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if he do neither; if he persevere in the same injurious conduct, and reiterate his former misrepresentations, with as much confidence, as, if, instead of having been confuted, they had never been answered, and were indeed unanswerable; what should we think of such a man? Should we extol him as a pattern of wisdom and virtue? Or should we not rather charge him with obstinacy and want of candour, such as an honest man would be ashamed of? Is it fair to examine, by this rule, the conduct of infidel writers? Or does the merit of having made books against religion raise them so high above all considerations of rectitude, as to justify in them what would go near to make other men infamous ?

Now, it is certain, that some late infidel writers lived to see many, and perhaps most, of their misrepresentations and sophistries, fairly exposed, and confuted unanswerably. And what was the consequence? Did they acknowledge their errors, retract what they had falsely affirmed, correct their reasonings, or reform their principles? did they express any concern for having violated truth, ridiculed the religion of their country, or insulted the common sense of mankind? No such matter. They went on publishing and republishing what they had formerly published, with the same assurance, as if nothing ever had been said, or could be said, against it.

Hitherto it does not appear, that we have any great reason to compliment these unbelievers upon their virtue. Wit and humour they may have, and eloquence, and polished manners, and learning; and all this the gambler and thief may have, as well as they, and in as great a degree. And it is very much the interest of the thief and gambler, as well as infidel writer, that he possess these and the like accomplishments. For, by fixing the public attention upon his out-side, they make it the more easy for him to hide the dispositions that lurk within.

But, why seek to depreciate the unbeliever's character by invidious comparisons? The comparisons are,

in my opinion, fair, and not invidious: however, I drop them. Admitting then his behaviour to be as decent and regular as his admirers would have us believe, yet what can we hence infer? Little more, I apprehend, than that he is attentive to his interest, and the friend of his own cause. If I were to settle in France, and wished to be popular there, would it be any great merit in me, to comply with the customs, obey the laws, and speak the language of that country? Now, the enemies of Christ are, in more senses than one, strangers and sojourners in the Christian world. Its policy they did not contrive; its laws they did not make; its customs, and the general modes of thinking and speaking that prevail in it, they did not introduce. All this is as really the work of Christians, as the language and laws of France are the work of the French nation. And I presume it will be admitted, that, in the Christian commonwealth, the aliens, compared with the citizens, are still the minority, and but a small one. What then would the unbeliever gain, if, in his manners, as well as opinions, he were to set himself in opposition to the people among whom he resides? He would gain little popularity, and few proselytes; nay, by thus explaining and exemplifying his principles in his practice, he would disgust many whom it is his ambition to please; and make those consider him as a dangerous man, who now, from not rightly understanding his tenets, may look on him as inoffensive, or at worst, as only whimsical.

He may, for example, with impunity, laugh at the observance of the Sabbath; or complain of it, which I have heard him do, as a grievous interruption to industry but if he were to force his servants and cattle to their customary work on that day, he would not be a gainer by his singularity. He may speak with contempt of those who baptized him: but were he publickly to abjure his baptism, or refuse to admit his children to that rite, his profaneness and obstinacy would not raise him in the public esteem. He may, in his books, abuse the ministers of God's word, and call

them, as he has often done, enthusiasts and hypocrites: but were he in the public street to insult them with this language, he would be pointed at as a madman, or a monster. He may, in a word, think as he pleases; and, in some nations, he may print and publish what he pleases: but violent measures, and practices directly opposite to those of the community in which he lives, would frustrate every scheme of the unbeliever. By good humour, a winning address, and such insinuation as may half show and half veil his deep 'intent,' he may work his way gradually into the hearts of men, and, in case of danger, secure an evasion for himself, saying, 'Am I not in sport?'-But all at once to throw off disguise, to make open war on Christianity, declaring those to be fools and knaves who believe it, and in the sight of all men to trample upon the laws of his country, whereof the institutions of Jesus form a very considerable part, would be equally ruinous to his cause, and to himself.

III. Objections have been raised against our religion, from the obscurity of particular doctrines and passages. But these obscurities have, by some writers, been both multiplied and magnified far beyond the truth. Father Simon endeavours to prove, that Scripture cannot be understood without the traditions of an infallible church: and it is easy to see his motives for supporting that opinion. But in fact, the essentials of religion are intelligible to all capacities; especially to all who have been, in any degree, improved by Scriptural knowledge: for, without this, I must again repeat, that neither Christianity, nor its evidences, can ever be rightly understood. And, that, in a thing so extraordinary as divine revelation, there should be, as observed already, some particulars, which, in this imperfect state, we cannot distinctly comprehend, it would surely be reasonable to expect; since we find, that in the other works of God there are innumerable appearances that surpass our comprehension. Nor less reasonable is it to suppose, that of an age and country so remote as that of the apostles, many customs and

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forms of speech, occasionally alluded to in their writins, may now be forgotten, or not perfectly intellie gible.

In books too, that existed fourteen hundred years before the invention of printing, it can be no matter of wonder, that by the inaccuracy of transcribers, there may have been introduced variations, and even corruptions of the original text, Yet these must have been inconsiderable; more so, perhaps, than those of any other ancient writings. For first, the transcribers of the New Testament must have always engaged in their work with the idea, that the book before them was sacred; which would, no doubt, incline them to be as attentive as possible. Secondly, the mutual jealousy of the several sects of Christians, who all agreed in appealing to this book, as the standard of faith, would make them examine, with peculiar care, those copies of it that might be circulated by adversaries, and be ready to expose any inaccuracy wherever it should appear. And thirdly, on comparing the several copies and manuscripts; the many translations that have been made at different times, into different languages; and the innumerable quotations from holy writ, that are found in the Greek and Latin fathers, it appears that the sacred text must have been in all ages very much the same. Bently, whose skill in this sort of learning, will not be questioned, observes, that the New-Testament has suffered less injury from the hand of time, than any profane author. Indeed there never was any profane author, in whose preservation and pu rity mankind were so deeply interested, as all the Christian world have been, for these seventeen hundred years, in ascertaining, and preserving from corruption or change, the original records of Christianity.

As to the Old Testament, though it may have suf fered more than the New, we have no reason to think it has suffered much. It was entrusted to a people, who, satisfied of its divine origin, were so religiously careful of it, as to number the words, and even the letters contained in the several books; and who, be

ing also divided into sects, would be watchful to detect every error in transcription, whether the effect of design or of inadvertance.

By the mutual jealousy of religious parties, where it does not degenerate into uncharitableness, several good purposes may be answered. Being, as it were, spies on each other's conduct, they reciprocally stand in awe of each other: the natural effect of which is, to promote activity, vigilance, and emulation. And if we are at pains to cultivate that godliness, sobriety, and charity, which all Christians admit to be indispensable; and if we inquire humbly into the truth, and pray for grace to discover it, which also they all acknowledge to be their duty, it may be presumed, from the goodness of our Creator, and from the different degrees of understanding which he has been pleased to bestow on different men, that diversities of opinion, in speculative matters, will not be imputed to us.Hence, let all parties learn moderation and mutual forbearance. That man must have a strange turn of mind, who can bring himself to believe, that those Christians only can be saved, who think exactly as he does.

In whatever way we employ ourselves in this world, it seems to be the intention of Providence that we shall have difficulties to encounter: for care, as Virgil observes, stimulates the soul, as inaction renders it lethargic. The cross accidents of life make invention, patience, and fortitude necessary, to prevent, to support, and to overcome them. Man, born ignorant, must labour in the acquisition of knowledge. His reason is weak, but it is improvable; and, from a sense of its weakness, he feels the necessity of improving it, by free and fair inquiry into the nature of those things that exercise it. Obscurities in philosophy, by forcing us to attend and investigate, rouse the inven tive powers, and strengthen both the understanding and the memory. And the obscurities of religion, far from being considerable enough to discourage inquiry, serve only to awaken the curiosity of the Christian;

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