the due exercise of their reason, through preju

13. Corruption of the heart, through the practice of evil.

Every man, fays Doctor Barrow, under this head, is unwilling to entertain a bad conceit of himfelf, and to país on himself a fentence of condemnation. The profligate, therefore, will reject that doctrine, which, thould he believe, would caufe him to acknowledge himfelf to be aperfon of folly, and in a state of wretchednefs. He cannot love that truth which he apprehends is fo great an enemy to him; which treats him with fo little ceremony; which perfecutes him with fuch fe. verity, and which declares to him a message fo unwelcome!

It is obferved by Lord Bacon, that " The caufe of almost all the errors in the fciences is, that while men falfely admire the force and abilities of the human mind, they are not folicitous to ob. tain the affiftance it requires." Bacon Nov. Organ. Scientiar. aphor. 9.

What this eminent philofopher feems here to have principally in view is, that the learned, in all ages, form too high an opinion of the extent of their genius; have been inclined to depend on fchemes and hypothefes of their own formation, without a due attention to experiments, and thofe aids alfo, which might have furnithed them with a more perfect knowledge of the nature of things.

Thus it hath often happened, that through an immoderate conceit of their abilities, men have defpifed and neglected the affiftance afforded them by divine revelation; or they have not adhered to its inftructions; they have affected an air of fuperior wisdom, as Doctor Barrow, in a paffage bove cited, justly observes, and, therefore, have

dice, the love of guilty pleasure, ambition, pride, or fome other evil principle !*

As chriftianity originated from the great fource of truth and reafon, it dreads, not investigation. It is, however, to be deplored, that the interefts of this divine fyftem, are often injured through the want of a due examination of its nature and the evidences in its favor. Our modern infidels, who would be thought to be reasonable beings, act moft unreafonably with refpect to chriftianity. Without a proper enquiry into the genius and truth of this religion, they take upon them not only to difclaim, but to revile it, and commence perfect fceptics;t or, without reflection, moft

treated mankind, in general, with fupercillious contempt; or they have attempted to be wife above what is written; "Intruding into those things which they have not feen, vainly puffed up by their flethly minds." Col. il. 18.

"Wrong not the chriftian, think not reafo

yours;

'Tis reafon our great mafter holds fo dear: "Tis reafon's injured rights his wrath refents; 'Tis reafon's voice obey'd, his glories crown. Through reafon's wounds alone thy faith can die." YOUNG.

A certain heathen philofopher, bleffed the gods for the enjoyment of three privileges;that he was not a brute, but a rational being; that he was born, not in barbarous climes, but in Greece; that he lived not in the more uncultivated ages, but in the time and under the tuition of Socrates.

oredulously adopt a fyftem of Deifm! A religion

With a mind fo ingenuous, what gratitude, in all probability, would he have expreffed, had he enjoyed the light of the Gospel; the teachings of Chrift; teachings which fome of our Deifts, through the wickednefs of their hearts, calumniate; a light which, through vice and ignorance, they endeavor to extinguish!

Their ingratitude and guilt, while they expofe them to reproach and punishment, may, however, excite our pity! How worthy of their attention is the following language of a popular and judicious writer !

"I blefs the diftinguished goodness of provi dence, fays he, that has caft my lot not at Athens but in Emanuel's Land! I fay with wonder and gratitude, why did not my existence commence in thofe æras of religious dotage? Why was not my portion confined to thofe regions of barbarifm and delufion? Why am not burning incenfe to Idols; paying fenfeless adoration to fculptured ftone; or worshipping, with deteftable ceremonies, a fet of lafcivious, debauched and fcandalous Deities?"

This ingenious author, thus beautifully expreffes himfelf on the bleffings derived from the Gospel; bleflings, however, never to be enjoyed by unbelievers

"In other climes, let myriads of curious infects fpin the delicate thread, that foftens into velvet, ftiffens into brocade, or flows into the

they apprehend, that will indulge them in their

gloffy fattin, which reflects a lovelier glow on the cheek of beauty. We are prefented with infinitely finer robes, in the imputed righteousness of our Redeemer, and the inherent fanctification of his fpirit, which beautify the foul and prepare it for the illustrious affembly of faints in light, of angels in glory!

Let eastern rocks fparkle with diamonds, and give birth to gems of every dazzling tincture. We have, hid in the field of our fcriptures, the pearl of great price; the white and precious stone (Rev. II. 7.) of perfect abfolution; a diadem that will fhine with undiminished lustre, when all the brilliant wonders of the mine fhall fade, be extinguifhed and loft!

Let richer foils nourish the nobleft plants, and warmer funs concoct their exquifite juices; the lemon, pleasingly poignant; the citron, more mildly delicious; or that pride of vegitable life and compendium of all the blandifhments of tafte, the pine.apple. We enjoy far more exalted dainties, in having accefs to the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations; (Ibid xxxii. 2.) whofe boughs are replenished with a never-failing abundance of heavenly fruits; and the nutriment they difpenfe is blifs and iminortality!

Let iberian vines fwell the translucent cluster, and burit into a flood of generous wine; let the tufcan olive extract the fatnefs of the earth, and

vices, without control, and alfo, without punish

melt into a foft mellifluous ftream. We fhall nei ther envy nor covet thefe inferior gifts, fo long as we may draw water out of the wells of falva. tion; fo long as we may receive that unction from the holy one; (I John ii. 20.) thofe influences of the comforter, which not only make a chearful countenance, but gladden the heart; imparting fuch a refined fatisfaction, as the whole world cannot give; fuch permanent enjoyments as no calamities can deprive us of!

Let æthiopian mountains be ribbed with marble, and peruvian mines be emboweled with gold. We want neither the impenetrable quarry, nor the glittering ore; having in our adored Meffiah, a fure foundation for all our eternal hopes, and an inexhaustible fund of divine treasures!

Be it fo that our ifis is but a creepiug drop; and the thames itfelf no more than a fcanty river, compared with the magnificent fweep of the ganges, or the ftupendous amplitude of rio de la plata. The wretched natives, while on the banks of these stately rivers, are at a distance from all the fprings of true confolation. Whereas we have a fountain, a river that iffues from the ocean of eternal love! With incomparable dignity, and with equal propriety, it is filed the river of life! (Rev. xxii. 1.) It vifits the house of mourners and revives the fpirits of the forrowful! It makes glad the city and confers happiness on the fervants of our God! It quickens even the dead, and every human being that drinks of its water, lives forever