with fentiments of reverence, humility, and fubmiffion. I have also had another view in not chufing to conceal fome of the great difficulties which attend the demonftration, if not of the being, yet of the most effential attributes, and moral government of God. It was that the confideration of them might make us more fenfible of the value of revelation, by which many of them are, in a great measure, cleared up, and by which great light has been thrown upon every important branch of natural religion. Many unbelievers avail themselves very much of the diverfity of opinions which prevails among the profeffors of revealed religion, and boast of the great clearness, as well as fufficiency of the light of nature; but the cafe is much otherwise; and there have been, in fact, among men of the greatest learning and acuteness of thought, believers and unbelievers in revelation, as great a diverfity of opinion with refpect to the principles of natural, as of revealed religion; religion; and notwithstanding the various fentiments of chriftians, they are all perfectly agreed, and unanimous, with refpect to all the most important doctrines of natural religion, concerning which unbelievers in revelation have never been able to arrive at any certainty, or uniformity of opinion; fo that men who think at all are very far from getting rid of any real difficulty by abandoning revelation. Nay the difficulties which we shall find upon this fubject among chriftians, though I shall not fail to state them with the greatest fairness, fuppreffing nothing that can contribute to their strength, are by no means fo embarrassing to the mind of man, as those which occur in the contemplation of nature. If any perfon, difcouraged by these difficulties, fhould think to relieve himfelf by rejecting all religion, 'natural and revealed, he will find, if he reflect at all, that he has miferably deceived himself, and that he is involved in greater perplexity than ever; the fcheme he has adopted not only filling his mind with great darkness and distress, but being contrary to fome of the plaineft appearances in nature, and therefore manifeftly irrational and abfurd. In this cafe, therefore, true philofophy will lead a man to acquiefce in that scheme of principles which is attended with the feweft difficulties, without expecting to meet with any that is quite free from them; and a good man will. be drawn by a strong propensity to embrace that fyftem, the contemplation and influence of which will tend to make him, and his brethren of mankind, most virtuous and happy. This important cir. cumftance will always operate as an evidence for the truth of natural and revealed religion, on minds which are not perverted by fophiftry, or vice. In the second and third parts of these Inftitutes, which relate to the duty and final expectations of mankind, it will be feen that I have made great ufe of Dr. Hartley's obJervations on man. To this writer I think myself happy in having any fair opportunity of making my acknowledgements, and * and I fhall think that a very valuable end will be gained, if, by this or any other means, a greater degree of attention could be drawn upon that most excellent performance, fo as to make it more generally read, and studied, by those who are qualified to do it. I do not know any thing that is better adapted to make an impreffion upon truly philofophical minds than the sketch that he has given of the evidences of christianity, in his second volume; and for this reason I should be exceedingly glad to fee that part of his work published separately, AN |