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I beg your Pardon for this long Digreffion from our main Defign, which yet your Difcourfe led me to. And now I fhall fpeak to the Argument of your poetical Friend; which one would think should be irrefragable, confidering it is so often repeated by your Gentlemen with fuch Grace and Emphasis:

The Priests eat Roaft-meat, and the People ftar'd.

But had not the People their Share of Roaft-meat too as well as the Priests? Now here is a good Jeft fpoil'd The People for lack of understanding the Roman or Greek Antiqui- the ancient partook of ties, or for want of reading the Books of Exodus, or Le- Sacrifices. viticus. For every Child knows, that the Jews were obliged every Year to go to Jerufalem, not to fee the Priests eat the Pafchal Sacrifice, but to eat it themselves. And 'tis plain, that the People eat likewife of other Sacrifices, by i Sam. ix. 13. where 'tis faid, the People will not eat till Samuel come, because he doth bless the Sacrifice. And no thing of the Jewish Sacrifices were peculiar to the Priefts but only the Remainders of the voluntary piacular Of ferings, Lev. vi. 16. And fo in the Heathen Sacrifices, after fome fmall Parts were offered to the Gods, the reft made a Feaft for all the Sacrificers together, both Priests and People in common. So Homer speaks in general of all prefent at that Sacrifice;

Αὐτὰς ἐπεὶ παύσαντο πίνε, τετύχον ο τε δαῖτα,

Δαίνυντ', ἐδέ τι θύμ ἐδεύε]ο δϊ τις εΐσης. Hom. Il. r.
And thus the Labour done, and Dinner dreft,
They every one do fhare an equal Feaft.

And fo fpeaking of the Wine in the Sacrifice, which he makes common to all likewife, he fays,

Κρητήρας επεσέψαντο πλοίο,

Νώμησαν δ' άρα πᾶσιν.

Crowning the Bowls with Wine,
Which they to all prefent

And fo Virgil, whom Servius and Macrobius remark to be admirably verfed in the facrificial Rites, fpeaks of that Sacrifice of Encas in the eighth Book of the Eneis.

Vefcitur Æneas fimul & Trojana juventus
Perpetui tergo bovis, & luftralibus extis.

Æneas and his Trojans, all do eat
In order, of the facrificed Meat.

But farther, Lylius Geraldus, in his Treatife de Diis Gentium, informs us out of Herodotus and others; that the People were fo far from not having a Share at the Sacrifice, that they might carry weidas, or Cuts of it home with them to their Friends, fo that they too might partake of the Sacrifice. Which might perhaps give Occafion to the like Custom of the Chriftians in the Eucharift. Eufeb. Eccl. Hift. Lib. 5. Cap. 24. 29. Nay, these voracious Priefts were fo far from eating up the Sacrifice, that many of the remaining Parts were afterwards fold at the Shambles. Vid. Herod. Clio. Auguftin. Expof. in Rom. which gave Occafion to thofe Scruples among the Corinthians, concerning Idolatry, which St. Paul fo judiciously fatisfies, 1 Cor. x. 25. Whatfoever is fold in the Shambles eat, asking no Question for Confcience-fake, &c. Which Custom the Apoftate Julian improved fo far to be revenged upon the Chriftians at Antioch; as to make all the Food which was brought to Market to be firft dedicated at a Heathen Altar. Theod. Lib. 1. Cap. 14. And fo much for your gormandifing Priefts.

Phil. Well this is but a fmall Matter to talk of. But I can never forgive the fanctimonious Brotherhood, for all the Mischief they have done to natural Religion, by burying its pure and divine Light in fuch a Load of ceremonious Trumpery. If it were not for thefe Inventions of Prieftcraft, a Man might do his Duty as far as Nature directs, with all the Eafe imaginable. If a Man would but take Care to do what unprejudiced Nature prompts him to, not to overcharge her with more than the craves, nor to check her in her juft Defires, and to have as great and auguft Thoughts as he can of the Deity; he might perform the whole Bufinefs of Religion to all Intents and Purpofes

Purposes. All the ceremonious Foppery which does fo pefter Mankind, is owing to the Prieft's Contrivance, who would not have got fo much by the free eafy Directions of Nature, as they do by long Catalogues of Articles of Faith, and a fine pageant-like.raree-fhow Worship. For my Money give me good old, pure, natural Religion, which was in diebus illis.

In pious Times e'er Prieftcraft did begin.

Cred. Which was in Utopia, or only in the Brains of Natural the Gentlemen of your Way. For your Notion of na- Religion tural Religion is fo far from being God's Law, or a Rule not the Tendencies of of Mankind, that it was never dreamt of, till Mr. Hobbs Nature. would make his vitious Qualities the Rule of human Actions, and fome of his Difciples had improved farther upon him fince. 'Tis true, I am for that natural Religion, which is the Dictates of right Reason, as much as any one; but your natural Religion is the corrupt Inclination of a depraved Will and diforderly Paffions, made out of Fear, Pride, Luft, and a selfish Humour. Men of these Principles are temperate, only for fear of the Sickness of a Debauch, or in hopes to live as long as the old Gentle man of Malmesbury. They forbear to kill, or rob their Friend, for fear of the Animadverfion of the Leviathan, or Common-wealth; or that they may not incurr the Danger of being hanged, or lofing their Reputation. Adultery indeed may be a little against the Pact we enter'd into, when we retired from a State of Nature; but moderate Whoring is as innocent, as eating, drinking, or fleeping. And now what a noble Idea of natural Religion is this, for Men thus to philofophife themselves into Beafts, and to call that pure Nature which is the worst Sort of Brutality? It cannot be denied, but that we have fome diforderly Affections within, which are apt to prompt us to fuch Actions; but we have before fhewn, that thefe Appetites have received an original Depravation, which has been the Opinion of all wife Men; and befides, in the midft of this Tumult cf unruly Paffions, we ftill find a right Reafon within us, difallowing of thefe

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irregular Tendencies, and a Confcience checking us for the
fubmitting to them. And now let any one judge, which
has the jufteft Claim to the Title of natural Religion,
and the unblameable Practice of Mankind; those wife
Dictates of Reason which reftrain thefe Defires, or the
mad Paffions themselves. And yet when all comes to all,
your Infidel Sparks, after all their Cry for natural Reli-
gion, and pure uncorrupted Nature, mean no more by it,
than uncontrolled Senfuality: Which is fo vile an End
for a Man to propose to himself, that it reflects a Dif-
grace upon our common Reafon; and at last, let him gain
as much of it as he can, he will never arrive that Way to
the Happiness of an ordinary Beaft. For a Boar, or a
Monkey, can enjoy more of this Sort of Satisfaction, than
e'er a Libertine of 'em all. Epicuri de
grege Porci!

Phil. I befeech you, Credentius, not fo fevere. All we Infidels are not fuch Hogs as you would make us ; for fome of us are better principled than this comes to. Such Men as you defcribe are our Hereticks, as I may call them: Tho' they pretend to natural Religion, they have highly corrupted it, and almost destroy'd it. But we orthodox Unbelievers have our Tenets fixed up a founder Bottom, and take nothing up for natural Keligion, which is not the Refult of right Reafoning, and grounded upon the clear Principles of natural Light: For this is the fole Rule which God has given us to walk by; not that Men like thefe Libertines fhould miftake the Cravings of their irregular Appetites for the Law of Nature, but to govern them by it. For I fuppofe God to have given us these Appetites not to be Law to our Actions, but as a Subject to exercife our Obedience to this Law of God or Nature upon; fo that then we are faid to act according to the Law of Nature, when we follow thofe Dictates which every one's unbiaffed Reason affords him, even in Oppofition to thefe irregular Tendencies of our vitiated Appe tites. This is that noble Rule which alone, if followed, will make a Man wife, and virtuous, and happy. Under the Influence of this Law alone (till the Priests began their Reign) primitive Mankind liv'd golden Ages

and

and went to Heaven at laft, without Sacrifices and Revelations.

Hac arte Pollux, hâc vagus Hercules
Innixus, arces attigit igneas.

Cred. I find you are continually harping upon the Priests being the Authors of all the ceremonious Parts of Religion, and particularly Sacrifice; and that the World was a confiderable Time without either Priests or Sacrifice under the Conduct of pure natural Religion, and that. the Priesthood was but of late Date, and crept into the World by impofing upon the People pompous Ceremo→ nies. Now to fet you right, in this Miftake, will you please to attend to thefe following Particulars.

the World, and all A

ges.

1. There was always in the World a Rank of Men Priests in who had the Office of the Priesthood annexed to them, all Places of whofe Office it was to put up Prayers to the Deity for the People, to offer Sacrifices and the like. That this Office was entailed upon Primogeniture, as fome maintain from Numb. xviii. 16. Vid. Grot. in Luk, ii. I think is not fo certain but that it belonged, and was conftantly practifed by the Heads of Families, and Princes of Nations in the earliest Times, is unquestionable. So Noah after the Deluge facrificed for himself and Family, Gen. viii. 20. The like is recorded of Abraham, and Jacob, and Job. And fo among the Gentiles, in the higheft Ages, the Crown and Priesthood went together; of which the Hiftory of Melchizedek King of Salem is a remarkable Inftance in Scripture. And amongst prophane Authors, Virgil tells us the like of Anius King of Delus;

Rex Anius, Rex, idem hominum, Phœbique facerdos.
Virg. Æn. 3.

Upon which Verfe Servins has this Note: Sane ma-
jorum hac erat confuetudo, ut Rex effet etiam facerdos, vel
Pontifex: Unde hodieque Imperatores Pontifices dicimus.
This was the Cuftom of the Ancients, that the King

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