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different from what we could collect from the contemplation of nature, there would be no such thing as prayer. Indeed, unbelievers in revelation ridicule the idea of prayer as unnatural and absurd, though all nations, without exception, have had recourse to it; which is a clear proof that it is natural, as every thing that is universal must be.

Authority is best supported by a mixture of affection, but there cannot be any thing of this except towards a being resembling other beings which have been the object of our affection, and which have engaged our confidence. And in revelation, but by no means in nature, the Supreme Being appears to us in the familiar character of a parent, a person with whom we can have communication who may be conceived to be always present with us, who encourages us to address ourselves to him, who always hears us, and sometimes answers us. By this means God easily becomes the object of real affection and attachment. Here we find a solid foundation for love and fear, which are the chief motives for men's actions,

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4. They who give so decided a preference to the light of nature, the appearances of which are uniform, to that of revelation, which supposes an occasional departure from the usual course of nature, betray their ignorance of the nature of man, by whom all uniform appearances are apt to be disregarded, but who never fail to be struck by what is unusual. Does not every human being see the regular rising and setting of the sun, the periodical returns of summer and winter, seedtime and harvest; but how few ever think of the wisdom or benevolence of these appointments! They content themselves with observing effects, and directing their conduct by them, without ever reflecting on the cause. But whenever any thing unusual happens, when comets are seen, or eclipses of the sun or moon take place, their attention is forcibly arrested; and after reflecting on the cause of the extraordinary appearances, they may be induced to give some attention to those

that are constant.

I shall illustrate this by a case which I

have put on a former occasion.

Let a person unacquainted with clocks, watches, and other machines, be introduced into a room containing many of them, all in regular motion. He sees no maker of these machines, and knows nothing of their internal structure; and as he sees them all to move with perfect regularity, he may say, on the principles of the atheistical system, that they are automata, or self-moving machines; and so long as all these machines continue in regular motion, and he knows nothing of the making of them, or the winding of them up, this theory may appear plausible.

But let us suppose that, coming into this room again and again, and always attending to the machines, he shall find one of them much out of order, and that at length its motion shall entirely cease; but that, after continuing in this state some time, he shall again find it in perfect order, moving as regularly as ever. Will he not then conclude that some person, whom he has not seen, but probably the maker of the machines, had been in the room in his absence? The restoration of motion to the disordered machine would impress his mind with the idea of a maker of them, in a much more forcible manner than his observing the regular construction and uniform motion of them. It must convince him of the existence of some person capable of regulating, and, therefore, probably of making these machines, whether he should ever see this person or not.

Thus do miracles prove the existence of a God, in a shorter and more satisfactory manner than the observation of the uninterrupted course of nature. If there be a Being who can control the course of nature, there must be one who originally established it; in whatever difficulty we may still be left with respect to his nature, and the manner of his exis

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5. No less are they mistaken who imagine that the evidences

of revealed religion have more of difficulty in them than those of natural religion; by which we mean the arguments from nature, for the being, perfections, and providence of God. On the contrary, far greater difficulties occur with respect to these, than with respect to the others, and all that can be said is, that great difficulties must give way to greater. Far am I from supposing that the evidence for the being of a God is not demonstrative, since marks of design, with which the world abounds, necessarily imply a designing or intelligent cause. But notwithstanding this, we can never fully satisfy ourselves with respect to the objection of the atheist, that if the universe require a cause, this cause must require another; and if the author of nature, or the being we call God, exist without a cause, so may the universe itself.

All we can say in answer to this is, that whatever difficulty we may labor under with respect to this subject, which will always be above our comprehension, the actual existence of a visible world, and of marks of design in it, cannot be denied, and, therefore, whether we be able to proceed any farther or not, we must acknowledge a designing cause; otherwise we might say that a house had no architect, or a child no father. If the eye of a man require no designing cause, neither would a telescope, which is an instrument of a similar nature, evidently adapted to answer a similar purpose. And at this supposition every mind would revolt.

nature.

More and greater difficulties occur when we proceed to the consideration of the unity, the omnipresence, the constant agency, and, what is of more consequence still, the benevolence of the Supreme Being, on the principles of the light of So forcibly were the minds of men, in the early ages, impressed with a view of the evils which abound in the world, and so inconsistent did they conceive them to be with the designs of a benevolent Author, that they supposed there was an original principle of Evil, independent of that of Good. And they who supposed there was a multiplicity of deities (to which they were led by the extent and variety they ob

served in the works of nature), imagined some of them to be of a benevolent, and others of a malevolent disposition. That the Author of nature is one, that he is simply, invariably, and infinitely good, and that all the evils we see and experi ence are calculated to promote good, are great and sublime truths, which we derive from revelation only; though, on a strict examination, they appear not to be inconsistent with the appearances in nature.

On the other hand, the evidences of revelation are level to every capacity. That it is the Author of nature who interposes, must be evident from every interruption of the usual course of it; for no other than he who established the laws of nature can control them; and though there may be some difficulty in distinguishing some preternatural appearances from such as are merely unusual, this cannot be the case with respect to numberless others. If it was a fact that the Israelites walked through the Red Sea and the river Jordan; if all the first-born.of the Egyptians, and the first-born only, of man and beast, died in one night, and that announced beforehand; if an articulate voice was actually heard to pronounce the ten commandments from Mount Sinai, so as to be heard by two millions of people, there could be no doubt of a Divine interposition in any of the cases. And the same may be said of numberless other facts in the Scripture history. If the facts be ascertained, there can be no doubt concerning their

cause.

Now, all facts may be ascertained by sufficient testimony, or that of a competent number of credible witnesses; that is, of persons who were in circumstances not to be imposed upon themselves, and who had no apparent motive to impose upon others. This is fully equal to the evidence of a man's own senses. Nay, there are many persons who would distrust their own eyes and ears, rather than those of other persons, who, they thought, were better judges than themselves.

Though single persons may be imposed upon in a variety of ways, or may take it into their heads, for reasons which it

is not in the power of any man to investigate, to impose upon others; this can never be said to be the case with respect to thousands who believe, or attest, things evidently contrary to their interest and previous inclinations. That great numbers of persons, and others in succession to them (all of whom had sufficient opportunity to investigate any particular fact, which required no other evidence than that of the senses, and who were interested in the investigation, their fortunes or their lives depending upon it) should persist in their attestation of it would be a greater miracle, more contrary to what we know of human nature, than any fact contained in the Scripture history.

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As to the evidence of a future state, what are all the arguments derived from the light of nature compared to that which is furnished by the gospel, which is therefore justly said to bring life and immortality to light"? There we see a person commissioned by God, teaching the doctrine with the greatest plainness and emphasis, enforcing it by miracles, among which was the raising of several persons from a state of death to life; and, what was infinitely more, submitting to die himself in the most public and indisputable manner, and rising to life again at a fixed time. Had mankind in general been asked what evidence would satisfy them, they could not have demanded more.

Whether, therefore, we consider the precepts of religion, that is, the rules of a virtuous and happy life, the authority requisite to enforce the observance of them, the motives by which they are enforced, or the evidence of their truth, revealed religion has unspeakably the advantage of natural; and therefore so far is the scheme of revelation from being improbable à priori, that it must appear such as a wise and ood Being, who was acquainted with human nature, and vished to engage the attention of men, and impress their minds with sentiments of reverence of himself, and respect for such laws as were calculated to promote their greatest happiness, would adopt in preference to any other; being the

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