Vice produces remorse. There is a striking instance of this kind in Macbeth, who being alarmed with the recollection of his crimes, anxiously enquired of his physician, —

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Rase out the written troubles of the brain;

And with some sweet oblivious antidote

Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?"

It is said of Nero, that he was continually terrified with the sound of trumpets coming from his mother's tomb. Sometimes vice induces a man to stupify himself with excessive drinking. The brutal Jeffreys killed himself with drinking brandy; and he drank it in order to drown his conscience.

As the Supreme Being frequently rewards virtue in this life, so he punishes vice. But we must not take this as an universal rule; because Montaigne somewhere remarks, that three of the worst men which he had ever known finished their days in prosperity. David made a complaint of a similar kind; while some of the ancient and modern infidels have taken it as a pretence that there is no God. When the wicked go unpunished, it may be because the Almighty will not humble them; and thus they will receive a greater condemnation. But the natural effect of vice, except to the hardened sinner, is unhappiness; and in many instances the Almighty has thought fit to show his judgment in anticipation, or previously to the last great day. Josephus says of the Jews, that there never was a people more wicked; and there never was a nation

that suffered so much. How often is it that illgotten treasures are snatched from a man, that he may not enjoy them! The Spaniards robbed the Americans, but their plunder was lost at sea; and almost all the actors in that bloody scene came to an untimely end. When Pyrrhus had stripped the temple of Proserpine of its treasure, he sent it by sea; and a great storm came on, which caused all the vessels to be wrecked.

It may be enquired, how is it that the Almighty does not always set a mark of infamy on vice? This may be answered by two sufficient reasons: if he did so, men would be so much ruled by fear, and the evidence of their senses, that they would possess no freedom for moral actions, and no occasion for faith. Besides, if the judgments of the Supreme Being were given on the earth, they would be imparted according to the nature of the crime, and in the exact proportion which the action merited; hence, there would be no room and no occasion for a future judgment.

Repentance is the only means of obtaining the pardon and favour of the Deity; but repentance is not a remuneration for past offences. The Almighty has connected one with the other; but it is the mercy of God, through the Mediator, which absolves a man from the penalty of his crimes. This repentance is more consistent and effective when a man is sound in body and in mind. A repentance on a death-bed, or what may appear to be the bed of a dying man, is not always to be depended on as genuine. It arises not so much

he returns again to health and vigour, he generally returns to folly. A priest having, on one occasion, visited a sick man, and found by his conversation that he was serious and devout, refused to pray that he might recover; for he thought it would be better for him to die, than to live and go back to the world. If religion is the gift of God, it is hardly likely that the Almighty would impart what he knew would be only temporary. Is the Deity so inconsistent as to suffer himself to be trifled with, and so blind as not to know what will happen? Jeremy Taylor says, "that repentance on a death-bed is like washing a corpse; it makes it cleanly, but the change is no deeper than the skin."

Sometimes a man endeavours to absolve himself from the penalty of his crimes by the practice of benevolence and other virtues; but these are necessary at all times. The miser, when an uneasy conscience prevents him from resting tranquilly on his dying pillow, makes endowments for institutions of a charitable and religious nature, as if the favour of the Almighty could be purchased for money! Even Plato was sufficiently enlightened to exclaim, "What must the gods think of a gift from the impious, when a good man would blush to receive a present from a wicked person?" Without doubt these legacies have been beneficial to mankind, but they have probably been of little use to the donor: the gifts of wicked men have been said, by the Deity, to be an insult.

Virtue, then, is lovely and contributive to happiness; vice is hateful and productive of present or

future misery. Virtue or vice may be increased by practice; a step in either frequently leads to a further progress. The one is never repented of; the other is the cause of regret. The highest sort of virtue, or piety, is necessary for the favour of the Almighty; it is in him "we live, and move, and have our being." It is infinitely better to be under the protection of the Supreme Being, than to make him our enemy by a continual violation of his laws.

CHAP. IV.

ON REASONABLE BELIEF AND SUPERSTITION.

A REASONABLE belief is that which is consistent with the experience of mankind, and the testimony of authentic writings; it leads to virtue and happiness but superstition goes beyond the boundary of reason, and chooses tradition, credulity, and timidity for its guides: the result is almost always inconsistency, vice, and misery. Superstition has led men into error with regard to the Deity, the operations of Providence, the nature of the human mind, the condition of man, religious worship, fortunate days, witchcraft, magic, omens, charms, spells, and many other matters, to which I shall now attend.

The disputes which have prevailed among Christians on the nature of the Deity, might be all settled and harmonised, by taking for our guide the confession of St. Bernard : "I know that God is incomprehensible to me, for I cannot comprehend myself." We may conclude that he is good, for he must be so of necessity; evil and perfection cannot dwell together. He must be perfect, otherwise he could not be infinite; and he must be infinite, else he is no God: and if we fancy there is no Supreme Ruler, then every thing sprang into being of itself; that is, every thing began to make