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not open and avowed infidels. That this is the case at this day, not with the unthinking and profligate only, but with many persons of reading, of reflection, and of the most irreproachable conduct in life, is well known. It is also apparent, that the number of such persons is daily increasing; and unless some remedy be applied to the growing evil, we shall, in time, be in the condition of our neighbours the Papists, with whom the thinking men, in the church as well as among the laity, are generally infidels, and all the unthinking are bigots.

It has pleased the Divine Being, for good and obvious rea'sons, not to make the terms of salvation so very determinate, as that a man shall be able to pronounce with absolute certainty concerning the future state of himself or others, while we are in this life. It is evidently the best for us to be never without the influence of hope and fear; and therefore all that we have authority to say from the Scriptures, is, that when we have a fixed resolution to do our duty, as far as it is known to us, we have a reason to hope; and that when we either have not that resolution, or when our virtuous purposes are easily overborne by the influence of temptation, we have reason to fear. This is the nearest that any man can judge, even in his own case; and by this rule let every man examine himself, though not with a view to church communion. All that others can see or judge is, whether a man's conduct in life be such as is unworthy of their society; that is, in this case, contradictory to his profession as a Christian, and such as would be in danger of corrupting or disgracing them.

Much as I differ from Mr. Wesley in religious sentiments, I have the highest opinion of his integrity, and I consider his services of more importance than those of many benches of bishops. I doubt not he intends great good, and, in my opinion, he will be the cause, in the hands of Providence, of much more good than he intends or wishes.

It is true I am an avowed enemy to the Church establishment of this country, but by no means to any who belong to it. I write against Calvinism, but have the greatest respect for many Calvinists, and wish to make them exchange their darkness for my light. I am also an enemy to atheism and deism, but not to atheists and deists. I have a particular friendship for many of them, in this country and in other countries, and I write to inform and reclaim them. There is nothing personal in all this. They think as unfavorably of my system as I do of theirs. Let points of difference be freely discussed. Truth will be a gainer by it. But let us respect one another, as we respect truth itself; love all and wish the good of all, without distinction. This is true candor, and consistent with the greatest zeal for our particular opinions.

As the Indian said to the Spanish priest, who would have persuaded him to be baptized in the article of death, threatening that if he did not submit to that ceremony, he would certainly go to hell, whither all his ancestors went before him, that "he chose to go to his ancestors, rather than to any place whither the Spaniards went;" so, Sir, judging of the tree by its fruits, I shall willingly take my chance with pious, virtuous, and candid Unitarians, with such men as Dr. Lardner, Dr. Jebb, &c. who brought no railing accusa

tions against any man (though sentenced by your church "without doubt to perish everlastingly ") rather than with those who scruple no misrepresentation or abuse to promote their cause, though in itself it should be ever so good. Fearing God, and respecting his truth, I hope I shall never fear what man may say of me, or do to me; least of all in another world, where, happily, your power does not extend.

If any writings can be said to authenticate themselves, by internal marks of their being written by the persons whose name they bear, and at the time to which their contents refer, they are the books of the Scripture. It is not possible for any person of tolerable judgment in such things, to read them with due attention, and not acknowledge this, whatever may be his opinion of them in other respects. There are, however, in all these books such genuine marks of integrity and piety, as must satisfy any reasonable person that no imposition or deception of any kind (if in their circumstances it had been possible, which it evidently was not) was intended by the writers. They relate nothing but what they knew or believed to be true, and, situated as they were, they could not have been deceived themselves; so that without external evidence (which however is abundant) all persons who feel as they felt with respect to God and man, cannot help receiving their testimony to the most wonderful of the facts they relate without hesitation. Writing from the heart, they wrote to the hearts of all persons whose characters are like their own.

The doctrine of modern unbelievers, with respect to morals, is far from being a confirmation of what was so confidently advanced by their predecessors, concerning the clearness and sufficiency of the light of nature on that important

subject; for they are discordant in the extreme, and many of them such as would have shocked Lord Herbert and Lord Shaftesbury, almost as much as they do Christians; for, to say nothing of the little account the generality of unbelievers make of the vice of sensual indulgence of any kind, even the most unnatural, the latest writers of this class exclude gratitude from the rank of virtues, and deny the obligation of promises, oaths, and even of the bonds of matrimony, pleading for a community of women; principles which, if acted upon, would soon throw the world into the greatest confusion, and reduce men to the condition of brute beasts, and in the end to universal hostility, though they are inconsistently advocates for universal peace.

The moral uses of the very few positive institutions in the Christian religion, are sufficiently obvious; but admitting that they were not so, it ought to suffice us that they are enjoined by a competent authority; and the man who can knowingly transgress any one acknowledged command, though, to his apprehension, ever so unmeaning, is certainly destitute of respect to the authority by which it is enjoined, and of a principle of obedience in general; which with respect to God, is in the highest degree criminal and dangerous. You do not yourselves always give to a servant, or a child, the reasons of your commands, and yet you justly expect implicit obedience; and you would consider their peremptory disobedience as deserving of the severest punishment, though the thing itself should be ever so trifling.

Better had it been for you to have believed in three, or three hundred gods, and those of wood and stone, than to believe in the one only living and true God, and, at the same

time, live as without him in the world, entirely thoughtless of his being, character, and government, as if you were not accountable to him for your conduct. Infinitely better were it for you to believe whatever the most stupid of mankind have believed concerning God, than disregard his laws, profane his name, or neglect his worship.

Better were it for you to have believed in a revengeful, implacable object of worship, than to believe in a God truly merciful and gracious, who freely, and for his goodness' sake only, forgives all the sincerely penitent, and has sent his Son to live and die in order to bring men to repentance, and, at the same time, not to be solicitous to become the proper objects of mercy, or not to imitate such an amiable pattern and be merciful as your Father who is in heaven is merciful; freely, and without any satisfaction, forgiving, as you yourselves hope to be forgiven. In short, better were it for you to believe all the absurdities of the Church of Rome than not to add purity of heart and life to purity of doctrine and worship.

Think not, however, my brethren, that the most fervent zeal for what are apprehended to be the genuine doctrines of the gospel, is at all inconsistent with true Christian charity; which always judges of particular persons according to the advantages they have enjoyed, and of the final state of men by their sincerity only. And, for my own part, I have no doubt but that, though the Church of Rome be the proper Antichrist of the apostles, not only innumerable zealous papists but even some popes themselves, and since the time of the Reformation, will sit down with Luther, with Calvin and with Socinus, in the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Known unto God alone are the hearts of men; and the man who honestly pursues truth, and who acts according to the best lights that God gives him an opportunity of acquiring,

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