prophet, and the sweet fongiter of ifrael) or ever the earth and the world were made, I am God from everlasting. Whilst as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world; when he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he fet a compass upon the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave the fea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandments, when he appointed the foundation of the earth: Then was I by him as one brought up, and was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. If then wisdom always rejoices before God-why need a wife man be fad or penfive? Away from her all melancholy and enthusiasm, fuch contrary tempers cannot dwell together, wisdom having no place for you! Of wisdom, Solomon concludes thus: therefore hearken unto me, O ye children!-for blessed are they that keep my ways! hear inftruction and be wife, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life (life everlasting) and shall obtain the favour of the Lord-(he shall live and reign with Chrift, God blessed for evermore in his kingdom in heaven.) But he that finneth against me (that will not obey as well as believe the gospel of Chrift) wrongeth his own soul. All that hate me love death.

May we not all then justly exclaim with St. Paul, on this occafion and say: Oh the depth and height, the length and breadth, of the wisdom (as well as of the love) of Christ, which furpasseth knowledge?

Α. Β.

fions to an exalted worth; but are unfortunately lost to all fentiments of piety. If they disbelieve a future state, then to think, that they shall shortly be, as if they never had been, that they must foon be fwallowed up in annihilation, that bottomless gulph, where all distinctions are lost, as rivers in the ocean; is enough to pall each exalted and noble thought, and to beget in them a fullenness, fourness, and discontent. A fretfulness and impatience, that will grow upon them, will make them so far from fulfilling the law by bearing one another's burthens, that they will be incapable of bearing their own. They must despise themselves and their fellow creatures as a fet of infignificant reptiles, that are to crawl for a while upon the face of the earth, and then to mix with the common mass of things. And as they, who expect no other life, ought to make the most of this, they must contract a narrow-fpirited and illiberal caft of thought.

But if they believe a future state, how can they have any taste or relish for benevolence; and yet have no love for that Being, who has en.. dowed morality and benevolence with an exceeding and eternal reward? On the other hand, what delightful perceptions must it give them to reflect, that at the fame time, that they are wishing, contriving, and promoting the happiness of their fellow-creatures, they are fellow-workers with that great and good Being, who is able and willing to give them as great a happiness, as their most unbounded good-will can wish; and far greater than their narrow understanding can conceive? How must their hearts burn within them, who have so fervent a zeal for Charity, to find, that this Charity shall never fail; and these short-lived instances of friendship and good-will, which we shew to one another here, will be succeeded by an uninterrupted intercourse tercourse of mutual endearments for ever and ever? And, what will moft heighten their humanity will be to confider, that we shall be all partakers of the fame common happiness from him, with whom is the fulness of joy, and from whom continual rivers of pleasure are ever streaming. It is then abfurd to pretend love for benevolence; and yet to be regardless of the most benevolent Being that is. And it is likewise abfurd to pretend to love him, without a serious examination into his will never dismissing what bears that venerable stamp, without a fair and impartial hearing of the evidences for the truth of it. For, on whomsoever the world may beltow the title of moral men; yet an indifferent careleffness, and a wilful neglect to examine into his will and pleasure is no part of morality. Nay, his will, whose pleasure we must either do, or whose difpleasure we must unavoidably fuffer, ought to be the uppermost confideration of every man. Can he deserve the name of a good man, who does not thew the least regard to that Being, to whom he owes every thing? the Deity being the fountain-head even of those blessings, which are conveyed to him by his fellow-creatures, as through so many channels? firmities of our nature, which the stoic pride denied to it, but which the imperfections of it requires."

But if it not true, in fact, that there are several of strict probity, generonty, and worth, without the least tincture of piety? To which I answer, several have, from their infancy, associated the ideas of happiness and esteem, of misery and disgrace. This makes them decline those actions which may entail infamy and disgrace upon them; and pursue those which may beget an esteem for them: esteem being to them an essen. tial ingredient of happiness. They have been taught to fet an high value upon themselves; which high value of themselves is always, more or less, accompanied by a

fufpicion or mistrust, that they over-value themselves. For which reason they are impatient to have the favourable verdict, which they pass upon themselves, feconded and confirmed by the approbation of others, and unwilling to do any thing, that may lessen them in the opinion of their fellow-creatures. It is then the desire of fame, not the love of virtue, which is their incentive to good actions. And if we look abroad into the world, we find it thus in fact: Persons of this stamp will scorn to do a little thing. thro' the abhorrence of any thing, that may make them cheap and contemptible in the eye of the world: but they will not scruple to commit a fin, upon which the fashionable world has stamped a credit, and given a sanction to. A person who is is ungrateful, much more ungrateful to his fovereign Benefactor, must be void of every thing, which is great, glorious, and beautiful in the foul. He may, indeed, be actuated by the love of applause, by caprice, by the prevailing mode and fashion of the age in which he lives; but his mind is is too narrow. contracted, and ungenerous, to be fwayed by any fixed and determined principle of goodness.

CANDIDE.

If a man be really virtuous and honest, and is defirous to commend himself to the Deity by a rational and serious conduct, it seems impoffible to suppose, that he should have any objection to that system, which gives to virtue its swee est hopes;" which places the duties of morality upon the firmest and most extenfive foundation; and which elevates the foul to the nobleit and most confiftent ideas of God, and of the services which are acceptable to him.

If a man be engaged in vicious pursuits, and dedicated to criminal gratifications, there seems again no folid reason why he should reject and oppose the Christian religion, and throud himself beneath the dark banner of deism or infidelity; fince it is agreed, on every hand, that if there is a Deity, (and that there is, no man even attempts to doubt in these enlightened days) that Deity must take a pleasure only in the deeds of the pure and deferving; can find no complacence in the acts or the offers of the finful and polluted. So that while a man continues in the practice of vice, deism, and every other religion, if it be confiftent, must disapprove his proceedings; can support him with no satisfactory hopes.

If, therefore, defirous to obtain the divine attention, he resolves to alter his life, and to abandon the path of guilt, what religion should he embrace so soon, so gladly as that, which "gives to true penitence its best confolation." nay, which alone can give any folid confolation to penitence, and assure it undoubtedly of the pardon for which it so anxiously wishes? Human reason, it is plain, could never perfectly fatisfy itself, respecting the willingness of the Deity to admit to pardon on repentance only :

1

the heathens abundantly teftified their perfuafion of the contrary, by not trusting only to penitence; fuperadding, as was universally the custom, facrifices and offerings, libations, gifts, and atonements of different forts; by which they conceived their gods were to be pla-cated; a notion which most probably they derived from tradition; as unenlightened reason seems perfectly to disclaim, or at least to be an utter stranger to the idea-But, to the exqursite comfort of the returning penitent, the Christian religion leaves not this most important of all concerns to the fluctuation of uneasy conjecture; while it establishes his hopes upon the surest basis, and supports his repentance with the most unexceptionable assurance of its prevalence, through an atonement all-fufficient and well-pleasing. The vicious man, therefore, if he hath any real understanding, can never, with propriety, reject Chriftianity. Since, if ever he intends to repent,-and no man living intends to die impenitent; no religion, but the Christian, can afford him a folid, a rational ground of hope.

If indeed there be an eternity awaiting us, if the foul of man be immortal, and must, in confequence, partake of the due reward of its deeds; (and if the cafe be otherwise, to contend about religion is just as idle, as to contend about men's different complections) if man be immortal, and that he is, the universal voice of nature declares, in every place, and in every age. Then, let who will be wrong, the Christian must be right; let whatever religion be true, the fincere profeffor of Chriftianity cannot fail of his recompence; cannot be unacceptable to the Deity, let that Deity be found hereafter, agreeable to the representations of what system or perfuasion soever. Cicero's fine argument againft Atheifm

"If

Atheism may be applied to Chriftianity, with double force. there should happen, says he, to his opponent, to be no God, I shall certainly be as well off as yourself; annihilation will then be your lot as well as mine. But if the matter shall be found otherwise; if there shall indeed be found a God, when we enter into a future state; how greatly shall I have the advantage of you; who have all your life long profest and inculcated Atheism and Impiety; while I have continually laboured to honour the Deity, and to promote virtue and religion?"

And thus the profeffor of Christianity may reply to the Deist, Infidel, Pagan, Mahometan, Jew, or any other who disapproves his faith, and would propagate their own;

If peradventure the doctrines which I believe, shall be found to be true; if indeed the religion of Chrift, is what it affumes to itself, a revelation from the most High God; in how fad a cafe will you be found, who reject and despise it, who knowingly refuse to embrace it, and refist all the evidences which it offers! In how fad a cafe will you particularly be found, who, born and bred in a country profeffing Chriftianity, nay who, being baptized into that faith, utterly cast off and disclaim its obligations ?

And is there, who the blessedcross wipes, off,
As a foul blot, from his dishonour'd brow?
If angels tremble 'tis at fuch a fight:
The wretch they quit desponding of their
charge;

More ftruck, with grief or wonder, who can

and the facts of Chriftianity appear, fictitious; yet there can be no doubt, but that shall obtain favour from the Deity, be he such a one. as is represented in any of your systems. If he be the God of the Deist, he cannot but approve me, who have made it the business of my life to purify my heart and actions from all defilement: for he is a God delighting în virtue; and a Being so good and gracious, that he will, never punish for the unavoidable errors of the head, where the heart was right. If he be the God-all mercy-of the infidel; I have no need to be afraid: my whole endeavour has been to fupplicate and to obtain his mercy; and if I requested it, through a Mediator, it shews, that I had the higher opinion of his adorable perfections. Even with the Jupiter and the Pallas of the old Heathen world, the Chriflian may expect favour; for: separate from the absurdities of fables, they are supposed to be no other than univerfal goodness, power, and wisdom. And should the system of Mahomet be found true, I shall certainly obtain the rewards offered to good Mussulmen.

Suppose, lastly, that the Jewish religion should, in the end, be proved the religion of truth; yet even agreeably to its tenets, the Christian is safe: the Jew waited for and believed in a coming Meffiah: I believed that he was come, and as fuch did honour to God the Father by him. As to the rest, no man can deny that the molity of the Christian is equal to, and muft necessarily be as acceptable with God, as the Jewish morality. Thus in the end, let whatever faith be found right, it is undeniable, that the Christian who lives up to the holy precepts of his religion, cannot be wrong."

On

evil of difcontent; he is feldom fatisfied with his condition be it what it will; heis continually tormenting and disturbing his own quiet; if all external circumstances conspire to render his life tranquil and easy, yet he often deprives himself of the enjoyment; for if real evils are wanting, he frequently subaitutes those that are imaginary; whether his affairs be profperous or adverse, he is in some degree miferable; when adverse, he murmurs againft the dispensations of Providence; when profperous, he frets and repines after some enjoyment, that is, perhaps, wisely withheld; or, if he is permitted to obtain his wish, he is still unhappy; every new attainment creates a new defire. wishes, wishes grow; therefore, if once we give way to our vain defires, we shall never be fatiated; but if we would enjoy the blessings of thislife, we must be content with fuch things as we have." For fuch enjoyment consisteth not in the multiplication of our wants, but the reduction of our defires; we must not torment, ourselves with fearful expectations of calamities, that in all probability may never happen; we must not murmur or complain of the hardships of our real or imaginary evils, and be very cautious not to repine at the difpenfations of Providence, for that is highly offensive to our heavenly Father who hath created us, and at present sustains us under all our infirmities. We, and every thing we enjoy are his, and he has a right "to do what he will with his own: : 3

His tender mercies are over all his works. He distributes his blessings, as appears to his unerring wisdom, most conducive to our present and future interest; it is true, that many of his dispensations appear partial and offenfive to human nature; but notwithslanding this, we may be fatisfied, they are all in some measure intended for our good. Many dangerous evils attend our existence in the world, unobserved by our short-fighted nature, which are generoufly dispersed by the gracious interference of unerring wifdom. Hence we should be anxious not to offend our Creator and Preserver, by our unreasonable mur. murs and complaints, left he ceafe to " direct our steps, and fuffer us to follow our vain imaginations." The children of Ifrael murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord; therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness." Hence it is evident that God is displeased with fuch conduct; and certainly it is a most horrid prefumption for finful man to difpate with the most High God, about the wisdom or righteousness of his own ways: "Who art thou, Qman! that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why haft thou made me thus? Is it not lawful for God to do what he will with his own?

But though mankind are too apt to be dissatisfied with many of the difpenfations of Providence, yet there is none so commonly found fault with as that of the weather: Every individual has some project in view, which he is anxious to put in execution; in order to do it effectually, either rain or fair weather is occafionally requisite; therefore, if the season is not conformable to his wishes, heis disgusted, and prefumes to censure the dispensations thereof; nay, fome are even so horridly presumptuous as to curse the season when it falls out contrary to their wishes