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First then, It is plain Matter of Fact, that no one Man did ever, by the meer Strength of his Reason, difcover all our religious and moral Obligations: On the contrary it is Fact, that the beft Writers were miftaken in many, and doubtful in the most important Points. One of the Authors above cited challenges the World to produce any Doctrine of Revelation whatsoever, and undertakes to fhew the fame Doctrine to be taught by fome Heathen Writer or other. Should we allow this, (which is in no Sense to be allow'd) yet it would by no means come up to his Point. For fuppofing that all the Doctrines of Revelation were to be found fcatter'd up and down in fome or other of the Heathen Writers, would it follow from thence that the Reason of every Man in all States and Circumftances was capable of discovering every moral and religious Obli

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Obligation? He confesses that even thefe his admired Writers did not, each apart by himself, make all these Discoveries: It is known that they belong'd to different Schools, and maintained oppofite Sentiments, and allowing that a compleat Syftem of Morality and Religion might be collected from them all, yet the only natural and just Inference from hence would be quite contrary to this Author's, viz. That the Reason of every Man is not, in any State or Circumstance, capable of discovering all our moral and religious Obligations, feeing, as is allowed, not one of these admired Writers was capable of doing it.

It must be owned, that fome of these Writers have treated fome particular Truths and Duties with great Strength and Beauty; but after all, how fhall we be affured that these were the Products of meerly their

Own

own Reason? The Greek Philofophy was brought out of Egypt, a Place which could not be ignorant of the Jewish Revelations and Traditions; the Roman Philofophy from Greece. Human Reason was fo far from making these great Discoveries, that it did not in fact preserve those original Traditions tranfmitted to it; but turned them into idle and fuperftitious Fables, and by degrees loft the whole Truth of them, and perverted it into a Lye.

I would not infer more from Facts than they will reasonably fupport; and that is first, that it is highly improbable that there fhould be fuch a Sufficiency of Human Reason in all States and Circumftances, which never appeared in any one State or Circumstance, in any one Inftance from the Beginning to this Day; and further, that if there be fuch thing, it is impoffible to be proved. For

any

what

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what Proof can there be in the prefent Cafe, which does not flow from Fact or Experience? And fecondly, that it is highly probable that no fuch Sufficiency was intended, because there was a traditional Knowledge fet on foot from the Beginning, which could not be avoided, and this will at least take off all Pretences to any Neceffity for fuch Sufficiency. We learn from the Jewish History and Revelation, that Man had no fuch Sufficiency in his State of Innocence as to exclude the Neceffity of Revelation: He was made capable of converfing with God, and from thence might derive a Sufficiency, but had none of his own, of knowing and doing every thing independently of him.

But Secondly, let us leave History, and come to our own Knowledge and Experience, which thefe Writers can make no Exceptions to our arguing from.

We

We are born Infants then, and come into the World the most helpless and infufficient of all Creatures, in every view. We cannot fubfift for a confiderable time, but by the Care and Protection of our Parents: We are at firft meerly paffive and teachable Creatures, under a neceffity of learning the Language, the Customs, the Manners, the Notions of our Attendants and those about us; and were we then to be removed from all others of our own Kind, if we could fubfift at all, we should be without Language, and almost without Ideas, except what the hard Neceffity of fupporting our own Being would furnish us with, and instead of Philofophers, we should come out meer Savages.

Man is so much and so long a paffive and teachable Creature, and thofe first Impreffions, which he is under a Neceffity of admitting, do fo

ftrongly

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