to apostatize with him: and, in case of a refusal on their part, J. J. Rousseau, while he affects to plead the cause of liberty, pronounces upon them a sentence of condemnation. Upon these principles of toleration, the father of the family is authorized to persecute his non-conforming wife and children, and a Prince may lawfully take up arms against such of his subjects as are fanatics. If the benevolence and morality of these andid philosophers were to be substituted in the place of that liberality and love, which the Gospel requires, to what a deluge of misery would it give rise, both in families and in commonwealths! Kings would tyrannize over the conscience of their subjects, husbands over that of their wives, and parents over that of their children nor would the least religious liberty be experienced by any class of men, except by the Princes of the earth. Such is the imperfect charity, and such the limited freedom, for which modern philosophers have contended with equal earnestness and approbation.

The dangerous principle of these two oracles, upon the subject of toleration, will suffice to shew, with how just reason the former of them could say...."I hate false maxims, but I detest evil actions yet more"...Alas! the horrible actions of a murdering inquisitor terminate with his life; but the intolerant doctrines of these reputed sages, may continue to scatter misery and death through the world, long after their neglected tombs are mouldered into dust.

CHAP. III.

THE GREAT INFLUENCE OF DOCTRINES UPON

MORALITY,

TO ascertain the importance of doctrines in general, let us consider the influence they have upon our conduct. Our duties in life depend upon the different relations we sustain in it; and these relations affect us only, as they are understood. Thus it is necessary, that a child should know his father, before he can truly love him in that character. This knowledge is the effect of certain instructions or maxims, which influence our manners, in proportion as they are assented to. I love the man from whom I have received my birth and education with a particular affection: but such love is founded, first upon this general doctrine, "Every child, honourably born, should reverence and love his Father ;" and, secondly, upon this particular truth, "That man is thy Father." If I am made to doubt of this general doctrine, or of this particular truth, the moral springs of that respect, love, gratitude and obedience, which are due to my father, will necessarily be weakened; and if either the one or the other should lose all its influence over my heart, my father would then become to me equally indifferent as any other stranger.

The knowledge, therefore, of the affinities, which subsist between one being and another, is essential to morality. Why is it, that no traces of morality can be discovered among the beasts of the field? it is because they are incapable of understanding either the relation in which creatures stand to the Creator, or the affinities which subsist among the creatures themselves. As it becomes the soldier to have a distinct knowledge of his officers, that he may render to every one according to his rank, the honour and obedience to which they are severally entitled; so, pre

paratory to the practice of morality, it behoves us to have a clear perception of our various duties, together with the proper subjects of those duties. If some desperate malady has deprived us of this knowledge, we then rank with idiots, and are in no condition to violate the rules of morality. Hence, the lunatic who butchers his father, is not punishable among us as a parricide, because he has no acquaintance with these general maxims, "No man sl:ould murder another. every son shall honour his father;" nor has he any conception of this particular truth, "The man whom thou art about to destroy, is thy father."

Take away all doctrines, and you annihilate all the relations which subsist among rational creatures, you destroy all morality, and reduce man to the condition of a brute beast, allowing him to be influenced by passion and caprice, as the lowest animals are actuated by appetite and instinct. Admit only some few doctrines, and you admit only a part of your duties as well as your privileges. An example may serve to set this truth in a clear light. Suppose you have a rich father, who is at present, entirely unknown to you, and whom the world has ever looked upon as your parent; if you never receive any certain intelligence concerning him, it is plain, that you can neither render him filial obedience, nor yet succeed to his estates.

Many philosophers, who cannot reasonably be suspected of fanaticism, or even of partiality to evangelical principles, have yet strenuously insisted upon the importance of doctrine, as calculated to influence the conduct of mankind. A polished writer of this class seems to have entertained an idea, that if all men were possessed of an enlightened understanding, crimes of every kind would be unknown in the world. Observe, at least, in what terms he speaks of war, which is an evil of that complex nature, that it may justly be looked upon as an assemblage of every possible vice..... "What is the cause of that destructive rage, which, "in every period, like a contagious malady, has in

"fected the human race? Ignorance is, undoubtedly, "the source of our calamities; ignorance with re"spect to the relations, rights, and duties of our spe"cies. Thus, the most ignorant and unpolished peo❝ple have ever been the most warlike: and those ages "of the world, which have been peculiarly distinguished by darkness and barbarism, have been in"variably the most fruitful in murderous wars. Ig"norance prepares the way for devastation; and de"vastation, in its turn, re-produces ignorance. With "a clear knowledge of their rights, and their recipro"cal duties, which form the true and only interest of "nations, is a contradiction to suppose, that those na❝tions would voluntarily precipitate themselves into "an abyss of inevitable evils." This author, if he be supposed to speak of our relations and duties with respect to God, as well as those which regard our neighbour, had reason on his side; and especially, if his views were directed to the knowledge of every powerful motive, which should constrain us to fill up those duties.

Upon these principles, of what fatal neglect are those persons guilty, who, being charged with the religious instruction of princes and people, leave both immersed in a deplorable ignorance, which draws after it the horrors of war, with all the various calamities: that overspread the face of Christendom.

CHAP. IV.

HOW THE DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL COME INTO THE SUCCOUR OF MORALITY.

IF to preach the Gospel, is to teach sinners. the relations they sustain with respect to GOD, as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; if it is to announce the advantages which flow from this three-fold relation, till, 'penetrated with gratitude and love, mankind apply themselves to fulfil the several duties to which they stand engaged; we may challenge the world, to point out any knowledge of equal importance with that, which is discovered in the Gospel.... To deprive us, then, of the doctrines contained in this Gospel, is it not to suppress the most important instructions we can possibly receive; is it not to conceal from us a Testament, which is made wholly in our favour? To decide this question, we shall here consider what influence these doctrines have upon morality.

The virtues of worldly. men, as well as their vices, are little else than a kind of traffic carried on by an inordinate self-love. From this impure source the most amiable of their actions flow; and hence, instead of referring all things primarily to God, they act with an eye to their own immediate advantage. Christ has offered a remedy to this grand evil, by teaching us, that to love the Deity with all our heart, is the first commandment of the Law; and that to love ourselves, and our neighbour as ourselves, is but a secondary commandment in the sight of God: thus leading us. up to divine love, as the only source of pure virtue..... When self-love is once reduced to this wholesome or. der, and moves in exact obedience to the Creator's Law, it then becomes truly commendable in man, and serves as the surest rule of fraternal affection.

Evangelical morality ennobles our most ordinary actions, such as those of eating and drinking, requir