Man's gradually increased knowledge, is therefore to him, a source of gradually increased happiness. Nor, with the most rapid strides mankind can make in acquiring knowledge, will the happiness which results from their gradual progress, diminish, even in a million of cycles. So vast, and so varied, are the hidden treasures of nature, that man can never exhaust them, so as to know all that is to be known,-to have no more to learn, and, consequently, to have nothing more to gratify him. If the universe is infinite, man's knowledge of it can never be complete. But even if we suppose a period at which mankind shall have discovered all the natural laws, so that a new discovery regarding them be impossible; still the rising generation of every age, not being born with intuitive knowledge, would have to learn, or, at least, commit to memory, and, by observation, verify the recorded and communicated experience of their predecessors; in every instance of which, the knowledge thus obtained would be new to them, and productive of the pleasure inseparably connected with new philosophic discoveries. How different, in its results, is this gradual mode of obtaining knowledge, from the alleged mode of acquiring Christian knowledge, supernaturally and suddenly, without observation or experiment, by dreams, visions, revelations, imaginary divine influence, and other miraculous means, productive, not of pleasure and happiness, but of trouble, mental distraction, and misery! By this gradual mode of knowing God's works in nature, man's love of the strange, the new, the excellent, is continually gratified, and his exertions are rewarded. Although the wonders of one age become the familiar things of the next; yet, the mind of man, in reflecting on the success of his predecessors, is thereby stimulated to interrogate nature more closely, and is buoyed with the hope of making some new discovery of a still superior character. Thus, is this gradual acquisition of knowledge the very source of both the degree of happiness which mankind at present enjoy, and also of a much higher degree, to which the progress of the race tends, and to which, doubtless, it will ultimately attain, when no longer retarded by book-revelations, nor terrified by pulpit thunders of eternal torments.

SECTION IV.-THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF THE EXISTENCE AND POWER OF THE DEVIL FALACIOUS AND HIGHLY PERNICIOUS TO THE EXERCISE OF VIBTUE-THE ABSURDITY OF PRAYER-THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN DEROGATORY TO THE CHARACTER OF GOD, AND PREGNANT WITH MISCHIEF ΤΟ MANKIND-NO TRACES IN MAN'S NATURE THAT HE IS TAINTED WITH THE SUPPOSED SIN OF ADAM-DEATH AN INSTITUTION OF NATURE, FOR BENEVOLENT PURPOSES.

Scarcely less absurd and pernicious than the Christian doctrine of eternal torments is that of the existence and operations of the Devil"the God of this world." Christian writers, as well as the Bible, tell us that this being-often called by Jesus-" the prince of this world"-was once an inhabitant of heaven, where, before the creation of the universe,

but after the production of the eternal Son, he conspired with other wicked spirits of that holy place, and raised the standard of rebellion against the Sovereign of the regions of bliss. In his contention for the throne of the Omnipotent, the war fiercely raged for a considerable time, and all heaven was desolated. At length, the Lord of heaven commissioned his Son to rout the enemy. This Son hurled the Devil and his army into hell. After their expulsion, the Almighty resolved to create a world, and make man. But no sooner had he done so, than the Devil entered Paradise, and ruined this man; in consequence of which, his Creator's anger was roused, not against the Devil-the cause of the mischief-but against the man, whom he condemned to suffer eternal death. To prevent this punishment from being inflicted, however, the Almighty Son promised to become incarnate and die for man, which we are told he did. But after all this, the Devil still remained unconquered,-could still triumph over Omnipotence,-is still going about, like a roaring lion, is still leading mankind captive. Such is the description given of this terrible being by Christian writers, and such all orthodox men believe him to be.

But as God is infinite in all his ways, no such being as the Devil can possibly exist in the universe,-as God is omnipotent, and unbounded in goodness, all the tales about the Devil are "cunningly devised fables." According to these fables, the Devil is infinite-is God-is, in the Bible, called "the God of this world." He has successfully opposed the Deity, from eternity; he has obliged him to send part of himself to this world, to suffer and die; and he will, finally, triumph over the Deity by procuring the damnation of the greater portion of the human race. To be able to do all this, clearly proves the Devil infinite. According to this doctrine, there are two infinities,-the one opposed to the other, the one good and the other evil. The absurdity of such a doctrine can find no parallel, except in the Persian fables, whence probably it was imported into the Christian religion. Infinity being, necessarily, without limits, the supposition of two infinities is the acme of absurdity. The bare thought destroys the idea of Deity. Indeed, this doctrine implies a denial that God is God, and suggests the probability that the Devil is the Omnipotent being. For it teaches that he has frustrated God in his designs, and that, therefore, he is more powerful than God, who, if there were thus a

• Read Bacon's Works, vol. iv. p. 505; Boston's Fourfold State, pp. 440, 441; Paul's Epistles; the Revelation of John; Milton's Paradise Lost; Watts's Hymns, and his Preface to Lyric Poems, &c. But let it not be supposed that it is in the works of Christian writers only, the notion of a Devil is found. This doctrine, like all other Christian dogmas, is evidently of a heathen origin. It is found in productions much older than either the Jewish or Christian Scriptures. In the Divine books of the Hindoos, we have an account of several wars in heaven between gods and devils. The latter, having rebelled, were cast into a region of darkness and sorrow. See Holwel's Feasts and Fasts of the Hindoos, p. 56, et al. In the Mahabharat, (lib. i. c. 15.) we have also an account of a terrific war in heaven, bearing a striking resemblance to Milton's description of the Christian Devil's war. The doctrine was also among the Egyptians, the Greeks, Romans, &c. The war of the Titans and the Giants against the sovereign god Jupiter, and against Saturn, is well known. Jupiter sent his son to defeat these rebels, whom he confined under Mount Etna-the hell of the Greeks and Romans, which had a pit that seemed bottomless, and from the crater of which came fire, brimstone, smoke, &c.

limit to his power, would not be infinite, and, consequently, not God; while, on the other hand, the power of the Devil is not proved to be limited, and may therefore be infinite, and he a God.

It is impossible to conceive a story more derogatory to the character of the Almighty, more incompatible with his power, his wisdom, and his justice, than the story about the existence and exploits of the Devil. Nor is it easy to find even a Christian dogma which has been, and continues to be, productive of more evil consequences. How many thousands of crimes have been committed, and their perpetrators screened under the pretence that they were tempted by the Devil! On the other hand, how many millions of human beings have been persecuted, and put to death, from the time Moses is said to have lived to the present day, for the supposed practices of whitchcraft and magic,-arts imagined to have been taught them by the Devil! Our own statute-books contain many enactments, which ascribe the existence of these arts to the instigations of this supposed being; and evidently imply that it was the general belief that almost every crime was produced by his agency.* The annals of various countries show that almost every evil-physical and moral-incident to man, was, formerly, by Christians attributed to the influence of the Devil, his angels, his witches, and his wizards. If a person was attacked by sudden disease, or insanity; or if he committed suicide, if his cattle died, if his house was burnt down, if a member of his family suddenly died, or met with a fatal accident,―the Devil was thought to be the cause, and the instrument supposed to be some witch or wizard, who was immediately sought for, and put to death. These witches and wizards were believed to have sold their souls to the Devil for the supernatural power he conferred upon them to work mischievous miracles. This delusion was co-extensive with Christendom; and, up to the seventeenth century, millions of human beings, as the Devil's special agents, were put to death. In Germany alone, a hundred thousand fell victims to this superstition ! and in England upwards of thirty thousand were burnt for the same cause; while the masses, glorying in the punishment, sang popular airs, as they witnessed it, and the clergy preached "witch sermons." Nobody pitied the fate of witches and wizards, who had bartered their souls with the Devil. Although a relative might sympathize with a murderer, yet, if he pitied the fate of one of these agents of the Devil, however nearly related to him, he was himself suspected of witchcraft; and if he wept at seeing the victim wreathing in agony, while the flames burnt his flesh to a cinder, he was tied to the stake, to undergo the same inhuman death. So deeply rooted in the mind of Christians had this doctrine become, that all, from the king to the beggar, believed it, and that it pervaded the writings, not only of the divines, but of the historians, the poets, and philosophers. Profound theologians in their voluminous works, and popular preachers in their eloquent sermons, undertook to prove from Scripture the absolute certainty that the Devil thus employed men and women to do his work.

It is curious to observe with what solemnity our legislators, only about three centuries ago, framed enactments against witchcrafts, and how stedfast was their belief. in its reality. See 33 Hen. VIII. c. 8. 2 Jac. I. c. 12. 9 Eliz. c. 16, and 9 Geo. II c. 5, by which last statute the laws against witchcraft are partially repealed.

Nor was this all; the Christian clergy of all sects taught that the world was over-run with evil spirits, who were in all places, at all times, alluring men to evil, prompting them to commit murder and suicide, and invisibly injuring their corporeal frames in a thousand modes,—that the Devil, with myriads of his angels were hovering in the atmosphere, and frequently snatching up into the air, men and women, whom they carried through the aerial regions, for thousand of miles,*-that they raised storms, caused earthquakes, and disturbed physical nature in innumerable ways,-and that they descended on the earth, assuming the forms of various living animals, such as dogs, cats, bulls, goats, lions, wolves, men, women, and children. But what a vast amount of evil must have been effected by such a doctrine! How it must have blighted and withered all the higher sentiments and emotions of the human mind! How it must have struck terror into every nerve! Imagine every human being in whole communities, night and day, shuddering with fear either that he would meet the Devil, or be ruined by the witchcraft of one of his agents, or be himself accused of witchcraft, and burnt alive! Justly does Buckle remark that, owing to such a teaching of the Scotch clergy, reason gave way, and, under the frenzy of religious mania, the hearers of God's ministers went home and dispatched themselves." They, doubtless, thought death and the silent grave far preferable to the misery into which they had been driven by this terrible doctrine. All the good that Christianity can have the least pretension of having effected, from its first promulgation to the present hour, is not sufficient to atone for the thousandth part of the injury it has inflicted on mankind by this doctrine alone.

But even as the doctrine in its present modified and comparatively refined state-shorn of its witchcraft and other horrific things-is taught, what a discouragement to virtue must a bare belief in the existence of the Devil effect! How it must paralyze all the moral efforts of man to believe that there exists a being who is continually "suggesting evil thoughts to his mind," a being who "is always at his elbow inciting him to evil deeds,"- -a being who has for more than six thousand years carried on, with considerable success, a rebellious war against the Sovereign Majesty of the universe,-a being who is able to baffle the designs of Infinite Wisdom, and foil the purposes of Almighty Power,-a being, from whose attacks, therefore, finite, erring, dependent man, can never be secure;

No one who is accustomed to read the New Testament can fail to perceive that this doctrine pervades it. He will call to mind such phrases as-"The prince of the power of the air," "The prince of this world,"-"The prince of devils," &c. Indeed, all forms of the doctrine of devils, whether ancient or modern, is found in the Bible. It is true that, like every other Christian doctrine, this has, owing to the progress of civilization, been gradually refined. The early Christian monks, who had many a fierce combat with the Devil, represented him very much like the Egyptian Devil-a huge monster with horns, a long tail, cloven feet, and dragon's wings. We are told that the ancient Christian anchorites, in their battles with this preternatural being, gave him many a sore cudgelling with their clubs, till he groaned aloud, and limped away howling, They, frequently, chopped off pieces of his tail; and sometimes held him by the nose with a pair of red-hot tongs. To what a deplorable state human nature must have been reduced by superstition, before it could be susceptible of such a delusion. For more information of the Devil of the middle ages, see Buckle's History of Civilization, Dr. Mackay's Popular Delusions, &c.

and against the overwhelming strength of whose temptations it is useless for him to struggle! How such a creed must reduce its cherisher to a state of supine despair of ever obtaining a victory over such a mighty monster! How it must damp all his nobler projects, and weaken all his exertions to lead a life of virtue! How the recollection that the "God of this world" frustrated the designs of the God of Adam and Eve, by converting them from a state of happy immortality into one of misery and eternal death, overwhelms him with despondency! And, above all, how the thought strikes terror into his heart, that because " the God of this world hath blinded his mind," and hath tempted him to sin, he shall be punished for ever and ever!

But, O man! if thou wouldst but look at Nature, and see that, by the harmony of design, and unity of operation, in the amazingly various portions of the universe, she proclaims but one God, matchless in power, boundless in goodness, and infinite in all his attributes, that, in a thousand ways, she gives a flat contradiction to the absurd notion of two Gods-the one infinitely good, and the other infinitely evil-thou wouldst soon abandon the superstitious belief in the existence and works of the Devil, and wouldst adore the Deity alone; not distracting thy mind about another object, which is supposed to claim an equal, or a superior reverence. Not within the whole sphere of nature wilt thou find the slightest trace either of the existence or influence of the supposed "prince of the power of the air," or the possibility of witchcraft. The more closely thou dost examine Nature, who loves to be interrogated, the more fully wilt thou be convinced of this fact. Whatever object within her whole domains appears strange, whatever sound disagreeable, whatever effect unaccountable, she invites thee to scrutinize, so as to satisfy thyself it is only part of her, and of her operations. Neither in repairing to, nor returning from her temple, at midnight or noon, wilt thou be terrified or haunted by an angry malignant devil, a fiend, a sprite, or a hag. Knowledge of her ways, called SCIENCE, has abundantly proved to her students, that these phantoms have not, and never had, any existence, except in the fancy of the superstitious and the ignorant.

Seeing, therefore, that the religion of nature is incomparably better calculated than Christianity to make mankind virtuous and happy, and that this religion actually rewards them with the enjoyment of a degree of happiness the moment they reduce into practice any of her precepts, cease, therefore, O man! to spend thy valuable time, talent, and treasure, upon the dreams of superstition, which hold out hopes that will never be realized, conjure up fears that have no foundation, fill thy mind with gloomy desponding thoughts, and render thy life one of disquietude by day and of fear by night. Cease to seek God beyond the bounds of nature; cease to ask him to confer blessings by supernatural means, of which thy mind can have no conception; cease from the absurd practice of praying to the Deity to perform miracles, to violate the laws of nature for thy convenience; but study to know and obey these laws, by which thou wilt learn the will of thy Creator, and obey his commands. Instead of-with pretended humility and bended knees-finding fault with the All-wise God, and telling him what he should do, and what he should not do, what he should bestow, and what he should not bestow,—instead of