At the Grecian it mounted but just one point higher; at the Rainbow it ftill afcended two degrees; Child's fetched it up to Zeal, and other adjacent coffeehouses to Wrath.

It fell in the lower half of the glafs, as I went further into the city, till at length it fettled at Moderation, where it continued all the time I ftaid about the Change, as alfo whilft I paffed by the Bank. And here I cannot but take notice, that, thro' the whole course of my remarks, I never observed my glass to rife at the fame time that the stocks did.

To complete the experiment, I prevailed upon a friend of mine, who works under me in the occult fciences, to make a progress with my glass thro' the whole island of Great Britain; and, after his return, to prefent me with a register of his obfervations. I gueffed beforehand at the temper of feveral places he paffed thro', by the characters they have had time out of mind. Thus, that facetious divine, Dr. Fuller, speaking of the town of Banbury, near a hundred years ago, tells us, it was a place famous for cakes and zeal; which I find by my glafs is true to this day, as to the latter part of his description; tho' I must confefs, it is not in the fame reputation for cakes that it was in the time of that learned author; and thus of other places. In fhort, I have now by me, digefted in an alphabetical order, all the counties, corporations, and boroughs in Great Britain, with their refpective tempers, as they ftand related in my thermometer. But this I fhall keep to myself, because I would by no means do any thing that may feem to influence any enfuing election.

THE point of doctrine which I would propagate by this my invention, is the fame which was long ago advanced by that able teacher Horace, out of whom I have taken my text for this difcourfe. We fhould be careful not to overfhoot ourselves in the pursuits even of virtue. Whether Zeal or Moderation be the point we aim at, let us keep fire out of the one, and froft out of the other. But, alas! the world is too wise to want fuch a precaution. The terms High-church and Lowchurch, as commonly used, do not fo much denote a principle, as they distinguish a party. They are like

words

words of battle, that have nothing to do with their original fignification, but are only given out! to keep a body of men together, and to let them know friends from enemies.

I must confefs, I have confidered, with fome attention, the influence which the opinions of these great national fects have upon their practice; and do look upon it as one of the unaccountable things of our times, that multitudes of honeft gentlemen, who entirely agree in their lives, fhould take it in their heads to differ in their religion.

I fhall conclude this paper with an account of a conference which happened between a very excellent divine (whose doctrine was easy, and formerly much respected) and a lawyer.

ND behold a certain lawyer ftood up, and tempted him, faying, Mafter, what shall I do to inherit

eternal life?

HE faid unto him, What is written in the law? how readeft thou?

AND he answering, faid, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy ftrength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

AND he faid unto him, Thou haft answered right; this do, and thou fhalt live.

BUT he, willing to justify himself, faid unto Jefus, And who is my neighbour?

AND Jefus answering, faid, A certain man went down from Jerufalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which ftripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

AND by chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he paffed by on the other fide.

AND likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and paffed by on the other fide.

BUT a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was and when he faw him, he had compaffion on him.

And

AND went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and fet him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

AND on the morrow, when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the hoft: and faid unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendeft more, when I come again, I will repay thee. WHICH now of these three, thinkeft thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

Then

AND he faid, He that fhewed mercy on him. faid Jefus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Luke x. 25. to 38.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THERE is now in the prefs a propofal for railing a fund towards paying the national debt by the following means. The author would have commiffioners appointed to fearch all the public and private libraries, bookfellers fhops, and warehouses in this kingdom, for fuch books as are of no ufe to the owner, or to the public, viz. all comments on the holy scriptures, whether called fermons, creeds, bodies of divinity, tomes of cafuistry, vindications, confutations, effays, answers, replies, rejoinders, or furrejoinders; together with all other learned treatifes and books of divinity of what denomination or clafs foever: as alfo all comments on the laws of the land; fuch as reports, law-cafes, decrees, guides for attorneys and young clerks; and, in fine, all the books now in being in this kingdom, (whether of divinity, law, phyfic, metaphyfics, logics, or politics), except the pure text of the holy fcriptures, the naked text of the laws, a few books of morality, poetry, music, architecture, agriculture, mathematics, merchandise, and hiftory; the author would have the aforefaid ufeless books carried to the feveral paper-mills, there to be wrought into white paper; which, to prevent damage or complaints, he would have performed by the commentators, critics, popular preachers, apothecaries, learned lawyers, attorneys, folicitors, logicians, phyficians, almanack-makers, and others of the like wrong turn of mind; the faid paper to be fold, and the produce applied to discharge the national debt. What should remain of the faid debt unfatisfied, might be paid by a tax on the falaries or eftates of bankers, common cheats, ufurers, treasurers, imbezzlers of public money, general officers, fharpers, pensioners, pick-pockets, &c.

POST

253

POSTHUMOUS SERMONS*.

S E R M

N L

On the TRINITY.

1 Epiftle general of ST. JOHN v. 7.

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghoft; and these three are one.

TH

HIS day being fet apart to acknowledge our belief in the eternal Trinity, I thought it might be proper to employ my prefent difcourfe entirely upon that fubject; and I hope to handle it in fuch a manner, that the most ignorant among you may return home better informed of your duty in this great point, than probably you are at prefent.

IT must be confeffed, that by the weakness and indifcretion of bufy (or, at best, of well-meaning) people, as well as by the malice of those who are enemies to all revealed religion, and are not content to poffefs their own infidelity in filence, without communicating it to the disturbance of mankind; I fay, by these means, it VOL. I.

A a

muft

* These fermons are curious, and curious for fuch reafons as would make other works defpicable. They were written in a careless hurrying manner; and were the offspring of neceffity, not of choice: fo that one will fee the original force of the Dean's genius more in these compofitions, that were the legiti mate fons of duty, than in other pieces that were the natural fons of love. They were held in fuch low efteem in his own thoughts, that, fome years before he died, he gave away the whole collection to Dr. Sheridan, with the utmost indifference: "Here," fays he, " are a bundle of my old fermons. You may have them if you please. They may be of ufe to you, they have never been of any to me The parcel given to Dr. Sheridan confifted, as I have heard, of about thirty five fermons. Three or four only are published; and those I have read over with attention. Orrery.

muft be confeffed, that the doctrine of the Trinity hath fuffered very much, and made Chriftianity fuffer along with it. For thefe two things must be granted: Firft, That men of wicked lives would be very glad there were no truth in Christianity at all; and, fecondly, if they can pick out any one fingle article in the Chriftian religion which appears not agreeable to their own cor. rupted reafon, or to the arguments of thofe bad people who follow the trade of feducing others. they prefently conclude, that the truth of the whole gofpel muft fink along with that one article. Which is juft as wife, as if a man fhould fay, because he dislikes one law of his country, he will therefore obferve no law at all; and yet that one law may be very reasonable in itself, altho' he does not allow it, or does not know the reafon of the lawgivers.

THUS it hath happened with the great doctrine of the Trinity; which word is indeed not in Scripture, but was a term of art invented in the earlier times, to express the doctrine by a fingle word, for the fake of brevity and convenience. The doctrine then as delivered in holy Scripture, tho' not exactly in the fame words, is very fhort, and amounts only to this: That the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, are each of them God, and yet there is but one God. For as to the word perfon, when we fay there are three perfons: and as to thofe other explanations in the Athanafian creed, this day read to you, (whether compiled by Athanafius or no), they were taken up three hundred years after Chrift, to expound this doctrine; and I will tell you upon what occafion. About that time there sprang up a herefy of people called Arians, from one Arius the leader of them. Thefe denied our Savicur to be God, altho' they allowed all the rest of the gospel, (wherein they were more fincere than their followers among us). Thus the Chriftian world was divided into two parts, till at length, by the zeal and courage of St. Athanafius, the Arians were condemned in a general council, and a creed formed upon the true faith, as St. Athanafius hath fettled it. This creed is now read at certain times in our churches; which altho' it is ufeful for edification to those who understand it, yet fince it contains fome nice

and