
 the one, and the beauty of the other, will be height- 
 ened by being set in contrast. 
 
 Pride, of all the passions, is that which renders us 
 most obnoxious and hateful to our fellow-creatures. 
 What makes it still worse is, that it is scarcely ever 
 connected with real merit. 
 
 But, if God hath blessed any with qualifications 
 superior to what the generality of mankind possess, 
 gratitude should take place of pride. We should be 
 thankful to God ; but never despise our fellow-crea- 
 tures, who, perhaps, may be endowed with some 
 other accomplishments of which we have no share, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 93 
 
 and are free from faults which we have in abund- 
 ance. 
 
 Pride certainly appears irrational, whatever light 
 it be considered in. The greatest degree of merit is 
 no proper foundation for it : but it is to the last de- 
 gree ridiculous to be proud of those things which 
 have no merit in them; such as honours, riches, 
 beauty, strength, and the like. 
 
 Pride sinks and debases human nature ; whilst 
 humility raises and advances it, till it becomes god- 
 like. Pride darkens and obscures our accomplish- 
 ments ; but humility adorns and gives lustre to them. 
 Humility has always the advantage of pride, but in- 
 finitely so in circumstances of distress. We readily 
 reach out a benevolent hand to assist the humble : 
 but, when the proud man falls, there is no one ready 
 to raise him up ; he lies unpitied and unassisted by 
 his fellow-creatures, and is far from being a proper 
 object of the favour of God, " who resisteth the 
 proud, but giveth grace to the humble." I shall say 
 no more on this subject here, as I intend to treat more 
 largely of it in another place : but only add, that the 
 pride which I here and elsewhere condemn, is not 
 that generous noble pride which springs from con- 
 scious innocence and some degree of merit, and 
 which keeps us superior to mean actions ; but that 
 low pride, which makes persons vain of those things 
 in which there is no merit, and inclines them to treat 
 their brethren with disdain and contempt. 
 
94 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 ©8ap. IV. 
 
 OF TEMPERANCE. 
 
 I. Cor. ix. 25. — And every man that striveth for the mastery, is temperate 
 in all things : now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an 
 incorruptible. — Ver. 27. — But I keep under my body, and bring it into 
 subjection, least that, by any means, when I have preached to others, I 
 myself should be a cast-away. — Chap. v. 9.— I wrote to you in an epistle, 
 not to keep company with fornicators. — Chap. vi. 9. — Know ye not, that 
 the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived, 
 neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
 abusers of themselves with mankind ; — Ver. 10. — Nor thieves, nor covetous, 
 nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 Gal. v. 19. — Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these : adul- 
 tery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. — Ver. 22. — But the fruits of 
 the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
 — Ver. 23. — Meekness, temperance : against such there is no law. 
 
 Heb. xiii. 4.— Marriage is honourable in all, when the bed is undefiled ; but 
 whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 
 
 Ephes. v. 3. — But fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not 
 be once named among you. 
 
 I. Thess. iv. 3.— For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that 
 you should abstain from fornication. 
 
 Jame&, v. 5. — Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton ; ye 
 have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. 
 
 Luxe, xxi. 34. — And take beed to yourselves, least at any time your hearts 
 be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and 
 so that day come upon you unawares, 
 
 I. Peter, iv. 3. — For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought 
 the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lascivious lusts, excess of 
 wine, revellings, banquettings, and abominable idolatries. 
 
 Rom. xiii. 13.— Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunk- 
 enness, not in chambering and wautonness, not in strife and envying. 
 
 Ephes. v. 18.— And he not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be 
 filled with the spirit. 
 
 I. Thess. v. 7, y.— For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that are 
 drunken are drunken in the night : but let us, who are of the day, be 
 sober. 
 
 The great consequence of this duty may be judged 
 of by the number of places in the New Testament 
 wherein it is mentioned. Nature also points it out 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 95 
 
 as a duty, on the practice of which the happiness of 
 mankind very much depends. 
 
 If we take temperance in its most extensive sense, 
 it is a virtue which serves for a boundary to all the 
 passions : but, in a more limited one, it includes 
 chastity and sobriety only, each of which I shall dis- 
 course of in its order ; and first of chastity. 
 
 Temperance will always heighten and improve 
 every bodily gratification, as it confines us to a pru- 
 dent moderation in the use of things adapted to please 
 the senses ; and herein the virtue of temperance con- 
 sists. It does not prohibit the gratifications of our 
 senses, but only restrains those gratifications within 
 proper bounds. 
 
 By chastity, I would not be understood to mean 
 absolute continence ; for this would be opposing one 
 of nature's greatest and wisest laws. I mean only 
 that unmarried persons should be continent, for 
 otherwise they cannot be chaste ; but married persons 
 may be chaste without being continent. I have 
 proved, under the article Wisdom, that it is our duty 
 to heighten and improve our bodily pleasures ; and 
 that this is to be done only by temperance, or a mo- 
 derate use of them. 
 
 In the pleasures of love, — I mean those bodily 
 pleasures which arise from a commerce between the 
 different sexes. If you would have those pleasures 
 to be improved, if you would give those gratifications 
 the highest relish, take temperance for your guide, 
 and never let love be excluded : I mean a rational 
 love, founded in virtue, which unites souls as well as 
 bodies. It is impossible that a casual transient en- 
 
96 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 joyment can be equal to that which arises from a 
 permanent benevolence, where the mind has its share, 
 and where love and innocence are united : but even 
 here, temperance will always be your best guide ; for 
 temperance will heighten and improve even innocent 
 gratifications. 
 
 But the pleasures arising from conjugal love are 
 also heightened by benevolence, or the desire of com- 
 municating happiness to others. Whenever this 
 heaven-born principle can be joined with bodily, or 
 sensual, gratifications, it will greatly improve them. 
 A mutual consciousness of communicating pleasure, 
 where virtuous love is the foundation, and temper- 
 ance prescribes the bounds, will give a relish of 
 sensual delights, unknown to the intemperate and 
 debauched. 
 
 Let the libertine, who has roved lawless and un- 
 bounded in the paths of Inst, and who has dearly 
 purchased variety to heighten his enjoyments, — if 
 ever his heart has been touched with the pure flame 
 of virtuous wedded love, — let him, I say, tell me 
 whether he did not taste pleasures more intense, when 
 confined to one single object, than what the utmost 
 variety could afford. I think I may, with certainty, 
 answer for him in the affirmative ; for the reason is 
 plain : in the unlawful gratification, it is probable 
 that neither temperance, chastity, love, nor benevo- 
 lence, bore any part ; but, in the innocent one, they 
 all contributed to improve his pleasures. 
 
 Though the seraglio of the libertine should exceed 
 even that of Solomon, both in beauty and variety, yet 
 I will venture to say, that the enjoyment of one 
 
 2 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 97 
 
 virtuous woman, who has fixed the affection, and 
 retains it by a good conduct, will yield more exqui- 
 site delight than ever was experienced from any 
 casual gratifications of this kind ; even though beauty, 
 art, and variety, all combined to enhance the enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 Thus far I have considered temperance only as it 
 is relative to chastity, — I shall now consider it as re- 
 lative to sobriety. The use of temperance, in this 
 light, is to repress immoderate eating and drinking. 
 These gratifications are innocent in themselves, be- 
 cause they are essentially necessary to the support of 
 our being ; and these will also be heightened and 
 improved by temperance: but, without this guide, 
 they will tend to shorten the life which they were in- 
 tended to preserve. 
 
 To shew the ill consequence of drinking to excess, 
 and to give a frightful representation of this vice, we 
 need not go so far as Lacedemonia. Look into the 
 streets of London, and you will daily see spectacles 
 of horror and detestation ; you will see human nature 
 degraded, by a sordid intemperance, lower than any 
 thing which the brute creation can exhibit. Faithful 
 instinct keeps these from excess, and they never lose 
 sight of their guide : but reason, the guide of man, — 
 that ray from heaven, that emanation from the infinite 
 source of perfection, — is either unattended to, or 
 made the slave of passion and irregular appetite. 
 Brutes in the form of men, — and, I am sorry to say 
 it, of women too, — may be seen to reel in the streets, 
 under a load of liquor, without guard or guide ; 
 having deprived themselves of reason, which else 
 
98 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 would be the guide of their actions, and having in- 
 flamed their passions, by artificial spirits, even to 
 frenzy, they are exposed, and often animated, to the 
 perpetration of the most horrid crimes. Drunken- 
 ness is, therefore, a sin against society : it is abso- 
 lutely inconsistent with the duties which we owe to 
 ourselves and to others, and, of course, very displeas- 
 ing to God. How carefully, then, should it be 
 guarded against! 
 
 But I shall farther consider the vice of intemper- 
 ance, or of immoderate eating and drinking, as it has 
 a natural tendency to put an early period to that life 
 which God and nature bid us preserve. This is a 
 kind of suicide, as much against the law of nature as 
 any other species of self-murder would be. How far 
 the lives of those who thus indulge their sordid ap- 
 petites may be useful to society, I cannot say : God 
 knows what business he hath for them to do; but 
 this we know, this nature teaches us, — that we ought 
 not to shorten our lives, but wait till God sees fit to 
 call us hence. He is our Lord and Sovereign, and 
 we are his creatures and subjects: we received our 
 lives from him ; and, when he pleases, in the course 
 of his providence, to demand them back, we should, 
 without fear or doubt about a future state, be ready 
 to resign them, — but not before. No man can be 
 totally unconnected with other beings : the taking 
 away of his life, then, may affect the happiness of 
 others, and in some measure disturb the order of the 
 universe ; for the chain is vast and extensive, and 
 the dependencies and connexions of each link may be 
 much closer than we apprehend : and, in this light, 
 
 3 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 99 
 
 suicide must appear to be a crime.* Gluttony and 
 drunkenness are sure poisons, though they may be 
 slow in their operation : but the crime takes place 
 long before the criminal puts an end to his life ; for 
 his faculties are often impaired, or rendered useless, 
 
 * The generality of writers against suicide have adopted the 
 above-mentioned opinions : but, surely, it is making the life of a 
 man of too much consequence in the universal system, to suppose 
 that the taking it away might break the chain of nature, and dis- 
 turb the order of the universe. If this was really the case, the thief 
 at the gallows might fairly plead the argument, and urge the im- 
 portance of his life, as connected with other beings. Though the 
 idea of a scale of beings, in a due gradation from the highest angel 
 to the meanest insect, has been adopted by some writers ; yet, even 
 supposing a foundation in reason and nature for this opinion, it 
 doth not from thence follow that every individual being is such a 
 link as, if taken away, would unconnect the universal chain, though 
 the total destruction of any species of beings might be supposed to 
 do so. In the first view, the death of a fly may, with as much 
 propriety, be said to break a link of the chain, and to disturb the 
 order of the universe, as the death of a man. The act of suicide 
 may be (as perhaps all our actions are) indifferent in itself with re- 
 gard to God, and criminal only in proportion to the degree of 
 moral evil that attends it, which may be much greater in one person 
 than in another: and there may be cases where there would be more 
 evil in a person's living miserable than could be produced by his 
 death, whether violent or natural. However, after all, it must be 
 allowed, that a person guilty of suicide betrays an impatience and 
 cowardice under the ills of life inconsistent with the character of a 
 rational being, who believes himself under the government of an 
 infinitely wise and good God.* 
 
 * Suicide implies cowardice in the highest degree, in not having 
 sufficient courage, resolution, and philosophy, to encounter in this 
 life the utmost frowns of fortune, though they were even worse 
 than death itself. — Editor. 
 
 n2 
 
100 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 by these excesses, many years before his death. Upon 
 the whole, intemperance is a crime not inferior to a 
 violent and sudden death procured by a man's own 
 hands. 
 
 ©Sap. v. 
 
 OF PATIENCE. 
 
 Luke, xxi. J 9. — In your patience possess ye your souls. 
 
 Rom. xii. 12.— Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in 
 prayer. 
 
 I. Thess. v. 14. — Now we exhort ye, brethren, warn them that are unruly, 
 comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient towards all men. 
 
 Heb. x. 36. — For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will 
 of God, ye might receive the promise. — Chap. xii. 1. — Let us run with 
 patience the race that is set before us. 
 
 James, i. 4.— But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect 
 and entire, wanting nothing. — Chap. v. 7. — Be patient therefore, brethren, 
 unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the 
 precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receives 
 the early and the latter rain. — Ver. 8. — Be ye also patient. 
 
 I. Pet. ii. 19. — For this is thank-worthy, if a man, for conscience toward 
 God, endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 
 
 II. Pet. i. 5, 6, 7. — And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith 
 virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to 
 temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly 
 kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. 
 
 Here we see how earnestly the duty of patience is 
 recommended in the New Testament. Nature also 
 strongly inculcates it. Patience is pointed out to us 
 as a virtue as well as a duty which we owe to our- 
 selves and to our fellow-creatures, because it tends 
 to promote the happiness of society. For this reason 
 also it appears to be a duty which we owe to God, 
 whose creatures we all are, and who most certainly 
 intended the happiness of all intelligences. That 
 
WHICH W'B OWE TO OURSELVES. 101 
 
 it promotes our own happiness, every man's expe- 
 rience teaches ; and this is the best proof that can be 
 offered. 
 
 Impatience and fretfulness under the ills of life 
 will lessen our power to bear them. The body and 
 the mind are so intimately connected, that whatever 
 affects the one will also affect the other, and both will 
 be hurt by impatience, — both greatly weakened. 
 The health of the one will be impaired, and the calm 
 serenity of the other ruffled into a storm. On the 
 contrary, patience and forbearance either blunt the 
 arrows of fortune, or will prove a balm to heal our 
 wounds. 
 
 We should consider that, in such a world as this 
 is, where there are so many different interests to be 
 pursued, — so many different tempers and tastes to be 
 gratified, — we ought not to expect to bring mankind 
 to our own standard and opinion, in either case. 
 Different ages, different opinions, different circum- 
 stances, will ever operate to counteract our plan. 
 This it is the business of patience to fortify us 
 against ; and, if we would be happy, we should learn 
 tliis important lesson ; viz. — that, where we cannot 
 bring mankind to conform to our taste and manners, 
 we should endeavour, as far as the principles of truth 
 and virtue will allow, to conform ourselves to theirs. 
 Let us render our own tempers pliable and gentle, 
 and we shall find less opposition from others. This 
 conformity at once blunts the edge of contradiction : 
 by this means it hurts us no longer ; and hence the 
 struggle is soon over, and we are at peace. But if it 
 should so happen, as sometimes it may, that we are 
 
102 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 persecuted and used ill, notwithstanding all our en- 
 deavours to live in peace and on good terms with 
 the world, yet, even in this case, patience is the best 
 remedy. 
 
 If we are bound in the cords of adversity, strug- 
 gling will only strain the knots the harder ; by which 
 we shall be more injured.* Besides, there is some- 
 thing noble and philosophic in being calm and un- 
 ruffled amid the storms and tempests of fortune : it 
 is one proof of our innocence. God himself will 
 look on such objects with an eye of pity and com- 
 placency. 
 
 Let us consider, farther, that mankind are no more 
 obliged to conform to our opinions, than we are to 
 theirs. A difference may arise even about indifferent 
 things, and where moral good and evil are quite out 
 of the question. Let us not be angry with one 
 another on this account : these are the consequences 
 of human frailty and human freedom ; and, though 
 mankind have one steady uniform light to guide 
 them, they will not all think alike. Difference of 
 capacity, or of education, will create difference in 
 opinion. One man is of a lively acute genius, im- 
 proved by reading and converse ; another is heavy, 
 dull, slow, and illiterate : such can hardly ever think 
 alike, yet the last may be as good and as honest a 
 man as the first ; and hence they should bear with 
 one another. Age and youth will infallibly think 
 
 * Here I would not be understood to mean, that we should 
 tamely and passively submit to injuries, without using proper means 
 to extricate ourselves ; but that, when these fail, we should resign 
 our cause to God, and patiently wait for relief in his good time. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 10$ 
 
 differently : every one knows this ; and this is so na- 
 tural a consequence, that we ought never to be angry 
 about it, but patiently bear all the contradictions 
 which generally arise from this disparity. The youth- 
 ful and healthy ought to bear with the frowardness of 
 age and sickness, considering that they may one day 
 be in the same unhappy situation. On the other 
 hand, the aged should forgive the lively sallies, and 
 excuse the innocent foibles, of youth, remembering 
 that they were once young themselves. 
 
 One man delights in talking much, another loves 
 silence ; yet both may be virtuous good men : these 
 should patiently bear with each other, or keep at a 
 distance. After all, let us return to that excellent 
 rule of doing to others as we would they should do 
 unto us. Let our attention be constantly fixed on 
 this golden moral rule, and it will teach us exactly 
 how to behave in almost every circumstance of life. 
 Let us think, if we are ourselves without faults, how 
 noble it is to bear with those of other people : but, if 
 we are not, which is much more likely to be the case, 
 surely we ought to treat others as we would wish that 
 they should treat us ; and we should excuse their 
 foibles, as we crave indulgence for our own. Let us 
 consider that they are men like ourselves ; and, if 
 they are good and virtuous, we should be always 
 ready to make allowance for human frailties. We 
 should make this our constant practice, even though 
 we thought ourselves better than others ; seeing that 
 the infinitely perfect God and Father of the universe 
 makes this the rule of his conduct towards his crea- 
 tures. He is constantly represented, in the New 
 
104 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 Testament, as a God of patience, long-suffering, 
 slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth : 
 though the Jews, who were a gloomy people, often 
 represented him, in the Old Testament, as a jealous, 
 peevish, passionate, and revengeful being ; which 
 Plutarch considered as most impious superstition and 
 horrid blasphemy, more affronting to the Deity than 
 downright atheism. 
 
 ©gap. vi. 
 
 OF ANGER. 
 
 Ephes. iv. 26, 31.— Be ye angry, and sin not : let: not the sun go down upon 
 
 your wrath. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and 
 
 evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. 
 James, i. 19, 20. — Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift 
 
 to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man woiketh not 
 
 the righteousness of God. 
 
 Anger, when it arises to any considerable height, is 
 a passion destructive of our own peace, as well as of 
 the peace of others. It is a violent storm in the mind, 
 which ruffles and agitates it to such a degree / that it 
 breaks through the bounds of reason, and deprives us 
 of its guard and guidance ; after which we are driven 
 before the tempest, like a ship without a rudder, till 
 we are dashed upon the rocks of error, imprudence, 
 and folly, which, in our calmer moments, we should 
 have seen and avoided : for, in those violent parox- 
 ysms of anger, we are liable to actions which, at 
 another time, we should be shocked with the thoughts 
 of: but if, in this frenzy, in these unguarded mo- 
 ments, we should not be so unhappy as to do much 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 105 
 
 mischief, yet this passion almost always betrays us 
 into meanness. Thus hurtful is anger. Not only 
 the mind, but the body also, is greatly affected by its 
 baneful influence. Our features are distorted, and 
 greatly altered by it : the smooth brow, the placid 
 look, the courteous smile, are changed into a ghastly 
 form, which, instead of pleasing, terrifies and af- 
 frights beholders. Violent anger will also weaken 
 our nerves, and tends to bring on very dangerous 
 disorders. Nature and reason, then, must surely 
 teach us to avoid it. We are also cautioned against 
 it, in the strongest terms, in the New Testament: 
 we are advised to check it in the beginning ; and we 
 should do this by applying speedily to our reason for 
 assistance, as we would do to a physician in the 
 most dangerous disease. If we are at any time pro- 
 voked to anger, we should always keep it within 
 bounds, in such manner that it may not transport 
 and hurry us into the commission of sin. If we can- 
 not always prevent anger, we should do all in our 
 power to shorten the fit. We are told, that " the 
 sun should not go down upon our wrath." Truly, a 
 day is much too long for the indulgence of anger. 
 The setting sun should never witness such unreason- 
 able conduct. A man in a violent fit of anger may 
 be compared to a house in a flame, which, if not soon 
 quenched, will certainly consume it, and probably 
 damage or destroy those of his neighbours also. 
 
 In order the more effectually to check and restrain 
 this pernicious passion, so hurtful to ourselves and 
 to others, let us consider who those are with whom 
 we are angry. Our fellow-creatures are all our 
 
 o 
 
106 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 brethren, and should be treated with humanity, kind- 
 ness, tenderness, and brotherly love : besides, the 
 being angry with our brother is a crime which, the 
 Scripture tells us, will be severely punished. But 
 farther, and to conclude this article, let us consider 
 how disagreeable it is to have others angry with us, 
 and to see passion and resentment take place of kind- 
 ness and affection ; and let us here apply that most 
 excellent rule, so often repeated in this work, of doing 
 to others as we would they should do unto us. 
 
 ©gap. vii. 
 
 OF COVETOUSNESS. 
 
 Matt. vi. 19, 20, 21. — Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
 where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves hreak through and 
 steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth 
 nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal : 
 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
 
 Matt. xix. 23, 24. — Then Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto 
 you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven ; and 
 again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
 needle than for a rieh man to enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 Luke, xii. 15. — And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetous- 
 ness ; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which 
 he possesseth. 
 
 I. Cor. vi. 10. — Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor 
 extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 
 
 Ephes. v. 5. — For this ye know, that no whoremonger nor unclean person, 
 nor covetous man, who is an idolator, hath any inheritance in the kingdom 
 of Christ and of God. 
 
 Heb. xiu75. — Let your conversation be without covetousness. 
 
 You see that covetousness is considered by Christ 
 and his apostles as a great vice. Reason also con- 
 demns it ; as every one will find who candidly con- 
 sults that unerring guide. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 107 
 
 Covetousness may be considered in a two-fold 
 manner : — first, as an inordinate love of riches ; and 
 secondly, as an unlawful desire of possessing the 
 properties of others. I shall treat of both in their 
 order. 
 
 In the first place, then, covetousness may be de- 
 fined — ari excessive love of riches. Now the love of 
 riches, when it becomes excessive, becomes criminal ; 
 for it is the exorbitance only of the passion that con- 
 stitutes its criminality. A man may love riches and 
 desire to possess them, because they give him power 
 and extend his influence, and hence enable him to 
 communicate more good to others. This desire and 
 disposition, then, far from being accounted a vice, is 
 always esteemed a virtue. But the covetous man, 
 from an inordinate and unreasonable love of riches, 
 is led to desire them only for their own sake ; hence, 
 to pervert their use : and, instead of making them 
 subservient to his own happiness and to that of others, 
 he denies to himself, and to others, all those advan- 
 tages which would accrue from a proper application 
 of them. His narrow contracted soul feels no plea- 
 sure but in contemplating the sum which he has 
 amassed together. He is so unsocial a being, that he 
 hardly deserves the name of human. How irrational 
 are his pleasures! — or, I might more properly say, 
 how irrational is his pleasure ! for he seems to have 
 but one, — namely, that of counting his gold ; and this 
 one greatly allayed by the fear " that thieves may 
 break through and steal" what he holds dearer 
 than his soul. It is the rich man of this character 
 that the Scripture points out as having so difficult a 
 
 o2 
 
log 
 
 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 task to get to heaven : for certainly it cannot mean 
 the possessors of riches in general. Riches, accom- 
 panied with a benevolent heart, will be so far from 
 retarding, that they will greatly facilitate, our happi- 
 ness. Instead of making the road difficult and nar- 
 row, they will, when properly employed, open a 
 smooth and easy passage to everlasting felicity. The 
 benevolent man will do good with his riches. To do 
 good is to be good ; to be good is to be happy ; and 
 to be happy is to enjoy heaven, though not removed 
 from earth. But, on the other hand, the covetous 
 man, as above described, will (according to the ex- 
 pressive language of the New Testament) find it as 
 difficult to pass into happiness, or to have this fore- 
 taste of heaven, as " it is for a camel to pass through 
 the eye of a needle." No state of rational happiness 
 can suit his sordid and grovelling soul; and, there- 
 fore, such a state as we hope will be our lot hereafter 
 can be no heaven for him. It is in this sense, doubt- 
 less, that the rich covetous man cannot inherit the 
 kingdom of God, or a state of everlasting happiness. 
 
 But, secondly, covetousness is an unlawful desire 
 to possess the properties of others. Nothing but the 
 fear of human laws bars the covetous man from doing 
 this by force, whenever he has the power to do it. 
 
 A man, whose heart is so callous as not to feel the 
 distresses of his fellow- mortals, or who will not 
 stretch out his hand to relieve them, when he has the 
 means of doing it in his power; — a man who can 
 taste no pleasure in cheering the heart, nor in light- 
 ing up the countenance of the widow, the fatherless, 
 and the distressed of any kind, — we may, I think, 
 
 2 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 109 
 
 fairly conclude, would not scruple to make use of un- 
 lawful means to procure riches, though great distress 
 to others might be the consequence of it, provided he 
 thought himself secure from human laws. 
 
 Riches, amassed by a sordid avaricious man, may 
 well be said to be a " temptation and a snare:" for, 
 as his heaps increase, and his bags multiply, his 
 passion for riches augments.* And hence we may 
 venture to say, for experience warrants it, that inve- 
 terate covetousness and dishonesty are almost always 
 connected. 
 
 To have a transient wish, or desire, for the pro- 
 perty of others, which reason immediately checks and 
 condemns, is not the crime here spoken of; nor can 
 it, with propriety, be called coveting. It may not be 
 in our power to prevent the entrance of such desires, 
 just when the object strikes on the senses : but they 
 are presently regulated in a good heart, and the 
 thought of using unlawful means to acquire riches is 
 looked on with horror and detestation. 
 
 There is a command in the Jewish law against 
 covetousness, of the kind which I am now consider- 
 ing : for, to covet must there mean an unlawful desire 
 of possessing, which is restrained only by the want 
 of power, or the fear of human laws ; because, in any 
 other sense, the command would have no propriety 
 in it. The New Testament likewise agrees with 
 reason and nature in condemning this vice, in both 
 the lights in which I have represented it ; as also in 
 branding it with infamy, by joining it with theft, 
 
 * Crescit amor minimi ut ipsa pecunia crescit. 
 
110 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 whoredom, extortion, and the like atrocious crimes ; 
 > ... and by saying, that it is idolatry itself, — " and co- 
 
 lli - f* vetousness, which is idolatry." The riches of the 
 covetous man becomes the rival of his God, and an- 
 other object of his worship. Gold is the idol to which 
 he pays his devotions, and which engages his most 
 ardent affection. How worthless a member of so- 
 ciety is the covetous man ! How unworthy an object 
 of divine favour must that man be, who, so far from 
 using his endeavours to carry on the infinitely bene- 
 volent plan of universal happiness, does all in his 
 power to prevent it, by locking up in his coffers one 
 of the means of happiness to others ! 
 
 ©Sap. vill. 
 
 OF CONTENTMENT. 
 
 I. Cor. x. 10. — Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and 
 were destroyed of the destroyer. 
 
 I. Tim. vi. 6, 7, 8.— But godliness with contentment is great gain; for we 
 brought nothing into the world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
 And having food and raiment, Jet us be therewith content. 
 
 Heb. xiii. 5. — Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be con- 
 tent with such things as ye have : for he hath said, I will never leave thee 
 nor forsake thee. 
 
 Phillip, iv. 11. — For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to 
 be content. 
 
 This is a duty which we, in a particular manner, 
 owe to ourselves, and a virtue which nature and 
 right reason require that we should cultivate ; as they 
 do the practice of every virtue which tends to pro- 
 mote our happiness. But the duty of contentment is 
 to be observed and practised under the direction and 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. Ill 
 
 guidance of right reason ; for, without this sage Mi- 
 nerva, even the virtue of contentment, which is de- 
 fined by some to be a negative kind of happiness, 
 may degenerate and be a concomitant of vice. In 
 order to clear this point, I shall consider what those 
 situations and things are with which we ought to be 
 content, and what is not so. But first I would ob- 
 serve, that absolute contentment is not in our power, 
 and therefore cannot be required of us in this state : 
 even a certain measure of it depends much on consti- 
 tution and natural disposition. From these causes it 
 sometimes degenerates into sloth, and many persons 
 sit down contented in a situation with which they 
 ought not to be content ; but, on the contrary, if they 
 were to examine, they would find it their duty to 
 exert themselves in shifting the scene. It appears to 
 me, that God does not require of us absolute content- 
 ment in any situation this life affords. 
 
 Contentment seems to be the first step to happi- 
 ness ; but it is not happiness itself. We should not 
 rest in the attainments that we make in virtue, be- 
 cause we may still soar higher. We cannot reach 
 perfection : but we should be always aiming at it. 
 It is very clear that nature did not intend to make 
 absolute content the portion of this life : w r e are 
 formed of decaying materials, liable to sickness, pain, 
 disease, and disappointment; and, besides, we are 
 liable to be made unhappy by our connexions with 
 others. Virtue herself will not guard us aga'nst the 
 ills of life : on the contrary, she is often depressed 
 and trampled on by Vice, which is frequently seen to 
 ride triumphant through the world. This, surely. 
 
112 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 then is not a state for perfect contentment : and, 
 therefore, we may fairly and rationally conclude from 
 it, as well as from all our ideas of the wisdom, jus- 
 tice, and benevolence, of our heavenly Father, that 
 there will be a future state of existence ; where all 
 the rational desires of the soul will be satisfied, and 
 the most perfect happiness that finite creatures are 
 capable of will produce the most perfect content- 
 ment. 
 
 If this was the only state the soul was to exist in, 
 doubtless all her rational desires would have found 
 suitable objects wherewith to be satisfied, and she 
 would not have been constantly reaching out to some- 
 thing beyond this world. Nay, it is to be presumed 
 that, in such a case, God would never have furnished 
 us with any ideas of another state of existence. The 
 desire of life and happiness seems natural to us: it is 
 also natural, then, to desire an extension of them 
 beyond this world,— nay, to eternity. Would God 
 make us susceptible of such desires, if a few years 
 spent in this world were to put a final period to ou;* 
 existence ?— -I think not ; and some have brought this, 
 among others, as a proof of a future state. 
 
 From what has been said, then, we may fairly con- 
 clude, that absolute contentment is not required of us 
 in this state ; and hence all that is comprehended 
 under this duty is the behaving with ease, decency, 
 and composure, under all the allotments of provi- 
 dence. The kind of contentment required of us here 
 is something opposite to peevishness, fretfulness, 
 uneasiness, complaining, and the like ; all which in- 
 crease our difficulties, and make us disagreeable to 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 113 
 
 others. But I need not be very particular in point- 
 ing out what situations in life w T e should endeavour 
 to be contented with ; because, in general, we ought 
 to be satisfied with such as Providence hath placed 
 us in : for, this we may be sure of, that God, upon 
 the whole, will make us happy, if we contribute our 
 part towards it, and act agreeably to the dictates of 
 reason and of nature. 
 
 I am next to consider what those things are with 
 which we should not be content, or sit down easy 
 under. As we are told, in general, that it is our duty 
 to be contented with the allotments of Providence, — • 
 so, on the other hand, we should not be contented 
 under those evils which we bring on ourselves, but 
 should exert our best powers and abilities to shake 
 them off, and shift the scene. The evils which we 
 bring on ourselves, we ourselves are able, in general, 
 to remove ; and hence it becomes our duty to endea- 
 vour so to do : but those ills which Providence allots 
 us we should patiently submit to, praying to God for 
 relief in his due time. The evils which we brina* on 
 ourselves are, in general, the consequences of vice : 
 dishonesty, intemperance, and debauchery, as natu- 
 rally produce evils as any other cause produces its 
 effect. Remove the cause, then, and the effect will 
 cease : be honest, be temperate, be virtuous, — follow 
 reason and nature, and you will be happy. — But to 
 proceed. 
 
 We should not be contented in any situation in 
 which we cannot be useful to society ; for, whenever 
 this is the case, we may be assured that we are not 
 in the right way, — we should strive to mend our 
 
 p 
 
1 14 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 situation, and not sit down satisfied with any thing 
 short of virtue. 
 
 A celebrated poet has said, that " whatever is, is 
 right." I cannot admit this maxim into my creed 
 without explanation. Whatever falls to our lot by 
 the wise order of Providence, is undoubtedly right, 
 and productive of good upon the whole : but whatever 
 is a consequence of our own misconduct, is as cer- 
 tainly wrong. Whatever is done, which is right, is 
 better to have been done than left undone. Surely 
 this cannot be said by the actions of men in general. 
 This may be applied to rny subject. Whatever God 
 does is right ; and we should be as easy, as patient, 
 and as contented with it, as possible. This is the 
 virtue, the state of contentment, for which I am con- 
 tending. But we should never be contented in a 
 slothful, useless situation : contentment here would 
 be a vice. 
 
 Let virtue be the prize, and you cannot struggle 
 too hard to attain it. Be not contented with any 
 thing short of it. 
 
 It has been said by some, that a contented man is 
 as happy as any man can be. If this be true, it 
 overturns the whole force of my argument: but I 
 cannot agree that it is so, or that apathy can be hap- 
 piness ; because it is possible for a man to be con- 
 tented, without ever performing any one good action. 
 Give the same person ability and inclination to do 
 good, and to communicate happiness to others, and 
 he will be a much happier man than he was before, 
 and will wonder how he came to be contented in a 
 situation so far short of rational happiness. Upon the 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OURSELVES. 115 
 
 whole, if contentment be happiness, an ideot, or a 
 beast, may be as happy as an angel. 
 
 Contentment may imply a great degree of patience 
 under misfortunes ; a satisfaction with our own pos- 
 sessions and attainments, without envying those 
 above us. This we should all aim at : it is, in this 
 sense, a virtue which tends to promote our happiness ; 
 and, therefore, nature and the New Testament both 
 require the practice of it. 
 
 p2 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 THE DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW- 
 CREATURES. 
 
 I am now to consider the duties which we owe to 
 our fellow-creatures ; and to shew that the rules for 
 our conduct, laid down in the New Testament, are 
 also, in this particular, such as reason and nature 
 teach. 
 
 These duties arise out of the relations we stand in 
 to one another : and, as these relations are invariable, 
 — as we can never cease to be brethren, all being 
 children of the same almighty Parent, — so the duties 
 arising out of these relations must also be invariable, 
 and of eternal obligation. 
 
 Take these duties together, and they amount to 
 this, — namely, that we ought to contribute all that 
 lies in our power to the happiness of one another. 
 This maxim is agreeable to the kind intention of our 
 heavenly Father, " who is good to all, and whose 
 tender mercies are over all his works;" and who 
 could have no motive (conceivable by us) for bring- 
 ing us into being but to make us all happy. Surely 
 then, as brethren, we have the strongest claim upon 
 each other for all the good offices in our power : and 
 
OF THE DUTIES, &C. 117 
 
 this must also be pleasing to God, as it is contribut- 
 ing, according to our abilities, towards carrying on 
 his benevolent plan of universal happiness. Nature 
 teaches this ; and the New Testament both teaches 
 and commands it. 
 
 ©Sap. I. 
 
 OF LOVE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 
 
 Matt. xxii. 39.— Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
 
 RoM.xii. 10. — Be kindly affectioned one to another, with brotherly love. 
 
 Rom. xiii. 8. — Owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that 
 
 loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 
 I. Thess. iv. 9. — But, as touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write 
 
 unto you ; for )'e yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 
 James, ii. 8. — If ye fulfil the royal law according to the Scriptures, Thou 
 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,— ye do well. 
 
 By love cannot here be meant that involuntary pas- 
 sion which arises in the mind, from objects which 
 appear to us amiable : such objects we cannot help 
 loving ; and, for this reason, we cannot with propri- 
 ety, in such case, be commanded to do it as a duty. 
 It, therefore, must mean that we are obliged to extend 
 our good offices to all within the reach of our abi- 
 lities. In our conduct towards our fellow-creatures, 
 our justice should be inflexible, our charity diffusive, 
 and our benevolence universal and unbounded. The 
 practice of all these virtues ought to flow from, and 
 be joined with, a sense of our duty to God; as well 
 as from a consciousness of the obligation we lie under 
 to our fellow-creatures. In this view, how nobly 
 does a man distinguish himself! how well does he 
 
1 18 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 answer the end of his creation ! when his feeling 
 heart expands, takes in the claims of his fellow-crea- 
 tures all around him, and from hence diffuses his 
 bounty to the needy and distressed. A feeling heart 
 is, upon the whole, one of heaven's choicest gifts,— 
 as it is the fountain from whence flow almost all the 
 social virtues. But though, as men, we are all bre- 
 thren, yet all mankind have not an equal claim to 
 our affection. We are allowed to begin, in the dif- 
 fusions of our benevolence, with our own families ; 
 then, to dispense it to our friends and more distant 
 relations ; next, to our country, or to the society or 
 community to which we belong ; and, finally, we are 
 instructed to attain that extensive sense of humanity, 
 that diffusive spirit of beneficence, which compre- 
 hends the whole world : all should partake, at least, 
 of our ardent prayers and wishes for their happiness, 
 when more is not in our power. 
 
 We are not made for ourselves, more than we are 
 for society. We are a part of that whole which God 
 intended to make happy ; and therefore, as good be- 
 ings, we should contribute our share towards the 
 production of happiness in the world. To effect this, 
 we should not only be just, charitable, and benevo- 
 lent, — not only be ready to relieve the distresses of 
 mankind, — but we should also be affable, courteous, 
 complaisant, good-humoured, free, easy, and sub- 
 missive ; for all these lesser duties tend likewise to 
 promote the happiness of society, to render us the 
 objects of universal esteem, and at the same time to 
 increase our own felicity. 
 
 Indeed, self-love and social are so much the same, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 119 
 
 that what promotes the happiness of the one will 
 always have a tendency to promote the happiness of 
 the other. 
 
 The duties which we owe to ourselves, the duties 
 which we owe to society, and, we may add, the duties 
 which we owe to God, can hardly be separated. 
 
 We have no command in Scripture for loving pur- 
 selves, because such command would have been un- 
 necessary. Self-love is implanted too strongly in us 
 by nature to need any other motive. Besides, self- 
 love is pre-supposed in the command — " to love your 
 neighbour as yourself:" but this command can mean 
 no more than that we should be ready to do good to 
 others, as nature has taught us to be forward to do 
 good to ourselves. However, this is carrying the 
 command rather farther than reason and nature dic- 
 tate : nay, the strict and absolute observance of it has, 
 I believe, seldom been known; for the preference, at 
 least, will always be given to ourselves. Nature 
 teaches it ; and therefore such self-love can hardly be 
 culpable. We have another command in the Scrip- 
 ture, which serves to confirm this opinion, viz. — 
 where we are directed to love our enemies. Now, it 
 would be impossible to comply with this command, 
 if it meant that we should love them as well as we 
 do ourselves ; or even with that kind of affection 
 which we have for our friends, and for those who love 
 us. This is not in our power ; and therefore reason 
 and nature do not require it. 
 
 All that can be meant in this command, to love 
 our enemies, is that we should be ready to forgive 
 them, and be so far from revenging injuries offered 
 
 3 
 
120 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 us, that we should not withhold our good offices even 
 from our enemies, Rom. xii. 20, 21. — " If thine 
 enemy hunger, feed him : if he thirst, give him 
 drink. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil 
 with good." If any should wound you with injuries, 
 meet them with patience : soft words heal the wound, 
 forgiveness cures it, and oblivion takes away the 
 scar. 
 
 But we are by no means obliged to take our ene- 
 mies into our bosoms, and to give them a second 
 opportunity to hurt us : this can never be required : 
 and, though we are directed to " turn the other cheek 
 to him that smites us, and to give our cloak to him 
 who takes our coat," yet I think we cannot take these 
 passages in a literal sense ; but suppose they mean 
 only that we should submit to such injuries as these, 
 — nay, suffer a repetition of them, — rather than en- 
 deavour to gain redress by applying to the law. In 
 this sense it may be reasonable, and as fit to be in- 
 culcated at this day as it was in the time of the 
 apostles : for I suppose that there are as great ex- 
 penses, delays, and inconveniencies of every kind, in 
 the prosecution of law-suits, now, as there were in 
 those days. 
 
 We are to forgive our enemies, we are not to injure 
 them, and, if opportunity offer, we are bound to do 
 them good : yet a proper distinction should be made 
 between our enemies and our innocent friends and 
 neighbours, in order that virtue and goodness may be 
 encouraged, and vice and ingratitude be put out of 
 countenance. Upon the whole, it seems unreason- 
 able to command either love or belief; for the former 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 121 
 
 must be created by something amiable in an object, 
 and the latter is a necessary consequence of sufficient 
 evidence. Hence it follows that, to some persons, 
 such parts of Scripture want explanation. 
 
 ©gap. H. 
 
 OF PRAYER FOR OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 
 
 I. Tim. ii. 1, 3, 4. — I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, 
 prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; for this 
 is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all 
 men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
 
 This duty naturally arises from the love of our 
 fellow-creatures, and is a mode of expressing our 
 affection for them. Nothing can be more natural 
 than to pray for ourselves. Creatures who acknow- 
 ledge a dependence on a superior Being, and who are 
 conscious that this being is able and ready to assist 
 them, will naturally pray to him. If, then, it is our 
 duty to love our neighbours as ourselves, it is also 
 natural that we should pray for them. Here I cannot 
 but observe, how happy it is for mankind that they 
 are conscious of the existence of a Being possessed 
 of infinite power and wisdom ; and that this wise and 
 powerful Being is their father, friend, and benefactor. 
 What wretches should we be in our distresses, when 
 all human aid fails us, if we could not look up to that 
 Being, " who is more ready to give than we are to 
 ask?" 
 
 There is, besides, one great advantage in prayer, 
 both to ourselves and to others, which is not often 
 
 Q 
 
122 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 attended to ; viz. that it tends to fit and prepare our 
 minds for the discharge of social duties. It therefore 
 becomes a social duty, and properly finds a place 
 here : for though we cannot, by prayer, any way affect 
 the determinations of God, which are always guided 
 by unerring rectitude, or draw him nearer to us, we 
 shall most certainly draw ourselves nearer to him, by 
 being thereby better prepared to make ourselves and 
 our fellow-creatures happy. This, at the same time, 
 is also the best way of expressing our love to God, 
 who cannot himself gain any thing by our services. 
 Neither our virtues nor our vices can possibly affect 
 his happiness, he being infinitely perfect and happy 
 in himself. 
 
 When we adore the majesty of the Creator of hea- 
 ven and earth, we must certainly be humbled, from 
 a consideration of the infinite difference that there is 
 between him and us. 
 
 When we beg of God the forgiveness of our sins, 
 we naturally beg of him to dispose our minds to for- 
 give our fellow-creatures ; and when we pray to God 
 to grant us those things which he sees fit and conve- 
 nient for us, we shall naturally be disposed to grant 
 to others those good things which we have in our 
 power to bestow. 
 
 Thus the virtues of humility, forgiveness, and cha- 
 rity, are encouraged and improved in our minds by 
 prayer, and we are thereby made better members of 
 society, and fitter objects of the favour of God. As 
 a person in a boat, when he has cast his anchor on a 
 rock, pulls as if he would pull the rock to him, 
 though all the while he is pulling himself to the rock, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 123 
 
 — so it is with us when we make our addresses to 
 God, our hope, our trust, " and the rock of our sal- 
 vation." He never withdraws himself from his 
 creatures, though they often withdraw themselves 
 from him. He made us to be happy ; and if we are 
 not so, taking in the whole of our existence, it will 
 be our own fault. 
 
 ©6ap. HI. 
 
 OF CHARITY. 
 
 This also is a duty naturally flowing from that affec- 
 tion for our fellow -creatures which God hath im- 
 planted in our minds. I shall divide charity into 
 two branches, as it is divided in the New Testament, 
 where it is excellently well explained and distin- 
 guished. 
 
 The first of which I shall take notice is by far the 
 most noble and disinterested : I mean that candid 
 and benevolent disposition of mind which inclines us 
 not only to forgive, but also to throw a veil over, the 
 faults and imperfections of our fellow-creatures. 
 
 That this is a natural branch of charity, appears 
 from our constantly feeling, in our own minds, a de- 
 sire that our faults should be thus forgiven and con- 
 cealed. But the language of the New Testament is 
 so beautiful and striking, that nothing more need be 
 said to recommend this branch of charity ; or to dis- 
 tinguish it from alms-giving, which is the second 
 branch to be considered. 
 
 q2 
 
124 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 Hear what St. Paul says on this interesting sub- 
 ject. I. Cor. xiii. from the 1st to the 9th verse : — 
 u Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, 
 and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass 
 or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of 
 prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all know- 
 ledge ; and though I have all faith, so that I could 
 remove mountains, and have not charity, I am no- 
 thing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the 
 poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and 
 have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity 
 sufFereth long and is kind, charity envyeth not, 
 charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not 
 behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not 
 easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in 
 iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, 
 belie veth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
 things. Charity never faileth ; but whether there be 
 prophecies, they shall fail ; whether there be tongues, 
 they shall cease ; whether there be knowledge, it 
 shall vanish away." Verse 13: — " And now abideth 
 faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the greatest of 
 these is charity." Coloss. iii. 14: — " And, above all 
 things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfect- 
 ness." 
 
 What a noble and animated description hath St. 
 Paul here given us of this most exalted virtue ! It 
 warms the heart, and strikes on the mind with almost 
 irresistible force. Without this, the other virtues 
 lose their value, and are held to be of little or no 
 account. 
 
 The other branch of charity, which I have proposed 
 
 \ 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. ] 25 
 
 to consider, is that of relieving the distresses of our 
 fellow-creatures, by giving them alms. 
 
 This also is a natural virtue, is pleasing to God, 
 and is strongly recommended in the New Testament. 
 Yet this virtue should not be exerted without caution. 
 Our reason, in this, as well as in every thing else, 
 should be taken for our guide : otherwise this branch 
 of charity may degenerate into weakness, — nay, 
 sometimes prove an injury to society. This branch 
 of charity, though inferior to the other, is, if practised 
 under the guidance of reason, a benefit to society; 
 but, when otherwise, it may cease to be a virtue. 
 
 We often relieve objects to relieve ourselves : the 
 object strikes us disagreeably, and hence we naturally 
 desire the removal of the uneasy sensation it occa- 
 sions. But, though it be good to cherish such a 
 sympathetic disposition, and though a feeling heart 
 is the source of the social virtues, yet there is no 
 virtue in relieving such an object: on the contrary, 
 if he should be a cheat, an improper object of our 
 charity, it may prove an encouragement to idleness 
 and common beggary. This uneasy sensation, which 
 the distresses of our fellow T - creatures create in even 
 feeling mind, is the reason why objects of this sort 
 present themselves in the streets, and public places, 
 in the most disagreeable and shocking manner, — 
 sometimes by exposing real disorders, and often by 
 exhibiting disgustful appearances, which have been 
 created by art, in order to extort your charity. Thus 
 is the state injured, by keeping, without labour, many 
 who might be very useful to it. Yet this is not the 
 only evil that attends tlie promiscuous giving of alms 
 
 3 
 
126 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 in the street: for the tender-hearted of both sexes 
 often suifer by it, — especially the female, in whom 
 the consequences are sometimes fatal ; and a child, 
 then unborn, is rendered unhappy by it all its life, as 
 well as its parents. Beggars experience the effects 
 of such appearances on tender minds, and are thereby 
 encouraged to pursue this abominable practice. 
 
 Another thing which often lessens the virtue of 
 alms-giving, is the ostentation of it. This was so 
 common in the time of the apostles, that they guarded 
 mankind against it, by shewing its meanness, and 
 that it did not proceed from a right principle. 
 
 We are also taught to give with a cheerful heart ; 
 for there can be no virtue in an act of this sort, if it 
 be done grudgingly, and with an unwilling mind. 
 But I will give you the words of the New Testament, 
 which are very full, and to the purpose. Matt. vi. 1, 
 2, 3, 4 : — " Take heed that ye do not your alms be- 
 fore men, to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no 
 reward of your Father which is in heaven. There- 
 fore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a 
 trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, that they 
 may have glory of man. But, when thou doest alms, 
 let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth ; 
 that thine alms may be in secret ; and thy Father, 
 who seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly." 
 Matt. v. 42: — " Give to him that asketh thee, and 
 from him that would borrow turn not thou away." 
 II. Cor. ix. 7: — " Every man, according as he pur- 
 poseth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, 
 nor of necessity ; for God loveth a cheerful giver," 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 127 
 
 ©Sap. IV. 
 
 OF HONESTY. 
 
 Epiies. iv. 28. — Let him that stole, steal no more ; but rather let him labour, 
 
 working with his hands, the thing which is good, that he may have to give 
 
 to him that needeth. 
 Rom. xiii. 7, 13. — Render therefore to all their dues, &c. 
 Rom. xii. 17. — Recompense no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in 
 
 the sight of all men. 
 I. Pet. ii. 12. — Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles. 
 Heb. xiii. 18. — Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience, in all 
 
 things willing to live honestly. 
 I. Thess. iv. 6, 12. — That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any 
 
 matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all sueh, as we also have 
 
 forewarned you and testified, that ye may walk honestly to them that are 
 
 without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 
 
 Honesty implies purity of heart, a love of justice 
 and integrity, and is the very opposite of deceit and 
 fraud. It is a duty of great extent ; it is a natural 
 duty ; and it is strongly recommended in the New 
 Testament. The happiness of mankind depends 
 very much on the practice of this duty, and human 
 laws severely punish the breach of it. It is unneces- 
 sary to define common honesty, since every one knows 
 what that is, and every one wishes that all others 
 would practise it, how much soever he may neglect it 
 himself. This proves it to be a natural duty, and of 
 universal obligation. 
 
 By the term honesty, I would be understood to 
 mean something more than the barely doing what the 
 laws of our country require of us ; for, in this limited 
 sense, it may be accompanied with many vices. A 
 man with a very bad heart may, in this sense, be an 
 honest man. A covetous man will choose to appear 
 
128 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 in this character, because it will make him thrive 
 the better in the world. It is policy in him ; for it 
 creates a trust and dependance on him, which he 
 makes use of to his advantage : while the man who 
 has the character of being dishonest is shunned, and 
 his business fails. Yet, at the same time that a 
 covetous man pays every one his due, so far as the 
 law obliges him, he may be cruel, envious, revenge- 
 ful, uncharitable, hypocritical, and the like. Honesty, 
 in a more extended sense, is a principle of the heart, 
 which will always prevent our taking any undue ad- 
 vantage of our neighbour, though ever so much in 
 our power, and without the chance of a discovery. 
 Honesty (in the sense Mr. Pope takes it, when he 
 says, " An honest man's the noblest work of God,") 
 must border upon honour and generosity, and in this 
 light I would here speak of it. 
 
 A truly honest man will suffer no profit to tempt 
 him, no pleasure to entice him, no privacy to em- 
 bolden him, deliberately to say or do a thing that 
 would injure his neighbour, either in his fortune or 
 his good name. 
 
 However, I think it must be allowed that the term 
 honest does not convey to us an idea of exalted vir- 
 tue ; and that, notwithstanding what Mr. Pope says, 
 it seems, at best, to be a sort of negative one, or the 
 not doing of ill. 
 
 Common honesty does not seem to require an ex- 
 ertion of our abilities in the service of mankind ; but 
 rather an abstinence from injuring them. Go beyond 
 this, and we call it generosity, charity, or some other 
 virtue. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 12b) 
 
 Honesty is a duty which we owe to our fellow- 
 creatures. They may rightfully claim it from us, 
 and human laws support their claim : but generosity 
 is voluntary, uncompelled, noble in itself, and ad- 
 mired by the world. 
 
 Upon the whole, though honesty be an indispensa- 
 ble duty, of which the laws of nature, of Christ, and 
 of almost every country, require the practice ; yet it 
 does not well deserve the name of virtue. 
 
 ©Sap. v. 
 
 OF SINCERITY. 
 
 John, viii. 44.— You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father 
 ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the 
 truth, because there is no truth in him : when he speaketh a lie, he speak- 
 eth of his own; for he is a liar and the father of it. 
 
 Ephes. iv. 25.— Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth to 
 his neighbour; for we are members one of another. 
 
 Coloss. iii. 9. — Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old 
 man with his deeds. 
 
 James, iii. 14. — Lie not against the truth. 
 
 Revel, xxi. 27. — And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that de- 
 flleth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. 
 
 Sincerity is a virtue of great consequence to the 
 happiness of mankind ; and, as the neglect of it is 
 not punishable by human laws, the greater purity of 
 heart, and the higher sense of its being a duty, 
 founded in the nature of things by the God of truth, 
 are requisite to enforce the practice of it. Some, in- 
 deed, have thought that this duty may be insisted on 
 with too much severity, and that there are cases in 
 which a relaxation of it would be far from being a 
 vice: nay, some go so far as to assert that deceit 
 
 R 
 
130 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 may, in some cases, be substituted in the room of 
 sincerity, consistent with virtue, with the happiness 
 of society, and with the laws of God. I cannot sub- 
 scribe to this opinion : for, though much may be said 
 in favour of deceit in some particular cases, yet I 
 think we may venture to assert, that, if truth and 
 sincerity were universally to prevail, it would be in- 
 finitely better for society ; and that the good arising 
 from thence would vastly outweigh the partial evil 
 which might sometimes be prevented by deceit and 
 dissimulation. But, as this is a subject of great 
 consequence, I shall consider it farther, and give the 
 argument in favour of lying all its force. There is, I 
 think, but one ; viz. — " That it is the common prac- 
 tice of mankind ; and that, if you were steadily to 
 adhere to truth, you would be under great disadvan- 
 tages in your dealings with others."* 
 
 I am sorry to say, that there is too much truth in 
 this argument : but the commonness of a vice does 
 not make it less a vice ; nor is this a good argument 
 in its favour. We should not be ashamed to stand 
 single in the cause of truth, though all the world 
 opposed it. I am, indeed, amazed when I consider 
 how much the vice of lying prevails among the pro- 
 fessions and employments of life : but yet I still per- 
 severe in my opinion that it is a vice, and inconsistent 
 with the happiness of society. But, before I proceed 
 to shew the commonness of this vice, I must premise 
 that lies may be acted aS well as told; for deceit is 
 
 * Cameades proved, by many examples, that the condition of 
 mankind is such that, if they have a mind to be just, they must act 
 foolishly. — Bayle, p. 8o"2, art. Cameades, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 131 
 
 the crime, whether in word or action. That I may 
 give this argument for lying all its weight, I shall 
 consider the common practice of it by those who are 
 in general styled the better sort of people, and shall 
 speak of church-lies, law-lies, physic -lies, army-lies, 
 trade-lies, and conversation-lies. 
 
 The priests of every religion (but ours) live upon 
 the ignorance of the laity, by inventing oracles, mi- 
 racles, prodigies, mysteries, sacrifices, holy- water, 
 holy-cakes, and the like. By these inventions they 
 grow rich and powerful, and make great gain of what 
 they call the word of God. They persuade you that 
 these things are a part of true religion ; when, ac- 
 cording to the dictates of reason and nature, and very 
 often, too, of their own hearts, nothing can be more 
 opposite to it. The pure religion of nature and of 
 Christ is locked up in impenetrable darkness, and the 
 priests keep the key. It is blended with mysteries, 
 which they are to explain, as best suits their inte- 
 rests ; and the whole must be swallowed together, or 
 it will not take off the taint of original sin, and save 
 us from eternal damnation. Thus do the priests lie 
 to the laity. These are what are called pious frauds, 
 and what mankind are taught to believe innocent. 
 These religious lies are, doubtless, very common. 
 
 The lawyer makes an interest of burying reason 
 and common sense under a load of quibble and chi- 
 canery. He undertakes causes, be they ever so bad, 
 and makes his client pay largely for a repetition of 
 words which have no meaning, but to swell the ex- 
 pense of draughts and engrossings. At the bar, the 
 counsel glosses over the cause of his client, and, by 
 
 r2 
 
132 
 
 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 a pomp of words (in which many fair characters are 
 often shamefully traduced,) and an important air, 
 deceives the jury into a good opinion of a very bad 
 cause : at least, he attempts to do it ; and this he is 
 so far from being ashamed of, that he glories in the 
 deceit. This, too, is common. 
 
 The doctor, with a large wig, and a look of great 
 importance, deceives his patient into an opinion of 
 his judgment. He prescribes, takes his fee, and re- 
 tires, — conscious, very often, that it is not in his 
 power to give the patient any relief. In slight dis- 
 orders, the efficacious medicine is delayed, lest the 
 patient should grow well too soon ; and all the merit 
 of the prescription, in violent and inveterate maladies, 
 consists in its not doing any harm. Thus we are 
 deceived by the skilful, or cheated out of our money 
 and life by the quack. 
 
 In the army, where the telling of a lie is looked 
 upon as a meanness not to be forgiven, and the giv- 
 ing a lie (according to the laws of honour) is pu- 
 nishable with death ; — I say, even in the army, lies 
 are both told and acted, under certain circumstances, 
 without the least disgrace or infamy. Deceit in war 
 is gloried in, and called by the specious names of 
 superior skill, art, and conduct. This is common, 
 and by many thought innocent ; for they tell us, that 
 our enemies have no right to truth and fair dealing. 
 In many cases this may be true : but there are in- 
 stances* where deceit even to enemies has been 
 looked on as cruej, and not to be justified. 
 
 * Of this kind is an instance of deceit mentioned by some author, 
 and thought to be extremely cruel, viz. — that of ships entering an 
 3 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 133 
 
 In trade, all the little arts made use of to deceive 
 the buyer, and give goods an appearance of being 
 better than they really are, are also a species of lies. 
 An artful set of words, which some are very dexterous 
 at, is of great use in trade. High shutters keep out 
 the light of the sun, and false lights are introduced 
 to hide the defects in the commodity. Thus the 
 tradesman lies, both in words and actions. This also 
 is common. 
 
 There is, in almost all employments and profes- 
 sions, some deceit, which mankind never reproach 
 themselves with, because it is a common practice. 
 
 The 'priest would think himself a false brother, if 
 he did not carry on the cheat in concert with others 
 of the same profession. 
 
 The lawyer excuses himself by laying the blame on 
 the intricacy and uncertainty of the law, and on the 
 ignorance and litigious disposition of mankind. 
 
 The physician, who deceives you in common prac- 
 tice, probably would not cheat you any other way, 
 though he were sure to do it with impunity. 
 
 The captain, who inserts false names in his muster- 
 roll, and receives pay for them, without shame, 
 would probably be ashamed of any other kind of 
 cheat ; — and 
 
 The tradesman, who would deceive you by false 
 lights and false words, might scruple to pick your 
 pocket any other way. 
 
 Thus, particular kinds of deceit seem to be autho- 
 
 eiemy's harbour under the appearance of distress, and, having 
 gained the confidence and assistance of the tender-hearted inhabit- 
 ants, have taken an opportunity to massacre them. 
 
184 OP THE DUTIES 
 
 rised by custom. But let it be remembered that 
 nature makes no such exception, nor can the God of 
 truth be deceived, though men may. 
 
 But there are lies of another kind, which also, 
 from common practice, are thought innocent : I mean 
 those which are told in common conversation, where 
 characters are wounded, perhaps with no other view 
 than to keep up the chat, and enliven the discourse. 
 These lies are worse than any of the former, in pro- 
 portion as a person's reputation is dearer to him than 
 any thing else. The licentious tongue pierces like a 
 two-edged sword, or like a poisoned arrow, whose 
 wound cannot be healed. These lies are thought in- 
 nocent, because no harm was intended by them, and 
 they were told only to keep up conversation. But 
 how fatal are such conversations to the peace and 
 happiness of society ! 
 
 There are other conversation-lies, less injurious 
 than any of the fore-mentioned, made use of to raise 
 mirth in company; such as telling improbable ro- 
 mantic stories, to make some stare, and others laugh. 
 These, too, though less criminal, are far from being 
 innocent, and are condemned both by reason and the 
 New Testament. They are very idle and ridiculous, 
 and a shame to rational beings. 
 
 We have but a short time for acting our parts on 
 the stage of life : let us, therefore, improve it to the 
 best advantage : let us behave so that we may find 
 pleasure in pursuing the path ourselves, and in point- 
 ing out to others the road to rational happiness. Let 
 us remember that the tongue is intended to be a fair 
 and honest interpreter of the heart; but that to 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 135 
 
 interpret wrong, is sinning against the law of nature 
 and of reason, and will have its due reward, in this 
 or in some other state, if a God of truth governs the 
 
 world. 
 
 In all the cases which I have mentioned, excepting 
 the last, not only the law of truth, but the law of 
 honesty, is violated ; and, however men may satisfy 
 themselves, from the common practice of such deceit, 
 they may be assured, that every breach of the law of 
 sincerity tends to degrade human nature, and to sink 
 it below the dignity of rational. Hence, however 
 we may account for it to ourselves, we shall not be 
 able to give a good account of it to a Being of in^ 
 finite purity, who cannot behold deceit but with 
 abhorrence. 
 
 The law of virtue is immutable, and to lie is sin- 
 ning against that law. The liar must be a very bad 
 member of society ; for he withholds from his bre- 
 thren what they have a most rightful claim to. 
 
 I shall now consider that kind of lie which is in 
 general esteemed innocent, and rather to be ranked 
 among the virtues than among the crimes : — I mean 
 when we are so critically circumstanced, that, by de- 
 ceiving a villain, we may preserve the property or 
 life of an honest man. Many, indeed, will not except 
 this circumstance ; and they argue thus — " We are 
 never to do evil in order that good may arise out of it, 
 because the evil done is certain and irrevocable, but 
 the good may never arise out of it ; for we are sure 
 only of the present moment, nor can we know what 
 may happen in the next. The evil which we imagine 
 will be prevented by the lie may never happen, 
 
136 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 though we should tell the truth. A lie is a certain 
 evil, and never should be told in order to produce an 
 uncertain good. The Sovereign of the universe hath 
 established the law of truth, and hath certainly so 
 ordered it that a steady, uniform, perfect, and full 
 obedience to this law will be most productive of 
 happiness. He is the God of truth, and on him we 
 may cheerfully depend, for his care and protection, 
 while we continue in the performance of our duty. 
 Sincerity and truth are necessary to recommend us to 
 the favour of God, and to give us a just title to pre- 
 sent and future happiness." Thus far the advocates 
 for truth under every, even this extraordinary, cir- 
 cumstance. Let us now hear the reasons offered on 
 the contrary side; and I believe they will be found 
 conclusive, because they are entirely consistent with 
 the law of nature. 
 
 A man may forfeit his right to truth, by his be- 
 coming a violent member of society. This, I appre- 
 hend, the laws of self-defence and self-preservation 
 admit; otherwise, you will not perform the duties 
 which you owe to your own family or country, but 
 offer up your own right, and the rights of the com- 
 munity, as a sacrifice to unjust violence, and to an 
 enthusiastic notion of the obligation of truth and sin- 
 cerity. If a man be a peaceable member of society, 
 it remains, so long as he continues such, a truth that 
 he has a right to life, and therefore it would be a 
 crime to kill him: but, if he seek to rob me, or kill 
 me, or to rob or kill any innocent member of society, 
 this truth, in such case, ceases from the moment that 
 he becomes a violent member of society. The 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 137 
 
 violence of an enemy, which incites him to destroy 
 me, cuts off, in the same manner, his right to narrative 
 truth; — nay, to all truth, whether by signs, by ac- 
 tions, or by words ; as much as a robbery cuts off a 
 man's right to life. 
 
 I would except here truths which relate to the re- 
 establishment of order, justice, peace, and satisfaction 
 for injuries done; in all which cases, by the law of 
 nations, truth is sacredly to be observed. Thus 
 drums, trumpets, flags of truce, &c. are to be treated 
 as friends ; truth is to be observed, and faith to be 
 kept with them, unviolated. 
 
 We have a right, from the law of self-defence, to 
 secure our lives when attacked, even by homicide. 
 Yet such homicide is a contradiction of truth by ac- 
 tion. If it be asked, how comes it that we have a 
 right to contradict such truth? I answer, the violence 
 of the party has annihilated his right to truth, which 
 existed before. Now, if we may commit homicide 
 to oppose or evade violence, how much more have 
 we a right to deliver, knowingly, sounds which do 
 not agree with our ideas of things, in order to pro- 
 cure our own safety, or the safety of others? We 
 can no more lie to an enemy, than we can lie to a 
 post or to a madman. This seems extremely clear, 
 and proves that deceit is far from being a vice in such 
 extraordinary cases. 
 
138 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 ©gap. VI. 
 
 OF CONVERSATION. 
 
 Matt. xii. 36. — But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall 
 
 speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 
 II. Cor. i. 12. — For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience 
 
 that, in simplicity and godly sincerity, we have had our conversation in the 
 
 world. 
 Ephes. iv. 29. — Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth ; 
 
 but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to 
 
 the hearers. 
 Ephes. v. 3, 4. — But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it 
 
 not be once named among you ; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor 
 
 jestings, which are not convenient : but rather giving of thanks. 
 Coll. iv. 6. — Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that 
 
 ye may know how to answer every man. 
 I. Thess. v. 11. — Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one 
 
 another. 
 
 Here we see how strongly the New Testament re- 
 commends the care of our conversation. This is a 
 natural and a social duty, of great extent and conse- 
 quence ; and it very properly follows the article 
 Sincerity, with which, indeed, it is connected. The 
 tongue should always be under a proper guard, for it 
 is capable of producing much evil. No conversation 
 can be innocent if it deviates from truth, which 
 should, in my opinion, be held sacred and inviolable 
 in every instance, but that extraordinary one men- 
 tioned in the preceding chapter. But the speaking 
 of things which are strictly true is not all that is re- 
 quired under this important article. We should not 
 be fond of discovering the vices and follies of our 
 neighbours, even though we may do it consistent 
 with truth. Charity, as hath been already made ap- 
 pear, should teach us to throw a veil over the faults 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 139 
 
 and follies of others ; and, unless we can speak in 
 their favour, they ought not to be the subject of our 
 conversation. 
 
 We should always be ready to vindicate the repu- 
 tation of the absent, and not, as is too common, out 
 of a false complaisance to the speaker, assent to all he 
 says, and appear to believe it, when, in our hearts, 
 we are of a different opinion : for this is a species of 
 lying. It betrays a mean abject spirit, to swim 
 down the stream of discourse, and not to exert one- 
 self in opposing a torrent of scandal : for this shews 
 great want of resolution, if not of generosity; and 
 is a breach of the law of nature, because we should 
 think it hard to be thus treated, in the same circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Conversation should not only be free from scandal 
 and falsehood, but it should tend to promote friend- 
 ship and a good opinion of one another. It is amaz- 
 ing that the relating of a good and virtuous action of 
 a neighbour should not be as pleasing as scandal. 
 
 I have always a very mean opinion of those who 
 delight in traducing the characters of others; and 
 almost as bad a one of those who encourage con- 
 versation of this sort. How degenerate and base is 
 it to believe with eagerness a story which wounds the 
 reputation of another, even without hesitating a mo- 
 ment to enquire whether it be true or false ; and yet 
 be slow and cautious in believing a relation of a good 
 and virtuous action. 
 
 " On eagles' wings immortal scandals fly, 
 Whilst virtuous actions are but born to die." 
 
 Stepney's JuvenaU 
 
 s2 
 
140 
 
 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 Are you sure that this is true ? is a common question, 
 if praise be the subject ; but hardly ever asked if the 
 topic be scandal. How common, too, is it for people, 
 when they are well assured of the truth of a relation 
 in praise of another, to use great art, and take great 
 pains, to throw an alloy into the composition of a 
 good character, in order to lower it to their own base 
 standard ! 
 
 This is a shocking picture of human nature, and I 
 am sorry to exhibit it ; but I do it in order to prevent 
 the spreading of an evil, which (though this is very- 
 surprising) is frequently practised by persons of, 
 otherwise, a good disposition. 
 
 Conversation should also be free from whatever 
 may offend or disgust : nothing coarse or immodest, 
 — nothing that would wound an ear, or raise a blush 
 on a cheek, — ought to be admitted in polite company, 
 but should be looked upon as the highest degree of ill 
 manners. 
 
 " But words obscene admit of no pretence; 
 
 For want of decency is want of sense." D. of Buck. 
 
 Our conversation should be useful and instructive. 
 A discourse in praise of justice, charity, and benevo- 
 lence, and of the advantages of a virtuous life, will 
 tend to elevate the mind, and to give it a taste for 
 pleasures of the rational kind, such as nature teaches, 
 and God intended we should enjoy. 
 
 But I would not be thought to exclude wit and 
 mirth from conversation : these may be introduced 
 without lying, without scandal, and without obsce- 
 nity. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 141 
 
 Conversation may take a very gay and agreeable 
 turn, and yet be consistent with virtue and innocence. 
 Cheerfulness, indeed, may often depend upon con- 
 stitution and a natural turn of mind; yet I cannot 
 help ranking it among the virtues, as it contributes 
 so much to the happiness of society. 
 
 ©Jap. VII. 
 
 OF FORGIVENESS. 
 
 Matt. vi. 14, 15. — For, if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly 
 Father will also forgive you : But, if you forgive not men their trespasses, 
 neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. 
 
 Matt, xviii. 21, 22.— Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall 
 my brother sin against me, and I forgive him ? till seven times ? Jesus 
 saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times ; but until seventy 
 times seven. 
 
 Luke, vi. 37. — Judge not, and ye shall not be judged ; condemn not, and ye 
 shall not be condemned ; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. 
 
 Ephes. iv. 31, 32. — Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, 
 and evil speaking, Ae put away from ye, with all malice; and be ye kind 
 to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for 
 Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 
 
 No duty can be enforced, or recommended, in a 
 stronger manner than this is in the New Testament. 
 Forgiveness of others is made the terms of our own 
 forgiveness, and self-love will operate to enforce its 
 practice. That it is a natural duty, and of universal 
 obligation, is clear from the desire which we con- 
 stantly feel in our own minds to be forgiven by others, 
 when we are conscious of having done them an in- 
 jury. If it be objected, that some men never desire 
 a reconciliation, I answer, that there may be in- 
 stances, though they are very rare, of men so hardened 
 
 3 
 
142 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 as to be proof against these natural and rational de- 
 sires ; but for such I do not write. Such beings as 
 those are unfit for society, because social duties can 
 have no place in unfeeling hearts. They are so much 
 below human nature, that they can hardly be deemed 
 an exception to this general rule. 
 
 Persons who have tender hearts, and who take in 
 the claims of their fellow-creatures, will never be 
 quite happy while they are unfor given by others ; and 
 hence it seems that they have learnt to forgive, from 
 that most comprehensive and excellent rule — of doing 
 to others as ice would they should do unto us. 
 
 While two persons are at variance, and angry with 
 each other, they cannot be quite happy on this ac- 
 count. Something still rankles at the heart, and 
 destroys their peace of mind ; till sweet reconciliation 
 pours in the balm of forgiveness, and entirely cures 
 the wound. 
 
 This duty appeared to Christ to be of so much 
 importance, that he enforced it (as I said before) in 
 the strongest manner possible ; particularly in that 
 prayer which he recommended for general use, and 
 which is so calculated, that we cannot pray to God, 
 with propriety, for forgiveness, whilst we indulge an 
 unforgiving disposition in ourselves. Christ well 
 knew, from the study of human nature, how much 
 the happiness of mankind depended on the practice of 
 this duty ; and therefore formed his general prayer in 
 the manner he did. But Christ has also strongly 
 enforced this duty in the following words : — 
 
 Matt. v. 23, 24.— " Therefore, if thou bring thy 
 gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 143 
 
 brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift 
 before the altar, and go thy way : first be reconciled 
 to thy brother, and then conie and offer thy gift." 
 
 Here you see that, though you are about to pray, — 
 though you are kneeling at the foot of the altar, ready 
 to devote yourself to God, — yet you are to stop, leave 
 your prayer unoffered, go your way, and first be re- 
 conciled to your brother : that is, to any one that 
 you have injured ; for all mankind are your brethren. 
 St. Mark justifies this explanation; chap. xi. 25: — 
 " And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have 
 ought against any; that your Father also which is in 
 heaven may forgive you your trespasses." So that 
 reconciliation must take place of anger and revenge 
 before we can be proper objects of God's forgiving 
 mercy. 
 
 ©Sap. VIII. 
 
 OF MERCY. 
 
 Matt. v. 7. — Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtaia mercy. 
 
 Matt. ix. 13. — I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. 
 
 Rom. xii. 8. — He that sheweth mercy with cheerfulness. 
 
 Collos. iii. 12. — Put on therefore bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of 
 
 mind, meekness, lonir-suffering. 
 James, ii. 13. — He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no 
 
 mercy j and mercy rejoiceih against judgment. 
 
 This duty is so connected with the foregoing, that it 
 cannot well be separated. It likewise is proved to 
 be a natural duty, and of eternal obligation, on the 
 same principle ; namely, — the strong desire of receiv- 
 ing mercy from others, tvhich is implanted by nature 
 
144 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 in the human mind. To be merciful to our fellow- 
 creatures is strongly recommended in the New Tes- 
 tament. To the laws of nature and the laws of 
 Christ, we may add the example of God himself; 
 which last, surely, will have great weight with every 
 rational mind. Mercy is his darling attribute. Let 
 us imitate, as near as possible, this infinitely perfect 
 pattern, and be merciful, in proportion to our abili- 
 ties, " as our heavenly Father is merciful " To be 
 merciful to our fellow-creatures is the best way that 
 we have in our power of expressing our gratitude to 
 God for his mercy to us. What can be more noble? 
 What can tend more to exalt human nature, and to 
 promote the happiness of the universe, than an hum- 
 ble imitation of that Being, " who is good to all, and 
 whose tender mercies are over all his works?" 
 
 If unhappy experience did not prove that the fact 
 is so, we should be astonished to find a rational being 
 in the world void of mercy. 
 
 How can a being, conscious of his depend ance on 
 the mercy of God for his existence and all the bless- 
 ings he enjoys, be unmerciful to his fellow-creatures? 
 A cruel rational being is a greater monster, and more 
 to be dreaded and detested than the most fierce and 
 noxious animal in the brute creation. There is 
 something in cruelty so opposite to the divine attri- 
 butes of wisdom and goodness, and so destructive of 
 the benevolent plan of the God of mercy, that some 
 have been led to wonder how such creatures as intel- 
 ligences without mercy could find a place under the 
 government of an infinitely wise, just, and powerful 
 Being ; and that they fall not a sacrifice to the divine 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW- CREATURES. 145 
 
 vengeance, and be not destroyed from off the face of 
 the earth." 
 
 To quiet the minds and silence the enquiries of 
 such, let them consider that this and every other 
 world which God hath made, and all the creatures 
 which inhabit them, are as perfect in their kind as 
 it is possible for them to be. If we had capacities to 
 receive it, and God had thought proper to communi- 
 cate to us the whole plan of his creation and govern- 
 ment, we should reverence the power, admire the 
 wisdom, and gratefully acknowledge the goodness, 
 which would abundantly shine forth in that stupen- 
 dous whole. But, as our capacities are very much 
 limited, and we can comprehend only a small part of 
 the infinite plan, it is no wonder that we should form 
 so imperfect a judgment about it. 
 
 Take the whole of our existence together, it must 
 certainly be happy : else a being of infinite goodness 
 would not have given it us. Our task is, to endea- 
 vour all in our power to make ourselves and others 
 happy, and therefore to overcome evil with good ; to 
 be bright and shining examples of benevolence and 
 charity, forgiveness and mercy, in order that others 
 may catch the heavenly flame, and kindle into good- 
 ness. 
 
146 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 ©Sap. IX. 
 
 OF PUNISHMENTS. 
 
 Rom. ii. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. — Who will render to every man according to his 
 deeds : To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, 
 and honour, and immortality; eternal life. But unto them that are con- 
 tentious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness ; indignation 
 and wrath : tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth 
 evil; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that doeth good; for 
 there is no respect of persons with God. 
 
 It may be thought odd in me to insert this article 
 where I am treating of the social duties ; and still 
 more so that I should do it in this place, — thereby 
 making punishments tread, as it were, on the heels 
 of mercy and forgiveness. But I believe I shall be 
 excused, as it must appear of importance to the hap- 
 piness of mankind to have their punishments regu- 
 lated by reason, and by the example of God himself, 
 who cannot err. 
 
 Punishments ordained by God are always founded 
 in mercy, and are intended to answer a kind and 
 beneficent purpose towards his creatures ; for an 
 infinitely perfect Being can have no other end to 
 answer. 
 
 Human beings sometimes torment one another out 
 of wantonness, and often punish to indulge and gra- 
 tify a cruel disposition. Sometimes they punish 
 wrongfully, either from ignorance and deception, or 
 from a defect in human laws, or in their own judg- 
 ments, in not proportioning the punishment to the 
 crime ; and sometimes (indeed, too often,) they pu- 
 nish out of revenge : neither of which can be the case 
 with God, who hath no passions to gratify, and 
 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 147 
 
 \vhose laws, being founded in infinite and eternal 
 wisdom, are consequently calculated only to support 
 a boundless, infinite, and sempiternal system of be- 
 nevolence. 
 
 The laws of nature, which can have no defect, 
 generally annex the punishment to the crime ; and it 
 often takes place immediately. Infamy is a conse- 
 quence of fraud; poverty, of extravagance and im- 
 pmdence ; disease, of intemperance and debauchery ; 
 and so of many others. In truth, it seems to be one 
 of God's most wise and general laws, founded in 
 eternal justice and mercy, that every vice should ne- 
 cessarily produce, and be the natural cause of, its 
 own punishment. These punishments are evidently 
 ordained, upon the whole, to promote our happiness. 
 They are the thorns which grow in the paths of vice ; 
 which serve to check us, to make us look about, and 
 examine whether we are in the road of reason and 
 nature, — the only road to true and permanent hap- 
 piness, — or in that which leads to present and future 
 misery. 
 
 God always punishes in the character of a kind 
 parent ; intending thereby to reform our manners, 
 cure our vicious habits, and bring us back to the 
 paths of virtue and happiness ; from which, by ne- 
 glecting the guidance of reason, we have shamefully 
 strayed. 
 
 With this benevolent intention does the Almighty 
 Father of the universe punish his offspring ; and this 
 should teach mankind how infinitely far removed all 
 kinds of resentment and revenge must be from him ; 
 and, consequently, that eternal punishments can never 
 
 t 2 
 
148 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 take place under the government of a Being who 
 made creatures in order to render them happy. From 
 our most approved ideas of the infinitely perfect God, 
 I think we may fairly conclude, that, if he had fore- 
 seen that any one being would have acted in such 
 manner as to have rendered itself eternally miserable, 
 he never would have brought such creature into ex- 
 istence. Infinite mercy would have interposed to 
 prevent such a creation. We may readily allow that 
 the foreknowledge of God does not influence the ac- 
 tions of men ; yet this must likewise be admitted, 
 that no power in earth or heaven could make that 
 being eternally happy whom God foreknew would be 
 eternally miserable : the bare supposition of the con- 
 trary implies a manifest contradiction. A just, 
 merciful, and good Being cannot punish out of re- 
 venge; and much less can he take vengeance for 
 ever. 
 
 God cannot, consistently with the rectitude of his 
 nature, punish undeservedly, or more than in an 
 exact proportion to the crime, though he may in a 
 less proportion. St. Paul says above, "Who will 
 render to every man according to his deeds :" — but 
 this must not be understood to exclude his mercy. 
 This is another evident proof that punishment cannot 
 be eternal ; for the punishing only one single being to 
 eternity would be more than adequate to the evil of 
 all the crimes which ever have been, and ever will be, 
 committed in this world by all mankind. 
 
 I think it almost impossible to entertain an idea of 
 a good and merciful Being punishing another being, 
 the work of his own hands, with extreme misery only 
 4 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 149 
 
 for the space of one hundred thousand years, which, 
 compared to eternity, is a point — a moment — the 
 hundred thousandth part of a moment. 
 
 Again, God punishes in order to cure ; which is 
 also inconsistent with the notion of eternal punish- 
 ment. The good, the happiness, of creatures cannot 
 be produced by eternal punishments ; but quite the 
 reverse : and yet there was no motive, conceivable 
 by us, for God to bring creatures into being but to 
 make them happy, taking in the whole of their exist- 
 ence. 
 
 I could bring many other arguments to prove that 
 eternal torments, for temporary faults, are inconsis- 
 tent with the attributes of God : but my intention was 
 principally to consider the punishments inflicted on 
 mankind by one another ; and, in prosecuting this, 
 to recommend the example of the infinitely perfect 
 God to our imitation, as far as possible. 
 
 God punishes without resentment, without revenge, 
 in a proportion not exceeding the crimes, and in order 
 to promote the future happiness of his creatures. In 
 this, as nearly as we can, let us imitate our infinitely 
 perfect pattern. 
 
 Let the punishments which we inflict be always 
 tempered with mercy, and be intended to make the 
 person better and happier for the future. This is the 
 true end of punishment, and the aim of all good be- 
 ings, who will also constantly distinguish between 
 errors and crimes. 
 
150 OF THE Dtffim 
 
 OF GOOD EXAMPLE. 
 
 Matt. v. 16. — Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your* 
 good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 
 
 I. Tim. iv. 12. — But be thou an example of the believers, in word, in con- 
 versation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 
 
 Tins is a duty which we owe to our fellow-creatures 
 and to our ourselves, and of which nature requires 
 the performance ; because it is the will of God that 
 all his creatures should be happy, and good examples 
 tend very much to promote this general happiness. 
 
 If virtue tend to increase the happiness of man- 
 kind, it is good that it should universally prevail ; 
 and nothing can more effectually promote the practice 
 of virtue than good examples. 
 
 Every man has it, more or less, in his power to be 
 an example of virtue ; and, though he may not be 
 able to write or to preach, his example may do more 
 than both. It is a very important duty to society to 
 display virtue in her brightest colours, because, when 
 she is seen, she will be beloved. 
 
 From different situations and abilities, some men 
 can contribute more than others, by example, to the 
 practice of virtue : but it is in the power of every one 
 to bear a part, and to represent virtue in action, only 
 by being virtuous himself. 
 
 The examples of persons in exalted stations will 
 always have the greatest influence, and contribute 
 most to the practice of virtue. Private persons may 
 shine, but their spheres are contracted, and they are 
 seen only by few l but it is of great benefit to a nation 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 151 
 
 to have a prince on the throne eminent in every vir- 
 tue, and, from his exalted station, shining forth like 
 the sun in his meridian lustre. He is seen by all, 
 and all must feel the influence of his bright example. 
 Virtue herself seems to receive additional beauty 
 from the practice of good princes, and to become al- 
 most irresistible. The impulse is communicated to 
 the hearts of the subjects, and they grow ambitious 
 to imitate their king. — Happy the people, who are in 
 such a case ! Happy Britons ! this is your lot ! Your 
 king* sets before you a shining example of piety to- 
 wards God, as well as of filial, fraternal, conjugal, 
 and paternal aifection. This last virtue, to his ever- 
 lasting honour, he extends to his subjects. God hath 
 given him one of his choicest blessings — a feeling 
 heart ; and, from this fountain of sopial virtue, flows 
 to his people that paternal care for their happiness, 
 which is the characteristic of a good prince. Follow, 
 O Britons ! the example of your sovereign : — " then 
 judgment will run down your streets like water, and 
 righteousness as a mighty stream." 
 
 The prevalence of example is known to all ; and 
 therefore it is the duty of all to labour strenuously to 
 give the best they can. The voice of reason calls 
 loudly for it, and Christ and his apostles strongly re- 
 commend it. 
 
 * George III. in 1/65. 
 
152 OP THE DUTIES 
 
 @6ap. XL 
 
 OF PARTIALITY. 
 
 James, ii. 4, 9. — Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become 
 
 judges of evil thoughts : but, if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, 
 
 and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 
 I. Tim. v. 21.— I charge thee, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 
 elect angels, that thou observe these things, without preferring one before 
 
 another; doing nothing by partiality. 
 I. Pet. i. 17. — And if we call on the Father, who, without respect of persons, 
 
 judgeth according to every man's work. 
 
 Thus we are taught, in the New Testament, to avoid 
 partiality : nature also teaches the same ; and both 
 point out to us the example of the ever blessed God. 
 Nature teaches us that we are all the creatures of 
 God, all children of the same kind parent, and that 
 God can have no partiality. 
 
 One man may be happier than another in this life : 
 even a wicked man may have many advantages which 
 a good man may want ; nay, a good man may suffer 
 many miseries here, without having any reason for 
 arraigning the goodness of God ; for the account may, 
 perhaps, remain to be balanced in another state. 
 Besides, there is not any thing in which we are so 
 often mistaken as in the judgment which we form of 
 the happiness or unhappiness of others. Honours, 
 titles, and great possessions, are not certain marks of 
 happiness : the disappointed ambition of a great man 
 will make him more unhappy than absolute poverty 
 will render another man. We are dissatified com- 
 plaining creatures, and do not perceive that God, in 
 his infinite wisdom and mercy, hath made a more 
 equal distribution of happiness than mankind are in 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 153 
 
 general aware of. The want of the conveniencies of 
 life is often compensated by a hardy constitution 
 and a contented mind ; while the man who is pos- 
 sessed, not only of the conveniencies, but of the su- 
 perfluities and luxuries of life, is often afflicted with a 
 weak and bad constitution, and a discontented aching 
 heart, which devour his happiness. 
 
 This, however, we know, — this nature teaches us, 
 — that God, standing in the same relation to all in- 
 telligent beings who inhabit this globe, must be 
 equally concerned for the happiness of every one ; 
 and, therefore, that it must be a reflection on his moral 
 character to suppose that he hath any favourites but 
 those who render themselves such by good and vir- 
 tuous actions. We are likewise taught this by the 
 New Testament, where it is frequently inculcated 
 " that God is no respecter of persons." How far this 
 is consistent with the account in the Old Testament 
 of God's making choice of the Jews from among all 
 mankind, and regarding them as his peculiar people ; 
 of his being immediately and locally present in their 
 armies ; and of his leading them on to conquer and 
 distress their fellow-creatures, who (for aught that 
 appears to the contrary) had an equal claim, as his 
 offspring, to his fatherly care and protection ; — how 
 far, I say, this is consistent with the New -Testament 
 account of the impartiality and universal benevolence 
 of God to all his creatures, I must leave to others to 
 determine. For my part, I cannot reconcile it with 
 his not being a respecter of persons. 
 
 I own that this infinitely perfect pattern is, in this 
 particular, too bright for us to imitate in any tolerable 
 
 u 
 
154 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 degree. We find it extremely difficult to divest our- 
 selves of partiality for our friends ; nay, I do not 
 know that the law of nature requires that we should : 
 but it most certainly requires that we should never 
 sacrifice truth or virtue out of a partial regard to any 
 person whatever, — not even to ourselves : for nature 
 makes no exceptions, nor allows of any one case in 
 which this law may be violated with impunity. If 
 we are commanded to love ourselves, and to love our 
 neighbours, we are bound to love God and virtue 
 more than both. 
 
 @!>ap. xil 
 
 OF HYPOCRISY. 
 
 Matt. vi. 2, 5. — Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a 
 trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the 
 streets, that they may have glory of men : verily, I say unto yon, they have 
 their reward. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites 
 are : for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues, and in the corners 
 of the streets, that they may be seen of men : verily, I say unto you, they 
 have their reward. 
 
 Mark, xii. 38. — Beware of the scribes, who love to go in long clothing, and 
 love salutations in the market-place. 
 
 Luke, xi. 44.— Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites : for ye are 
 as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not 
 aware of tliem. 
 
 Thus did Christ caution his disciples against the 
 vice of hypocrisy. Nature also teaches us its abject 
 meanness. It generally marks a coward, and is a 
 species of lying, which the laws of truth and virtue 
 sufficiently condemn; as I have proved under the 
 article Sincerity. How much below the dignity of 
 human nature is it for a man to appear what he is 
 3 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 155 
 
 not ! — the virtuous and good man can never desire 
 this. Truth will always bear the light ; and the more 
 it is examined, the brighter it will shine. " Like 
 purest gold, when tortured in the furnace, it comes 
 out more bright, and brings forth all its weight." 
 But falsehood and fraud always shun the light, or put 
 on the mask of honesty and truth. 
 
 Of all kinds of hypocrisy, that in religion seems 
 the worst. It is trifling with what is sacred, and 
 making a mock of the most solemn and interesting 
 thing in the world ; and yet the hypocrite certainly 
 pays a compliment to religion, and insinuates its use- 
 fulness. He puts on the religious garb, as being that 
 which, most probably, will make him pass upon the 
 world for a good man. The character of a religious 
 man creates esteem and veneration ; and therefore it 
 is put on by the wicked, to aid their deceit, and that 
 they may the better impose on the virtuous. To sup- 
 pose that the sacred character of religion should ever 
 be profaned is so shocking to a good man, that he 
 can hardly suspect any one to be capable of it; and 
 therefore he is the more easily deceived. 
 
 But be it remembered that, though an external 
 appearance of sanctity may impose upon men, (and 
 so far the hypocrite may have his reward,) yet God 
 cannot be deceived, nor will he be mocked. 
 
 We can put on no veil but what his omniscience 
 can penetrate ; for he searcheth the hearts, and trieth 
 the thoughts of the children of men. 
 
 u2 
 
156 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 ©flap, xiil 
 
 OP DUTIES TO SUPERIORS. 
 
 Acts, xxiii. 5. — For it is written, thou slialt not speak evil of the ruler of thy 
 people. 
 
 Rom. xiii. from the 1st to the 8th verse. — Let every soul he subject to the 
 higher powers, for there is no power but of God : the powers that be are 
 ordained of God. Whoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the 
 ordinance of God. For virtuous rulers are not a terror to good works, but 
 to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is 
 good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of 
 God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he 
 beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a revenger to 
 execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be 
 subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Render there- 
 fore to all their dues : tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom 
 custom ; fear, to whom fear ; honour, to whom honour. 
 
 Titus, iii. J. — Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, 
 to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. 
 
 I. PET.ii. 13, 14. — Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's 
 sake; whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors, as unto 
 them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the 
 praise of them that do well. 
 
 Eph. vi. 5, 6, 7, 8. — Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters, ac- 
 cording to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, 
 as unto Christ; not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of 
 Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; with good will doing service, 
 as to the Lord, and not to man ; knowing that whatsoever good thing any 
 man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or 
 free. 
 
 This subject is treated of so copiously, and with so 
 much propriety, in the New Testament, that very 
 little more need be said about it here. A proper sub- 
 ordination is necessary to the good of society, and is 
 founded in reason and nature. 
 
 But you owe your duty to superiors, not from their 
 having a greater degree of merit, or of riches, than 
 yourselves or other men, but from the office they bear 
 in the community to which you belong; for these 
 only are meant by superiors in the writings of the 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 157 
 
 Apostles. Magistrates, or your superiors in the state, 
 may have less merit than yourselves ; but this by no 
 means absolves you of your duty to them : if it did, 
 all subordination and good government might soon 
 be subverted ; for merit is far from alwavs attending; 
 exalted stations. You are to submit to the ordinances 
 of your superiors on account of the stations in which 
 Providence hath placed them ; and, by doing this 
 peaceably, you honour God and preserve the tran- 
 quillity of the state. If a magistrate is a bad man, 
 his being so will lessen his influence, and have an 
 effect on your internal regard for him : but, while he 
 holds his office, you are obliged to obey all his lawful 
 commands ; though it seems impossible that you 
 should honour him, in any proper sense of the word 
 honour.* A master may be a bad man ; but this 
 absolves not a servant from his duty to him, The 
 servant is paid by his master, and therefore his labour 
 becomes the property of his master : nay, the master 
 has also a claim on the complaisance and good be- 
 haviour of a servant. It is a breach of the law of 
 honesty to defraud a master of the former, and of the 
 laws of good breeding to withhold the latter. God 
 intends the happiness of all, — the lowest as well as 
 the highest, the servant as well as the master ; and 
 hence he requires from all a propriety of conduct, 
 and the regular and due discharge of the duties of 
 their stations. God is the great master of all, the 
 
 * Some of the learned have thought that many of the precepts of 
 passive obedience, copied from the New Testament in this chapter, 
 are not genuine, but were introduced by men fond of power after 
 the time of the Apostles. 
 
158 OP THE DUTIES 
 
 sovereign Lord of the universe, the King of kings, 
 and Lord of lords ; and with him there is no distinc- 
 tion but those of virtue and vice. He regards not 
 the persons or situations of men : from whence it fol- 
 lows that, if the servant discharges properly the 
 duties of his station, he will be entitled to the favour 
 of God equally with the master. 
 
 ©fiap. xiv. 
 
 OF DUTIES TO INFERIORS. 
 
 Ephes. vi. 9. — And ye, masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing 
 threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven ; neither is there 
 any respect of persons with him. 
 
 Collos. iv. 1. — Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, 
 knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. 
 
 Luke, vii. 2, 3.— And a centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick 
 and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders 
 of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal bis servant. 
 
 This duty is evidently comprehended, as almost all 
 our duties are, in the most comprehensive of all na- 
 ture's rules ; viz. — that of doing to others as we would 
 they should do unto us, in the same circumstances. 
 
 The due observance of this single rule will prevent 
 your treating inferiors with disdain and contempt ; 
 and much more so, your treating them with cruelty. 
 
 In the above-mentioned texts, from the New Tes- 
 tament, we are taught to consider, that, though we 
 are superior to numbers, yet we have a Master in 
 heaven, who, we may add, is infinitely more exalted 
 above us than we are above the meanest of our vas- 
 sals. This thought should tend to humble us, and 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 159 
 
 incline us to treat our inferiors with humanity and 
 good-nature. 
 
 In the example of the centurion, we are taught 
 that good servants should be dear to us, and that they 
 are proper objects of our care and regard. We should 
 always remember that it is, perhaps, owing to some- 
 what quite independent of us and them, that we are 
 in an exalted, they in an humble, station : and, though 
 Providence, or accident, hath occasioned the distinc- 
 tion in our favour, and placed us in the superior, they 
 in the inferior, rank ; yet, as men, they are our bre- 
 thren, and children of the universal Father, who is as 
 much concerned to promote their happiness as ours. 
 Hence, by the law of God, we are bound to treat 
 them properly, and to do them good offices. 
 
 The lowest state to which a man can be reduced 
 does not exclude him from our regard as a man : he 
 is a part of that whole which God made, to render all 
 happy ; and though, from his situation, he may owe 
 his superiors a particular duty, his superior still owes 
 him a general one. 
 
 If a servant properly discharges the duties of his 
 station, the obligation becomes equal ; " for the la- 
 bourer is worthy of his hire." Good servants are 
 very useful members of society, and ought to be re- 
 garded as such : from whence it follows, that they 
 should have all due encouragement given them ; and 
 this they have reason to expect. 
 
 But, farther, to keep our minds in a due frame, and 
 incline us to the due discharge of the duties which 
 we owe to inferiors, we should remember that death 
 
160 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 puts a final period to all distinctions here ; and that, 
 if our inferiors have behaved better in their stations 
 than we have done in ours, they, in another state, may 
 be exalted, and we may be abased. 
 
 It is but a very short time before the distinctions of 
 this world will be at an end, and the only distinc- 
 tions hereafter will be those of right and wrong, good 
 and bad. Our riches, titles, and honours, all leave 
 us in the grave ; but the consciousness of a well-spent 
 life, with all its happy consequences, will be carried 
 with us into another state, and be the foundation of 
 future happiness. 
 
 Let us remember, also, how easy it is for persons in 
 an exalted station to increase the happiness of their 
 inferiors: a courteous smile, a kind look or word, 
 will go a great way towards it. Look not down with 
 disdain and contempt on the lowest rank ; but look 
 up to God with a grateful heart, and thank him for 
 the blessings of your own station. Exert your power 
 and influence in the service of your fellow-creatures ; 
 and this will be pleasing to God, who is no respecter 
 of persons, and with whom riches and honours are of 
 no account. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 161 
 
 ©Bap. XV. 
 
 OF THE DUTIES OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. 
 
 Ephes. vi. 4. — And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but 
 
 bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
 Collos. iii. 21. — Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be 
 
 discouraged. 
 II. Cor. xii. 14.— For the children ought not to lay Up for the parents, but 
 
 the parents for the children. 
 I. Tim. v. 8. — But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of 
 
 his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 
 
 That the duties of parents to children are founded in 
 nature and reason, I believe no one will deny. That 
 they are agreeable to the doctrines of the New Tes- 
 tament, appears from what has been said above. I 
 own that there is not much laid down there relative 
 to these duties, and suppose that it was thought un- 
 necessary to enforce duties of this kind ; as reason, 
 nature, and the infinitely perfect example of God 
 himself, so strongly inculcate them. However, I 
 shall consider what are the particular duties of pa- 
 rents to children, and the manner of discharging 
 those duties so as best to promote the happiness of 
 both. 
 
 First, then, it is the duty of parents to nourish, 
 with the utmost care, their offspring, while in an in- 
 fant state, before the tender plant hath taken root, 
 and laid hold enough of life to support itself. 
 
 Secondly, it is the duty of parents to give their 
 children a good education. This duty is of the ut- 
 most importance ; as not only their happiness in this 
 life, but also in a future state, may depend thereon. 
 
 Thirdly, it is the duty of parents to provide, as 
 
 x 
 
162 
 
 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 well as they can, for the comfortable subsistence of 
 their children in this world : and, 
 
 Fourthly, it is the duty of parents to be good 
 examples to their children ; which is a matter of very- 
 great consequence. 
 
 Children made happy by the discharge of these 
 duties, cannot fail of having the most ardent affection 
 for their parents, and of making them the most grate- 
 ful returns in their power. On the other hand, 
 children who are rendered unhappy by their parents' 
 neglect of these duties, cannot possibly have so great 
 an affection for them ; nor can they be under the 
 same obligations of gratitude, or of doing on their 
 parts any thing to promote the happiness of such pa- 
 rents, any farther than as they are fellow-creatures. 
 On the contrary, they may very properly address 
 them according to the sentiment, though not exactly 
 in the language, which Milton puts into the mouth of 
 Adam : — " Did I request it of you, parents, to bring 
 me into being? or am not I the unhappy consequence 
 of your own gratifications ? Nature, indeed, teaches 
 you to propagate your species : but nature teaches 
 you likewise to make them happy, as far as is in 
 your power. Nature hath abundantly provided for 
 the support of every creature ; and one of her laws is, 
 that parents shall contribute to the support and hap- 
 piness of their offspring : .hence every creature, but 
 man, seems to obey her dictates. Will you, who 
 boast the privilege of reason, and glory in being 
 formed after the image of God ; — will you, I say, be 
 worse than the brute creation? Surely, since my 
 will concurred not in producing my being, it is but 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 163 
 
 just that you should do all in your power to render 
 happy that being which is the consequence of a re- 
 gard for your own pleasures." These are natural 
 reflections ; to prevent which, by taking away the 
 cause, I shall now proceed to consider the duties be- 
 fore mentioned in their order. And 
 
 First, the duty of parents to nourish, with the 
 greatest care and tenderness, their children, in their 
 infant state. 
 
 This duty nature has, in a peculiar manner, as- 
 signed to the mother. If any will dispute this with 
 me, let him or her tell me, why, as soon as the child 
 is born, nature swells the mother's breasts with milk; 
 and why the new-born babe is taught, by instinct, to 
 seek its nourishment from thence. These, I think, 
 are irresistible proofs : but we may add to them the 
 example of the brute creation. The beasts of the 
 field almost invariably nourish and bring up their 
 own young. But one would suppose that there can- 
 not be any need to multiply arguments to induce 
 mothers, whenever they are able, to nurse and suckle 
 their own children ; as nature so loudly calls for it. 
 Yet experience teaches us that the voice of nature is 
 not always attended to ; that irregular passions are 
 gratified at the expense of the most rational duties ; 
 and that mothers (whose hearts, one would think, 
 should be dilated, and every fibre softened, by ma- 
 ternal tenderness,) will consign their infants, — " those 
 dear young limbs, those parts of their own flesh," — 
 to the care of a person, whose regard for them will be 
 proportioned only to the profit of her employment. 
 Hence, the milk of the hired mother must supply the 
 
 x2 
 
164 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 place of that with which nature has kindly provided 
 the real one; and those fountains of life in the real 
 mother are often unnaturally dried up, to the great 
 prejudice of both mother and child: so dangerous is 
 it to deviate from the laws of nature. 
 
 But it is not my design to write a dissertation on 
 the, duty of mothers to suckle their own children : my 
 intention is only to prove it to be a natural duty ; 
 and I am sorry that, at the same time, I shall prove 
 those to be unnatural mothers who neglect it for any 
 of the pleasures and gratifications of the world. 
 
 It is, indeed, amazing that a mother should not 
 readily sacrifice a few other pleasures to the welfare 
 and happiness of her offspring ; or, indeed, that she 
 should find any equal to the communication of nou- 
 rishment, of health, and of pleasure, to her child, — 
 any pleasures equal to those which must arise from 
 observing it to grow under her care ; from seeing its 
 little cheeks dimpled with smiles, and its eyes turned 
 up to her, looking ineffable tenderness and gratitude. 
 I say, it is amazing that a mother can find any plea- 
 sures equal to such as these. You mothers lose all 
 this felicity who early put your children at a distance, 
 and receive them back unknowing and unknown. 
 Nay, as a judicious writer* has observed, " they 
 cannot be entirely yours ; for the body which you see 
 is more properly the nurse's than your own : it was 
 sent from you very young, and that loss of substance 
 which every moment attends all animal bodies has 
 been supplied entirely by the milk of a stranger, 
 
 * The French author of a book entitled " Manners," to whom I 
 am obliged for some hints in this work. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 165 
 
 which hath transformed it into a new child." I will 
 not contend for the force of this author's argument : 
 a better, I think, may be produced, viz. — that there 
 is a mutual strong affection created by a mother's 
 sucklin^ her own child, and that this is hardly ever 
 known without it ; for the hired nurse engrosses the 
 child's affection, and receives all those little endear- 
 ments so likely to increase the fondness of the mother. 
 
 Many other arguments might be produced to prove 
 the propriety of mothers suckling their own children, 
 whenever they are able. However, there may be, 
 and sometimes are, particular instances where it is 
 necessary to provide the milk of another ; and then 
 the mother is to be pitied, not blamed. 
 
 Secondly, I am here to consider that it is the duty 
 of parents to give their children a good education. 
 Here, though every good mother will lend her assist- 
 ance, yet nature hath principally assigned this task to 
 the father, who is to take upon him more peculiarly 
 the care of forming the tiinking and immortal sub- 
 stance to virtue and happiness. This is a duty of 
 infinitely more consequence than the former; it being 
 much better for a child to die young, from the neglect 
 of its body, than for it to live with an uncultivated 
 mind. I do not pretend to give a plan for the edu- 
 cation of children ; but shall content myself with 
 saying, let parents choose their own, and vary it, as 
 circumstances vary. My business is only to enforce 
 the duty of giving such in one as will best promote 
 the glory of God, and he happiness of the child. 
 This is the natural, the iidispensable, duty of every 
 parent. 
 
166 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 But, though I shall not lay down particular rules 
 for the education of children, I think I may venture 
 to mention some things which should never be neg- 
 lected. As early as the young mind will bear it, the 
 child should be furnished with the knowledge of its 
 duty towards God. It should be taught to consider 
 God as a kind and good Being, who made it and 
 every other intelligent creature, to render them happy ; 
 and, therefore, that it ought to love and honour this 
 good Being. It should be taught that all mankind 
 are its brethren, — the poor as well as the rich; and 
 that, whatever it does towards making others happy, 
 will be pleasing to God ; that God will love it for 
 such conduct, and will make it also happy ; or, rather, 
 that happiness flows naturally from the cultivation of 
 such a benevolent temper of mind. 
 
 The young mind should by all means be kept hu- 
 mane ; and an early abhorrence of every thing cruel, 
 malicious, envious, or revengeful, should be implanted 
 in it. The social virtues of patience, humility, inte- 
 grity, sincerity, and the like, should be taught a child 
 in its youth ; from whence they will grow up into 
 habits not to be eradicated. " Train up a child in 
 the way that he should go, and, when he is old, he 
 will not depart from it." 
 
 Thirdly, it is the duty cf parents to provide as 
 well as they can for the comfortable subsistence of 
 their children. In this case likewise, no general rule 
 can be laid down, as it depends on a variety of cir- 
 cumstances ; yet thus muci I may venture to say, 
 that, where parents cannot leave children indepen- 
 dent fortunes, it is their indi^ensable duty to educate 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 107 
 
 them in such manner that they may, either by the 
 labour of their hands, or in some of the learned pro- 
 fessions, be able to support themselves with honour 
 and integrity ; and that the neglect of this is a crime 
 in parents, for which they will be accountable. At 
 Athens, where the laws obliged children to relieve 
 their necessitous parents, those were excused who had 
 not been taught a trade. 
 
 Nature does not require that parents should deprive 
 themselves of the necessaries or conveniencies of 
 life, in order to leave large fortunes to their children. 
 This would be a fault in a parent, and might possibly 
 prove a temptation and a snare to the children : yet 
 nature certainly requires this care from parents, viz. 
 — that they should enable their children to get their 
 living in some honest employment ; for the neglect of 
 this is often attended with very pernicious conse- 
 quences. 
 
 If a young man be thrown upon the world without 
 a fortune, or the means of supporting himself, he is 
 generally betrayed into great meannesses, — if not into 
 great vices : and for a young woman to be in this si- 
 tuation is much worse, especially if she be possessed 
 of beauty; for it is much if she do not give up her 
 virtue and innocence to procure herself a support. 
 Her beauty becomes a snare to her, and serves only 
 to attract the eyes of those destroyers of innocence, 
 who, with relentless hearts, will glory in the con- 
 quests they have made ; and, when they have gratified 
 their sordid appetites, will abandon to grief and 
 shame the person w 7 ho so lately contributed to their 
 pleasure. Parents who live to see this unhappy effect 
 
 4 
 
168 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 of their inattention, are sufficiently punished in this- 
 life ; and, if they are not, we can hardly suppose that 
 they will escape it in another. 
 
 Fourthly, — it is the duty of parents to be good 
 examples to their children. 
 
 I have already given an article on good examples 
 in general, and have there considered the prevalency 
 of example, and the claim which our fellow -creatures 
 have on us for the discharge of this duty. 
 
 But, besides our general obligations as men, and 
 as members of society, to shew good examples to 
 others, in order that the happiness of the whole may 
 be promoted thereby, children have a particular and 
 stronger claim on parents: for, as these were the 
 means of bringing them into being, they, of course, 
 are under stronger obligations to promote their hap- 
 piness. 
 
 I have already shewn the obligations of parents to 
 take care of their children in their infant state ; and 
 of the mothers, in particular, to nurse and suckle 
 them. I have likewise treated of the father's obliga- 
 tions to preside over their education, and to take care 
 that it be a good one : as also of the duty of parents 
 to provide for the comfortable subsistence of their 
 children in the world, either by leaving them for- 
 tunes, or by enabling them to procure for themselves 
 a decent support in an honest way, without being 
 subject to the temptation of acting either meanly or 
 viciously, in order to keep themselves from want. 
 
 I come now to shew the obligations both of father 
 and mother to be good examples to their children. 
 Carefulness and industry are the two hands of 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 169 
 
 fortune, and probity and virtue are far beyond all 
 fortune's gifts. Examples of the former will teach 
 them soon to be independent of the world ; and the 
 practice of the latter will tend to promote their hap- 
 piness both here and hereafter, by gaining them the 
 favour and good opinion of mankind, and also the 
 approbation of him whose favour is better than life 
 itself. 
 
 Be virtuous yourselves, parents, and your children 
 will very probably follow your example : and, if they 
 do so, they will likewise love you the better on that 
 account. 
 
 The examples of parents have generally a great in- 
 fluence on the practice of children : hence parents are 
 more accountable for the present and future happiness 
 of their children than they may in general imagine. 
 How must it wound the hearts of thinking parents to 
 see a child unhappy through any want of care in 
 them ! and still more so, if that unhappiness proceed 
 from their own bad examples. 
 
 We are naturally apt to follow the examples of 
 those whom we love and honour : therefore, the ex- 
 amples of parents will be very prevalent ; and hence 
 this ought to keep them much upon their guard. All 
 persons are under obligations to be virtuous ; but 
 heads of states, and heads of families, are more pecu- 
 liarly so, from the influence of their examples. 
 
 Thus have I drawn out this article to a consider- 
 able length ; but I hope that the importance of the 
 subject, and its variety, will plead my excuse, — espe- 
 cially when it is considered how many parents there 
 are in the world whose unfeeling hearts nature cannot 
 
 Y 
 
170 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 penetrate, nor make attentive to the happiness of any 
 but themselves. Such cannot have their duties too 
 strongly impressed upon their minds ; and it is for 
 such that I have here written. Good parents want 
 no incitements beyond those which reason and nature 
 have implanted, in order to make their children 
 happy. 
 
 ©£>ap. XVI. 
 
 OP THE DUTIES OF CHILDREN TO PARENTS. 
 
 Matt. xv. 4.— For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and thy 
 mother. 
 
 Ephes. vi. 1, 2.— Children, obey yonr parents in the Lord : for this is right. 
 Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with 
 promise. 
 
 Coll. iii. 20. — Children, obey your parents in all things : for this is well- 
 pleasing unto the Lord. 
 
 I. Tim. v. 4.— But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn 
 first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents : for it is good and 
 acceptable before God. 
 
 The obligations of children to parents do not arise 
 merely from parents being the means of their exist- 
 ence ; but they are also founded in the affection, the 
 tender care, and the constant endeavour of parents 
 to promote their happiness. 
 
 Nature intended that all parents should be kind 
 and good to their offspring ; and there is hardly a 
 species of creatures known to us (mankind excepted) 
 who are not always so. Uniform, faithful instinct 
 guides the whole brute creation to take care of their 
 young ; unless in a few instances, where nature has 
 rendered such care unnecessary. Is reason less faith- 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 171 
 
 ful, or less capable of directing mankind to find out 
 and pursue their true felicity ? — Surely no. But the 
 voice of reason is not always attended to ; man is left 
 at liberty to follow this guide, or not to follow it, and 
 from the abuse of this liberty flows all moral evil.* 
 The passions grow clamorous, the voice of reason is 
 
 * Among the various attempts which have been made by men of 
 learning and speculation to account for the production of evil, under 
 the government of a Being infinitely powerful, wise, and good, — no 
 one seems to me so satisfactory as the attributing it to the abuse of 
 our freedom; for this at once acquits our Maker, and we appear to 
 be accountable for our own actions. 
 
 There are, indeed, some who assert that we are not free, but that 
 we are under the influence of external objects, which, striking on our 
 senses with irresistible force, determine our actions. This opinion, 
 however, appears to me to be inconsistent with our ideas of infinite 
 perfection: for, can we suppose that, after infinite power, wisdom, 
 and goodness had been exerted in our creation, our actions, on 
 which must depend our happiness or misery, were to be determined 
 by the accidental impulses of external objects'? — Surely no. 
 
 We may allow, that external objects may operate, in a certain 
 measure, towards the determining of our actions : but, then, God 
 hath given us reason, hath implanted in us a principle of intelligence, 
 which, if duly attended to, and properly exerted, will always prove 
 a sufficient balance for the force of external objects. Our being 
 able to deliberate before we act, is one proof that we are free. 
 
 Another more singular argument made use of by some, to prove 
 that we are not free, has been, " that God, being necessarily ex- 
 istent , all his properties, all his actions, and every thing which pro- 
 ceeds from him, must also necessarily be ; for, as the cause is, so 
 will be the effect," 
 
 Those who make use of this argument have probably not consi- 
 dered that there may be a necessity which does not include choice, 
 and which, in God, may be styled a necessity of perfection, or a 
 necessity arising from the perfection of his nature, ever determining 
 his choice of that which is best: but this is a property of the infi- 
 
 y2 
 
172 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 drowned, the bounds of virtue are broken down, and 
 vice flows in like a torrent. Parents neglect their 
 duty to their children, and, of course, children have 
 fewer obligations to their parents ; and hence disorder 
 and mis-rule take place of reason and virtue. 
 
 But, though the want of affection in bad parents 
 
 nitely perfect God alone, who, though necessarily existent, and 
 though his operations may be the necessary effects of his nature or 
 attributes, yet they are attended with consciousness, or a knowing 
 and voluntary exertion of them. 
 
 Oiir unhappiness generally arises from our making a wrong 
 choice. This is another, though a melancholy proof of our being 
 free. If we were constantly under the immediate guidance and di- 
 rection of our Maker, we should, doubtless, always act right, and 
 be always happy. 
 
 But some may say, cc Why did God makes us free, if our un- 
 happiness be the consequence of that freedom V It is not for frail 
 short-sighted mortals to determine, why God does thus, or thus ; 
 yet we may easily aver, that whatever he does is best. However, 
 I will reply to this puzzling query as well as I can ; and, though I 
 may not give satisfaction, I hope at least not to give offence. 
 
 First, then, it appears to me, that consciousness is necessary to 
 constitute that rational felicity which God certainly intended that 
 his rational creatures should enjoy. If man be constantly impelled 
 and acted on by God, or if God should force man to be happy, in- 
 dependent of his own choice, (which, by the bye, is perhaps impos- 
 sible,) though infinite skill might be exerted in the contrivance, and 
 infinite power employed in the execution, he would only be a more 
 perfect machine ; and conscious merit might as well be ascribed to a 
 clock which always went right, as to a man who invariably acted 
 right by the impelling power of a first cause. 
 
 Again, it appears to me that every intelligence must befrce, from 
 his having a power to compare objects, and consequently of prefer- 
 ring one to another, and of feeling the agreeable or disagreeable 
 effects of a right or a wrong choice. 
 
 But hither,— freedom appears to be a necessary adjunct of 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 173 
 
 must tend to extinguish that warm and ardent reve- 
 rence, love, and gratitude, which otherwise would 
 fill the minds of children, yet there are duties owing 
 to parents, as our fellow -creatures, which nothing can 
 exempt them from. If parents are even unnatural 
 enough to be our enemies, instead of our best friends, 
 
 intelligence, or else intelligence is a necessary adjunct of freedom. 
 In either case, every intelligence must be free, and man (if I may 
 use the expression) is necessarily a. free being. 
 
 In this view of the case, it would appear as pertinent to ask. Why 
 God made man intelligent ? as to ask, Why God made man free ? 
 
 I submit this argument to the judgment of the candid enquirer: 
 if it prove conclusive, the whole will stand thus : — 
 
 God made man intelligent ; endowed him with a power of com- 
 paring objects, and consequently of preferring one to another ; of 
 deliberating on his actions, and of weighing them in the balance of 
 reason,— in which the very essence of freedom seems to consist. 
 It appears to me impossible that man should be intelligent, con- 
 scious, and accountable, without being made free ; and it likewise 
 appears, that from the abuse of this freedom sprung moral evil. 
 God certainly intended the happiness of his creature man, taking in 
 the whole of his existence, or he never would have created him : 
 but, from the imperfection of his nature, from his freedom, from 
 his ignorance, from his mistakes, and imprudent choice of objects, 
 he frequently makes himself unhappy. " God made man upright, 
 but he sought out many inventions." To argue against freedom, 
 seems to be to argue against all our natural feelings, to be defining 
 away our very intelligence, our consciousness, our merit, and all 
 our rational happiness. I never yet could conceive what motive 
 any person could have for endeavouring to propagate the gloomy 
 doctrine of necessity ; a doctrine which tends to destroy all that de- 
 light and satisfaction which must arise in the human mind from a 
 consciousness of having acted right, and thereby contributed to its 
 own happiness ; a doctrine which tends to blunt the edge of reflec- 
 tion, and to take off those uneasy sensations which ever attend a 
 consciousness of having acted wrong, and thereby contributed to 
 our own unhappiness. 
 
174 OP THE DUTIES 
 
 yet are we to render them good offices : " If they 
 hunger, feed them ; if they thirst, give them drink," 
 &c. This nature and Christ teach us. Revenge 
 should never find place in the human heart, but for- 
 giveness and mercy should reign triumphant there. 
 This is nature's rule relative to mankind in general; 
 and surely our parents should not be put on a worse 
 footing than our enemies, if they should prove ene- 
 mies : nay, supposing every thing else equal, we 
 ought to give the preference to our parents. I must 
 own that it is extremely difficult to bear bad usage 
 where nature directs us to expect affection and ten- 
 der regard. But the laws of nature and of Christ 
 make no distinction of this sort. All mankind are 
 entitled to humane treatment from us, independent 
 of their behaviour, but not to our esteem or affection. 
 These will always depend on the actions of others ; 
 for it is out of our power to love or hate, but as ob- 
 jects appear amiable or hateful. Children can nei- 
 ther love, honour, nor respect, bad parents : but they 
 ought to relieve their necessities, as fellow-creatures. 
 
 The laws of nature can never be superseded by 
 any other laws. The passion of love is not the proper 
 object of a command, because it is involuntary. An 
 amiable object will strike on the mind, or on the 
 senses, with irresistible force, and constrain our af- 
 fection, unless our moral sense be depraved ; and so 
 of the contrary. This is one of nature's laws, and 
 no command can operate in opposition to it. 
 
 Children cannot possibly have for bad parents, 
 even though it were commanded under the penalty of 
 death itself, that warm, that ardent love and esteem, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 175 
 
 which they cannot fail to have for good ones : so un- 
 alterable, so uniform, and so wisely constituted, are 
 the laws of nature. Even the honouring of bad pa- 
 rents seems impossible to be complied with, if the 
 heart hath any thing to do in the affair. The com- 
 mand of Moses can reach no farther than mere 
 external respect ; and this he doubtless thought very 
 difficult, since he annexes a reward to the perform- 
 ance of it. He must certainly mean bad parents ; 
 because a command to honour good parents, and to 
 fix a reward for so doing, must be absolutely unne- 
 cessary, — as it always is to command any thing which 
 nature strongly inculcates. 
 
 A child will love and honour a friend more than 
 he can a bad parent. 
 
 The duties of children to good parents are very 
 extensive. The law of gratitude, as well as the law 
 of love, requires the punctual performance of them. 
 God requires it, and he will reward it. 
 
 Children are obliged to do all in their power to 
 promote the happiness of good parents ; and not to 
 do any thing that is, at any time, likely to make them 
 uneasy. Children should readily and cheerfully obey 
 the commands of good parents, because good parents 
 will command nothing but what appears to them to 
 be consistent with the honour, virtue, and happiness 
 of their children. 
 
 Good children will sacrifice all, but virtue and ho- 
 nour, to procure the happiness of good parents. Thus, 
 a mutual exchange and intercourse of good offices will 
 pass between them ; and by this means such a family 
 will be happy, so far as relates to themselves. 
 
176 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 All good children would think the tie of gratitude 
 too great, and too closely knit, ever to be loosened, 
 did they but know all the anxious cares, fears, and 
 inquietudes, which tender parents felt for them in 
 their infant state. 
 
 Upon the whole, I would recommend to children 
 to consider that they may one day be parents ; and to 
 parents, to remember that they once were children. 
 By this means, they will both be ready to make fa- 
 vourable allowances for the faults and foibles of each 
 other. 
 
 er&ap. xvii. 
 
 OF EQUITY. 
 
 Matt. vii. 19. — Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should 
 do unto you, do ye even so unto them : for this is the law and the prophets.* 
 
 These words of Christ contain the most comprehen- 
 sive rule of equity, of any we find in the New Tes- 
 tament : nay, all the social duties seem to be summed 
 up and comprised in this single text. Christ himself 
 says, " For this is the law and the prophets ;" as if 
 he had said, these words contain all that the moral 
 law, or law of nature, requires, and all that the 
 prophets taught relative to the social duties. The 
 true and genuine spirit of morality is conspicuous in 
 these words. 
 
 The practice of the duties which we owe to one 
 
 * Vide the 24th Moral of Confucius, in No. I. of the Philo- 
 sophical Library. This great moral philosopher flourished in 
 China about 550 years before the Christian era.— Editor. 
 
 3 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 177 
 
 another is very strongly Connected with our duty to 
 God ; nay, it is a part of that duty to make our 
 fellow-creatures happy: happiness to all, upon the 
 final result of things, being the plan and design of 
 infinite wisdom. 
 
 The excellent rule above-mentioned contains that 
 perfect standard of our duty to one another, which 
 teaches us not only what we should do, but also what 
 we should avoid. It determines exactly what kind 
 of treatment nature prohibits with respect to the rest 
 of mankind, as well as what it allows and requires of 
 each individual, in his social capacity It not only 
 forbids every thing that is unjust, hard, severe, or 
 cruel, but also all the lesser ills which we may in- 
 flict upon each other. Who, that observes this rule, 
 will treat another with aught but friendship, hu- 
 manity, condescension, respect, politeness, tenderness, 
 goodness, charity, beneficence, and the like? for such 
 treatment we all wish to receive from others. When, 
 by such behaviour as this, we diffuse happiness 
 around us, we are following the dictates of nature, 
 and fulfilling this most excellent law of God. When 
 our feeling hearts expand, and take in the claims of 
 our fellow-mortals; w r hen we comfort and relieve 
 them in their troubles ; when we are just, charitable, 
 and benevolent to all ; we are then doing by others 
 as we would they should do by us. 
 
 This rule is so excellent in its kind, so extensive in 
 its nature, and of such universal use, that the steady 
 and uniform practice of it would well nigh shut all 
 moral evil out of the world, and banish a great deal 
 of natural evil. 
 
ITS of the duties 
 
 Who can be at a loss about the practice of their 
 duty to their fellow-creatures, since this law is writ- 
 ten in their hearts, and, if duly attended to, will 
 happily direct their lives ? Would you know how far 
 your good offices to mankind should extend ? let this 
 law be your guide. 
 
 All the laws of God are calculated to promote the 
 happiness of his creatures ; and all human laws should 
 have the same object. All human laws relative to 
 religion or the worship of God, if they are founded in 
 reason and nature, will tend to promote peace, har- 
 mony, and good-will, among mankind: otherwise 
 Crod cannot approve of them, nor can they be thus 
 founded, or be of divine origin ; for the laws of na- 
 ture and reason are the laws of God. 
 
 However men may have been mistaken in this 
 point, the most acceptable service we can offer to God 
 is the making ourselves and others happy. But we 
 never can please or honour God by any religious 
 ceremony, or by assenting to any dark, mysterious, or 
 ambiguous tenet, that has a tendency to lessen the 
 happiness of any one person. Nothing that hurts 
 ourselves or others can be pleasing or acceptable to 
 God. 
 
 If mankind had always followed nature and reason 
 in fixing their ideas of God, and of his will with 
 regard to our social and moral practices, they never 
 would have conceived that a Being of infinite mercy 
 and compassion, who made his creatures in order to 
 render them happy, could be pleased with any thing 
 cruel or unnatural, — such as human sacrifices, severe 
 penances, pains, barbarities, and the like bodily 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 179 
 
 punishments. Reason teaches us that God is always 
 propitious to his creatures, and that he cannot be 
 rendered more so by the sacrifice of any innocent 
 creature whatever. The blood of bulls or of goats, 
 or of any other creatures, cannot make a sinner less a 
 sinner. Nothing less than a change of sentiments 
 and affections, from vice to virtue and purity, can 
 render us objects of complacency to a God of infinite 
 purity and uprightness. The law of nature, as well 
 as that of the New Testament, directs and prescribes 
 that the worship of God should be pure and spiritual, 
 God himself being a pure and perfect spirit ; that it 
 should be the worship of the heart, founded in a 
 just sense of the infinite perfections of God, of our 
 constant dependance on him, and on our warmest 
 gratitude for the favours we receive at his hands. 
 
 By laws relative to religion, I mean those laws 
 which are intended to regulate the mode, or external 
 form, of divine worship. These may be absolutely 
 indifferent, and can be no essential parts, if they are 
 any parts, of religion, or of pure and spiritual wor- 
 ship. Pure and spiritual worship will not admit of 
 prescribed forms and ceremonies, since it may be 
 performed at any time, or in any place ; as it consists 
 alone in the purity of the heart, in the sincerity of the 
 intention, and in the adoration of the soul. A heart 
 filled with just sentiments of the Deity will pursue 
 its own opinions and modes of worship, without being 
 offended at the opinions and forms of others. A good 
 heart will be constantly and uniformly in proper 
 frame and disposition for the worship of God. 
 
 Every man's opinion as to the mode of worshipping 
 z2 
 
180 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 God must be right, provided he be sincere, and 
 his heart pure. He cannot err, whose life is inno- 
 cent, who indulges others in their religious opinions 
 without molestation, and who has charity for all good 
 men. 
 
 As nature has not provided any fixed rule or mode 
 of worship, mankind are evidently allowed to differ in 
 their opinions about it, and each man hath a natural 
 right. to pursue his own. 
 
 If my religious opinions are such as my reason 
 dictates ; if I am conscious that I am sincere ; if my 
 worship of God is pure and spiritual, not calculated 
 to raise the admiration of mankind, or mixed with 
 worldly views ; if I am possessed of an awful sense 
 of the majesty of the supreme Lord and Sovereign of 
 the universe, and of the infinite distance between 
 God and me, and am therefore humble in my own 
 mind; if I am just, charitable, humane, and benevo- 
 lent, to my fellow-creatures,— can it be material what 
 mode of worship I profess, or by what religious ap- 
 pellation I am distinguished] In this case, who can 
 justly be offended with me, or punish me for my re- 
 ligious opinions? — I hope to be excused for thus 
 departing from my text, as this digression is intended 
 to prove, illustrate, and convince men, how very un- 
 natural, and how much a breach of Christ's most 
 excellent rule, which I am now speaking of, it is to 
 persecute, or any way ill-treat, our fellow -creatures 
 on account of difference of opinion or of modes in 
 religious matters. God is the only judge in matters 
 of conscience ; and those who do not like my modes 
 and opinions may abstain from them. He only can 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 181 
 
 search the heart, and he only can judge of its since- 
 rity. Now truth and sincerity are the very essence 
 of the religion of nature. — Why should we be angry 
 with one another? Why should anathemas resound 
 from the pulpit against persons of different opinions, 
 who probably are as good and virtuous, and as much 
 the objects of divine favour, as those who censure and 
 condemn them? This is a flagrant breach of the 
 above-mentioned excellent law. 
 
 We all love liberty of every kind : but liberty of 
 conscience seems to be a birth-right privilege, of a 
 kind which no power hath a right to deprive us. 
 If a man be wicked, can it be material what his opi- 
 nions of modes and ceremonies are? Can they purify 
 one evil action, or rectify one corrupt affection? The 
 wicked man's actions will condemn him under any 
 form of religion. On the other hand, if a man be 
 good and virtuous, can it signify what religion he 
 professes, provided it be not contrary in its mode to 
 our social and civil ideas of decency ? His goodness 
 and his virtue will be rewarded by God, though his 
 opinions differ ever so widely from the established 
 forms of his country. The grand enquiry, if any is 
 made, should be about a man's moral character. Is 
 he just, charitable, and benevolent, in the general 
 course of his life? Does he practise the virtues of 
 morality, and strive to diffuse happiness through the 
 world? If he does, his principles cannot be bad ; for 
 " the tree is known by its fruit," and bad principles 
 will not produce good actions. 
 
 Nature never intended that we should all think- 
 alike as to religious forms and ceremonies : if she 
 4 
 
182 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 had, some fixed rule would have been prescribed to 
 us, — some rule which the light of nature would have 
 been capable of discovering universally. But it is 
 evident nature did intend that we should be patient, 
 charitable, humane, Midi for giving, and that we should 
 do to others as we would they should do unto us. 
 After all, it is amazing that those, whose business it 
 is to teach the rule to others, and to enforce the 
 practice of it both by precept and example, should so 
 far neglect it themselves as to persecute and cruelly 
 use their brethren on account of their religious opi- 
 nions- This is adopting the worst and greatest error 
 of the church of Rome. Some of its fooleries may be 
 retained without much mischief, unless persons pay 
 so great a regard to them as to neglect things of im- 
 portance: but that they should copy out the worst 
 part of the worst religion is indeed surprising, espe- 
 cially as they have protested against her pernicious 
 tenets, and have separated themselves from commu- 
 nion with her. 
 
 Liberty of conscience hath been the darling theme 
 of some of the greatest writers of this and the last 
 age. To repeat their arguments against persecution 
 will be more to the purpose than any thing I can say 
 of my own. 
 
 I would, therefore, in a particular manner, recom- 
 mend the great Mr. Locke's Treatise on Toleration ; 
 and a piece lately published by that celebrated writer, 
 Dr. Warburton, the present Bishop of Gloucester, 
 entitled " The Doctrine of Grace," &c. from which 
 last piece I shall transcribe some few passages rela- 
 tive to this subject. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 183 
 
 In page 199, the bishop says, " If any good use 
 can be made of what hath been already said, it will 
 be chiefly promoted by these reverend men, who, in 
 honour of the church which they serve, and in grati- 
 tude to the state by which they are protected, will 
 make it their first care to support that most just of 
 all public laws, the law of toleration, which, how 
 long soever obstructed in its passage to us, and how 
 late soever arrived amongst us, is certainly of divine 
 original." Here the good bishop asserts, that the 
 law of toleration (like the law of nature) is of divine 
 original. Again he says, page 205, " But, then, if 
 we shew ourselves thus rightly disposed in favour of 
 this divine principle of toleration :" and in page 213, 
 " For with religious errors, as such, the state hath 
 nothing to do ; nor any right to attempt to repel or 
 suppress them. They are the civil mischiefs with 
 which civil society is concerned, the mischiefs arising 
 from religious quarrels"* 
 
 Religious quarrels may produce mischief: but, if 
 
 * Religious quarrels which produce mischief generally arise from 
 persecution ; but toleration of opinions will certainly tend to pre- 
 vent religious quarrels, and all the mischief which may arise there- 
 from. We never find any mischief arise from religious quarrels, 
 unless it be where the civil magistrate interferes to punish such errors 
 in opinion as the church points out to it, and supposes may produce 
 mischief, if tolerated. When the church influences the civil power 
 to punish errors in opinion, it is to prevent the mischiefs which may 
 arise from the toleration of such opinions. The church, with a 
 watchful eye, guards against every thing that may tend to weaken 
 its authority ; yet, in such a state as ours is, where the true spirit of 
 liberty prevails and flourishes, the church finds its greatest security 
 in the " divine principle of toleration^ This is a sufficient rea- 
 son for recommending it, if this learned bishop had no other, 
 
184 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 people are suffered peaceably to enjoy their own opw 
 nions, there will be no quarrelling, and of course no 
 mischief. The bishop goes on, — " But of this sepa- 
 ration, whether with or without cause, there is no 
 adequate judge but that Power who can distinguish 
 between a well and an ill-informed conscience." I 
 shall add one observation more of this rational 
 bishop's, in favour of toleration, and against persecu- 
 tion, which I wish was written in letters of gold, and 
 placed in the most conspicuous part of every church 
 in England. Page 201, he says, " In a word, the 
 church in which religious liberty is cordially enter- 
 tained and zealously supported, may be truly called 
 Christian : for, if the mark of the beast be perse- 
 cution, as the sacred volumes decypher to us, well 
 may we put toleration as the seal of the living God, 
 This, then, is our present boast."* 
 
 Thus hath this rational bishop directed the clergy 
 how to act in this important affair, and given his 
 opinion that human laws reach not the consciences 
 of men. Would to God ! that all those in power, 
 both in church and state, would ever remember that 
 God has reserved to himself the knowledge and judg- 
 ment of the human heart, and that he cannot be 
 pleased with having his authority usurped. One 
 would think that the judges of the earth should trem- 
 ble when they pronounce sentence on their brethren^ 
 in things of which God alone can judge. How ir- 
 rational and unchristian is it for the rulers of our 
 church to influence and add weight to the arm of 
 
 * All the quotations from Bishop Warburton's " Doctrine of 
 Grace" are taken from the octavo edition of that work. 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW- CREATURES. 185 
 
 civil power in the invasion of the rights of consci- 
 ence, instead of following the example of Christ and 
 his apostles ! How absurd, that they should copy 
 from the Inquisition, and substitute corporal punish- 
 ments in the room of reason and instruction ! This 
 is not acting like rational beings, but like beasts, 
 who, having no arguments to support their cause, 
 recur to force. 
 
 Conscience is a steady friend to truth, or at least 
 to what appears to be true. No bodily punishments 
 can alter or lessen this attachment. Reason may 
 convince a man of his error, but the punishment of 
 his body hath no such tendency. 
 
 Persecution is the bane of truth and sincerity : it 
 never informs or convinces the judgment, but will 
 always tend to establish hypocrisy, ignorance, and 
 superstition ; and therefore is absurd, uncharitable, 
 and diabolical.* 
 
 After all, if the most excellent precept of nature 
 and of Christ, which is the subject of this article, will 
 not prevent persecution, surely nothing can. 
 
 Tell me, you who persecute and ill-treat such as 
 differ from you in religious opinions ; — tell me, whe- 
 ther this rule be written in your hearts ? and, farther, 
 tell me, whether that can be a good religion which 
 tolerates persecution? — Surely there cannot be a 
 stronger mark of a bad one. 
 
 If you apprehend a man's opinion to be erroneous, 
 
 * The good Catholic Bishop of Cambray observes, that liberty 
 of thinking and expressing our opinions is an impregnable fortress 
 which cannot be overcome ; and that force may make hypocrites. 
 but can never make proselytes. 
 
 a a 
 
186 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 you are taught by your great Master to restore him 
 in the spirit of meekness, — by reason and argument, 
 and not by punishment : the one may cure, the other 
 confirm, his errors. 
 
 The friends of virtue and true religion can never 
 be the friends of persecution : it always injures and 
 weakens the cause of virtue, and establishes hypo- 
 crisy and superstition on the ruins of true religion. 
 
 Reason obliges us to conform to the laws of virtue : 
 now the laws of virtue are conformable to the divine 
 will. Nature and reason, as well as Christianity, 
 teach us that it is the immutable will of God that 
 his creatures should be happy. Where, then, can an 
 excuse for persecution be found? Not in reason, not 
 in nature, not in Christianity, — or at least in that 
 which I conceive to be pure and unadulterated Chris- 
 tianity. It is directly opposite to the will of God, 
 and therefore is diabolical ; having, as Dr. Warburton 
 says, " the mark of the beast." 
 
 But let us farther consider the divine precept, of 
 doing to others as we would they should do unto us, 
 and see how excellently well calculated it is to regu- 
 late all the actions of our lives in general, so far as 
 they relate to our fellow-creatures. Before we enter 
 upon any action, wherein the welfare of our neighbour 
 is concerned, let us ask ourselves this question — " Is 
 this such usage and treatment as I should like to 
 receive myself in the same circumstances?" After- 
 wards, always deliberate long enough calmly to an- 
 swer it. Give this most excellent precept time to 
 operate, and it will effectually restrain us from doing 
 any act that would injure our neighbour in his person, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 187 
 
 his property, or his peace. God hath most certainly 
 implanted this rule in our hearts, and it is our own 
 fault if we do not cultivate and improve its growth. 
 The soil must be very bad in which this divine prin- 
 ciple will not take root and flourish : but it is often 
 either obstinately rooted up, or those rank weeds, the 
 irregular appetites and passions, grow up and choke 
 it in its infancy, before it comes to perfection. 
 
 As I said above, it is our own fault if this divine 
 principle does not grow up to such a degree of per- 
 fection as to promote universal happiness. Instead 
 of rooting it up, and planting self-interest, hatred, 
 malice, cruelty, and revenge, in its room ; let us beg 
 of God to " water it with the dew of his blessing," 
 that so its fruit may be charity, which is the bond of 
 perfection. 
 
 The precepts of pure Christianity, like those of 
 nature, are all mildness and benevolence ; and those 
 especially, whose business it is to teach these precepts 
 to others, ought to shew, by their practice, that virtue 
 is easily attainable. 
 
 They who know the just value of virtue, and the 
 peace and happiness which await her steps, will not 
 quit her, though in the lowest estate, for the mitre or 
 the diadem. The portion which she brings consists 
 not in wealth, honours, and temporal dominions ; but 
 in that which is infinitely preferable, — peace of mind, 
 the approbation of good men, the consciousness of 
 having acted right, and the expectation of being re- 
 warded with everlasting happiness. Though the great 
 and mighty ones of the world may despise and ne- 
 glect her; though she be often without a portion in 
 
188 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 this life, yet she hath an inheritance in reversion, in- 
 finitely superior to all the riches and honours this 
 world can afford. Her treasure is such " as moth 
 and rust cannot corrupt," and it is placed " where 
 thieves cannot break through and steal." When the 
 pleasures of the world shall pass away like the morn- 
 ing cloud and early dew, the lovers of virtue will have 
 rivers of pleasure which are inexhaustible, and crowns 
 of glory that will never fade. 
 
 Let not any of the discouragements or disad- 
 vantages you meet with in this world induce you to 
 relinquish virtue, but march boldly under her stan- 
 dard, without regarding the danger that may attend 
 it ; always remembering that, though her ranks are 
 thin, and her numbers few, compared with those who 
 oppose her, yet the cause of virtue is the cause of 
 God; and, " if God be for us, who can be against 
 us," with any prospect of success] Upon the whole, 
 whatever be the consequence here, let us stedfastly 
 and uniformly perform the duties of our stations; and 
 contribute to the happiness of the world by the prac- 
 tice of this most excellent precept, of doing to others 
 tvhat we would they should do unto us in the same 
 circumstances. 
 
 This divine rule is so plain, that no one can mis- 
 take it ; so clear, that every one may understand it. 
 It contains no mystery : it is confined to no particular 
 time or place : it suits high and low, rich and poor, 
 learned and unlearned : it is natural, and it is uni- 
 versal. There needs no art or address to teach the 
 propriety of it ; but, as soon as ever we are able to 
 discern that we are brethren, children of one almighty, 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 189 
 
 good, and merciful Parent, we may likewise discern 
 the propriety of this rule > and its tendency to promote 
 universal happiness. 
 
 Let the great and mighty ones of this world re- 
 member that this maxim of doing as you would be 
 done by, is a precept of that Being who is infinitely 
 above them, — infinitely more above them than they 
 are above the meanest of their vassals ; and that it is 
 their duty, and their interest, to treat their inferiors 
 as they would wish to be treated themselves in the 
 same circumstances. Let them farther remember 
 that nothing will check the growth of this principle 
 in the human heart so much as pride. This rank 
 weed is the bane of benevolence, and they will not 
 grow up together. 
 
 I have already given an article on Pride : but it 
 appears to be of so much consequence to check its 
 growth, that I hope to be excused if I consider it 
 farther here. 
 
 The soil in which benevolence delights is virtue. 
 The heart in which it will take deep root and flourish 
 must be (according to St. James) " pure, peaceable, 
 gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
 fruits : without partiality, without hypocrisy, and (I 
 may add) without pride." On the contrary, it never 
 will grow in an impure, violent, ungentle, hard, cruel, 
 malicious, revengeful, or proud, heart. 
 
 By the general behaviour of the great, and of those 
 who possess the high places of the world, one would 
 imagine they thought that the poor and lower part of 
 mankind had no right to the same kind of treatment 
 as themselves ; and that this most excellent rule, of 
 
190 OF THE DUTIES 
 
 doing as you would be done by, should operate and be 
 regarded only between persons of the same rank and 
 condition. The rich and great can hardly, for a 
 moment, even in thought, change places with the poor 
 and distressed; which is necessary to be done, in 
 order to practise this heaven-born precept. 
 
 Pride, which is too often the concomitant of riches 
 and grandeur, must first be rooted out of the heart 
 before benevolence will find room to expand itself, 
 and grow up to any degree of perfection. 
 
 With what detestation and abhorrence must the 
 infinitely-perfect God look down on the pride of man, 
 who, perhaps, is the very lowest of all the orders of 
 intelligent beings which he has created ! This is a 
 humiliating thought : but the proud man will not 
 indulge such contemplations. God is but seldom in 
 the proud man's thoughts : he does not choose to 
 recognise a Being so infinitely above him. Such 
 thoughts would tend to make him humble ; and hu- 
 mility cannot grow where pride spreads its towering 
 branches, and sheds its baneful influence. The hard 
 and unnatural soil in which pride luxuriates will by 
 no means suit any of the Christian virtues, or permit 
 them to flourish under its shade. Pride is generally 
 a tall spreading tree, that not only shades, but de- 
 stroys, the virtues of benevolence, kindness, charity, 
 compassion, and the like. 
 
 One might fill a volume with shewing the beauty 
 and propriety of the heavenly precept which is the 
 subject of this chapter, and with proving its natural 
 tendency to promote universal happiness : but I doubt 
 I should be thought tedious if I expatiated farther 
 3 
 
WHICH WE OWE TO OUR FELLOW-CREATURES. 191 
 
 thereon ; and shall therefore only add, in general, that 
 there is not a crime, of which men can be guilty 
 against each other, but may be prevented by a serious 
 and timely application of this rule. 
 
 If we love our neighbours and ourselves, which 
 God and nature require that we should do ; if we 
 would contribute to the extirpation of vice, and to the 
 increase of moral virtue and happiness : " All things 
 whatsoever we would that men should do unto us, we 
 should do even so unto them : for this is the law and 
 the prophets." Matt. vii. 12. 
 
192 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 SUNDRY GENERAL ARTICLES. 
 
 I have now finished each article of my proposed plan, 
 agreeably to the division of my subject. Under the 
 various preceding heads, I have likewise introduced 
 all the morality of the New Testament which properly 
 belongs to them ; and have endeavoured to shew the 
 harmony that subsists between the genuine religion 
 and morality of Christ, and the religion of reason and 
 nature. But, as I would willingly take in the whole 
 of those moral doctrines and precepts of Christ which 
 we have in his Gospel, and shew them in that point 
 of light which will most probably induce their prac- 
 tice, I have read with attention those parts of the 
 New Testament which are not noticed under the 
 heads before-mentioned; and I find therein many 
 other duties inculcated, which are of a more general 
 turn, and of which the practice will tend to promote 
 general happiness. 
 
 It is, indeed, very difficult to separate the duties 
 which we owe to ourselves from those which we owe 
 to each other. Self-love and social are so much the 
 same, — our own happiness and that of others are so 
 intimately connected, — that whatever we do to pro- 
 
SUNDRY GENERAL ARTICLES. 193 
 
 mote the happiness of others will, in general, add to 
 our own, unless our tempers are very unbenevolent 
 indeed ; and then we should hardly do any thing to 
 make others happy. From hence it follows that 
 pleasures are reflected back on ourselves from acts of 
 benevolence to others. Nay, so strongly has nature 
 impressed on the human mind the idea of happiness, 
 as arising from benevolence, and so constantly has 
 experience confirmed it, that we hardly suppose any 
 being can communicate good to other beings without 
 adding thereby to his own happiness. This idea is 
 so natural, that I think we may venture to suppose 
 that even God himself receives pleasure from the 
 happiness of his creatures, and that 
 
 " From bliss devolv'd, bliss infinite rebounds." 
 
 God existed always ; consequently he created al- 
 ways :* from whence it follows, that his infinite be- 
 nevolence, communicated from eternity, reverberated 
 back infinite bliss from eternity. His happiness is 
 the consequence of his perfection, and the infinite, 
 eternal, necessary effect of his benevolence. It is the 
 very reverse of defect. Surely the happiness of an 
 infinite system of all possible intelligences must be 
 one source of infinite delight and felicity in the divine 
 mind, which, as I conceive, sees and feels it all, and 
 consequently enjoys it all. Can we think God a 
 Being that does not delight in the happiness of his 
 creatures ? Surely no. I conceive that he enjoys in- 
 effable pleasure and delight from the contemplation 
 
 * See article Love of God. 
 
 Bb 
 
194 SUNDRY GENERAL ARTICLES. 
 
 of the happiness arising from his infinite goodness* 
 communicated to an infinite system of innumerable 
 intelligences. Upon the whole, I cannot conceive 
 an infinitely intelligent and good Being, without con- 
 sidering him as receiving infinite delight and felicity 
 from the infinite and eternal communication of bliss 
 to an infinite creation of perceptive beings, or all 
 possible existencies. Without this, we establish in- 
 finite felicity without a base, and rest it on nothing. 
 But the supposing that the felicity of God arises from 
 the infinite and eternal exertion of his attributes and 
 perfections, seems to me to give a more exalted idea 
 of him than the averring that he can possess those 
 perfections, and yet be ineffably and infinitely happy 
 without exerting them. This also appears to me a 
 contradiction, because it supposes infinite goodness 
 without any proof thereof, or display of its effects : 
 that is, it supposes infinite goodness, without any 
 goodness at all, — which is a contradiction ; or, in 
 other words, it is supposing that God could be happy 
 without being good, — which is inconsistent with the 
 perfection implied in self-existence from all eternity. 
 
 From what hath been said, it seems clearly to ap- 
 pear, that our own happiness, the happiness of our 
 fellow-creatures, nay, the infinite felicity of the ever- 
 blessed God, have benevolence for their source. 
 
 The duties which we owe to God, to our fellow - 
 creatures, and to ourselves, appear likewise to be so 
 intimately connected, that they can never be sepa- 
 rated : and it also appears that it is not only our duty, 
 but our greatest interest, to make happiness as diffu- 
 sive and universal as we can. 
 
SUNDRY GENERAL ARTICLES. 195 
 
 This, and this only, will be acting our parts well ; 
 and for so doing we shall certainly have the approba- 
 tion of the Lord and Governor of the universe. 
 
 I shall now proceed to consider those other natural 
 duties of which I have not yet spoken, and to include 
 in them all the moral doctrines of the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 The first article which I shall consider is happiness, 
 or what the Scripture calls blessedness. Under this 
 head I shall endeavour to shew in what true happi- 
 ness consists ; first, from the doctrines of the New 
 Testament ; and, in the next place, I shall prove that 
 those doctrines are founded in reason and nature. — 
 Such will be the method observed throughout the rest 
 of this work. 
 
 b2 
 
196 
 
 ©gap. I. 
 
 OF HAPPINESS. 
 
 Matt. v. from the 3d to the 10th verse. — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for 
 theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they 
 shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 
 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they 
 shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 
 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the 
 peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God. 
 
 John, xiii. 17. — If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 
 
 Romans, iv. 8. — Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. 
 
 James, i. 12. — Blessed is the man that endureth temptation ; for, when he is 
 tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to 
 them that love him. 
 
 Revel, xiv. 13.— Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord, that 4hey may 
 rest from their labour, and their works do follow them. 
 
 Here we see that Christ, in his most excellent ser- 
 mon on the mount, tells us, that the meek, the mer- 
 ciful, the pure in heart, the peace-maker, those who 
 earnestly seek after righteousness, and those who 
 mourn for their sins, are all objects of the divine fa- 
 vour, and will be happy, either in this world, or in 
 some future state of existence. How well do the 
 doctrines of Christ agree with those which nature 
 teaches ! 
 
 The practice of the duties here enumerated is the 
 way, pointed out by nature, to true happiness. Se- 
 veral of these duties having already been considered 
 under their respective heads, and proved to be per- 
 fectly consistent with reason and nature, I shall not 
 enlarge on them here ; but only remark, that true 
 happiness will always consist in the discharge of the 
 duties which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our 
 fellow-creatures ; and that a sincere sorrow for our 
 
OF HAPPINESS. 107 
 
 sins, succeeded by amendment, will always procure 
 our pardon, and reinstate us in the favour of God : 
 for surely God cannot make a reformed and truly 
 penitent sinner miserable, without being himself un- 
 benevolent and unjust. 
 
 As God made us to render us happy, it will be 
 our own faults if we are not so. If we regulate our 
 desires by reason, and perform the duties which the 
 laws of nature and of Christ prescribe, these desires 
 will be satisfied : now, to desire only what is ra- 
 tional, to desire it intensely, and to have such desire 
 satisfied, is the highest idea that we can conceive of 
 happiness. 
 
 St. John says, " that the knowledge and practice 
 of our duty will make us happy ;" and St. James, 
 " that the overcoming all temptation to the breach of 
 our duty will be rewarded." Again, in the Revela- 
 tions, we are told that those are happy who have 
 performed good works ; for that, when they die, their 
 works will follow them. Are not these promises 
 very strong incitements to good actions ? Happiness 
 is the prize : and can there be one more worthy of 
 our best endeavours and most assiduous efforts ? 
 Besides, we are to consider that it is not only the 
 happiness of this life, but also that of a future state, 
 which depends on the performance of our duty. How 
 good is God to us, to give us happiness on such easy 
 terms ! We are required only to act like rational 
 creatures, and to perform those duties with which 
 health of body and peace of mind are intimately con- 
 nected. " The ways of virtue are ways of pleasant- 
 ness, and all her paths are peaceable and happy," 
 
198 
 
 ©gap. II. 
 
 OF GOOD WORKS. 
 
 Acts, x. 34, 35.— Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth, I per- 
 ceive that God is no respecter of persons ; but, in every nation, he that 
 fearethbim, and worketh righteousness, shall be accepted withhiin. 
 
 Matt. v. 16. — Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your 
 good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 
 
 II. Cor. ix. 8.— And God is able to make all grace abound towards yon, that 
 ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good 
 work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. 
 
 II. Tim. iii. 17.— That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished 
 unto all good works. 
 
 Heb. xiii. 16,21. — But to do good and communicate, forget not; for with 
 such sacrifices God is well pleased. Make you perfect to every good work, 
 to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight. 
 
 James, ii. 17. — Even no faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 
 
 Philipp. iv. 8. — Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 
 things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
 whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, if there be 
 any praise, think on these things. 
 
 I. Peter, iii. 8, 9. — Finally, brethren, be ye all of one mind, having compas- 
 sion one of another: love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not ren- 
 dering evil for evil, or railing for railing; but contrariwise, blessing; 
 knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 
 
 II. Peter, i. 5, 6, 7. — And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your 
 faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; 
 and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness ; and to godliness, 
 brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. 
 
 Thus doth the New Testament fully and strongly 
 recommend good works, or the doing of those things 
 which have the most direct tendency to promote uni- 
 versal happiness. No one can deny that nature also 
 teaches this precept. The contributing all that is in 
 our power to promote general happiness, is a duty 
 which we owe to God, as well as to ourselves and to 
 our fellow- creatures. This hath been shewn under 
 various articles in this work. We are, then, under 
 every kind of obligation to perform this duty. Both 
 
 4 
 
OF GOOD WORKS, 199 
 
 nature, reason, and Christianity, teach us this, and 
 proclaim to us that it corresponds exactly with the 
 intentions of the kind Parent of the universe, who, as 
 an indulgent father, requires nothing of us but piety 
 towards him, in order to keep up a sense of our va- 
 rious obligations, and justice, charity, and benevo- 
 lence, towards one another. What an infinitely- 
 beneficent Governor must he be, who demands of his 
 creatures nothing but what best contributes to their 
 own happiness. He requires nothing difficult to be 
 performed ; and surely nothing difficult, much less 
 impossible, to be understood. To demaud this last 
 would be to mock his creatures, and would be incon- 
 sistent with all our ideas of infinite perfection. 
 Therefore, wherever we find a command to do things 
 out of our power, either in belief or practice, we may 
 rest assured that it is a command of man, arising 
 from ignorance, pride, or interest ; and that it should 
 always be considered as distinct from the commands 
 of God, which we find in nature, and which we may 
 collect from the moral parts of the New Testament. 
 
 I have, I believe, observed more than once in these 
 pages, that true faith is a belief of the being of God, 
 and a dependance on him for happiness, if we act 
 agreeably to his will. Now T this faith, or belief, is the 
 best foundation for right action : and it is plain that 
 St. Peter looked upon it as merely a foundation to 
 build good works upon; and that, without good 
 works, it would be barren and unfruitful. Therefore 
 it is that he desires us to give all diligence ; that is, 
 by no means to neglect the adding to our faith, virtue, 
 knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly 
 
200 OF REPENTANCE, 
 
 kindness, and charity. These form the beautiful 
 superstructure, and will carry us up to God. By 
 doing this, we shall most certainly answer the end of 
 our creation, be happy ourselves, contribute to the 
 happiness of others, and be the objects of the favour 
 of God, both here and through an eternal hereafter. 
 
 ©gap. HI. 
 
 OF REPENTANCE. 
 
 Matt. iv. 17. — From that time Jesus began to preach, aud to say, Repent, 
 
 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
 Luke, xiii. 3.— I tell you, nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise 
 
 perish. 
 Luke, xxiv. 47. — And that repentance and remission of sins should be 
 
 preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 
 Acts, iii. 19.— Repent ye, therefore, aud be converted, that your sins may be 
 
 blotted out. 
 Acts, xvii. 30. — And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now 
 
 commandeth all men every where to repent. 
 Acts, xxvi. 20.— That they should repent, and turn to God, and do works 
 
 meet for repentance. 
 H. Peter, iii. 9. — Not willing that any should perish, but that all should 
 
 come to repentance. 
 
 By the above quotations from the New Testament, 
 we may see of how great importance Christ and his 
 apostles thought the doctrine of repentance. Ac- 
 cording to them, without repentance and amendment 
 we cannot be the proper objects of forgiving mercy 
 and of future happiness. Amendment is a proof of 
 the sincerity of our repentance ; and forgiveness will 
 be the consequence of this, at least with regard to 
 God. Now some divines have insinuated that this 
 important duty was not taught by the light of nature, 
 but that it was peculiar to the Gospel institution. I 
 
OF REPENTANCE. 201 
 
 wonder that any should be of this opinion : for, if the 
 practice of this duty be so necessary to our happiness 
 as it appears to be in the New Testament, can it be 
 supposed that God should never require it, or give 
 mankind any information about it, till the coming of 
 Christ ; and that he should permit millions and mil- 
 lions of the human race to pass from this world into 
 another state of existence, without any knowledge of 
 this important duty? 
 
 If the duties of repentance and amendment were 
 at any time made the terms of forgiveness, why not 
 at all times] 
 
 But, that the duty of repentance may not be void 
 of that force which every duty requires when proved 
 to be natural, and of eternal obligation, I shall en- 
 deavour to prove it to be a natural duty, from our 
 natural feelings. How very few are there who can 
 injure their fellow-creatures without feeling some 
 compunction, and a desire to be forgiven? Those 
 who do not, must be insensible to all the tender feel- 
 ings of humanity ; and for such I do not write : for 
 hearts thus hardened against the dictates of nature 
 and conscience will not be penetrated by any human 
 institution, — no, not even by the Gospel of Christ ; 
 and much less by any thing that I can say. But 
 thus much, I think, we may fairly conclude, — that, 
 as human nature must be always the same, mankind 
 must have had the same natural feelings before the 
 coming of Christ as they have now. This duty of 
 repentance, this desire of forgiveness, must have 
 been originally implanted in the human heart by God 
 himself, who never left his intelligent creatures 
 
 c c 
 
202 ^OF REPENTANCE. 
 
 without evidence of his infinite power, wisdom, and 
 goodness, or without a knowledge of their duty to 
 him and to one another. 
 
 It has been objected by some, that, though re- 
 pentance and forgiveness may be natural between 
 man and man, and at all times practised, yet how 
 can we be assured that God, " whose ways are not 
 as our ways," will forgive on the same terms? — To 
 this I reply, that, if truth and reason be not the same 
 in God as they are in his intelligent creatures, how 
 can they know any thing of him aright? If that 
 which appears true to us, on a due use of our reason- 
 ing faculty, may be false with God ; and that be 
 reasonable to us and fit to be done, which to him 
 may be unreasonable and unfit to be done ; how can 
 God require our assent to his laws, or how can we 
 distinguish between his laws and the tricks and 
 juggles of designing men? All that we know of the 
 moral character of God, is from what we read in our 
 hearts: all the moral attributes which we ascribe to 
 him, arise from what we esteem the perfections of 
 our own nature ; and we suppose that God possesses 
 them in an infinite degree. If this be the case, then, 
 can we suppose that God would implant in the hu- 
 man mind the knowledge of a duty, and require the 
 practice of it between man and man ; and that the 
 same duty practised towards him should not have the 
 same good consequences? Shall forgiveness be na- 
 turally expected between man and man, on a sincere 
 repentance ; and shall it not be expected from that 
 benevolent Being, " whose nature and property is 
 ever to have rnercy and to forgive?" It is unnatural 
 and horrid to suppose the contrary. 
 
OF REPENTANCE. 203 
 
 The same disposition of mind which would incline 
 us to repent of an injury done to our brother, would 
 also incline us, in a sincere and humble manner, to 
 beg forgiveness of God for the breach of any of his 
 laws. Both must be taught by the light of nature ; 
 and both were practised, till the priests corrupted and 
 darkened the minds of the people, by representing 
 God as a being that was to be placated and rendered 
 kind to his creatures by sacrifices, fastings, penances, 
 mortifications, and bodily pains. The simple and 
 natural ideas of repentance and amendment, which 
 are the terms of forgiveness, gave place to most hor- 
 rid cruelties. The love of God was soon banished 
 from the world, and superstitious fear and dread 
 succeeded.* 
 
 The doctrines of repentance and forgiveness are 
 certainly moral doctrines, founded in the law of na- 
 ture, and would have been of eternal obligation, 
 though Christ had never appeared in the world. 
 These, as well as all his other doctrines and precepts, 
 were re-publications of natural religion : and what 
 can do the religion of Christ more honour than to 
 suppose it thus founded? Can any religion have a 
 better foundation ? Is there any other basis that can 
 so well support, unshaken, its superstructure? A 
 religion, thus founded, hath the eternal wisdom, 
 power, and goodness, of God for its support : nor can 
 bigotry, superstition, enthusiasm, priestcraft, or the 
 gates of hell, prevail against it. 
 
 * And what dread or craft once began, devotion soon made 
 sacred, and religion immutable .—Locked Reasonableness of 
 Christianity. 
 
 CC2 
 
201 OF REPENTANCE. 
 
 Such was the pure, genuine, and uncorrupted 
 religion of Christ : all the duties required in it were 
 moral, natural, rational, and of eternal obligation, 
 arising out of the relations we stand in to God and to 
 one another; which relations, being invariable and 
 eternally the same, must, with the duties resulting 
 from them, all be comprehended in the law of nature, 
 - — be discoverable by its light, — and be immutable 
 so long as God remains the Father of the universe, 
 and we his intelligent offspring. Consequently, 
 whatever religion makes necessary to salvation the 
 belief and practice of any thing which is not founded 
 in nature and the invariable relations above men- 
 tioned, must be false and erroneous, having only for 
 its sanction the commands of weak and fallible men : 
 so that, how much soever it may be enforced by human 
 power, it can never be binding upon, or properly 
 affect, the heart ; for what is not in its own nature fit 
 to be done, there never can be any good reason for 
 commanding. 
 
 Repentance and forgiveness are binding upon all 
 mankind, of every sect and denomination whatso- 
 ever : every eye must see, every heart must feel, the 
 propriety of these duties, and their tendency to pro- 
 mote universal happiness. 
 
 Surely no man can be happy who is conscious of 
 unrepented crimes. It is then our interest, as well as 
 our duty, to set early about the business of repent- 
 ance ; to which there is another motive, viz. — that, 
 the sooner we set about it, the easier it will be to us. 
 The neglect of this duty will naturally harden the 
 heart, and make it a very difficult task. Farther, let 
 
OF REPENTANCE. 205 
 
 us remember that, though forgiveness with God, and 
 in general with man too, will be a consequence of 
 sincere repentance, yet that repentance is a conse- 
 quence of some crime. But the most sincere penitent 
 cannot be so proper an object of the divine favour as 
 a person who needs no repentance, notwithstanding 
 what is said of the great joy in heaven over one pe- 
 nitent sinner. 
 
 I might bring many great authorities to prove that 
 repentance is a natural duty, and not peculiar to the 
 Christian institution:* but I shall quote only Mr. 
 Locke, who says, " God had, by the light of reason, 
 revealed to all mankind, who would make use of that 
 light, that he was good and merciful. The same 
 spark of the divine nature and knowledge in man, 
 which, making him a man, shewed him the law he 
 was under as a man, shewed him also the way of 
 atoning the merciful, kind, compassionate Author and 
 Father of him and his being, when he had trans- 
 gressed that law. He that made use of this candle 
 of the Lord, so far as to find what was his duty, could 
 not miss also the way to reconciliation and forgive- 
 ness, when he had failed of his duty. — The law is 
 the eternal, immutable standard of right ; and a part 
 of that law is, that a man should forgive, not only his 
 children, but his enemies, upon their repentance, 
 asking pardon, and amendment ; and, therefore, he 
 could not doubt that the author of this law, and God 
 of patience and consolation, who is rich in mercy, 
 would forgive his frail offspring, if they acknow- 
 
 * Pythagoras, and many other Pagan philosophers, taught the 
 duty of repeutance. 
 
206 OF RELIGION. 
 
 ledged their faults, disapproved the iniquity of their 
 trangressions, begged his pardon, and resolved in 
 earnest for the future to conform their actions to this 
 rule, which they owned to be just and right. This 
 way of reconciliation, this hope of atonement, the 
 light of nature revealed to them." 
 
 ©fiap. IV. 
 
 OF RELIGION. 
 
 James, i. 27. — Pure religion and undefiled before God (he Father, is this, to 
 visit the fatherless and widow in their affliction, and to keep himself un- 
 spotted from the world. 
 
 It is thought by many that religion comprehends no 
 more than our notions and worship of God ; and that 
 our duties to ourselves and fellow-creatures are only 
 bare morality. Indeed, if we did not love morality 
 for its own sake, yet adhered to it^ as a command 
 from God only, then the practice of it becomes reli- 
 gion. However, I shall at present take St. James's 
 word, and consider it agreeably to the above text, 
 which gives us an excellent portrait of true religion, 
 drawn, no doubt, from its bright original — the reli- 
 gion of reason and nature ; that religion which re- 
 quires an exertion of our abilities in communicating 
 happiness to our fellow-creatures, — a religion of 
 actions, and not of words and ceremonies. This is a 
 religion of the heart and the life : therefore, the heart 
 must feel the most exquisite pleasure from the prac- 
 tice of it, and the life be adorned and refined by it ; 
 unless the heart be obdurate, and insensible to the 
 
OF RELIGION. 207 
 
 tender feelings of humanity. The lighting up the 
 countenances of the widow and fatherless, the reliev- 
 ino* the distressed and cheering up their depressed 
 spirits, carry with them a degree of virtue and hap- 
 piness, which assimilates us in some measure to God 
 himself. Such conduct St. James calls pure religion ; 
 and it certainly is the purer for being unmixed with 
 forms and ceremonies, or with mysterious and unin- 
 telligible propositions and doctrines. 
 
 This religion is clearly and easily to be understood 
 by persons of the most moderate capacities : no one 
 needs apply to his priest to be instructed in it ; nor 
 will it admit of disputes and differences, much less of 
 cruel and bloody persecutions. This religion is, that 
 wisdom which cometh down from above, the offspring 
 of that benevolent Being, " who is good to all, and 
 whose tender mercies are over all his works." 
 
 Mystery, the support of priestcraft and persecution, 
 hath no place in this pure and undeflled religion ; the 
 very essence of which is charity and universal bene- 
 volence. Belief or disbelief, forms and modes of 
 worship, which have so long divided the world, and 
 been the bane of its peace, are here excluded. 
 
 A heart disposed for charity and benevolence can 
 never be disposed for persecution ; and, if St. James 
 had been believed and attended to by Christians of 
 every sect, and the dictates of reason and nature had 
 been followed by mankind in general, the lives of 
 thousands would have been spared, who have fallen a 
 sacrifice to an intemperate bloody zeal, founded on 
 ignorance, supported by priestcraft, and continued 
 and cherished for interest. 
 
203 OF JUDGMENT AND REPROOF. 
 
 The keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, 
 or the keeping all irregular passions and appetites in 
 a due subordination to reason, finishes this amiable 
 picture of true religion. Every vice we commit, and 
 every omission of doing good, are so many spots and 
 blemishes in our characters, and tend to cut us off 
 from being members of that pare, genuine, and un- 
 defiled religion, above described by St. James. 
 
 ©gap. v. 
 
 OF JUDGMENT AND REPROOF. 
 
 Matt, vii. 1, 2, 5, 4, 5.— Judge not, that ye be not judged : For with what 
 judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and with what measure ye mete, it 
 shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is 
 in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 
 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine 
 eye ; aud, behold, a beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, first cast 
 the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast 
 the mote out of thy brother's eye. 
 
 Rom. ii. 1. — Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that 
 judgest : for, wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for 
 thou, that judgest, doest the same things. — Ver. 2. — But we are sure that 
 the judgment of God is according to truth, agaiust them which commit such 
 things. — Ver. 3.— And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which 
 do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of 
 God? 
 
 From these passages of the New Testament, as well 
 as from the law of nature, we may learn how very 
 improper it is to form rash judgments of others, or 
 to be very forward to censure and reprove them. It 
 is our duty first to look into ourselves, and examine 
 if our behaviour and conduct have been free from 
 faults, especially from those of the same kind which 
 we censure in others. No one can be so unfit to find 
 
 4 
 
OF JUDGMENT AND REPROOF. 209 
 
 fault with another as he who commits the same faults 
 and errors himself: our precepts will certainly fail 
 when our examples run counter to them. For in- 
 stance, how unseemly, how shocking must it be, to 
 see a priest reeling from a tavern in the evening, 
 who the same day has made an excellent discourse in 
 praise of temperance ! Can such an one expect that 
 his hearers will, for the future, regard his precepts, 
 when he appears to pay so little regard to them him- 
 self? Should such an one reprove another for drunk- 
 enness, how justly might it be retorted on him, 
 " Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine 
 own eye, &c. : first shew me, by your example, that 
 you believe temperance to be a duty and a virtue, and 
 I shall probably believe so too : but surely your pre- 
 cept will not be much regarded, while your example 
 contradicts it." The same may be said of every 
 other vice. 
 
 Self-examination is a very important duty. Let us 
 look, then, into our own hearts ; and, if we find that 
 all is not right there, repent and amend : let us 
 cleanse our hearts from all unrighteousness, and God, 
 " who is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all 
 things," will forgive us. On the contrary, if our 
 hearts do not condemn us, then we may confidently 
 and boldly reprove the vices of others. But we should 
 be careful always to use great delicacy in our re- 
 proofs. If you would have them be effectual, let 
 them be gentle and delicate, unmixed with severity 
 or the least tincture of pride. I know of nothing more 
 difficult than to reprove properly, and so as not to 
 give offence, but, on the contrary, to reclaim ; for, if 
 
 od 
 
210 OF JUDGMENT AND REPROOF. 
 
 the party be offended, your reproof will probably 
 make him rather worse than better. The pride of 
 man is such, that it will hardly bear to give the su- 
 periority to another; and a man will, therefore, nicely 
 examine whether the person who reproves him has 
 not faults which bring him at least on a level with 
 himself. For this reason, those only are fit to reprove 
 who are themselves remarkably good, and who can 
 do it with great good temper and delicacy of ex- 
 pression. Besides, great allowances should be made 
 for human frailties, and for our want of power to 
 distinguish the motives and intentions of others ; for 
 the intention principally stamps the action good or 
 bad : from whence it follows that w r e should always 
 judge charitably, and of the favourable side. We 
 should very seldom reprove, and we should never 
 punish, in matters of conscience. God alone, whose 
 omniscient eye searches the heart, can with propriety 
 take cognizance of such matters ; but human laws 
 ought not to have any thing to do with them. Upon 
 the whole, in this, as in almost every thing else, we 
 should observe that most excellent rule, of doing by 
 others as we would tcish that they should do by us. 
 This will infallibly teach us to judge of the actions of 
 others with candour and charity ; and that we should 
 never form rash judgment, or reprove immaturely or 
 harshly. 
 
211 
 
 ©Sap. VL 
 
 OF HOPE. 
 
 Rom. viii. 2 1. — For we are saved by hope. 
 Rom. xii. 12.— Rejoicing in hope. 
 
 Rom. xv. 13.— Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in be. 
 lieving, that ye may abound in hope. 
 
 I. Cor. xv. 19. — If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most 
 miserable. 
 
 II. Cor. iv. 8. — We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are 
 perplexed, but not in despair. 
 
 I. Peter, i. 13. — Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and 
 
 hope to the end. 
 Gal. vL 9. — And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we 
 
 shall reap, if we faint not. 
 
 Hope is the anchor of the sou), without which we are 
 liable to be driven on the rocks and quicksands of 
 despair. 
 
 When, by a strong current of misfortunes, our 
 feeble bark recedes from its course, and is driving 
 before the wind of adversity, then we should throw 
 out the anchor Hope, which will not fail us, provided 
 reason takes the helm, and we are vigilant and active, 
 begging with earnestness the assistance of Heaven, 
 and be not weary in well doing. Hope to the end ; 
 for, while you hope, you will endeavour; but despair 
 produces inactivity and sloth. 
 
 Hope, even in the assistance of our fellow-crea- 
 tures, will greatly cheer and support the mind. What 
 a sure foundation, then, hath our hope in God ! 
 Though all human aid fails, God will not fail ; nor 
 can his almighty arm be weakened. Though your 
 relations and acquaintance stand aloof in your adver- 
 sity, God will never desert you, if, by being virtuous, 
 
 Dd2 
 
212 OF HOPE. 
 
 you are the proper objects of his care. He will give 
 you strength and patience to bear your misfortunes, 
 if he does not relieve them. 
 
 Piety, justice, charity, and benevolence, will se- 
 cure to you the favour and protection of that almighty 
 Being who controls the universe, and whose favour 
 is better than life itself; it appearing to be one of his 
 immutable laws, that the practice of those virtues 
 shall, upon the whole, have happiness connected 
 with it. 
 
 Though we should be unhappy in this life, we 
 should still hope in God, because he will be our God 
 throughout eternity: and though it may not consist 
 with the infinitely-perfect plan of his government to 
 interfere in order to make us happy in this life, yet 
 we may hereafter receive an eternal weight of glory. 
 On the other hand, how miserable must the wicked 
 man be, who cannot extend his hopes beyond the 
 narrow bounds of this world ! God, who is the hope, 
 the support, and the happiness, of the virtuous man, 
 is, to the wicked, the terror of his soul. What can 
 be a more dreadful thought than the justice of God 
 to an unjust man ! How must he dread to leave a 
 world, in which is centred all his hope of happiness! 
 Be virtuous, then, and the foundation of your hope 
 shall never be removed. Heaven and earth may pass 
 away, but God will always remain the friend, the 
 support, the happiness, the unshaken hope, of the 
 virtuous man. 
 
213 
 
 OF ANXIETY. 
 
 Matt. vi. 25, 26. — Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, 
 what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink : nor yet for your body, what ye 
 shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than 
 raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they 
 reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are 
 ye not much better than they ? 
 
 Luke, xii. 22. — And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, 
 take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat ; neither for the body, what 
 ye shall put on. 
 
 I. Cor. vii. 32. — But I would have you without carefulness. 
 
 Phil. iv. 6. — Be careful for nothing; but in every thing, by prayer and sup- 
 plication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 
 
 I. Tim . vi. 8. — And having food and raiment, let us be content therewith. 
 
 It is evident that the care and thought, against which 
 we are cautioned in the New Testament, must mean 
 that anxiety which tends to destroy the comforts of 
 life. Christ knew too well the advantages which 
 arise to mankind from a proper care, a proper degree 
 of thoughtfulness, ever to forbid it : on the contrary, 
 such care is frequently recommended by him. We 
 are to do our duty, and leave the event to God. We 
 are not to be anxiously careful about the welfare of 
 these frail and perishing bodies of ours; but our 
 principal care, our grand concern, should be the se- 
 curing to ourselves a happy future existence, by the 
 practice of virtue here. 
 
 Those who make a true estimate of the value of 
 this life, and of all its blessings, will readily allow 
 that any great degree of anxiety is a weakness, if not 
 a crime. 
 
 Nothing that will end with this short life can be 
 worth the anxious care of a rational being; but 
 4 
 
214 OF ANXIETY. 
 
 actions, whose consequences are to be carried into 
 another state, and which will affect our future happi- 
 ness, demand our utmost care : and yet even these 
 need not be mixed with so much anxiety as to render 
 our present life unhappy. God and nature require 
 not this. If we steadily pursue a course of virtue, 
 and be obedient to the laws of God, we may after- 
 wards " cast all our care upon him, for he will take 
 care of us." We are, indeed, told that " we should 
 work out our salvation with fear and trembling :" but 
 this cannot mean an anxious slavish fear, which 
 would destroy our present happiness. God desires 
 that his creatures should be happy ; and that those 
 who diligently perform their duty should be the most 
 cheerful and the happiest of mankind. If they are 
 otherwise, they in some measure defeat his kind in- 
 tention. God hath provided, for all his creatures, 
 every thing necessary for their being and happiness. 
 His goodness and paternal care appear in every object 
 around us, and render any anxious care of ours al- 
 together unnecessary. Yet we should not, from the 
 apparent care of Heaven, which nature so evidently 
 abounds with, nor from any thing we meet with in 
 holy Scripture displaying that care, neglect the use 
 of means to preserve and render life happy. We are 
 instructed in the sacred writings " to take no thought 
 for the morrow :" but this must not be taken in a 
 strict or literal sense; we ought not, therefore, to 
 neglect human endeavours, and to depend wholly on 
 Providence. An indolent slothful man is not a 
 proper object of Heaven's care. Such an one is 
 always a bad member of society: he contributes 
 
OP CURIOSITY. 215 
 
 nothing to the general happiness, which is the infi- 
 nitely-benevolent plan of Heaven ; and, therefore, lie 
 deserves not its blessings. 
 
 ©Jap. vill. 
 
 OF CURIOSITY. 
 
 I. Tim. i. 4. — Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which 
 minister questions, rather than godly edifying, which is in faith. 
 
 Titus, iii. 9. — But avoid foolish questions and genealogies, and contentions 
 and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain. 
 
 Mark, iv. 11. — He answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to 
 know the mystery of the kingdom of God ; but unto them that are without, 
 all those things are done in parables ; — Ver. 12, — that seeing, they may see, 
 and not perceive, and hearing, they may hear, and not understand, lest at 
 any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 
 
 Acts, i. 7. — And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the 
 seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 
 
 Acts, ii. 7, 8, 11. — But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 
 hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world, unto our glory, which 
 none of the princes of this world knew ; for, had they known it, they would 
 not have crucified the Lord of Glory. For what man knoweth the things 
 of a man, save the spirit of man, which is within him ? even so the things 
 of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. 
 
 The whole of this quotation is not easily reconcile - 
 able with the law of reason and nature, though many 
 parts of it are consistent with this law, and appear 
 clearly to teach us what I have insisted on in many 
 parts of this work, — namely, that mankind, in ge- 
 neral, have nothing to do with the mysteries of reli- 
 gion. Indeed, I have doubted, and still doubt, of the 
 possibility even of the priests understanding myste- 
 ries, and unintelligible propositions and doctrines, 
 which are unfathomable by the laity : for, unless it 
 can be proved that priests are appointed by God,- — 
 that their understandings are illuminated by super- 
 
216 OF CURIOSITY. 
 
 natural light, and that their capacities are enlarged 
 in a miraculous way, — such knowledge is impossible. 
 But this miraculous inspiration even the priests 
 themselves do not pretend to. Hence I conceive 
 that, unless such divine communication can be proved, 
 priests in general can have no foundation for preten- 
 sions to knowledge and abilities above the laity. 
 We very well know that many of them, in all reli- 
 gions, before they are made priests, have no superior 
 rights or pretensions to be called to " minister in holy 
 things ;" unless their ignorance is to be deemed a 
 qualification, upon the principle of " God's choosing 
 the foolish things of this world to confound the wise," 
 —Cor. i. 27. 
 
 In several of the passages from the New Testament 
 now before us, the laity are forbid to pry into religious 
 mysteries, as being vain and unprofitable.* Indeed, 
 these passages agree very well with reason: for, if 
 the mysteries of religion are not to be understood, the 
 prying into them must be an idle way of spending 
 our time, and is only an useless or vain curiosity ; to 
 which we may add, what is worse, that some persons, 
 from an imaginary knowledge of hidden things, often 
 run into great errors. If the mysteries of religion are 
 out of the reach of human reason, the priests cannot 
 know any thing about them but by divine inspiration. 
 " The things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit 
 
 * Plutarch, who was a Heathen priest, in his discourse upon Cu- 
 riosity, forbids all to pry into the mysteries of religion : so similar 
 are Heathen, Jewish, and Christian priests, and so just is the ob- 
 servation, that u priests of all religions are the same;" viz — avari. 
 cious, ambitious, and selfish. 
 
OF CURIOSITY. 217 
 
 of God." Hence, it does not appear that their know- 
 ledge of these things can be of any use to mankind, 
 because they cannot teach them to others ; nor have 
 they given any proofs that this extraordinary gift (if 
 they possess it) hath produced any considerable effect 
 in their own lives and conversations, so far as to 
 render them such " burning and shining lights, that 
 men, seeing their good works, may follow their ex- 
 ample, to the glory of God." Nature does not, indeed, 
 furnish us with any reason why the laity, or " those 
 without," should be kept in ignorance of any thing 
 which concerns their present and future happiness ; 
 and, therefore, we naturally suppose that mysterious 
 and unintelligible propositions and doctrines cannot 
 concern the happiness of mankind, or be at all con- 
 nected with their duty to God and to one another ; 
 and, of course, that they caanot be any parts of ge- 
 nuine Christianity or of true religion. The reasons 
 which are given in St. Mark, why the generality of 
 mankind should be kept in ignorance, and why the 
 multitude were, in his time, addressed in parables, 
 are indeed very extraordinary and surprising \ viz - — 
 Mark, iv. 12. — " That seeing, they may see, and not 
 believe, and hearing, they may hear, and not under- 
 stand ; lest at any time they should be converted, 
 and their sins should be forgiven them." It is the 
 business of priests to reconcile this text with reason, 
 and with our ideas of God ; and, therefore, to them 
 I shall leave the task. 
 
 There is, indeed, a kind of curiosity which nature 
 forbids, upon that equitable principle of doing by 
 others as we would they should do by us; and this is, 
 
 Ee 
 
218 OF IDLENESS. 
 
 the prying into the secrets of our fellow-creatures,— 
 the mysteries of one another. These mysteries, being 
 natural, may be found out and understood, and af- 
 terwards an ill use may be made of the discovery: 
 therefore nature forbids such prying, not only as an 
 idle way of spending our precious time, but also as 
 doing an injury to our neighbour. 
 
 ©6ap. IX. 
 
 OF IDLENESS. 
 
 Acts, xx. 35.— I have shewed you all things, how that, so labouring, ye 
 ought to support the weak ; and to remember the word of the Lord Jesus, 
 how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. 
 
 Rom. xii. 11. — Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. 
 
 I. Thess. iv. 11. — And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own busi- 
 ness, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. 
 
 II. Thess. iii. 10. — For even when we were with you, this we commanded 
 you, that, if any would not work, neither should he eat. 
 
 Ephes. iv. C8. — Let him that stole, steal no more, but rather let him labour, 
 
 working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have to give to 
 
 bim that needeth. 
 I. Tim. v. 13.— And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from 
 
 house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy-bodies, 
 
 speaking things which they ought not. 
 
 Observe how well nature agrees with the New 
 Testament in recommending labour. 
 
 The earth will not now (as we are told it did before 
 the fall) bring forth corn, grass, and herbs, sufficient 
 to supply the wants of the creatures which inhabit it, 
 without the labour of man. 
 
 Moses represents God as saying to Adam, " In the 
 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." This Moses 
 saw was the lot of mankind in his days. 
 
 It was the language of nature then, and is so still. 
 
 3 
 
OF IDLENESS. 219 
 
 Without labour, we cannot eat ; that is, without the 
 labour of some ; and those who do not labour pay an 
 equivalent in its stead : so that labour is a tax on 
 mankind, which nature will not remit. None can 
 live honest, however rich, if they neglect their share 
 of the business of the world. 
 
 In this view, then, there can be nothing dishonour- 
 able in labour ; for nature prescribes nothing that is 
 so. Labour may, in general, be a mark of poverty ; 
 but it is not a mark of vice, of infamy, or dishonour, 
 unless ordained as a punishment for crimes : on the 
 contrary, in honest labour the very essence of industry 
 consists, and industry is a virtue. 
 
 Labour is strongly recommended in the New Tes- 
 tament, and nature recommends it, by generally 
 accompanying it with health, one of her greatest 
 blessings. 
 
 We have examples of some very eminent men, who 
 preferred labouring with their own hands, in the im- 
 provement of their paternal estates, to all the grandeur 
 of the Roman empire. But idleness is condemned by 
 nature, by Scripture, and by the opinion of mankind 
 in general. 
 
 Idleness is the mother of vice. The mind will 
 not be idle, whatever the body may be. The active 
 principle within will probably be forming schemes of 
 mischief. Seditions, tumults, and insurrections, are 
 very commonly the fruits of idleness among the com- 
 mon people. 
 
 The rich and great, as I said above, will often 
 eourt labour for health and amusement, as it generally 
 proves propitious and advantageous to its votaries. 
 
 Ee2 
 
220 OF TIME. 
 
 Labour procures necessaries for the poor, and prevents 
 sickness among the rich. Idleness, though adored 
 by numbers, was hardly ever known to make one 
 person happy. It is not only the parent of vice, but 
 lso of infamy, poverty, and disease ; whilst honest 
 labour is productive of health, a good name, and in- 
 dependence, — the three greatest blessings of life. 
 
 ©Sap. x» 
 
 OF TIME. 
 
 litJKE, xvii. 22. — And be said unto the disciples, The days will come when ye 
 shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and ye shall not see it. 
 
 Luke, xix. 42. — Saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
 day, the things wlridb belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from 
 thine eyes. 
 
 John, ix. 4. — I must work the works of him that sent me-, while it is day; 
 for the night cometh when no man can work. 
 
 II. Cor. vi. 2.— For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in 
 the day of salvation have I succoured thee : behold, now is the accepted 
 time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 
 
 Gal. vi. 10. — As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. 
 
 James, iv. 13. — Go to now, ye that say, to-day or to-morrow we will go into 
 such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain ; — 
 Ver. 14, — Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow : for what is 
 your life? It is even as a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then 
 vanisheth away. 
 
 I. Peter, i. 24. — For all fle3h is as grass, and all the glory of man as the 
 flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away: 
 but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. 
 
 Luke, xii. 19, 20. — And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods 
 laid up for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But 
 God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: 
 then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? 
 
 Here we see that the improvement of our time is a 
 duty much insisted on in the New Testament. Na- 
 ture also as strongly recommends it. The principal 
 
OF TIME. 221 
 
 argument for it, in both, is the shortness and uncer- 
 tainty of human life: to which may be added, that, 
 though life is short, yet our actions here will affect 
 our happiness in a future state. Such forcible and 
 cogent arguments, one would think, must have their 
 weight with every rational being. 
 
 This precarious, uncertain, moment will, we hope, 
 be succeeded by an eternal duration ; and hence, if 
 we are accountable creatures, or carry our inclina- 
 tions and habits with us into another state, the things 
 done in this short life will determine our fate in the 
 next. 
 
 What argument can be more forcible than this to 
 induce us to act with propriety, to make the best use 
 of our time, and to conform to the laws of nature and 
 reason, by being pious, just, charitable, and benevo- 
 lent ? These things God requires of us ; and, if these 
 duties are duly performed, death will never find us 
 unprepared: he will be disarmed of his sting; he 
 will not appear as a king of terrors, but as a mes- 
 senger of peace, directed to conduct our souls to 
 mansions of eternal felicity. If these duties are re- 
 gularly performed, in our expiring moments, when 
 all human aid fails, we shall be able to look back 
 with serenity and satisfaction on a well-spent life, 
 and with joy look forward to a better state of exist- 
 ence. 
 
 But, farther, the great uncertainty of our continu- 
 ance here is a very strong argument for setting im- 
 mediately about the performance of our duties. 
 
 There is no moment, but the present, which we 
 can call our own : the next may find us incapable of 
 
222 OF TIME. 
 
 acting properly, or even of acting at all in this 
 life. 
 
 Let not, then, the present precarious moment be 
 neglected. It may be our last. Let us crowd as 
 many virtues as we can into it ; and firmly resolve, 
 if heaven prolong our lives, still to act rightly, and 
 steadily and uniformly to discharge the duties of our 
 station. This conduct may prove of infinite import- 
 ance to us ; for God, who knows our hearts, will ac- 
 cept of such pious resolutions and endeavours, as 
 well as, in all probability, reward them with eternal 
 felicity ; even though we should be cut off imma- 
 turely, and in the bloom of life. 
 
 " Not length of life is measured by the year ; 
 His life is long whose virtues fill its sphere." 
 
 A Poem on the Death of Gen. Wolfe. 
 
 I cannot conclude this interesting subject without 
 once more recommending the setting early in life 
 about the great business of a future state. 
 
 In the affairs of this frail mortal life, wherever 
 study and application are required, we think youth 
 the best time for vigorous action, both of mind and 
 body. 
 
 A man who is determined to grow rich by any 
 employment, sets about it early in life, whilst his 
 powers and faculties are strong and active. Should 
 we do less for the treasures of heaven? for an eternal 
 weight of glory ? Should we spend the best of our 
 time in the pursuit of vanity, and dedicate to the in- 
 finitely important concerns of another world only the 
 dregs of life, when the pleasures of this world can 
 
CONCLUSION. 223 
 
 engage and entertain us no longer ? Surely nothing 
 can be more irrational than this, — nothing more 
 ungrateful to God, or pernicious and dangerous to 
 ourselves, f Remember thou your Creator in the 
 days of your youth." 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I have now gone through all the moral parts of the 
 New Testament : at least, I hope that I have not 
 omitted any material article. I think I have proved 
 that Christ and his apostles taught mankind the 
 religion of reason and nature; but probably I may 
 be called upon to give my reasons why I think the 
 other parts of this divine volume w r ere not likewise 
 taught by them. I acknowledge that my saying, it 
 is highly probable they were not, because things 
 natural and supernatural must always appear very 
 improper to be blended together, does not carry with 
 it sufficient conviction ; and therefore I shall give one 
 short reason why I think Christ did not teach, or 
 attempt to teach, what are called the mysteries of 
 the Christian religion, — namely, that they cannot be 
 taught. This may appear to be a bold assertion ; but 
 I submit it to the determination of my candid readers, 
 after they shall have seen what I have to say in sup- 
 port of my opinion. 
 
 To teach, implies, in the very idea of it, a power 
 of understanding what is taught: but that which 
 cannot be understood, cannot be taught : it is a ma- 
 
224 CONCLUSION. 
 
 nifest contradiction to suppose otherwise. Now the 
 mysterious parts of the New Testament are of such a 
 nature, that it is out of the reach of the human mind 
 to form any judgment about them ; and, of course, 
 such parts cannot be taught mankind, nor can they 
 concern or belong to human nature. Indeed, there 
 are some hints in the New Testament, (as I have 
 shewn under the article Curiosity,) which insinuate 
 that the priests only had the extraordinary privilege 
 of understanding mysteries ; and that the laity, or 
 " those without," had no knowledge of the art of in-* 
 terpreting them.* But, supposing this d c trine of 
 priestly sagacity to be true, it by no means proves 
 that the mysterious and unintelligible parts of the 
 New Testament are parts of the religion of Christ, 
 and delivered by him to his disciples. 
 
 The religion of Christ was, like the religion of 
 nature, intended for general and universal use : he 
 taught the poor as well as the rich, the unlearned as 
 well as the learned ; nay he, in a particular manner, 
 took pains to instruct the poor, the ignorant, and 
 unlearned ; and what he taught them, they were 
 certainly capable of understanding :+ it would be a 
 
 * The ancient Fathers, who pretended to the possession of mira- 
 culous powers, among other gifts, assumed to themselves the mira- 
 culous gift of interpreting the holy Scriptures. Now, if it require 
 a supernatural capacity or power to understand this revelation, how 
 can it be either a revelation or a guide? 
 
 f That the poor had the Gospel preached to them, Christ makes 
 a mark as well as business of his mission : and, if the poor had the 
 Gospel preached to them, it was, without doubt, such a Gospel as 
 the poor could understand, plain and intelligible. — Locke's Rea- 
 sonableness of Christianity. 
 
CONCLUSION. 225 
 
 reflection on his wisdom to think otherwise; and, 
 therefore, it appears clearly that he taught them only 
 the moral parts of the New Testament. I think I 
 might rest the whole on this single argument, it is 
 so clear and convincing : however, I shall examine 
 this matter farther. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hints above mentioned, I 
 cannot help believing that mysterious and superna- 
 tural doctrines are not to be understood, even by the 
 priests themselves ; and hence, of course, not to be 
 taught by them to others. 
 
 The very terms supernatural and super -rational 
 sufficiently prove, in themselves, that the nature and 
 reason of man can have nothing to do with them, nor 
 with any doctrines to which they properly relate. 
 
 Let us apply the term supernatural to precept, and 
 we shall immediately perceive the absurdity of it. A 
 supernatural precept to human nature is a manifest 
 contradiction in terms : and is a supernatural doc- 
 trine much better? It is necessary for us to have 
 ideas of a doctrine before we can believe it, as well 
 as to have ideas of a precept before we can reduce it 
 to practice. 
 
 If the faculties of a man must be stretched, en- 
 larged, and raised above human nature, before he 
 can understand supernatural doctrines, he then ceases 
 to be a human being, and becomes of some other 
 order of intelligence. So, on the other hand, if su- 
 pernatural matters are to be lowered, and brought 
 down to the level of human nature, in order to be 
 understood by mankind, they then cease to be super- 
 natural, and become natural matters. Now, as we 
 
 Ff 
 
226 CONCLUSION. 
 
 cannot conceive any other way how this is to be done, 
 it appears absolutely impossible for natural man to 
 understand supernatural things. 
 
 Bishop Butler says, " There are but two ways 
 imaginable of God's making any discoveries of him- 
 self, and the things of another world, to us : one is 
 by raising up our minds to them; the other, by 
 bringing them down to the level of our understand- 
 ings." 
 
 I own that persons may attempt to teach things 
 which are in their nature mysterious, supernatural, 
 and unintelligible: a man may attempt to teach 
 Diophantus's Algebra to a child only three years old ; 
 but his attempt would be ridiculous. Now, as our 
 capacities are no more equal to the mysterious parts 
 of Christianity than a child of three years old is to 
 Diophantus's Algebra, or indeed to universal know- 
 ledge, — so any attempt to teach mankind superna- 
 tural matters must be equally ridiculous ; and, 
 whatever the ivisdom of priests may have inclined 
 Hi em to do since, I may venture to say that Christ 
 and hits es never attempted any such thing. 
 
 They welt knew what could be understood and re- 
 duced to practice, and what could not ; and they 
 taught only those doctrines which were upon a level 
 with the meanest capacity. I own that something 
 besides morality might be taught, and be made a part 
 of religion. Ceremonies were a very material part 
 of the religion of the Jews : these Moses taught 
 them for some good reason, I doubt not; and what he 
 mixed with these was pure civil morality, abstract 
 from mystery: but I believe there never was any 
 
CONCLUSION. 227 
 
 law-giver, so wise as Moses, who ever attempted to 
 teach mankind what their capacities were not formed 
 to understand. 
 
 To suppose supernatural doctrines to be binding 
 on human nature, or capable of influencing the con- 
 duct of mankind ; or that the belief of them should 
 be required, as necessary to salvation ; is as great a 
 contradiction to common sense as to suppose that a 
 man should be required to act the part of an angel, 
 and to practise the duties of superior intelligences. 
 Their duties, like ours, doubtless are founded in the 
 relations they stand in to God and to one another ; 
 and God requires of them, as well as of us, according 
 to these relations, and the powers of perception and 
 action with which he has endowed them, and no 
 more. Every creature which God hath made, from 
 the lowest to the highest, is necessitated to move in 
 its own sphere, and cannot act any farther than its 
 own nature admits. Whatever, therefore, man may 
 do, — whatever any church, or any human arbitrary 
 power, may do, — we may be assured that God will 
 not require of his creatures impossibilities ; or, in 
 other words, the belief or practice of any thing above 
 the reach of their faculties. 
 
 As a farther proof of what I have advanced above, 
 I shall bring to my aid some arguments taken from a 
 celebrated writer, the rational Bishop of Gloucester, 
 to be found in a treatise of his lately published, and 
 entitled The Doctrine of Grace, &c. But here I 
 would not be understood to insinuate that the learned 
 Dr. Warburton's opinion and mine are alike on this 
 
 Ff2 
 
228 CONCLUSION. 
 
 subject : no, on the contrary, he endeavours to 
 explode the notion of Christ's being a republisher of 
 the religion of nature ; and in this very treatise, page 
 251, he says, " What better suits the melancholy 
 subject we are upon, (namely, the advantages given 
 to the common enemy by those who, to get rid of 
 some urgent difficulty, are apt to forsake their foun- 
 dations,) will be to show the various and unthought-of 
 mischiefs which arise from the folly of attempting to 
 change the nature of the Gospel economy from a 
 redemption of mankind to a republication of the re- 
 ligion of nature." And in the same page the Bishop 
 says, " The doctrine of redemption is the primiim 
 mobile of the Gospel system. To this the church 
 must steadily adhere, let the storm against it beat 
 from what quarter it may." 
 
 Here you see that we differ widely, and that I fall 
 under the severe censure of the bishop, entailed on all 
 those who teach that Christ was a republisher of the 
 law of nature ; a doctrine which the bishop under- 
 took to shew to be fraught with " various and un- 
 thought-of mischiefs." It is, indeed, amazing that 
 such a variety of mischiefs should be unthought of 
 among the variety of rational Christians who have 
 believed this doctrine, of Christ's being a republisher 
 of the religion of nature; and that, notwithstanding 
 what the Bishop has said or shewn concerning this 
 matter, numbers yet believe that, had this been al- 
 ways the general opinion, fewer and a less variety of 
 mischiefs would, if we may believe Mr. Bayle, have 
 arisen from it, than from the doctrines of the fall, 
 
CONCLUSION. 229 
 
 original sin, the incarnation, redemption, the Trinity, 
 and the like.* 
 
 The Religion of Christ proved to be the Religion of 
 Nature, by the Bishop's own Arguments* 
 
 I say, that, though the arguments which I shall 
 borrow from the Bishop were by no means intended 
 by him to prove what I think they will fairly prove, — 
 namely, that the religion of Christ was the religion 
 of nature, — yet, consistent with his rationality and 
 the dictates of his heart, he could give to reason and 
 nature no less than he has done ; nor, consistent with 
 his office as a bishop of the Protestant church of 
 England, could he give more. The great difficulty 
 lies in keeping a just mean, which he himself says 
 " reason biddeth," and which he recommends to the 
 established clergy. 
 
 This great writer and rational divine, in the course 
 of the tract above mentioned, ascribes to reason all 
 that its strongest advocates can desire, unless it be 
 that it is sufficient of itself to guide us in the road 
 to future happiness : this, indeed, he does not allow ; 
 but, on the contrary, he insinuates that something 
 must be left for the holy Spirit to accomplish, which 
 cannot be done but by its miraculous interposition. 
 
 * The fall, original sin, election, reprobation, sufficient grace, 
 incarnation, redemption, the Trinity, &c. which are the funda- 
 mental and capital doctrines of Christianity, and (properly speak- 
 ing) the Christian religion, are all inexplicable by reason, contrary 
 to it, inconsistent with it, or at least incomprehensible, and above 
 the reach of our faculties. — See Bayle's Exp. of Manichees, 
 p. 64. 
 
230 CONCLUSION. 
 
 This, no doubt, is extremely necessary, upon the 
 Christian scheme of redemption, from the great 
 corruption of our nature, and the forfeiture of im- 
 mortality by the fall of Adam. But the advocates for 
 the pure religion of nature do not believe that every 
 human being could be corrupted in consequence of a 
 crime committed by the first man ; and, therefore, 
 any arguments drawn from this supposed event will 
 have no weight with those whom we style unbelievers. 
 They cannot, by their reason, discover why the sins 
 of the father should be punished in the children : on 
 the contrary, it appears to them unnatural, unrea- 
 sonable, and opposite to all the principles of common 
 justice, if considered with regard to God. It is, 
 indeed, impossible for human governors to punish a 
 father without punishing his children, in reputation, 
 fortune, and the like ; but the divine Governor is un- 
 der no such necessity. 
 
 If the consequence of Adam's transgression was to 
 be so very fatal to his posterity, one would suppose 
 that God would have forewarned him of it, and in- 
 formed him of the extent of his punishment. In 
 Genesis, i. 17, we are told that God said to Adam, 
 " For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt 
 surely die." Death appears to be the only punish- 
 ment that Adam was threatened with, if he disobeyed 
 the divine command ; nor do we find that he was 
 ever informed that millions and millions of his pos- 
 terity were also to forfeit life and immortality with 
 him, by partaking of his crime. Such knowledge of 
 the extent of his punishment might, perhaps, have 
 operated more forcibly on his mind than the dread of 
 
 2 
 
CONCLUSION. 231 
 
 his own immediate suffering : yet, upon the Scrip- 
 ture plan, we cannot suppose that this knowledge 
 would have been a sufficient restraint upon him, or 
 that any thing could have prevented his fall ; for God 
 foreknew that he would fall, and had provided the 
 remedy. Now, as I have observed once before in 
 this work, whatever God knows will happen, no 
 power in earth or heaven can prevent ; for it is a 
 manifest contradiction to say, God foreknows a thing 
 will come to pass, which may not come to pass. 
 But, to sum up this argument in few words,— the 
 punishment of the whole race of mankind for the 
 crime of one man appears contrary to all our ideas of 
 infinite perfection, and therefore by many is not be- 
 lieved : yet this is the foundation upon which all the 
 mysterious and unintelligible doctrines of the New 
 Testament are erected ; the rest being pure morality, 
 — that is, the religion of nature. 
 
 But let us examine this scheme farther, to see if 
 our reason can comprehend it. — Adam disobeyed the 
 command of God ; in consequence of Avhich he, from 
 an immortal being, was rendered mortal, and of 
 course could beget none but mortals : therefore, all 
 his posterity w r ould have had no existence after this 
 life, if Christ had not offered himself a sacrifice to 
 an offended God for the sins of Adam. God ac- 
 cepted the sacrifice of this innocent person as a full 
 atonement for the consequences of Adam's sin ; and 
 hence mankind were restored to that life and immor- 
 tality which they had lost by his transgression. 
 
 The death of Christ, says the bishop, was sufficient 
 to restore life and immortality to mankind : " for he 
 
232 CONCLUSION, 
 
 himself became their sanctification and redemption, 
 which were the first and primary end of Christ's 
 mission. To instruct the world in wisdom and 
 righteousness was the second. The first could not 
 possibly be frustrated, or rendered ineffectual ;" (see 
 page 257 of the Bishop's Doctrine of Grace ;) " but 
 the second depends on ourselves, jointly with the 
 operations of the holy Spirit, (page 2,) who is an- 
 other divine person descending from heaven on the 
 part of man" (as Christ had done before on the part 
 of God), " to sanctify man to redemption." The 
 bishop goes on thus, in page 2, "* An atonement, 
 therefore, for the offended majesty of the Father was 
 first to be procured ; and this was the work of the Son : 
 and then a remedy was to be provided for that helpless 
 condition of man which hindered the atonement from 
 producing its effect ; and this was the office of the 
 holy Spirit : so that both were joint workers in the 
 great business of reconciling God to man." This, 
 according to the learned bishop, is the foundation, the 
 primiim mobile of the Gospel system ; and he farther 
 says, " and this account of the economy of grace is 
 entirely consonant to our most approved conceptions 
 of the divine nature, and of the human condition." 
 (Page 2.) From this passage it seems as if the bishop 
 thought that human reason could fully comprehend 
 his plan, and that it is agreeable to our most approved 
 conceptions of the divine Being. However, here I 
 must beg leave to differ from him ; because, to me, 
 there does not seem to be, either in reason and nature, 
 or in our ideas of infinite perfection, any possibility of 
 such an economy. For my part, I can truly aver 
 
CONCLUSION. 233 
 
 that I have made use of the faculties which God hath 
 given me, in a candid and impartial inquiry concern- 
 ing this doctrine of the fall of man, and the economy 
 of grace consequent thereon : but, notwithstanding 
 this, I still find that I cannot form any clear ideas or 
 conceptions of it ; nor can I fathom it by the line of 
 my understanding: — it is so deep that I cannot 
 search it out, or it is so high that I cannot attain unto 
 it. However, I console myself with this thought, — 
 that, as I cannot understand those things, they are 
 not relative to my duty ; and that a God of infinite 
 goodness and compassion will not require of me the 
 belief of any thing about which he has not enabled me 
 to form any clear ideas or conceptions. 
 
 However, the bishop affects to comprehend this 
 great mystery very clearly, and to perceive it to be 
 " consonant to our most approved conceptions of the 
 divine Being." If so, it must be from the illumina- 
 tions of the Spirit ; agreeable to what St. Mark says, 
 ch. iv. 11, " Unto you it is given to know the mys- 
 tery of the kingdom of God ; but unto them that are 
 without, all these things are done in parables." If 
 the understandings of bishops are, as those of the 
 apostles were, enlightened by the holy Spirit, and if 
 they have the knowledge of mystery communicated 
 to them, while the laity (or those without) are kept 
 in the dark, — then the wonder ceases. But, suppos- 
 ing this to be the case, yet those mysterious and su- 
 pernatural doctrines cannot be a part of the religion 
 of any but of those whose understandings are thus 
 enlightened; for, according to Bishop Butler, they 
 cannot be communicated to others, 
 
 Gg 
 
234 CONCLUSION. 
 
 He says, speaking of supernatural impressions, — 
 " But this we may be positive in, that, if a man did 
 himself receive any such immediate impressions, it 
 would be such a light within him as could never be 
 seen by others ; he could have no way of communi- 
 cating them to any one else." Now, I say, if this be 
 the case, — if these things are not to be understood by 
 any but the priests, or those within, and that even 
 they could not attain the knowledge of the mysteries 
 of the kingdom of God without the miraculous in- 
 terposition of the holy Spirit, and, after all, that they 
 cannot communicate them to others, — it remains 
 clear that human reason can have nothing to do in 
 these matters. Hence it becomes a wonder that the 
 learned and rational Bishop of Gloucester, as well as 
 many others, should attempt to reconcile things to 
 human reason, which are confessedly out of its reach. 
 
 This has occasioned some of the greatest Christian 
 theologists frequently to contradict themselves, and 
 to write in such a manner as hardly to be understood : 
 and hence, those among them who would willingly 
 own the force, the power, the divinity of reason, la- 
 bour under the greatest difficulties, because they are 
 obliged to afford to reason in one place what they 
 would willingly refuse to her in another. 
 
 The doctrine of the fall of man, and its conse- 
 quences, are the foundation of all the difficulties in 
 the New Testament. The moral parts of it are easily 
 understood, and will hardly admit of a dispute. 
 These have for their foundation the religion of nature, 
 the only proper foundation of any true and rational 
 religion. The good bishop himself is kind enough 
 
 
CONCLUSION. 235 
 
 to own that the religion of nature is the necessary 
 foundation of revealed religion. Hear this great 
 writer in page 217 of his Doctrine of Grace, &c. 
 where, giving advice to the clergy, he says, " They 
 ought to explain how necessary a foundation natural 
 religion is to the revealed ; how it coincides with it, 
 is completed by it, and so inseparably annexed to it 
 as the foundation to its superstructure." In page 
 220, he says, " To ask whether Christianity was 
 founded in reason or in faith, would be deemed just 
 as wise a question as whether St. Paul's clock was 
 founded in mechanism or in motion. 1 ' And in the 
 same page he says, " And now revelation, deprived 
 of its foundation, natural religion, and of its best 
 defence and ornament, human reason, lies a scorn to 
 unbelievers, and a prey to fanatics and enthusiasts" 
 
 Here we see, according to this great writer, that 
 the religion of nature is the foundation of the religion 
 of Christ, and that human reason is its best defence 
 and ornament; and a sure foundation it is of the 
 moral parts of the New Testament : — but how the 
 religion of nature can be the foundation of the doc- 
 trines of original sin, redemption, justification, in- 
 carnation, the Trinity, and the like, I should be glad 
 if the good bishop would endeavour to explain ; for, 
 until he does this, what he has said above will remain 
 a tacit confession that only the morality of the New 
 Testament was the religion of Christ. 
 
 In the mean time, his argument certainly tends to 
 prove, that if natural religion is the necessary foun- 
 dation of the revealed, then nothing can be a part of 
 revealed religion which does not lie within the reach 
 
 Gg2 
 
236 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of our natural and rational faculties. Whether 
 Christianity be thus founded in reason, he deems it 
 impertinent to question; but he admits that, deprived 
 of this foundation, ornament, and defence, it would 
 be a scorn to unbelievers. Surely all this, if true, 
 will nearly amount to a proof that nothing can be a 
 part of true religion, or of the religion essential to 
 man, but what may be understood by the reason of 
 man ; and that no propositions or doctrines can be 
 founded in reason about which reason cannot form 
 any conceptions. I am obliged to this great author 
 for these rational arguments. — However, we shall 
 find others in the same work rather more to our pre- 
 sent purpose. 
 
 In the 17th page of the tract before us, the bishop 
 makes use of the words of St. Paul, I. Cor. xii. 1, &c. 
 — " Concerning spiritual gifts, I would not have you 
 ignorant. Now there are diversity of gifts, but the 
 same spirit. To one is given, by the spirit, the word 
 of wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge, by the 
 same spirit," &c. In the following page, the bishop 
 remarks on these texts, and says, " The first he 
 mentions is the word of wisdom, by which, I think, 
 we must understand all the great principles of natural 
 religion ; and the word of knowledge evidently means 
 all the great principles of the revealed." Here we 
 see that natural religion is mentioned first, as a 
 foundation for the revealed; that it is called the 
 word of wisdom ; and that it is a gift of the same 
 spirit which formed the superstructure, or the word 
 of knowledge. — Now can it be supposed that the 
 second gift of the same spirit should differ so widely 
 
CONCLUSION. 237 
 
 from the first, as that no conception can be formed 
 about it? or that reason should be a proper founda- 
 tion for any thing out of the reach of our reasoning- 
 faculties. 
 
 But, in page 115, this rational bishop comes still 
 nearer our mark, when he says, " This wisdom from 
 above, of which the apostle so highly predicates, is, 
 we see, the same as wisdom revealed immediately 
 from heaven ; but, descending to man, is adapted 
 to the capacity of his powers. So that heavenly and 
 earthly wisdom have this in common — to be commu- 
 nicable, — that is, to be understood ; for to commu- 
 nicate nonsense, which is a nothing, is no communi- 
 cation." Here we learn that the wisdom from above, 
 when descended to man, is adapted to the capacity 
 of his powers, and that it is communicable, or to be 
 understood by human reason. Also, that any thing 
 which cannot be understood cannot be communi- 
 cated ; and, therefore, cannot be a part of the religion 
 of man, or of the wisdom from above. 
 
 Reason to be consulted in Religious Matters, 
 
 As a farther proof of this, the bishop says, in page 
 122, " For, when reason is no longer employed to 
 distinguish between right and wrong in opinions, 
 religion hath no farther connexion with it." And in 
 page 221 he says, " But surely none but a buffoon 
 or a fanatic would, for his credit in jest, or for his 
 interest in good earnest, discard the use of reason in 
 consulting for his future happiness, when he has 
 already found it so useful in procuring his present. 
 Both the future and the present are acquired by the 
 
 4 
 
238 CONCLUSION. 
 
 right adoption of means to ends; and this adoption, 
 I suppose, will be confessed by all to be in the sole 
 province of reason. Nor has this heaven-appointed 
 guide ever given any just cause of complaint or jea- 
 lousy." Here we are told— first, that when reason is 
 no longer employed to distinguish between right and 
 wrong opinion, religion hath no farther connexion 
 with it. Now reason cannot be employed in myste- 
 ries or supernatural matters ; and, therefore, these 
 cannot be any part of true religion. 
 
 Secondly, we are told that none but a buffoon or a 
 fanatic would discard the use of reason in religion. 
 The religion, then, must be such as reason can com- 
 prehend, otherwise it does not lie within its province; 
 nor can reason concern or employ itself about it, but 
 must of course be discarded, as a thing of no use in a 
 religion compounded and consisting of Unintelligible, 
 super-natural, and super -rational, propositions and 
 doctrines. All such propositions and doctrines must 
 be discarded, as being no parts of true religion ; or 
 reason must be discarded, as having no business 
 with them. 
 
 But farther, and to prove that reason hath much to 
 do with every part of true religion, I take the bishop's 
 words in page 128, where he says, " On the whole, 
 therefore, that wisdom which divests the Christian 
 faith of its truth, and the test of this truth, Reason, 
 can never be the wisdom which is from above." 
 Here reason is made the test of religious truth. Now 
 can reason be the test of the truth of any proposition 
 or doctrine that is above the reach of its faculties l . 
 Surely no. Every proposition and doctrine must be 
 
CONCLUSION. 239 
 
 understood, before reason can be the test of its truth, 
 or form any judgment concerning it. The good 
 bishop says, as above, that reason is the heaven- 
 appointed guide. Now can reason be our guide in 
 things above the reach of our reasoning faculties? 
 Surely no. The road is always supposed to be known 
 by the guide ; otherwise he becomes a blind guide : 
 and certainly such an one heaven would never ap- 
 point. Reason must be a blind guide, when em- 
 ployed about the doctrines of original sin, irresistible 
 grace, justifying faith, and the like; because these 
 matters lie not within the province of reason. 
 
 The good bishop himself seems to agree, in page 
 198 of his tract, that, to make use of " blind scho- 
 lastic disputation on original sin, irresistible grace, 
 justifying faith, &c. would be running the hazard of 
 confounding both the reader and himself." This is 
 coming to the point. The subjects here mentioned 
 will not admit of fair and candid reasoning. Reason 
 cannot here be our guide, because the road is un- 
 known to it ; and therefore, in its stead, blind scho- 
 lastic disputations are generally substituted by writers 
 on these subjects ; by which means they confound 
 both themselves and their readers. 
 
 I shall borrow one passage more from this rational 
 bishop's book. — In page 126, he says, " In the first 
 propagation of religion, God began with the under- 
 standing ; and rational conviction won the heart."* 
 This could not be done by any thing above the reach 
 
 * The bishop has here strangely forgot his having said, in p. 72, 
 that " this sudden conversion of the first Christians could not be the 
 effect of mere rational conviction." 
 
240 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of our faculties ; nor can it be said of any thing but 
 
 MORALITY. 
 
 Nothing can be Religion, which we cannot 
 understand. 
 
 Put the whole of this celebrated writer's arguments 
 together, and I think they will prove, better than any 
 of my own, that nothing can be of the essence of true 
 religion except things about which the human mind 
 is able to form rational and clear ideas : that nothing 
 can be required of a man, relative to his belief or 
 practice, but what, by a due use of his faculties, he 
 may clearly understand : and that God will never re- 
 quire of reasonable beings an unreasonable service ; 
 which he would do, if he required either the belief or 
 practice of what they cannot understand. 
 
 We cannot suppose that Christ would attempt to 
 teach mankind wisdom which was incommunicable ; 
 since this implies a contradiction, and would be ex- 
 actly what the bishop says of nonsense, " a commu- 
 nication of nothing, or no communication at all." 
 
 If the wisdom descending from above to man is 
 adapted to the capacity of his powers and the extent 
 of his faculties, and is therefore communicable, — that 
 wisdom cannot be from above which is not adapted 
 to the powers and faculties of man, and therefore is 
 not communicable. 
 
 I am willing to rest all on this argument of the 
 bishop's, and desire no better to prove that the reli- 
 gion taught by Christ was a religion adapted to the 
 capacities and powers of mankind, — or, in other 
 words, that it was the pure religion of reason and 
 
CONCLUSION. 241 
 
 nature: for no other can be thus adapted; no other 
 can be communicated, because no other can be un- 
 derstood. 
 
 Though this celebrated writer is so great an enemy 
 to the opinion that Christ was a republisher of the 
 law of nature, yet he certainly allows that all the 
 moral precepts and doctrines of the New Testament 
 are nothing but a transcript of that law. The dif- 
 ference between us lies in this only ; viz. — the bishop 
 believes that all the other parts of the New Testament, 
 all the mystery of original sin, redemption, irresist- 
 ible grace, and the like, are also parts of the religion 
 of Christ, as well as the moral doctrines ; notwith- 
 standing he owns that those mysterious doctrines are 
 not adapted to the capacity of the powers of man, and 
 therefore not to be understood or communicated, and 
 of course have not his own mark of being the wisdom 
 from above : whereas, I restrain the religion of Christ 
 to the moral and intelligible parts. 
 
 Indeed, by what this great writer says in his Pre- 
 face, one might be led to imagine he thought it fit 
 that the generality of mankind should be kept in the 
 dark, and that the Author of our beings had left us 
 thus benighted : for he says (page 17 of his Preface), 
 " But they, who talk thus, do not sufficiently reflect 
 on the condition of our weak and purblind nature, 
 which can ill bear the bright and unshaded light of 
 truth." This looks as if he thought the Author of 
 our beings had left us in the dark, and had formed 
 our nature so weak and purblind, that it could but ill 
 bear the light of truth. 
 
 Many reflections might be made on tins passage ; 
 
 Hh 
 
242 CONCLUSION. 
 
 but I shall omit them, because I cannot help believ- 
 ing (notwithstanding what is said above) that the 
 good Bishop of Gloucester is a friend to truth, and 
 that, though these things have slipped from him, yet 
 he can hardly suppose that a God of infinite goodness, 
 the God of truth, would leave his creatures in so 
 wretched a state as he also intimates they were left, 
 in the following page of his Preface, where he says, 
 " The pure and unabated splendour of truth, ushered 
 in by wisdom, would have only added to their ju- 
 dicial blindness." I wish this was not a reflection on 
 the God of nature ; and I am sorry to find, in the 
 writings of a Protestant bishop, arguments which 
 would better suit a priest of that church whose dis- 
 tinguishing characteristic is the keeping her members 
 in the dark, and preventing them from viewing the 
 bright and unshaded light of truth. 
 
 I did not intend to make any farther use of the 
 bishop's arguments ; but I shall, however, mention 
 one thing greatly to his honour, viz. — that he no 
 where, in this work, appears to want that charity 
 which is the greatest of all the Christian as well as 
 natural virtues. I do not see that he any where 
 makes the salvation of man to depend on his belief of 
 the above-mentioned supernatural doctrines. In this 
 he differs widely from many who have written in fa- 
 vour of the Christian system ; and particularly from 
 the great Mr. Locke,* of whom I shall soon have 
 
 * Mr. Locke maintains that the belief of Jesus's being the Mes- 
 siah is necessary to the salvation of all those who have lived within 
 the reach of the Gospel. See his Reasonableness of Christianity, 
 &c. 
 
CONCLUSION. 243 
 
 occasion to speak farther. The rational Bishop of 
 Gloucester does not appear to make such belief ne- 
 cessary to our being partakers of the benefit of 
 Christ's redemption ; for he says, page 257, " If 
 Jesus did indeed redeem mankind, then did he nei- 
 ther preach nor die in vain ; it not being in man's 
 power, with all his malice and perverseness, to defeat 
 or make void the purpose of his coming." And again 
 he says, " For the sanctification and redemption of 
 the world, man could not frustrate nor render inef- 
 fectual ; for it is not in man's power to make that to 
 be undone which is once done and perfected." Here 
 seems to be nothing required of man, either in belief 
 or practice, to entitle him to the immortality pro- 
 cured for him by the death of Christ ; but he must 
 partake of it, whether he will or no. 
 
 Nothing then remains to make that immortality 
 happy, but the steady and uniform discharge of the 
 duties which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to 
 our fellow-creatures. These nature certainly teaches 
 us ; and, as free agents, we ourselves ought to per- 
 form them. We should do it with care, assiduity, 
 and holy fear, and in this manner work out our own 
 salvation ; not waiting for any miraculous operation 
 of the holy Spirit " to efface our evil habits, and to 
 familiarize us to the practice of virtue and piety." — 
 P. 68 of the same tract, 
 
 I hope that, by the help of this good bishop, I 
 have now said enough to justify my opinion, that the 
 religion taught by Christ was the religion of reason 
 and nature; that none but the moral doctrines of 
 the New Testament are capable of being taught to 
 
 *h2 
 
244 CONCLUSION. 
 
 mankind; and, therefore, that it does not concern 
 us to inquire how, or in what manner, the other 
 doctrines were introduced, became a part of the 
 same book, and were blended with Christ's original 
 system. 
 
 We will now leave the good Bishop of Gloucester, 
 and try the doctrine of mysteries by the rule of St. 
 Paul, who says, in his second Epistle to Timothy, 
 verse 16, — " All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
 correction, for instruction in righteousness." 
 
 By all scripture, w r e are not to understand St. Paul 
 to mean all the writings contained in the Old and 
 New Testament ; because they do not all carry in 
 them the marks of divine inspiration, and " consti- 
 tute a religious rule, perfect in its direction, for the 
 conduct of human life," (Bp. Glouc. p. 29,) or answer 
 the purposes of instruction. The supernatural and 
 mysterious parts of these writings cannot do this, as 
 I hope hath already been made to appear ; and there- 
 fore cannot be supposed to be given by inspiration of 
 God, who does nothing in vain. Some think this 
 text should be rendered, " All Scripture which is 
 given by inspiration of God, &c." because no one 
 could have objected to it if it had been thus worded. 
 
 The moral parts of the New Testament have all 
 the marks of a religion coming from God, and con- 
 stitute a religious rule, perfect in its direction, for 
 the conduct of human life, as'to belief and practice." 
 This is the very essence of the religion of nature ; by 
 which we are taught to believe the being and attri- 
 butes of the one true God, and to practise all the 
 
CONCLUSION. 245 
 
 duties which arise out of the relations we stand in to 
 him and to one another. In short, this is all, about 
 which it appears that we have any concern. 
 
 Remarks on Mr. Locke. 
 
 In a foregoing note (p. 242) it is observed, that 
 Mr. Locke maintains the belief of Jesus's being the 
 Messiah to be necessary to the salvation of all those 
 who have heard the Gospel : now as there are many 
 honest well-meaning persons who live within the 
 sound of the Gospel, and yet cannot thus believe, this 
 proposition of Mr. Locke's appears harsh and uncha- 
 ritable. But, to prove the difficulty of reasoning 
 clearly and intelligibly on the mysterious parts of the 
 New Testament, I shall make a few observations on 
 this celebrated author's tract, entitled "The Rea- 
 sonableness of Christianity," &c. and endeavour to 
 shew how far this acknowledged master of reasoning 
 differs from the good Bishop of Gloucester, as well as 
 from himself. 
 
 It has been said of Lord Bolingbroke, that he never 
 wrote so ill as when he wrote about religion ; and 
 the same may, I think, be said with full as much 
 propriety of the great Mr. Locke. These instances, 
 with many others which might be produced, will 
 serve to prove that the mysteries of religion are not 
 to be reasoned upon ; and that even so great a genius 
 as Mr. Locke was lost and bewildered when he made 
 attempts of that kind. Read but the tract just now 
 mentioned, and you will immediately perceive this 
 truth to be confirmed by the many inconsistencies 
 2 
 
246 CONCLUSION. 
 
 he has there advanced. I shall just touch on some 
 of them, as they relate to my present subject of be- 
 lieving or disbelieving. 
 
 His Plan of Christianity. 
 
 This great writer sets out with saying, that the 
 doctrine of redemption, and consequently of the Gos- 
 pel, is founded on the supposition of Adam's fall ; 
 and that the life and immortality which we lost by 
 Adam were restored to us by Jesus Christ. But, to 
 avoid being tedious, we will take Mr. Locke's plan 
 as summed up by himself, and inquire into the 
 reasonableness of it. I say his plan of Christianity, 
 because it differs much from that of many eminent 
 Christian writers, and particularly from that of the 
 good Bishop of Gloucester, who asserts, " that it is 
 not in the power of man, with all his malice and per- 
 verseness, to defeat or make void the purpose of 
 Christ's coming." On the contrary, Mr. Locke says, 
 " that nothing but the belief of Jesus's being the 
 Messiah will entitle us to life and immortality." 
 
 "Who shall decide when doctors disagree?" — 
 But to proceed. 
 
 In the 13th page of this celebrated tract, Mr. 
 Locke says, " Those who have lived in an exact 
 conformity to the law of God are out of the reach of 
 death; but an exclusion from paradise, and loss of 
 immortality, is the portion of sinners, — of all those 
 who have any way broke that law, and failed of a 
 complete obedience to it, by the guilt of any one 
 transgression." And in page 22 he says, " But 
 Christian believers have the privilege to be under the 
 
CONCLUSION. 247 
 
 law of faith too ; which is that law whereby God 
 justifies a man for believing, though, by his works, 
 he be not just or righteous, — that is, though he 
 comes short of perfect obedience to the law of 
 works." 
 
 From these expressions, and from the general tenor 
 of his book, the two following propositions appear to 
 be laid down : 
 
 First, that God required of man a full, perfect, 
 and sinless, obedience to the law of nature ; and that 
 the least omission, slip, or failure, was punishable 
 with eternal death or annihilation. 
 
 Secondly, that God was so kind to the posterity of 
 Adam, upon his failure, as to establish another law, 
 called the lata of faith, wherein the belief of Jesus's 
 being the Messiah, or Son of God, in a peculiar and 
 distinguished sense, was accepted instead of perfect 
 obedience to the law of works. 
 
 If any of Mr. Locke's admirers should doubt (as 
 probably some of them may) that such propositions 
 as these are laid down by this great master of reason, 
 I entreat them to read the tract here spoken of. But 
 whether these propositions are founded in reason and 
 nature, or in rational and natural ideas of infinite 
 perfection, will next be our business to inquire. Let 
 me ask, then, 
 
 Is it reasonable to suppose, that a God of infinite 
 goodness and mercy would require of his frail imper- 
 fect creature, man, a full, complete, perfect, and sin- 
 less, obedience to his laws ; or that he would punish 
 the least breach of them with eternal death? — Surely 
 there is something horrid in the supposition, and 
 
248 CONCLUSION. 
 
 which appears to be inconsistent with all our rational 
 ideas of infinite perfection. 
 
 I allow that Mr. Locke has produced various texts 
 of Scripture to support his plan ; and he might have 
 added that command of Christ, " Be ye perfect, as 
 your heavenly Father is perfect." But surely nothing 
 can be more absurd than the taking such passages as 
 these in a literal sense ; and I believe commentators 
 agree that this command can mean no more than that 
 we should, as far as we are able, or as far as is 
 consistent with our imperfect state, imitate God in 
 all his inimitable perfections. I own that, the more 
 perfect the example is, the more worthy it is of our 
 endeavours to imitate it, and the more useful it may 
 be to us : but, as man must ever be conscious that he 
 cannot attain perfection, and that, after all his en- 
 deavours, he must still fall infinitely short of it, a 
 command enforcing perfection would be so far from 
 proving an encouragement to him, that it would 
 create in him gloomy despair > whose natural offspring 
 is sloth. 
 
 Mr. Locke seems clearly to have foreseen these 
 objections ; and therefore he says, page 14, " Perhaps 
 it will be demanded, why did God give so hard a 
 law to mankind, that, to the apostles' time, no one of 
 Adam's issue had kept it?" 
 
 It indeed appears that a law, which had not been 
 kept by even a single one, through all the successive 
 generations of mankind from Adam to the days of the 
 apostles, must be extremely hard, and carry in it 
 something very unsuitable to the nature and consti- 
 tution of the human species. It seems nearly to imply 
 
CONCLUSION. 249 
 
 an impossibility that any of them could keep it ; nay, 
 St. Paul says, " By the deeds of the law no man can 
 be justified." — How then can it be supposed that 
 God would give such a law to his imperfect creature, 
 man, when he so well knew his frame, and the extent 
 of his faculties and powers ; nay, when he foreknew, 
 if it was possible to be known, that no man ever 
 would or could keep it? — Such a supposition appears 
 to me to be absurd. 
 
 But let us now examine Mr. Locke's answer to his 
 own very natural query. " It was," says he, p. 14, 
 " such a law as the purity of God's nature required, 
 and must be the law of such a creature as man ; un- 
 less God would have made him a rational creature, 
 and not required him to have lived by the law of 
 reason, but would have countenanced in him irregu- 
 larity and disobedience to that light which he had, 
 and that rule which was suitable to his nature; 
 which would have been to have authorised disorder, 
 confusion, and wickedness, in his creatures. For 
 that this law was the law of reason, — or, as it is 
 called, of nature, — we shall see by and by : and, if 
 rational creatures will not live up to the rule of their 
 reason, who* shall excuse them?" 
 
 I wish that this eminent writer had not proposed 
 the question, unless he had given us a more satisfac- 
 tory answer. 
 
 Let me ask, in my turn, If the perfection of God's 
 
 * I think we may venture to affirm, that God will certainly ex- 
 cuse them, if they, in the general course of their lives, act agree- 
 ably to this law, and if they sincerely repent and amend when they 
 have deviated from it. 
 
 i i 
 
250 CONCLUSION. 
 
 nature is a reason why He should require perfection 
 in any other being : because He is himself infinitely 
 pure, must he require perfect purity of such a crea- 
 ture as man? — Surely such reasoning is unworthy 
 the great Mr. Locke! But he goes on, and says, 
 " That this law was the law of reason, — or, as it is 
 called, of nature, — and must be the law of such a 
 creature as man," &c. 
 
 I agree with Mr. Locke, that the law of reason, or 
 nature, must be the law of such a creature as man, 
 and that no other law can so well suit a rational 
 being. The faculty of reason, which God hath im- 
 planted in the human mind, is doubtless, if duly 
 attended to, sufficient to answer all the kind purposes 
 of his creation; that is to say, it is sufficient to lead 
 us on in the road to happiness : but the excellence of 
 this law is no proof that our heavenly Father would 
 have punished every, the least, breach of it with eter- 
 nal death, even though Christ had never come into 
 the world ; or, to use Mr. Locke's words, " if God 
 had not found out a way to justify some." 
 
 To suppose that God would bring a creature into 
 being, and give him a law for the rule of his conduct, 
 enforced with the awful sanctions of eternal life and 
 death, when, at the same time, he knew that this 
 creature would not, or could not, comply with it, — 
 does, I confess, appear very extraordinary to me, and 
 is quite inconsistent with my notions of the Supreme 
 Being. 
 
 The law of nature, no doubt, is perfect, and, as St. 
 Paul the apostle says, holy, just, and good: all the 
 laws of God must be so: but, as I said above, this is 
 
CONCLUSION. 251 
 
 no proof that God would require of his imperfect 
 creature, man, a complete and perfect obedience to 
 it. Is it possible to imagine that the infinitely per- 
 fect Maker of all things should expect from his 
 creatures any thing in which he could be disap- 
 pointed ? 
 
 God certainly intends the happiness of his intelli- 
 gent creatures. We cannot conceive any other mo- 
 tive which he could have for creating them : but then 
 this happiness, we must suppose, is to be brought 
 about by means worthy of infinite wisdom, and surely 
 not, as Christian divines would make us believe, by 
 contrivance and after -thought, which imply an imper- 
 fection in God, and that he either did not know how 
 his creatures would act, or, knowing it, could not at 
 once give them such a law as would fully answer all 
 the benevolent purposes of his government. Either 
 supposition appears to me to be a kind of blasphemy : 
 and yet this, as I said above, is the language of 
 Christian divines, and even of the great Mr. Locke. 
 
 These writers ascribe to God the attribute of pre- 
 science ; and they tell us " that he, knowing Adam 
 would prove disobedient, and by his fall involve all 
 mankind in eternal death, provided a remedy, or 
 found out a way to justify some." 
 
 Providing a remedy, or finding out the way, are 
 terms which may be applied to the frail, fallible, im- 
 perfect, governors of this world, without impropriety ; 
 but, I think, by no means to the infinitely-perfect 
 God : — nothing surely can be more improper — to say 
 no worse. The wisest earthly governors cannot be 
 
 li 2 
 
252 CONCLUSION. 
 
 exactly certain how a law will operate, and these 
 may therefore provide a remedy, in case the law 
 should fail of answering the end designed by it: 
 but my indignation rises when I hear such after-acts 
 ascribed to the infinitely-wise God, who can never be 
 mistaken, or do any thing which can possibly require 
 alteration or amendment; seeing that he compre- 
 hends, in one infinitely-extended view, the past, the 
 present, and the future, from eternity to eternity. 
 
 Let us now consider what this remedy was, or what 
 way God found out, to restore mankind to that life 
 and immortality which, according to these writers, 
 they lost by Adam's transgression. It was — the 
 death of an innocent being ; the death of Jesus 
 Christ, the only-begotten Son of God ; of whom St. 
 Athanasius thus speaks: "Such as the Father is, 
 such is the Son ; the Father eternal, the Son eternal ; 
 the Father is God, the Son is God ; co-eternal toge- 
 ther, and co-equal." And this, he says, " is the 
 faith, which unless we keep whole and undefiled, 
 without doubt we shall perish everlastingly." When 
 we put all these things together, we are involved in 
 inextricable difficulties ; and, if what the saint here 
 asserts be really true, we must own, with the poet, 
 that " the ways of heaven are dark and intricate, 
 and that our understanding, puzzled in mazes and 
 perplexed in errors, traces them in vain." We are 
 here no longer under the guidance of reason, nor can 
 the lines of our understandings fathom such inexpli- 
 cable doctrines. I hope, on my own account, as well as 
 on the account of millions besides, that St. Athanasius 
 
CONCLUSION. 253 
 
 is mistaken:* if he be not, " strait indeed is the gate 
 that leads to life, and few there are that enter in 
 thereat." 
 
 I shall only add, that, if the above-mentioned re- 
 medy was found out and applied by God to cure the 
 evil arising from Adam's transgression, which evil 
 must be universal, it was certainly the best that could 
 be applied, and will doubtless be sufficient to answer 
 the kind purpose he intended by it. But surely Mr. 
 Locke could not, with propriety, call this a reasonable 
 doctrine. Human reason cannot comprehend it : — 
 the mind of man, unassisted by a particular divine 
 revelation, cannot conceive that the spilling the blood 
 of an innocent creature can possibly take away the 
 sins of a guilty one, or be of any effect towards re- 
 conciling a sinful creature to God. There does not 
 seem to be, in reason, any sort of correspondence or 
 connexion between the sufferings of an innocent be- 
 ing and the crimes of a guilty one. Reason teaches 
 us that merely the spilling of the blood of the most 
 meritorious being that ever existed cannot make a 
 sinner less a sinner, or render the infinitely-merciful 
 God more propitious to his creatures than he is, in 
 his own nature, necessarily inclined to be. 
 
 If a man be not the proper object of divine favour, 
 it is because he hath withdrawn himself from God, 
 hath not followed the dictates of reason and nature, 
 
 * This might not be allowed to be said, in Rome, of the saints 
 of that church ; but, as the Protestant church of England has never 
 yet asserted her claim to infallibility y it remains that her saints 
 inav possibly be mistaken. 
 
254 CONCLUSION. 
 
 but has suffered his appetites and passions to lead 
 him astray from the road of virtue and happiness. 
 When this is the case, surely nothing but a thorough 
 change in his heart and life can reconcile him to 
 God, and render him a fit object of divine compla- 
 cency. 
 
 Whilst a man remains a sinner, he appears to me 
 to be incapable of enjoying that rational felicity which 
 God intended for him. Now it is evident, from both 
 reason and Scripture, that a man may remain a sin- 
 ner, even after the most efficacious sacrifice has been 
 offered up for him: nay, upon Mr. Locke's plan, a 
 man may not only continue to be a sinner, notwith- 
 standing such sacrifice, but even, though he be 
 otherwise a good man, yet he cannot be saved, unless 
 he believes Jesus to be the Messiah. Hence, all that 
 Christ hath done and suffered to obtain everlasting 
 life for mankind may prove ineffectual, because many, 
 even under the Gospel, may not be able thus to 
 believe, — belief not being a thing within our own 
 power. 
 
 This brings me to Mr. Locke's second proposition, 
 namely, — That God was so kind to the posterity of 
 Adam, upon his failure, as to establish another law, 
 called the law of faith, wherein the belief of Jesus's 
 being the Messiah was accepted instead of perfect 
 obedience to the law of works. Of this law of faith 
 Mr. Locke speaks thus, in page 20, — " By the law of 
 faith, faith is allowed to supply the defect of full 
 obedience ; and so the believers are admitted to life 
 and immortality, as if they were righteous." And 
 in page 22 he says, " Which is that law, whereby 
 
CONCLUSION. 255 
 
 God justifies a man for believing, though, by his 
 works, he be not just or righteous." 
 
 From these and many other passages in Mr. Locke's 
 tract, it appears that he looked on faith to be nothing- 
 more than a steady and firm belief of any proposition 
 supposed to come from God ; and to prove this, he 
 has produced many texts of Scripture, of which I 
 shall content myself with mentioning only two, quoted 
 by him in his 22d page ; viz. — Rom. iv. 3, " Abra- 
 ham believed God, and it was counted to him for 
 righteousness." Verse 5, " To him that believeth on 
 him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted 
 for righteousness." 
 
 Faith, then, according to Mr. Locke, is (as I ob- 
 served above) a steady unshaken belief of any propo- 
 sition supposed to come from God : but the proposi- 
 tion to be believed, as necessary to salvation, and 
 which will be imputed to Christians for, or instead 
 of, righteousness, is that of Jesus'' s being the Messiah. 
 This point he has greatly laboured through his whole 
 tract. 
 
 And now it may be time to ask, whether it appears 
 consistent with infinite wisdom to require the belief 
 of any doctrine whatever, and to substitute such be- 
 lief instead of that perfect obedience which he found 
 mankind could not comply with? — Surely it does 
 not ; because what is here required may be as much 
 out of a man's power to perform as was that perfect 
 obedience, in the room of which it is substituted : 
 nay, to some both may be impossible, without better 
 evidence ; for belief, as it always arises out of suffi- 
 cient evidence, can never arise at all where such 
 
 2 
 
256 CONCLUSION. 
 
 evidence is wanting ; nor can it, with propriety, be 
 the subject of a command, as I hope hath already 
 been made appear. In how wretched a situation, 
 then, are mankind left, upon Mr. Locke's plan ! They 
 must either pay a perfect obedience to the law of na- 
 ture, which he says no man ever did, and St. Paul 
 says " no man ever could ;"* or they must believe 
 Jesus to be the Messiah, or Son of God, in what our 
 churchmen call the Gospel sense. Now this is what 
 many may never be able to do, even though menaced 
 with the punishment of eternal death. 
 
 This, if true, according to Mr. Locke, is the un- 
 happy case of all those, at least, who have lived within 
 the sound of the Gospel. As for others, they seem, 
 indeed, on a better footing ; for he says, in page 255, 
 " There are many to whom the promise of the Mes- 
 siah never came, and so were never in a capacity to 
 believe or reject that revelation. Yet God had, by 
 the light of reason, revealed to all mankind, who 
 would make use of that light, that he was good and 
 merciful. The same spark of the divine nature and 
 knowledge in man, which, making him a man, 
 shewed him the law he was under as a man, shewed 
 him also the way of atoning the merciful, kind, com- 
 passionate, Author and Father of him and his being, 
 when he had transgressed that law. He that made 
 use of this candle of the Lord, so far as to find what 
 was his duty, could not miss to find also the way to 
 reconciliation and forgiveness, when he had failed of 
 his duty." Here this great writer again resumes his 
 
 * See Rom. iii. 20. 
 
CONCLUSION. 257 
 
 reason, which he seemed before to have entirely dis- 
 carded in this inquiry, instead of making it, like the 
 good Bishop of Gloucester, " the test of religious 
 truth and the heaven -appointed guide." 
 
 But to trace Mr. Locke farther. In page 245 of 
 this celebrated piece, after .he has given his readers 
 the expressions which Jesus will make use of at the 
 day of judgment, he goes on to say, " Tiiese, I 
 think, are all the places where our Saviour mentions 
 the last judgment, or describes his way of proceeding 
 in that great day; wherein, as we have observed, it 
 is remarkable that, every where, the sentence follows 
 doing or not doing, without any mention of believing 
 or not believing" A very rational remark of this 
 great author ; true in itself, and suited to go much 
 farther to prove the reasonableness of Christianity 
 than what follows : — but, as it rather made against 
 the Scripture doctrine of faith, and contradicted the 
 tenor of his book, he adds, " Not that any, to whom 
 the Gospel hath been preached, shall be saved without 
 believing Jesus to be the Messiah." How consistent 
 these things are I leave the reader to judge. 
 
 After all, according to Mr. Locke, this law of 
 faith, or belief of Jesus's being the Messiah, does 
 not, by any means, entirely excuse mankind frcm per- 
 forming the works of the law; but atones for some 
 slips and failures only, and will be imputed to them 
 instead of perfect obedience. 
 
 Here we still remain involved in doubt and uncer- 
 tainty, and want to be informed how far a man may 
 venture to deviate from perfect righteousness, or what 
 errors a right belief or saving faith will atone for. 
 
 Kk 
 
258 CONCLUSION. 
 
 There being no bounds fixed, how easily may a man 
 transgress? How likely is he to depend too much on 
 his faith, and too little on his virtue? Hence, it ap- 
 pears to me extremely dangerous to admit that God 
 has substituted any thing in the room of virtue or 
 right action, or that he will accept of any atonement 
 besides repentance and amendment. 
 
 Indeed, if we could admit, with Mr. Locke, that 
 the all-wise Governor of the world required of his 
 frail creature man perfect righteousness, we might 
 also readily admit that he would substitute something 
 to be accepted in the room of it ; perfect righteous- 
 ness being an attribute of his own, inconsistent with 
 the frailty and imperfection of human nature. — 
 Heuce, it appears that Mr. Locke's first proposition is 
 too absurd to be admitted ; and, of course, the se- 
 cond, which is founded upon the first, must also fall 
 to the ground. 
 
 Mr. Locke's extensive genius, his uncommon capa- 
 city, his vast stretch of understanding, seem here all 
 to be in fetters ; and his reason, which shines with 
 such resplendent lustre in his other works, appears in 
 this to be greatly clouded, or else to be meanly warped 
 to the opinion of the times, in order to rescue his 
 character from the charge of Deism, which some 
 Christian divines had fixed on him. Be this as it 
 may, Mr. Locke's method of shewing the reasonable- 
 ness of Christianity has certainly failed. 
 
 Christianity, or the pure, genuine, and unadul- 
 terated, religion of Christ, was founded on the religion 
 of reason and nature ; and, whilst it is permitted to 
 rest on this foundation, which the eternal God himself 
 3 
 
CONCLUSION. 259 
 
 has laid, no power can ever prevail against it. The 
 religion of Christ can never be separated from the 
 religion of reason, notwithstanding all the attempts of 
 bigotry ', superstition, and priestcraft. Whenever any 
 other foundation is substituted in the room of this, 
 the religious system raised on it cannot be a reason- 
 able one. 
 
 If, in any system, instead of piety towards God, 
 of justice, charity, and universal benevolence to man- 
 kind, (which is the religion of nature,) the belief of 
 certain propositions be substituted, — such a religion 
 cannot be reasonable, nor fit to be embraced by ra- 
 tional beings, whatever authorities from men or 
 books may be brought to support it. Reason, as the 
 Bishop of Gloucester justly says, is " the test of re- 
 ligious truth ;" and the authorities of men and books, 
 however dignified or distinguished, ought to be mea- 
 sured by this standard. Even the writings of the 
 Old and New Testament should be brought to this 
 bar, in order to know if they are from God, as we are 
 taught to believe ; or, at least, to distinguish what 
 parts are so, and what not, 
 
 All Authorities to be tried by Reason. 
 
 Could we once be certain that the whole of those 
 writings was really dictated by God, and that no 
 merely human precepts or doctrines were blended 
 with those of divine authority, these sacred books 
 would serve for infallible guides, and no disputes 
 could be raised about them. They would then be 
 natural, rational, and instructive; easy to be under- 
 stood by persons of every rank and denomination, 
 
 Kk2 
 
260 CONCLUSION. 
 
 without comment or explanation. These are cer- 
 tain marks of a religion coming from God: these 
 are the impressions of the divine seal ; and reason 
 will never dispute the authority. But if, on the 
 contrary, when we are examining the Scriptures 
 by the only certain rule we have, which is that of 
 unprejudiced reason, we should find in them many 
 things correspondent to human frailty, — inconsistent 
 with our ideas of God, — mysterious, supernatural, 
 and unintelligible, — reason will immediately pro- 
 nounce that the composition is not divine : hence, 
 that its authority is, of course, hereby greatly weak- 
 ened ; and that proofs, drawn from particular pas- 
 sages contained in it, will ever be insufficient to 
 establish any religious system, or give power to any 
 church. 
 
 But, supposing it could be proved that every syl- 
 lable of the New Testament was originally dictated 
 by God himself, and that he effectually restrained the 
 writers of it from blending their own opinions and 
 sentiments with his divine word, — yet, nevertheless, 
 we ought to examine it, in order to see whether it 
 still remains pure and unmixed, and whether no al- 
 terations have been made in it, by interested men, 
 since its first publication. 
 
 I am sorry to say that the present appearance of 
 the New Testament, in our English translation, 
 amounts nearly to a proof that, if it was originally the 
 pure and perfect wor I of God, it has since been 
 greatly adulterated and corrupted ; and we have no 
 reason to believe that God has constantly and mira- 
 culously preserved it from those alterations which 
 interested men may have been tempted to make in it, 
 
CONCLUSION. 261 
 
 as it hath passed through their hands : on the con- 
 trary, it appears that many parts of this sacred 
 volume carry in them the evident marks of human 
 frailty, and therefore cannot, with propriety, be 
 ascribed to the inspiration of God. Many instances 
 might be produced to prove this : but I shall mention 
 only a few, which have not been much attended to by 
 writers on this subject. 
 
 Scripture Proofs that the Writers of the New 
 Testament ivere not always inspired. 
 
 First, the representing Jesus Christ as foretelling 
 things which did not come to pass in the time he said 
 they would, is so absolutely inconsistent with his 
 genuine character, that it cannot be ascribed to the 
 inspiration of God, but to the frailty and error of 
 man. 
 
 In the xvith chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, Christ 
 is represented as telling his disciples that his coming 
 to judge the world was an event that would certainly 
 come to pass while some of them, who stood with 
 him, were yet alive. In the 27th verse of this chapter 
 he is made to say, " For the Son of Man shall come 
 in the glory of i.is Father, with his angels, and then 
 he shall reward every man according to his works :" 
 and in the verse immediately following, " Verily I 
 say unto you, there be some standing here which shall 
 not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming 
 in his kingdom." And in the 34th verse of the xxivth 
 chapter, speaking of the same event, he says, " Verily 
 I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away 
 till all these things are fuliiiled." 
 
262 CONCLUSION. 
 
 This event did not come to pass, — these things 
 have not yet been fulfilled, — and therefore the speak- 
 ing an untruth is ascribed to Jesus. 
 
 Indeed, divines have thought it their business, and 
 have endeavoured, to clear up and remove this diffi- 
 culty ; and, in order so to do, they have told us that 
 the event which Christ in this place alluded to was 
 not the day of judgment, but the destruction of the 
 temple, or of Jerusalem, his own death, or the con- 
 version of men to his religion. Yet, if we examine 
 this, we shall presently conclude that he is here re- 
 presented as speaking of the day of judgment, and of 
 no other event. The destruction of the temple is 
 spoken of in the 2d verse of the xxivth chapter, and 
 the contents of that chapter, as placed at the head of 
 it, run thus:— " 1. Christ foretelleth the destruction 
 of the temple. 3. What great calamities shall be 
 before it. 29. The signs of his coming to judgment, 
 &c." which, at least, show the opinion which the 
 translator, or translators, had of it. And farther, in 
 the 30th verse of the xxivth chapter, it is said, " And 
 they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 
 of heaven, with power and great glory." These are 
 expressions no way applicable to the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, or the temple, to his own death, or to the 
 conversion of men to his religion ; but such as are 
 constantly made use of in describing the final judg- 
 ment, as may be seen from the 3 i st and 32d verses 
 of the xxvth chapter of the same evangelist, and 
 many other places in the New Testament. Thus, 
 notwithstanding all the learning and sophistry that 
 have been employed by Christian priests to clear up 
 
CONCLUSION. 263 
 
 these matters, and to render them rational and wor- 
 thy to have God for their author, the difficulty still 
 remains : — Christ appears to have been a false pro- 
 phet, or else those expressions, which are said to be 
 his, were not really so; which last seems, by far, 
 most likely to be the case, especially if we consider 
 that, when his disciples inquired of him about the 
 day of judgment, he told them plainly, " that none 
 but the Father only knew of that day." Hence, as 
 he did not know the precise time, it was not consis- 
 tent with his wisdom and great caution to say it 
 would come while some of them were yet alive. 
 
 The same may be said of what almost all the apos- 
 tles wrote concerning the coming of Christ to judge 
 the world ; for they speak of that event as being very 
 near at hand, as might be proved by many texts in 
 the New Testament l* but it is no wonder that the 
 disciples should be mistaken, seeing the Master was 
 so. It is plain, however, that these things are not 
 yet come to pass ; and it is as plain that all those 
 who foretold that they would be fulfilled long ago 
 were not, at least at that time, under the influence of 
 divine inspiration. God cannot be deceived himself, 
 nor can he be the means of deceiving: others. — God 
 cannot be mistaken, nor can he possibly lead his 
 creatures into error. Hence, whenever error appears, 
 we may be certain it is human, and that, whatever a 
 man's pretensions may be, he cannot possibly, in that 
 particular instance, be under the influence of divine 
 
 * I. Cor, x. II. Rom. xiii. II, 12. Hebrews, ix. Q6. James, 
 v.7, 8. I. John, ii. IS, II. Peter, iii. 11, 13. 
 
264 CONCLUSION. 
 
 inspiration. This is a truth not to be controverted : 
 and surely divines had better let these difficulties 
 rest as they find them, and at once candidly own (as 
 many great men among them have done) that there 
 may be errors in those writings which we are taught 
 to call sacred ; for these inconsistencies are rendered 
 the more glaring from their failing in their attempts 
 to reconcile them. It has been said of the Scriptures, 
 that every denomination of Christians may bring 
 proofs from thence to support their, own system. The 
 Roman Catholics, for example, produce these words, 
 " This is my body," to prove the doctrine of transub- 
 stantiation : and, to prove their right to persecute, 
 they quote the words, " Compel them to come in" 
 But the first is too ridiculous for reason to admit ; 
 and the last ought not to be admitted upon any au- 
 thority whatever, because it is absolutely inconsistent 
 with all our ideas of infinite perfection. In short, I 
 think we may venture to assert that " Christianity 
 hath suffered more from weak defenders than from 
 all its adversaries." The very idea of any part of the 
 New Testament wanting either explanation or de- 
 fence, is entirely inconsistent with an opinion of that 
 part, at least, being of divine inspiration and autho- 
 rity, and is a tacit acknowledgment that human 
 errors have crept in, and been blended with divine 
 truths. Those who receive high pay for supporting 
 the cause of Christianity ought, doubtless, to exert 
 themselves in its defence ; but they betray great want 
 of skill and caution if they remain too long in an 
 untenable post, and be thereby too much exposed to 
 the enemy. 
 
CONCLUSION. 265 
 
 If priests were to assert only the moral doctrines 
 of the New Testament, aid if they would give up 
 those things which reason cannot approve, because 
 they cannot be comprehended by it, they would then 
 meet with very little trouble or opposition from any 
 quarter. 
 
 The rational and moral doctrines of the New Tes- 
 tament were certainly originally from God : but then 
 these are not that word of God which brings geat 
 gain to the priesthood. Things easily understood, 
 and which lie on a level with the vulgar and unlet- 
 tered mind, are not the things which they are con- 
 cerned to support : — these, indeed, want not their 
 assistance. The moral doctrines of Christ and his 
 apostles are founded in eternal truth, and will for 
 ever stand unshaken, though all the powers on earth 
 were leagued against them. 
 
 But, as a farther proof that human errors have 
 been blended with the pure word of God, as con- 
 tained in the sacred volume, and that every part of it 
 was not given by divine inspiration and authority, 
 let us, 
 
 Secondly, consider the different conduct of St. 
 Paul and St. Peter in their ministry, and the business 
 they were engaged in, — namely, the conversion of 
 both Jews and Gentiles to Christianity. That they 
 did differ may be seen from the I lth to the 15th 
 verse of the second chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to 
 the Galatians ; where, though we have not the parti- 
 culars of their debate, we have reason to think that 
 the dispute between them was very warm. Now can 
 it be supposed that they were both, at this time, 
 
266 CONCLUSION. 
 
 under the influence of divine inspiration ? Surely no. 
 I may be told that it was not necessary for the writers 
 of the New Testament to be at all times divinely in- 
 spired : yet, it appears to me that they should be so 
 in every thing relative to their ministry, in order to 
 answer the end designed, — that of the most extensive 
 spreading of the Christian religion : and it also ap- 
 pears to me that God would not only dictate to them 
 what they should publish to the world, but that he 
 would also preside over and influence their conduct 
 in this momentous affair ; for the examples of teachers 
 are more especially regarded, and their precepts will 
 operate, in proportion as they agree or differ from 
 their practice. Now it is evident that either St. 
 Peter had acted wrong, or that St. Paul behaved 
 with great impropriety when he withstood him to the 
 face, and charged him publicly with not walking 
 uprightly according to the truth of the Gospel. See 
 verse 14th of the chapter above referred to. If St. 
 Peter did not walk uprightly, according to the truth 
 of the Gospel, but, by his example as well as practice, 
 taught others to do the same, in vain might he boast 
 of receiving his commission from Christ, or of being 
 divinely inspired. On the other hand, if he did 
 walk uprightly, according to the truth of the Gospel, 
 surely St. Paul could not be inspired by God when he 
 said he did not do so. That one or other of these 
 apostles must, in this instance, have been uninspired 
 and mistaken, seems extremely clear. However, St. 
 Peter was certainly guilty of dissimulation, in con- 
 cert with other Jews, if St. Paul is to be credited ; 
 for he says, in the 13th verse of the chapter above 
 
CONCLUSION. 267 
 
 quoted — u And the other Jews dissembled likewise 
 with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried 
 away with their dissimulation" And this, we find, 
 made a considerable breach between Barnabas and 
 Paul. 
 
 Surely these differences and divisions had a direct 
 tendency to weaken the cause of Christianity, and 
 must appear absolutely inconsistent with the idea of 
 divine inspiration, and with the belief that the 
 apostles were a set of men chosen by God, under his 
 immediate influence and direction, to teach his will 
 to mankind. 
 
 The conduct of St. Peter was so inconsistent with 
 divine influence, that some have been led to wonder 
 why Christ made choice of him to be the foundation 
 of his church, and invested him with the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven, as it appears he promised to do, 
 in the 19th verse of the xvith chapter of St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, where it is said — " And I will give unto thee 
 the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever 
 thou shalt bind in earth, shall be bound in heaven: 
 and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be 
 loosed in heaven." 
 
 This was, indeed, a glorious commission, a very 
 important trust ! And it is no wonder that priests to 
 this day claim a share in it, and endeavour to prove 
 an uninterrupted succession of authority and power 
 from this highly-favoured apostle. Yet Peter, the 
 unsteady, irresolute, and fearful Peter, gave up this 
 commission, betrayed this important trust, and, in a 
 short time, shamefully denied his Master : — nay, 
 when he was charged with being a follower of Christ, 
 
 l12 
 
268 CONCLUSION. 
 
 " he began to curse and to stvear, saying, I know not 
 the man/' as may be seen in the 74th verse of the 
 xxvith chapter of the evangelist last referred to. 
 
 Surely, if Peter was at that time inspired, or was 
 under the influence of any spirit but his own, it must 
 hcive been that of a lying and wicked spirit, and not 
 the spirit of truth and righteousness. 
 
 Indeed, it appears from the 22d and 23d verses of 
 the xvith chapter of Matthew, that the great apostle 
 Peter, — the boast of his successors, — the rock on 
 which Christ built his church, — was sometimes un- 
 der the influence of a wicked spirit. The verses 
 referred to run thus : — " Then Peter took him, and 
 began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, 
 Lord : this shall not be unto thee." Verse 23, " But 
 he [Christ] turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee 
 behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me ; for 
 thou favourest not the things that be of God, but 
 those that be of men." In what light Peter appeared 
 to Christ when he said this to him, let his successors 
 determine ; but it appears to me as if he then thought 
 him unworthy of the important commission which he 
 before had promised him : and hence some have 
 thought that this promise of Christ to Peter might be 
 only conditional ; and that, finding him unqualified 
 for so great a trust, he afterwards revoked it, and left 
 the gates of heaven wide open to all truly wise and 
 good men. It is plain, however, that Christ soon 
 perceived a spirit of pride, a contention for superiority 
 and power, and perhaps other vices, in his disciples: 
 for, when they were contending who should be the 
 greatest in the kingdom of heaven, which showed the 
 
CONCLUSION. 269 
 
 grossness of their ideas and the pride of their hearts, 
 Christ says to them, — " Verily I say unto you, except 
 ye be converted, and become as little children, [that 
 is, as meek, as humble, and as innocent, as little 
 children,] ye shall not enter into the kingdom of hea- 
 ven." Matt, xviii. 3. — This must have been a severe 
 check upon Peter in particular. 
 
 For my part, I shall not pretend to determine 
 whether Christ did fulfil his promise to Peter, and 
 really deliver to him the keys of heaven, or not. But 
 I think we may very safely venture to assert that the 
 pious, just, charitable, humane, benevolent, man will 
 always find entrance there, without applying for 
 leave to his successors, or for instruction from priests. 
 
 At the same time, I sincerely wish that Christ's 
 rebuke to Peter, in the 23d verse of the xvith chapter 
 of Matthew, could not, with so much propriety, be 
 applied to his boasting successors ; and that fewer 
 among them were chargeable with "favouring the 
 things ivhich be of men more than the things which be 
 of God." 
 
 Apology for Peter's Successors. 
 
 However, the conduct of St. Peter should teach us 
 not to expect too much from his successors, even 
 supposing an uninterrupted succession could be 
 proved. If the fountain was corrupt, can we reason- 
 ably expect that the stream should be pure? If St. 
 Peter, who enjoyed every advantage that the conver- 
 sation, the admonition, the instruction, the example, 
 of Christ could give him, and sometimes also the 
 benefit of divine inspiration ; — I say, if Peter did 
 
270 CONCLUSION. 
 
 dissemble, curse, swear, and lie,* can we reasonably 
 expect that his successors should be free from these 
 vices ? Or may we not rather expect that other vices 
 may be added to these ? If the great apostle Peter 
 deserved the rebuke above mentioned ; if he favoured 
 not the things of God, but those of men, and thereby 
 became an offence to his Master ; can it be expected 
 that his successors will reject the honours, profits, 
 and emoluments, bestowed on them by men ? Surely 
 no. — But to proceed. What could do greater dis- 
 credit to the Gospel system, than the denying its 
 Author? What could injure the character of Christ 
 more than the manner in which Peter denied him? 
 If then Peter, through fear, meanly denied his Master, 
 can we reasonably expect from his successors steadi- 
 ness, resolution, and fortitude, in the course of their 
 ministry; or that they would, for the sake of Christ 
 and his religion, endure any hardships, or neglect 
 any worldly advantages? Surely such expectations 
 are unreasonable and vain. 
 
 Whatever Peter was, those who style themselves 
 his successors are certainly mere uninspired men, 
 subject to all the frailties, follies, and vices, of other 
 men ; and, whatever their pretensions may be in other 
 matters, they pretend not to inspiration. Can we 
 then expect that they should be better than St. Peter ? 
 Surely no. 
 
 There are, doubtless, many pious, wise, and good 
 men among the clergy ; but they lie under one great 
 disadvantage : the laity expect that priests should be 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 74. 
 
CONCLUSION. 271 
 
 better than other men, seeing they seat themselves in 
 high places, demanding homage of the laity, as if 
 their eternal happiness depended upon them, and that 
 they, as successors of St. Peter, were in possession of 
 the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and could admit 
 or exclude whom they pleased. The laity, (at least 
 the more ignorant part of them, think that these men, 
 so much exalted, and so highly-favoured of God as 
 to be his ambassadors and vicegerents, should cer- 
 tainly be more pious, more just, more charitable, 
 meek, and benevolent : in short, that they should be 
 possessed of more virtue than other men. The laity 
 look up with reverence to those burning and shining 
 lights, expecting to see their good works, and to copy 
 their bright example, to the glory of God : but when 
 they find that priests have frailties, follies, and vices, 
 in common with themselves, they begin to think them 
 worse than they really are. Under this great disad- 
 vantage, as I said before, do the clergy labour ; and 
 the knowledge of this, one would imagine, should 
 put them more upon their guard, and have a proper 
 effect on their conduct. The laity certainly expect 
 too much from the clergy, without considering that 
 virtue is not necessarily connected with church-power 
 and preferment^ and that the choice of a bishop con- 
 fers no real goodness. To check such unreasonable 
 expectations in the laity, and to prevent the clergy 
 from being thought worse of than they really deserve, 
 I have here produced the conduct of the great, the 
 highly-favoured, St. Peter, as an apology for his suc- 
 cessors : but, at the same time, St. Peter's frailties 
 should be a lesson to his successors, or those who 
 
272 CONCLUSION. 
 
 pretend to be such, and should teach them humility. 
 His advice, also, to the priests in his days ought to 
 be particularly regarded by those in ours, — namely, 
 that they should not "lord it over God's heritage, but 
 be an example to the flock ;" that they, as well as 
 those they taught, should be clothed with humility, — 
 for this good reason, that " God resisteth the proud, 
 but giveth grace to the humble." See the fifth chap- 
 ter of St. Peter's first Epistle. 
 
 But to return to the article of inspiration. It cer- 
 tainly appears that St. Peter was not under the influ- 
 ence of divine inspiration, when, with an oath, he 
 denied his Lord ; and yet, if ever the gift of inspira- 
 tion was necessary, — if ever the divine Spirit exerted 
 its influence to correct the errors and restrain the 
 vices of the apostles, — we may imagine it would have 
 been done in this extraordinary instance of St. Peter, 
 when the whole credit of the Gospel system appeared 
 to be at stake. 
 
 It has been objected above, that it was not neces- 
 sary for the apostles always to be inspired. I own 
 it was not necessary that they should be tinder the 
 influence of inspiration in indifferent things, — such 
 as eating, drinking, clothing, lodging, and the like ; 
 for such things as these can have nothing material to 
 do in any religion : but that the influence of the Spirit 
 was necessary to direct their conduct in particular 
 instances, as well as their preaching and writing, 
 seems to appear from the case of St. Peter in the last- 
 mentioned argument. 
 
 If God had only dictated to them what they should 
 preach, and what they should write, and left the 
 3 
 
CONCLUSION. 273 
 
 manner of doing it, and every other part of their con- 
 duct to themselves, they might, by imprudent actions, 
 have done a greater injury to the cause of Christianity 
 than, by their preaching or writing, they might ever 
 be able to repair. 
 
 Had Peter been mistaken, or had he even spoke an 
 untruth, and swore to it, in any common affair, in 
 private, between himself and his brethren, or in any 
 thing that could not have prejudiced his divine mis- 
 sion, or done discredit to the religion he was teaching, 
 — he might, in such case, be left to act and speak as 
 a mere uninspired man : but for him to curse, to lie, 
 and to swear to it, is a matter of the highest conse- 
 quence !* — Surely one would imagine that the divine 
 Spirit, who made choice of him, as a principal agent 
 in the great work of converting mankind to Christi- 
 anity, would graciously have restrained him How 
 mean an opinion must those have of Christ and his 
 religion, who heard one of his apostles say of him — 
 " I know not the manT How could they suppose 
 Jesus to be any thing more than a mere man, when 
 one of his disciples spoke of him in so contemptuous 
 a manner? But farther, — what can we suppose 
 Peter himself thought of Christ, at the time when he 
 was ashamed and afraid to acknowledge him as a 
 master, or even to own that he knew any thing of 
 him? Surely Peter did not then believe him to be 
 what he had before declared he was, — namely, the 
 Christ, the Son of the living God. Surely Peter 
 could not then believe Christ to be equal with God, 
 
 * See Matthew, xxvi. 74. 
 
 m m 
 
274 CONCLUSION. 
 
 and that he could command the powers of heaven to 
 assist him. If he had thus believed, there would 
 have been no room for his fear : but it looks as if his 
 faith was staggered, and that he began to think 
 Christ as weak and impotent as himself, and that his 
 cause would not be seconded by any assistance from 
 above. 
 
 This conduct of St. Peter hiust, at that time, have 
 a natural tendency to prevent the spreading of Christ's 
 religion, and to make it appear to the Jews a stum- 
 bling -block, and to the Greeks foolishness : and such 
 difficulties as are found in the New Testament are to 
 this day, with some, insuperable objections to clerical 
 Christianity, or the Christianity taught by Christian 
 priests; and therefore it remains with them that they 
 exert themselves in order to remove them ; and it is 
 more especially their business to vindicate the cha- 
 racter of St. Peter, from whom they pretend to derive 
 all their authority and power. But rational Christi- 
 anity hath nothing to do with those things. Pure 
 morality, or the unadulterated religion of nature and 
 of Christ, wanted no inspiration, but such as Job 
 says every rational man is possessed of: " But (says 
 he) there is a spirit in man [or mankind], and the 
 inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understand- 
 ing." Job, xxxii. 8. This is all the inspiration that 
 appears necessary to the knowledge of God's will, as 
 taught by nature and by Christ. If a man has but a 
 common share of understanding, he will readily per- 
 ceive the beauty, the propriety, the usefulness, of the 
 moral doctrines and precepts of Christ, and their na- 
 tural tendency to promote the happiness of mankind 
 
CONCLUSION. 275 
 
 in general. The religion of Christ is so plain and 
 clear, that men of very moderate capacities may un- 
 derstand it : but, as for the religion of priests, which 
 hath been blended with it, few, besides themselves, 
 can have any idea of it. The New Testament ap- 
 pears to be so much alloyed and adulterated by human 
 frailty and fraud, that (take it all together as it now 
 appears in our language) it can hardly, with pro- 
 priety, be styled the word of God. It appears that 
 the writers of the New Testament were sometimes 
 left to themselves, and the copiers and translators 
 always. 
 
 But farther, thirdly, to make it appear that the 
 apostles were not always under the influence of divine 
 inspiration, even in what they preached and what 
 they wrote, let us produce the incontestible evidence 
 of St. Paul himself. 
 
 In the seventh chapter of his first Epistle to the 
 Corinthians, and the 6th verse, he candidly owns 
 that he was sometimes permitted to speak his own 
 sentiments, and that what he delivered was not al- 
 ways by the command of God. The whole verse 
 runs thus : " But I speak this by permission, and not 
 of commandment." In the tenth verse of the same 
 chapter, he says, " And unto the married I command, 
 yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from 
 her husband." In the 12th verse he says, " But to 
 the rest speak I, not the Lord," &c. Again, in the 
 25th verse, he says, " Now, concerning virgins, I 
 have no commandment of the Lord : yet I give my 
 judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the 
 Lord to be faithful." 
 
 m m 2 
 
276 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Whether any other of the apostles were permitted 
 to write their own sentiments in matters relative to 
 their ministry, and were not candid enough to own it, 
 I cannot determine ; but this instance of St. Paul's 
 is alone sufficient to prove, beyond contradiction, that 
 God did not effectually restrain all the writers of 
 the New Testament from sometimes blending their 
 own opinions and doctrines with those of divine au- 
 thority: and surely, if the tor iters of the New Testa- 
 ment were not always under the influence of a divine 
 Spirit, we may certainly conclude that the copiers 
 and translators of it were not. 
 
 A very eminent divine* says, "It must be allowed, 
 by the judicious and impartial, that many corruptions 
 are found in our present copies of the holy Bible, 
 and that we have not now this blessed book in that 
 perfection and integrity in which it was first written. It 
 is altered in many places, and in some of the greatest 
 moment. — I could prove, I think, by undeniable and 
 unavoidable instances, what Mr. Gregory, of Oxford, 
 says in his preface to some critical notes on the 
 Scripture that he published. — There is no author 
 whatever, says this learned critic, that has suffered 
 so much by the hand of time as the Bible has." Many 
 other authorities might be brought to prove that we 
 have not now the Bible in its original purity : but I 
 shall rather recommend to persons to read it them- 
 selves with attention, and to form their own judg- 
 ments of it. 
 
 The mysteries of the New Testament, " not being 
 
 * Nye, of Natural and Revealed Religion. 
 
CONCLUSION. 277 
 
 adapted to the capacity of a man's powers, nor to be 
 understood or communicated,"* cannot reasonably 
 be supposed to come from God ; because the only 
 conceivable end of giving a revelation to mankind 
 must remain unanswered by propositions and doc- 
 trines which cannot possibly tend to reform men's 
 lives and correct their manners. 
 
 The great Dr. Clarke says, in his Demonstration of 
 the Being and Attributes of God, that " every one 
 of the doctrines which the Christian religion teaches 
 as matter of truth, has a natural tendency, and a 
 direct powerful influence, to reform men's lives and 
 correct their manners." Hence we may learn, that 
 those doctrines which have not this tendency and 
 influence cannot be parts of pure and genuine Chris- 
 tianity, be taught in it as matter of truth, or have an 
 equal claim, with the moral doctrines, to divine in- 
 spiration. A religious rule which cannot be under- 
 stood is the same as no rule at all : it, indeed, implies 
 a contradiction, which we dare not ascribe to the in- 
 finitely- perfect God. 
 
 The conclusion from these premises may be easily 
 and fairly drawn; namely, — that, as some things 
 contained in this sacred volume appear to be of divine 
 authority, and others of merely human invention, it 
 remains to be our indispensible duty to make use of 
 our reason, in order to distinguish the one from the 
 other. 
 
 The great Mr. Locke, to whom I shall presently 
 return, says, in his posthumous works, page 226, 
 
 * Doctrine of Grace, page 15. 
 
278 CONCLUSION. 
 
 " No mission can be looked on to be divine, that 
 delivers any thing derogating from the honour of the 
 one, only, true, invisible God; or inconsistent with 
 natural religion and the rules of morality : because 
 God, having discovered to man the unity and majesty 
 of his eternal godhead, and the truths of natural re- 
 ligion and morality, by the light of reason, he cannot 
 be supposed to back the contrary by revelation ; for 
 that would be to destroy the evidence and use of 
 reason, without which men cannot be able to distin- 
 guish divine revelation from diabolical imposture." 
 To the same purpose Dr. Tillotson speaks, in the 
 first volume of his Sermons, p. 80: " All the pre- 
 cepts of Christianity,' 1 says he, " are reasonable and 
 wise, requiring such duties as are suitable to the 
 light of nature, and do approve themselves to the best 
 reason of mankind." 
 
 But to proceed. — If St. Paul was not always in- 
 spired by God in the course and business of his mi- 
 nistry ; if he sometimes spoke his own sentiments, as 
 hath been made appear ; it is certainly possible that 
 others of the apostles, and evangelists also, might be 
 in the same situation, and do so too : and hence, 
 without using the " touchstone, reason," in order to 
 distinguish the one from the other, we might em- 
 brace Ci diabolical imposture" for divine revelation. 
 How cruel then, as well as absurd, is it to deny the 
 use of reason in religious matters, when it is the only 
 certain rule we have, and to which revelation must 
 refer. 
 
 Dr. Stanhope, dean of Canterbury, in a sermon 
 preached before the university of Cambridge, says, 
 
CONCLUSION; 279 
 
 that " the very temper and composition of the Scrip- 
 ture are such as necessarily refer us to some other 
 rule; for this is a system of mixed and very different 
 duties: some of eternal and universal obligation, 
 others occasional and particular, limited to times and 
 circumstances ; and, when these occasions and cir- 
 cumstances ceased, the matter of the command was 
 lost, and the whole reason and force of it sunk of 
 course. Now, those things being often delivered 
 promiscuously, and in general terms, men must of 
 necessity have recourse to some other rule to distin- 
 guish and guide them in making the just difference 
 between the one and the other sort." 
 
 All this clearly supposes our reason to be capable 
 of comprehending the religion of Christ, and that 
 nothing super-rational can possibly belong to it. It 
 also supposes reason to be a perfect rule ; otherwise it 
 would be very unfit to be made a standard for the 
 Christian religion to refer to. 
 
 That the religion of nature is a perfect religion, 
 no one will dare to dispute ; because God must be the 
 author of it. If, then, the religion of Christ differs 
 from it, so far as it differs it must be imperfect. If 
 they both came from God, or if the latter be an exact 
 copy of the former, they must be both perfect ; and, 
 if both were intended to answer the same benevolent 
 purpose, — namely, the making mankind happy, — the 
 duties of both must be the same, unless God be 
 changeable, or human nature cease to be what it is ; 
 unless God could know at on3 time what he did 
 not know at another ; or that the relations between 
 God and his creatures, or between one creature and 
 
280 CONCLUSION. 
 
 another, were variable, and different at different 
 times. 
 
 The religion of nature, and the pure, genuine, un- 
 adulterated, religion of Christ, can differ no more than 
 an exact perfect copy differs from its original. Dr. 
 Prideaux has said, that the religion of nature and 
 reason is " the touchstone of all religion ;" and that 
 " if the Gospel varies from it in any particular, or in 
 the minutest circumstance is contrary to its righte- 
 ousness, that is strong enough to destroy the whole 
 cause, and make all things else that can be said for 
 its support totally ineffectual." 
 
 It appears to me extremely clear, not only from the 
 reason of things, but also from the opinion of some of 
 the greatest writers our church hath produced, that 
 the religion of nature is a perfect religion, and that 
 morality, or the religion of Christ, differs not from it. 
 However, I shall only produce what Dr. Sykes says, 
 to prove that what is called the religion of Christ, 
 over and above his moral doctrines and precepts, is 
 entirely useless, and mere rubbish. In his Essay on 
 the Truth of the Christian Religion, page 204, he 
 wishes " that Christians would not vend, under the 
 name of evangelical truths, the absurd and contra- 
 dictory schemes of ignorant or wicked men : that they 
 would part with the load of rubbish which makes 
 thinking men sink under the weight, and gives too 
 great a handle to infidelity." 
 
 In short, it appears to me that the religion of 
 Christ was originally nothing else but pure morality, 
 or the religion of nature, whatever it may appear to 
 be at present ; because nothing but morality can be 
 
 
CONCLUSION. 281 
 
 of any consequence towards regulating the conduct 
 of mankind. All other doctrines and principles, of 
 whatever kind they be, cannot reasonably be sup- 
 posed to come from God, or be binding on mankind, 
 whatever authority or power may be brought to sup- 
 port them. Dr. Sherlock, afterwards bishop of Ban- 
 gor, in a sermon preached before the Society for 
 propagating the Gospel, says, that " the religion of 
 the Gospel is the true original religion of reason 
 and nature." What can he mean bv the religion of 
 the Gospel, but morality? The religion of reason is 
 nothing else. 
 
 I hope to be excused if I also, in this place, copy 
 what that j udicious divine, the learned Dr. Chandler, 
 has said on this subject, in his dedication to Sermons 
 preached in the Old Jewry ; viz. — " Natural religion 
 is the only foundation upon which revelation can be 
 supported, and which must be understood before any 
 man is capable of judging either of the nature or 
 evidence of Christianity ; and I am persuaded that it 
 is to the want of a due knowledge of the first prin- 
 ciples of all religion that those mistakes about the 
 Christian are owing, which have obscured the sim- 
 plicity of it, and prejudiced many against entertain- 
 ing and believing it. If natural religion is not part 
 of the religion of Christ, it is scarcely worth while 
 to inquire what his religion is. If it be, then the 
 preaching natural religion is preaching Christ. The 
 religion of Christ must be understood before it can, 
 or ought to, be believed ; and it must be proved to 
 be a consistent and rational religion, before men can 
 be under any obligation to receive it. And, indeed, 
 
 n n 
 
282 CONCLUSION. 
 
 why should not every man insist upon those things? 
 The only consequence that I can imagine can flow 
 from it is, not that the cause of Christianity will 
 suffer, (for this will stand the test of the most impar- 
 tial inquiry,) but that the rigid directors of the faith 
 and consciences of men will lose their authority ; and 
 human schemes and creeds, that have been set up in 
 room of Christianity, will fall into the contempt they 
 so justly deserve. It is my hearty prayer to the 
 Father of lights and the God of truth, that all human 
 authority in matters of faith may come to a full end ; 
 and that every one, who hath reason to direct him and 
 a soul to be saved, may be his own judge in every 
 thing that concerns his eternal welfare, without any 
 prevailing regard to the dictates of fallible men, or 
 fear of their peevish and impotent censures." 
 
 If what this rational divine says be true, — namely, 
 that the preaching natural religion is preaching 
 Christ, and that, if natural religion be not his reli- 
 gion, it is not worth our while to inquire what his 
 religion is ; and farther, that the religion of Christ 
 must be understood before it can, or ought to, be be- 
 lieved, and must be proved to be a consistent and 
 rational religion, before men can be under any obli- 
 gation to receive it ; I say, if all this be true, then 
 surely the supernatural and super-rational parts of 
 the New Testament cannot be parts of the religion of 
 Christ, as they cannot possibly belong to, or be parts 
 of, the religion of nature and reason. 
 
 Thus, I hope, I have proved that our present 
 translation of the New Testament may be erroneous; 
 and that neither the writers nor translators of it were 
 
CONCLUSION. 283 
 
 at all times under the influence of divine inspiration ; 
 that therefore they may, at least, have been mistaken ; 
 and farther, that it is possible some of the copiers 
 and translators, at least, may have intended to per- 
 plex mankind with unreasonable propositions and 
 doctrines, in order to raise their own consequence, or 
 to promote their own interest. I hope I have also 
 made it appear, that mysteries can be no part of the 
 religion of Christ ; that they cannot influence our 
 conduct ; and, therefore, that they cannot be given by 
 God to his creatures, as a religious rule, to answer 
 the benevolent purpose of making them happy. If 
 this be true, it will appear that all the mysterious 
 and super -rational doctrines of the New Testament 
 were, very probably, of human invention ; and, if so, 
 that they can be no proper foundation for church- 
 power: and farther, that it must be impious for 
 priests to claim, from such doctrines, a right to direct 
 the consciences of men, and to boast that they re- 
 ceived such right from heaven. I have dwelt the 
 longer upon this part of my subject, as mysteries 
 have been, in all ages, the foundation of priestcraft, 
 and, in the result, the bane of civil as well as of reli- 
 gious liberty. If men be not allowed to judge for 
 themselves in the momentous concerns of religion, 
 what have they left them worth contending for? 
 What is there that can be held in competition with 
 this invaluable birth-right privilege? Civil liberty 
 is so intimately connected with religious, that they 
 generally stand and fall together ; and it is notorious 
 that in those states where religious liberty most 
 
 N n2 
 
284 CONCLUSION. 
 
 prevails, we find the greatest patriots, the truest 
 lovers of tLeir country, and the best men. 
 
 That mystery was, and is, and ever will be, the 
 foundation of priestcraft, is very evident. Priests 
 first persuade mankind that mystery is religion ; and 
 then they easily persuade them that their own under- 
 standings are insufficient to judge in religious con- 
 cerns, arid that we must apply to our spiritual guides 
 for assistance. That there were priests in the ear- 
 liest ages of the world, we learn from sacred as well 
 as profane history. These taught mankind to believe 
 that the practice of the moral virtues was insufficient 
 to please God ; and, in order to do this, they repre- 
 sented God as a being absolutely different from what 
 he appeared to them in his works. This was the 
 first, and indeed a very necessary, step for priests to 
 take, in order to secure their own power and influ- 
 ence : for, while God appeared to his rational crea- 
 tures to be an infinitely wise, powerful, and good 
 Being; the father, friend, and benefactor of the uni- 
 verse, who desired the happiness of his creatures, and 
 who created them for t iat end ; all which, by an 
 attentive survey of his works, men must believe him 
 to be : I say, while men continued to think of him in 
 this just and amiable light, they must believe that 
 the practice of true piety, of social virtue, and the 
 doing all in our power to promote universal happi- 
 ness, would be all that could be necessary to recom- 
 mend them to his favour. But this would by no 
 means answer the ends of the priests, and therefore 
 they soon undertook to give mankind a very different 
 representation of God, and to clothe him with almost 
 
CONCLUSION. 285 
 
 all the frailties of human nature, as may be seen in 
 the Old Testament; where he is spoken of as being 
 a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers on the 
 children, to the third and fourth generation ; as being 
 implacable, and that he would not be reconciled to 
 his creatures, nor accept of the most virtuous con- 
 duct, unless he was rendered propitious by sacrifices ; 
 and farther, that these sacrifices must be offered to 
 him by persons of his own appointment ; that they 
 only were to be honoured with this high prerogative ; 
 and that no others should dare to approach the divine 
 presence, or enter into the Holy of Holies.* With 
 such notions as these, and with others which were 
 equally injurious to the character of the infinitely- 
 perfect God, and which, out of reverence for the 
 Old Testament, I shall forbear to mention, were 
 mankind deluded ; and, as right notions of God would 
 naturally have led them to right action, so wrong 
 notions of him led them into most egregious error and 
 folly. 
 
 This was the case in the early ages of the world ; 
 and this was improved upon, till men sunk into such 
 ignorance of the divine Being and his attributes, that 
 they worshipped him under any form which the 
 priests recommended to them, or which the maddest 
 enthusiasm could devise. A dread of God's ven- 
 
 * Can such representations of God be dictated by himself? Can 
 reason and nature teach such absurd ideas of infinite perfection? 
 Surely no. To whom, then, shall we ascribe them but to the 
 priests of the Jews? And, after the Jewish priests, the Christian 
 priests adopted the same absurd and blasphemous ideas of the su- 
 preme Being. 
 
286 CONCLUSION. 
 
 geance totally extinguished all affection for him, and 
 the most horrid barbarities were practised in order 
 to appease the wrath of this cruel and implacable 
 being. 
 
 In this wretched state were mankind, when Christ 
 nobly undertook to turn them from darkness to light, 
 and from the power of sin and priestcraft to the pure 
 religion of nature and reason. Just and proper no- 
 tions of the one true God were again revived in the 
 world ; and the making his creatures happy was al- 
 lowed to be the surest way to please him. But this 
 was no sooner done than a new set of priests arose, 
 who, like their brethren of old, insisted on it, that 
 piety, social virtue, and good works, were insufficient 
 to obtain the favour of God ; and that men would be 
 punished with eternal death if they did not believe 
 what was really out of their power to understand. 
 Mysteries are still said to be religion, and we are 
 taught that the priests only can understand mysteries. 
 But I hope it has been made to appear that neither of 
 these propositions is true : and I also hope that, as 
 this is an affair of great consequence to mankind, I 
 shall be excused this long digression. 
 
 However, before I return to Mr. Locke, I must 
 add to what I have already said, that, if the transla- 
 tion of the New Testament is in many places erro- 
 neous, as numbers of learned divines allow it to be, 
 and that a better translation may be made, surely it 
 ought to be done. It is certainly the business of those 
 " who live of the Gospel" to preach it in its purity, 
 and to assist the English reader with a translation as 
 near to the genuine spirit and meaning of the original 
 
CONCLUSION. 287 
 
 as possible. Indeed, this would deprive some Chris- 
 tian divines of that pitiful resource, in any pressing 
 difficulty, of asserting that such and such passages 
 are translated wrong, and that they have a different 
 meaning in the original : this hath been very much 
 practised, and hath tended to lessen the credit of the 
 New Testament ; for surely this is proving too much, 
 and strengthening the hands of infidelity. A Deist 
 might naturally retort upon such Christian divines 
 the uncertainty of their revelation, as it now stands, 
 and the superior light of reason ; to which light the 
 Gospel must be held up, in order to distinguish error 
 and imposture from divine truth. If errors are ad- 
 mitted to be in the English translation of the New 
 Testament ; and if it is altered, as Mr. Nye says, " in 
 many places, and in some of the greatest moment ;" 
 Deists may justly boast that reason, which Mr. Locke 
 calls "the candle of the Lord," by far outshines the 
 light of the Gospel, at least as it stands in the English 
 translation. The bulk of the people, in this country, 
 cannot have recourse to the original purity of the 
 Gospel, but are obliged to take it as they find it ; and 
 yet they have souls to be saved, and an eternal hap- 
 piness to secure, as well as the learned. 
 
 Thus might a Deist argue, in order to lessen the 
 credit of the Gospel system, and to establish his own. 
 I wish this thought may rouze the heads of our uni- 
 versities, those fountains of learning, to an exertion 
 of their abilities in the support of that system by 
 which they enjoy their honours and their profits. 
 
 To say that there may be a more correct transla- 
 tion of the New Testament, and not to set about 
 
288 CONCLUSION. 
 
 making one, proves either that it is of no great im- 
 portance whether the vulgar understand it or not, as 
 the Papists assert, or else that the rendering it plain 
 and clear to the unlettered mind may prejudice the 
 power of the church, and loosen the fetters of priest- 
 craft ; that it would be drawing back the curtain 
 behind which divines hide themselves when hard 
 pressed, and prevent them from confounding the un- 
 learned reader with scraps of Greek, and from giving 
 him the sense of the original as best answers their 
 purpose. 
 
 If, as some say, ignorance is the mother of devo*- 
 tion, and the foundation of priestly power, it is no 
 wonder that things are left as we iind them, or that 
 they should be rendered, by craft, yet more unintel- 
 ligible to the vulgar. Be this as it may, I entertain a 
 pleasing consciousness that what I have ventured to 
 call the religion of Christ, namely, pure morality, 
 or the religion of nature, may very easily be under- 
 stood without a new translation, or without applying 
 to the priests to have it explained: and, as for the 
 other parts of the New Testament, which I have not a 
 capacity to understand,* I leave them to those who, 
 without understanding them, still make them a part 
 of their religion ; and I heartily recommend such per- 
 sons to the care of their spiritual guides. 
 
 I now return to take a farther view of Mr. Locke's 
 system: and here, I think, I should make some 
 
 * Neither do the most learned of the priests themselves appear 
 to understand them ; as, from the very earliest period of Christi- 
 anity, we find them continually disputing with and contradicting 
 each other on the mysterious parts of the New Testament. — Ed. 
 
 3 
 
CONCLUSION. 289 
 
 apology for attacking so great a name, and disputing 
 such authority as his is deemed to be. Locke's 
 Reasonableness of Christianity hath, for many years, 
 been looked upon as a very masterly performance ; 
 and he has been ranked among the most celebrated 
 defenders of the Gospel system upon principles of 
 reason. If he was so, or if this performance of his 
 hath proved the reasonableness of Christianity, I am 
 mistaken, and shall be obliged to any friend of this 
 great writer if he will condescend to set me right. 
 
 The Reasonableness of Christianity to be proved only 
 by its Morality. 
 
 If Mr. Locke, in order to show the reasonableness 
 of Christianity, as contained in the Scriptures, had 
 made choice of only the moral doctrines of Christ 
 and his apostles, no rational Christian could have 
 differed from him : but, to bring the mysterious 
 doctrines of the New Testament to prove the reason- 
 ableness of Christianity, when reason can have no 
 comprehension of such doctrines, is indeed very ex- 
 traordinary. 
 
 It is unreasonable to require the Belief of Mysteries. 
 
 The doctrines of original sin, the incarnation of 
 Christ, the redemption through his blood, and his 
 being the Messiah in the Gospel sense, are certainly 
 to be ranked among the mysteries of the New Testa- 
 ment. To make, then, the belief oi all these doctrines 
 necessary to salvation, as the church does, — or even 
 that of the last, as Mr. Locke does, — is extremely 
 surprising. 
 
 o o 
 
290 CONCLUSION. 
 
 By the term belief, I have always understood an 
 assent of the mind to the truth of any proposition, 
 upon sufficient evidence or testimony appearing, 
 after a candid and impartial examination of all its 
 circumstances.* The term belief, too, in my opinion, 
 always implies such an examination, and such an 
 appearance of truth ; for, to believe without examin- 
 ing is ridiculous, — it is not belief But whether, 
 upon such examination, truth does or does not ap- 
 pear, whether we believe or do not believe, virtue and 
 vice are quite out of the question ; nor does it appear 
 that either just discernment, or rational credence and 
 assent, can be necessary to our salvation. — The rea- 
 son is plain ; viz. — " The faculties may be so limited 
 as to be unable to trace the chain of intermediate 
 ideas, and afterwards clearly to perceive the propriety 
 of the conclusion." The proper, the only proper, 
 foundation of belief, must be an impartial examina- 
 tion, a great degree of probability, and hence, the 
 appearance of truth. The subject of our inquiry, 
 then, must be such as we can understand, and have 
 clear and distinct ideas of; otherwise we have no 
 foundation for belief Dr. Whitby, in his " Last 
 Thoughts, page 40, says, " Belief or disbelief can 
 neither be a virtue or a crime in any one who uses 
 the best means in his power to be informed. If a 
 proposition be evident, we cannot avoid believing it ; 
 and where then is the merit or piety of a necessary 
 as?ent? If it be not evident, we cannot help reject- 
 ing it, or doubting of it; and where is the crime of 
 
 * Mr. Locke was clearly of the same opinion. 
 
CONCLUSION.-^ 291 
 
 not performing impossibilites, or not believing what 
 does not appear to us to be true." 
 
 Dr. Benson says, " For, to believe without appre- 
 hending is to give your assent without ideas ; and 
 to assent without ideas, is to assent to nothing; and 
 to assent to nothing, is the same as not to assent at 
 all." If I remember right, these are the words of 
 this rational divine. If, then, what cannot be under- 
 stood cannot be believed, how unreasonable is it for 
 any church to require such belief, as necessary to sal- 
 vation ! The church of Rome hath a thousand times 
 been censured, by Protestants, for requiring the be- 
 lief of its mysteries and absurdities as necessary to 
 salvation ; yet what is there, among the tenets of the 
 church of Rome, more mysterious and unintelligible 
 than the creed of St. Athanasius ? 
 
 Mr. Locke does not insist on the belief of any doc- 
 trine as necessary to salvation, save that of Jesus's 
 being the Messiah. He says, page 195, " For that 
 this is the sole doctrine, pressed and required to be 
 believed, in the whole tenor of our Saviour's and his 
 apostles' preaching, we have showed through the 
 whole history of the Evangelists and the Acts. And 
 I challenge them (makers of systems) to show that 
 there was any other, upon their assent to which, or 
 disbelief of it, men were pronounced believers or un- 
 believers." Again, page 216, he says, '; The faith 
 required was to believe Jesus to be the Messiah, the 
 Anointed, who had been promised by God to the 
 world." Here again we may observe what a re- 
 markable difference there is between this great 
 w T riter's opinion and that of the established church ; 
 
 oo 2 
 
292 CONCLUSION. 
 
 from whence some of the theologists of the church 
 were offended with him ; and on this account he was 
 charged, by Mr. Edwards, with Socinianism. From 
 whence can arise this want of unanimity among 
 Christian writers, but from their not understanding 
 their subject? — But to proceed : In page 282 of this 
 tract Mr. Locke says, " The greatest part cannot 
 know, and therefore they must believe." I confess I 
 cannot understand Mr. Locke here, unless he means 
 that the greater part could not be eye-witnesses of 
 the miracles which were said to be wrought by Christ 
 in proof of his being the Messiah, and therefore they 
 must believe them, on the report of others, as an his- 
 torical fact. 
 
 It is necessary to our salvation, according to Mr. 
 Locke, that we should believe Jesus to be the Messiah. 
 Now, to believe Jesus to be the Messiah, in the 
 Scripture sense of the word, we must believe him to 
 be the Son of God, the King, the Lord and Saviour 
 of the world ; for these titles the Messiah bears in the 
 New Testament. How wretched, then, are those 
 who have heard the preaching of the Gospel, and yet, 
 after the best use of their faculties in an honest and 
 impartial inquiry after truth, cannot believe these 
 things ! According to the whole tenor of this treatise, 
 their sincerity, their good works, will avail them no- 
 thing ; and the best they are to expect from their 
 merciful Father is eternal death. 
 
 What can a man do more than make use of the 
 faculties which God hath given him, in a fair and 
 candid inquiry concerning this doctrine? If, after 
 all, he should not meet with sufficient evidence 
 
CONCLUSION. 293 
 
 whereon to found his belief, as was heretofore, doubt- 
 less, the case of many of the Jews, and is yet the 
 case of many good men under the Gospel, — yet, ac- 
 cording to Mr. Locke, they cannot be saved. — I 
 reverence Mr. Locke as a great author ; but am sorry 
 to find among his writings so unmerciful a pro- 
 position, whatever authority may be produced to 
 support it. 
 
 The church, (that is, the clergy,} with permission 
 of the state, requires our belief of many other doc- 
 trines, as necessary to salvation ; and, before all other 
 things, that we should believe the doctrine of the 
 Trinity. We are required to believe, not only that 
 Jesus is the Messiah, or Son of God, but also that 
 he is the very eternal God. Mr. Locke did not go so 
 far as this ; for, after he had done with his favourite 
 point, he says, in page 303, " The other parts of 
 divine revelation are objects of faith, and are so to 
 be received ;" and in the same page he says, " but 
 yet, a great many of the truths revealed in the Gos- 
 pel every one does and must confess a man may be 
 ignorant of, — nay disbelieve, — without danger to his 
 salvation." This is allowing a much greater latitude 
 than the church allows. But he goes farther yet, 
 and says, page 304, " Where, upon fair endeavours, 
 he understands it not, how can he avoid being igno- 
 rant? and, of course, how avoid having his opinion 
 suspended?' Here we at last agree, that believing, 
 disbelieving, and suspending our opinions, all depend 
 on fair inquiry, proper application, honest endeavours 
 after information ; and hence, in the final result, upon 
 
294 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the nature and quantity of evidence from thence 
 arising. 
 
 Now, I think, we may fairly suppose that this last- 
 mentioned argument of Mr. Locke's will hold good 
 with regard to all the doctrines of the New Testament ; 
 even to that particular one which he so much insists 
 on, — namely, the believing Jesus to be the Messiah : 
 and this is all I contend for. 
 
 Mr. Locke was certainly a true friend to reason, 
 and of course to natural religion. This very evi- 
 dently appears from what follows. 
 
 " Reason," says he, " is natural religion ; and 
 hereby the eternal Father of lights and Fountain of 
 all knowledge communicates to mankind that portion 
 of truth which he hath laid within the reach of their 
 natural faculties." Now, according to the rational 
 Bishop of Gloucester, according to reason, and, I 
 may add, according to common sense, whatever does 
 not lie within the reach of our natural faculties can- 
 not be understood, and, therefore, cannot be com- 
 municated by God to mankind. A supernatural 
 revelation (though a favourite phrase of Christian 
 divines) appears to me to be a contradiction in terms. 
 
 Having now done with Mr. Locke, I hope I shall 
 be excused if I add in this place what Cicero says 
 concerning the law of nature. " The law," says he,* 
 " is not a human invention, nor an arbitrary political 
 constitution : it is in its nature eternal and of uni- 
 versal obligation. The violence which Tarquin 
 
 Leg. lib. ii. 
 
CONCLUSION. 295 
 
 offered to Lucretia was a breach of this eternal law ; 
 and, though the Romans at that time might have no 
 written laws which condemned such kind of crimes, 
 his offence was not the less heinous. For this law of 
 reason did not then begin when it was first commit- 
 ted to writing. Its original is as ancient as the 
 divine mind ; for the true, primitive, and supreme, 
 law is no other than the unerring reason of the great 
 Jupiter. 1 ' In another place he says, " This law is 
 founded in nature; it is universal, immutable, and 
 eternal. It is subject to no change from any difference 
 of place or time; it extends invariably to all ages 
 and nations, like the sovereign dominion of that Being 
 who is the author of it." How excellent and forcible 
 is this reasoning, though in an Heathen ! How strong 
 a proof that the law of virtue was originally im- 
 planted in the minds of all intelligent beings, and 
 that the practice of virtue, and not believing or dis- 
 believing, will determine our present and future hap- 
 piness ! 
 
 But, as the term belief is often made use of in the 
 New Testament, I shall examine it farther, and en- 
 deavour to explain it agreeably to reason. 
 
 What is meant by believing in Christ. 
 
 Christ says to the Jews, " Ye believe in God, be- 
 lieve also in me ;" as if he had said, Ye believe in 
 God, and such belief is a proper foundation of true 
 religion : believe also in me; believe me when I tell 
 you that God expects you should fulfil the moral law, 
 or law of nature, as far as you are able ; that you are 
 to be just, charitable, and benevolent; and that he 
 
 8 
 
296 CONCLUSION. 
 
 will have mercy, and not [or, rather than] sacrifice. 
 He has hitherto accepted of your obedience to the 
 law of ceremonies, as well as of your conformity to 
 the law of righteousness, because you believed both 
 to be your duty : he has hitherto accepted of sacri- 
 fices and burnt offerings, as well as of that pure and 
 spiritual worship which proceeds from an upright 
 and pure heart, so far as you have been sincere, and 
 acted up to the dictates of your consciences and the 
 light \ou had. You believe that Moses, your great 
 law-giver, was commissioned by God to require of 
 you an obedience to the law of ceremonies, as well as 
 to the moral law ; and for this reason God hath ac- 
 cepted of your conformity to the former, as well as 
 the latter. Believe also in me : believe that I am 
 come to teach you the will of God, and to give you 
 a more complete system of morality than Moses ever 
 taught. I am not come to destroy the moral law, or 
 law of nature, but to republish it to you and to the 
 world ; to show you the whole of your duty, and what 
 God and nature require of you. The law of ceremo- 
 nies you may abolish ; but God requires the practice 
 of the law of virtue ; which law I have now under- 
 taken to teach you. Believe in me, then, so far as to 
 practise this law. 
 
 Something like this appears to me to be all that 
 Christ could mean by believing in him. Many of the 
 Jews saw the reasonableness of it, and did believe : 
 many others, perhaps full as honest, examined, and 
 we must charitably suppose to the best of their power, 
 but did not find sufficient evidence to induce them to 
 give up their expectations of a temporal king and 
 
 
CONCLUSION. 297 
 
 deliverer, which Moses and the prophets had raised 
 in their minds. Their opinion and conviction of the 
 certainty that their religion came from God were 
 very good reasons for their not renouncing it precipi- 
 tately, and ought to be a foundation for our exercising 
 charity towards them, and giving them fair and can- 
 did treatment, equally with every other sect. 
 
 But, as I have said before, bare believing carries in 
 it no merit ; because it is involuntary, and depends 
 on evidence. Indeed, consequentially or eventually, 
 it may be useful, but in no wise meritorious. Even 
 the belief of the being and attributes of God is not 
 meritorious, as it arises from the irresistible evidence 
 of his works : yet such belief must prove a most 
 powerful incitement to the virtuous, and a strong curb 
 on the vicious. The devils are said to believe and 
 tremble; yet no one ascribes any merit to them. 
 They believe, because they cannot help it. They have, 
 according to the Scripture account, unhappily felt the 
 power and correction of God's almighty arm ; and 
 therefore they believe and tremble. 
 
 The belief that will avail us any thing must be 
 the foundation of, and be accompanied with, good 
 works. Belief in God, or the having just and proper 
 notions of him and his attributes, is a very just and 
 proper foundation for the practice of virtue ; because, 
 from the knowledge of God's attributes, we perceive 
 the relations which we stand in to him and to one 
 another. This belief, and these just and proper no- 
 tions of God, can never be sufficiently inculcated by 
 those whose business it is to teach the practice of 
 virtue. Men are, indeed, required to believe ; and 
 
 pp 
 
298 CONCLUSION. 
 
 they say they do believe : but then it is a kind of be- 
 lief, an implicit assent, a sort of complaisant conces- 
 sion, or mechanical agreement, without rational 
 conviction, and which by no means influences their 
 practice, so as to be productive of a good life. We 
 are told by our church, and that under the most awful 
 injunctions, that we must believe the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, and many other mysterious and supernatural 
 doctrines. Upon this the ignorant, who are the 
 bulk of Christians, say they do believe ; and hence, I 
 suppose, they fancy that they do believe. However, 
 such belief can never be the consequence of clear 
 ideas of those doctrines, or the foundation of moral 
 practice; because the understanding and the heart 
 can have no share in such assent. 
 
 We are commanded to believe that the blood of 
 Christ will cleanse us from all our sins. But may 
 not that belief, and the dependence consequent 
 thereon, rather check, than incite to, virtuous actions. 
 If we believe that we are to be saved by the merits 
 of another, surely we have the less need of merit in 
 ourselves. Upon the whole, it appears to me that, 
 unless our belief be such as incites to, and produces, 
 the practice of virtue, we may as well be unbelievers, 
 for it will avail us nothing. 
 
 As far as the belief of any proposition or doctrine 
 tends to promote the practice of virtue and a good 
 life, so far it is good and useful. Indeed, if a man be 
 truly virtuous, it cannot be material by what name 
 he is called, — whether denominated a believer or an 
 unbeliever, a Jew, a Mahometan, a Deist, or a Chris- 
 tian. The term unbeliever can be no real reproach. 
 
CONCLUSION. 299 
 
 because it is made use of by all the religions in the 
 universe, and is the appellation which all the reli- 
 gionists and fiery zealots in the world bestow on those 
 who differ from them in religious matters. 
 
 Believing in God, or believing that there is a Being 
 of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, who made, 
 and who governs, this and every other world ; who 
 takes cognizance of the actions of his creatures, and 
 either rewards or punishes them in such a manner 
 that, upon the whole, universal happiness shall arise 
 out of his government ; I say, such a belief seems to 
 be a proper foundation of right action, or of the prac- 
 tice of virtue, without which practice mankind can- 
 not be happy. 
 
 It is said, (John, v. 24,) " Verily, verily I say unto 
 you, he that heareth my words, and believeth on him 
 that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
 into condemnation." In this citation we see that the 
 hearing the word of Christ, and the believing in 
 God, are made the terms of salvation. However, 
 this cannot mean barely hearing, or barely believing : 
 but, on the contrary, it considers both as great incite- 
 ments to the practice of virtue. This is sufficiently 
 explained by Christ, in his answer to the young man 
 who desired to know what he should do to inherit 
 eternal life: Christ says nothing to him about be- 
 lieving or disbelieving : it was the practice of the 
 moral virtues that was to give him his title to ever- 
 lasting felicity : nothing short of this would answer 
 his purpose ; nothing was to be held in competition 
 with it. His riches and great possessions were to be 
 sacrificed at the shrine of virtue, and be made useful 
 
 pp2 
 
300 CONCLUSION. 
 
 to his fellow-creatures, before he could receive the 
 reward of eternal life. 
 
 The practice of virtue, or the discharge of the 
 duties which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our 
 fellow-creatures, is required of us by Christ, as well 
 as by reason and nature : but to require the belief of 
 any doctrine as necessary to salvation, is surely very 
 extraordinary, for reasons given in the preceding 
 pages. If we have sufficient evidence, we cannot 
 help believing ; such belief, therefore, is not merito- 
 rious : if we have not sufficient evidence, or do not 
 understand the object, (as must be the case in every 
 thing mysterious and above the reach of our capa- 
 cities,) it is impossible we should believe; and to 
 suppose that God can require impossibilities is gla- 
 ringly absurd. Where Athanasins could learn his 
 creed, or how our church could be induced to pay to 
 that of Rome the egregious compliment of adopting 
 it, is, I must confess, past my understanding.* 
 
 Whatever frail fallible men may do, or whatever 
 any church or collected body of men may do, a God 
 of infinite wisdom and mercy will not, — nay cannot, 
 — require of us, in belief or practice, more than in 
 proportion to the abilities and powers which he hath 
 given us. 
 
 I have endeavoured, for the honour of Christianity, 
 to divest it of the mask with which bigotry and en- 
 thusiasm have disguised it ; and to defend it on 
 principles of reason — its best and surest defence. 
 
 * And I firmly believe that this creed is past the understanding 
 of any human being, even of the priests themselves, who say that 
 they believe it. — Editor. 
 
CONCLUSION. 301 
 
 I have laboured to prove, and I hope I have proved, 
 that the religion taught by Christ and his apostles 
 was the pure religion of nature ; and that it is con- 
 sonant to reason, and to our most approved concep- 
 tions of the divine nature. 
 
 The eternal God, whom I humbly adore, knows 
 that I have employed the faculties he hath given me 
 in an honest and impartial inquiry after truth ; " the 
 truth as it is in Him." If it be elevated above the 
 reach of these faculties, I must remain in ignorance ; 
 but I cannot, on that account, be the object of God's 
 displeasure. I know that I am fallible, and liable to 
 error : I therefore dictate to none ; but earnestly re- 
 commend to every man to judge for himself, and to 
 listen to the dictates of his own conscience. 
 
 It appears to me that nature and conscience dictate 
 and discover to us the relations we stand in to God 
 and to our fellow-creatures ; and reason points out 
 the duties which flow from these relations. Now, 
 these duties appear to be piety towards God, and 
 universal charity and benevolence towards mankind. 
 From the performance of these duties will arise our 
 own happiness ; and, therefore, it farther appears that 
 the love of God, and of our fellow-creatures, are inse- 
 parably connected with that first and most evident 
 principle of nature — the love of ourselves. All 
 these seem to be interwoven with our very frame, by 
 the Author of our being. This communication of 
 God originally to the human heart, I think, we may 
 style natural religion. If there are any other rela- 
 tions, or any other duties, I confess I am unacquainted 
 with them : I think there can be no other ; and I also 
 
 3 
 
302 CONCLUSION. 
 
 think that these are clearly discoverable by the light 
 of nature only, and that a supernatural revelation is, 
 as I said before, a manifest contradiction. 
 
 The moral doctrines and precepts of Christ and his 
 apostles appear to me to be a fair and perfect tran- 
 script of this divine original ; and, therefore, I style 
 these, and these only, the religion of Christ, or Chris- 
 tianity : and, for this reason also, I look on it to be 
 the only true toritten revelation of God's will to man- 
 kind, amongst all the various revelations, or what are 
 so called, in the world. 
 
 Every Sect pretends that its Religion is from God. 
 
 I am sensible that the advocates of every other re- 
 ligion make the same pretensions ; but I deny that 
 any, I am yet acquainted with, have equal proof of 
 the divinity of their system with the votaries of the 
 moral doctrines and precepts of Jesus Christ. But 
 here I would be understood not to take into this ac- 
 count those who profess only the religion of nature, 
 who practise the duties prescribed by their own con- 
 sciences, and have not joined themselves to any par- 
 ticular communion or sect : these cannot be wrong if 
 they are sincere ; because conscience will always be 
 a safe and unerring guide in all religious concerns, 
 and reason " the only proper test of religious truth." 
 But let us examine this matter a little farther, and 
 then conclude. 
 
 The advocates of every sect allow that there is but 
 one true religion in the world; and, notwithstanding 
 that such an assertion reflects highly on the justice 
 and goodness of the Supreme Being, they still assert 
 
CONCLUSION. 303 
 
 that theirs is this true religion, and that they only are 
 in possession of this invaluable jewel, this pearl of 
 great price. 
 
 Now, if it be allowed that there is but one true re- 
 ligion intended by God for universal use, it certainly 
 is the principal business of every one to find it out 
 and embrace it : but, in order to do this, and to dis- 
 tinguish the gold from the dross, we should candidly 
 and impartially examine the pretensions of every re- 
 ligious sect throughout the known world : a task 
 extremely difficult, if not impossible to be performed ; 
 and therefore, I presume, w r as never attempted. 
 There are very few who have had the ability and the 
 opportunity to examine many, amongst the almost 
 numberless religious systems which have obtained in 
 the world : however, those within our reach it certainly 
 is our duty to examine. But, before we begin this 
 important inquiry, it will be necessary to do two 
 things : first, to divest ourselves, as much as possible, 
 of any prejudices we may have imbibed for the reli- 
 gion we were educated in, that we may examine the 
 religion of our own country with the same candour 
 and impartiality with which we examine that of 
 others : next, we should Hx in our own minds some 
 certain marks or characteristics of a true religion ; 
 for, without previously doing these two things, our 
 examination will be useless, and not answer the pur- 
 pose intended by it. 
 
 We begin then ; and, in order to collect all the 
 assistance we can, we extend our inquiries to the 
 professors of each religion, and we soon find that they 
 all pretend to the seal of heaven, the certain criterion 
 
304 conclusion. 
 
 of a religion's coming from God, and that all others 
 are false and counterfeit ; and, what is worthy of re- 
 mark, the principal and distinguishing characteristics 
 of divinity, in almost all of them, we find to be that 
 of 'miracles; which, by the bye, seems to be an ar- 
 gument that miracles, or histories of miracles, will 
 ever be an insufficient proof of the truth of any reli- 
 gion ; especially if we consider that God is said some- 
 times to have permitted miracles to be wrought even 
 by. the agency of evil spirits. 
 
 Still remaining in doubt and uncertainty, and find- 
 ing the face of the earth overspread, like a deluge, 
 with ignorance, superstition, enthusiasm, bigotry, 
 priestcraft, and self -inter est, we return, like the dove 
 into the ark, without finding where to rest the soles 
 of our feet. From without we gain no information in 
 regard to this important inquiry ; our guides either 
 not knowing the way themselves, or refusing to lead 
 others into it. 
 
 Being thus come back again to the place from 
 whence we set out, we naturally reason with ourselves 
 in this manner: If God hath given a religion to 
 mankind, to be the universal rule of their conduct, 
 and if no individual can attain eternal happiness 
 without knowing and embracing it,* surely it is the 
 business of every man to examine and judge for him- 
 self, and not one for an other; because no one can 
 become accountable for the opinions and actions of 
 another, nor indeed would take them on himself, if 
 able so to do: besides, it would be a more trifling 
 
 * A tenet of the Romish, as well as of some other, churches. 
 
CONCLUSION. 305 
 
 excuse to say, My priest told me I should believe this, 
 or do this, and I did it, than that made by Adam for 
 his eating the forbidden fruit. What can we then 
 conclude, but that, if there be any certain, unerring, 
 heaven-appointed, guide to man, it must be his own 
 conscience ? " Let us commune, then, with our own 
 hearts, and be still :" let us cease our inquiries from 
 men, who are all, like ourselves, liable to error: let 
 us depend no longer on the opinions of others, but 
 open the book of nature, read the page there presented 
 to us, and drink of the pure stream from the foun- 
 tain of truth, uncorrupted by ignorance, bigotry, or 
 interested priestcraft. Let us turn our thoughts in- 
 ward, and ask ourselves seriously, Whether it be 
 probable that God has given to mankind any toritten 
 revelation immediately from himself, and under his 
 special and particular direction ; in doing which he 
 effectually restrained the publishers, transcribers, or 
 translators, of it from blending any of their own opi- 
 nions and sentiments with the pure and perfect word 
 thus delivered to them? Will not our consciences 
 answer, that it is highly probable no such written 
 revelation has been made? Arid for this reason, 
 among many others, namely, — that such a revelation 
 must be necessary to the happiness of mankind, or 
 God would not have made it : if necessary for any, 
 then for all ; and it is inconsistent with all our ideas 
 of the justice and goodness of the Parent of mankind, 
 to suppose that he would not make it universal. It 
 would be a reflection on the moral character of the 
 Deity, to suppose one individual of the human race 
 to be so unhappily circumstanced, as to have no 
 
 Qq 
 
806 CONCLUSION. 
 
 opportunity of knowing and embracing the only reli- 
 gion by which he could attain eternal happiness. 
 
 Again, if such a revelation had been made to man- 
 kind, it would have been most certainly distinguished 
 from all pretended revelations, by some obvious ex- 
 ternal marks and tokens of a divine original ; not by 
 a pillar of fire or of smoke, to direct one nation only ; 
 but such as would attract the notice, and fix the opi- 
 nions, of mankind universally, and be to them all an 
 infallible guide, through the wilderness of this world, 
 to a state of perfect and consummate happiness. 
 
 But farther, such a revelation would also, most 
 certainly, have some internal marks of divinity. We 
 may reasonably suppose, first, that it would be plain, 
 clear, and intelligible, suited to all situations of time 
 and place, and to the meanest as well as the most 
 enlarged capacity : it would want no comments, no 
 paraphrases, no explanations ; for can we suppose 
 that, when God speaks to his creatures, he would do 
 it in a language which they could not understand ? 
 or that He who formed the power of conception in the 
 human mind should ever stand in need of an inter- 
 preter? Surely no. Secondly, we may reasonably 
 suppose that the doctrines of such a revelation would 
 be pure, unmixed with perplexing mysteries or use- 
 less ceremonies, and that its precepts would contain 
 the most sublime morality, the practice of which 
 would have a direct tendency to promote universal 
 happiness. 
 
 Finally, such a religion would most certainly ap- 
 prove itself to the consciences of every individual of 
 the human race, by being a perfect copy from that 
 
CONCLUSION. 307 
 
 perfect original, the religion of reason and nature ; 
 to which nothing can be added, by man, that would 
 improve it ; nothing blended with it, but what would 
 prove an alloy, and lessen its intrinsic value. 
 
 The religion of nature, then, is the standard by 
 which we should measure the merits of all other re- 
 ligions ; and that which approaches nearest to the 
 purity and perfection of this, we should esteem the 
 best : and, if we look on established religion as use- 
 ful, political, and productive of order in society, we 
 should (if for the sake of example only) join our- 
 selves to that which our conscience thus recom- 
 mends. 
 
 It appears to me that the pure and genuine religion 
 of Christ, unadulterated, has the fairest claim to our 
 regard, upon the principles before established : but, 
 by the religion of Christ, I would always be under- 
 stood to mean his moral doctrines and precepts ; and 
 therefore I earnestly recommend, that we make use of 
 our reason to distinguish those parts of Christianity 
 w T hich are agreeable to nature and to what God has 
 written in our hearts, from those parts which, for 
 many reasons given in these pages, must be the in- 
 ventions of men, whatever we may be required to 
 believe concerning them. 
 
 The Author has made choice of this; still rejecting 
 the mysterious Parts, as not being the true Religion 
 of Christ. 
 
 The moral doctrines and precepts of Christ are 
 exactly such as nature teaches; such as my conscience 
 
 Qq2 
 
308 CONCLUSION. 
 
 approves ; and therefore 1 prefer his* religion to any 
 other established religion that I am acquainted with. 
 I reverence the character of Christ, and endeavour 
 to practise his precepts, because my conscience tells 
 me that they are reasonable, natural, and productive 
 of human felicity ; and for this reason I denominate 
 myself 
 
 A RATIONAL CHRISTIAN. 
 
 * The author of this work supposes, all along, that the reli- 
 gion of Christ is to be learned from our present English translation 
 of the New Testament ; and, therefore, should any person think it 
 worth while, by way of finding fault, to tell him that he has mis- 
 taken the sense of various passages, from his want of a competent 
 knowledge of the Hebrew or Greek language, it will certainly ap- 
 pear to be a reflection on the copiers and translators of this divine 
 volume, but not an answer to, or reflection on, his work ; and to 
 such no other reply will be made than this : namely, If the tran- 
 slation be reaily so defective, that a mere English reader cannot 
 learn his duty from it, why have we not a better? If it should be 
 said farther, that the true spirit and meaning of the original cannot 
 be carried into the English tongue, it would be like asserting that 
 the New Testament was the word of God in Hebrew or Greek, but 
 that we cannot have it so in English. This carries the reflection 
 still higher, and cannot deserve any reply at all. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 OF A FUTURE STATE OF RETRIBUTION. 
 
 After the preceding work was nearly printed off, a 
 judicious friend of mine observed to me, that, though 
 I had all along supposed and allowed the doctrine of 
 a future state of retribution, yet I had hardly taken a 
 step to prove it to be a natural doctrine, which it was 
 certainly my business to do : for that, as it is a doc- 
 trine expressly taught by Christ and his apostles, and 
 as I had presumed that the religion of Christ was 
 the religion of nature revived and republished to the 
 world, I ought surely to offer some arguments to 
 prove that this doctrine is not peculiar to Christianity, 
 as many have asserted, but that it is a part of the 
 primitive religion, revealed by God himself to man- 
 kind.* I was greatly obliged to my friend for the 
 
 * We do not find that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul 
 was established in any one of the books attributed to Moses. It 
 appears that it was during the Babylonish captivity that the Jews 
 learnt the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, taught by 
 Zoroaster to the Persians, but which the Hebrew legislator did not 
 know, or at least he left his people ignorant of it. How, then, are 
 the Christians able to reconcile the utility or the necessity of the 
 doctrine of another life with the profound silence that this legislator 
 of the Jews, inspired by the Divinity, has kept upon an article that 
 they believe so important? The Pharisees, who were Christ's 
 greatest enemies and persecutors, believed in the doctrine of the 
 resurrection and a future state : the Sadducees did not. — Editor. 
 
310 APPENDIX. 
 
 hint, though it came too late for me to place the 
 chapter in that part of the work where I wished to 
 have had it ; namely, — the second in the first Book 
 of Moral Duties, immediately following that on the 
 Being and Attributes of God. For, though neither of 
 these chapters appertain absolutely to morality, yet the 
 former appears to be the ground-work and foundation 
 of it, and the latter to be the ultimate view of, and 
 a very powerful incentive to, right action. Both these 
 doctrines, if duly considered, will naturally have a 
 very great effect on our conduct, and will also tend to 
 promote the happiness of all good men, even in this 
 world. 
 
 The thought of a future state, where virtue will be 
 rewarded, and vice punished, — where all the seeming 
 difficulties, which appear to us in this life, will be 
 cleared up and reconciled, and the apparent unequal 
 distributions of good and evil be accounted for, and 
 be balanced by infinite wisdom and goodness, — is 
 certainly a most pleasing reflection to the virtuous 
 man, and will powerfully support him under the most 
 pressing evils of this life. Without this cheering 
 prospect, and that inward satisfaction which arises in 
 the breast of a good man on a review of his actions, 
 (which inward satisfaction may probably be greatly 
 increased by the prospect of a future state ;) I say, 
 without this prospect, the good man might readily 
 believe that the children of this world were not only 
 wiser, but also happier, in their generation, than the 
 children of light, and be tempted almost to renounce 
 the precepts of virtue. 
 
 The doctrine of a future state of retribution is 
 
APPENDIX. 31 1 
 
 certainly of the greatest importance to mankind;* 
 and I shall endeavour to prove it to be taught in the 
 religion of nature, by three different arguments. 
 
 First, — From our natural notions of God and his 
 attributes, his wisdom, his goodness, and his absolute 
 impartiality. 
 
 Secondly, — From the natural feelings and desire* 
 of mankind :+ and, 
 
 Thirdly, — From that knowledge of it, which it is 
 evident the sages of antiquity had, long before the 
 appearance of Christ in the world. J 
 
 First, then, I am to prove that the doctrine of a 
 future state was a natural doctrine, from our natural 
 notions of God and his attributes ; from his wisdom, 
 his goodness, and his absolute impartiality. 
 
 If the doctrine of a future state so evidently affects 
 the moral conduct of mankind, and is of such great 
 consequence to their happiness, as the Gospel teaches, 
 and as we naturally suppose it to be, it will certainly 
 appear to have always been of the same importance, 
 and that, therefore, the kind Parent of the universe, 
 
 * This doctrine is certainly made of the greatest importance to 
 mankind by their priests, who, I firmly believe, from this doctrine 
 alone, have acquired all their power and influence over the human 
 mind during this life. — Editor. 
 
 f The natural feelings and desires of all mankind are to be 
 powerful, rich, and happy, during their existence on earth; but this 
 is no proof that they do enjoy them. All men desire to live for 
 ever: therefore, say the partisans of a future state, they will live 
 for ever — Editor. 
 
 X I cannot learn from whence the sages of antiquity derived their 
 knowledge of a future state, any more thau the sages of the present 
 dav.— Editor. 
 
§12 APPENDIX. 
 
 who is no respecter of persons, and who certainly 
 desires the happiness of all, did most clearly reveal it 
 to mankind in the early ages of the world ; though 
 we cannot readily account how it came to be so ob- 
 scured, that none, but a few philosophers and sages, 
 appear to have known any thing about it at the advent 
 of Christ : neither can we account how this important 
 doctrine should be unknown to Moses ; or, at least, 
 thought of so little consequence by him, that he made 
 it no part of the Jewish religion ; and on the truth of 
 which the New Testament is said to be founded. 
 But an attempt to account for every thing would be 
 vain and fruitless. Perhaps it is impossible for God 
 himself to give free beings a religious system that 
 would operate so powerfully, and so affect their ac- 
 tions, as to produce universal happiness, without 
 destroying their freedom. I therefore suppose that 
 God originally gave mankind those laws which, every 
 circumstance considered, were best suited to promote 
 their happiness both here and hereafter : for, other- 
 wise, he would appear to be less wise, as well as less 
 benevolent, than we have reason to believe him to be, 
 and would have acted inconsistent with infinite per- 
 fection ; for, as human nature will still be human 
 nature, and as nothing can arise in the frame and 
 constitution of man which was not originally known 
 to God, — nothing that could any way vary the rela- 
 tion we stand in to him and to one another, — so we 
 may reasonably suppose that the laws which he ori- 
 ginally gave to mankind were the best that could be 
 given, and such as could never need alteration or 
 amendment : for, if we admit the contrary of this, 
 
 3 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 13 
 
 we know not where to stop, but may be in constant 
 expectation of new systems of laws from God to the 
 end of the world. The rule which God originally 
 gave man for his conduct in life was, most certainly, 
 a perfect rule, and calculated to promote universal 
 happiness, as far as such a world, and such beings as 
 we are, could admit of; and nothing was withheld 
 from man which was suitable to his nature, and con- 
 ducive to this end. Now, the belief of a future state 
 of retribution being a very powerful incentive to vir- 
 tue, we must suppose that the infinitely wise and 
 good God did communicate this doctrine to mankind, 
 and that it was a part of the religion of nature, 
 which God originally impressed upon the human heart, 
 or some other way communicated to the first parents 
 of the human race, and which Christ revived and re- 
 published to the world. But, as I have said above, 
 it is highly probable that no system of religion can be 
 given to mankind which would make them all good 
 and happy, unless it was attended with a power that 
 would destroy their freedom, and make them a differ- 
 ent sort of creatures from what they are at present. 
 Mankind appear to be now what they have always 
 been, and probably always wall be, — some good and 
 some bad, some wise and some foolish, some happy 
 and some unhappy : and it farther appears to us, that 
 this short period of our existence is only preparatory 
 to a future one, where the wise and good will be re- 
 warded, greatly above their desert, through the infi- 
 nite mercy of God ; and where the foolish and wicked 
 will be punished, in such manner as God, in his most 
 perfect wisdom, knows will be most productive of 
 
B14 APPENDIX. 
 
 happiness upon the whole. God punishes in the 
 character of a parent, and, therefore, it is highly pro- 
 bable that he does it with an intention to reform, to 
 cure, and, in the final event of things, to make all his 
 intelligent creatures happy : for that the punishments 
 of God cannot be eternal has, I hope, been shewn 
 under the article Punishment ; to which many other 
 arguments might be added. But to return. 
 
 Secondly, I am to prove that the doctrine of a fu- 
 ture state was originally taught mankind by God, 
 from our natural feelings and desires. This argu- 
 ment I have touched upon under the article Content- 
 ment ; to which I shall here add, that, if this were to 
 be our only state of existence, we may reasonably 
 suppose that God, who in infinite mercy placed us here, 
 would have made it a state of greater happiness than 
 it now, in general, appears to be ; for, barely to give 
 this life, under all its circumstances, without giving 
 with it a prospect of a better, would be, to a great part 
 of mankind, a gift unworthy of God, and inconsistent 
 with infinite benevolence. 
 
 If we do but retain in our minds this truth, viz. — 
 that God made man in order to render him, upon the 
 whole, a happy being, we shall certainly conclude 
 that he made him for some other state besides this. 
 If this was to have been our only state of existence, 
 all our concerns would properly have centred here, 
 and it is highly probable we should have had no idea 
 of any other ; as such ideas would tend to lessen our 
 attachment to this, and make us less anxious about 
 our happiness here. 
 
 To implant, or indeed to permit, strong appre- 
 
APPENDIX. -315 
 
 hensions of a future state to take place in the human 
 mind, if there was no future state, would be incon- 
 sistent with divine wisdom and goodness ; and the 
 actions of men would, in some measure, be influenced 
 and governed by a deception. 
 
 Thirdly and lastly, I am to prove the doctrine of a 
 future state to be a branch of natural religion, and 
 not peculiar to Christianity, from that knowledge of 
 it which the sages of antiquity had, long before 
 Christ made his appearance in the world. 
 
 The great Mr. Addison puts this sentiment into the 
 mouth of Cato, who, on reading a tract which Plato 
 had written on the immortality of the soul, appears 
 to be convinced by his reasonings, and had his con- 
 viction strongly confirmed by his own natural feelings 
 and desires, which are finely expressed in the follow- 
 ing words : — " It must be so.— Plato, thou reason'st 
 well: — else, whence this pleasing hope, this fond 
 desire, this longing after immortality? Or whence 
 this secret dread and inward horror of falling into 
 nought? Why shrinks the soul back on herself, and 
 startles at destruction ? 'Tis the Divinity that stirs 
 within us ; 'tis Heaven itself that points out an here- 
 after, and intimates eternity to man." 
 
 Wise and considerate men have doubtless had, in 
 all ages, such feelings, such desires, such longings 
 after immortality; and from these, joined to their 
 ideas of God, the contemplation of their own beings, 
 and the apparent unequal distribution of happiness and 
 misery in this life, they believed in a future state of re- 
 tribution. Could all this be a deception, a lie? Surely 
 
 Rr2 
 
816 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 God would not permit his creatures to be thus de- 
 ceived. 
 
 That able advocate for rational Christianity, Dr. 
 Leland, agrees with me that the doctrine of a future 
 state was believed and taught in the earliest ages of 
 the world ; and I am highly pleased that I can back 
 my own opinion with the authority of so celebrated a 
 writer. I am proud of being engaged in the same 
 cause with him, — namely, that of vindicating rational 
 Christianity ; and still more so to find that, in gene- 
 ral, we agree. 
 
 This judicious divine, in his justly-celebrated work 
 lately published, under the title of " The Advantage 
 and Necessity of the Christian Revelation," says, 
 " That some notions of a future state did obtain 
 among mankind from the earliest ages, and were pro- 
 bably a part of the primitive religion communicated 
 to mankind by God himself; but that these traditions 
 became gradually obscured." See his chapter on a 
 Future State, page 303, vol. ii. Again, in page 310, 
 he says, " The most reasonable account which can 
 be given of the early and universal spreading of the 
 doctrine of a future state among the nations is, that 
 it was part of the primitive religion, communicated 
 to the first parents and ancestors of the human race, 
 and which came originally by divine revelation, and 
 was from them transmitted to their posterity." In 
 page 311, he says, " Since, therefore, it cannot be 
 denied that some notions of a future state obtained 
 very early in the world, and spread very generally 
 among mankind ; and since there is little likelihood 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 that men, in those first ages, came to the knowledge 
 of it in the way of reasoning and abstracted specu- 
 lation ; it is most reasonable to resolve it into a 
 primitive universal tradition, derived from the first 
 ages." 
 
 In the Doctor's Preface to the second volume of 
 this work, he says, " Some learned persons seem not 
 willing to admit that the main principles of religion 
 and morality were originally communicated by 
 divine revelation to the first parents of mankind, 
 and from them conveyed by tradition to their pos- 
 terity." 
 
 Why this should not be admitted by the advocates 
 of natural religion, I confess I know not : for, what- 
 ever way God took to make discoveries of himself to 
 mankind, or to communicate to them a knowledge of 
 the relation they stood in to him and to each other, 
 and of the duties arising out of these relations, still, 
 I think, it may, with great propriety, be styled a di- 
 vine revelation. In whatever way God was pleased 
 to reveal himself to our first parents, he certainly 
 gave them a religion suited to their natures, and of 
 which they could discover, by the use of their reason, 
 that the practice would be conducive to their im- 
 provement in knowledge, in virtue, and in happiness ; 
 and this surely might be called a divine communica- 
 tion of natural religion. Even supposing that, with 
 some Deists, we ascribe the knowledge of God, and 
 the whole of our duty, to a due use of our rational 
 faculties, and that mankind attained this knowledge 
 by abstract reasoning and speculation ; yet still, as 
 
318 APPENDIX. 
 
 God is the author of those faculties, and we are 
 obliged to him for the use of them, it may very pro- 
 perly be said that he originally communicated the 
 knowledge of himself and of religion to man- 
 kind. 
 
 Whether the great Author of our beings originally 
 impressed those ideas on the human heart ; or whe- 
 ther he gave men reasoning powers, that they might 
 contemplate his works, and so be naturally led up to 
 a knowledge of their Maker, their relation, and their 
 duties ; still these must all be acknowledged to be 
 divine revelation. Indeed, Lord Bolingbroke, in the 
 fourth volume of his works, page 276, edit. 4th, calls 
 it natural revelation, and says, " it produces a series 
 of intuitive knowledge from the first principles to 
 the last conclusions." For my part, I have every 
 where supposed the law of nature to be the law of 
 God, and the religion of nature the religion of God ; 
 and it appears to me to be a nice and unnecessary 
 distinction. 
 
 I entirely agree with the learned Doctor Leland, 
 " that there was an universal religion which had ob- 
 tained from the beginning ; and that it may be traced 
 up to the first parents of the human race, to whom it 
 was communicated by the wise Author of their be- 
 ings," (page 82 and &3 of his first volume) : to 
 which I add, that the doctrine -of a future state of 
 retribution, with every thing else necessary or advan- 
 tageous for mankind to know, was included in this 
 original religion. 
 
 This learned divine farther allows, that this doc- 
 3 
 
APPENDIX. 81$ 
 
 trine of a future state, which I am now considering, 
 was believed and taught by Pythagoras, Socrates, 
 Plato, and others. It appears that these three stead- 
 fastly believed the immortality of the soul ; and very 
 few have doubted but that they did believe, as well 
 as teach, it to be a thing of the greatest certainty. I 
 think the Doctor has clearly shewn this in his work: 
 and yet, in the same work, he says, that the best of 
 them did not pretend to a full certainty about it. I 
 am sorry when I am obliged to differ from this most 
 excellent author : yet I must own that I think the 
 Uncertainty expressed by those philosophers was not 
 about the real existence of the soul alter death, but 
 about the mode of its existence, and about the nature 
 and extent of the rewards of good men in a future 
 state ; and this appears to me even from a passage 
 which the Doctor has produced to prove this uncer- 
 tainty, (as to the soul's immortality). Plato repre- 
 sents Socrates as saying, " But know assuredly that 
 I hope I am going to good men ; though this [ would 
 not take upon me peremptorily to assert : but that I 
 shall go to the gods, this (if I can affirm any thing of 
 this kind) I would certainly affirm." See page 345 
 of the Doctor's second volume. 
 
 This was a very modest and proper way of speak- 
 ing about such things: and he intimates, in the 
 conclusion of the same speech, that no man of un- 
 derstanding would be positive. Now, after all that 
 was taught by Socrates concerning this doctrine, and 
 the apparent belief of it which ran through his whole 
 conduct, I think we may determine that he was un- 
 
320 APPENDIX. 
 
 der no doubt about a future existence ; but that he 
 did not choose to affirm any thing particular as to the 
 mode of that existence, or as to the nature and extent 
 of future rewards. 
 
 Mr. Addison adopts the same modest method of 
 speaking in the celebrated speech of Cato before 
 mentioned ; and yet, taking the whole of it together, 
 it expresses a certainty of the soul's future existence, 
 and a doubt only as to the mode of that existence. — 
 " If there's a power above ; and that there is, all 
 nature cries aloud through all her works," &c. He 
 before appears to be quite convinced of the soul's 
 immortality, from Plato's reasoning and his own feel- 
 ings ; and, in contemplating this eternal existence, 
 he says, " Through what variety of untried beings, 
 through what new scenes and changes, must we 
 pass? The wide, th' unbounded, prospect lies before 
 me : but shadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon 
 it :" as I believe they do with every man, even now, 
 when he contemplates eternity. Cato, also, from a 
 survey of the works of God, seems convinced that He 
 must be a being who delights in virtue, and will 
 reward it with happiness. " But when, or where]" 
 Here his doubts were expressed ; and, as if satisfied 
 that the moment his soul was loosened from his body 
 all these difficulties would be solved, he goes on, 
 " This shall end them :" end all his doubts and con- 
 jectures as to the time, the place, the manner, of the 
 soul's existence hereafter : as if he had said, I shall 
 presently know the meaning of all these things which 
 now appear so dark and obscure. I suppose that the 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 great Mr. Addison here intended to shew what he 
 thought was the sense and opinion of the philosopher, 
 when he represents him speaking in this manner ; 
 and from thence I have concluded that I have Mr. 
 Addison's opinion in my favour. Upon the whole, 
 there are very few authors, besides Doctor Leland, 
 who represent Pythagoras, Socrates, or Plato, as 
 under any doubt about the future existence of the 
 soul. The learned Bishop of Gloucester acknow- 
 ledges, that Socrates really believed not only the im- 
 mortality of the soul, but also a state of future rewards 
 and punishments. (Div. Leg. vol. ii. book iii. sect. 4, 
 page 23-5, edit. 4th.) Be this as it may, I cannot see 
 that this opinion at all opposes the Doctor's grand 
 principle, — viz. the necessity and advantage of the 
 Christian revelation. This I entirely agree in, as 
 appears throughout the preceding work, and I shall 
 more fully acknowledge it by and by. But, though 
 I have the highest opinion of the Doctor's abilities, I 
 am not ashamed to declare that, in some instances, I 
 differ from him. This learned divine, in order to 
 shew the great advantage of the Christian revelation, 
 tells us, that Christians are not only certain of a fu- 
 ture existence, but that the Gospel makes the fullest 
 and clearest discoveries of the nature and extent of 
 the future happiness. For my part, I hardly think it 
 possible that adequate ideas of the happiness of spi- 
 rits can be communicated to any human being ; and, 
 if we examine this subject, we shall find that our no- 
 tions of it, under the Gospel, are to the full as ob- 
 scure as those of the Heathen philosophers. Let us 
 make the comparison from Doctor Leland himself. 
 
 s % 
 
522 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 We are told, in the New Testament, that there will 
 be a future state of retribution, where the good will 
 be rewarded, and where the wicked will be punished. 
 This the learned Doctor allows to have been taught 
 by Socrates and others. But farther ; the Doctor, in 
 order to prove that the Gospel makes a fuller and 
 clearer discovery of the nature and greatness of future 
 happiness than the world was ever favoured with 
 before, says, (page 447, vol. ii.) "It is not only re- 
 presented as a state of rest, in which good men shall 
 be absolutely exempted from all the evils and sorrows 
 to which they are now obnoxious, but as including 
 the full perfection of our nature, in the enjoyment of 
 all that good which is necessary to our complete fe- 
 licity." Socrates also says, (as quoted by the Doctor, 
 page 346, vol. ii.) " The soul, at its departure hence, 
 goes into a place like itself, noble, pure, invisible ; to 
 a wise and good God." And again he says, that 
 " the soul which gives itself up to the study of wis- 
 dom and philosophy, and lives abstracted from the 
 body," (meaning, no doubt, every wise and virtuous 
 man who properly governs his sensual appetites,) 
 li goes, at death, to that which is like itself, divine, 
 immortal, wise ; to which when it arrives, it shall be 
 happy, freed from error, ignorance, fears, disorderly 
 loves, and other human evils; and live, as is said of 
 the initiated, the rest of its life with the gods." 
 Here, I think, Socrates's idea suffers very little by the 
 comparison. The Doctor then proceeds to shew that 
 it is clearly discovered in the Gospel, "that the body 
 shall also go to heaven and be immortal ; that the 
 whole man, body and soul united, shall enjoy a state 
 
APPENDIX. 825 
 
 of felicity and perfection." By the body, here, the 
 Doctor must be understood to mean the same body 
 which the soul animated in this life. But surely this 
 doctrine is not clearly revealed in the New Testa- 
 ment : if it was, so many disputes could not have 
 arisen about it between learned and good Christians, 
 The great Mr. Locke does not seem to think such an 
 union at all necessary, if possible; others think that 
 St. Paul's arguments, in the xvth chapter of his First 
 Epistle to the Corinthians, all tend to prove that the 
 same body will not be raised ; and we are farther 
 told in Scripture, " that flesh and blood cannot inhe- 
 rit the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 The Doctor proceeds, and tells us, " that the souls 
 of good men shall be placed in delightful mansions;"* 
 page 450 : and, in page 347, he represents Socrates 
 as saying, " that they who live holy and excellent 
 lives, being freed from these earthly places, as from 
 prisons, ascend to a pure region above the earth, 
 where they dwell : and those of them, who were suf- 
 ficiently purged by philosophy, live all their time 
 without bodies, and ascend to still more beautiful 
 habitations." But, to carry the advantage of the 
 Gospel intelligence still higher, in page 451 he says, 
 " But the Gospel raiseth our ideas of the heavenly 
 felicity still higher, by assuring us that we shall then 
 be admitted to the beatific vision and fruition of God 
 himself. ' Blessed are the pure in heart,' says our 
 Saviour, ' for they shall see God.' " However, the 
 
 * If there are no bounds to space, where then can those delight- 
 ful mansions be situated 1 or do they range unlimited throughout 
 the profundity of all space? — Editor. 
 
 ss2 
 
324 APPENDIX 
 
 Doctor owns, in this place, that we cannot clearly 
 understand what is meant by seeing God. Socrates 
 speaks " of going to a wise and good God, and of 
 living with the Gods," as was shewn above. Upon 
 the whole, it appears that we, under the Gospel, can 
 no more have adequate ideas of the happiness of 
 heaven than many of the philosophers had : indeed, it 
 is impossible we should, if it be true that it is such 
 " as eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor can 
 it ever enter into the heart of man to conceive." This, 
 indeed, is sufficient to put a stop to all our inquiries 
 about it. 
 
 The same may be said of future punishments ; the 
 figurative representations of which, in the New Tes- 
 tament, have so confused the ideas of some good 
 Christians, that they have been led to believe there 
 will be a local hell, and that real fire and brimstone 
 will be the lot of sinners throughout an endless eter- 
 nity : — a doctrine inconsistent with reason, and with 
 all our ideas of infinite perfection ; "for who can 
 dwell with everlasting burnings?" Surely it will be 
 allowed that even Pythagoras 's doctrine of transmi- 
 gration is as consistent with our ideas of an infinitely 
 wise and good God, as the supposing that he would 
 suffer a poor creature, whose happiness he originally 
 intended, and for which end he created him, to lie 
 eternally in burning sulphur, and to be the companion 
 of devils. Upon the whole, the mode of our exist- 
 ence hereafter, and the nature and extent of future 
 rewards and punishments, appear to be as much un- 
 known to us now, and must ever remain unknown, as 
 they were to the philosophers of old ; and I think we 
 
 4 
 
APPENDIX. 825 
 
 may rationally suppose that the doctrine of a future 
 state of retribution, with every other useful doctrine 
 and precept of the New Testament, was originally 
 taught by God in the religion of nature, which, being 
 a perfect religion, must contain every thing necessary 
 for man to know : and, though it might be repub- 
 lished and restored to its original purity, and was so, 
 by Jesus Christ, yet we cannot suppose that it could 
 admit of improvement ; this being inconsistent with 
 our ideas of perfection. 
 
 The subject of this chapter properly ends here: — 
 but, as I have just now read the Doctor's late much- 
 admired performance, I cannot resist an inclination 
 to make some farther remarks upon it, and particu- 
 larly on the part relative to the religion of the Jews, 
 of which the Doctor speaks as follows, in the contents 
 of the nineteenth chapter of his second volume. 
 " The Jewish revelation was originally designed to 
 give a check to the growing idolatry, and had a 
 tendency to spread the knowledge and worship of 
 the one true God among the nations, and it actually 
 had that effect in many instances." If this be really 
 the case, I have made a wrong representation of the 
 Jewish religion in the preceding work ; and this, I 
 own, is my principal reason for examining it here. 
 
 Whatever might originally be the design of the 
 Jewish institution, the event by no means proves that 
 any considerable check was given by it to the growing 
 idolatry, or that it gave the nations round about such 
 amiable ideas of the God of the Jews, as would tend 
 to promote his worship : on the contrary, their reli- 
 gion represented God in a light the most unlikely to 
 
f>26 APPENDIX. 
 
 raise in the minds of men that ardent affection for 
 him which would consequently produce a rational 
 and acceptable worship of him. The Jews appear to 
 have themselves had very mean, low, and absurd, 
 notions of God : and the nations round them were 
 much more likely to learn to fear or hate, than to love 
 and adore, a God who had arbitrarily chosen, from 
 among the rest of his offspring, a people who were 
 inspired with the most cruel sentiments for the rest 
 of mankind ; and who fathered upon their God cruel- 
 ties and barbarities greater, perhaps, than were 
 practised, either before or since, by any people under 
 heaven. This cruel, revengeful, persecuting, spirit 
 might make some hypocrites, but, we may venture to 
 affirm, very few real converts to Judaism ; and could 
 have but little tendency towards " spreading the 
 knowledge and worship of the one true God among* 
 the nations." But the cruel and bloody persecutions 
 of the Jews should, by no means, have been charged 
 upon God : nothing sure could be more affronting to 
 the Divine Majesty, the kind Parent of the universe, 
 " who is good to all, and whose tender mercies are 
 over all his works!" Why the God of mercy and 
 compassion, who could have no motive (conceivable 
 by us) for bringing creatures into being but to make 
 them happy, who is u slow to anger, and abounding 
 in goodness," should be represented as dealing de- 
 struction among his creatures, cutting off in the most 
 cruel manner men, women, children, — nay, even the 
 useful and surely innocent cattle, — is to me very ex- 
 traordinary, was a height of blasphemy that no 
 other nation ever arrived at, and can, I think, b© 
 
APPENDIX. 827 
 
 accounted for but oue way, — namely, from the wrong 
 notions which the Jews were taught by their priests 
 to entertain of God. They, in general, believed that 
 he loved them only, and hated all the rest of man- 
 kind : now, if they really believed that God hated all 
 mankind besides themselves, they naturally supposed 
 that those whom God hated could not be too cruelly 
 dealt with, and that such treatment of them would 
 be pleasing to him.* I say, that the bulk of the 
 Jews might believe such absurdities, and indulge 
 such blasphemous notions of the Divine Being; but 
 whether their great lawgiver could thus believe, I 
 leave others to determine. It is sufficient for my 
 purpose here to shew, that the Jewish religion could 
 hardly have the tendency which Dr. Leland supposes, 
 of " spreading the knowledge and worship of the one 
 true God." It surely does not appear to be calcu- 
 lated to give mankind just notions of God and of his 
 attributes, or to encourage pure and rational worship. 
 Power seems to be almost the only attribute of the 
 Deity known to the Jews themselves ; and fear seems 
 to be the sole motive of their worship. Such know- 
 ledge, and such worship, they indeed took very effec- 
 tual methods to spread among the nations ; but that 
 God intended thus to make himself known will, with 
 many, remain a doubt. + 
 
 * It is upon this same principle that the church of Rome, calling 
 itself Christian, in opposition to the Jewish church, has acted from 
 the very earliest period of Christianity. Oh ! Priestcraft, what in- 
 juries, what evils, what cruelties, hast thou not caused in all ages 
 and in all countries — Editor. 
 
 t With the wise and reflecting part of mankind there can remain 
 jio doubt on the subject. — Editor. 
 
328 APPENDIX. 
 
 If the religion of the Jews was intended to be a 
 check to the growing idolatry, as the Doctor sup- 
 poses, it was so far from having the desired effect, 
 that the Jews themselves became idolators ; and 
 Aaron, their high-priest, appears to have encouraged 
 them in it : for, while Moses was in the mount, " he 
 made them a calf, fashioning it with a graving-tool, 
 built an altar before it, made a proclamation, and 
 said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord." Exod, xxxii. 
 4, 5. Accordingly, the people came and sacrificed 
 to the calf which Aaron had made ; probably in imi- 
 tation of one of the Egyptian deities. It may be said 
 that this was done contrary to an absolute command 
 in their religion : yet it will at least serve to prove 
 that their religion did not give the vulgar Jews just 
 and proper notions of the one true God. From the 
 manner of Moses's and Aaron's application to God, 
 their frequent conversations with him, his particular 
 residence in the ark, and his visible appearances in a 
 pillar of smoke by day and fire by night ; I say, from 
 all these, the vulgar Israelties might naturally con- 
 clude that their God was a local visible God, like the 
 gods of the Egyptians, and that he was only concealed 
 from their sight by Moses and the priest. Moses's 
 intimacy with God operated very strongly on their 
 fears, and while he was with them all was well, or 
 was soon made so ; but forty days' absence of Moses 
 and of God put them out of all patience ; and ac- 
 cordingly we see that they applied to Aaron, and 
 said, " Up, make us gods which shall go before us : 
 for, as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of 
 the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of 
 
APPENDIX. S29 
 
 him." Exod. xxxii, 1. The people concluded that 
 they had lost both Moses and their God, and, there- 
 fore, wanted to have another made. This surely 
 shews that their religion was not calculated to give 
 them just and proper notions of the one true God, or 
 to encourage a rational and acceptable worship of 
 him. — Here I cannot help remarking the infinite su- 
 periority of the religion of Christ over that of Moses : 
 and yet we are taught to believe them both to be of 
 divine authority and designation, and the one to de- 
 pend upon the other. 
 
 But to return to Aaron, who, without remonstrance 
 or advice, immediately complied with the people's 
 request, and told them that, if they would bring him 
 their gold, he would make them a god ; which he 
 accordingly did, as before mentioned. To excuse 
 this base compliance in God's high-priest, some have 
 thought that the people insisted upon his doing it, 
 and that he was afraid. This, however, does not 
 appear to be the case; but, if it was, it would only 
 prove that his notions of the true God must be as 
 defective as those of the vulgar. His faith in the one 
 true God must be weak indeed, if, for fear of the 
 people, he would set up another, after experiencing 
 so many signal deliverances from Egyptian cruelty ! 
 Others have thought that Aaron might have other 
 motives : but, without entering into these, I shall 
 only observe, that, if Aaron had been instructed by 
 his religion to have just and proper notions of God 
 and his attributes, he certainly would have endea- 
 voured to enlighten the minds of the people, and to 
 reason them out of such absurd ideas of the supreme 
 
 Tt 
 
33G APPENDIX. 
 
 Being. Moses, however, though the meekest man 
 on earth, was so very angry, or, in the words of the 
 text (Exod. xxxii 19), his " anger waxed so hot, that 
 he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them 
 beneath the mount." Yet we do not find that Aaron 
 was much blamed for this act of rebellion against 
 the true God : on the contrary, Moses gave his bro- 
 ther a very mild reproof, saying (v. 21), " What 
 did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so 
 great a sin upon them?" Here, indeed, he is charged 
 with bringing a great sin upon the people, by his mean 
 and wicked compliance with their request : but yet 
 the people only appear to be punished ; for it is said 
 (v. 35), " And the Lord plagued the people, because 
 they made the calf which Aaron made." Many re- 
 marks might be made upon Aaron's conduct in the 
 affair of the molten cali :* however, I shall make but 
 one, which is, that this instance of Aaron will serve 
 to justify an observation I have repeatedly made in 
 the foregoing work, — namely, that, in the early ages 
 of the world, priests began to lead the vulgar into 
 error, and to give them false notions of God and reli- 
 gion ; and that this was the first step they took in 
 order to raise their own power and influence. 
 
 To teach men moral virtue does not appear to have 
 been the business of priests in any age or country. 
 
 * In the xxth verse of the above-quoted chapter it is said, "And 
 he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and 
 ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the 
 children of Israel drink of it." From this process of Moses's, 
 some have been led to think that there was a deception as to the 
 material of which this calf was made ; such process being altoge- 
 ther inconsistent with the nature of gold. 
 
APPENDIX. 831 
 
 Mr. Locke says, in his Reasonableness of Christianity, 
 that " the Pagan priests made it not their business 
 to teach men virtue :" and, according to Varro, they 
 were employed only to instruct the people what gods 
 they were to worship, what sacrifices they were to 
 offer, and the like. 
 
 In many places, the women prostituted themselves 
 as an act of religion ; and this has never been as- 
 cribed to any particular wantonness in the women, 
 but to the villainy of the priests. Thus were the na- 
 tural notions which mankind had of God and religion 
 very early corrupted. I will not assert that this was 
 the only source of the corruption of natural religion: 
 but I must think that it was a principal one ; and I 
 shall venture to add, that to the same cause we may 
 ascribe all the corruptions of the pure religion of 
 Christ and his apostles, in the Protestant as well as 
 the Romish churches. Virtue now seems to be the 
 least part of the business of the priest : to teach men 
 how to believe is the principal. The same may be 
 said of missionaries in general : to make men Chris- 
 tians seems to be all their concern ; while the social 
 virtues are so totally neglected, that a very melan- 
 choly observation has been frequently made, and I 
 fear with some truth, that the new converts to Chris- 
 tianity become worse men than they were before. 
 They are taught how to believe, but not how to prac- 
 tise. 
 
 I hope to be excused this digression ; but, before 
 I entirely quit the subject, I think it necessary to de- 
 clare that, by the term priests, I do not mean the 
 clergy in general; many of whom I reverence, as 
 
 Tt2 
 
332 APPENDIX. 
 
 worthy, honest, learned, and good, men, whose labours 
 and examples tend to promote piety, justice, benevo- 
 lence, and all the other natural and Christian virtues. 
 By priests, I would willingly be understood to mean 
 true, genuine, high-priests, who are the same in all 
 religions and in all countries ; who, forgetting the ex- 
 ample of the meek and humble Jesus, proudly " lord 
 it over God's heritage," looking on themselves as the 
 governors, guides, and directors, of the consciences 
 of thelaiiy in all their religious concerns; who impose 
 canons and creeds, and damn all those who will not 
 assent to them. Such dispositions and principles, 
 how well soever they may suit the spirit and charac- 
 ter of the Romish church, are surely inconsistent with 
 the religion of Protestants. Such men as these were 
 of old the corrupters of natural religion; such men as 
 these are now corrupters of the pure and genuine re- 
 ligion of Christ, or the religion of nature restored by 
 him to its original purity. 
 
 I now return to Doctor Leland : and, as I have 
 shewn in some few instances wherein I differ from 
 this celebrated author, I shall here, with much more 
 pleasure, acknowledge wherein we agree ; and then 
 conclude this work. 
 
 This excellent writer says, " that a divine revela- 
 tion was highly expedient, if not absolutely necessary, 
 at the advent of Christ. He observes, that man, in 
 his original constitution and the design of his Creator, 
 is formed capable of religion ; that, at his first forma- 
 tion, he was not left to work out a scheme of religion 
 for himself, but received all necessary instructions 
 from Cod; the knowledge of whom derived from the 
 3 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 first parents of the human kind to their posterity, 
 through the channel of tradition. He observes, far- 
 ther, that the corruption of religion in the Heathen 
 world is no just objection against the wisdom and 
 goodness of divine Providence. God, he says, did 
 not leave himself without witness among the Hea- 
 thens : they had for a long time some remains of an- 
 cient tradition, originally derived from revelation. 
 They had the standing evidences of a Deity in his 
 wonderful works ; but they sunk into gross idolatry 
 before the time of Moses. The Doctor proceeds thus : 
 — " Mere human wisdom and philosophy were cer- 
 tainly insufficient to cure this evil ; a revelation from 
 God was the only effectual remedy: the Christian 
 revelation is suited to the necessities of mankind ; it 
 was published to the world in the fittest season, and 
 was attended with the most convincing evidence of a 
 divine original. We should be very thankful for the 
 salutary light it brings, and be careful to improve it." 
 And again he says, " that the principal heads of moral 
 duty were made known to mankind from the begin- 
 ning, and continued to be known and acknowledged 
 in the patriarchal ages : but that, when men fell frcm 
 the right knowledge of God, they also fell, in impor- 
 tant instances, from the right knowledge of moral 
 duty : that the nations were actually sunk into so de- 
 plorable a state of corruption, with regard to morals, 
 at the time of our Saviour's appearing, that one prin- 
 cipal end of the manifestation of Jesus Christ was to 
 recover them from their wretched and guilty state to 
 holiness and happiness : that the Gospel scheme of 
 morality exceeds whatsoever had been published to the 
 
334 APPENDIX. 
 
 world ■;* that its precepts are enforced by the most 
 powerful and important motives ; and that their ten- 
 dency to promote the practice of holiness and virtue 
 is an argument to prove the divinity of the Christian 
 revelation. 1 ' In all this I most cordially agree with 
 this judicious divine : and whoever reads the forego- 
 ing work will perceive that I have all along spoken to 
 the same purpose, though I am conscious of having 
 done it with much less learning, accuracy, and ele- 
 gance. 
 
 I wish I had been happy enough to have read the 
 Doctor's work before I had nearly finished my own : 
 I should probably have been more positive in some of 
 my sentiments, and less so in others ; yet I have the 
 satisfaction to declare that I find no reason from it 
 absolutely to alter any of them. 
 
 * There does not appear to be any thing new in the Christian 
 system of morality ; it being only a republication of the religion of 
 nature and reason, intelligible to all mankind, and such as had 
 been taught by the ancient philosophers of every age and country. 
 — Editor. 
 
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