fully," Positions which we cannot possibly accede to, on reflection, without direct violence to our inmost perceptions, and becoming deaf to the voice of Nature all around ust; we may indeed give an outward assent, in deference to the Opinions of others, but we cannot be satisfied within. To contend, that "still we are "obliged, on many occasions, to admit what 66 we cannot either discover or comprehend" (though indeed true in various instances), is rather a Sophistic argument on the point before us, than a just and satisfactory deduction: For here, the Assertors of the Athanasian scheme, would confound the necessary distinction be

* «To say a man is bound to Believe, is neither truth nor "sense.”—Dean Swift's Thoughts on Religion, Works, vol. xvi, p. 43.

+ "A continued relation runs through the entire system of "material beings (or rather through the whole creation) "which joins the least with the greatest, and shews the whole "work to be one, and the effect of the same power and knowledge." Matho, vol. i, p. 194.

tr

"I think the common Arguments, a posteriori, for the

Unity of the Divine Nature, drawn from the Order and Har

mony of the World, very good and sufficient. They "make the Point morally certain, and render the other side "of the Question highly improbable and unreasonable."-Inquiry into the Ideas of Space, Time, Immensity, &c. by E. Law, M. A. (late Bishop of Ca liste) p. 177.

i. e. In such instances as involve no contradiction.

tween what is above the reach of our Understanding, and what is repugnant to it-They would infer, that because we have not faculties to disclose the mode of God's Existence, or his miraculous manner of working; He expects us to believe in a (pretended) Mystery, palpably incongruous;-a Mystery which confounds his Unity, divides his Worship, and gives Him EQUALS in Infinite Power and Dominion!

A long lapse of time (in which Example hath had its full effect) has reconciled men to doctrines which they have embraced, not, in general, from their own Investigations, but, as before intimated, from an implicit reliance on the Opinions of others, and a shameful neglect of examining for themselves, whether those Opinions are well founded or not. Human Authority, Prejudice, and Custom, have not only prevailed against the express Injunctions of the Bible, but, in some instances, have been suffered absolutely to overpower the clearest Testimony of the Senses. If, therefore, we experience any difficulties in the First Principle of our Religion, they may be fairly attributed to the surrender of our own Reason, and a deviation from that Path which was originally prescribed, in the gracious Dispensations of our Creator.

For, With respect to the Existence of ONE SUPREME ALL-governing BEING; and the humble Acknowledgment of His wonderful and inscrutable Works:-That in Him is centered the exclusive right of Adoration from all his Creatures throughout the Universe:- Supreme in Glory; in Majesty, Nature, and Dominion, unrivalled, unequalled!-That to Him alone our gratitude, love, reverence, and faithful Obedience, in the highest degree, are due for ever:These Principles, simple, clear, and solid, give rise to no perplexing difficulties, in us poor beings: The First, thanks be to God, is placed far above the mist of Doubt, if we would suffer ourselves to be guided by the light of Nature or of Revelation! and as to his glorious Operations, all Men with great facility believe (though his WAYS are past finding out) that every thing whatsoever, in the fullest sense, is possible with Him, that doth not imply a Contradiction. And herein the Mind, unclouded with Prejudice, rests satisfied;—in all humility, and with great peace and willingness acquiescing in the Faith of the Infinite Power and Wisdom of God, which even the evidence of our own Senses daily confirms to us. But Reason starts at the assertion, that there are also other Beings pos sessing the same adorable and boundless Attributes; this immediately throws the mind into in

extricable difficulty, and forces us into manifest contradictions.

So far as men have been enabled to explore the visible Operations of God, they have discovered in them a perfect Unity of design, and a most intimate Relation preserved through all their Parts; manifesting that the Wisdom which Planned, and the Power that Executed the Whole, were the inseparable Attributes of One and the same Almighty Being: And that, although the splendid Works above us (which, like our Earth, we have the strongest reason to believe, are filled with countless Wonders), are vast in Magnitude, and almost Infinite in Number; yet, with all their Beauty and their Glory, they are formed and conducted with the most admirable Simplicity; at the same time completely Answering every possible intention of unbounded Wisdom and Goodness. A Religion derived from the very same Source, we might well think, would, in its most striking features, partake of the same engaging Qualities. We might, by analogy, expect it to be Simple in its construction, though great and good in its effects, and End proposed: Its Fundamental Principles easily to be comprehended by the mass of Mankind, or it could hardly answer its general purpose. And such, indeed,

is the Christian Religion, in its native state: The load of foreign complex Articles, which have been attached to it at different periods, serve only to encumber it, to veil its Beauties, and deaden its proper Effects.

The pure and artless Doctrines of primitive Christianity, which are comprised in the love of God and Man, have been wrested into different and obscure meanings; and the worship of One God alone, One Universal Parent, so strongly inculcated in both the Old and New Testament, has, through the long prejudices of succeeding Ages, the confused notions, and mistaken zeal of Men, given way to the Glorifying and Adoring of Three distinct Divinities, or Persons in the Godhead, Co-equal* ! in contradiction to the general tenour of the sacred Scriptures, and the natural discernment of all Mankind †. In short, while we acknowledge a Trinity of divine Persons, co-equal and co-eter

It is hardly necessary to remind the reader of the Litany, the Creed of St. Athanasius afore mentioned, the Doxologies, &c.

It is remarkable that, the most ancient Heathens, the most unenlightened Savages, have, in general, been led naturally to conclude, that One of their Deities must be Superior to all the others.