those of Athens; and the ancient sects enrolled themselves under the banners of the more fashionable teachers, who recommended their system by the novelty of their method and the austerity of their manners. Several of these masters, Ammonius, Plotinus, Amelius, and Porphyry, were men of profound thought and intense application; but, by mistaking the true object of philosophy, their labors cońtributed much less to improve, than to corrupt, the human understanding. The knowlege that is suited to our situation. and powers, the whole compass of moral, natural, and mathematical science, was neglected by the new Platonicians: whilst they exhausted their strength in the verbal disputes of metaphysics, attempted to explore the secrets of the invisible world, and studied to reconcile Aristotle with Plato, on subjects of which both these philosophers were as ignorant as the rest of mankind". The minds of the philoso phers of this and of a somewhat later period were likewise darkened by the illusions of fanaticism. They abused, says Mr. Gibbon, the superstitious credulity of mankind;' and the Grecian mysteries were supported by the magic or theurgy of the modern Platonists. They arrogantly pretended to controul the order of nature, to explore the secrets of futurity, to command the service of the inferior dæmons, to enjoy the view and conversation of the superior Gods, and, by disengaging the soul from her material bands, to re-unite that immortal particle with the Infinite and Divine mind."

As barbarism advanced, and the knowlege of almost all the illustrious writers of antiquity was gradually lost, the pretended votaries of philosophy were more and more benighted in the clouds of metaphysics98, and pursued its

95 Vol. II. p. 182.

96 See Dr. Enfield's Hist. of Philosophy, vol. II. p. 63-101.

97 Vol. IV. p. 74.

98 The metaphysical disputants of the middle ages, it may, however, be observed, surpassed not the Pagan Platonists in obscurity. Dr. Priestley, indeed, speaking of them, and particularly of Proclus, Plotinus, and Jamb

'The general

speculations, among the certainly to be account.

fleeting shadows with growing eagerness. prevalence of this taste for subtle Scholastics, is,' says Dr. Enfield, ed for, chiefly from the want of more important objects to occupy the leisure of monastic life, and to furnish occasions of generous and useful emulation among those who devoted their days to study. But the particular direction which this idle humor took was owing to the universal authority, which, after Augustine, Aristotle-by degrees acquired in the Christian schools. The reverence, almost religious, which the Scholastics paid to the Stagyrite, naturally led them to follow implicitly his method of philosophising, and to embrace his opinions, as far as they were able to discover them. "There are," says Vives, "both philosophers and divines, who not only say, that Aristotle reached the utmost boundaries of science, but that his syllogistic method of reasoning is the most direct and certain path to knowlege; a presumption, which has led us to receive, upon the authority of Aristotle, many tenets as fully known and established, which are by no means such; for why should we fatigue ourselves with farther inquiry, when it is agreed that nothing can be discovered beyond what may be found in his writings. Hence has sprung up in the mind of man an incredible degree of indolence; so that every one thinks it safest and most pleasant to see with another's eyes, and believe with another's faith, and to examine nothing for himself." There cannot be a clearer proof of the extravagant height to which this Apsorehoμavia, rage for Aristotle, was carried, than the fact complained of by Melancthon, that in sacred assemblies the ethics of Aristotle were read to the people instead of the gospel"."

lichus, says, the writings of the schoolmen, which have been so much ridiculed, on account of their obscurity, and idle distinctions, are day-light compared to those of these Platonists.' Hist. of the Early Opinions con cerning Jesus Christ, vol. I. p. 399.

99 Hist. of Philosophy, vol. II. p. 389.

From these facts and these observations it does, then, appear, that the decline of knowlege, and the progress of a vitiated taste, are to be ascribed to causes, altogether different from the publication and the spread of Christianity.

It has been asserted, that this religion, by rendering men more virtuous and benevolent than they otherwise would have been, has at the same time prepared their minds, for making substantial sacrifices in behalf of mankind, and for feeling a fixed detestation of every system of political oppression and injustice. A few extracts and remarks, relative to the influence it has had upon morals, shall, therefore, be introduced.

That Christianity, at the era of its promulgation, produced the most excellent effects on the lives of its professors, that it altered, greatly and beyond all former example the characters of millions, and that it occasioned the growth of the most permanent and most exalted virtues, every man, who has studied the early part of ecclesiastical history, is perfectly apprised. On this point there is no contro

100 Christ's disciples, says a learned inquirer into ecclesiastical history, were examples of fervent zeal for the welfare of mankind, of an inoffensive behaviour, of disinterestedness and self-denial, of indefatigable industry, of the most extensive charity, of patience and courage and constancy, and of a regular practice of all that they taught. The first Christians resembled their teachers in these good qualities, and it was no small advantage to them in their apologies for themselves and their religion to be able to appeal boldly to their innocence and integrity. That we may have a right sense of this, we should consider what it was to be a Christian in those days, lest we be deceived by the vulgar use of the word, and by the notion which we at present entertain about it. To be a Christian at that time was to be an example of well-tried virtue, of true wisdom, and of consummate fortitude; for he surely deserves the name of a great and a good man, who serves God, and is a friend to mankind, and receives the most ungrateful returns from the world, and endures them with a calm and composed mind, who dares look scorn and infamy and death in the face, who can stand forth unmoved and patiently bear to be derided as a fool and an ideot, to be pointed out for a madman and an enthusiast, to be reviled as an atheist and an enemy to all righteousness, to be punished as a robber and a murderer. He who can pass through these trials is a conqueror indeed, and what the world calls courage scarce deserves that name, when compared to this behaviour.' Jortin's Disc. on the Tr. of the Chr. Rel p. 113.

versy. But, in each following age, the religion of Jesus, being united by a forced alliance to the state, and, from the thirst of gain, the lust of power, and the prevalence of fanaticism, being grossly perverted in its doctrines and its precepts; it has, as might be expected, under these circumstances, had its energies enfeebled; and has not produced those extensive and magnificent revolutions in the moral world, which seemed to have been promised and ensured by the strength of its proofs, the clearness of its laws, and the weight of its sanctions. But, depressed and disguised as it has been, destitute till the 15th century of the important aid it would have derived from the art of printing, and for a long time locked up in an unknown tongue, it has, under all this opprobrium and under all these disadvantages, had a very powerful effect in promoting purity of heart and rectitude of conduct.

Christianity,' says archdeacon Paley,' in every country in which it is professed, hath obtained a sensible although not a complete influence, upon the public judgment of morals. And this is very important. For, without the occasional correction which public opinion receives, by referring to some fixed standard of morality, no man can foretell into what extravagancies it might wander.-In this way, it is possible, that many may be kept in order by Christianity, who are not themselves Christians. They may be guided by the rectitude which it communicates to public opinion. Their consciences may suggest their duty truly, and they may ascribe these suggestions to a moral sense, or to the native capacity of the human intellect, when in fact they are nothing more, than the public opinion reflected from their own minds; an opinion, in a considerable degree, modified by the lessons of Christianity.'

The influence of this religion must be perceived, if perceived at all, in the silent course of private and domestic life. Nay more; even there its influence may not be very obvious to observation. If it check, in some degree, personal dissoluteness, if it beget a general probity in the transaction of business, if it produce soft and humane man,

ners in the mass of the community and occasional exertions of laborious or expensive benevolence in a few individuals, it is all the effect which can offer itself to external notice. The kingdom of heaven is within us. That which is the substance of the religion, its hopes and consolations, its intermixture with the thoughts by day and by night, the devotion of the heart, the control of appetite, the steady direction of the will to the commands of God, is necessarily invisible. Yet upon these depend the virtue and the happiness of millions. This cause renders the representations of history, with respect to religion, defective and fallacious, in a greater degree than they are upon any other subject. Religion operates most upon those of whom history knows the least; upon fathers and mothers in their families, upon men servants and maid servants, upon the orderly tradesman, the quiet villager, the manufacturer at his loom, the husbandman in his fields. Amongst such its influence collectively may be of inestimable value, yet its effects in the mean time little upon those, who figure upon the stage of the world. They may know nothing of it; they may believe nothing of it; they may be actuated by motives more impetuous than those which religion is able to excite. It cannot, therefore, be thought strange, that this influence should elude the grasp and touch of public history; for what is public history, but a register of the successes and disappointments, the vices, the follies, and the quarrels, of those who engage in contentions for power?

After quoting this passage, I would briefly observe, that the observations, contained in the three last sentences of the archdeacon, are perfectly true with respect to the ordi nary transactions registered in historic annals, but apply not to a great national revolution, undertaken against civil tyranand in vindication of the rights of man. In the accomplishment of such an event, the principles of Christianity cannot but operate, though they may, indeed, secretly operate. For by whom is such a revolution effected? Not

ny,

101 Evid of Chr. 2 ed. vol. II. p. 376, 382.