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is exposed to our view, on hearing what is sounded in our ear. Christian faith is not of this kind. In it the heart and affections are concerned, as well as the understanding. Our Lord pronounced no benediction on Thomas for having believed his sight and touch: but, Blessed, said he, are they who have not seen, and yet have believed:' that is, who without such 'evidence of sense (I quote Dr. Clarke's Paraphrase) ⚫ shall, upon credible testimony, be willing to believe ⚫ and embrace a doctrine which tends so greatly to the glory of God, and the salvation of men.' The doubts ot Thomas, were, on this extraordinary occasion, removed by irresistible evidence: but it would not have suited the genius of a religion, framed for proving the virtue, and purifying the nature of moral beings, that its evidences, in general, should have been such, as either to compel, assent, or infringe the freedom of obedience. They are indeed so powerful, that nothing but ignorance, or hardness of heart, can prevent their making a deep impression; but their full effect is felt by those minds only, who, together with lowliness, docility, and candour, entertain a predilection for that gospel, which proclaims, Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good-will towards men.'In true Christian faith, therefore, there is virtue. It is indeed an assemblage of many virtues; of piety, benevolence, humility, and the love of truth, and of goodness. No wonder, then, that the apostle should have declared, that without faith it is impossible to please 'God.'

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But, ought we not in charity to believe, that there may be infidels of so good a heart as to love the doctrine, though they have the misfortune to be dissatisfied with the evidence of the gospel? Charity, no doubt which thinketh no evil, ought to make us believe that this is the case, wherever it is possible. it is not possible that this can be the case of those who labour to subvert the faith of others; and who are so far from expressing regret at the discovery of any supposed defect in the evidence of Christianity, or

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seeming to think it a misfortune, or a disappointment, that they rejoice in it, and triumph in that superior penetration, which they fondly imagine has enabled them to make it.

And now, if, as I have endeavoured to prove, it appears from the declarations of our Saviour himself, and from the nature of the human mind, that they only can believe his religion, who attend to it, and who study it with candour, humility, and a sincere desire to find it true; is it wonderful, that those men should be un-believers who write and speak against it, and show by what they write and speak, that they do not understand, and have never studied it? Can that man wish the gospel to be true, who employs his life in labouring to prove it false? Can he be said to have read it with attention, or to have read it all, who, with Rousseau, declares our Lord's miracles a discredit to his religion, and cannot distinguish between them and the tricks of jugglers? Can they be thought to have studied it with humility and candour, who sneer at it, like Shaftesbury; who laugh at it, like Voltaire; or who treat it with contempt and insult, like the cool and insiduous Hume, or the proud and presumptuous Bolingbroke? Had religion been suited to heads and hearts like these, to them I should have left the defence of it; for it would have been a very different thing indeed from what it is. Their rejection of it supplies, if I mistake not, a pretty strong argument for its truth, as well as for its excellency.

II. Not only the number, and the learning of unbelievers, but even their virtue, has been pleaded, in their behalf; and as an argument to prove, that Christianity is unnecessary.

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Of their virtue, I have not much to say; enough indeed has been said by themselves, and their admirBut ostentation is neither virtue, nor a sign of it: and perhaps the world would not have judged less favourably of them, if they had been more modest on this head. In fact, some late compliments that have been paid both to their VIRTUE and to their WISDOM,

are so ridiculously extravagant, that they would have passed for derision, if not for scurrility, if they had not come from those who are known to be devoted adherents of the party.

To examine, with any degree of minuteness, the infidel's claim to the approbation and gratitude of mankind, by an inquiry into the private character of individuals, would be a task equally inviduous and disagreeable. I leave it, therefore, to their biographers; whose labours, however, if we may be allowed to take Rousseau's Confessions, and Voltaire's Memoirs of himself, as a specimen of this sort of history, will not reflect great honour on either the infidel or his cause.

There are different sorts of infidels. Some not only reject our religion, but also write against it, and do what in them lies to make mankind reject it: others satisfy themselves with speaking of it occasionally in terms of dislike and scorn: and a third sort perhaps there may be, though they are not so frequently met with, who only disbelieve it, without seeking to make others disbelieve. These last are the objects of pity, rather than of blame; but it may be worth their while to consider, whether their unbelief be the effect of candid inquiry, or of prejudice, and wilful inattention.

The active and more zealous infidel either is certain, that we shall not, in a future life, be called to an account for our conduct in the present, or is somewhat uncertain with respect to that matter. Now, though he were absolutely certain, that our existence ends at death, or that the gospel is not true, (which no human being ever was, or can be, yet his endeavours to make others think so would do no honour to his goodness of heart. For infidels must know, that they cannot demonstrate; either that the gospel is false, or that a future state is impossible; and they must also know (or they know very little) that, to a sincere Christian, nothing can give more exquisite distress, than to be perplexed with doubts concerning the truth of that religion which is the foundation of his dearest hopes.

But if they be not themselves absolutely certain that there is no life to come, and yet labour to persuade others that there is none, their conduct must be imputed, not merely to want of benevolence, but to downright malignity.

For the language of such conduct is no other than this. Those people, who believe what we tell them, may, for any thing that we certainly know to the contrary, find themselves miserably mistaken after all: however their admiration flatters our vanity; and therefore we endeavour to make them think as we speak, be the consequences what they will. What sort of virtue is this? Is it not that of the madman mentioned by Solomon, who casteth fire-brands, ar'rows, and death, and saith, am I not in sport?' Is it not that of a conceited theorist, who, in order to gratify his own beggarly ambition, tampers with the happiness of mankind, as if it were a thing of no value?

But you mistake the matter entirely, he will reply. I teach men to think freely, because I wish to rid the world of superstition, which is worse than irreligion, ' or even than atheism:'-and then, perhaps, he will run out into a detail of the enormities, that superstition has prompted Christians to perpetrate.

Whether it or atheism be the greater evil, is a point which, if prosecuted. would lead into a long and intricate inquiry. The former arises from false opinions concerning invisible beings; and, as the forms of falsehood are innumerable, those of superstition must be so too; and, to human society, some of these may be more detrimental, others less, and some, perhaps, not at all. But, to shorten the controversy, I shall admit, that in all its forms, superstition is a very bad thing; and that he would deserve well of mankind, who should drive it out of the world. But who is the man, who is most likely to do this? and what are the best means of doing it? The answer is easy: Jesus Christ is the man, and his religion the means. Had it not been for the divine goodness manifested in him, we should, at this day, have been pagans, the most superVOL. ii.

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stitious of human kind. Wherever his religion is preached in its purity, superstition vanishes, like the birds of night at the rising of the sun. And as long as the existence of beings superior to man is believed to be either probable or possible, the world, where it is not enlightened with the knowledge of the one living and true God, will always be, as it always has been, superstitiously afraid of them. By divesting the human race of all religion, if that were practicable, you might, no doubt, free them from superstition: even as, by training poor children to midnight robbery, you might, in time, get the better of those ideas of nocturnal goblins, that may have been impressed upon their infancy. But before either expedient be tried, it would not be amiss to enquire, whether the cure is not worse than the disease, and whether the disease might not be more effectually cured, by teaching the knowledge of truth, and the love of virtue.-In fact, with superstition, with hypocrisy, with uncharitable or wrong headed enthusiasm, and with all those other enormities, which infidels charge on Christianity, in order to vindicate their dislike of it, Christianity is no more chargeable, and has nothing more to do, than with house-breaking, gambling, blasphemy, atheism, or witchcraft. Of this they cannot be ignorant, it they know any thing at all of the matter: and of a religion, or of a person, whereof they know nothing, modesty requires, that they should say nothing; candour, at least, requires, that they should say nothing abusive.

In the ordinary affairs of life, when a man has been proved guilty of mistake or falsehood, it is expected, that he will make an acknowledgment to those who may have been injured by it; to the public, if the public have reason to complain, or to individuals, if they only have suffered by his temerity. At any rate, it is expected, that if he should not have made an acknowledgment in form, he will, for the future, be more cautious, and not give additional offence, by repeating those falsehoods whereof he has been convicted. But

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