of guilt, without power either to think of God, or to forget him! So that all that finners get by forming to themselves refolutions of unbelief (for that I take to be the true cafe of fuch unbelievers as we are now speaking of) is to render their cafe more defperate; to cut off all retreat to the mercy of God, when the day of their distress overtakes them; and to lay up in ftore for themselves a double portion of mifery, both in this life and that which is

to come.

Since then even the hopes which finners conceive from unbelief in this world, that they fhall undifturbedly enjoy the pleasures of vice without fuffering under the rebukes of their own minds, are fo very uncertain, fo liable to be diffipated by every crofs accident of life; fince they cannot alter their condition, except for the worse, in the life to come; it must needs be allowed that finners make a very ill choice for themselves, when they facrifice the powers of the mind to the paffions of the heart. As long as men retain a sense of God and religion upon their minds, there is great hope that fome time or other reason will prevail, and extricate the man from the misery of fin. Good principles are the feeds of good actions: and, though the feed may be buried under much rubbish, yet, as long as there is life in it, there is a reasonable expectation of feeing fruit from it fome time or other: but, when reafon and understanding are depraved, and as far corrupted as the very paffions of the heart; when thus the blind leads the blind, what elfe can we expect, but that both fall into the ditch?

But vice is not the only root from which infide

lity fprings; nor are all, who profess themselves unbelievers, to be charged with uncommon degrees of wickedness. Happy were it for mankind, were there but one temptation to one vice! Common diligence might then fecure the fingle pass against the enemy; whereas now, whilft we guard the most suspected place, the strongest often falls into his hands: and thus it sometimes happens in the cafe before us, that, whilst we act with a fuperiority to all the vanities of the world, to all the allurements and temptations of bodily pleasure, reafon itself is betrayed by the vanity of our hearts, and finks under the pride and affectation of knowledge. To know all that can be attained to by our utmoft diligence and fagacity, to fearch into the hidden caufes of things, to examine the truth and reality of our knowledge, is an ambition worthy of a rational foul. But all kinds of laudable ambition grow to be vicious and despicable, when, instead of pursuing the real good, which is the true object, they feek only to make a fhew and an appearance of it. Thus it is that ambition for virtue produces hypocrify; ambition for courage, empty boastings and unreasonable refentments; and, by the fame rule, ambition for learning and knowledge produces pedantry and paradoxes: for he who would defire to appear to know more than other men, is ready to contradict the sense and reason of all men; for the fame cause that he who is defirous to be thought to have more courage than others is ready to quarrel with every man he meets. And this is a temptation to which many daily facrifice the innocence and integrity of their minds, whilft they mean little else by the fingularity of their opinions,

than to recommend themselves to the world as perfons of more than ordinary discernment. That this is no unfair account of the conduct of fome unbelievers, will appear by obferving the very different, but equally natural, workings of the mind in these two different ftates of it; whilft it feeks real knowledge and truth, and whilst it aims only at the credit and reputation of wisdom : and this will help us likewise in examining ourselves, and in judging whether we act with those impartial views and regard to truth, that all rational men ought to do.

He who fits down to examine truth, and search after real knowledge, will equally fift all his opinions; will reject none, that he has been long poffeffed of, without good reafon; will admit no new ones without fufficient authority and weight of argument to fupport them. Wherever he difcovers truth, he gains the fatisfaction he aimed at his mind acquiefces in it: nor is he disappointed in the event of his labour and ftudy, when he finds himself at laft in the fame opinion with the reft of the world; with this only difference, that his perfuafion is the effect of reafon, theirs perhaps of prejudice and custom; which is a difference that affords much inward fatisfaction and peace of mind, but little or no outward glory, or credit of wisdom and understanding.

. In the other cafe, when men aim at being thought wifer and more knowing than others, and labour only to poffefs the world with an opinion of their fagacity, they can have no fatisfaction in difcovering the truth and reasonableness of any opinion that is commonly received in the world; for how will they

appear wiser than other men by profeffing to believe what other men believe as well as they? They can no otherwise fatisfy their ambition, than by differing from the common sense and reason of mankind; and the whole bent of their mind is to fupport fuch their difference with plaufible reason and argument. This indeed carries with it a great appearance of wifdom; for to fhew all the world to be in an error is not the work of every day, or of every man. And how can you expect that fuch vain creatures fhould fo far lofe fight of the end they propose, as to give their confent to any well received truth, when the very paffion which has poffeffion of their foul makes it neceffary for them to treat all fuch truths with difdain and contempt? Why would you have them so abfurd, as to examine the reasonablenefs of any known opinion, when to find it reasonable would be the ruin and deftruction of all their glory, and fet them only upon a level with the rest of mankind? Give them any thing that looks like a new discovery, and they will ftruggle hard with their reason, but they will find fomething to say in defence of it but threadbare truth they hate to be feen in; it is a dress their vanity cannot fubmit to. This fort of vanity it is, which has furnished the world with sceptics in every science, and in religion above all others. Other fciences are the attainments of but a small part of mankind; and to triumph over their errors is at best but a limited glory: whereas, religion being the general perfuafion of the world, to conquer in this caufe looks like univerfal monarchy, and seems to be the very empire of wifdom and knowledge, rifing out of the ruins of uni

And thus it

verfal ignorance and fuperftition. comes to pass, that weak and vain men often make profeffion of greater infidelity than in truth they are guilty of, and are content to give the lie to their own reason, as well as that of all mankind, rather than to lose the credit of differing from the rest of the world.

Confider this cafe well, and judge of it from your own experience and obfervation. If the inftances which meet you every day do not bear witness to the truth of what I fay, believe me not: but, if they do, let the folly of others teach you so much wisdom, as not to give up your reafon and understanding, your hopes here and for ever, to a fenfelefs, unprofitable vanity. Try your own heart by this rule; and, if ever you have offended against the Majesty of heaven by endeavouring to expofe his facred truths, ask yourself this ferious queftion, Whether you did not betray your religion in compliment to yourself, to gain the credit of being a very discerning man, or set forth your own ability? If you did, remember, before it is too late, that for all these things your offended God will call you into judgment.

There is one fort of temptation more which I fhall mention, and that but briefly: it is a kind of false shame, which often, in young people especially, prevails over the fear of God and the fenfe of religion. When they find what honour is often done to unbelievers, and how well they are received, whilst religion fuffers under the hard names of ignorance and fuperftition, they grow afhamed of their profeffion; and, if not really, yet affectedly they put