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dife. There is, however, this difference between them,that as the first naturally produces that ftrength and greatness of mind I have been all along defcribing as fo effential to render a man happy, the latter is ruffled and difcompofed by every accident, and loft under the common misfortune.

It is this ftrength of mind that is not to be overcome by the changes of fortune, but arifes at the fight of dangers, and could make Alexander (in that paffage of his life fo much admired by the prince of Conde) when his army mutinied, bid his foldiers return to Macedon, and tell their countrymen that they had. left their king conquering the world; fince for his part he could not doubt of raifing an army wherever he appeared. It is this chiefly exerts itself when a man is moft oppreffed, and gives him always in proportion to whatever malice or injuftice would deprive him of. It is this, in fhort, that makes the virtuous man infenfibly fet a value upon himself, and throws a varnish over his words and actions, that will at Faft command esteem, and give him a greater afcendant over others, than all the advantages of birth and, fortune. GUARDIAN, Vol. II. No. 32.

There is a restlefs endeavour in the mind of man after happiness. This appetite is wrought into the or-iginal frame of our nature, and exerts itself in all parts of the creation that are endued with any degree of thought or fenfe.. But as the human mind is dig-. nified by a more comprehenfive faculty than can be found in the inferior animals, it is natural for men. not only to have an eye, each to his own happiness,. but also to endeavour to promote that of others in the fame rank of being: And in proportion to the generofity that is an ingredient in the temper of the foul, the object of its benevolence is of a larger or nar-. rower extent There is hardly a fpirit upon earth fo mean and contracted as to centre all regards on its own intereft, exclufive of the rest of mankind. Even the felfish man hath some share of love, which he bestows on his family and friends. A nobler mind hath at heart

the common intereft of the fociety or country of which he makes a part. And there is ftill a more diffufive fpirit, whofe being or intentions reach the whole mafs of mankind, and are continued beyond the present age to a fucceffion of future generations.

The advantage arifing to him who hath the tincture of this generofity on his foul, is, that he is affected with a fublimer joy than can be 'comprehended by one who is deftitute of that noble relifh. The happiness of the rest of mankind hath a natural connection with that of a reasonable mind. And in proportion as the actions of each individual contribute to this end, he must be thought to deserve well or ill both of the world and of himself. I have in a late paper obferved, that men who have no reach of thought, do oft mifplace their affections on the means without refpect to the end, and by a prepofterous defire of things in themfelves indifferent, forego the enjoyment of that happiness which thofe things are inftrumental to obtain. This obfervation has been confidered with regard to critics and mifers; I fhall now apply it to free-thinkers.

Liberty and truth are the main points which thefe gentlemen pretend to have in view; to proceed therefore methodically, I will endeavour to fhew in the first place that liberty and truth are not in themselves defirable, but only as they relate to a farther end.. And fecondly, that the fort of liberty and truth (allowing them thofe names) which our free-thinkers use all their induftry to promote, is deftructive of that: end, viz. human happinefs; and confequently that fpecies, as fuch, inftead of being encouraged or ef teemed, merit the deteftation and abhorrence of alk honest men. And in the last place I defign to fhew, that under the pretence of advancing liberty and truth, they do in reality promote the two contrary.

evils.

As to the first point, it has been obferved that it is the duty of each particular person to aim at the happinefs of his fellow-creatures; and that as this view is of a wider or narrower extent, it argues a mind more

or lefs virtuous. Hence it follows that a liberty of doing good actions which conduce to the felicity of mankind, and a knowledge of such truths as might either give us pleasure in the contemplation of them, or direct our conduct to the great ends of life, are valuable perfections. But shall a good man, therefore, prefer à liberty to commit murder or adultery, before the wholefome reftraint of divine and human laws? Or fhall a wife man prefer the knowledge of a troublefome and afflicting truth, before a pleasant error that would cheer his foul with joy and comfort, and be attended with no ill confequences? Surely no man of common sense would thank him, who had put it in his power to execute the fudden fuggeftions of a fit of paffion or madness, or imagine himself obliged to a perfon, who by forwardly informing him of ill news, had caufed his foul to anticipate that forrow which fhe would have never felt fo long as the ungrateful truth lay concealed.

Let us then refpect the happiness of our fpecies, and in this light examine the proceedings of the freethinkers. From what giants and monsters would these knight-errants undertake to free the world? From the ties that religion impofeth on our minds, from the expectation of future judgment, and from the terrors of à troubled confcience, not by reforming men's lives, but by giving encouragement to their vices. What are thefe important truths of which they would convince mankind? That there is no fuch thing as a wise and just Providence: That the mind of man is corporeal: That religion is a State-trick, contrived to make men honest and virtuous, and to procure a fubfiftence to others for teaching and exhorting them to be fo: That the good tidings of life and immortality brought to light by the Gofpel, are fables and impoftures: From believing that we are made in the image of God, they would degrade us to an opinion that we are on a level with the beafts that perifh. What pleasure or what advantage do thefe notions bring to mankind? Is it of any ufe to the public that good men fhould lofe the comfortable profpect of a reward to their vir

tue, or the wicked be encouraged to perfift in their impiety, from an affuranoe that they fhall not be punished for it hereafter?

Allowing, therefore, thefe men to be patrons of liberty and truth, yet it is of fuch truths and that fort of liberty which makes them justly be looked upon as enemies to the peace and happinefs of the world. But upon a thorough and impartial view it will be found that their endeavours, inftead of advancing the caufe of liberty and truth, tend only to introduce flavery and error among men. There are two parts in our nature, the bafer, which confifts of our fenfes and paffions, and the more noble and rational, which is properly the human part, the other being common to us with brutes. The inferior part is generally much ftronger, and has always the ftart of reafon, which if, in the perpetual ftruggle between them, it were not aided from Heaven by religion, would almost univerfally be vanquished, and man become a flave to his paffions, which as it is the most grievous and abject flavery, fo it is the genuine refult of that liberty which is propofed by overturning religion. Nor is the other part of their defign better executed. Look into their pretended truths: Are they not fo many wretched abTurdities, maintained in oppofition to the light of nature and divine revelation, by fly inuendoes and cold jefts, by fuch pitiful fophifms, and fuch confufed and indigefted notions, that one would vehemently fufpect thofe men ufurped the name of free-thinkers, with the fame view that hypocrites do that of godliness, that it ferve for a cloak to cover the contrary demay fect?

I fhall clofe this difcourfe with a parrallel reflection on these three fpecies, who feem to be allied by a certain agreement in mediocrity of understanding. A critic is entirely given up to the purfuit of learning; when he has got it, is his judgment clearer, his imagination livelier, or his manners more polite than those of other man? Is it obferved that a mifer, when he has acquired his fuperfluous eftate, eats, drinks, or fleeps with more fatisfaction; that he has a cheerful

ler mind, or relifhes any of the enjoyments of life better than his neighbours? The free-thinkers plead hard for a licence to think freely; they have it; but what ufe do they make of it? Are they eminent for any fublime difcoveries in any of the arts and sciences? Have they been authors of any inventions that conduce to the well-being of mankind? Do their writings fhew a greater depth of design, a clearer method, or more juft and correct reafoning, than thofe of other men?

There is a great refemblance in their genius; but the critic and mifer are only ridiculous and contemptible creatures, while the free-thinker is also a pernicious one.

GUARDIAN, Vol. I. No. 83.

HEAVEN.

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SIR,

CONSIDERED in my two laft letters that awful and tremendous fubject, the ubiquity or omniprefence of the Divine Being. I have fhewn that he is equally prefent in all places throughout the whole extent of infinite fpace. This doctrine is fo agreeable to reafon, that we meet with it in the writings of the enlightened heathens, as I might fhew at large, were it not already done by other hands. But though the deity be thus effentially prefent through all the immenfity of fpace, there is one part of it in which he discovers himfelf in a moft tranfcendent and visible glory. This is that place which is marked out in fcripture under the different appellations of Paradife, the third Heaven, the throne of God, and the habitation of his glory. It is here where the glorified body of our Saviour refides, and where all the celestial hierarchies, and the innumerable hofts of angels, are reprefented as perpetually furrounding the feat of God with hallelujahs, and hymns of praife. This is that presence of God which fome of the divines call his Glories; and others, his Majestic Prefence. He is indeed as effentially prefent in all

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