SERMON XIII.

The Absurdity of Libertinism and Infidelity.

PSALM XCIV. 7, 8, 9, 10.

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They say, the Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye most brutish among the people and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He tha' planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?

INVECTIVE and reproach seldom proceed from

the mouth of a man who loves truth and defends it. They are the usual weapons of them who plead a desperate cause; who feel themselves hurt by a formidable adversary; who have not the equity to yield when they ought to yield; and who have no other part to take than that of supplying the want of solid reasons by odious names.

Yet, whatever charity we may have for erroneous people, it is difficult to see with moderation men obstinately maintaining some errors, guiding their minds by the corruption of their hearts, and choosing rather to advance the most palpable absurdities, than to give the least check to the most irregular

passions. Hear how the sacred authors treat people of this character: "My people is foolish, they "have not known me; they are sottish children, "they have no understanding. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel "doth not know, my people do not consider. Ephraim is like a silly dove without heart. O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee "from the wrath to come? O foolish Galatians, who "hath bewitched you?" Jer. iv. 22. Isa. i. 3. Hos. vii. 11. Matt. iii. 7. and Gal. iii. 1.

Not to multiply examples, let it suffice to remark, that if ever there were men who deserved such odious names, they are such as our prophet describes. Those abominable men I mean, who, in order to violate the laws of religion without remorse, maintain that religion is a chimera; who break down all the bounds which God hath set to the wickedness of mankind, and who determine to be obstinate infidels, that they may be peaceable libertines. The prophet therefore lays aside, in respect to them, that charity which a weak mind would merit, that errs only through the misfortune of a bad education, or the limits of a narrow capacity. O ye most brutish among the people, says he to them, understand. Ye fools, when will ye be wise?

People of this sort I intend to attack to-day. Not that I promise myself much success with them, or entertain hopes of reclaiming them. These are the fools of whom Solomon says, though thou should"est bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him,”

Prov. xxvii. 22. But I am endeavouring to prevent the progress of the evil, and to guard our youth against favourable impressions of infidelity and libertinism, which have already decoyed away too many of our young people, and to confirm you all in your attachment to your holy religion. Let us enter into the matter.

In the style of the sacred authors, particularly in that of our prophet, to deny the existence of a God, the doctrine of Providence, and the essential difference between just and unjust, is one and the same thing. Compare the psalm out of which I have taken my text, with the fourteenth, with the fifty-third, and particularly with the tenth, and you will perceive, that the prophet confounds them, who say in their hearts, there is no God, with those who say, God hath forgotten; he hideth his face, he will never see it, Psal. x. 11.

In effect, although the last of these doctrines may be maintained without admitting the first, yet the last is no less essential to religion than the first. And although a man may be a deist, and an epicurean, without being an atheist, yet the system of an atheist is no more odious to God than that of an epicurean, and that of a deist.

I shall therefore make but one man of these different men, and, after the example of the prophet, I shall attack him with the same arms. In order to justify the titles that he gives an infidel, I shall attack,

III. His Indocility.

IV. His logics, or, to speak more properly, his way of reasoning.

V. His morality.

VI. His conscience.

VII. His politeness, and knowledge of the world. In all these reflections, which I shall proportion to the length of these exercises, I shall pay more regard to the genius of our age than to that of the times of the prophet: and I shall do this the rather, because we cannot determine on what occasion the psalm was composed of which the text is a part.

I. If you consider the taste, the discernment, and choice of the people of whom the prophet speaks, you will see he had a great right to denominate them most brutish and foolish. What an excess must a man have attained, when he hates a religion without which he cannot but be miserable! Who, of the happiest of mankind, doth not want the succour of religion? What disgraces at court! What mortifications in the army! What accidents in trade! What uncertainty in science! What bitterness in pleasure! What injuries in reputation! What inconstancy in riches! What disappointments in projects! What infidelity in friendship! What vicissitudes in fortune! Miserable man! What will support thee under so many calamities? What miserable comforters are the passions in these sad periods of life! How inadequate is philosophy itself, how improper is Zeno, how unequal are all his followers to the task of calming a poor mortal, when they tell him, "Mis"fortunes are inseparable from human nature. No