JI.

1 Cor. vi. rit of our God. His faith did likewife produce an uncommon chriftian humility: that virtue which the Son of God hath fet in the front of his beatitudes.

4

This was a glorious faith, Jewks. May it be thine and mine till our laft agony. The monks may give imagination fcope, and preach religion into pious wonders; may scream for profitable mystery, and turn the people's creed into a riddle: they may labour to reduce the gospel to intricate schemes and unintelligible notions, because it is too plane and fimple a thing for men of worldly ambition, falfe learning, and fuperftitious heads; and then, fit thofe fchemes and despicable notions to fecure a temporal emolument, and to ferve all the purposes of error and spiritual ufurpation through intereft, and through bigottry, they may fubftitute inventive pietys in the place of true religion, and multiply the fancys into endless volumes; fuch as, Revelation examined with Candor, the most uncandid thing that ever was written; the life of David, etc. by the fame author; Rogers's Difcourfe of the visible and invifible Church; Waterland's Importance; and other writings; the execrable dialogues, called Ophiomaches; Trapp, Webfter, and Vernon; the miferable anfwers to the bishop of Clogher; Dodwell, Church, and Brooks against Middleton; Knowles against the argument a priori;

and

and cart-loads of fuch religious lumber: but, my dear Jewks, true christianity lies in our father, repentance, and amendment. God, in an original act of grace, fent the Man Christ Jefus into the world to fave finners, and of confequence, our bufinefs must be the labours of a penitential piety. To fear God, and keep his commandments, is the whole duty of man. From a conviction or converfion, occafioned by the reveled doctrinė of the gospel, and by the holy miracles, and exemplary life, the death, and refurrection and afcenfion of the blessed Jefus, the bufinefs is to do our best in acquiring univerfal holiness and virtue; fobriety, righteoufnefs, and godlinefs. This appears to a plane understanding, uncorrupted with the doctrines of men, to be the great and valuable defign of our divine Lord. All the promifes of the gofpel are fubfervient to univerfal virtue, piety, and benevolence.

Away then, Jewk:, with mystery, implicit faith, and vifion. Deteft the bold ufurpations of church-men, their fplendid pride, and cruel oppreffion. Abhor the errors which fanctify fuperftition, difhonor God, and difgrace human nature; every thing that is built upon, and fuperadded to the writings of the apoftles; all fpiritual noife and nonfense; what is not reafon and common fenfe; and from the facred oracles only take your

religion. The venerable christianity of the New Teftament deferves the kindeft reception. It is the most valuable bleffing. We can never be fufficiently thankful for a thing which is fo highly worthy of the majesty, the wisdom, and goodness of the great creator; and with the highest gratitude, we ought to acknowledge the inestimable love of God, in the redemption of the world, by the Man Christ Jesus: a man without all peradventure, as the apostle calls him; but vaftly fuperior to all other beings; because he is a ray or fplendor from the Father's glory immediately; no one intervening as means of the derivation; and the very image of his being; exact and perfect from the grand original; which is what diftinguishes Chrift from all other beings, and makes him tranfcend all other men, and all the angels; their fouls or percipients being mediately his, immediately created by the Father (C). I mention these things fo particularly and planely, my dear fewks, because on one hand, the cry is great against revelation. It is called by men who pretend to understanding, an old fuperftition. You remember the night you was with me at a certain club in the city, where the laugh was fo loud against the awful realities of the New Testament, that I could not be heared on the fide of revelation. What peals of laughter, as any of the foda

lity chanced to produce fome of the low, barbarous expreffions of my unhappy acquaintance, Mad Tom Woolfion !— -On the other hand, the monks have fpeculated, and fublimed the faith to the incomprehenfible. Do you then chufe the middle way. Neither crawl with the infidel on the flime of the earth; nor foar with the monk, till you lose fight of reafon; reafon the most glorious excellence of the human nature. But, as I have already advised you, fubfcribe to that divine religion of Jefus, which promulgats and enforces the unity of God in the worship of our Father, felf-purity, and impartial benevolence ; which beautifully and planely delineats the dutys of piety, righteousness, meekness, and charity; which hews us at once, what is a holy obedience to the dictates of reason, and the commands of God; and exhibits a reward fo tranfcendent for well-doing, an example fo charming and encouraging in the manners, fufferings, and willing-death of great Christian Legiflator, that I think we muft wink hard indeed, for fome end or other, if we do not profefs the truth, according to the fimplicity that is in Jefus, and employ our whole ftrength in the practice of virtue. Flee infidelity then. Flee the deftructive theology of Athanafius. Receive that perfect conftitution of religion, which the Chrift of God, the Prophet of Nazareth brought

the

C

brought down from heaven, to fhew mankind the way thither; to make us happy in ourfelves, beneficent to each other, and enable us to acquire that temper which is worthy of God the Father's notice. Perfect confitution! It is what we might expect from the univerfal parent. Its laws are purely fpiritual; its dominion merely moral; and its conquefts to fubdue evil habits and affections. It wants no codex, Jerks; no folios of church laws (4), and grievous taxes upon induftry, to fupport it: It wants no wordly power, craft, or violence: No pretended fucceffors (b). It is best promoted by the wifest reafons,

(a) I mean bishop Gibfon's Codex Juris Ecclefiaftici Anglicani, an antichriftian labor, to raise the clergy to an exorbitant dignity, wealth, and power, and make the taity their vaffals. For ever defpicable be the performance. Judge Fofler writ a good examination of the Codex. See cd. 3, 1736. And in reply to this examination, my lord of London entertained the public with a very angry answer; worth nothing; the facts and reafonings being all prefumptions; and the addrefs perfonal feverity. Bilhop Gibson dyed in 1748, and was fucceeded by Dr. Thomas Sherlock, bishop of Salisbury.

Of the cler- (b) You must not imagine, Fewks, from my ufing the words, Monks, and pretended fucceffors, that I am no friend to the clergy. I have the higheft regard for thofe Clergymen who preach the law of reafon and nature, as they find it delineated in the New Teftament, and spend their whole lives in bearing teftimony to the reality and power of the religion of Jefus. When they preach the gospel only, and tell the world from the

pulpit,