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compels him into it. These are the

grounds of affociation to men, and the two left of thefe, viz. indigency and dependency, are the ground and foundation of civil government, as confequent upon it; and all these, together with that fenfe of right and wrong, which takes place in every man, as refulting from, or rather, perhaps, as in part it conAitutes human intelligence, and is the great excellency and ornament of human nature, and which principally distinguishes men from the brute beafts; all thefe, I fay, are the natural bandages, by which fociety has always been held together, whatever ftrengthening it may have received from any other quarter. For tho' it is pretended, that the belief of the doctrine of futurity is absolutely necessary to, and is the only principle by which fociety can be fupported; yet this is barely prefumed, without any argument or evidence to prove it; and, if experience may be admitted to be of weight, it feems rather to turn the fcale the other way, by fhewing how little influence this principle has upon the minds and lives of men; it being evident from fact, that fome who have made great pretenfions to this kind, or article, of faith, have, notwithstanding such

preten

pretenfions, and the arguments they them felves have unged, in fupport of them, in the event, proved to be the greatest villains. And this has been the cafe, not only of that generation of vipers, the Pharifees, heretofore, who ftrenuously maintained the doctrine of futurity; but, in every generation fince, many of those who have preached up, and pressed the neceffity of the belief of this doctrine, as a proper reftraint upon others, thofe men have fhewn, by their conduct, that the belief of it has had no fuch reftraining influence upon themselves. So that, tho' the belief of the doctrine referred to, may have it's effect upon fome minds, at fome particular times; yet, I think, it is pretty clear, that it has not been a general and a standing restraint to mankind. However, this is plain, that whatever the case may be with others, those who insist, that the belief of the doctrine of futurity is only fufficient to reftrain mankind; thefe. men declare, for themselves, that they, of all others, are the most unfit to be trufted, or relied upon; because, by their own declarations, neither honour, nor honefty, neither duty, nor confcience, has any such reftraining influence upon them; and that

they

they stand prepared and difpofed to be guilty of every vileness, their appetites and paffions may excite them to, except a quick fenfe of what may befall them, in another world, steps in, and restrains them from it; which quick sense of futurity may not always, nor, perhaps, generally take place, and be prefent to the mind, and, therefore, is not greatly to be relied upon; and, confequently, perfons who are under no other restraint, cannot, from the nature of the thing, be the proper objects of our confidence. Befides, it is a very low character these men affume. For if he is a bad man, who would do a bad action, were he not reftrained from it, for fear of being hanged in this world; then he would be the fame bad man, if he would do that bad action, only he is refrained from it, for fear of being damned in another. The being difpofed to do a bad action, is an evil difpofition; whether it be reduced to practice, or not. Matthese v. 28. But I fay unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to luft after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his beart.

ILIKEWISE obferved, that human affociation has no relation to, or natural connection,

with any other, but the prefent conftitution of things, whether past, or to come; that men do not enter into fociety, on account of their having pre-existed, in a conftitution that is past, nor yet because they shall exist in fu turity, and therefore, human afsociation cannot poffibly depend upon the belief of any such state; that prefent felf-good must needs be the principal ground of association to men, and what holds them together in fociety; as it is all that can be gained, or fecured to them, thereby; and therefore, fociety cannot neceffarily depend upon any thing, that is irrelative to fuch good; that if the happiness of this life depends upon fociety; that is, if the pleafures mankind are, by nature, prepared and difpofed to enjoy, cannot be obtained, nor fecured, without affociation, which, I apprehend, is allowed; and if fociety cannot fubfift, without the belief of the doctrine of futurity, then the constitution of nature muft needs be defective, feeing nature has not, plainly and explicitly, exhibited this doctrine to men, to be a proper foundation for fuch general belief, as the cafe obviously requires that it should; becaufe, otherwife, nature points out, and prompts to an end, without providing proper

and

and fufficient means for its attainment, which is hard to conceive. For if it be admitted, that there are certain principles, from which the doctrine of futurity may fairly be deduced; yet it requires fuch application, and attention, to trace it out, as the bulk of mankind are not prepared, * nor difpofed, to ex

ercife;

*Tho' the bulk of mankind are not prepared, nor difpofed, to trace out, by a long chain of reafonings, the truth of any propofition; yet, that they may have generally gone into the belief of the doctrine of futurity, is eafily to be accounted for. Every individual of our fpecies, when having attained to riper years, will see, from the fate that has attended all others, who have gone before him, without any farther enquiry, that he is born to die; he will also perceive, without any deep reflections, that intelligent existence, if it be not too much embarraffed with pain and uneafinefs, is preferable to non-existence; and thefe will, very naturally, bring upon the carpet of his mind (how uncultivated foever) that queftion, viz. whether death puts a period to his exiftence, or whether he fhall exist in futurity. And as men are, thereby, ftrongly biafied, in favour of the doctrine of futurity, excepting, perhaps, at fuch times when their prefent existence is become a burden to them; fo that difpofes them, very cafily, to go into the belief of it; and this fairly accounts for the doctrine of futurity taking place all over the world, and for it's prevailing among men; it being scarce conceivable, that it would be otherwife, whether there be any folid principle for that doctrine to be grounded upon, or not. Nor, indeed, is men's belief of this doctrine, if it may be called belief, generally grounded upon argument and evidence, that requiring more application and attention, than they are prepared, or difpofed, to give it; but men ufually believe the doctrine of futurity, as they believe the doctrine of fairies, of witches, and the like; that is, they have an

opinion

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