I MIGHT here, before I enter on the particular proof of these several propofitions, juftly be allowed to premise, that having now to deal with another fort of men, than those against whom my discourse was directed; and being confequently in fome parts of this treatife to make use of fome other kinds of arguments, than those which the nature of that discourse permitted and required; the fame demonftrative force of reafoning, and even mathematical certainty, which in the main argument was there easy to be obtained, ought not here to be expected; but that fuch moral evidence, or mixt proofs from circumstances and teftimony, as moft matters of fact are only capable of, and wife and honeft men are always fatisfied with, ought to be accounted fufficient in the present cafe. Because all the principles indeed, upon which Atheists attempt to build their schemes, are fuch as may by plain force of reafon, and undeniable demonftrative augmentations, be reduced to exprefs and direct contradictions. But the Deills pretend to own all the principles of reason, and would be thought to deny nothing but what depends entirely on teftimony and evidence of matter of fact, which they think they can easily evade.

THE Heathen philofophers, thofe few of them, who taught and lived up to the obligations of

natural Religion, had indeed a confiftent scheme of Deism, so far as it went; and they were very

brave and wife men, if any of them could keep fteady and firm to it. But the cafe is not fo now. The same scheme of Deism is not any longer confiftent with its own principles, if it doth not now lead men to embrace and believe Revelation, as it then taught them to hope for it. Deifts, in our days, who obftinately reject Revelation when offered to them, are not such men as Socrate and Tully were; but, under pretense of Deism, 'tis plain they are generally ridiculers of all that is truly excellent even in natural Religion itself.— Could we see a Deift, whose mind was heartily poffeffed with worthy and juft apprehenfions of all the attributes of God, and a deep fenfe of his duty towards that fupreme author and preferver of his being; could we fee a Deift, who lived in an exact performance of all the duties of natural Religion; and by the practice of righteoufnefs, juftice, equity fobriety, and temperance, expreffed in his actions, as well as words, a firm belief and expectation of a future ftate of rewards and punishments; in a word, could we fee a Deift, who with reverence and modefty, with fincerity and impartiality, with a true and hearty defire of finding out and fubmitting to reafon and truth, would inquire into the foundations of

our belief, and examine thoroughly the pretenfions which pure and uncorrupt Christianity has to be received as a divine Revelation; I think we could not doubt to affirm of fuch a person, as our Saviour did of the young man in the Gofpel, that he was not far from the kingdom of God; and that, being willing to do his will, he fhould know of the doctrine, whether it was of God. But, as I have faid, there is great reason to doubt, there are no fuch Deists as these, among the infidels of our days. This indeed is what they fometimes pretend, and feem to defire should be thought to be their cafe; but alas, their trivail and vain cavils; their mocking and ridiculing, without and before examination; their directing the whole stress of their objections, against particular customs, or particular and perhaps uncertain opinions, or explications of opinions, without at all confidering the main body of Religion; their loose, vain, and frothy difcourfes; and above all, their vitious and immortal lives; show plainly and undeniably, that they are not really Deifts, but merely Atheifts, and confequently not capable to judge of the truth of Chriftianity. If they were truly and in earneft fuch Deifts as they pretend and would fometimes be thought to be, those principles (as has been already fhown) would unavoidably lead them to Chrif

tianity; but being fuch as they really are, they cannot poffibly avoid recurring to downright Atheism.

THE fum is this; there is now no fuch thing as a confiftent scheme of Deilm. That which alone was once fuch, namely the scheme of the best Heathen philofophers, ceafes now to be fo, after the appearance of the Revelation; because it directly conducts men to the belief of Chriftianity. All other pretences to Deifm, may by unavoidable confequence be forced to terminate in abfolute Atheism, He that cannot prevail with himself to obey the Chriftian doctrine, and embrace those hopes of life and immortality, which our Saviour has brought to light through the Gospel; cannot now be immagined to maintain with any firmness, steadiness, and certainty, the belief of the immortality of the foul, and a future ftate of rewards and punishments after death; because all the main difficulties and objections, lie equally against both. For the fame reason, he who difbelieves the immortality of the foul, and a future ftate of rewards and punishments; cannot defend to any effectual purpose, or enforce with any fufficient ftrength, the obligations of morality and natural Religion; notwithstanding that they are indeed incumbent upon

men, from the very nature and reafon of the things themselves.

SOME men indeed, who, by means of a very evil and vitious education, or through a long habit of wickedness and debauchery, have extremely corrupted the principles of their nature, and have long accustomed themfelves to bear down their own reason, by the force of prejudice, luft, and paffion; that they may not be forced to confefs themselves felf-condemned, will confidently and abfolutely contend that they do not really fee any natural and neceffary difference between what we call right and wrong, just and unjust; that the reafon and judgment of their own mind does not tell them they are under any fuch indif penfable obligations, as we would indeavour to perfuade them; and that they are not fenfible they ought to be governed by any other rule, than their own will and pleasure, But even these men, the most profligate of all mankind; however industrioufly they endeavour to conceal and deny their felf-condemnation, yet cannot avoid making a difcovery of it fometimes when they are not aware of it. For example, there is no man fo vile and defperate, who commits at any time a murder and robbery, with the moft unrelenting mind, but would choofe, if fuch a thing could be propofed to him, to obtain all the