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believed, or rather in fome inftances perhaps only affected to disbelieve, the fundamental truths of Chriftianity. The Chriftian profeffes not to deny the force of fuch an argument, becaufe he is aware, that the weight of authority is very powerful, whether avowed or concealed. It undoubtedly gives a bias to the mind, which is more commonly felt than acknowledged; and it has confiderable influence in determining the judgment in moft of the affairs of life. If however this argument be urged in oppofition to Christianity, fair reafoning requires that it should be allowed due force in its favour. Afk an infidel, who are the leaders, under whofe banners he has enlisted himfelf, and perhaps he will refer you to Bolingbroke, and to Hume: but furely, if even we allow the elegance and acutenefs of the one, and the florid declamation of the other, all the praise they deferve, they can never bear a competition with those luminaries of fcience, and thofe teachers of genuine wisdom, who have not only embraced the Chriftian faith, but maintained its truth and divine origin, and directed their conduct by its rules. They can never be weighed in the balance of merit, against advocates of Chriftianity, fo difpaffionate, fincere, ingenuous, and acute, fo divefted of all objections, that can be drawn from interested attachments, as Milton, Clarendon, Hale, Boyle, Bacon, Locke, Newton, Addifon, Lyttleton, Weft, and Johnson“.

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The lift of thofe on whom no motive but a love of truth, and a regard for their own falvation, operated to induce them

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Ought not the teftimony, which fuch men as thefe have given, to be held in the higheft eftimation? A teftimony founded not upon any furrender of their judgments to the prevailing opinions of the day, but upon clofe and patient examination of the evidences of Chriftianity, of which their writings give the most fatisfactory proofs. Or are fuch men to be undervalued, when brought into comparison with the infidels of modern times? Where do we find perfons of fuch profound understandings, and inquifitive minds, as Bacon, Locke, and Newton; where of fuch a fublime genius as Milton; where of fuch various and extenfive learning; embracing all the treasures of eaftern, as well as western literature, as Sir William Jones, who at the clofe of life recorded his conviction of the truth of divine Revelation, and celebrate the excellence of the holy Scriptures? To compare the race of modern infidels in point of genius, learning, fcience, judgment, or love of truth ;-to compare Voltaire, Hume, Gibbon, Godwin and Paine, with fuch men as thefe, were furely as idle, and as abfurd, as to compare the weakness of infancy with the maturity of manhood; the flutter of a butterfly with the

to embrace Chriftianity, may be greatly enlarged; more particularly by adverting to many characters of the first eminence, distinguished in other countries. To the illuftrious names of Savile, Selden, Hatton, Mead, Steele, Dugdale, Nelfon, Littleton, as well as thofe included in my lift, may be added thofe of Salmafius, Grotius, Pafcal, Pufendorf, Erafmus, Montefquieu, and Haller. I am fenfible of the great imperfections of this detail.

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foaring of an eagle; or the twinkling of a far with the glory of the fun, illuminating the universe with his meridian brightnefs.

It is well remarked, by an elegant and fenfible writer, who could have no profeffional bias to influence his opinions, that, "The clergy are both ready and able to maintain the caufe of Chriftianity, as their many excellent writings in defence of it fufficiently demonftrate: but as the generality of mankind is more governed by prejudice than reason, their writings are not fo univerfally read, er fo candidly received, as they deferve; because they are supposed to proceed, not from confcience and conviction, but from interested views, and the common cause of their profeffion-A fuppofition evidently as partial and injurious as that would be, which fhould impute the gallant behaviour of our officers to the mean confideration of their pay, and their hopes of preferment; exclufive of all the nobler motives of gentlemen; viz. the fense of honour, and the love of their country "."

Against the authority of fuch infidious writers, as Voltaire and Gibbon, we enter our ferious, and we think our equitable proteft; we exhort every one to beware of their fophiftry, and to guard against their delufive arts. They have violated the laws of fair controverfy, and fought with the weapons that cannot be allowed on fuch occafions.

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They employ ridicule inftead of argument, artful infinuation instead of serious difcuffion, and bold affertion instead of proof. They write to the paffions and imagination, and not to the judgment of mankind. They artfully involve the questions relative to the evidences of Chriftianity in perplexity, and endeavour to throw the blame arifing from the diffentions and ufurpations, the vices and ignorance of fome of the clergy, and the injury, which in dark and fuperftitious times was done to the liberties of mankind, upon Chriftianity itself. They felect thofe topics, which can beft be turned to their purpose, by the arts of mifreprefentation; they embellifh them with the flowery ornaments of ftile, and skilfully adapt them to the paffions and prejudices of their readers. As however their conduct is thus artful, fo ought their labours to be vain; for they do not try the caufe upon its own merits: they do not, like candid and difpaffionate reafoners, separate the subject in dispute from all foreign and extraneous circumftances: they do not agitate queftions, and art objections, from a defire of being well informed: they do not, in the spirit of true philofophy, examine the evidences of Chrif tianity with the ferioufnefs, which is due to an affair of fuch infinite importance to the prefent welfare, and future happiness of mankind: they do not confider, that the fame unbelief, if applied to the common records of hiftory, or the ordinary affairs of life, would expofe them to the imputation of extreme rashness and folly. As their conduct is evidently not dictated by a love of truth,

their fcoffs, their farcafins, and their fophiftry, 'deferve no attention; and as they not only wantonly reject, but induftriously depreciate the best gift of heaven, they ought to be fhunned and reprobated, as enemies to the dearest interests of mankind.

And they certainly ought to be fo confidered, whether we obferve the baleful influence of their opinions upon our prefent, or our future ftate. By a ftrange perverfion of reafon and argument, fome of the Philofophifts in France, and Godwin in England, have laboured to fubvert the regular order of nature. Inftead of reprefenting the exercife of the private affections, as preparatory to that of public virtue, they fet the one in direct oppofition to the other. They propofe to build univerfal philanthropy upon the ruins of individual benevolence, and tell us we must love our whole

"I am no advocate for the abject proftration of the devotee, or the frantic ecftafies of the fanatic. But there is a fuperftition, fays the immortal Bacon, in fhunning fuperftition; and he that difdains to follow religion in the open and the trodden path, may chance to lose his way in the tracklefs wilds of experiment, or in the obfcure labyrinths of fpeculation." Parr on Education, p. 24.

f For this train of observation, as far as p. 68, I am indebted to "Modern Infidelity confidered," in a Sermon preached at the Baptist Meeting at Cambridge, by R. Hall, A.M. Confidering the found arguments of this writer, recommended by great eloquence and zeal in the cause of Christianity, I am inclined to exclaim, "talis cum fit, utinam nofter effet." See p. 57, &c.

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