a law concerning good and evil written upon my HEART *. Now who, I pray, infcribed it there but the ever bleffed God, to whom I owe my nature; feeing he is the author of universal nature? And if this law be his infcription, is it not, then, in the highest degree, facred and inviolable? It is: and, of confequence, "Woe unto them, "who, [prefumptuously] put "evil for good, and good for " evil." To this facred law I am indispensibly obliged to bring

* See Paul's Epiftle to the Romans, chap. ii. ver. 14, 15.

whatever book it is which is faid to contain a divine revelation, before I receive it as fuch: and by this law I am indifpenfibly obliged to judge of the effects fuch a book produces on those, who cordially receive the revelation which it is faid to contain. It would be a crime of the first magnitude to acknowledge a book to be of divine authority, when condemned by the law I am fpeaking of, as a wicked book and if not an equal crime, it would yet be a very great one, to esteem and treat a man as good. and juft, when, by this law, condemned as a wicked and unrighteous

righteous perfon. This, then, is the test whereby we are to determine the character of the gofpel, and of those who receive it. But certainly this was not thought the proper teft by a gentleman who, to exprefs the greatness of his faith, declared to me, that if the Bible had affirmed concerning black, that it was white, he would have believed it though (I apprehend) his zeal confiderably exceeded his ability.

FOR my part, I am well convinced of the divine excellence of the gofpel. The voice

of reafon hath convinced me. To it likewife I owe my conviction, that Christianity hath rendered its genuine difciples more like, than any other perfons, to the amiable original of all excellence. I fay, however wickedly many have acted while they bore the Christian name, reafon hath convinced me, that human nature was never fo adorned with moral beauty and dignity, as among Christians. Yet I fincerely respect the character of an Aurelius, a Timoleon, a Phocion, &c. &c.

FROM

FROM the Chriftian revelation, it should feem that the human race was left in a state of weakness, that thereby we might be engaged to look up to our heavenly parent for his kind af fiftance, which he hath declared himself much readier to grant us, than any earthly parent can be to give good things to his children. And it should feem, that our natural weakness doth imply an inability clearly to difcern religious truth by natural light. But fome there are, who say, we can no more discern religious truth, till we receive power by a divine operation up-