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thousands of both fexes, and of every age above childhood?

38. And thirdly, doth not this good Chriftian fet before us, the best translation, or rather tranfcript, of the Bible, and a tranfparent lanthorn of celeftial light in the midst of a benighted world?

39. Behold in this fervant of God, what Chrif tian faith can do! how it confumes all the drofs and filth of the old man, and kindles the life of the new! how it replaces remorfe, terror, and defpair, with peace and joy in the Holy Ghoft! 40. Look at him, thou fool, and grow wife. 41. Look at him, thou infidel, and ceafe to idolize thy pitiful understanding,

42. Look at him, thou finner, and no longer flounder in confcious filth and stench.

43. If you enquire where he is to be found, you will meet with him in the Holy Scriptures, and with a lively picture of him in the old Whole Duty of Man, and in Walker's Sermons.

44. Look at him, all ye that wish to be Chriftians, and, like him, afk, and ye fhall receive the Holy Spirit. Seek, and ye fhall find the one thing needful. Knock, and the gate of endlefs happinefs fhall be opened to you by the Saviour of fouls. Hear how he iterates his call, to roufe you! and how he iterates his promife to encourage you!

45. Heaven is offered, and hell threatened, to thee. Awake thou that fleepeft. Afk, feek, knock.

46. All this notwithstanding, and ten times more, rationally deducible from the nature of Chriftian principles and motives, notoriously evidenced

evidenced by their effects in all the faithful, our infidels, as if turning zealots in the cause of that morality, on which they trample without fcruple, infift, that the Chriftian fanctions tend to the fubverfion of virtue, as too mercenary and compulfory to confift with moral liberty. In this they pretend to include the rewards, altho' it is evident they have no objection, but to the punishments, of revelation. Who they are, whom its fanctions have compelled to be virtuous or even decent in their lives and converfations, I know not. It were much to be wifhed, however, that a large catalogue of fuch mercenaries could be made out. It were even to be wifhed, that the Chriftian fanctions could be found confiderably more cogent in the minds of fuch as really believe in them, than they are. Their influence over the wills and actions of mankind is by univerfal experience proved to be far from compulsory. Pursuant to the original intendment of our Creator in making us morally free agents, he never did, never will force the obedience of any. There is nothing in the Chriftian fanctions to force obedience. Their futurity leffens their greatness on the weakness of human apprehenfion. In regard to our minds, there is a fort of distance in duration, fimilar to that of fpace. Nay, our notions and expreffions of both are the fame. We say, that is near, which is foon to happen, juft as we do, of that which is placed within our reach. Of that which we do not expect, till after a thousand years, we say, it is far off, in the fame manner as we speak of that which is fituated a thousand miles from us; we

fay,

fay, it is far from us. Hence it is, that the near hill appears greater, than the diftant mountain. To the eye of faith its objects are diminished by futurity, as thofe of the bodily eye are by dif tance, juft as the royal ftatue in the center of Stephen's-green dwindles to a mere boy on horfe back to the felf-admiring eyes of our fecond-rate gentry on the Beau-walk. The truth is, a much greater degree of freedom is afforded to moral option, by the futurity of the Chriftian fanctions, than their infinite importance feems, on a fuperficial view, to indulge.

The firft natural principle, or inftinct, in every man is felf-prefervation, which is nothing elfe but a defire of happiness, and an averfation from mifery. Every man, let vanity fay what it will, feels the truth of this affertion in himself. To this low principle or inftinct the rewards and punishments of Christianity apply; and why not? for is not man a low creature? Does he not borrow his body from the earth, and his animal paffions and defires from the brute creation? His felfishness is fupported and quickened by his defire of happiness, and fear of mifery, his two strongest paffions. On this low principle, or on no other, his virtue must be founded; and by these low paffions his endeavours to avoid the one, and to obtain the other, must be actuated, or not at all.

From this selfishness, however, and from this alone, the nobleft principle of the human mind naturally and neceffarily takes its rife; I mean gratitude, for certain it is, that no benefit can be felt, nor benefactor acknowledged, but fo far only

as

as they apply to the aforefaid felfifhnefs. Gratitude never is, nor can be excited, but by the fense a man feels of fome kindness fhewn to himself, or to others, whom he loves as he does himself.

If now it appears, as it evidently must do, that none but God can fave a man from mifery, and make him happy; that God hath affumed the nature of man, and fhed his blood to fave a man from the dreadful punishment of fin, and entitle him to the glorious reward of virtue, on the bleffed terms of faith and moral obedience; and that, to make him actually virtuous, he enlightens his understanding, corrects his will, fixes his defire on real and infinite happiness, and alarms his fears with infinite mifery; low as the selfishness of the man is, his faith taking root therein, arifes into a moft exalted gratitude for goodnefs unbounded, and when he confiders his own vileness, for mercy moft tranfporting. His tree of Chrif tian faith spreads a fhade to fhelter him from all evil, and regales his foul with bloffoms of the moft lovely hue, and flowers of the mcft ravifhing odour.

It stops not here, but continually fpiring upward towards heaven, the bloffoms improve into an ardent and eternal love of God, its natural fruit, which, fhaken by the hand that planted the tree, in trials, perhaps perfecutions, and shed down on mankind, become the feeds of fimilar trees. Let the low-born fon of the earth, in himself fo abject, defpicable, felfish, behold how far the gofpel ftoops to take him up, how it feizes him by his moft humiliating, but moft powerful

VOL. I.

b

powerful motives of thought and action; and by that very engine raising him to the glorious motive of gratitude, exalts him to love, to a Godlike nature, fo high, that felf is forgotten and loft in God, the fource of greatnefs, of glory, of happiness! How is the child of duft become the Son of God!

Though man originally is indeed a very little creature, he is nevertheless the feedling of an angel, which feldom fprouts, but in the foil of felfishness, and never arrives at full growth, but in the fun-fhine of the Chriftian spirit.

The infidel, far from wishing to destroy the fertility of the felfifh foil, which promotes the growth of fuch angels, attempts only to extirpate the young plants, that he may replace them with those of pride and sensuality, and that he may furnish a grove for the worship of the Devil.

Of all men they are, and ever have been, the most immoral, who publicly call out for a more generous and difinterefted virtue than that which originates in hope of reward, and dread of punishment. Who fo low, bafe, and fcandalous in their actions? Witness Tindal, a lewd and infamous fharper. It is certain that man, a despicable flave to his vices, though ftill, in a low degree, a rational and free creature, fhould have reafons, and those very strong ones, for the mortification of his appetites, and an uniform adherence to virtue. To flatter him with an high idea of his natural grandeur, and with views of his becoming all at once, an hero, when he is yet funk in every species of pollution, is to begin at the wrong end, and grofly to deceive the poor conceited

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