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thrown upon the beauteous fabric of truth, was more than the wifeft mortal could do, or dare to undertake. Unaffifted reafon could not establish morality in all its parts, upon its true foundation, with a clear and convincing light, which made Socrates declare, that he thought it beft to be quiet till fomebody fhould come, and by divine teaching remove the mift from before mens eyes.

⚫ This divine teacher was Jefus Chrift. By revelation he brought a law of morality to the mass of mankind, who were, and ever will be unable to make out a perfect morality, by long deductions of reafon. We have from him a full and fufficient rule, conformable to right reafon; and the truth and obligation of its precepts have their force, and are paft doubt to us, by the evidence of his miffion. He was fent by God. His miracles fhew it. The authority of God in his precepts cannot be queftioned. Here morality has a fure standard, that revelation vouches, and reafon cannot gainfay nor queftion; but both together witness to come from God, the great law-maker. When the people are once perfuaded that Jefus Chrift was fent by God, to be a king, and a Savior of those who do believe in his doctrine, all his commands become principles to them, and there needs no more but to read the infpired books, to be inftructed. Is not this the fureft, the safeft, B b

and

and most effectual way of teaching; as it fuits the loweft capacities of reasonable creatures, and reaches and fatisfies, nay enlightens the highest? Surely one coming from heaven, in the power of God, and giving plain and direct rules of morality and obedience, is likelier to enlighten the bulk of mankind, and fet them right in their duties, and bring them to do them, than by reafoning with them from general notions and principles of human reason.

These are Mr. Locke's thoughts upon the fubject, and every man who knows how to reason, must allow they are good sense. Whoever is acquainted with human nature muft grant, that the gospel in its native fimplicity, that is, a declaration of the mind of God by Jefus Chrift, is fuited to the condition of finful men, and becomes the power of God to falvation. Sinners must be more effectually moved to converfion, and better eftablished in the fteady practice of duty, by fetting it before them under the authority of the fupreme governor and judge; by appealing to their own confciences that they are finners, and ftand in need of mercy; and by offering this mercy to them, upon their humble fubmiffion to receive it in the way in which it is offered; than by laying before them the beautys of virtue, and the deformitys of vice, in fuch excellent difcourfes as

we

we find in the writings of the heathen philofophers. Admirable we own their leffons are. The lines of duty are finely marked out by the human reason of those great men ; Yet ftill you must allow me, that this beautiful philofophy did but little good in the world. The bulk of mankind remained after all in ignorance. Few of them were thereby refcued from the power of fin, and perfuaded to the practice of true piety and virtue. But when men are led by revelation to confider civil righteoufnefs and piety, as required of them by the fovereign ruler of the world; and to ponder on that which is evil, as what will incur his just displeasure; when his mercy is offered to the truly penitent, and eternal life promised to the perfevering faithful, by fo glorious a messenger as Jefus, who could appeal to very mighty works, and produce the fulfilment of prophecies in his perfon, his refurrection from the dead, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, as evidences of his divine miffion this rouses men from their fpiritual lethargy. Such a meffage, and fuch a messenger are equal to the arduous task. They are able to rescue mankind from the power of fin, and to prepare them for that happyness which

the gofpel promifes.

;

Let us not renounce then this transcript of the mind of God, this merciful meffage which

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the Father of the univerfe has fent to us from heaven by the Son of his love. If there be corruptions given out under the venerable name of Chriftianity, away with them to be fure. Let us have no connection with the reverend innovators: But we will not reject the christian religion itself. It has all the evidence that reafon can require of coming from above; it has the plaineft indications of being the mind of the most high God; and of confequence, it is much fafer for us to fubmit to his wifdom and righteousness therein difplayed, and to be thankful for his goodness, than proudly to reject his counfel. "Tis wifdom to be willing to be faved and made happy in that way which God has gracioufly appointed for it. 'Tis wisdom to own that want, and that weakness, which upon ferious confideration we must find to be in ourselves; and joyfully to comply with thofe directions, which God in his great goodness has afforded for our af

fiftance.

I hope then, my dear Hanmer; you will again fubmit to chriftianity as it lies in the New Teftament; that chriftianity, which most evidently aims at the restoring and establishing a regard to thofe internal good things, in which the effence of religion is on all hands acknowledged to confift; and which affords a much firmer fatisfaction of accep

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tance with that God, who hates iniquity with a perfect hatred, than our own deductions from reason can. Suffer not an unreafonable prejudice to prevail upon you, and blind your eyes; for if the gofpel doctrine, in all its parts, in its fpeculations, in its precepts, and in its motives, is not only really worthy of God, by being fuited to our condition, as finful men; and by tending to make us pure and holy, in order to our being finally happy; which is the trugh of the cafe; but has befides this internal evidence of proceeding from God, fuch an external evidence as is in all reason fufficient to prove its divine authority, then you cannot with fafety reject it; and a difficulty arifing from fome circumstances relating to it, fhould never make us doubt about embracing and adhering to it.

Mr. Hanmer, in answer to this, fayed, that the cafe, as I had stated it, did deferve confideration. He owned the moral part of the gospel had an intrinfic goodness, that rendered it worthy of God; and confeffed that, as men in general have not attended to, nor do regard as they ought, the voice of reafon and judgment, but act contrary to it, with blinded understandings, and corrupted affections, a rational and real revelation, that put mankind in mind of duty, and fet before them proper motives to attend to it, must be of fervice to the world: but he was

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