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D IS C O U R S E

FREE-THINKING,
Occafion'd by
The Rife and Growthsef a Sećt
- * * ·* -

call’d FREE THINK ER s.

A

Mundum tradiditdifputationieghua Făi. 3. II.Vulg.

Unufquiſquefuofenfuabundet. Rom. 14. 5. Ib.
Nil tam temerarium , tamque indignum fapientis
gravitate atque conſtantiâ, quam, quod non fatis
exploratè perceptum fit & cognitum fine ulla dubi
tatione defendere. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. I.

Who ſhall be judg of what may befreely examin’d and

zvhat not ? whereliberty may be us’d; and where
it may not ? what remedy ſhall we prefcribe to this
an general ? Can there be a better than from that
liberty it felf which is complain'd of ?
|- Characteriſticks, vol. I. p. Io

L O N D O N,
Printed in the Year 1713
 |
-

:
Innin : pag. 1
s E c T. I.
Free-thinking defin’d. -

Ifi Argument to prove that it is ever

man's right to think freely. ib.
2d Argument, taken from free-thinking
being the only means to arrive at per
fećtion in the fciences. 4
3d Argument, taken from the abfurditys
whichfollow from not thinking freely. 9
4th Argument shows that there can be no
rational reſtraint upon thinking. I9
5th Argument, taken from the benefit of
free-thinking in a very remarkable in
fiance. 2 I

S E C T I I.
That it is our duty to think freely on thoß
* 2 -
points
 ir , c o N T E N T s.
points of which men are deny’d the right
to think freely; fuch as, of the nature
and attributes of God, the truth and
authority offcriptures, andofthe mean
ing of ſcriptures. 2

If Argument to prove this, taken from the

fuppos’d neceſſity of mens having a right
* opinion in thoſe points. 25
2d Argument shows, that the fole duty of
man with reſpeċi to having any opinions
whatſoever, lies in free-thinking. 26
3d Argument shows there is no remedy for
| , the great evil of ſuperftition, but think
ing freely on theſe f:: 27
4th Argument is taken from the infinite
number ofpretenders to revelations. 3 I
5th Argument is taken from the eſtablish
ment of a ſociety in England, for pro
pagating the goſpel in foreign parts. 32
6th Argument is taken from the deſign of
the goſpel , and the preaching of our
Saviour and his Apofiles. 34
7th Argument is taken from the conduć#
of the clergy, in feveral infiances.
Firſt Infance of their condući is their divi–
fions about the nature and attributes of
God. 37. About fcriptures, and the
:::: offcriptures. 42.
thefenſe offcriptures.
And about
| 45
Se–
 c o N T E N T s. v
second Infante of their condući is their
| owning the doćtrines of the Church to
be contradićtory to one another and to
reafon. 6r
Third Infance, their acknowledgment of
abuſes, o c. in the Church. 63
Fourth Infance, their profeſſing they will
not tell the truth, and making it mat
- ter of reproach in any of the clergy to
tell the truth. 6
Fifth Infance, their charging the moſt ra
tional Chriſtians with Atheiſm, & c. 68
Sixth Inſtance, their rendring the Canon
offcripture uncertain. 6
Seventh Infance, their publishing the ar
guments of infidels. |- 74
Ninth Infance, their publishing the only
antient ffem of Atheifnin English. ib.
Tenth Instance, their uſe of piouffraudsin
publishing and tranſlating books. , 7;
The Concluſion from theſe infances oftheir
condući. , - - - 81

S E C T I I I.

Objećions to free-thinking anfiver’d.

I7 Objećfion, That men have not a fuffi
cient capacity to think freely about any
ſpeculations, anfiver’d. · · · 82
* 3 2d
v{ C O N T E N T S.
2d Objetion, That free-thinking will pro
duce diviſions in opinion, and diforders
in fociety, anfiver’d. 84
3d Objetion, That by free-thinking men
may poſſibly become Atheiſts, ºffer:
|- 6

4th Objetion, That prieſts are fet apart to

think freely for the laity, and are to be
rely’d on as lawyers and phyſicians, an
fiver’d. 89
5th Objetion, That it is neceſſary to the
peace of ſociety to impoſe fome ſpecu
lations, anfwer’d. 92
6th Objećfion, That free-thinkers are irra
tional, infamous, and wicked people,
anfwer’d by shewing
(1.) That free-thinkers muſt have moſt
underſtanding, and that they mufi ne
ceſarily be the mof virtuous people. , 98
(2.) That they have in fati been the mof:
underfanding and virtuous people in all |

ages, by infancing in,

1. Socrates. I O2.

2. Plato. IO4
3. Ariſtotle. - - 1 o6
4. Epicurus. I o7
5. Plutarch. 1 C9
6. Varro. I I I
 C O N T E N T S.
vij
7. Cato the Cenfor. I I2
8. Cicero.
Ib.
9. Cato of Utica. 117
Io. Seneca.
I22
I I. Solomon.
I 24
12. The Jewish Prophets.. Ib.
13- Joſephus, 13 I
14. Origen. I35
15. Minutius Feliz. Ib.
16. Syneſius.
138
17. My Lord Bacon.
18. Hobbes. 141
I4
19. Tillotſon.
#
 * • .

|
. E R R A T , A,
*
|- «" -

* -

p. 19. l. 8. for latter, read fecond.

p. 24. l. 1. for Reeverend, read Reverend.
p. 26. l. 23. for truthly, read truth ly.
p. 8o. l. 14. for in forms, read informs.
p. 83. l. 2. for no was read in no wife.
p. 127.1.25. fornumercial, readnumerical.
 A D ISC O U RS E
* O F

FREE-THINKING
I N A L E T T E R.
T O

* * * * * Eſquire.
*
S I R,

Pologies for felfevident truths can ne Self-

N ver have any effect on thofe who Evident
} have fo little fenfe as to deny them. And a so little
| They are the foundation of all rea "groupe"
foning, and the only juſt bottom on
which men can proceedin convincingone another
of the truth : and by confequence whoever is
capable of denying them, is not in a condition
to be inform’d. Mere ignorant men , or men
deſtitute of thofe principles of knowledg, may per
haps be capable of information : their ignorance
does not exclude them from affenting to a felf
evident truth when they firſt hear it : nor from
admitting any confequences deducible from ir.
But men whỏ deny what is felf-evident, are :
only
 |

2 A D I S C O U R S E
only deſtitute of the principles of knowledg, but
muft in virtue of fuch their denial have principles -

inconfiftent with the principles of knowledg, and

confiftent with the greateſt abfurdities. Andunder
that diftemper'd ftate of mind, it remains only
for them to take up with fome diforder'd fancies
of their own ; or, which is much more common,
with the dićtates of artificial deſigning men, or
crack-brain'd enthuſiafs : for as none elfe pre
fume to be guides, or to have any authority over
|
others in matters of ſpeculation , fo they who
think they ought to be guided in thofe matters
very naturally ave recourſe to fuch for theirgui
des. And if they ever depart from the fenti
ments they have once imbib’d, and from being
obſtinate in one fet of opinions become obſti
nate in another; their change muft ftill be founded
on the fame motives, and their opinions be as
abfurd as at firſt. For as truth will never ferve
Purposes the purpoſes of knaves , fo it will never fuit the
of Knaves underſtandings of fools; and the latter will ever
Understanding be as well pleas'd in being deceiv'd , as the for
of Fools mer in deceiving. It is therefore without the leaft
hopes of doing any :: but purely to comply
with your requeſt, that I fend you this Apolog
for fee-thinking; which, as it is one of :
fubjećts too evident to be made plainer , and
which ought to be admitted on the firſt propo
fal, fo all that can be faid in its behalf muft be
built on topicks lefs evident than the thingit felf.

SECT".
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 3
S E C T. I.
-Use
That I may proceed orderly, I will begin with Understanding
defining the term. - Meaning of
any
By fee-thinking then I mean, The uſe of the un proposition.
derfanding, in endeavouring to find out the meaning
ofany propoſition whatſoever , in conſidering the -the
Considering
nature of
nature of the evidence for or againſt it , and in evidence.
judging of it according to the feeming force or
weakneß of the evidence. This definition cannot, - Judging
I conceive, be excepted againſt by the enemies of according
free-thinking , as not including the crime with evidence.
which they charge free-thinkers, in order to ren
der them odious to unthinkingpeople (for ifthere
is any crime in fee-thinking, that crime muft be
contain’din a definition which lays no manner of
reftraint upon thinking ) and they muft allow,
that if I vindicate man’s right to think freely in
the full extent of my definition, I not only apolo
gize for my felf, who profefs to thinkfeely every
day de quolibet ente, but for all the fee-thinkers
who ever were, or ever ſhall be.

To prove this right to think feely, Iargue.

Iff. If the knowledg of fome truths berequir'd
of us by God : if the knowledg ofothers be uſeful 1. Be required
to ſociety; if the knowledg of no truth be for be GOD.
bidden us by God, or hurtful to us; then we have 2.. Useful for
a right to know , or may lawfully know , any SOCEITY.
truth whatſoever. And ifwe have a right to know
any truth whatſoever,we have a right to think freely 3. No truth be
or (according to my definition) to uſe our un forbideen GOD.
derfandings, in endeavouring to find out the mea THEN-RIGHT
A 2. mizºg
4 A D ISCO U R SE
ning of any propoſition whatſoever, in confidering
the nature of the evidence for or againſt it , and
in judging of it according to the feeming force or
weakneſs of the evidence: becauſe there is no other
way to diſcover the truth.
2dly. As in manual arts we do only by fee
trial, comparifon, and experience of every thing,
come to know what is beſt and perfect in each
art; fo in the fciences , perfection is only to be
attain’d by fee-thinking.
Let painters be fo far confin’d in their art by
the religion of their country, as to haveitthought
unlawful to paint any living creature; it is evident
the art in that particular would be narrow'd and
reſtrain'd, and we ſhould want many beautiful
pieces, for which Pagan and Chriſtian Divinity
furniſh the painter with matter. And if anybold
and fee painter ſhould tranſgreſs the eſtabliſh’d
law of painting, and venture upon paintingeither
a God or Goddefs, or any paffage of the life of
our bleſſed Saviour; nothing is more plain than
that the firſt draught would be as far fhort ofthe
erfećtion of our beſt pićtures , as the painter
;: muft be ſhort of our beſt painters in ex
: Nay, let fee painting be allow'd, per
ećtion will never be reach’d in that art , unleſs
futable encouragements be given to fee painters
for what is excellent in its kind, to the end there
may be numbers of men employ’d , who by
emulation may ftrive to exceed one another in
their performances. Thus the Italians, by the
publick encouragement given , excel us Britans
in painting; tho fee painting is allow'd in each
country : and we in all likelihood, for want of
many hands being employ’d and ::::all .*
 ºf FREE-THINKING ;
fhall continue for ever in our barbarous fate,
with reſpect to any tolerable degree of a juſt
tafte, or ability to perform in that art. |

In like manner , let men be refrain’d from

thinking on any fcience or any part of a fcience,
they muſt be ignorant fo far as the refraint goes.
And if a few men take now and then a little li
berty, and break thro the eſtabliſh’d refraint,
their thoughts will never be fo perfest as if all
men were allow'd and encourag’d to think of
that matter : but their progreſs in thinking will
be only proportionate to that degree of fee
thinking which prevails. Thus before the reſto
ration of learning, when men were fubjećt to
the impofitions of priests, a prodigious ignorance
: And when they began to think, their
rft notions were rude and imperfećt , and time
and pains were neceſſàry to bring them to that de
: ofjuſtnefs they are at preſent arrived to. It was
y gradual pro : in thinking , that men got fo
much knowledgin Affronomy, as to know that
the earth was of an orbicular figure, and that it
moves about the fun. It was by that means,
that we arriv'd at a demonftration of the
exiſtence of but one God, and at that ſtrićt and
philoſophical notion of him, as a being deſtitute
of all parts and paſſions. And thus it has been
with reſpect to all our other diſcoveries. »
Befides, we are not only fo farignorantin the
fciences, as we are under any reftraint from thin
king about them; but we muſt be ignorant evenin
thofe ſciences whereof we pretend to think, if we
refuſe to think ofany other ſcience whatſoever. For
there is a * relation; harmony, dependency, and
CO Il

* Omnes artes, qua ad humanitatem pertinent , habent quod

dams
6 . A DISCO U R. S; E
connećtion among all things; and the knowledg
of one fcience or art can never be thorowly ob
tain’d without the knowledg of other arts and
fciences : Nay, take any book that, is a mafter
piece in its kind, and you will find it has a rela
tion to them all , and that a very general and
extenſive knowledg was neceſſary to its compo
fition. In the Iliad of Ho M E R, there is not
an art or fcience, or branch of any art orſcience,
but there are fome parts which have relation to
it, and which the nature of the work requir’d:
and thoſe parts are as accurately and juſtly per
form'd, as if each, part had been done by one
who was particularly vers'd in the art or ſcience
refer’d to. As for inflance, H o M E R could ne
ver have defcrib’d as he ought, nor in the man
ner he has done, a chariot or a chariot-wheel,
without the particular knowledg of a coachmaker:
and fuch knowledg was abſolutely neceſſary to
his purpoſe: for : had talk'd of thoſe things
without that accurate knowledg, he had certainly
fallen into thoſe miftakes, which men ever do ,
when they venture to talk of what they do not
underſtand: and if he had omitted fuch defcrip
tions, his poem, which now to all eternity will
pleafe and inſtruét mankind, had been imperfećt.
It is this univerfal knowledg of things diſplay’d
in the Iliad, which makes it efteem'd fo perfećt
a work, and is the foundation of that known
commendation of Ho M E R by the criticks , that
:::in of all arts and fiences are contain’d
172 /21772. |

But to come to an inſtance wherein we are

more concern’d : The Bible contains a collećtion
of

dem cºmmune vinculum, & quaſi cognatione quâdam interf:

eºntinentur. Cicero pro Archiá Poëtå.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 7,
of trasts given us at divers times by God himſelf;
and confequently every thing therein mention'd
is handled with the utmoft degree of exaćtnefs :
for it is impoffible that God, when he condef.
cends to teach mankind by writing or books »
fhould write as ill, or worfe than mortal men,
and aćt againſt the rules of art in writing , and
expreſs error andfalfehoodinſtead of justnefs and
proportion. |

Now there is not perhaps in the world fb mif:

cellaneous a book, and which treats of fuch va
riety of things as the bible does. There is a na
tural hiſtory of the creation of the whole univerſe,
and of an univerſal deluge of this earth; and a
civil and eccleſiaffical hiſtory of all mankind,fom
the beginning of the world for above 2ooo, years,
ạnd of a particular nation for above 8oo. years.
There are contain'd in it the municipal laws of«
country, the inſtitution of two Religions ( one
whereof was to put an end to the other) feveral
natural and miraculous phænomena of nature ,
defcriptions of magnificent buildings, references to
Husbandry, Sailing, Phyſick, Pharmacy, Mathe
maticks, and every thing elfe that can be named.
And indeed the compaſſ of fuch a hiſtory fhews
that no art or ſcience can be untouch’d in it. To
underſtand the matter therefore of this book, re
quires the moſt thinking ofall otherbooks; fince
to be mafter of the whole , a man muft be able
to think juftly in every/cience and art. Who can
underſtand the order and perfection of the hiſtori
cal part, and the completion of the prophecies about
our bleſſed Saviour, without being a confummate
mafter in antientHiſtory, and Chronology, and in
the laws of each of thoſe arts ? How many years
of the life of the greatest chronologer in the world
- - A 4 (the
3 A , D I S C O U R S E.
(the preſent Biſhop of Worceſter) mufthave been
fpent only in adjuſting the feventy weeks of D A
NI E L to the times of the M E s s 1 A H, when his
Lordſhip’s work on that ſubject has already been
above ten years in the prefs ? Who can frame an
idea of the beauty and magnificence of S o L o
M o N’s Temple, or of that model delineated in
Ez E KI E L, without a perfećt knowledg in Ma
thematicks, and in particular of the rules of Ar
chitecture ? Who can have a juſt notion of the
creation and deluge, without the knowledg of all
nature ? How is it poſſible for any man to enter
into the meaning of the feveral paſſages of ſcrip
ture, which feemingly exhibit to us an idea of
God after a human manner, without the moſt re
fin’d Metaphyſicks, and the deepeſt thinking and
philoſophizing on the nature and attributes of
God? Nay, the morality of the holy-ſcripture is
not to be preciſely and diftinctly underſtood,
without an antecedent knowledginEthicks,or in the
law of nature. - Who can without a knowledgin
that law underſtand wherein confift the duties of
loving our enemys, of not caring for the morrow,
of not having two coats, and all other dutys ex
prefs'd in fo univerfal a manner ? The paffages
themfelves not exhibiting the neceſſàrylimitations
and reſtrictions which are imply'd, thoſe reſtric
tions and limitations are only to be deduc'd from
the law ofnature. Nay, when the dutys enjoind
are as univerfal as the expreſſions, that univerfa
lity is only to be known by confidering whether
the law of nature in thoſe cafes admits of any li
mitation or no.

Upon the whole therefore , thinking upon all -

human fciences, being the only way of arriving at

Perfećtion in them; nay, being the only method
tQ
 of FREE-THINKING. 9
to make a man underſtand the fublimeft of all
fciences, Theology, or the will of God contain’din
the holy fcriptures , it muft be at leaft lawful, or
a man’s right, to think feely. -

3dly. If men either neglect to think, or come

once to be perſuaded they have no right to think
feely, they can not only obtain no perfection in
the fciences, but muft, if they will have anyopi
nions, run into the groffeſt abfurdities imaginable
both in principle and praćtice. What abſurdno
tions of a Deity have formerly prevail'd, not only
among Pagans, but even among Chriſtians ?
who Řo they did not with the Pagans ſuppofe
their God to be like an ox, or a cat, or a plant,
yet fome of the moſtancient fathers ofthe Church
no lefs abfurdly fuppos'd him to be material;
and many Chriſtians in all ages fuppos’d him to
have the ſhape of a man, till thinking about the
nature of God did eſtabliſh his fpirituality among
men offenfe in every country of Chriſtians.
What abfurd notions in Religion , contrary to
the moſt obvious notions offenfe and reaſon,
overſpread the whole Chriſtian Church for many
ages ? Infallibility in a fingle perſonorina coun
cil, the power of the prieſt to damn and fave,
the worſhip ofimages ; pictures, Saints, andre
licks, and a thouſand other abfurdities as grofs
as ever prevail'd in any Pagan nation, were opi
nions almoſt univerfally receiv'd and believ’d by
Chriſtians ; and what is ſtill more wonderful,
even while they receiv'd a book for divine reve
lation , point-blank contrary to them all ; till
the thinking ofa few , ſomewhereoffacrific'd their
lives by fo doing, gave a new turn to the Chrif
zian world, and occaſion'd a prodigious change,
A 5 by
 To A D I S C O U R. SE
by eſtabliſhing contrary notions in fome
countries, and by obliging thoſe who pretended
to retain the old ones, to vary a little out of pure
íhame in the explication of their phraſes and ex
preſſions.
Laftly, what abfurdities prevail'd in Merality,
Aftronomy, Natural Philoſophy, and every other
1. Self-Defence
frience ? Self-defence in any cafe whatſoever was
2. adultery by the primitive fathers held unlawful : fecond
3. usury marriages were eſteem'd by them a kind of adul
tery : ufury was fuppos'd to be forbid by the law
ofGod. To maintain there were Antipodes, was
Galileus here/y : And Galileus, even in the laſt age was
impriſon'd for afferting the motion of the
earth. In fhort, for a picture of ancient abfur
dities, a man need but examine any one now
a-days who has never thought feely of things,
and he will ever find him unable to advance one
word of truth in any matter of ſcience whatfoe
ver, no not even in his notions of Godand Reli
gion , tho he hears the moſt perfećt difcourſes
every week to fet him right, and reads his Bible
at home. For men are incapable ofinformation
either from difcourſe or reading, unleſs they have
accuſtom'd themſelves to thinking, and by that
habit are qualify'd to think of the fubject where
on they hear or readadiſcourfe. Tobe inform'd,
confifts in being made to think juftly and truly
of things : but how fhould men think jufily,
who do not think freely ? How indeed can men
think at all of any thing, of which they do not
think freely : For what is a restraint of free-think
ing on any fubjećt, but fomewhat which hinders
me from thinking on that ſubject ?
Butto give you the most perfest image I am able,
how unavoidable abfurditys are both in principle
- and
 ºf FREE-THINKING. I1
and practice, if thinking is reſtrain’d; I will put
the cafe of free ſeeing , and fuppofe the fame
methods made ufe of to preventfree-feeing which
are to prevent free-thinking, Suppofethen, that
certain men have a fancy in their heads, that it
is abſolutely neceſſary, either to the peace of fo
ciety, or fome other great purpofe, that all men
fhould have the fame belief with relation to cer
tain objećts of the eyes; and in order to obtain
that end , that all under their power ſhould
fubſcribe the fame confeſion of eye-fight faith.
Now fuch a fancy as this can hardly come into
any mens heads , but either of fuch as are
fome way or other very remarkable for that kind
of madneſs which common, people will be apt
to miftake for divine illumination, or elfe of
cunning projetting fellows who have a defignupon
mens pockets. For I think men of real fenfe,
and that have no interefted defigns, will either
judg all miſtakes of that nature to be paſs'd over
A Il forgiven , fince no man can be willing!
guilty of them; or if they ſhould happen :
fuch miſtakes to be of very bad confequence, and
to be unpardonable, yet they will judg that the
beſt way to make men fee truly, istomakethem
fee feely ; and that it is more reafonable to let
all men truft to their own eyes (who have the
greateſt intereft in not deceiving themfelves)
than to oblige them to take up with an eye fight
faith, upon the authority :others who have
nothingelſe at beſt but their own eyefight to dirett
them, and who may as well be mifaken as any
body elfe, thro weakneſs of eyes ; and befides may
have a defign to deceive mankind. I faytherefore,
that whoever is capable of fuch a ridiculous pro
jećf , muft be either a weak or a deſigning man.
And let him, be which you pleafe , he will :
COll1'1C
12 A D Is co U R s E.
courfe make an abfurd confeſſion of :faith.
The former, for want of a full and impartial
examination , will take up with the firſt falfe
fenfations of things ; and the latter will more
certainly do fo, to make himſelf the more neceſ:
fary in explaining, defending, paraphraſing, note
making, and commenting upon eyes and eye-fight
faith. So that I will fuppoſe among the various
and contradićtory forms of confeſſion, which men
of different whims, or of different intereſts and
defigns , will make at different times , one to
'confift of thefe following articles.
* That a ball can go thro a table :
That two balls may be made out of one little one:
That aftone can be made to vaniſh out offight :
That a knot can be undone with words :
That a thredmay be burnt topieces, and made whole
with the afhes :
That oneface may be a hundred, or a thouſand :
And laftly, That a counter may be turn'd into a
groat.

Thefe propoſitions being drawn up in form,

as the fandard of eye-fight faith, it will be abfo
lutely neceſſary either that men ſhould be oblig'd
to fubfcribe to their truth, or that none be al
low'd publickly to contradićt them; or at leaft
that fome encouragement be given to thoſe who
profefs to believe and teach them; for otherwife
no end would be ferv'd by drawing them up,
and men would be as much at liberty to ufe their
eyes as they were before, * *

Nor is it to be imagin’d, that the zealous ad

vocates for them will content themfelves with the
Ill Cl C2

* Hochs Pocus fun. p. 13, 15 , 36 , 43 , 45, 47.

 of FREE-THINKING. 13
mere impofition of theſe abſurditys. They will
introduce feveral other new abfurditys, bythe va
rious reafonings , comments and turns which fo
many abſurditys in eye fight will oblige them to
maké. The feveral propoſitions will be faid by
them to be above, but not contrary to eye-fight.
Inſtances will be given often thouſand miſtakes
in ufing our eyes. It will be eſteemddangerous
truſting to carnal eye-fight, and be faid that we
ought to rely on the authority of thoſe men who
havepenſions and falarys on purpofetopore on thofe
things, and would not defervewhat they receive,
fhould men ufe their own eye-fight. And as for
thofe few men who ſhould dare to ufe their own
eyes, no puniſhments would be too badfor them;
and the leaft evil they could expect, would beto
be render’d odious to the multitude , under the
reproachful ideas of ſcepticks , latitudinarians,
feefeers, opiniators; men ty’d by no authority,
and who reject all opinions , how univer
fally foever receiv'd ; to be repreſented fome
times as madmen, at other times as fubtle cun
ning fellows who aćted by confederacy, and had
fecret underhand penſions from the lord knows
who, and who were affifted by the Devil.
All this may perhaps at firſt view be look'd on
as impoſſible, and it may be thought that mankind
can never be impos’d on to fuch a degree; I will
therefore juſtify the repreſentation I have made,
from matters of fact Praćtis'd bothamong Pagans
and Chriſtians. -

* To begin firſt with the Pagans. The whole

affair of Oracles among them was nothing elfe
but the artifice of prieſts to impoſe on the fenfes
of the people. The Oracular Temples or Churches
Were
 14 A D IS CO U R S E
were built in mountainous countries , where of
courſe there were abundance of caverns and ho
les, and where echoes , noiſes, and diſmal pro
fpects ſtruck thoſe who vifited them with a fuper
ftitious awe. The Temples themfelves were con
triv'd to produce the fame effect. They were
full of ſubterraneous caverns and machines, like a
play-houſe,for theprieſts to aćt their parts in them.
The Pagans likewife had fpeaking oaks, nodding,
fiveating, weeping, bleeding, and ſpeakingfiatues.
In fome places the preifis made the people believe,
they faw heavenjuft over their heads;and that when
it rain'd hard the Gods open'd the windows of
heaven, and pour'd the rain down upon them ;
and that the fmoke of burnt facrifices afcended
thither , fed the Gods, and was a fweet favour
in their nofirils. In other places agreably to the
fame fuppoſition of the nearnefsofheaven, they
perſwaded them, that the Gods themfelves came
down from heaven, and eat of the repafis which
thepriefs prepard for them at the expence ofthe
people. To preferve a right beliefin feverall of
thoſe matters among the people, the prieſts kept
all * unbelievers as much as poſſiblefrom coming
within any diſtance of them when they began
their ſhow. All Epicureans were declar’d incapa
ble of being initiated into any of the Pagan myf
teries of religion; and both Epicureans and Chrif
tians were religiouſly chas'd away, before ever
::::: would pronounce any Oracles, or begin
any of their tricks. And when the Chriſtians
grew fo numerous that they were able to ſtand
their ground, and refus’d to retire at the word of
command, the prieſts declar’d there were fo many
impious perſons preſent, that the God would not
vouchfafe to ſpeak, and that they could do no
47747'43

* Procul este profani.

 of FREE-THINKING. 15
miracles becauſe of their unbelief, no more than
the * Pawawers in America could in the prefence
of the old clothes of fome Chriſtianfailors. Not
only the unbelieving Chriſtians and Epicureans
were excluded from free-feeing, but the Pagan be
lievers were allow'd to fee no further thañ their
faith qualify'd them to do with fafety. They
were not fuffer’d to examine the infides offem.
ples or Statues, nor the evidence the prieſts gave
of the Gods coming down from heaven to eat
upon earth. No, about thefe matters the people
were to have a faith , which free-feeing would
have deſtroy'd; and which would háve renderd
the : as contemptible , as D A N I E L did
thoſe of BE L L, or as the Christians didtheora
cular þriefs, when the craft of Oracles was laid
open before the whole world.
The f priests of SIA M, among other miracles
which may be confuted by free- eeing,tellthe people
that SoMMonocoDom, the God and authordftheir
religion, diverting himſelf one :with the di
vine ſport of Kite-flying, did by his mere word
cauſe feveral tall trées, which dífturb'd his fport,
tº become low, gº to be as even and regular'as if
ett by, a Gardiner. And they perſwade them,
that thoſe trees have continued fom that time
without any alteration orchange uštro This DAY,
that is, for the ſpace of above two thouſand years.
Upon which my Author Father T Ac H ar o ob
ferves , that the preifis have a very eaſy task in
im#p/ing this on the people, whoitfeếmshave never
had infidelity, enough to look and fe whether
the trees are the fame one day as another.
This
* Wafer's Voyages, p. 29. |

i Tachard Voyage de Siam, vºl. 2. P. 254.

x6 A D ISCOURSE -
This fort of eye-fight faith is kept up among
fome Chriſtians as well as Pagans. * There is a
perfuaſion among the Greeks and Armenians, that
every Eafter-eve there is a miraculous :def
cends fom heaven into the holy fepulcher of our
bleſſed Saviour ( which the Latins expoſe as a
fhameful impoſture, perhaps out ofenvy that others
fhould be maſters of fo gainful a buſineß ) And
they further believe, That the holy ghof himſelf
in the Jhape of a dove flies about the top of the
cupola of the church juff over the holy fepulcher.
But the reception of the holy fiame is trufted to
two prieſts, one a Greek and the other an Arme
nian, who go into the holy fepulcher , ſhut the
door, and fuffer no body to fee feely what they
do , and then come out with torches lighted by
the holy flame. And no doubt the affair of the
dove is truſted either to a prieſt, or fome body
on whom they can fafely rely for the keeping of
fo valuable a fecret. Nor is it to be thought but
both priests and people would be ready to call any
man Atheift or impious,who ſhould defire the liber
ty of goinginto the holy ſepulcher with the two
priests in order to fee feely, or ſhould defire to
make any experiment on the dove, to try whe
ther it was the holy ghofi or no. For the zeal
of the prieſis muſt be in : to the gain
they make by this trick, and ofthe people in pro
portion to the benefit they imagine they ſhall re
ceive from the holy flame : for the latter believe,
If they can but have the happineſs to be bury’d in
a fhroud, fmutted with the ſmoke of this celefiial
fire, it will certainly fecure them from the flames
of hell.
Another

* Maundrel's Voyage from Aleppo to Jeruſalem, p. 93,

94 » 95 9 96.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 17
Another miracle of the like nature with the
receding , is firmly believ'd by the * Greeks,
: eſpecially by the women. They carry annual
ly in proceſſion three pictures, one ofSt. GEoRGE,
another of the virgin M AR Y , and another of
fome other Saint ; which ſtrike with ficks, or
belabour the back and fhoulders of thoſe who carry
them, more or leß, according to the fins of their
bearers. This trick Sir P. R. I c A U T himſelffaw,
and he affures us, That the belief of the miracle
has taken fo deep root in the minds ofthe ignorant,
that it would be hard to undeceive them, without
danger to the whole fabrick of the Chriſtian Reli
gion : for this belief being equally fix’d with the
doctrines of faith, the confutation of this one would
bring the others into queſtion. And no doubt
therefore, but thefe people muft be as zealous
againſt free-feers, (if any fuch dared to defire the
inſpection of the :: as themfelvesareſhort
fighted and abfurd.
The prefent Roman priefs are not behindhand
with the old and modern Heathen priefis,or with the
prefent Greek and Armenian, in their impoſitions
on the peoples eye-fight ( being guided by a
maxim of one of their own poets, † That he only
fees the things of heaven, who fhuts his eyes and
::::: and are infinitely fuperior to any fet of
prieſts that ever exiſted , in their zeal againft
free-feers.
Should any one defire to infpeft the annual
miracle of the liquefaction of St. JAN U AR 1 u s’s
B blood

* Ricaut's Preſent State ofthe Ottoman Empire, p. 148.

† Che le cofe del ciel fol colui vede,
Chi ferra gli occhi, e crede, Filli di Sciro p. 168
13 A D I SCO U RS E
blood at Naples, or any of their numerousfweat
ing, bleeding, nodding, and weeping ſtatues; or
to examine ſtrićtly thoſe men upon whom the
daily trick of cafting out Devils is perform’d ; or
to fee the famous † candle of Arras , which the
virgin M AR Y deliver’d to the Biſhop of that place
before a great affembly of the People in the Church
above 6oo. years ago, and which has burnt ever
fince without wasting; nothing ſhort of death
would be the confequence of fuch a demand :
tho the author of the relation of the laſt miracle
invites Proteſtants to come to Arras to fee the
truth of it, in order to their convićtion. Nay,
fo numerous are the impoſitions on the eye-fight,
and fo ftrićt a care is taken to prevent men from
ufing their eyes, that there is not an inquifitive
į: on, or a man who defires to fee freely , to
e met with in a whole country. The Popiſh laity
will not bear fo great an approach to infidelity
as the fufpicion of a trick , and the Popiſh prieſis
have : reafon not to fuffer the beginning of
any examination. And I muſt needs fay , how
much foever I contend for :» I cannot
but commend the confiſtency of the Popiſh policy,
and prefer it to the policy of certain half-witted
politicians, who draw people in with a pretence
of fair play, by telling them they ſhalland ought
to fee freely; whereas if : do not fee with the
eyes of their guides, but defire to fee with their
own, they then ufe them, not indeed fo ill as
the Papiffs, but as ill as they can ; that is, as ill
as that degree of ignorance and ftupidity which
prevails will allow them to do.
The Popiſh , Lutheran , & feveral other
Chrif
c? Diſcourſe of the Miracles ºf the Roman Church , p. 65.
 of FREE-THINKING. 19
Chriſtian prieſts are guilty of an impoſition on
the eye-fight and other:en: beyond all the inſtan
ces already mention'd. , The firſt : , that
the bread and wine in the Lord's fupper do by
their confecration become the very body and
blood of Chrift , and face men down in it ,
contrary to the teſtimony of their fenfes : and
the latter, no lefs contrary to the teſtimony of
mens fenfes , make their followers believe, that
the body and blood of Chriſt are fuperadded to
the bread and wine. Which is a piece of impu
dence equal to that of a man’s wife, who, when
her husband caught her in bed with a prieſt, told
him, It was nothing but a deception of the Devil
to abuſe a man of God , and that he hoped he
would believe his own dear wife before his eyes.
Nor arethofe prieſts, who pretendthat meneate»
drink the body ey blood of Chrift, verily o indeed
by faith, in the Lords fupper, lefs abfurd, or lefs
guilty of impofing on the fenfes of the people.
Thus the reader fees the monftrous abſurditys
which do in fast and muſt neceſſarily arife from
the methods employ’dtoreftrain menin the ufe of
their facultys. But if it be poſſible, the abfurdi
tys which relate to the facultys of the mind muſt
be greater and more numerous than thoſe which
relate to the fenfes ; becauſe men do ufe their
fenfes more than their underſtandings , and by
confequence have clearer ideas of the objećts of
fenfe than of the objećts of the underſtanding.
4thly. Any refraint whatſoever from reafon on
thinking, is abfurd in it felf. No juſt refraint
can be put to my thinking , but fome thought,
fome propoſition, or argument, which fhews me
that it is not lawful for me to thinkonthefubject
B 2 I
2o. A D I S C O U R S E
I am upon. As for inſtance , I propoſe to
confider, Whether the Chriſtian Religion is found
ed on divine revelation ; but am told, or fuggeſt
to my felf, the great danger and #:: of
thinking on that ſubjećt, for fear I ſhould be
caught ## the fophiſtical arguments of infidels,
and fo be eternally damn'd for my unbelief :
whereas I am in the way of falvation, and in no
danger in my unexamining ſtate ; and therefore
it is finful in me to run any hazard, by thinking
on that matter. |

It is evident this refraining argument muſt be

thought freely on, or examin’d ; for if I do not
examine it, I cannot know that I ought to be
reſtrain’d by it, but may proceed in my propos’d
enquiry.

Now let this refraining argument be examin'd,

and it will be found to have no manner ofweight
in it to reftrain me. For what can be more ab
furd ? I have no way of knowing truth from
falfehood , or whether I am in a fafe or a dan
gerous ſtate, but by ufing the underſtanding and
reafon God has given me; and yet I muft without
any reafon at : fuppoſe my felf in a right and
fafe way: Nay, I am deter'd from taking the
beſt method of preventing dangerous miſtakes,
for fear of fallinginto dangerous miſtakes; which
is as if I ſhould Ềe dere: from ufing my eyes,
for fear I ſhould miftake in ufing them ; and I
fhould walk abroad with my eyes ſhut , becaufe
of the poſſibility of fallingif I ſhould walkabroad
with my eyes open. So that this refraining ar
gument is manifeſtly abfurd , which pretends to
divert me a moment from the profecution of my
enquiry. -

I
 of FREE-THINKING. 2r
I cannot pretend to affign, and anfwer all the
reftraining arguments, which bigotted or interefted
men make ufe of, at different times and on dif
ferent occaſions, in order to ftop the progreſs of
mens minds in thinking on this queſtion, and
others of the like nature. It is enough to affign
and anfwer that which is the moſt plauſible
and, moſt frequently urg’d ; and to affirm .
here, that the moſt zealous of the unthinking,
or half thinking , or enemys offree-thinking , are
not able to : any argument which ought to
lay a refraint in this or any other queſtion what
foever : for whoever affirms that I ought to be
refrain’d from thinking, is in virtue of that affir
mation oblig'd to affign fome argument or other
which ought to lay a refraint upon me.
5thly. I muft not omit one great benefit of
free-thinking, of which all paftages as well as
the prefent may convince us. Free - thinking is
upon experience the only proper meanstodeſtroy
the Devil’s Kingdom among men 3, whofe domi
nion and powerare always more or lefs extenſive;
as free-thinking is difcourag’d or allow'd : andall
other means employ’d againſt him , fuch as the
caffing him out miraculouſly , multiplying prieſts,
and enlarging their power, and uſing thetemporal
fword, have often increas'd , but never wholly
deſtroy'd his power.
. Thus the Devil is intirely baniſh'd the United
Provinces, where free-thinking is in the greateſt
perfećtion ; And where there is not fo much as a
proviſional law againſt witches or others in league
with the Devil; whereas all round about that
sommonwealth, he appears in various ſhapes :
fometimes in his own, fometimesin the ſhape of
B 3 , : an
22 A D I S C O U R. SE
an old black Gentleman, fometimes in the ſhape
of a dead man , and fometimes in that of a *
cat. He obfeffes fome , poffeffes others , and
enters into confederacy with others. As for in
ftance, he has had from the remoteft antiquitya
great fway in England; firft, while we were in
Heathen :#, and afterwards a greater during
the thicker darkneß of Popery. Nor did the Re
formation it felf do much towards leflening his
power; for great complaints have been made of
the growth of witchcraft , and the mighty power
of the Devil among us from thoſe moſt primitive
times of our Holy Church, viz. about 15o.years
ago.

† Biſhop J E w E L, in a Sermon before Queen

E L I z A B E T H, told her Majefly of the marvel
lous increaſe of witches and forcerers within her
realm, and expreß’d his fears left her Majeſty her
felffhould be bewitch'd by them. Ipray God, fays
he, they never prattife further than upon the fub
jeći. - -

His Sacred Majeſty King JAMEs the firſt (who was

told to his face by the # Archbiſhop of Canter
bury, that his Majeſtyfpake by theſpecial affiance
of God's ſpirit, and who employ’d his Royal pen
always on ſubjects worthy of a Prince, víz. A
Paraphraſe on the Revelation, A Counterblaff to
Tobacco-taking, and § Love-Letters to the Duke of
Buckingham) tellsus, || That the fearful abound
ing at this time, in this country, of theſe detestable
flaves
* Vid. The late Hertford Trial.
† Strype’s Annals, p. 7.
# Hampton-Court Conference, p. 96.
S #if,
"I Works, :
of Engl. vol.2, in the Life
ife of King James
J I.
-
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 2;
flaves of the Devil the witches and enchanters,
mov’d him to diſpatch in poft his Treatife of De
monology.
In the reign of King C H A R L Es the firſt , it
ought likewife to be fuppos’d that many people of
the church were obſeſs'd and poffeſs'd by the
Devil; fince among the Articles of enquiry at a
viſitation of the dioceß of London in 164o. by
Biſhop Jux o N then Lord Treaſurer of England,
one is, Whetherany miniſter withoutlicence, upon
any pretence whatſoever, either of obſeſſion or pof
feſſion, caffs out any Devil or Devils.
In fhort, great numbers of witches have been
almoft annually executed in England, from the
remoteft antiquity to the late Revolution; when
upon the liberty given and taken to think freely,
the Devil's power vifibly declin'd, and England
as well as the United Provinces ceas'd to be any
part of his Chriſtian territories.
Let the prieſts give fuch an infiance of their
fucceſs againſt the Devil any where.
But fince the beginning of Dr. SA cH E v ER E L’s
reign, when the clamours againſt free-thinking be
gan to be loudeſt, the Devilhas again refum'dhis
empire, appears in the ſhape of cats, and enters
into confederacy with old women ; and feveral
have been try'd, and many are accus'd, thro all
parts of the kingdom for being witches. He
feems at prefent to have fo great a party among
us, and fo many miniſters ordain'd to hisſervice,
and to have : free-thinking ſo odious, that
nothing but the fecond coming of our bleſſed Sa
viour (which is foon expected by feveral of our
B 4 ré
24 A D I S C O U R. SE
Reverend Divines, who are well skill'd in the Pro
phets and Revelation) gives me any hopes of a
change for the better.
Perhaps it will be faid, That the fiories of the
Devil’s Power were founded on the lyes of fome
and the credulity of others ; and that the execu
tions of witches have been fo many murders: And
therefore that there is no pretence to talk ofconqueft
over the Devil fince the Revolution, and nothing
to be boafted of by free-thinkers. The people were
only come a little more to their fenfes , and by
confequence their Tutors were a little fearful of
endeavouring to impoſe on them.
But this objećtion can be made by very few.
Firſt, All the ignorant people believe all ſtorys
of this kind to be true. Secondly, It is notlike
ly, that they who have fo great an Intereft in
maintaining the power of the Devil , and have
been the principal promoters of all profecutions
againſt witches, and have branded all men with
Atheiſm who did not agree with them in the
extent of the power they attributed to the Devil,
or refus'd to join with them in the promoting
profecutions againſt witches, ſhould accept ofthis
apology. -

To thoſe few therefore who make this ob

jećtion , I reply , That it is an equal glory to
free-thinkers to wreft out of the prieſts hands the
power oftaking away fo many innocent peoples
lives and reputations (which the * Generalbelief:
the
* I defire I may not be fo far mifaken in what I here fay
as to be ſuppos’d to charge either the Clergy of England in gene
ral, ºr even the reverend Aćtors and Under-Aćłors at the
lute Hertford Tryal with the beleif of Sorcery or ":::
- CIAÎCs
 ºf FREE-THINKING, 2;
the great power of the Devil and of the exiſtence
of witches gave them an opportunity to do) as to
drive away the Devil himſelf. And the good
confequence offee-thinking to fociety, is plainly
: upon this laft, as upon the former ſuppo
1t1O11.

S E C T. I I.

T: fubjeffs of which men are deny'd the right

to think by the enemys offree-thinking, are
of all others thoſe of which men have not onl
a right to think, but of which they are oblig'din
duty to think; viz. fuch as ofthe nature and attri
butes of the eternal being or God; of the truth
and authority of books eſteem'd facred; and of the
fenfe and meaning of thoſe books ; or, in one
word, of Religious queſtions.
Ift. A right opinion in thefe matters is ſuppos’d
by the enemys of free-thinking to be abſolutely
neceſſàry to mens falvation, and fome errors or
miſtakes about them are ſuppos'd to be damnable.
Now where a right opinion is fo neceſſàry, there
men have the greateſt concern imaginable to
think for themfelves, as the beft means to take
up with the right fide of the queſtion. For if
they will not :k for themfelves , it remains
only for them to take the opinions they have
imbib’d from their grandmothers , mothers or
B 5 prieſts
craft. On the contrary I agree with Phileleutherus Lip:
fienfis, one of my „Anſwerers, who fays , That fewer of
the Clergy [ in converſation with one another] give into
particular ſtorys of that kind, than of the Commonalty
or Gentry. Remarki ºn the Dist, ºffree-thinking P. 33
26 A D ISCO U R S E
prieſts, or owe to fuch like accident, forgranted.
But taking that method, they can only be in the
right by chance; whereas by thinking and exa
mination, they have not only the mere accident
ofbeing in the right , but have the evidence of
things to determine them to the fide of truth :
unleſs it be fuppos’d that men are fuch abfurd
animals, that the moff unreafonable opinion is as
likely to be admittedfortrueásthe moſtreaſonable,
when it is judg’d of by the reafon and underſtan
ding of men. In that cafe indeed it will follow ,
that men can be under no obligation to think of
thefe matters. But then it will likewife follow,
that they can be under no obligation to concern
themfelves about truth and falfehood in any opi
nions. For if men are fo abfurd, as not to be
able to diftinguiſh between truth and falfehood,
evidence and no evidence, what pretence is there
for mens having any opinions at all? Which yet
none judg fo neceſſàry as the enemys of free
thinking.
2dly. If the fureft and beft means of arriving
at truthly in free-thinking, then the whole duty
of man with reſpećt to opinions lies only in free
thinking. Becaufe he who thinks freely does his
beſt towards being in the right, and confequently
does all that God, who can require nothing more
of any man than that he ſhould do his beft, can
require ofhim. And ſhould he prove miftaken
in any opinions, he muſt be as acceptable to God
as if he receiv'd none but right opinions. This is
admirably expreſs'd by that true Chriſtian and
Proteſtant ( and by confequence great free-thin
ker ) Mr. C H I L L I N G wo R T H , who fays * ,
that if men do their beft endeavours to free them
felves
* Anſw. to Pref ofCharity maintain’dSect. 26.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 27
felves from all errors, and yet fail of it thro hu
man weakneſſ; fo well is he perſuaded of the good
neß of God, that if in him alone ſhould meet a
confluence of all errors of all the Protefiants in the
world that were thus qualify'd, he fhould not be
fo much afraid of them all, as he ſhould be to ask
pardon for them. For to ask pardon for fuch er
rors, is tacitly to imply that God is angry with us
for them ; and that were to impute to him the
frange tyranny of requiring brick where he gives
no fraw; of expecting to gather where he firewed
not ; to reap where he fowed not; ofbeing offended
with us for not doing, what he knows we cannot
do.

On the other fide, the whole crime of men,

with reſpect to opinions, muſt lie in their not
thinking freely. He who is in the right by acci
dent only, and does but ſuppoſe himſelf to befo
without any thinking, is really in a dangerous
ſtate, as having taken no pains and uſed no
endeavours towards being in the right, and con
fequently as having no merit; nay, as being on
the fame foot with the moſt ſtúpid Papiff and
Heathen. For when once men refuſe or neglećt
to think, and take up their opinions upon truft,
they do in effect declare, they would have been
Papiſts or Heathens, had they had Popiſh or Hea
then Prieſts for their guides, or Popifh ór Heathen
Grandmothers to have taught thêm their cate
chiſms.
3dly. Superſtition is an evil, which either by
the means of education, or the natural weakneſs
ofmen, opprefies almoſtall mankind. And how
terrible an evil it is, is well deſcrib’d by the an
tlellt
28 A D IS C O U R S E
tient Philoſophers and Poets. C1 c E R o fays, * f
you give way to fuperfition, it will ever haunt
and plague you. If you hear a prophet, or an
ominous word; if you facrifice or obſerve theflight
of birds; if you fee an Aſtrologer or Haruſpex ; if
it thunders or lightens, orany place is blafted with
lightning , or any thing like a Prodigy happens
( of which fome or other muſt often happen )
all the tranquillity of the mind is deſtroy'd. And
fleep it felf, which fºems to be an aſylum and re
fuge from all trouble and uneafineß, does by the
aid offuperfition increaſe your troubles and fears.
H o R A c E ranks fuperstition with vice; and as
he makes the happinefs of man in this life to
confift in the prastice of virtue and freedom from
fuperfition, fo he makes the greateſt mifery of
this life to confift in being vicious and fuperfti
tious. † You are not covetous » fayshe , that’s
well : but are you as free from all other vices ?
Are you free from ambition, exceſſive anger, and
the fear of death ? Are you fo much above fuper
ftition, as to laugh at all dreams, #panick fears,
miracles, witches, ghoffs, and prodigys ?
This
* Superfitio enim inſtat ở urget, & quocunque te verteris
perſequitur : five tu vatem, five tu omen audieris; five im
molaris, five avem aſpexeris, five Chaldeum ; fî haruſpicem
videris; fi fulferit, fi tonuerit, ftastum aliquid de cælo erit.
f estentifimile natum fastumve quidpiam ; quorum neceſſe eff
plerumque aliquid eveniat : ut nunquam quietâ, mente liceat
conffere. Perfugium videtur omnium laborum & follicitudi
num effe fomhus ; at ex ipſoplurima naſcuntur cura metuſque.
De Divin. l. 2.
t Non es avarus : abi ; quid ; ceterajam fimuliffe
Cum vitio fugêre ? Caret tibi pečius inani
JAmbitione ? Caret mertis formidine ở irá ?
Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, fagas,
Notturnos lemures, portentaque Theſſala rides ?
* See the Horace ofPere Tartaron.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 29
* This was the ſtate of ſuperfition among the
antients; but fince uncharitableneſs and damning
to all eternity about the praćtife of ceremonys &
the beleif of ſpeculations has ( in oppoſition both
to reafon and revelation ) come into the world,
the evil of fuperfition is much increas'd , and
men are now under greater terrors and uneafineſs
of mind than they : could be when they
thought they hazarded lefs.
Now there is no juff remedy to this univerſal
evil but free-thinking. By that alone canwe under
ſtand the true cauſes of things , and by confe
quence the unreafonableneſs of all fuperfitious
fears. * Happy is the man ; fays the divine
V 1 R G I L, who has diſcover'd thecauſes ofthings,
and has trampled under his feet all kind of fears,
even death it felf, and all the noife and din ofhell.
For by free-thinking alone men are capable of
knowing, that a perfećtly good, juft, wife and
powerful being made and governs the world; and
from this principle they know , that he can re
quire nothing of men in any country or condi
tion of life, but that whereof he has giventhem
an opportunity of being, convinc'd by evidence
and reafon in the place where they aré, and in
that condition of life to which birth orany other
chance has direćted them ; that an honeſt and
rational man can have no juſt reafon to fear any
thing from him : nay , on the contrary , muſt
have fo great a delight and fatisfaćtion in believ
ing fuch a being exists, that he can much S:ter
be ſuppos'd to fear left no fuch being ſhould exiſt,
than to fear any harm from him. And laftly,
that

* Felix qui potuit rerum cognoſcere cauſas,

«Atque metus omnes & inexorabile Fatum
Subjecit pedibus, ſtrepitumque «Acherontis avari.
 3o A DISCOURSE
that God being incapable of having any addition
made either to his power or happinefs, and want
ing nothing, can require nothing of men for his
own fake, but only for man’s fake; and confe
quently, that all actions and ſpeculations which are
of no ufe to mankind, ( as for infiance, finging
or dancing, or wearing of habits, or obſervation
of days, or eating or drinking, or flaughtering of
beasts (in which things the greateſt part of the
Heathen worſhip consted ) or the beliefof tran
fubſtantiation or confubſtantiation , or of any
doctrines, not taught by the Church of England)
either fignify nothing at all with God , or elfe
diſpleafe him, but can never render aman more
acceptable to him.
By means of all this, a man may pofefs his
foul in peace, as having an expećtation ofenjoy
ing all the good things which God can beſtow,
and no fear of any future mifery or evil from his
hands; and the very worſt of his ſtate can only
be, that he is pleafantly deceiv'd.
Whereasfuperfitious men are incapable of be
lieving in a perfestly juſt and good God. They
make him talk to all mankind from corners, and
confequently require things of men under the
penalty of mifery in the next world, of which
they are incapable of having any convincing evi
dence that they are requir’d by him. They make
him ( who equally beholds all the dwellers upon
earth) to have favorite nations and people, with
out any confideration of merit. They make
him put other nations under difadvantages with
out any demerit. And fo they are more properly
to be ſtil’d Demonifis than iheiffs. No wonder
therefore if fuch men fhould be fo full of fears
of
 of FREE-THINKING. 31
of the wrath of God , that they are fometimes
tempted ( with the vicious ) to wiſh there was
no God at all ; a thought fo unnatural and ab
furd , that even * fpeculative Atheifts would
abhor it. Thofe men have no quiet in their own
minds ; they f rove about in fearch of faving
truth thro the dark corners of the earth, and
are fo fooliſh as to hope to find it (if I may fo
fay) hid under the fands of Africa, where Čato
fcórn'd to look for it: and neglećting what God
fpeaks plainly to the whole world, take up with
what they : he has communicated to a few;
and thereby believe and practife fuch things, in
which they can never have fatisfaction. För fup
poſe men take up with a Religion which confifts
în dancing or muſick, or fuch-like ceremonies, or
in ufeleſs and unintelligible fpeculations ; how can
they be aflur'd they believe and perform as they
ought ? What rule can fuch men have to know
whether other ceremonys, and uſeleß and unintel
ligible ſpeculations, may not be requir’d of them
inſtead of thoſe they perform and believe ? And
how can they be fure that they believe rightly
any unintelligible ſpeculations? Here is foundation
laid for nothing but endlefs fcrupules, doubts,
and fears. Wherefore I conclude , that every
one, out of regard to his own tranquillity of
mind, which muſt be difturb'd as long as he has
any feeds of fuperfition, is oblig'd to think freely
on matters of Religion.
4thly. The infinite number ofpretenders, in all
ages to revelations from heaven, ſupported by mi
racles, containing new notions of the Deity, new
doćfri
* Clark’s Sermons at Boyle's Lesture, vol. 1. p. 6.
t Mr. Selden fays, men look after Religion, at the butcher
did after his knife, when he had it in his mouth. Table
Talk, p. 161.
32 A D IS COU RSE
doctrines , new commands , new ceremonys, and
new modes of worſhip , , make thinking on the
foregoing heads abſolutely neceſſary. For how
fhall any man diftinguiſh between the true meſ.
fenger from heaven and the impoſtor, but by con
fidering the evidence produc’d by the onė , as
freely as that of the other ? Nay, a reverend Divine
of our Church not only contends for free-thinking
in this cafe, but goes further, and fays, * Men
are ever to be fufpected, when they make extraor
dinary pretences. For , adds he, when Men pre
tend to work miracles, and talk of immediate re
velations, of knowing the truth by inſpiration ,
and of more than ordinary illumination ; we ought
not to be fighted with thoſe big words from look
ing what is under them, nor to be afraid ofcalling
thoſe things into queſtion, which are fet off with
fuch highflown pretences. From hence it has come
to paß , that fuperfition and idolatry , enthu
fiaſms and impoſtures, have fo much prevail'd in
the world. It isfomewhatfrange, that we ſhould
believe men the more, for that very reafon upon
which we ſhould believe them the leß.
5thly. We have here in England a Society fup
ported by the encouragement ofhermofiexcellent
Majeſty, and the contributions of many Divines
and Ladies of our eſtabliſh’d Church, in effećt for
the propagation of free-thinking in matters ofReli
gion throughout the world; and whoſe defign
fuppofes that it is all mens duty to think freely
about matters of Religion. For how can the fo
ciety forpropagating the goſpelinforeign parts, hope,
to have any effect on infidel Nations , without
firſt acquainting them that it is their duty to think
feely
* Claget's perfuafve to an ingenuous Trial of Opinions »
19.
 of FREE-THINKING. 33
freely both on the notions of God and Religion,
which they have receiv’d from their anceſtors,
or which are eſtabliſh’d by law among them ,
and on thofe new notions of God and Religion
brought to them by the Miſſonaries of the Church
of England ? Can it be ſuppos’d, that our Miſio
naries would begin with telling 'em, that they
ought not to think freely of their own, or of our
Religion; or that after they have by the means
of free-thinking embrac’d our Religion, they ought
then to ceafe from free-thinking ? This were to
proceed very inconfiftently in the work of con
verſion, while no other arms but reafonandevi
dence were made ufe of to convert. On the con
trary, every Miſſionary muft as a firſt principle
infift on the duty of free-thinking, in order to be
hearken'd to by them. Nay, ſhould the King of
Siam ( or any other infidel Prince ) în return
for the favour of our endeavours to converthim
and his kingdom to our Religion, defire to fend
us a pack of his Talapoins (fo the prieſts of Siam
are call’d) to convert us to the Religion by law
eſtabliſh’d in Siam ; I cannot fee but that our So
ciety for propagating the Goſpel, and all the con
tributors and well-wiſhersto it, muft acknowled
this King's requeſt to be highly reafonable, an
perfećtly of a piece with their own defign; and
particularly muft allow to the King of Siam,
that it is as much the duty of the members ofthe
Church of England to think freely on what the
millionary Talapoins fhall propoſe to them, as it
is the duty of the members of the Church of Siam
to think feely on what ſhall be propos’d by the
miſſionary prieſts of England. And therefore no
doubt all they who fincerely defire the conviétion
of the Siameje, would give their Miſſionaries the
fame encouragement here, which we expect for
C 0/41"$
34 A D Is co U RsE
ours in Siam. The inſtitution therefore of this
fociety ſuppofes free-thinking in matters of Religion
to be the duty of all men on the face ofthe earth.
And upon that account I cannot fufficiently com
mend the Projeći.
- And oh ! that the proper perfons were but
employ’d for the execution of fo gloriours a work i
That fuch zealous Divines as our SACHEVERELs,
our A T T E R B U R Y s , our S M A L R I D G E s ,
our S T U B s’s, our H I G G I N s’s , our MI L
B U R N s, and our S w I F T s, were drawn out
annually, as our military miſſionarys are , to be
fent into foreign parts to propagate the Goſpel !
( a fervice in which fuch confcientious men
muſt rejoice , fince preaching the Goſpel to
infidel nations is no doubt contain’d in Chriſt’s
commiſſion, whatever haranguing upon a text
among Chriſtians, by fome call'd preaching the
Goſpel, may be ) we might then hope to fee
blefied days , , the doctrine and diſcipline of the
Church of England triumph throughout the world,
and faċtion ceafe at home ; as by the means of
the others our arms triumph abroad , and we
fecurely take our reſt at night, and travel by day
unmoleſted.

And no doubt likewife , but it would be as

beneficial to the kingdom of Siam, to have a
felećt number annually taken out of their vaf?
body of Talapoins.
6thly. As there can be no reafonable change
of opinions among men, no quitting of any old
Religion, no reception of any new Religion ,
nor believing any Religion at all, but by means
offee thinking ; fo the holy ſcriptures, agreeably
to reafon, and to the defign of our : Sa
viour
 of FREE-THINKING. 35
viour of eſtabliſhing his Religion throughout the
whole univerſe, imply every where and prefs in
many places the duty of free-thinking.
The defign of the Goſpel was , by preaching,
to fet all men upon free-thinking, that they might
think themfelves out of thofe notions of God and
Religion which were everywhere eſtabliſh’d by law,
and receive an unknown God and an unknown
Religion on the evidence the Apofiles, or firſt
meffengers , produc'd to convince them. And
accordingly the Apofiles requir’d nothing to be
receiv’d on their authority , without an antece
dent proof given of that authority. St. P A U L
even in his Epifiles, which are all writtento men
who were already Chriſtians, offers many argu
ments for their confirmation in the true faith,
with reſpest to all the parts of the Chriſtian Re
ligion. Whereby he made them , and all his
readers for ever, judges of their force : for who
ever reaſons, lays afide all authority, and en
deavours to force your affent by argumentalone.
St. P AU I likewife went frequently into the fyna
gogues of the Jews and reaſon'd with them , & Aćts 17. 2.
into the market places at Athens where he diſputed 3: "7.
with the devout people he met with; which was
not only putting the Jews and Heathens upon
free-thinking in matters of Religion , but taking
( according to the prefent notions and practice of
::::: a very extraordinaryftep to put them
upon.free-thinking. For ſhould W I L L i A M P E N N
the Quaker; orany other Religious perſon differing
from the iai:Church , come to St. Paul’s
during the time of Divine fervice, to reafon with
the Court of Aldermen , Preacher , and Singing
Men, or go into the markets of London to diſpute
with the devout butchers & herb - women; or Mr.
W H I s T o N into the Lower Houſe ofConvocation,
C 2 IO
 36 A D IS CO U R S E
to reaſon with the Members: it is certain, that pur
fuant to the falfe notions which now univerfally pre
vail, the one would be treated as a madman and
fanatick, and the otherasa diſturber of the proceed
ings of the Holy Synod, which affumes a right to
determine,without reaſoning with the Perfon whoſe
opinions they condemn.
Our Saviour, particularly commands ustofearch
Joh. s. 39 the ſcriptures, that is, to endeavour to find out
their true meaning. And for fear we ſhould fur
render our judgments to our fathers, and mothers,
Mar. 4. 24. or Church-rulers, or Preachers, he bids us take
Luk 8. 18. heed what we hear, and whom we hear, and to
Mat. 16.
1 2.
beware of their doctrine. And, why , fays he,
Luke 12. even of your Jelves judg ye not what is right ? If
56. 57. a man come to me , and hate not his father and
14. 26. mother, he cannot be my diſciple. And he com
Mat. 19. manded his own diſciples not to be call'd Rabbi
29.
Mat. 2 I. 1.
nor mafiers; by which laft words our learned
& 8. 1o. commentator , the reverend * Dr. W H I T B Y »
underſtands, That we fhould call no man guide,
or mafter upon earth, no Fathers, noChurch, no
Council. And indeed whoever confiders, that all
the prieſts upon earth were enemys to our blefied
Saviour and his Goſpel, and that he , giving
the privilege of infallibility to no body befides
his holy Apofiles, could not be fecure that any
prieſts, except his own dozen , would ever be
otherwife ; I fay , he who confiders this , can
never think it poſſible for C H R Is T to give fo
partial a command, as to contain a referve in be
half of any other fet of prieſts, in prejudice of
the general rules offee-thinking, on which the
Goſpel was to be built, and which he fo particu
larly laid down and inculcated.
- * Vol. I, p. 189.
|- 7ly.
y
 of FREE-THINKING. 37
7ly. The conduct of the prieſts, who are the
chief pretenders to be guides to others in matters
of Religion, makes free-thinking on the nature and
attributes of the eternal being or God , on the
authority offcriptures, and on the fenfe offcrip
zures, unavoidable. And to prove this , , I will
give you an induction of feveral particulars of
their condućř.

Iff. It is well known that the: throughout

the univerſe,are endlefly divided in opinion about
all thefe matters ; and their variety of opinions is
fo great, as not poſſibly to be collectedtogether;
nay, even thofe kinds of priefs, with which we
are more nearly concern'd, differ fo much one
from another on fome of thefe heads , that it
would be an impoſſible task to give you all their
differences. I ſhall therefore out of this vaft and
fpacious field felect fuch under each ofthefe heads,
as is moſt proper to affect us Engliſhmen.
( 1 ) As to the nature of the eternal being or
God, the antient and modern Pagan prieſts had
and have as many different Ideas of the Deity,
as wit, or intereft, or folly can invent; and
even the Chriſtian prieſts have been always, and
ftill are, divided in their notions of a Deity. Al
moſt all the antient prieſts and fathers (whỏwere
moſt of them prieſts) of the Chriſtian Church
conceiv'd * God to be material; and feveral an
C 3 tient
* Quis enim negabit, fays Tertullian , Deum corpus
efte etſi fpiritus eſt ? Spiritus enim corpus fui generis
in fuâ effigie. Sed et inviſibilia illa, quæcunque funt,
habent apud Deum, et fuum corpus et fuam formam,
er quæ foli Deo viſibilia funt; quanto magis quod ex
ipſius fubítantiâ miſſum eft fine fubſtantiâ non ::::
apº
38 A D Is co U RsE
tient Chriſtian prieſts of Egypt were fo grofs, as
to conceive him to be in the ſhape ofa man, and
from thence were call’d Anthropomorphites. Moft
of the modern prieſts contend that God is im
material, but they differ in their notion of im
materiality ; fome by immaterial being under
ftanding * extended fubſtance without folidity;
† others by immaterial being underſtanding un
extended being.

If any regard is to be had to the malicious

booksandfayings of prieſts one againſtanother, fe
veral of them make the material Univerſe to be
the eternal being or God, wherein confifts the
effence of Atheifm.
The reverend # Mr. W 1 L L I A M C A R R o L
has wrote feveral books to prove the reverend
Dr. C L A R K and the reverend Mr. S A M U E L
B o L D Atheiffs in that fenfe. .
The reverend ** Mr. T U R N E R charges the
7"62

Cap. 7. contr: Praxeam. By which paſſage the reader may

fee that Spiritus and Inviſibilis had not the fame fenfe a
mong the Fathers which they have among the modern Divi
nes and Philoſophers, but were words apply'd to that kind of
Matter of whichthey fuppos’d God and the Souls ofmen confifted,
in oppoſitionto that groß matter, of whichthe earth or our bodys
confi/t. And confequently that the Fathers maintain’d God
to be material, when they us'd words which now ſignify
quite the contrary.
* Dr. More in his Div. Dial, and Enchirid. Metaph.
Glanvil in Sadd. Triumph. Turner of the Divine Exten
fon, in an Appendix to his Dife of the Meſfiah; and Dr
Clark in his Four Letters about the Immateriality of the
Soul,
† The Body of Priefts.
# Remarks on Clark's Sermons, 4to. Defence of Re
marks, 4to. Differtation againſt Locke, 8vo.
** Diſc. of the Mefah , Epift, Ded. p. 17 , 18.
 of FREE-THINKING. 39
reverend Dr. Cu D w o R T H with Atheifm, for
his Intellettual ſyftem of the Univerfe. And a great
Prelate muſt fuppofe Atheiſm very far ſpread
among the prieſis, when he faid, † It was a
great providence of God that fo many of the Clergy
Jwore to the government (under King W I 1 L -
A M and Queen M A R y) left the Church fhould
be deſtroy'd: And it was the fame providence of
God that fo many of the Clergy refus'd the oath,
left people fhould think that there was no fuch
thing as Réligion, and incline to Atheifm.
As the Chriſtian prieſts differ about the Na
ture or Efence of God, fo they are infinitely
more divided in their notions about his Attri
butes. The whole difference between the Armi
mians and Calviniſts is founded on different no
tions of the attributes of God; and this Diſpute
is kept up in moft Chriſtian Churches on the face
of the earth. . It is carry’d on in the Romiſh
Church under the names of Janfeniſts and Ge
fuits, Thomiſis and Moliniſts, &c. It has been
for near a century laſt paft debated among the
divines of our Church, and is at this day between
the reverend Dr. W H I T B Y and his adverfa
ries. Indeed the differences among the prieſts
in every Church about the Attributes of God
are as numerous as the prieſts who treat of the
divine attributes; not one agreeing with another
in his notions of them all. So that we mayfay
of them what C1 c E R o faid, of fome of the
antient Philoſophers in the like cafe, * that thoſe
among
t Notes on the Paforal Letter, p. 5 1.
* Qui Deos effe dixerunt tantâ funt in varietate &
diffentione conſtituti, ut eorum moleftum fit annumer
rare fententias. Alterum fieri profećto poteft, ut ea
rum nulla : alterum certé non poteſt, ut plus unâ vera
fit. Cicero de mat, Teer, lib, I.
 A D I S C O U R S E
among them who maintaind the exiſtence of Gods
had fo many o fo different : from one an
other,that it would be difficult to enumerate them
all ; and that perhaps not one of thoſe opinions
may be true, and that undoubtedly more than
one cannot be fo. I will therefore clofe this mat
ter with one Inſtance ofa moſt remarkable Diffe
ICIICC,

It is the opinion of many Divines, that when

the ſcriptures attribute : and eyes, andfeet,
and face to God, we are not to underſtand that
God really has thoſe parts, but only that he has
a power to execute : thofe aćtions, to the ef
fećting of which thofe parts are neceſſary in us.
And when the ſcriptures attribute fuch paffions
to God, as anger, pleaſure, love, hatred, re
pentance, revenge, and the like; the meaning
is, that he will as certainly puniſh, the wicked,
as if he was inflam’d with the paffion of anger;
that he will as infallibly reward the good, as if
he had a love for them; and that when men
turn from their wickednefs, he will fuit difpen
fations to them, as ifhe reallyrepented ór changd
his mind : So that thefe ſcripture-attributes be
long not to God in a proper and juſt fenfe, but
only improperly, or as the fchools ſpeak, analo
gically. But when the fcripture attributes to God
an underſtanding, wiſdom, will, goodneſs, ho
linefs, juſtice and truth, theſe words are to be
underſtood ftriếtly and properly, orin their com
mon fenfe. Dr. T I L L o T s o N, the late Arch
biſhop of Canterbury, throughout his works main
tains this ſyftem of the Deity. I need only cite
his words with reſpect to thofe attributes laft
mention’d; his notions, with reſpect to parts or
paß
 of FREE-THINKING. 4r.
paffions in God, being fufficiently known with
out any proof. He fays, * It is fooliſh for any
man to pretend he cannot know what juſtice, and
goodneß, and truth in God are; for if we do mot
know this, it is all one to us whether God be good
or not, nor could we imitate his goodneß ; for he
that imitates, endeavours to make himſelf like
fomething that he knows, and muſt of neceſity
have fome idea of that to which he aims to be
like. So that if we had no certain and fettledno
tion of the goodneſs, and juſtice, and truth of
God, he would be altogether an unintelligible
being; and Religion, which confiſts in the imita
tion of him, would be utterly lost. Thus that
Religious and free-thinking, Prelate. But on the
other fide, Dr. K1 N G the prefent Archbiſhop
of Dublin tells us, † That the beſt repreſenta
tions we can make of God, are infinitely ſhort of
truth; That wiſdom, underfanding, and mercy, P. 7, 8,
foreknowledg, predeſtination, and will, when
aferib’d to God, are not to be taken properly. A
gain , that juſtice and virtue (and by confequen- P. 34:35,
ce all the moral attributes of God) are not to be
underfood to fignify the fame thing when apply’d
to God and man; and that they are offo different
a nature from what they are in us, and/o fuperi
our to all that we can conceive, that there is no
more likeneß between them, than between our
hand and God's power. But all thefe attributes,
according to his Grace, are to be underſtood in
the fame manner, as when men afcribe hands, P. 6.
and eyes, and feet to God; or as when men afcribe
anger, love, hatred, revenge, repentance, chan
ging reſolutions, and in the fame improper analo
gical fenfe. So that as his Grace of Canterbury
C 5 would
* Sermons, vol. 6, p. 15, 16.
t Sermon on Divine predºfí, p. 16.
 42 A D IS CO U RSE
would define God to be a being without parts and
paſions, holy, wife, juff , true , and good ; his
Grace of Dublin muft on the contrary define God
to be a being not only without parts andpaſſions,
butwithout underſtanding, wiſdom, will, mercy,
holineß, goodneß, and truth.
2dly. The prieſts throughout the world differ
about fcriptures, and the authority offcriptures.
The * Bramins have a book offcripture call'd the
Shaffer. The Perfees have their Zundavaffaw.
The Bonzes of China have books written by the
† Difeiples of F o H R, whom they call thef God
and Saviour of the world, who was born to teach
the way of falvation, and to give fatisfaċtion for
all mens fins. The Talapoins of Siam have a book
offcripture written by § So M M o N o co D o M,
who, the Siameſe fay , was I born of a Virgin,
and was † the God expected by the univerſe. The
Dervizes havetheir Alchoran. The Rabbis among
the Samaritans, receive the five books of Mos Es
(the copy whereof is very different from ours )
as their Jcripture ; together with a Chronicon, or
hiſtory of themfelves from Mos E s’ stime, quite
different from that contain’d in the hiſtorical books
of the Old Teſtament. This # Chronicon islodg'd
in the publick library of Leyden , and has never
been
* Lord’s Religion of the Banians and Perfees.
† Navarette's Voyages, p. 86.
:"" Generis Humani. Conf. Sin. Phil. Proem. Diff.
p . Le
2 %. Dieu Fo-he a étéle Sauveur du monde. Il eſt né pour en.
feigner le voye du falut, & pour expier pour tous les péchez. Le
Comte, vol. 2. p. 132. -

S Tachard Voyage de Siam, vol. I, p. 4ο8.

“A Vol. 2. p. 2 53.
t Le Dieu attendu de l'univers. Id. p. 254.255.
* Relandi Differ, vol 2. p. 16,
 of FREE-THINKING. 43
been publiſh’d in print. The Rabbis among the
common herd of Jews receive for ſcripture the
four and twenty books of the Old Teſtament. The
priests of the Roman Church, of the Engliſh and
other Proteſtant Churches , receive for fcripture
the four and twenty books of the Old Teſtament,
and all the books of the New Teſtament : but the
Romiſh receive feveral other books, call’d Apocry
pha, as canonical, which all the Proteſtant Chur
ches utterly reject, except the Church of England;
which, differently from all other Chriſtian Chur
ches, receives them as half canonical, reading
fome parts of them in their Churches, and there
by excluding fome chapters of canonical fcripture
from being read.
I muſt obſerve, That the prieſts ofall Chriſtian
Churches differ among themfelvesin each Church
about the copys of the fame books offcripture;
fome reading them according to one manuſcript,
and others according to another. But the great
diſpute of all, is concerning the Hebrew and Sep
tuagint, between which two there is a great dif
ference ; ( the latter making the world 15oo.
years older than the former) to name no other
differences of greater or lefs importance.
|

Laftly, As the moſtancient Chriſtian Churches

and prieſts receiv'd feveral Goſpels and books of
fcripture which are now loft, fuchas * the Goſpel
according to the Hebrews, the Goſpel according to
the Egyptians, the Traditions of Matthias, &c.
and as not one Father in the two firſt centuries
(whoſe works now remain) but receiv’dbooks of
fcripture, which are either loft to us, or that we
rejećt as Apocryphal : fo the feveralfects of Chriſ
t1311S
* Millii Proleg, in Nov, Teff, p. 5.6.7. ;
 44 A D ISCOURS E
tians in the Eaſt and in Africa receive at this day
fome books offcripture, which are fo far loft to
us, that we know only their names, and others
which we have and rejećt. As for inftance, the
reverend Dr. G R A B E tells us of a book receiv'd
by the † Copticks, call'd the Secrets of P E T E R ,
of which we have no copy ; and * LU D o L P H u s
tells us, That the Abyffinian Chriſtians receive the
Apoſtolick Conſtitutions; and † P o s T E L L U s
brought from the Eaft, where itwas in ufe, the
Goſpel of J A M E s : both which we rejectas Apo
cryphal.
The fame books offcripture have, among thoſe
prieſts who receive them, a very different degree
of authority; fome attributing more, and others
lefs authority to them. The Popiſh prieſis contend
that the text offcripture is fo corrupted , preca
rious, and unintelligible, that we are to depend
on the authority of their Church for the true par
ticulars of the Chriſtian Religion. Others who
contend for a greater perfećtion in the text of
fcripture , differ about the infpiration of thofe
books; fome contending that every thought and
word are infpir’d; fome that the thoughts are
inſpir’d, and not the words ; fome that thoſe
thoughts only are infpir'd , which relate to fun
damentals; and others that the books were writ
ten by honeft men with great care and faithful
nefs, without any inſpiration either with reſpect
to the thoughts or words.
In like manner, the Bramins, Perfees, Bonzes,
Talapoins, Dervizes, Rabbis, andallother Priefs
who
i Spicileg. Setul. 1. p. 73.
, : Hiſt. Æthiop. l. 3. c. 4 s. 27.
* Fabricii Codex „Apocr. p. 48.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 4;
who build their Religion on books, muft from
the nature of things vary about books in the fame
Religion , about the inſpiration, and copies of
thofe books.

3dly. The priefs differ about the fenfe and

meaning of thofe books they receive as facred.
This is evident from the great number offects in
each Religion, founded on the :::: of fen
fes put on their feveral fcriptures. And tho the
books of the Old and New Teſtament are the im
mediate dictates of God himſelf , and all other
fcriptures are the books of Impoſtor: ; yet are the
priests of the Chriſtian Church ( like the prieſts
of all other Churches) not only divided into num
berlefs fects, on account of their different inter
f:: of them , but even the prieſts of the
àme feci differ endlefly in opinion about their
fenfe and meaning.
To fet this matter before you in the cleareft
manner, and to poffeſs you with the juſteſt idea
of the differences among prieſts about the fenfe
and meaning of their ſcriptures, and tomake my
argument the ſtronger for the duty and neceſſity of
free-thinking, I will confine my felf to the moſt
divine of all books, and by confequence the beft
adapted of any to prevent diverfity of opinions;
and will take the following :.
Firſt, I will give you an idea of the nature of
our holy books; whereby you'll fee the foundation
therein laid for a diverſity of opinions amongthe
prieſts of the Chriſtian Church.
And, fecondly, I will give you a ſpecimen of
the diverſity of opinions , among the prieſts : -

|- thc
 46 A D IS CO URS E
the Church of England, pretended to be deduc'd
from them : for all their differencesaretoo great
to be enumerated. , From whence you'll eaſily
infer, that there muft be an infinite number of
opinions among all other forts of prieſts, as to the
meaning of their ſcriptures; fince the moſt divine
of all books lavs fuch a foundation for difference
of opinion , : prieſts of the fame fect are not
able to agree, tho neither art , nor force, nor
intereft are wanting to compelthem to agreement
in opinion.
Firft, As to an idea of the nature of our holy
books, I will not pretend to fo much divine
knowledg as to draw their character my felf; and
therefore take the following account of them from
the right reverend Biſhop T A Y L o R, a Prelate
well known for his learned defence of the divine
Right of Epifcopacy, his Life of the bleſſed J E
s Us, and many books of devotion ; as likewife
for his fuffering for the Church of England and
Royal Family, during the late civil wars. This
Religious Prelate tells us, * 1. That there are
innumerable places of the ſcriptures containing in
them great myſteries, but yet are fo enwrap'd in a
cloud, or fo darkned with umbrages, or heighten'd
with expreſſions, or fo cover'd with allegories and
garments of rhetorick , fo profound in the matter,
or fo intricate in the manner, in the clothing and
the drefing, that God may feem to have left them
as trials of our Induſtry, and arguments of our
imperfections, and as occaſions of our charity and
toleration to each other, and humility in our fel
ves, rather than as repoſitories of faith, and
furniture of creeds and articles of belief. 2. He
P. 966.
fays , That there are fo many thouſand copies of
the
* Polemick Works, p. 9ɔ5.
 of FREE-THINKING. 4z
the ſcriptures, which were writ byperſons offuch dife
rent interests and perfuaſions, ſuch different under
fandings and tempers, fuch diſtinét abilities and
weakneſes, that there is great variety ofreadings,
both in the Old and New Teſtament. 3. That p. 967.
there are many places of fcripture which have a
double fenfe, a literal and a ſpiritual : and both
theſe Jenſes are ſubdivided i for the literalfenfe is
natural or figurative ; and the ſpiritual is fometi
mes allegorical, fometimes anagogical, nay, fome
times there are divers literal Jenſes in the fame
fentence. 4. That there are divers places offrip- P. 969.
ture containing in them great myſteries, andqués
tions of great concernment ; and yet the fabrick
and conſtitution of them is fuch, that there is no
certain mark to determine whether the fenfe ofthem
fhould be literal or figurative. 5. That there are
fome places offcripture which have the felf-fame
expreſſions, the fame preceptive words, the fame
reaſon and account in allappearance; andyet muß
be expounded to quite diffèrentfenſes. 6. That fome P. 97o.
points offcripture are ſo mysterious, that they are
ºnly tº be underſted by perſons very holy aná/pi
ritual. 7. That allfyſiems offcienceare foéx :# 39

that either by reaſon of the univerſality of the ferm,

and fubjeći matter , or by the infinite variety of
human underfandings, they ſeem to divers men,
may to the Jame men upan different occafons, tº
fpeak things extremely diſparate , and fometimes
contrary, but very often ofgreat variety. And
this very thing happens alſo in fcripture , thae if
it were not in re feria & facra, it were excellen,
fport to obſerve how the Jame place offcripture
Jerves feveral turns upon occaſion. 8. Íhat the
frittures are fº wrote, as not certainly to be un.
derfood by conſidering the context and connexion
ºf the parts. For when there are two or threeam
fece
48 A D I S CO U R S E
tecedents and fubjects ſpoken of , what rule fhall
aftertain me that I make my reference true, by
drawing the relation to fuch an antecedent ? For in
a contexture where one part does not always depend
upon another , where things of different natures
intervene and interrupt the firſt intentions ; there
expounding fcripture by the context is not always
a very probable method to find out the true meaning.
9. That comparing of places is another great pre
tence to fix the fenfe offcripture ; but comparing of
places is offo indefinite capacity, that if there be
ambiguity of words , variety offenfe , alteration
of circumfiances, or difference offiile among divine
writers, then there is nothing that may be more
abus’d by wilful people, or may more eaſily deceive
the unwary, or that may more amuſe the most in
telligent obſerver. Io. That the fcriptures are pre
tended to be expounded by analogy of reafon; but
unleſs there were fome Intellectus Univerſalis fur
niſh’d with infallible propoſitions , by referring to
which, every one might argue infallibly this lo
gick may deceive as well as any ofthe reff. For it
is with mens reafon as with mens tasies , cơc.
II. That others pretend to expound ſcripture by the
analogy of faith : But that is a chimera, a thing
in nubibus, which varies like the right hand and
left hand of a pillar. 12. Laftly, that conſulting
originals is thought a great matter in the interpre
tation offcripture. But the difficulty is in the
thing however exprefſ'd, the leaft in the language.
The inſpection of the originalis no more certain way ·
of interpretation now, than it was in the primitive
ages of the Church , when there was an infinite
variety of tranſlations of the Bible, and never a
one like another.

2dly. I now proceed to give a ſpecimen ofthe

- diver
 of FREE-THINKING. 49
diverfity of opinions of the prieſts of the Church
of England, all pretended to be deduc'd from
the fcriptures. -

1. The moſt fundamental Doĉtrine of the

whole Chriſtian Religion, is the doctrine of the
ever-blefed Trinity: Andyet what different noti
ons of the Trinity do the prieſts pretend to de
duce from fcripture ?
Some make the orthodox doftrine to confift
in * three diftinct , eternal, perfectly equal beings,
agreeing in a fpecifick unity ; in conformity with ,
the orthodox prieſts of the fourth century, and
particularly St. A T H A N As I u s, who fays, † The
Perfons of the Trinity are one God, as P E T E R,
PA U L , and T I M o T H Y are one man.

Some # maintain three diftinft, eternal, equal

beings , whoſe unity is partly numerical and
partly ſpecifical.
Some § maintain three diffinét, eternal, une
qual beings, thefirſt whereof is alone felf-exiſtent ,
and the fecond and third ſubordinate. And thefe
again are fubdivided ; fome of them making the
fon and holy ghofi to flow from the father by
an inherent neceffity of nature, and others to
be the effect of á voluntary operation of the
father.
D Some

* Braddock’s Doctrine of the Fathers, &c. part 1.

1 Athanafii Operii. Ed. Par. vol. 2. p, 16o.
# Sherlock's Vind. of the Trinity, and its Defence.
§ Fowler's 28 propof Bulli Defenſ. Fid. Nic. Cud
worth's Intell. Syft. Payne's Sermons, and Letter to
the Biſhop of Roch. And Dr, Clarke’s Scripture-Dec
trine of the Trinity.
5o . A DISCOURSE
Some (a) make the Perfons to be eternal mo
des of fubſiſtence, or internal relations of the one
fubſtance of the Deity to it felf. And purfuant
to this hypotheſis, they fay, (b) That the whole
Deity was incarnate in the man Chriſt, but not
wholly.

Some (c) make the Perfons to be external re

lations of the one fubſtance of the Deity to man
kind, viz. Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier ;
as King W I L L I A M was , King of England,
France, and Ireland. Again, the fame reve
rend perfon makes each Perfon a third of God,
as (d) length, breadth, and thickneß make a
cube; or as (e) three groats make a fhilling, and
three nobles make a pound.
Some (f) make the Trinity to confift in a
mind that from all eternity had wiſdom, that
from all eternity underſtood himſelf, and from all
eternity loved himſelf.
Lafily, Others (g) receive the words of the
Athanafian Creed without any fenfe or explication
at all, conceiving the :::: of faith to lie in
fomething unintelligible.
2. The prieſis diſpute, Whether the doćirine
of the Trinity be a fundamental and neceſſary
article ofthe Chriſtian faith or no. Dr. So u T H
affirms,
a Dr. , South's Animad. , and Tritheifin charg'd.
b :::: ;: , p. 62.
cd Wallis’s
Firſt Lett. p. 11.
Letters of the Trinity.
y Lett. 3. p. 4o, 4
P. 4O, 41.
I

e Third Lett. p. 42:

f Nye’s Institutions of the Trinity.
z Gaſtrel's confd. on the Trinity.
 of FREE-THINKING. 51
affirms , * A man can no more be a Chriſtian
without the belief of the Trinity, than he can be
a man without a rational foul. And our right
reverend Biſhop † B U L L has written a book
againſt EP 1 s co P 1 v s and others, to prove the
neceſity of believing the Trinity and Incarnation.
Indeed the greater number of prieſts are in that
fentiment. For as the right reverend#Biſhop T AY
L o R obſerves, The example of fo excellent a man
as A T H A N A s 1 U s in his Creed, has been follow'd
with too much greedineß; all theworld in factions
all damning one another, each party damn'd by
all the refi; and there is no difagreement in opi
mion , but damnation prefently to all who difagree.
But this Religious Prelate is not himſelfofthat
opinion. . He : If it be confider'd how many P. 963.
people underſtand not the Athanafian Creed, how
contrary to natural reafon it feems, how little the
fcripture fays of thoſe curioſities of explication, how
tradition is not clear on A T H A N A s I u s’s fide
for the article it felf, how A T H A N Ås I U s is
put to it to make an anfwer and excuſe for the
fathers who exprefs'd themfelves like Arians, how
the Arians appeal'd to the fathers for trial, and
the offer was declin’d, it had not been amif; if the
final judgment had been left to Chriſt, who is ap
pointed judg of all men, end who will judg them
righteouſly; for he knows every truth, the degree
of every ::::: , and all excuſes that do lefenthe
nature and malice of a fin: all wich A T H A N A
s I u s, tho a very good man, did not know fo
well as to warrant fuch a fentence. And Biſh
opTA Y L o R concludes, That it is very frange
D 2 #69
* Ded. Epif?. to Trith. charg'd,
t De Neceſſit. credendi, čre,
} #:::::: p. 964.
52 A D IS C O UR SE
to put uncharitableneß into a Creed, and make
it an Article of faith.
Dr. W A L L I s takes a different method from
Biſhop T AY L o R, tho he agrees with him in
his concluſion. He fays, * The damnatory fen
tences in the Athanafian Creed are not to be under
food according to the rigour.
And many other Divines contend , that the
damnatory fentences are no part of the Creed ,
which confifts only in believing the Article of
the Trinity as there exprefs'd.
3. The f prieſts ofour Church diſpute, whether
at the refurrection men fhall have a body con
fifting of the fame numerical particles of matter
that were laid in the grave: Whether they ſhall
have a body confifting ofthe fame numerical par
ticles of matter that have been fome time or other
vitally united to the foul during the life of the
man: Whether they ſhall have a body confift
ing of particles of matter that were never united
to the foul during the life of the man: whether
they ſhall not have a body : of any par
ticles of matter indifferently: and laftly, whether
they ſhall rife with a body or no.
4. Our prieſts at , and for many years after
the Reformation, were generally Calvinifis or
Predefinarians, as is evident, from the # Arti
cles of the Church; from the § Bibles printed in
Queen E L I z A B E TH’s time , to which are
- often
, * Second Letter, p. 2.
† See their numerous Sermons on Easter-Day.
t Art. 1o. & 17.
S In feveral editions printed by C, Barker the Queen's
Printer. - -
 of FREE-THINKING. 53
often annex'd an Apology for Predefination, anf
wering the common objections made by Atheift;,
Deifis, Socinians and Libertins, againſt that fa
ving doĉtrine of the Goſpel; from the * Suffra
ge of the Divines of Great Britain deliver’d by
them to the Synod of Dort, March 16. 1619. as
the fenfe of the Church of England; where the
five:::: (as they are call'd) are all determin’d
on the Calviniſtical fide, agreeable to the deci
fions of that holy Synod: and laftly, from all
their books till the time of Biſhop LA U D. In
which time was made the grand change among
our prieſts; and there are now at leaft nine parts
in ten of the prieſts who preach every funda
contrary to the Articles they have :
So true are the obſervations of Biſhop T A Y L o R
and Mr. W H I s T o N ; the firſt whereof fays,
† That there is no Church which is in proſperity,
but alters her doctrine every age, either by brin
ging in new doćirines or contradicting the old;
which fhows that none are fatisfy'd with them
felves or with their own confeſſions: And the lat
ter, # That there is fcarce any one clergyman of
the Church that has confider’d and examin'd things
with care, who believes all the Thirty mine Ar
ticles, in their properand original meaning. Howe
ver , the orthodoxy of Queen E L I z A B E T H’s
time is not quite extinguiſh’d. We have hadour
PR I D E Aux's and our J A N E’s, both Profeſſors
of the divinity-chair in Oxford; our CAR L
T o N s and our D A v E N A N T s both Biſhops ;
and have now our S o U T H s and our È E
w A R D s's of Oxford and Cambridge; and feverai
D 3 others

* Printed in Eng. anno 1629. 4to. and in the Atla

Dordracenfia.
t Ded. before Liberty of Prophecying.
4 Eſſays , p. 238. |
54 A D I S C O U R s E.
others who appear in behalf of our old Religi
on , againſt the numerours innovators among the
clergy. The two laft mention’d Divines :
with great zeal (but it muſt be confeſs'd very
weakly) latelyattack'd the reverend Dr. W H I T
º y, who in many late books has ſhow'd him
felfa zealous Arminian. I muft not omitdoing
juſtice to that profound and orthodox Prelate the
prefent Biſhop of London, whom many have of
ten heard with fatisfaćtion incultate the doćirine
of predefination in his excellent fermons.
5. Our prieſts diſpute whether Hell-torments are
eternal or no ; and fome of the moſt eminent
either doubt of theireternity, or plainly denythem
to be eternal. The famous Divine and Philoſopher
* Dr. H E N R y Mo R B fays, The words
Aiòv and Autóvı@- in ſcripture are indiferent to
fignify either that which us properly everlaſting,
or that which lafis a long time; fo that we are
not able to pronounce for the eternity or perpetuity
of Hell-torments. Again, That comminations are
not, tho promifes be obligatory; forafmuch as in
comminations the comminator is the creditor, and
he that is menaced the Debtor that owes the pu
nifhment ; but in promifes he that promifeth becomes
the debtor and he to whom the promife is made,
creditor. Whence the promifer is plainly oblig'd to
make good his promife, as being the debtor: But
the comminator, as being the creditor, is not
oblig’d to exact the puniſhment ; it being in the
power of any creditor to remit the debt owing to
him if he will. Wherefore in this commination of
eternalfire or everlastingpuniſhment, the Aiºvi G
fignify here properly everlafting, as well as in
everlaſting life, yet becauſe this latter is apromife,
- and
* Annotations on Lux Orientalis, p. 73, 74.
 of FREE-THINKING. : 55
and the other only a commination, it does not
follow, that as furely as the righteous fhall be
rewarded with everlaffing life, fo furely ſhall the
wicked be puniſh'd with everlaſting fire in the moſt
proper and higheſt extent of the fignification of the
word. Becauſe God in his comminations to the
wicked is only a creditor, and has fill a right and
power to remit either part or the whole debt; but
to the righteous, by virtue of his promife, he be
comes a debtor , and cannot recede, but muff
punćíually keep his word.
To the fame purpofe and after the fame man
ner ſpeaks the moſt pious and rational Dr. T'I L
L o T so N, in his :::: Sermon of hell-tor
ments. And Dr. H I c k E s mentions * five or
fix Divines, moſt of whom are in great fiations
of the Church, as converts to this opinion by a
manuſcript treatife written by an old fceptick (fo
he calls the reverend Mr. W H I T E F o o T) at
Norwich.

6. Our prieſts diſpute whether the fabbath or

the Lord’s-day ought to be kept holy.
From the Reformation to the reign of King
JAM E s I, England was as remarkable for its
religious obſervation of the Lord's-day as Scotland
is at preſent: , And I can meet with no publick
remarkable inſtance of the breach of that holy
day, during the long reign of Queen E L I
z A B E T H , unleſs at if the Biſhop of
London’s houfe in Fulham, where his Lordſhip
and others (I ſuppofe his chaplains)uſed to play
at bowls on funday. But King JAM E s pub
4 liſh’d
* Diſcourſes on Tillotfon and Burnet, p. 46.
t Strype's Life of Aylmer, p. 215, 194.
 ș6 A D I S CO U R S E
liſh'd a proclamation for ſports on that holyday
obliging all miniſters to readit in their Churches.
And * feveral priests in his reign, and that of
his ſucceſſor CÉ A K L E s I. (whetherin compli
ance with the profaneneſs of the court, I ſhall
not determine) wrote books to fhew thátfunday
?"as no fabbath, .and that there was no morality
in obſerving the Lord’s-day: all which were anỂ
werd and refuted by feveral other godly and
orthodox Divines. Nor is this controverly yet
bury’d; for very lately a high and reverénd †
Prief has wroté for the lawfulneſs of fports on
that holy day.
7. Qur prieſis diſpute whether Epifcopacy be
ofdivine or human institution; a question which,
a:Fording to moſt of them, concerns the very
effence of the Church.

That the latter was the opinion of our Church

(and of courſe once the opinion ofmany priests)
from the Reformation, to the Reſtoration of
King cH A R L E s II. is evident; for as a noble
Heer obſerv'd in a + ſpeech made in the Houſe of
Lºrds, Preſbyterian ördination was allow'd and
Hraffiº'd in the Church from the beginning of the
Réformation till the Act of Uniformity (which
allow'd of no ordination but Epifcopal) and fe
veral Biſhops were made of fuch as were never
ºrdaind prieſts by Biſhops. Ëut yet fome s few
?riefs before the Reſtoration, ańd more ſince,
have wrote for the divineright of Epiſcopacy;and
'tis now become a confiderable fquabble in the
Church. There are not only prieſts on :
- 1C1CS
* Prideaux. Brerewood, White, Heylin, Dowe, Pocke
lington, Mede. &c.
Í Morer on the Name. Notion, &c, of the Sabbath.
# State-Traċ7s, p. 5o.
3 Biſhops iiaii and Taylor, &c,
|

ºf FREE-THINKING. 57
fides of the queſtion, but one eminent prief, Dr.
S T I L L I N G F L E E T, is himſelf on both fides:
when he was a presbyter, he wrote a * book to -
prove the human inſtitution of Epifcopacy; and
when he was a Biſhop, he + wrote to prove it
of divine infitution. Juſt like AY L M E R Biſhop
of London, who before he was made Biſho
thought # the lands of the clergy ought to be gi
ven to Queen E L I z A B E T H . to maintain her
wars againfi France and Spain ; but when he
was a Biſhop, he apply’d to himſelf thefe words,
When I was a child, I /pake as a child, Ithought
as a child.

8. The doćtrine of original fin, and whether

men are now liable to be damn'd for A D A M’s
fin (which is the foundation of the whole
Chriſtian Religion) wasformerly diſputed between
§ Biſhop T AY L o R and the Biſhop of Rochefter;
and is at this day between the reverend Dr.
W H I T B Y and the reverend Dr. E D w A R D s
of Jeſus-College in Oxford.
9. Whether our Saviour’s foul exiſted in hea
ven before his incarnation, was lately debated
between Dr. Fow L E R the prefent Biſhop of
Gloucefter, and Dr. S H E R L o c k , who f::
each of them had other prieſts for their feconds.
1o. Lay-baptiſm was exprefly allow'd ofin the
Rubrick of our Liturgy, juſt before the Office of
private baptiſm, till J A M E s I's reign, in thefe
words: Let thoſe that arepreſentat the baptiſm call
D 5 upon
• Irenicum.
† charge to his Clergy, in 169o.
# Ayliner's Life by Strype, p. 223, 268, 269.
5 Polemick Works, p. 63.
N
58 A D 1 s C o U R S E
supon God, and fay the Lord’s prayer, if the time
will fuffer. And then one of them fhall name the
child, and dip him in the water, or pour water
upon him, faying in theſe words, I baptize thee,
&c. And as far as my knowledg in the prieſts
books reaches , the validity of Lay-baptiſm was
a fettled point among the beft Church-men till
very lately. For I find the reverend Mr. S E L
L E R s (who was fo high & good a Churchman
as to be a Jacobite feparatift) affirming, * That
the baptiſm adminiſter’din ſportbyA T H A N As I U s
when he was a Heathenſchool-boy, to his Heathen
playfellows, was valid and not to be reiterated,
as was defin’d by AL Ex AN D E R then Patriarch
of Alexandria, and oppos’d by no other part of
the Church. But of late many cenfures have
been pafs’d on the Biſhop of Sarum, andbooks
written againſt him by prieſts, for afferting, †
That faith in the Trinity gives every man a right
to baptiſm; and that this has been the confiant
fenfe of the Church for above 14oo years: which
in a ritual matter is certainly of great authority.
They reckon'd that baptiſm was the gift of Chriſt
to his Church, when given in the name of the
father, fon, and holy Ghoff. It is Chriſt’s bap
tifm, be they who give it orthodox er hereticks,
clergy or laity; and in the latter ages, men or
ZU07726272.

. II. The reverend Mr. BL A x r o N has collećted

the # Opinions of the moſt learned and famous
Divines of the Church of England from the Refor
mation to the year 1634, all condemning Ufury as
unlawful and forbidden by God’s word. To which
I could
* Remarks on J. H's View of Antiquity, p. 38ɔ, 381.
t Two Sermons printed in 171 o.
# Printed anno 1634.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 59
I could add a great many more who have follow'd
our primitive clergy in this point, andeafily make
Mr. B L A x r o N’s Book as big as the History of
Paffive-obedience. I will only throw in the opi
nion of that great cafuif and profound Divine ,
Biſhop S A N D E R s o N, who makes * fix in the
hundred to befabbath-breaking, andevery one that
takes lawful intereſt for his mony to beguilty of the
breach of all the ten commandments; and particu
larly ofthe fourth, becauſe the plough goes on fun
days. And even our Lay ancestors were fo blind
as not to fee the plain defign ofthe: (who
by making money uſelefsin the hands ofthe Laity
knew where it would be beſtow'd ) and had their
heads fo turn’d by their fermons and books on
that ſubjećt, that in an Act of Parliament made
in the 13th. year of Queen Elizabeth, to reduce
intereft to tenpercent, it is afferted, that allUfury
being forbidden by the law of God is fin and de
testable : And in another Act made the 2 Ifi, of
James I. to reduce intereft to eightper cent. there
are theſe words at the end of the faid Aĉf , viz.
Provided, that no words in this law contain’d
fhall be conſtrued or expounded to allow the prac
tice of Uſury in point of Religion or conſcience. But
our prieſts are now almoſt univerfally chang'd in
this matter : and I have not heard ofanyone of
late, except the reverend Mr. DA v I D J o N E s,
who takes Uſury to be a fin. . On the contrary,
it ought to be fuppos'd that they now account it
a Christian vertue, fince there are fo many
among 'em who are common fock-jobbers on the
Change, and who aćt the part of Attorneys and
Scriveners in their pariſhes, in placing out mony
on fecuritys at intereft.
I2 •
* Notes ºn the Paſtoral Letter, p. 44.
6o . A D IS CO U R. SE
12. They diſpute whether men are to be of
the prieſts Religion, or the Magiſtrates, or are to
judg for themſelves. In the reign ofCHARLES II.
( that King after their own heart) their leader Dr.
PAR K E R faid, * That in cafes and diſputes ofa
publick concern , private men have no power over
their own actions, they are not to be diretted by
their own judgments, or determin’d by their own
wills; but by the commands and determinations of
the publick conſcience or magiſtrate. And if there
is any fin in the command, he that impos'd it fhall
anfwer for't. Again, That in all #:: cafes
it is better to err with authority , that is , with
the Magiſtrates, than to be in the right againſt it.
But fince the magiſtrate has laid afide all claimto
dominion over mens minds and conſciences, by
ceafing to fine and imprifon men on the ſcore of
Religion, and by granting a Toleration; they †
now fet up the authority oftheprief (whichthey
call the Church } and make the magiſtrate him
felf, who is by law the fupreme governour in all
cauſes and over all perſons, as well eccleſiaſtical as
civil, the prieſts eccleſiaſtical fubject as wellas the
reft of the laity. Some few, fuch as Mr. C H I L
L I N G w o R T H , Dr. T I L L o T s o N, and others
now living, have clearly afferted the right of all
men to judg for ::::
I could proceed to give an account how they
diſpute about the prieffs power to abſolve menfrom
their fins, about the independency of the Church
on the fate, about the facrament being a proper
facrifice, about the real prefence in the facrament,
about the prieſts of the Chriſtian Church being
proper prieſis ; and indeed about every point in
the
* Eccleſ:Polity, p. 308.
† Hickes, Leſley, črc.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 61
the whole Chriſtian : & about the mean
ning of every article of their own Church, as
weil as about the meaning of almoft every Text
in the Bible : but what I have produc’d being
fufficient to prove their diviſions about the mean
ing of the ſcripture in matters of the greateſt im
ortance, I may juftly conclude that it is neceſſary
or every man , inſtead of relying upon them,
to think freely for himſelf; and proceed to the
fecond infiance of their condućf.
2dly. Afecondinſtance oftheirconduct, where
by they make free-thinking unavoidable, is, their
owning in exprefs words the doćirines of the
Church to be contradictory to one another, and to
reafon.
The renowned Dr. S A cH E v ER E L fays in P. 257.fct.
his ſpeech at his Tryal, that by abandoning Paſſive
obedience, the :::::: badg and glory of our
Reformation, we muſt render our felves the moff
inconſiſtent Church in the world. By which words
the doćfor muſt ſuppofe, even before theſentence
pafs'dupon him condemning the doftrine ofPaffive
obedience, that many doctrines ofthe Church were
inconfiftent and contradićtory to one another ;
otherwife one inconfiſtency more would notmake
it the moſt inconfiftent Church in the world.
Dr. B E v B R I D G E fuppoſes our whole faith in
God to confift of contradičtions to reafon, when
he fays,
moff * That
impoſſible to us.is moſt true of God which f.
feems

Dr. S o UT H, ſpeaking of christsinarnatiºn,

fays,
* Private Thoughts, p. 52•
 62 A D I S C O UR SE
fays, † To behold the Divinity which ispreſent to
aŭ plates, cloth'd in fleſh, is 4: if "º fhould ima
gine not only the whole world repreſented upon,
but alſo contain'd in one of our little artificial glo
bes, ór the body of the fun envelop'd in aelºadas
big as a man’s hand; all which would be look'd on
a afoniſhing impoſſibilitys : and yet as far/hºrt ºf
the ºther, is the greateſt finite is of an infinite,
between which the diſparity is unmeaſurable. For
that Godſhouldtransform himſelf, and ſubdue and
master alí
henſion andhisconverſe,
glories, tothe
a poſſibility of humanaḥpre
beſt real?? would have
thought it fuch a thing as God could nºt dº.» had
it mð been actually done. It is (as it "ere) tº
cancel the effential difiances ºf things , to remove
the bounds of nature, to bring heaven and earth,
and ( what is mere.) both ends ºfa contradiction
tºgether. Again, the fame reverent perfon fays,
f. 316. in relation tổ his faith about the perfon of Christ,
That were it mot to be ador'd as a mystery, it
would be exploded as a contradiction. -

P. 495. Dr. H E N R y Mo R E, in his Mystery of God:

lineß, fays, There is starte any Church in Chriſ
tendom át this day (in the next page he affirms
this, ofunder
foever the whole
heavenviſible Church
) which in what nation
does not obtrude not
only plain falſhoods, but fuch falfhoods that will
appear to any fee ſpirit þarf contradictions and
impoſſibilities, and that with the fame gravity,
authºrity, and importunity;
ºracles of God. that they dº the
To which I craveleaveto hºly
add his
judicious reflection that follows » tho foreign to
my preſent defign, That this conduct of the prieff
is a heavy fight to the truly Religious » 4mdjºy. tg
the profaně, who take advantage thereby against
the
i Sermont, vol. 3. p. 366 367.
 of FREE-THINKING. 6,
the wholy myśfery of piety, as if there was no
truth in it, becauſe thatfo groß falfhoods are urg’d
upon them with the fame folemneß as thoſe things
that ( were it not for the ferious impudence of the
prief in other open falſities) might paßwith them
for true.

3dly. A third instance of the prieſts conduft,

is, their acknowledgmentofabufes, defects, and
falfe doctrines in the Church
The reverend Dr. G R A B E (a man ſupported
at the charge of her moſt excellent Majeſty, en
courag’d by the moft eminent Divines of our
Church in É: undertaking to publiſh the Alexan
drian manuſcript of the Septuagint, and employ’d
by our eccleſiaſtical governours to vindicate our
::::: faith againſt the reverend Mr. W H I s
T o N) acknowledges certain * abuſes and defetts
to have crept into our Church; particularly,
baptiſm by bare fprinkling, not mixing water
with wine in the Lord's fupper, and the eatin
of blood and things frangled: all which abuſes,
he fays , we are guilty of, in oppoſition to the
ancient Church all the world over, and the plain
teſtimonies of fcriptures. How far the reverend
doćtor is in the right as to all thefe particulars,
I do not pretend to fay: but with :::: to the
laft, I have often wonder'd how men profeffing
to believe in the Bible, and particularly thoſe who
pretend to underſtand it according to the fenfe of
the primitive Church, can live in the practice of
of eating blood and things frangled, in oppoſiti
on to fo plain an inſtitution, precept, and rule.
For it is forbidden by God in the Old Teſtament Gen. 9. 4
for a moral and eternal reafon, viz. becauſe the Lev.17.14.
blood & 19, 26.
* Preface to Eſſay on the Dostrine of the Apostles p, i 1.
 64 A D IS CO U R S E
Deut. 12. blood is the life : and in the New Teſtament, to
23.
Ačts 15. abſtain from things firangled and fom blood, is
zo, 28. enjoin'd as a neceſſary thing. And this precept
was fo religiouſly obſerv'd by all Chriſtians in
the firſt ages of the Goſpel, that T E R T U L L I
A N fays, One experiment made uſe of by you
(Heathens) for the diſcovery of Chriſtians, is to try
whether they will eat black-puddings; you well
knowing that they judg it unlawful to commit
that tranſgreſſion you command *.
Dr. G R A B E, as we are inform’d by † Dr.
HI C K E s, was for reſtoring the pure primitive
practice and diſcipline, which continu’d more or
leſ corrected in the Church till the Reformation
(which by this account was a Reformation back
wards) particularly the practice of chrifm in con
firmation; anointing the fick with oil; confeſſion,
o facerdotal abſolution as judicial; and prayer for
the fouls of the dead; the want of all which
being defects in the Reform’d Churches.
Dr. H1 c k E s # ſpeaks of feveral things amiß
in the Church.

Again he mentions particular defects, fuch as

$ the want of a fide-board or buffet to place the
elements on before they are placed on the commu
mion table, and * going to Church in the fame
dreß we go to plays and balls, &c.
The
* Inter tentamenta Chriſtianorum botulos cruore diffentos
admovetis, certiffimi ſcilicet illicitum eſſe penes illos per
quod exorbitare vultis. Opera, Ed. Rigal. p. 1o.
† Account of Dr. Grabe, p. 8, 9, 1o.
# Pref, to Letters between him and a Popish Priest.
S Pref, to two Treat. p 53, 54, 55.
* Twº Treat. p. 93.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 6;
He fays likewife, * That in this Kingdom many
unchristian maxims , extremely hurtful and de-
trimental to the Christian Religion, are receiv'd
for Laws, viz.: „ That the King is the fupreme
„ ordinary; That canons made by the Church
„ Regent or Epifcopal College oblige not Chrif
„ tians in conſcience , without or againſt the
„ King's confent; That the King by Act of Par
,, liament may deprive Biſhops; That he is the
„ laſt appeal of our Church in fpiritual cauſes;
and that the Acts of Parliament touching election
and conſecration of Biſhops are unchriſtian.
The reverend Mr. LE s L E y fays, † That in
Sweden they pray not only for the Church in ge
neral, but for the Clergy before the King. Thus
it is in all liturgies except ours. But the King in
our liturgy is thruft in between the Church and
the Biſhops, : the motion , I ſuppoſe , of his
being head of the Church ; and the whole Royal
family are drawn in after him, as being heads in
reverſion. We improve, and feem to take care in
the firſt place for our bodies before our fouls, and
for this world more than for eternity. But they
retain the primitive form in Sweden: they reform
not backwards.

Laftly, Our Liturgy fuppofes our Church de

fećtive, when we pray upon Afh-wedneſdayfor
the reforation of godly diſcipline.
4thly. A Fourth, infiance ofthe prieſts condući,
is, Their profeſſing they will not tell the truth,
and making it matter of reproach in any of the
Clergy to tell the truth.
E Upon
* Letter in the character of a Primitive Bishop , f. 471 •
t Cafe ºf the Regale , p. 28. -
 66 A D Is co U RsE
Upon occafion of Dr. W A k E's having endeav
our'd to ſtate by law and history the power of
our Princes over Synods and Convocations, Dr.
A T T E R B U R y fays, * Were all that Dr. W A K E
fays exprefly true and juſtifiable, yet whether the
labouring the point fo heartily as he does, and
fhewing himſelf fo willing to prove the Church to
have no rights and privileges, be a very decent
part in a clergyman , he leaves to his friends to
confider.
Again, he fays , f could fuch a fine point be
made out, yet furely it does not become clergymen
to help it forward. Let us leave that dirty work
to be done by the profeߔd enemies of Religion, and
the order; but let not the hands of Levi be employ’d
172 1f.

A reverend Prelate, in a letter to Mr. W H I s

To N about one of the moſt important articles of
the whole Chriſtian Religion, the eternal divinity
of our bleſſed Saviour, fays to him , # Ifyou are
fure you are in the right in any matter wherein
you have the Church’s ;: againſt you , you
fhould be careful not to break the peace of the Church
by writing againſt it. If it were but one brother
that would take hurt by your writing, the Apofile
Rom. 14. fays, it is not good to venture that, even tho
2I• : know you are in the right; for as it followeth,
haft thou faith } have it to thy felf.
Dr. E D w A R D s of Oxford, fays with refpest
to the reverend Mr. W H I s r o N’s renouncing
the doctrines of the ever-ble/fed Trinity, and the
- eternal

* Pref. to Rights ofan Engliſh Convocation, p. I 1.

† Ibid. p. 38
t Whiſton’s Primit, Christ. vol. I. Prefp. 27.
 of FREE-THINKING. 67
eternal divinity of our Lord, That * the oaths ,
fubſcriptions, folemn and repeated declarations ,
thofe ſtrong chains and fetters, as one might
juffly imagine them to be, ought not to be broke
through. So that according to this profound di
vine, the prieſts are never to have any regard
for truth, but when it happens to agree with
the oaths they have once taken, and the fub
fcriptions and declarations they have once made.
Thus a Mahometan or Popiſh prieſt is for ever
to continue true to his falſe oaths, fubſcriptions,
and declarations; and a Church-of-England prief
is to continue true to his oaths, &c. not be
caufe he is in the right, but becaufe he has
fworm and fubſcrib’d.
That eminent Reformer Archbiſhop C R A N
M E R, by the following query laid by him be
fore King H E N R y VIII. , fufficiently ſhow'd
his diſpoſition to conceal the truth from the
laity, and by confequence muft have fuppos’d
the Clergy blamable in telling the truth.
† If the clergy know that the common fort of
men have them in a higher veneration, becauſe
they are perfuaded that it lieth in the will and
power of prieſts to remit or not remit fins at their
pleaſure; whether in fuch cafe the faid clergy
offend, if they wink at this , and voluntarily
fuffer people to continue in this opinion ?
Laftly, the reverend Mr. W H I s T o N, who
has for a long while had an intimate correſpon
dence with the Cheif of the clergy ofour Church,
E 2 - fays
* Dostrine of Original Sin, p. 114.
f Cannon's Account of two Motions in Cºnvºcation,
P. 54 » I 5 • |
68 A D IS COUR SE
fays, that * artfully to conceal, diſguiſe, or directly
deny what they cannot but inwardly know to be
the truth, is at this day, he fears a fin too com
mon among feveral of the more learned and ju
dicious of the Clergy.
5thly. A Fifth infiance of the prieſts conduft,
is, If any good Chriſtian happens to reafon better
than ordinary, they prefently charge him with
Atheiſm, Deifm , Arianiſm, or Socinianiſm : as
if good fenfe and orthodoxy could not ſubfift
together.

• Thus the reverend and religious Dr. C U D

w o R r H, who has written the moſt learnedly of
all the Divines of our Church, in his Intellettual
fyſtem of the univerſe, againſt Atheiſm , is
charg’d with being an Atheift for that verybook,
by a t reverend Þivine, who only qualifies it
by faying, That the moſt that Charity it felftan
allow the doctor, if it were to fiep forth and ſpeak
bis moff favourable charatter to the world, is, that
be is an Arian, a Socinian, or a Deift. Thus
the late Archbiſhop, T1 L L o r s o N, and the pre
fent Biſhop of Salisbury are charg'd with Socini
anifm by the # reverend Mr. LE s L E Y; and in
a book of § Dr. H I c k E s’s, Dr. T I L L o T s o N
is faid to be the gravefi Atheift that ever was.
Thus the reverend Dr. C L A R K E, and Mr.
S A M U E L B o LD , & Mr. Jo H N Lo C K E
al’e

* Ref. on a diſc. offree-thinking. p. 52.

t Dedic. before a Dife. of the Meſfiah, p. 16, 17, 19, 162:
# Leſley’s charge of Socinianiſm against Tillotfon and
Burnet.
s Hickes's Dife, upon Dr. Tillotfon and Burnet, p. 4o.
 |

of FREE-THINKING. 69
are charg’d with Atheifm by the reverend * Mr.
C A R R o L; and Mr. C H I L L I N G w o R T H , the
ableft advocate we everhad againſt Popery, goes
commonly under the opprobrious name of Socinian.
6thly A fixth infiance of the prieſts conduff, is,
their rendring the canon offcripture uncertain
Dr. G R A B E fays, † that the Canon offcrip
ture was not made while the Apofiles were alive;
no not prefently after the martyrdom of P E T E R
and PÅ U L, when C L E M E N s wrote bis Epifile
to the Corinthians; wherein the Old Teſtament is
frequently cited, but not one paſſage out of the
New, except from thoſe Epíſtles which P AU L
had writ to the Corinthians. From thence it is
to be infer’d, that C L E ME N s thought the Co
rinthians were acquainted with no other fcriptures,
but PA U L s Epifiles to them. The cafe is the
fame in reſpett of B A R N A B As and HE R M A s ;
zvbo, tho they both wrote a little after the def.
truction of Jeruſalem, have not cited any book
ef the New Teſtament.
|- E 3 Dr.

* Remarks on Clarke’s Lestures. Defence of the Re

markt. Differt. againſt Locke.
t Canon facrorum librorum non fatim ab initio Eccleſia,
vivis adhuc Apoſtolis, fastus erat ; imo ne quidem mox
poſt martyrium Pauli ở Petri, quo tempore S. Clemens
epifolam dabat ad Corinthios, canon erat conditus, fiqui
dem ipſe fepiſſimè veteris quidem Teſtamenti ſcripturas, nul
lam vero novi Inſtrumenti allegavit, exceptis iis que ad
ipſos Corinthios ab Apoſtolo date erant, literis : unde colli
gere eft; Clementem nullas alias Corinthiis notas exiſti
maſſe. Similis quoque ratiº Barnabe ở Herme, quo
zum uterque paulo poſt excidium Hieroſolymitannm ferip
fit, neuter ullum novi testamenti librum allegavit. Spi
cil, Secul, 1. p. 329.
„o A D ISCOURS E
I)r. M 1 L L s fays, * There vas mo colle&tion
made of any books offcripture, wbether of Epiftles
or Gofpels, till above ibreefcore years after the
deatb of Chrift. Not of the Epifles certainly ; for
concerning the authors and authority of fome of
tbefe , tbere vere great difputes and doubts in the
Apoftolical Churches im the following ages ; which
had mever happem'd, had amy of tbe laf? furvi
ving Apofles conftituted a Camom. Ner of the
fùur Gofpels; the reading of which in the Cburches
`vas not them determim'dand agreed om, a* Ifhall
[how prefemtly.
Dr. BE v E R I D G E fays, f Among all the
more anciemt writers of Ecclefiajiical matters , you
3vill hardly find two that agree in the fame num
ber of canonical books,

Again he fays, f No one cam be,ignorant, that

fome
• Huc ufque, mimirum ab anno evulgata epißolae priori;
D. Pauli ad Theffal, ad tempus ufque editi joanmù evange
lii, dimidium ferè dico feculum, fparfi erant hi libri.Tac
feparatim circumferebantur finguli, abfque omni caeterorum
comitatu. Nondum enim erat fačta colleëtio aliqua five epijfo
larum, five etiam evangeliorum. Nom epiftolarum certè ;
fiquidem de aliquarum ex his few autoribus feu autoritate,
apud ipfu ecclefias -Apoftolicas feculù proxime fequentibws pri•
vatim dubitatum ac publicè difputatum fuit : Id quod neüti
quam accidiffet fi ab aliquo JApoftolorum adhuc fuperßite ,
ac praefertim joamme, certus ipfàrum numerws fuiffet comffi
tutus. Neque vero Evangeliorum: de hifce fòlù quatuor in eccle
fiâ leëtitandis mihii adhuc certè definitum erat, uti mox offen
dam. Millii Proleg. p. 23.
f Inter omnes vetußiores rerum ecclefiaßicarum Scriptores
vix dwos in eodem mumero librorum camonicorum confentientes
reperies. Apud Entii Bibl. Sanétam. p. 376.
# “De monmullù ex vere canonicis JApoftolorum libris, tri
bus priorilu Chrißianifmi feculù dubitatum fuiffe , meminem
fwgit. Codex Can. vind, Edit. Cleric9. p. ■ 17.
 ºf FREE-THINKING, z.
fome of the truly canonical books of the Apofiles
were doubted ofin the threefirſt centuries of Chriſti
anity.

7tbly. A Seventh infiance of their condući, is,

their owning and labouring to prove the text ºf
the fcripture to be precarious.
The reverend Mr. G R E G o R y of Chrift
Church in Oxford fays, * There is no profane
author whatſoever, cæteris paribus, has fuffer'd
fo much by the hand of time, as the New Teſta
ment bas done.

Dr. M 1 L L s has publiſh’d a book containing

all the various readings of the New Teſtament he
has been able to meet with; and they amount,
according to a † late author, to above 3oooo.
How the text (that is the OrthodoxChurch of
England text) offcripture is affected by this
work of Dr. M1 LL s , you may fee by the late
learned Critique of Dr. , W H 1 T B x , who
in general thus declares his judgment of it.
Says he, # The vafi quantity of various readings
E 4 collected
* Preface to his Poſthumous Works.
t Pref. Nov. Teft. Wetfenii.
# Variantium lestionum immenfa moles multorum animos
fufpenſos reddet, iiſque fuſpiciones haudparvas injiciet, parums
quid certi ex libris in omni commate , imo in omni ferè
commatis parte variantibus, expestari poſſe. Depravationem
illam textûs Greci, que ejus autoritatem labefastet, ex ma
gná illâ lestionum varietate, quam in exemplaribus Grecis
R. Stephani invenit, arguit Morinu: Quantos igitur de
textu eodem triumphos agent Pontificit, cum viderint eas
lestiones a Millio quadruplo austiores fastas, é demum a?--
pendice copiofá locupletatu ? Id inſuper cauſe nostre haud pa:
rum officereexistime, quod cºrruptalas interpolationeſque ha**
- paucau
72 A D I SC O U RS E
collected by the doctor, muft of courſe make the
mind doubtful or fuſpicious, that nothing certain
can be expected from books, where there are vari
ous readings in every verfe, and almoff in every
part of every verfe. M o R I N U s argu’d the
depravation of the Greek text, which feems to
weaken its authority, from the great variety of
readings that he had found in the manuſcript copies
of R. S T E P H E N s. How will the Papifis tri
umph over the text of fcripture, when they fee
thofe readings made four times as many, and at
length increas'd by a large appendix ? More-over,
it does not a little hurt our cauſe of Proteſtancy,
that the doctor confidently affirms, that not a
few corruptions and interpolations have happen'd
almoff fom the beginning of Chriſtianity, and in
the Apoſtolick age. *
Laftly
Basicas ab ipſis ecclefie incunabulis, evoque penè Apºstolice:
S. Scripturis accidiſ fidenter Millius pronunciet. Whitbyi
Examen Var. Lećt. Millii, p. 3. 4.
* It being matter of diſpute, on occafiºn of Dr. Mills’s ở
Dr. Whitbys performances, whether the numerous various
readings do affett the text of ſcripture or no, I ſhall endea
vour to ſtate the matter au diffinĉily as I can in the follow
ing obſervations.
1. Were there an original manuſcript of the fcriptures
zunder the hands of the inſpired Authers yet extant ; or had
the feveral copiſts in all ages of the Church been inſpired in
tranſcribing them ; It is poſſible we might have had a moff
perfest text, of that moji perfest book, printed.
i But it not having pleas'd the divine providence to make
uſe of either of theſe methods, we are (fince our falvation
is fuppos'd to depend on the right underfanding of the fcrip
tures) obligd is build our faith on a mºre uncertain foun
dation, ở by Critical gueffes upon the infinite number of
various readings to make a text for our felves; au we do in
the cafe of Terence or any other antient Author.
3. There i fill a further uncertainty in fixing the words
ºf Scripture by Critical gueſes, than of any other :
ºoks ;
–=—--

ºf FREE-THINKING. 7,
Laftly, Dr. M1 L L s has difcover’d a * paſſage
(very little known before , and which efcap’d'
the enquiries even of father S 1 M o N, who has
labour'd fo much to prove the uncertainty ofthe
text offcripture) giving an account of ageneral
alteration of the Text of the four Gofpels in
the fixth century; and thisrecorded by V i c r o R
of Tmuis, an African Biſhop , who † flouriſh’d
in that very : , in his Chronicon, which has been
only printed by C A N I sI U sat Ingolſtadin 16oo.,
and by Jos E P H S c A L I G E R in his edition
of the Chronicon of Eu s E B 1 u s. The paſſage is as
follows, † In the Conſulſhip of ME ss AL LA, at the
E command
book: ; becauſe many of the various readings of ſcripture have
been made not only thró ignorance and negligence, but thró
defign to fupport either Orthodoxy or Heteredoxy: whereas
: the various readings of other antient authors are cheifly owing
to the ignorance ở negligence of tranſcribers.
4. Thó the text of Scripture be, like the text ºf all other
antient books, rendered uncertain thrô the ignorance ở negli
gence of tranſcribert , and more uncertain than all others
thró the wilful corruptions of tranſcribers; Tet it is evident,
that the more antient manuſcripts there are which remain to us
& the more collations are made of them, the better are Cri
tical Chriſtians qualify'd to fix a true text of fripture for
themſelves. And by conſequence fuch Criticks as Father
Simon ér Dr. Bentley ought to be better Beleivers ċr in a
zmore direćł road to falvation than others who are inferior to
them in Criticifin.
5. It is no leß evident that the number of various readings
[if they are real } collested by Dr. Mills render that printed
Text from whence the Church of England Bible is tranſla
ted | or indeed any other Text whether manuſcript or prin
tend | fo very uncertain that we may juſtly conclude with a
reverend Divine. That we ſhould have more of the true
text by being lefs tenacious of the printed one. Clergy
mans Thanks in a Letter to Dr, Bently. p. 37.
* Prolegom. p. 98.
t Cave's Hiſt. Lit. p. 415.
# Meſſalla Confule, Anafafo Imperatore jubente, fandła
Evangelia, tanquam ab idiotis Evangelistis compoſita, repre
henduntur Ở emendantur.
74 A D S I C O LI R S E
commandoftheEmperor A N A s T A s 1 U s, the holy
Goſpels, as written by † ignorant Evangelifts, are
corrected and amended. The doctor likewife tells
us, that St. Is 1 D o RB Biſhop of Seville relates
the fame faćt in his Chronicon.

8thly. An eight Infance of the condust of the

Clergy, by which they make free-thinking necef
fary, is their daily publiſhing of books concerning
the nature of God, and the truth and authority
of the ſcriptures , wherein they fuggeſt the argu
ments of unbelievers ; and more particularly *
Treatifes in dialogue, where they actually intro
duce Atheiffs, Deifts , Scepticks , and Socinians,
fpeaking in behalf of their opinions, and that
;: you will fuppofe the prieſts to be unfair
writers in controverfy ) with the fame ſtrength,
fubtilty, and art, thoſe men fhow either in their
books or converſation.

9thly. A ninth infance of the prieſts condust,

is as follows : There is but one compleatancient
fystem of Atheiſm (viz. E P 1 cu R u s’s ſystem
written by Luc R E T I U s) left us upon record;
and the priefs will not fuffer that to lie hid in a
learned language ; but one of them , the late
reverend Mr. C R E E c H , has tranſlated it into
Engliſh verfe, for the benefit and entertainment
of the Engliſh reader. And there are more re
commendations of Divines prefix'd before his per
formance, than ever I faw before any Religious
or devout author whatfoever; and thoſe all emi
nent and high Divines, fuch as the reverend Dr.
E D
t Phileleutherus Lipſienſis’s Remarks on the Diſc. of free!
thinking, p. 84.
* Leſley’s Dialogue between a Deiff and a Christian , 8vo.
and his Dialogues between a Socinian and a Christian, 4to. Ni
chols's Conference with a Theiſt: and many others.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 75
E D w A R D BE R N ARD, the reverend Dr.DUKE,
the reverend Dr. A D A M s , Provoſt of King’s
College in Cambridge, and the reverend Mr. Jo
s H U A B A R N E s, and divers others; in whoſe
company appears alſo the right modeſt and ortho
dox matron Mrs. A. BE H N.

Iothly. A Tenth infance of their condući , is,

their uſe of pious fauds in tranſlating and publiſh
ing of books.
In the old Proteſtant Bible, * printed in King
E D w A R D the VI’s days, and in the beginning
of Queen EL I z A B ET H's reign in the year 1562.
the word 'Exxaqario was tranſlated every where
Congregation, and not Church ; whereby great
offence was given to the Papifts : but the reve
rend tranſlators of the:::: common Bible have
in fome places render'dit Aſſembly, and in others
Church, with defign to have us believe that the
word Church :::::: the prieft. For wherever
the word'Exxandrix manifeſtly fignifies the People,
as it does in Aćis 19. 32. there they render it
Aſſembly : whereas had they faid, The Church
(inftead of Aſſembly ) was confus'd , and the
more part knew not wherefore they were come to
gether; the fignification ofthewordChurch would
not have admitted of any doubt about its mean
ing. And wherever the meaning of the word
'ExxAygız is not fo clear from the context as it
is in the foregoing paſſage of the Acts, there they
tranſlate it Church; as for infiance in Mat. 18.
17., Tell the Church. By which the Priests un- .
derſtand, Tell the Prieft. Whereas were the word
'Exxància always tranſlated alike, either every
where Church, or every where Aſſembly ,
there
* Parker's Life by Strype, p. 207.
 76 A D I S C O U RSE
there could be no diſpute who are meant by
'ExxAyrıcz; nor by confequence, to whom be
long, the great : which are throughout
the ſcripture given to thoſe who are fignify'd by
that word.
The reverend tranſlators of the Bible have put
another pious fraud upon us, by inferting the
word God in this paffage of the Acts ; And they
ch. 7. 59 fonedŞTE P H E N» calling upon God, and faying,
Lord Jeſus receive my fpirit ; without the leaft
foundation either from any manuſcriptor printed
copy whatſoever of the New Testament in any
language.
Likewife to concealthe true meaning oftheword
Aasao. 'Ertºzórgę the reverend tranſlators have ren
3

28.
der'd it overfêers, becauſe it manifeſtly fignifies
in that place feveral perſons in one congregation;
whereas had they tranſlated it Biſhops, ( as they
do in other places ) it would have appear'd that
a fcripture Biſhop was nota Dioceſan Biſhop : nay,
it would havě appear’d that Biſhop and :::::::
( or Elder) were ſynonimous terms in the ferip
tures, fincé thefe very men who are call'd here
'Erignoroi, are call'd IIạes@úrefoi in the fev
enteenth verfe.
Thus to conceal the Order of Deaconeſes, and
thereby keep women (who now think they have
IlO : to any higher office, than to ſweep the
Church and open pews ) ignorantoftheir Goſpel
Rom 161. privilege, P H a B È is in oirtranſlation faid to be
a fervänt of the Church; whereas the original is
Aicſxov@- r' 'ExxAqơıæg, a Deaconneß of the
Church. In
 of FREE-THINKING. 77
In the poſtfcript of the fecond Epifile to T1
M o r H Y, TI M o T H Y is call'd the firſt Biſhop of
the Church of the Ephefians; and in the poſtcript
of the Epiſtle to T I T U s, T1 Tu s is call'd the
firſt Biſhop of the Church of the Cretians : but
both theſe were prov'd in Parliament to be țbold
and ſpurious additions, made by fome antient
priefs, and continu’d by our reverend editors.
To give authority to the three Creeds us’din the
Common-prayer books, and recogniz’din the Ar
ticles of the Church , one is call'd the Apofiles,
another the Nicene, and the laſt St. Athanaſius's;
whereas it is paft diſpute, that * not one ofthem
belongs to the authors, or author, to whom it
is attributed. But to do juſtice to the compilers
of the Common-prayer book and Articles , I do
allow this might proceed from ignorance as well
as defign. But the reverend Examiner of the
Biſhop of Sarum's Expoſition on the 39. Articles
is plainly for continuing this impoſition, when
he fays, # That it would have been proper for an
Expoſitor to have made the beſt of the Article,
rather than to have taken pains to have fhown the
Creeds were not rightly nam'd; and that the Biſhop's
honet diſcovery does not comport with the deſign
of the Article.

Even in matters of lefs confequence they cor

rupt books. Thus the ::::: Mr. B R o w N ,
Rećtor ofSunbridgin Kent, tranſlated into Engliſh
fome Letters of father P A U 1, and printed them
in 1693. and in his tranſlation has fmother'd the
moſt remarkable and valuable paffages that are to
be
† Diurnal Occurrences, p. 123. I 24.
- * Bishop of Sarum's Expoſ. p. 106.
# Prefat. Examin. p. 41.
 78 A D I S COU RS E
be found in thoſe Letters. , Some oftheinſtances
will give you fome entertainment.
He has omitted theſe words : 1. If the * King
of England ( meaning King JAM E s the firſt )
were not more a doctor than a King.

2. Ifthe King of England were not a dottor,

fome good might be look'd for. But the moſt re
markable omiſſion is this which follows.

3. For the Engliſh, fays F. PA U L, Ifear. The

great power of the Biſhops , the under a King,
makes me fufpett fomething. For whenever they
have an eaſy Prince, or an Archbiſhop ofan high
fpirit, the Royal power will dwindle , and the
Biſhops will aſpire to an abſolute dominion. , Me
thinks Ifeein England the horfe bridled and/addled,
and the old Rider, as Igueß, willſhortlyget upon
his back.

The reverend tranſlator of B.A " M G A R T E N’s

Travels, in C H u R c H I L 's Collection of Voyages,
has ſtifled a paffage that contains two very re
markable particulars, which areas follows† With
out the city of Grand Cairo on the banks of the
Nile, they ſhow'd us a Moſque, where during the
zime of divine fervice the dead are faidto come out
of
* Preface, p. 59.
† Extra urbem in ripá Nili muſchkea quedam nobis monstra
ta est, ubi tempore quo fàcraperagunt, humati efepulcris prodi
ze dicuntur, ac donec fuos opinione ſacroi ritus peragunt, fta
biles immobileſque conffere demum & diſparere; quod qui igno
ret in Cairo nemo eſt. Vidimus inſuper ibi lacum quendam in
gentem, Nilo contiguum, qui fingulis annis fertur rubefere in
fazeruoris: quod forte fit in memoriam plage illius • Ægyptie,
44ă aque omnes in fanguinem verſe memorantur. Peregrina
tiones, l. 1. c. 18.
 of FREE-THINKING. 79
of their graves, and to continue out of the ground
as long as divine ſervice holds, and then tovaniſh
out of fight. This is affirm’d by every body in
Grand Cairo. Wefaw likewife there a certain great
lake, which is reported to be as red as blood once
a year; which perhaps continues in memory ofthat
Egyptian plague, by which the waters of Egypt
werefaid to be turn’d into blood. -

The right reverend Biſhop F E L L corruptedin

many places Woo D s Hiſtory and Antiquities of
the Univerſity of Oxford , while it was in the
prefs; and in particular ſtruck out feveral paffa
ges wherein Wo o D had done juſtice to Mr. É o B
B E s, and inferted others in their ſtead, deroga
tory to his fame and charaćter. Of this Mr.
W o op himſelf acquainted Mr. Ho B B E s ; and
if you have the curiofity to fee what the altera
tions were, you may :nd them in H o B B E s’s P. 1 14.
Life.

In ſhort, thefe frauds are very common in all

books whichare publiſh’dby prieſtsorprießlymen,
and becaufe fome few may think amiſs of emfor
it. I will not conceal the apology that may be
made for this praćtice. It is certain, they may
Plead the authority of the Fathers and the ántiene
Chriſtian prieſts for forgery, corruption, mangling
and defrućfion of Authors, with more reafon
than for any of their Articles of faith. Forst.
J = R o M fays, * If therefore i have tranſlatea
the
* Si igitur, que bona funt tran/tuli, čº mala vel ampu
tavi vel correxi veltacui, arguendus fum, cum per me La
tini bona Origenis habeant ér mala ignorent ? S:'hoc est r}
men , argaetur & Hilarius : Sit in culpá Vercellenfi, gu:
ºmnium Pſalmorum commentarins heretici hominis ##
Ceſarienſis J vertit in nostrum eloquium, heretica prater::
#f736
3o A DISCOU RSE :
the good things of O R I G E N, and correćřed or
conceal'd the bad, am I to be blam’d for making men
acquainted with what is good in him, and keep
ing'em ignorant of what is bad in him? If this
be a crime , St. HI L A R Y is as guilty as I am.
Eu s E B 1 u s V E R cE L L E N s 1 s is likewife in
fault, who tranſlated into Latin the Commenta
ries of EU s E B I U s of Cæſarea a grand heretick,
but has omitted all his herefies. Ifay nothing of
V 1 c r o RI N U s and others, leſi I ſhould feem
mot fo much to defend my felf, as to feek complices
in the fame crime. And likewife before St. Ge
roms time, asalearned Author informsus, * The.
Greek Clergy had fo much credit at Court that the
Emperors for their fake , burnt the works of many
of the old Greek Poets. And therefore we have
loft the Plays of M E N A N D E R, A P o L L o Do
R U s, P H I L E M o N, and A L E x 1 s, and the
Poems of S A P P H o , E R I N N A, A N A C R E o N,
M I M N E R M U s, B I o N G A L C AE U s. And
infead of thoſe, the Poems of G R E G o R Y N A
z I A N z E N were fubſtituted; which thô they excite
an ardent zeal for Religion, yet they fall fhort of
thofe others in propriety of words er elegancy of
expreſſion. Theſe prieſts were indeed fhamefully
injurious to the old Greeks , but they gave the
greateſt teſtimony of Integrity, Probity, cº Reli
g102.

tent. Taceº de Vistorino Pistavionenfi ċr ceteris-ne non

tam me defendere, quam faciorum criminis videor querere.
Ady. Vigilantium. Op. Tom. 2. p. 312, 3 13. Ed.
Erafmi.
* Sacordotes Gracos tantâ floruiffe autoritate apud cafares
Byzantinos ; ut integrâ illorum gratiá complura de veteribus
Grecis Poëmata combuſferint. Atque ita Menandri, Apol
lodori , Philemonis, Alexis falellas, ở Aleæi carmina
intercidille. Tum pro his ſubſtituta Nazianzeni nofri Foimata:
quae
 of FREE-THINKIN G. 81.
gion, † Nor did GR E G o Ry the G R E A T, the
Apofile of England, make leſs havock among the
Latin Authors, when under the pretenſe of an
auffere fanctity he caus’d the Palatine library at
Rome to be burnt. -

I might go on to affign other infiances of the

priests conduct , fuch as their declamations againſt
reafon; their arts andmethods of difcouraging ex
amination into the truths of Religion; and their
encouraging examination, when authority isagainft
them, or when they think that truth is clearly on
their fide; their instilling principles into youth,
cơc. But that I may not run this letter into too
great a length, I forbear infifting on thefe and
many other infiances of their conduct, which I
could affign. And therefore fhall now conclude
from thoſe foregoing, that fince the prieſts, not
only of different religions and fects, but of the
fame fećf, are infinitely divided in opinion about
the nature and attributes of God, and the autho
rity and meaning offcriptures; fince we have
prieſts who acknowledg the doĉtrines ofour Church,
which they have folemnly fworn to preach up, to
be contradictory to one another and to reafon, and
that feveral abuſes, defects, and falfe doćirines
are crept into the Church; fince they profeß they
F will
que etf excitant animos noſtrorum hominum adflagrantiorem
TReligionis cultum, non tamen verberum Atticorum proprie
tatem čr Græcæ Lingue elegantiam docent. Turpiter quidem
isti facerdotes in veteres Græcos malevoli fuerunt ; frá Inte
gritatis,_Probitatis, & Religionis maximum dedêre teſtimo
nium. Johannes Medices apud Barnefii vitam Anacre
ontis. p. 61
† Nec Gregorius magnus, Saxonum noſtrorum Patrum
•Apostolus ille, minus in Latinas literas peccavit; quandº
Bibliothecam illam Palatinam Roma comburendam curavit,
fab aufferioris fanttimonie Jpecie. Barnefii Vita Anacreon
ti3. p. 62, 63.
82 A DISCO URSE
will not tell the truth themfelves, and make it
matter of reproach in the clergy to tell the truth;
fince they prejudicem: againſt their own doctri
mes, by infinuations ofinfidelity and herefy, againſt
all good Chriſtian; who are men offenfe; fince
they render both the canon and text of fripture
pretarious and uncertain; fince theyfill mens heads
with irreligious notions, hy publiſhing the argu
ments of infidel; , and reviving the old ſyftems of
Atheiſm; and lafly, fince they are guilty; on fo
many occaſions , ºf frauds in the publiſhing of
###: we have no way offettling ºur felves in a
right notion of God; in the reception ofthe prefent
canon offcripture, and that facred Greek text of
the New Téfiament which is commonly printed;
Ama in the belief of the doctrine, and Fraélice of
the diſcipline and worſhip of the Church of En
: , as founded on that pure text; nor can we
e eaſy in our own minds under the prejudices and
difficulties which the prieſis put into us against
theſe truths, but by ceảfing to rely on them, and
stiinking freely for our felve.
S E C T. III.

Have frequently obſerv'd in converſation, that

men are inore led by certain difficulties and
objeations, which they pick uP: "º rejećł what
is certain and true, than they are tº admit an
thing for true by virtue of a proof à priori.
W:refore I will now conſider the principal ob
jestions I have met with, in the mouths of the
ſincere, to examination and free-thinking.
1st. It is objeſted, That tº futpoſe men havea
right
 w

of FREE-THINKING. 83
right to think on all fubjeffs, is to engage them
in enquiries for which they are no was qualify'd;
the bulk of mankind really wanting a capacity to
think juffly about any fpeculations: and there:
fore’tas abfurd to affert that men have a right
to think freely, much more that it is their duty
to think freely. To which I anſwer.
1. That to affert only a bare right in any man
to do a thing, implies a right in him to let it
alone, if he thinks fit. And therefore no man
needs engage himſelf in any enquiries by virtue
of his : to think freely, unleſs he judges him
felf fufficiently qualify'd.
2. To affert it is all mens duty to think-freely
on certain fubjects, engages them only in enqui
ries on thofe ſubjećts, which they who contend
for the neceſſity of all mens affenting to certain
propoſitions, muft allow all men are qualify'd to
do. For the only way to know what opinion I
ought to have in any matter, is to think about
that matter; and to ſuppoſe that God requires
me to believe any opinion, and has not put into
my power the means of underſtanding the
grounds of that opinion, is abfurd.
| 3. Suppoſing the bulk of mankind do want the
capacity to think freely on matters of ſpeculation,
I do then allow, that free-thinking can be no
duty. And the prieſts muſt likewife allow, that
men can be no way concern’d about truth or
falfehood in fpeculative matters; and that the be
lief of no opinions can be juſtly requir’d ofthem.
But ſtill the right to think freely will remain
untouch'd for all thoſe who are diſpos'd to think
freely. -

F 2 2dly. It
84 A D Is C o u R S E
2dly. It is objested, That to allow and encou
rage men to think freely will produce endleff
diviſions in opinion, and by confequence diforder
in fociety. To which I anſwer.
1. Let any man lay down a rule to prevent
diverfity of opinions, which will not be asfertile
of diverſity of opinions as free-thinking; or if it
prevents diverfity of opinions, will not be a
remedy worfe than the difeafe; and I will yield
up the queſtion.
| 2. Mere diverſity of opinions has no tendency
in nature to confufion in fociety. The Pytha
goreans, Epicureans, Stoicks, Platonifis, Acade
micks, Cynicks, and Stratonicks, all exiſted in
Greece at the fame time, and differ’d from one
another in the moſt important points; viz. con
cerning the freedom of human actions, the immor
tality and immateriality of the foul, the being and
nature of the Gods, and their government of the
world, And yet no confufion everarofe in Greece
on account of this diverſity of opinions. Nay, fo
far were the differences among Philoſophers from
being fuppos'd to have any tendency towards con
fufion infociety, that the * Epicureans as well as
other :::::::: had falarys fetled on them by
the Government. Nor did the great variety of
religions and worſhips, which in old Rome were
of f fix hundred different kinds, ever produce
any great diforder or confufion among the an
tients. Nay, fo little polemick divinity was there
among them, and fo little miſchief did the Hea
then prieſts do, that there are no materials for
that # of hiſtory call'd eccleſiaſtical hiſtory: for,
- 31S

* Gaffndi de Vitá čr moribus Epicuri. Cap, 5. l. 2.

za i Lipſius de magnitud. Rom. l. 4. c. 5.
 of FREE-THINKING. 85
as that univerfal fcholar , G R o r I U s, ob ferves
| * Eccleſiaſtical hiſtory confifts of nothing but the
Villanys of the governing Clergy. , And the true
reafon , why no ill effect follow'd this diverſity
of opinions : in Philoſophy and Divinity was,
becauſe men generally agreed in that mild and
peacable :::::of allowing one another to
think freely , and to have different opinions.
Whereas had the common praćtice of calumny
us’d among Chriſtians prevail'd among them, or
had they condemn'd one another to : and fag
got, impriſonment and fines in this world, and
damnation in the next, and by thefe means have
engag’d the paffions of the ignorant part of
mankind in their feveral parties; then confufion,
diforder, and every evil work had follow'd, as
it does at this day among thofe Chriſtians who
allow no liberty of opinion. We may be con
vinc’d of this by our own experience. How
many diſputes are there every where among Phi
lofophers, Phyſicians, and Divines which, b
the allowance of free debate, produce no :
effects? Further, let any man look into the hif.
tory and ftate of the Turks , and he will fee the
influence which their tolerating principles and
temper have on the peace of their Empire. It
is affirm’d in their Alcoran, † that one who lives
as be ought to do, whether be be Chriſtian or
Jew, or whether he hath forfaken one profeſion
to embrace another; every one that adores God,
and does the thing that is good, fhall undoubted
ly obtain the love of God. And purſuant to thair
principles has been their praćtice; for from the
beginning of their Empire to this day, they have
* · F 3 tolerated
* Qui legit historium Eccleſiasticam, quid legit niſi Epif
copºrum vitia ? Epiſtol, p. 7: col. I | 4
Í Axlora 2.
$6 „A D I S C O U R S E
various fests, and particularly Chriſtians (upon
the terms of paying a ſmall tribute) tho thofe
Chriſtians eſteem their prophet an impoſtor, and
would infallibly extirpate with fire and fword
their preſent protećtors, if the Empire was in
their hands. The peace of the Turkiſh Empire
is fo perfect (in reſpect to the peace among
Chriſtians) by virtue of the charityandtoleration
which prevail among them, that our pious
Biſhop Tay to R fays, * He could not but ex
peċi that God would enlarge the bounds of the
Turkiſh Empire, or fome way or other puniſh
Chriſtians by reafon of their pertinacious diſputing
of things unneceſſary, undeterminable and unpro
fitable, and for their hating and perſecuting their
brethren, which ſhould be as dear to them as
their own lives, for not confenting to one another’s
follies and fenflest vanities. So that it is evident
matter of fact, that a refraint upon thinking is
the cauſe of all the confufion which is pretended
to arife from diverfity of opinions ; and that
liberty of thinking is the remedy for all the difor
ders which are pretended to arife from diverfity
of opinions. |

3dly. It is objećted , That iffee-thinking be

allow'd, it is poſſible fome men may think them
felves into Atheiſm; which is efeem'd the greateft
of all evils in government. To which I anſwer
I. My Lord BA C o N fays, † The contemplative
Atheift is rare : But many Divines maintain that
there never was a real Atheift in the world. And
fince the matter of faćt is founcertain as to be
made a problem, there ſeems to need no provi
fion againſt fuch a monster. 2. If
* Epifle Ded. to Liberty of Prophecying.
* Eſſays, p. 93.4to.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 87
2. If there isany fuch raremonſterasan Atheiß,
DA v 1 D has givenus his Charaćterin theſe words,
The fool hath faid in his heart, there is no God,
that is, no one denies the existence of a God but
fome idle, unthinking, ſhallow fellow. And Mr.
H o B B Es fays , † that they who are capable of
inſpecting the vefſels of generation, and nutrition;
and not think them made for their feveral ends by
an understanding being, ought to be eſteem’d deſti
tute of underſtanding themſelves. And my Lord
BA co N further judiciouſly remarks , * that a
little philoſophy enclineth mens minds to Atheiſm,
but depth in philoſophy bringeth mens minds about
to Religion. And his obſervation is confirm’d by
experience. For in ignorant Popiſh countries,
where free-thinking paíſes for a crime , , Atheiſm
moſt abounds ; for free-thinking being baniſh'd,
it remains only for men to take up their Religion
upon truft from the prieſt : which being fuch a .
of God to : on:::::.
jeſt upon all things by making the truths
the various and contradic
tory whimfies of intereſtedandfallible men ; half
witted and unthinking people, who can eaſily fee
through this, conclude all alike the prieſt fays.
So that ignorance is the foundation of #::
and free-thinking the cure of it. And thus tho it
ſhould be allow'd, that fome men byffee-thinking
may become Atheiſis, yettheywillever befewer
in number if fee - thinking be permitted , than
ifit be reſtrain’d.

3. Butfuppofing thatfee-thinking will produce

a great number of Atheifs ; yet it is certain they
F 4 Call

i stuifmachinas omnes tum generationis. tum nutritienis

fatis perſpexerint, nec tameneas a mente aliquâ conditas ordina:
*“fue ad ſua quaſque officiaviderint, ipfprºfestò finemente eſſe
cºnfendi funt. De Homine c. 1.
* Eſſays, p. 9o.
 88 " A D ISCOU R S E A
can never be fo numerous where fee-thinking is
allow'd, as the fuperffitious and enthuſiafis will be,
if free-thinking be reftrain’d. And if thefe lat
ter are equally or moremiſchievousto fociety than
the former, then it is better to allow of free-think
ing, tho it ſhould increaſe the number of Atheiſts,
than by a restraint offee-thinking , to increafe
the number of fuperffitious people and enthuſiafis.
Now that enthuſiafis and fuperffitious people are
equally or more miſchievous to ſociety, I will
prove to you in the judicious remarks of two men
ofgreat authority.
My Lord BA co N fays , * Atheifm leaves a
man to fenfe, to philoſophy, to natural piety , to
laws, to reputation ; all which may be guides to an
outward moral vertue, tho Religion were not : but
*
fuperfition difmounts all theſe, andereffeth an ab
folute monarchy in the minds of men. Therefore
Atheiſm did never perturb fiates ; for it maketh
men wary of themfelves, as looking no further :
and we fee the times inclin'd to Atheiſm (as the
times of A U G U s T u s C a s AR) were civil times.
But fuperffition hath been the confufion of many
fiates; and bringethin a new primum mobile that
raviſheth all theſpheres of government,
Dr. H1 c k Es fàys, † If the Atheiß does evil
becauſe he believes not, the Enthuſiaf willupon a
thouſand occaſions believe he may do evil. if the
one ficks at no means, tho never fo wicked, the
other thinks the goodneß of the end will fanttify the
moff wicked means. In a word, theyboth make a
eloke of Religion for covetoufneß, ambition and
cruelty : They will both lye, murder , rob , and
f'(?«

* EJays. p. 96.
f Dife, on Tillotfon and Burnet, p. 24.
 of FREE-THINKING. 89
rebel for holy Church and Religion ; and there never
yet was any holy league, covenant, or aſſociation,
to begin or carry on rebellion, under the holy pre
tence of Religion, wherein the ringleaders were not
Atheifis or Enthuſiafis : and of the two it is hard
to tell which haib done mof miſchief in any king
dom. But the Enthuſiaff makes the more taking and
plauſible hypocrite of the two; he can fooner melt
înto tears, and more naturally counterfeit the fpi
ritual man among the people, and transform him
felf with a better grace into an angel oflight.
4thly. It is objećted , That the prieſts are fet
apart to think freely for the laity, and are to be
rely’d on , as Lawyers, Phyſicians , &c. are in
their feveral faculties. To this Ianfwer.
1. That noman is excludedfrom ſtudying Law
or Phyſick, becaufethere are many already ofthofe
profeſſions, norfrom following his own judgment
when he is fick or in law; nor is there any rea
fon why a man, who is not a Doctor in Phyfick
or a Serjeant at Law, may not underſtand as
much Law and Phyfick as either of them. In
like manner, the fetting men apart for the ſtudy
of Divinity , does not exclude others from the
fame ſtudy , nor from following their judg
ments about a pointin Divinity, nor from know
ing as much Divinity as any Doctor in Divinity.
And byconfequence, there is no neceſfity to rely on
any man’s judgment, eitherin Law, Phyfick, or
Divinity. And this puts me in mindofa paffage
in Mr. LE C L E R c’s late * Bibliotheque Choiſie.
A Gentleman ask'd a proprietor of New-Jerſey in
America ( where there are few inhabitans befides
Quakers) whether they had any Lawyers among
F 5 them
* Tom, 25. p. 13o.
9o A D I S CO U RS E
them ? Then , whether they had any Phyſicians ?
And laftly, whether they had any Priefis ? To all
which the proprietor anfwer’d in order , No. O
happy country : replies the gentleman , that mult
be a paradiſe i
2. But ſuppofing that the bulk of mankind are
oblig’din matters of Law and Phyfick to rely on
fome one in thoſe profeſſions, the parallel will
not hold from Law and Phyfick to Divinity, and
the cafes are differentin theſe following reſpećts.
( 1.) When Ithro unskilfulnefsin Law or Phy
fick rely on fome Lawyer or Phyſician, I am b
no means under an obligation implicitly to believe
the principles or opinions upon which the one pref.
cribesor the otheraćts, or fo much as to know any
thing in nature about them. The Phyfician may
cure me ofa diftemper, and the Lawyer may get
me my : , let my ignorance in either proféſion
be ever fo great : Theſe are matters which can be
tranſafted by a Deputy. Whereas in matters of
Divinity I am oblig'd to believe certain opinions
my felf, and can depute no man to believe för
me; nor will any man’s belief fave me , except
my own. So that it is my duty to think for my
felfin matters ofReligion; whereas I am atliberty
whether I will ſtudy Law or Phyſick.
(2.) Prieſts have no intereft tolead me to true
opinions, butonly to the opinions they havelifted
themſelvesto profefs, and for the moſt part into
miſtaken opinions: For it is manifeſt that all
prieſts, except the orthodox, arehir’d to lead men
unto miftakes. Whereas there are no Lawyersnor
Phyſicians fet apart and hir’d to defend miſtaken
opinions in thoſe profeſſions. And their intereft,
2S
 of FREE-THINKING. or
as to fucceſs,is the fame with that oftheirClients and
Patients; but the priests intereft is moſtlydifferent
from that of the laity. A layman wants to know
the truth, and the prieß defires to have him of his
opinion.
(3.) Prieftsare notfetapart to ſtudy Divinity,
as Lawyers and Phyſicians are to ftudy Law and
Phyſick. The priests do not ſtudy Divinity pro
perlyfo call'd, but only how to maintain a certain
fyſtem ofDivinity. Thus the Popiſh, Mabometan,
Lutheran, Jewiſh , Siamefe , and Presbyterian
prieſis, ſtudy their feveralSyſtems. Whereas Phy
ficians are notty'd down to H I P P o C R A T E s, or
G A L E N, or PAR A c E L s Us, but have all na
ture and allmens obſervations before them , with
out any obligation to ſubſcribe : to any
one : nor have Lawyersany rule, but the Law it
felf, which they areat liberty to interpret accord
ing to its realfenfe, being bound by no articles or
fubſcriptionsto interpretit otherwife.
(4.) If I die throthecondusttofa Phyſician, or
lofemy right by the conduct ofmy Lawyer, thatis
the worſt which can befal me ; but if I truft to a
prieſt who is in the wrong, I am ſuppos'd to be
eternally damn'd.
. But thirdly I anſwer , that ſuppofing the
cafes are parallel, nobenefitwillfollow to any fet
of prieſts in particular, norwillthere be any pre
vention of : ofopinions, or ofany other of
thoſe evils which fee-thinking is ſuppos'd to
produce. For if the cafesare parallel , then men
may chufe their own priests, as : chufe their
own Lawyers and Phyſicians. Andiffo, thenone
man will chufe Jo H N B U N Y A N, another DA
N I E L B U R G E s s, a third Dr. S W I F *sº: T
92 A DISCOU R SE S
ATT E R B U R y , and fo on. And if they may:
chufeprieſts of different opinions, why may they
not as wellthink for themſelves? fince it is impoſ:
fible for men by thinking for themfelvesto differin
opinion more from one another, and to hate and
perfecute one another more thorowly, than the
muft do upon granting them a liberty to chufepriests
ofdifferent forts. -

5thly. It is objećted, That certain fpeculations

(tho falſe) are neceſſary to be impos’d on men, in
order to affiff the Magiſtrate in preferving the peace
offociety : and that it is therefore as reafonable to
deceive men into opinionsfor their own good , as it
is in certain cafes to deceive children ; and confe
quently it muſt be abfurd to engage men in thinking
on ſubjećfs where erroris uſeful and truth injurious
to them. To which Ianfwer.

1. That this is anirreligious objection, and is fo

treated by C1 c E R o in the perſon of C o T T A.
Says he, * What do you think of thoſe men, who
have faid that the opinion of the existence oftheim
mortal Gods was invented by wife men for the publick
good; that they who would not be govern’d by rea
fon, might beinfluenc'd by religion to do their duty ?
Have not they defroy'd all religion ? *

2. I will grant the reafoning contain'd in the

ºbjection to be founded on a juſt principle , viz.
that the good offociety is the rule of whatever is to
be allow'd or restrain'd; and I will likewifegrant,
|- that

* Quid? ii qui dixerunt totam de Diis immºrtalibus opinio

"em fictam eſſe ab hominibus fapientibus Reipublice cauſt, ut
7" ratio non movet, eos ad officium Religio duceret, nonne
::::- religionem funditus fustulerunt ? De Naturâ Deor.
• I• - *
 of FREE-THIN KING. 93
that if errors are uſeful to human fociety, they
ought to be impos'd : and confequently I muſt al
low the inference , that thinking ought to be re
ſtrain'd. But then Iaffirm, that the rule is asfalfly
as it is irreligiouſly apply'd, and that both experience
and reafon demonstrate the impoſition offpecula
tions, whether true orfalfe, to befo far from being
a benefit, that it has been and muſt be the greateſi
miſchief that has ever befel or can befal mankind.
And to prove this I offerto your confideration the
two followingarguments.

( 1.) Luft, covetoufnefs , revenge , and am

bition have in all ages more or lefs plagued the
world, and been the fource of great diforders.
But zeal to impoſe fpeculations has not only had
the fame effests in common with thoſe pastions,
but has carry'd men to a pitch of wickednefs,
which otherwife eye had not feen, nor ear heard,
mor bad enter’d into the heart of man to conceive.
For whatancientor modern hiſtory can parallel the
brutality of * Religious zealots? What , the nu
merous maffacres, defolations, and murders for
Religion, in particular the maffacres of France and
Ireland, and the defolations and murders commit
ted by the Spaniards in the Weſt-Indies? What, the
complicated wickedneſs and cruelty ofour Engliſh
Clergy, whom , ast Biſhop T A Y L o R tells us,
H E N R y the fourth, becauſe he uſurp’d the crow” ,
was willing by allmeans to endear bymurderinghe
reticks, that fo be might be fure of them to all bis
purpoſes ? And what, that ſteddy laſting machine
offlavery, villany, and cruelty, the tribunalofthe
|- 172

* Nullu infest u hominibus bestia, ut funt/biferales pleri

44: Chriſtianorum, expertus. Ammian. Marcell. p. 3o2.
Ed. Valefii.
Í Epiſt. Ded. before Liberty of Propheffing.
 94 A DSICOU R S E
inquiſition ? The most irregular of our other paf
fions decay with time, and their miſchievous ef
feſts are reſtrain’dby goodfenfe and human policy;
and we have fome paffions in us : fuch as pity,
good-nature and humanity, which help to preferve
a tolerable ballance in the human machine. But
Religious zeal gathers ftrength with time, bears
down : and policy, leaps the bounds
ofnatural humanity, and vanquiſhes allthe tender
affions. Wherefore that excellent Prelate, Arch
|::: T1 L L o T s o N , very juftly obferves, *
that it willbe hard to determine how many degrees of
innocency and good-nature, or of coldneß and indifº
ferency in Religion, are neceſſary to over-ballance the
fury of a blind zeal; ſince feveralzealots had been
excellent men, if their Religion had not hinder'd
them, ifthe doctrines andprinciples of their Church
had not perverted and ſpoil'd their natural difpofi
tions.

(2.) The greatcharge offupporting fuch num

bers of men as are neceſſary to maintain impofi
tions, is a burden upon fociety which was never
felton any other occaſion. For Ifuppoſe it willbe
allow'd me, that the revenues belonging to the
Orders of Priefs, Monks, and Fryars in Popiſh
countries, are a greater tax on the ſubject , and
have introduc'da greater degree of poverty, than
has ever been felt from any Lay-Tyrants or Con
querors : for the latter have been contented with
temporary plunder only , without concerning
themfelveshow to findoutways to make mankind
beggars for ever. The charge alone therefore of
: fuch a number of Eccleſiaſticks, is a great
evilto fociety, tho it ſhould be ſuppos'd the Eccle
faſticks themſelves were employ’d in the moſt in
IAO-a

* Sermoni, vol. 3. p. 26 27.

 of FREE-THINKING. 95
nocent manner imaginable, viz. in mere eating
and drinking. -

3. In anfwer to the objection, I affirm, that

the peace and order of human fociety depending
upon , or rather confifting in the practice of moral
duties ; ifyou impofe any thing on mankind but what
is moral, the zeal to perform that muff of courſe
abate mens zeal in the practice of moral duties, and
confequentlyprejudicethe peace offociety.
( 1.) For, extending of zeal to other objećts
befides morality, muſt take off a portion of our
zeal for the practice of morality.
(2.) Since mankind can neverbe perfećtin the
performance of their duty , they will ever chufe
to be punctual in that which is eafieft to be done:
and therefore if you impofe any fpeculations on
men, they will not failin their zeal for them, and
leave a proportionable ſhare ofmorality undone.
(3.) It is matter ofdaily experience, thatzeal
for impofing fpeculations :::: deſtroy the prastice
of morality; and every Religious fećt gives us a
proof ofit. For isit not obvious, that ifyou con
tend earnestly for the doĉtrines of your fest,
and againſt the doctrines of all other fests ;
and in particular, if you are zealous for the inde
pendent power of the prieſi, his fole right to preach,
and his power to damn orfave at his pleaſure: you
fhall be fo farindulg’d in vice and wickednefs, as
to have it : if poſſible, and if made pu
blick, to have it colour'd over with the moſt cha
ritable conftruction imaginable? Whereas, ifyou
are againſtpredestination in Scotland, or tranſub
fiantiation in France, or againſt the power of the
Prieß in either country, you ſhall be repreſented as
the
96 A DISCOURSE
the moſt infamous wretch (tho they have no par
ticular immorality to charge upon you) and all
your innocent or virtuous actions ſhall be conſtrued
after the moſt uncharitable manner.

Further, are not theftreets ofthe city of London,

beyond thoſe ofall other cities whatſoever, full of
commonwhores, who are in effect publickly tole
rated in their wickednefs ? And are not the men
who have dealings with them free from all puniſh
ment, and almoſt from cenfure? And yet few or
no complaintsare made, ofthiswickednefs in the
open ſtreets, either from the pulpit or the preß.
But ifany man aflerts that a layman may fprinkle
water in a child'sface, or make a diſcourfe in publick
upon a text offcripture; the prefs rings with the
crime, and Dr. S A C H E v E R E L cries out from
the pulpit, * that the Engliſh fanatick, who fets
uplay-elders, is the greateſt monsterupon earth.
Befides they who have an intereft to enlarge
their fect and keep it united, know that nothing
tends fo much to its increaſe and union, as the
toleration of vice and wickednefs to as great a
degree as they can conveniently; for by that
means they aré fure to engage all the rogues and
viciotes (and by confequence the fools, who will
ever be led by them) in their party. And there
fore wherever the power of the prief is at the
height, they proceed fo farinthe encouragement
of wickedneſs, as to make Churches fanctuaries or
places of protection for all manner of villains.
Pope P 1 ở s V. ſhow'd that he well underſtood
this ſecret of fupporting a Church, when, upon
earing that the Proteſtants were in earneſtagainſt
adul

* -Allike Sermon at Oxford, Anno17o4.

 of FREE-THINKING. 97
adultery and fornication, he faid , * Ifthey will
not allow of fuch kind of ſport in their Religion,
it will never be of any long duration. And this
fecret was early put in praćtice with fucceſs; for
Zo z 1 M U s tellsus, † That C o N s T A N T 1 N E
the great, after he had committed fuch horrible
villanys, which the Pagan prieſts told him were
not to be expiated in their Religion, being affur'd
by an Egyptian († Biſhop) that there was no
villany :great, but was to be expiated by the
facraments of the Chriſtian Religion, embrac’d
the new Impiety and quitted the Religion of his
ancefiors. And this converſion of the Emperor
C o N s T A N T I N E gave occafion to JU L I A N
to fatyrize thus our holy Religion : § Whoever,
G ays
* Non fi chiava in questa Religione, non durera. Confef.
Cath. de Sancy. liv. u. c. 1. A -

f. IIgorístroisieệevri xx9ógria räv uøg

Thuévay citrov. eirovløv Bède é ragadástólas
xa9æęuš ręórG” Bværeĝńuaro rhaixaöras
xahhęzı ởvvzuevG , AyúrriG- ris rørne
ciuøę ráðg ø'aiệerix}v eiyz rãy Xęışıøyấy
disĉeĉzıárørođóğøy. à rẽro ixew śrálysa
uz rò rès dreßeie weržaøußzvoylag ävrije,
zrzens duægriøs šğa ragøx;$uaxahígarĝa.
Aeğøuevs 3è fãsø Køvsøyrlys rèv aóyov,
cipe uśwg rãv røręíøv werærxóýl@"Bà ấv d'Al
yvyrriós civrỆ uere?íðs, rãs desfeiae rhy
cięzny iroińrøro, &c. Edit. Oxon. p. 104.
# Les Ceſars de Julien
» \
par Spanheim, p. 3o9.
3. 3 ?
-

s Osig 48opede, öşı; utzıộóv@º, ởgıç ivø

\ 3 J - 2 * V

y’s à Ĝdeầvệòs, fra 9ø#ay, cino?«vő yae

{{VTØY
98 A D 1 s C o U R S E
fayshe, is guilty ºfrape: ,murders,ſacrilege, orany
otherabominable crime, let him be waſh’d with wa
zer, and he will become pure and holy and ifbe relap
ſes into tbefame impiety, he will again become pure
cơ boly, by thumping his breaft, and beating his head.
6tbly. It is objećted, That free-thinker: them
felves are the moſt infamous » wicked, andfenfleß
of all mankind.
This objećtion of wickednefs and ignorance is
made
to keepbythe
all feveral
fetts one againstanother;
herds and ferveș
and folds ofmen united
together, and againſt one another:, And tho in
reālity men of all fests are much alike as to fenfe,
where literature equally prevails, and everywhere
the fame as to their lives and converſations (as
is obvious to any indifferent perfon) yet thro
fuch fpestacles do men fee the defećts of others,
fo partial are they to themfelves, fo ready to be
lieve ill reports of thoſe with whom they have
any difference in opinion, and to believe good
of thoſe with whom they agree in opinion 3 fo
: to put an ill conſtruction on any aćtions of
the former, and a good one on any aćtions of
the latter; that nothing but the moſt familiar in
tercourſe imaginable can make men, who are
#:: by ổne fort of prieſi;, think they are
ike thoſe iń underſtanding and morals who are
govern’d by another fort: , But this objećtion, as
it is urg'd againſt free-thinkers, is ſtill with more
difficulty to be remov'd by them; becauſe who
they
9 A |- - e A ɔ \

durèy rğrø rã đầari Aśras, cirixa xa8øęèv

xảy ráxiv yoxGº roig civros yévélai, đárº
To g#9G- zrańğøvri, à riv weqaa)v rørá
šøvrı, xa9açã yếveršai. Juliani Opera.
Edit. Lipf. p. 336.
r
 of F R EE-TH IN KING. 99
who have leifure, application , ability and cou
rage to think freely, are fo few in number in
refpest of any other fećt, that they muft be lefs
able by converſation in the world to anfwer an
objećtion againſt themfelves, fo early planted in
mens minds, and fo carefully :::: Howe
ver, I think it may be much eaſier anfwer’dupon
paper, and may be ſhown to be more unjustly
urg'd againſt free-thinkers, than againſtany other
fort of men whatſoever. In anfwer to it there
fore, I obferve, -

1. That men who ufe their underfandings;

mufi have more fenfe than they who ufe them not;
and this I take to be felf-evident. And as to the
other part of the objećtion, I aflert, that free
thinkers muſt as fuch, be the moſt virtuous perfons
every where.

(1.) Becaufe if any man prefumes to think

for himſelf, and in confequence of that departs
from the fentiments of the herd of mankind
among whom he lives, he is fure to draw upon
:# the whole malice of the prieff, and of
all who believe in him , or who hope to make
their fortune by pretending to believe in him
(which muft of courſe be 999 of Iooo) and can
have no credit but what his virtue, in ſpite of
his enemies, neceſſarily procures for him. Whereas
any profligate fellow is fure of credit, countenance
and fupport, in any feſt or party whatſoever,
tho he has no other quality to recommend him
than the worſt of all vices, a blind zeal to his
fect or party. The free-thinker therefore is for
his own fake in this world oblig'd to be virtuous
and honeft; but the bigot is under no fuch obli
gation; and befides, has the temptation to
G 2 become
roo A D I S C O U R. SE
come a knave, becauſe fo many weak people of
all parties are ready to put their confidence in
him purely for his bigotry; and are incapable of
being convinc'd, thỏ they have demonſtration
before their eyes every day, that men are often
the greater knaves, but never the honefter for any
kind offuperfition.
(2.) Becaufe whoever applies himſelf to any
aĉtion, much more to free-thinking (which re
quires great diligence and application of mind)
muft by that habit expel all thoſe vicious diſpo
fitions and paffions, by which every man out
of aćtion is tofs’d and govern'd.
(3.) "Tis, by much thinking only, that men
are able to comprehend in their minds the whole
compaß ofhuman life, and thereby to demonſtrate
to themfelves, that mifery and unhappinefs
attend the practice of vice, and pleaſure andhap
pineſs the praćtice of virtue, * For who fạys
CI C E R o , lives pleafantly, except him who de
lights in his duty, and has well confider'd and
fettled his manner of life, and who obeys the
laws not out of fear, but obſerves and regards
them becauſe he judges it the beſt thing be can do?
Whereas we fee b experience, that moſt men,
for want of confidering the whole compaß of
human life, miſtake their own happinefs, and
think it wholly confifts in gratifying their prefent
Paffions and inclinations : and accordingly are
very little mov'd even by their beliefoffuture hap
Pineſs and mifery to become virtuous, whilethey
al’e

* stais igitur vivit, ut vult, miſ , qui gaudet officio cui

vivendi via confiderata atqueproviſi est ; qui legibus non pretter
metum paret, fed eas fequiter atque colit, quia id maximè
falutare effe judicat ? Ciceronis Opera, Grºn, f. 417o.
 ºf FREE-THINKING. ror
áre under fuch a miftake.And thus of courſe all
unthinking people are vicious, unleſs they are pre
vented by fome natural defećř or impediment , or
are moral by the goodneſs of their natural tem
per. . C1 ce R o admirably defcribes the effects
of this wrong judgment about the rule of mora
lity. Says hē, * Whoever places happineß in any
tbing befides virtue, and judges of happineſ by his
prefent interefi and advantage, and not by the
rules ofhoneſty, or what is good upon the whole;
if he be conſiſtent with himſelf, and is not carry'd
away with his own good natural diſpoſition, can
neither befriendly, mor equitable, mor generous.
No man can be courageous, who takespain to be the
greateſt evil; nor be moderate in the enjoyment of
pleaſure, who takes that to be the greateſt good.
2. I anfwer, that tho there has hardly ever
been a country where the prieſts have been fo
few in number, or have had fó little credit, or
where #:: has been at fo low an ebb, as
not to draw fome inconveniences on men for
thinking-freely; and by confequence, many free
thinkers have either fallen in with thereigningfu
Perſtition of their country, or ſufferd it #:ietſ; tO
take its courfe, forefeeing how little good was
to be done on fo knavifh and ignorant a creature
as man, and how much miſchief was to be ex
pećted from him: yet they who have been moſt
diftinguiſh’d in all ages for their underſtanding
and virtue, have been free-thinkers.
G 3 ( 1.) So
* Qui fummum bonum inſtituit ut nihil habeat cum vir
tute conjunctum, idque fuis commodis non honeſtate metitur;
hic ffibi ipſe conſentiat & non interdum bonitate nature vin
catur, neque amicitiam colere poſſit, nec justitiam, nec li
beralitatem: fortis vero, doloremfummum malum judicanii
aut temperans, voluptatem fummum bonum ſtatuens, elſ cette
mºllº modº poteſt. De Offic. I, 1,
Mo2 A D ISCOU R S E
(1.) So c.R AT E s, the divineft man thae
ever appear’d in theheathen world, and towhoſe
virtue and wifdom all ages fince have done juf
tice, was a very great free-thinker. He not only
disbeliev'd the Gods of his country, and the com
mon Creeds about them, and declar’d his diflike,
when he heard men attribute * repentance, an
ger, and other paſſions to the Gods, and talk of
wars and battels in heaven, and ofthe Gods getting
women with child, and fuch-like fabulous and
blaſphemous ſtorys: but obtain’d a juſt notion of
thenatureandattributesofGod, exactly agreeable
to that which we have receiv'd by divine revela
tion , and became a true Chriſtian (if it be
allow'd that the primitive Fathers underſtood
what true Chriſtianity was: ) For Ju s T IN MA R
T Y R tells us, † That C H R 1 s T, the firſt-be
gotten of God, is reafon, of which all mankind
are partakers; and that whoever live by reafon,
tho they are eſteem’d Atheifts and worſhippers of
no God are Chriſtians: and that fuch were So
c R A T E s, and the like. Iniikemanner E R A s
M u s in his Colloquies comparing Soc R A T E s
and thegenerality of Chriſtians together , gives the
preference to Soc R A T E s in point of Chriſtiani
ty. Says he, # There is nothing would more be
C07726

* Platonis Euthyphro. p. 6., vol. 1. Ed. Serrani.

Tày Xęışòy wędróroxov rš Beğ, ? àóyov
čvræ, & nav yávG: cybęárwy werśxé à :
uerº àóyov ßiósøyles , Xgigizvol eiet, xäv
&9 eo: ivoulº9ngav dirai šv'Exangt uầv 2a
xearne, è di duotoi. Opera, Ed. Par. p. 83.
# Nihil aptius quadret in hominem vere Chriſtianum quam
quod Socrates paulo poſt bibituris cisatam», dixit Critºni : An
Opera
 ºf FREE-THINKING. rog
come a Chriſtian, than what Soc R A T E s faid
to C R I T o, a little before he drank his poifonous
draught; “ Whether God will approve of the
„ actions of my life, I know not: I have truly
,, done my beft endeavours to pleaſe him;. and
,, have good hopes he will accept of them.,,
This is a wonderful thought in a man who knew
mot C H R I s T and the holy fcriptures. . And
when I read fuch things of him , I can hardly for
bear crying out , Sanćte Soc R A T E s, ora pro
nobis. But how fneakingly have I feen feveral
Chriſtians die ! Some of them rely on what is not
to be rely'd on: others breathe out their laft in
deſpair, on the account of their own wickedneß,
and the ſcruples with which their heads are fill'd
by their ignorant prieſts. And it is no wonder
they ſhould die after this manner, who fpend their
whole lives only in wrangling about and practifing
ºf ceremonies.

Soc R A T E s could not be fuppos'd to have

made notions or ſpeculations, or myfteries, any
part of his Religion, when he * demonſtrated
G 4 all
opera inquit. noftra fit probaturus Deus, neſcio. Certè
fedulò conati fumus, ut illi placeremus. Eft mihi ta'
men bona ſpes, quod ille conatus noſtros fit boni con
fulturus. Mirandus profestº animus in eo qui Chriſtum ó
facras ſcripturas non nºverat. Proinde quum hujuſmodi legº,
vix mihi tempero , quin dicam, Sanćłe Socrates ora pro
nobis !--At ego quot vidi Christianos, quam frigide mºri
entes ! Quidam fidunt in iis rebus, quibus non eft fidendum ?
quidam ºb conſcientiam ſcelerum ér ſcrupulos quibus indosti
quidam obstrepunt morituro, penedeferantes exhalant animam
Nec mirum eos fic mori, qui per omnem vitam tantum philº
faphati ſunt in ceremoniis, &c. opera, vol. i. p. 683.
|-
|

* Tàs ºpovriĝoſlaç ra roizőrz uºgahoy

3 |-
løs åre3eígyve. à ngãrov uầy ởvray taxórei,
v |- |- 3 /

/
zrorsfæ
xo4 A DI SCOURSE
all men to be fools who troubled themfelves with
inquirys into heavenly things , and ask’d fuch
inquirers whether they had attain’d a perfect
knowledg of human things, fince they fearch'd
into heavenly things; or if they could think them
felves wife in neglecting that which concern'd
them, to employ themſelves in that which was
above their capacity to underfand.
Laftly, as a further evidence ofhisfee-thinking,
S o c R A T E s had the common fate offee-thin
kers, to be calumniated in his life-time for an
Atheift ( tho the God A P o L L o by his oracle
declar’d him the wifeff man upon earth ), and at
length fuffer’d that puniſhment for free-thinking,
which knavery and folly, whenever they are ar
riv'd to a due pitch, and are well confederated
together, are ever ready to inflict on allthofe who
have the honeſty and courage to endeavour to
imitate him.

(2.) P L A r o feeing the fateofsocr ar es,

was more politickin his converſation, and never
talk'd publickly againſt the Gods and Religion of
his country; yethe was no lefs affee-thinker, and
thought himſelf into notions fo contrary to thoſe
which were receiv’d or known in Greece, that
fome Chriſtianshave ſuppos’d him to be divinely
infpir'd; and others, to have read the books of
the Old Teſtament. He has fo many paffagesin
his

zrárepa worè wouirayres kayaç ön távºgá

|- 9 » ---- /

zivæ eidával, žexovrai ir rò rrëp) räv rotá

Tay provriĝew, # repèr árŝęériva napírres,
Tą dziwóviz đề "xoaršres, ystyrøt rà agº
/

eńkovra redilety. Xenophont. Opera. Ed.

Par. p. 7 Io,
 *

of FREE-THINKING. Io;
his writings fo agreeable to the truths ofthe Gof
pel, that * C E L su s, the great adverſary of
Chriſtianity, charges our bleſſed Lord himfelfwith
borrowing his doctrine from P L A T o. O R I G E N
indeed very well defends our bleſſed Lord from
CE L su s’s charge, by faying, † That C E L su s
deferves to be laugh’d at when he affirms J E su s
had read P L AT o; who was, fays he, bred and
born among the Jews, and was fo far from ba
ving been taught Greek letters, that he was not
taught Hebrew Letters, as the fcriptures teſtify.
But he is fo far from difowning an agreement
between Platoniſm and Christianity, that a great
}: of his book againſt CE L su s confifts in
owing the conformity between them. Like
wife A M E L I U s, a Heathen Platonist, who
flouriſh’d in the third century, upon reading the
firft verfes of St. Jo H N the Evangelift, cry’d
out, † By Jo v E this Barbarian is of our mafter
P L A T o’s opinion ! Moreover , the great con
formity between Platoniſm and Chriſtianity made
many Platonifis become Chriſtians, and many
of the primitive Chriſtians become Platoniſts; and
was the caufe that feveral of P L A T o’s notions
were afterwards efteem’d fundamental articles of
G 5 Chriſtian
* Origen. contra celf. p. 286,
t Tig där år, è uerglas irigáveiv rof;
zręciyuarı yvycíueyGº rờ KźAroy yeaarzı,
cxśwy ởri 'Imreg ( d ræę2 'Igồaíoıç yeyevn
uí, G è civøreßgauwśrG”, è un Beusua
9ýzwę, g uávov rà ‘EAanvov , cxx šầe rà
‘Eßęzíøy, öreg à di piazańSeis uzệrvęści
yo̟zo̟zı rãy zref) &vrów) civéyvo IIAørávø.
Ibid.
# Per Jovem barbarus iste cum nostro Platone fentit. Apud
Reeve's Apologies, in his differt, upon Justin Martyr.
Io6 A DISC OU R SE
Chriſtian faith ; aud gave ground to zealous
Chriſtians to forge feveral things under P L A
T o’s name, yet more conformable to the truths
of their holy Religion (as for * inflance the thir
teenth letter to D 1 o N y s 1 u s, printed in his
works) with which, and others of the like na
ture, they had great fucceſs in the converſion
of the beathen world.

(3.) AR I s T o T L E, to whom the Popiſh

Church for many centuries paft has been no lefs
oblig’d for † Articles of faith, than the primitive
Churchwasto P L A T o, duringthe life of his pupil
and patron AL E x A N D E R the Great, read to his
fcholars the effećts of his free-thinking : but after
the death of A L E x A N D E R, E U R I M E D o N a
prieſt accus’d him of impiety for # introducing
fome Philoſophical affertions contrary to the Reli
gion of the Athenians. And he was forc'd to
fteal privately from Athens; from whence he
went to Chalcis; giving this reafon to his friends,
§ that he left Athens, that he might not give the
Athenians occaſion to commit again the fame wic
kedneß they committed againſt Soc R A T E s, and
that they might not beguilty of a double crime againſt
Philoſophy.
(4.) E P I
* Cudworth's Intell. Syf. p. 4c3
† Senza Ariſtotele noi mancavamo di molti Articoli di
Fede. The celebrated ſaying of Cardinal Palavicino.
# Diog. Laert, vita JArist.
§ Azriºuey ciwo rãy A9nvấv, ivæ un arpó–
@zety dáusy 'A9nvaíoıç rãy Beúrepov žy@
civaÀaßey zrægarańriov 7# xarà Zawęørs,
È iva un Beớrepov eie puxoropízy cireĝńra
"": P. 5 I.Orrigen. contra Celfum, p. 5 1.
 of FREE-THINKING. Io7
(4.) E P I cu R Us has in all ages beendiſtin
guiſh'd as a great free-thinker, and not leſs as a
man of virtue among the learned; in which laft
he feems to have exceeded all other Philoſophers.
For he was not only eminent for his * piety
towards his parents, his kindneß to his brethren,
his meekneß to his fervants, his humanity to all,
his love to his country; and his chaftity, tempe
rance, and : but for that most divine of
all virtues, and wherein the greateſt pleaſure of
human life confifts, and of which an ill man is
incapable, vizo. friendſhip. . He had that noble
quality in fuch perfection himſelf, and cultivated
it fo much in his followers, that the ſucceſſion
ofhis ſchool continu'd many hundred years after
the fucceſſion of the ſchools of all the other Phi
lofophers fail'd, without that faction and diviſion
which was more or lefsin them, and contributed
to their more early diffolution. C1 c B R o, tho
a great adverfary to his philoſophical opinions,
and who in the perfon of † C o T T A has tho
rowly baffled his fyſtem of chance, gives him
this noble teſtimony , # That EP 1 cu R u s de
clares it to be his opinion , that of all things
which wiſdom can procure towards a happy life,
friend
* Diog. Laert, in vitá Epicuri
i De Nat. Deor. l. 1. |

# Epicurus ita dieit, Omnium rerum , quas ad beatè

vivendum ſapientia comparaverit, nihil effe majus ami
citiâ, nihil uberius, nihil jucundius. Neque verò hoe
oratione folum, fed multo magis vitâ & fattis & moribus
comprobavit. Quod quàm magnum fit, fista veterum decla
rant fabula ; in quibus tam multis, tamque variis, ab ul
tima antiquitate repetitis, tria vix amicorum paria reperium
tur, ut ad Oreſtem pervenias, profestus a Thefeo. JAt vere
Epicurus una in domo, & ea quidem anguſta, quàm ma
quantáque amoris conſpiratione confentientes tenuit ami
gnos ,
cocum greges ! Quod fit etiam nunc ab Epicureis. De Fi
nibus, &c. l. u. ad finem.
 108 A D S I C O UIR SE
friendſhip is the noblef, moß extenſive, and de
licious pleaſure. And this he did not only affert
in his writings, but gave apractical proof of it in
his life and converſation. How great a commen
dation this is, appears from the rare infances of
friendſhip, of which the mythology of the ancients,
as voluminous and full of variety as it is, will
bardly afford us three, from T H E s E u s’s time
down to O R E s T E s. But oh ! what a nume
rous, what an harmonious company of friends
did E P I cu R U s croud into his own little habi
tation ! And the Epicureans follow his example
to this day.
But we Chriſtians ought ftill to have a higher
veneration of E P I cu R u s for this virtue of
friendſhip than C1 c E R o: becauſe even our holy
Religion it felf does not any where ::::
require of us that virtue. For as Biſhop TAx
L o R in his Treatife offiendſhip very juſtly obfer
ves, * the word friendſhip in the : TLUe C0772

monly mean by it, is not fo much as nam’d in the

New Teſtament; and our Religion takes no motice
of it. You think it frange; but read on, before
you fpend fo much as the beginning of a paffion
or a wonder : it. There is mention made of
friendſhip with the world, and it is faid to be
enmity with God; out the word is no where
elfe nam’d, or to any other purpoſe , in all the
New Teſtament. It ſpeaks of friends often ; but
by friends are meant our acquaintance, or our
kindred, the relatives of our family, or cur for
tune, or our feci; fomething of fociety, or fỜme
thing of kindneſs there is in it; a tenderneß of
appellation and civility, a relation made by gifts,
or by duty, by fervices and fubjection : and I think
I have
* Pag, 35, at thc end of his TolemickWorks.
 of FREE-THINKING. 1o9
I have reafon to be confident, that the word
friend is no otherwiſe uſed in the Goſpels, or
Epifiles, or Acts of the Apofiles.
(5.) P L U T AR cH is the moft known author
of all the ancients. His works are tranſlated into
all the modern languages, and by confequence
‘his learning and virtue diſplay’d before the eyes
of all that read any books. And tho he was a
Heathen prieſt, yet he preferv'd his underſtan
ding free, and was not milled by the gain of
his profeſſion into ſuperfition, norfo farengag'd
in the craft of his trade as to conceal his
opinion of the miſchief thereof. Says he, in
his Treatife of fuperſtition, * Atheifmbrings men
to an unconcernedneß and indifferency of temper:
for the deſign of thoſe who deny a God, is to eaſe
themſelves of his fear. But fuperffition (by which
the Greeks meant + the fear of God, and which
T H E o P H R As T U s in his Characters exprefly
defines fo) appears by its name to be a diffem
per'd opinion and conceit, productive offuch mean
and abieff apprehenſions, as debafe and break a
man’s ſpirit. For tho he thinks juffly , that there
are divine powers; yet fo erroneous is his judg
ment, that he thinks they are four and vindictive
beings:. Atheiſm is only falfe reafoning , while
fuperfiition is not only falſe reafoning , but fu
peradds a paſſion, viz.: fear, which is deſtitute
both of courage and reafon, and renders us ſtupid,
diſtracted and unactive. But of all fears, none
confound a man like the religionary fear. Hefears
not the fea, who never goes to fea; nor a battel,
who
* Mºrals. in Engliſh, vol. 1. p. 162. &c.
† This was the common definition of Superfition
likewife among the Romans. Hence Horace fays, 2uone
malº mentem concuſa ? timore deorum.
 I Io A D I S C OU RS E
who follows not the camp ; nor robbers, who firs
not abroad ; mor malicious informers, who is a
poor man ; mor emulation, who leads a privare
life; nor earthquakes, who dwells in Gaul, nor
thunder-bolts, who dwells in Ethiopia. But he
who fears the divine powers, fears every thing,
the land, the fea, the air , the sky, the dark,
the light, a found, a filence, a dream. Even
flaves forget their maffers in their fleep ; fleep light
ens the irons of the fetter’d; their angry fores,
mortify'd gangrenes, and pinching pains allow
them fome intermiſſion at night. But fuperfiition
will give no truce at night, nor ſuffer the poor
foul fo much as to breathe, or look up, or reſpite
her four and difmal thoughts of God a moment.
Neither have they, when awake, fenfe enough to
flight and fmile at all this; nor are they in the
leaf apprehenſive, that nothing of all that terri
fy'd them was real; but fill fear an empty /ha
dow, which could never mean them ill, and cheat
themſelves afreſh at noon-day. In a word, the
thought of death it felf puts no end to this vain
and fooliſh fear, but it tranſcends thoſe limits,
and extends its fears beyond the grave, adding to
it the conceit of immortal ills; and after reſpite
frompaff forrows, fancies it fhall next enter upon
never-ending ones. I know not whargates of hel?
open themſelves from beneath; rivers offre, tº
gether with Stygian torrents, preſent themſelves
zo view; a gloomy darkneßappears full of ghaftly
fþetters and horrid ſhapes, with dreadful aſpects
and doleful groans, together with judges, tor
mentors, pits and caverns full of miſeries and
TU0625,

He fatyrizes likewife the publick forms of

devotion, which yet are ſuch , as in almoſt all
ÇOllIltTICS
 of FREE-THIN KING. I 11
countries país for the true worſhip of God. Says
he, in the fame difcourfe, * O wretched Gre
cians, who bring into Religion that frightful mien
offordid and vilifying devotion, ill-faveur'd hu
miliation and contrition, abjeći looks and counte
mances, confernations, proſtrations, disfigurations;
and in the act of worſhip, diffortions, conffrain’d
and painful poſtures of the body, wry faces, beg
garly tones, mumpings, grimaces, cringings, and
the reſt of this kind.
(6.) VAR R o, the moſt learned of all the
Romans, ſpeaking oftheir Theology, faid † that
it contain'd many fables below the dignity and
nature of immortal beings, fuch for infiance, as
Gods begotten and proceeding from other Gods
heads, legs, thighs, and blood. He likewife af
firm'd, # There were many things falſe in Reli
gion, which it was not convenient for the vul
gar to know; and again, fome things which,
thô falfe, yet it was expedient they ſhould be
believ'd by them. Upon which diſcovery of his
free-thinking, St. A U s T I N, who records the
paffage, fays, § That V AR R o herein diſcovers
the whole fecret of fiateſmen and , politicians.
V A R R o alfo gives this reafon why he treats in
his writings of human things before divine,
becauſe

* As tranſlated in the Charasteristicks, vol. 3: p. 116.

t Malta funt contra dignitatem & naturam Immorta
lium fitta. In hoc enim eſt . ut deus alius ex capite,
alius ex femore fit, alius ex guttis fanguinis natus. Aug.
de Civ. Dei . l. 6. c, 5.
# Multa effe vera que vulgo fire non fit utile. & que
dam que tametfi falf, fint, aliter exſtimare populum expe
diat, Ibid. l. 4. c. 31. -

., § Tºtum confilium prodidit fapientum, per quos civitate

& poduli regerentur. Ibid. l. 4. e, 31.
I 12 - A D I S C O U R S E
* becauſe Citys are before the Gods they have eſta
bliſh'd, as the Painter is before the picture he
makes.

(7.) The grave and wife C.AT o the Cenfor

will for ever live in that noble free-thinking
faying recorded by C 1 C E R o, which fhows
that he underſtood the whole myftery of the Ro
man Religion as bylaw eſtabliſh’d. † I wonder,
faid he, how one of our prieſts can forbear laugh
ing when he fees another.
(8.) C1 c E R o, that confummate Philofo
pher and noble patriot, tho he was a prieſt and
conful, and executed other publick offices (which
uſually makes men more cautious and lefs fincere)
gave the greateſt proof of his free-thinking. He
not only profeſs'd the Academick or Sceptick phi
loſophy, which oblig'd him to # examine the
doctrines of all philoſophers, that he might fee
whether there was certainty in any of their fche-'
mes; but wrote two treatifes, one of the Na
ture of the Gods, and the other concerning Di
vination : in the foriner of which, he has endea
vour'd to ſhow the weaknefs of all the arguments
of the Stoicks (who were the greateſt Theiſts of
antiquity) for the being of the Gods; and in the
latter has deſtroy’d the whole reveal'd Religion
of the Greeks and Romans, by fhowing the im
poſture of all their miracles, and weakneſs of
the other reafons on which it was pretended to
be
* Quia civitates Diis, quos ipſe instituerunt, ut pistor ta
bella, priores funt. Apud Sartorii Hypocrifin Genti
lium. p. 7.
t Mirar; fe aiebat, quºd non rideret haruſpex, cum ha«
ruſpicem vidiſſet. Opera Ed. Gron. p. 38o6
# Qui fequuntur diſciplinam Academicam, ºmnes difía
Þlinas iis percipere neceſſe eſt. De Nat. Deor. l. 1.
 of FREE-THINKING. 1 13
be founded. C1 c E R o likewife gives us his
own picture and that of the greatest part of the
Philoſophers (as he was well qualify'd to do,
having read over the writings of them all, and
convers'd with the moſt eminent of thoſe who
liv’d in his own time) when he produces this as
an infiance of a probable opinion, * That they
who ſtudy philoſophy don't believe there are any
Gods; that is, that there exiſted no fuch Gods as
were believ’d by the people. Again in his firſt
book of Tuſculan Queſtions, he Šenies , in many
places, all future puniſhments : and after having
mention'd the various † notions of feveral Phi
loſophers about the nature of the foul, he con- -
cludes , that there can be nothing after death, if
any of their notions be true. And as to P L A
T o’s arguments for the immortality of the foul,
fays he to his diagoliff A T T 1 cu s ( or his au
ditor, as fome conceive ) # Let us not produce
them , and let us lay afide all our hopes ofimmor
tality. By which Air T 1 cu s ::::: CI
c E R o to deny the immortality of the foul, as
is evident from his anſwer which follows : What,
fays A T T 1 cu s , do you diſappoint me, after
you had rais'd in me fuch an expectation of a
proof of the immortality of the foul? Truly, 1 had
rather be miftaken with P L A T o, whom I know
how much you eſteem, and whom I admire on
your authority, than be in the right with others. §
H And
* Hujuſmodi e/º probabile-Eos, qui dent philoſophie
speram, non arbitrari deos effe. Opera Ed. Gron. p. 1 57:
t His fantentiis omnibus nihil post mortem pertinere ad
quenquam poteſt. p. 3433.
# Platonis rationem pretermitamus, & hanc totam ſpemº
Immortalitatis relinquamus. p. 3438 -

§ „An tu cùm me in fummam expºstationem adduxeris s

deferis ? Errare mehercule malo cnm Platone, qwem tu :
quanti
 * r+ A DISCOURSE
: And here, becaufe C1 c E R o’s works are foi
frequently cited againſt free-thinkers both from
the pulpit and the prefs, and his example recom
mended for their conviction; it may not be amifs
utterly to difarm the enemies of free-thinking of
C1 ce R o’s authority, by briefly diſcovering a
common impoſition on the world , begun b
fome men of learning (either thro want of :
cernment or want of honeſty) and continu’d by
the lefs learned, out of deference to the autho
rity of the former. C1 c E R o’s philoſophical
works are moſtly written in dialogue, in which
philoſophers of different fests are introduc'd ar
- guing for their feveral opinions. Thus the three
books of the Nature of the Gods, are a dialogue
between an Epicurean, a Stoick, and an Acade
mick; and his two books of Divination are a dia
logue between his brother Q U I N T U s, who
: a Stoick, and himſelf. Now the mo
ern prieſts, whenever they meet with any paf
fage favourable to fuperfition, which C1 c E R o
puts in the mouth of the Stoick, or any falfe ar
gument which he makes the Epicurean ufe, and
which they have thought fit to fanctify (fuch for
inſtance as the Epicurean arguments from innate
ideas, and from the ::::: confent of mankind
for the exiſtence of Gods, in E P I Ć U R U s’s fenfe;
that is, for Gods in human ſhape, who took no
tare of the world or of human affairs) they urge
it as C I C E R o s own , and would have the
reader believe C 1 C E R o look'd on it as conclu
five. Whereas C1 c E R o himſelf is fo far from
approving what he makes the Stoick and Epicu
rean ſpeak, that he does in his difcourſe of the
Nature of the Gods endeavour to confute all
- their
3:anti facias feio, ở quem ex ore tuo admiror, quam cum
istis vera fentire,
 ºf FREE-THINKING. rr;
their arguments underthe perfon ofan Academick
( ofwhich fest he every where profeſſes himſelf)
and in his difcourſe of Divination baffles all the
Stoical arguments for fuperſtition , openly under
his own name. So that C1 c E R o is as unfairly
dealt with, whenever heiscited againftfee-think
ing, as the prieſts themfelves would be, did any
one cite as their fentimentswhat they make Deifºs,
Scepticks, and Socinians fay, in the dialogues they
compoſe againftthofe fećts.
The true method ofdiſcovering the fentiments of
C 1 C E R o, is to fee what he fays himſelf, or un
derthe perfon ofan Academick; as the true method
of knowingwhat fentiments our divines maintain
in their dialogues, is to fee what they maketheir
orthodox dialogift fay. And if C I C E R o’s rea
ders will follow this rule of common fenfe in under
ftanding him, they will find him as great a fee
thinker as he was a Philoſopher , an Orator , a
Man of Virtue, and a Patriot. And they will
never meet with any paffages which in the leaft fa
vourfuperstition, but what he plainly throws out
to fave himſelffrom danger, orto ſhow his rheto
rical ability on any argument, or employsin his
Orations to recommend himſelf to the Roman mob,
who, like allother mobs, were extremely fuper
ftitious, and differ'd not from the prefent genera
tion at Rome, but in having a more innocentand
lefs abfurd fuperstition. , And yet fometimes his
zeal againſt what he took to be fuperfiition made
him fo far forget a maxim * of his own , as to
fpeak that in his Orations which he could only do
with perfect fafety in an affembly of :::::::
- H 2 As
* Queritur fíntnedei, nec nefnt. Difficile eff negare. Cré
do . f in concione queratur : fed in ejufcemodi Sermone,
confeſſu, facillimum. De nat. Deor. lib. I.
I 16 A DISCOURSE
As for inflance, fayshe, * I would not have you
think, that wicked men, as fometimes on the fiage,
are by the Impulſe of the Gods terrify'd by the burning
torches of the Furies. Everyman's ownfaud, his
own wickedneß, his own : , his own deſperate
boldneſ?, puts him beſide himſelf, and
thoughts : theſe are the Furies which torment the
::::::
wicked, theſe the flames , and theſe the torches.
Again he fays , † When you harangue the people
zwith malicious eloquence , when you demoliſh the
houſes of citizens, when with ftones you pelt and
drive the moſt worthy fenators from the Forum ;
when youfet fire to your neighbours houſes, and burn
temples; when you ftir up flaves to fedition, and
disturb the celebration ofreligious ordinances; when
you know no diference between your wife and your
fifter, and matter not whoſe bedyou defile; when
you act like a madman, when you rage, then you
fuffer thoſe torments which alone the Gods have or
dain'd to puniſh the wickedneß ofmen. # And again,
What evil has hefuffer’d by death ? unleſs cheated by
-
idle

· * Noliteenim putare, ut inſcená videtis homines conſcelera

tos, impulſis deorum, terreri furiarum taedis ardentibus. Sua
quemque fraus, fuum facinus , fuum felus , fua audacia de
Janitate ở mente deturbat; hefunt impiorum furie , ha fam
me, ha faces. p. 1827.
t Tu cum furiales in concionibus voces mittis, cum domos
civium evertu, cum lapidibus optimos viros Foro pellis, cum
ardentesfaces in vicinorum tecta jattas, cum edes ſacras inflam
mas, cum fervos concitas , cumfacra ludoſque conturbas, cum
uxorem fororemque non diſcernis ; cum quod ineas cubile non
Jentis ; cum baccharis, cum furis; tum das eas panas , que
funt fole hominum felerià diis immortalibus constitute p. 1622.
# Quid illi mali mors attulit ? Nifforte ineptiis ac fabulis du
cimur, ut exiſtimemus, illum apud inferos impiorum ſupplicia
perferre, ac plures illic offendiffe inimicos, quam hic reliquife.
SQuid tandem ei aliud eripuit mors, preter fenſum doloris ?
p. 1277.
 of FREE-THIN KING. I 17
idle fiories and fables , we can think he undergoes
any puniſhment in hell, and that he has found more
enemies there than he left behind him. What there
forehas death takenfrom him but the fenfe of pain ?
So that if C1 c E R o’s works come once to be
: read, as of all human writingsthey beft
eferve, it will be found that they no more tend
to the fervice of any prieſtly purpoſe whatſoever ,
than the writings of the fathers ofthe Church (to
whom thelaityus'dto be refer’d to find what was
notin them) do the purpoſe qf any Church now
upon the face of the earth.
(9.) CA T o of Utica has this great character
from V E L L E J U s PA T E R c U LU s, * that he
was a man offogreat virtue, that he was the very
picture ofit, and in every thing by his wiſdom ap
proach'd more to the Gods than to men. He never
did any goodaćtions for the reputation ofdoing them,
but becaufe be could not do otherwife. He thought
nothing reafonable but what wasjuſt; and being fee
from all the defects ofmen, hadfortune in hispower.
And the inimitable LU C A N has rais’da noblemo
nument, not only to his wifdom and virtue , but
tohisfee-thinking. And I expećt your thanks for
givingit you in the excellent tranſlation of a moſt
ingenious Author, aswellasin the original. On
the occaſion of CA I o’s marching at the head of
an army thro the defarts of Africa near the temple
ofJ U P 1 T E R A M M o N, the poetfays,
3 His

* Homo virtuti ſimillimus, & per omnia ingenio diis quam

hominibus propior. qui nunquam restè fecit, ut facere vide
retur, fºd quia aliterfaeere nou poterat; cuique id folum vifumº
eft rationem habere, quod haberet juſtitiam omnibus humanis
vitiis immunis, ſemperfortunam in fuapotestate habuit. L. 3:
G, 35«
I 18 A D IS CO U R S E A
* Hishofi (as crouds are fuperstitious fill)
Curious of fate, offuture good and ill,
And fond to prove prophetick A M M o N’s skill;
;|

Intreat their leader to the Gods would go,

Andfrom this oracle Rome's fortune know:
But La B 1 E N v s chiefthe thought approv'd,
And thus the common fuit to C A T o mov’d.
Chance and thefortune of the way, hefaid,
Have brought Jo v E’s facred counfels to our aid ;
This greateſt ofthe Gods, this mighty chief,
In each diſtreßfhallbe a furerelief;
Shallpoint the distant dangersfom afar,
And teach the futurefortunes of the war.
To thee, O C A T o, pious, wife, andjuft,
Their dark decrees thecautious Godsfhalltruff;
To thee theirfore-determin'd willfhall tell :
Their will has been thy law,and thou hafi kept it well.
Fate bidsthee now the noble thought improve;
Fate brings thee here to meet and talk with Jo v E.
Inquire betimes what various chancefhallcome
To impious C a s A R, and thy native Rome;
Try to avert at leaft thy country’s doom.
}
Askiftheſe arms ourfeedom fhallrefore;
- Or

* -- Comiteſque Catonem
Orant, exploret Libycum memorata per orbem
Numina, defama tam longijudicet ævi.
Maximus hortator ferutandi voce deorum
Eventus Labienus erat. Sors obtulit, inquit,
Et fortuna vie, tam magni numinis ora,
Confiliumque dei : tanto duce poſſumus uti
Per Syrtes, bellique datos cognoſcere caſus.
Nam cui crediderim ſuperos arcanadaturos,
Ditfuroſque magis, quamfintfo vera Catoni?
Certè vitatibifemper direstafi pernas
Ad leges, ſequeriſque Teum. Datureece loquendi
Zum Jove libertas: inquire infata nefandi
Cefaris, & patrie venturos excute mores :
Jurefnopopulis uti, legumque licebit.
 of FREE-THINKING. 119
Or elfe, iflaws and right fhallbe no more.
Betbygreat breaft with facredknowledgfaught,
To lead us in the wandring maze of thought :
Thou that to vertue ever wer’t inclin'd,
Learn what it is, bow certainly defin’d,
Andleave fome perfeći rule toguide mankind.
;
Fullof the God that dwelt within his breaft,
The Hero thus his fecret mindexpreßd, , ,
Andinborn trutbs reveal’d; truths which might well
Become ev’n oracles themſelves totell. -

Where would thyfond, thy vain enquiry go ?

What myſtickfate, whatſecret wouldſt thou know ?
Is it a doubt ifdeathfhould be my doom,
Rather than live tillkings and bondage come,
Rather than fee a tyrant crown’din Rome !
}-

Or would ft thou know, if, what we valuehere, .

Life, be a trifle hardly worth our care ? |

What by aldage andlength ofdays wegain,

More than to lengthen out thefenfe of pain ?
Orifthis world with allits forces.join'd,
The univerſal malice of mankind,
Can ſhake or hurt the brave and honeft mind?
}
Iffiable virtue can hergroundmaintain,
Whilefortunefeebly threatsandfrowns in vain?
If good in lazy ſpeculations dwell,
H 4 And

JAn bellum civileperit. Tuapestora ficra

Voce reple: dura faltem virtutis amator
Quare quid ef virtus, & poſce exemplar honešti.
Ille Deo plenus, tacitá quam mente gerebat,
Effudit dignas adytis è pestore voces:
Quid queri Labienejubes ? An liber in armis
Occubuiſſe velim potius, quam regna videre ?
JAn fit vita nihil, ſed longam differat etas?
An noseat vis ulla bono ? Fortunaque perdat
oppoſitá virtute minas ? Laudandaque vete
Sit fatis, & nunquam fucceſfu creſcat honeſłum?
Scimus, & hoc nobis non altius inferet Ammon.
Haremus cunftifuperis, temploque tacente
12o A DISCOU R S E
Andbarely be the will of doing well ?
Ifright be independent offucceſs,
And conqueſt cannot makeit more or leß?
Are # , myfiends, the ſecrets you would know,
Thofe doubts for which to oracles wego ?
'Tis known, 'tisplain, ’tis all already told,
And horned A M M o N can no more unfold.
From God deriv'd, to God by naturejoin'd,
We act the dictates of his mighty mind:
And tho the prieſts are mute and templesfill,
God never wants a voice tofpeak his will.
When firſt we from the teeming womb were brought,
With inborn precepts then our fouls wereffaught,
And then the maker his new creatures taught.
}
Then when heform’d andgave us to be men,
Hegave us all our uſeful knowledg then.
Canff thou believe the vafi eternal mind,
Was e'er to Syrtsand Lybian fands confin’d?
That he would chuſe this waste,this barrenground,
To teach the thin inhabitants around,
And leave bis truth in wilds and defarts drown'd?
Is there aplace that God would chufe to love
Beyond this earth, the feas, yon heaven above,
And virtuous minds, the nobleft throne of Jo v E?
}
Why feek wefarther then? Behold around,
How all thoufeeft does with the God abound,
Jo v E is alike in all, and always to befound !
}
Let
Nil fasimus non ſponte Dei : nec vocibus ullis
Numen eget : dixitquefemel nafcentibus austor
$2"icquid ſcire licet : feriles nec legitarenas,
T'i kaneret paucis,merfitque hoc pulvere verum :
Estne Dei fedes, nifterra, & pontus, & aer,
Et cælum, & virtus ? Superos quidquerimus ultra ?
Jupiter est quodeunque vides, quocunque moveris.
Sºrtilegis egeant dubii, ſemperque futuris
Ca/ibus ancipites: me non oracula certum,
Sed mºrs certa facit: pavido, fortique cadendum ef.
Hoefatis est dixiſſe Jovem Sicilleprofatur: S
prą
 of FREE-THINKING. 121
Letthofe weak minds that live in daubt and fear,
Tojuggling prieſts for oracles repair;
One certain hour ofdeath to each decreed,
My fix’d, my certain foulfom doubt has feed:
The coward and the brave are doom'd to fall ;
And when Jo v E told this truth, he toldus all.
So ſpoke the Hero; and to keep his word,
Nor A M M o N, mor his oracle explor’d;
But left the croud atfeedom to believe,
And takefuch anſwers as the prieſt ſhouldgive.
Foremoſt on foot he treads the burning fand,
Bearing his arms in his ownpatient hand;
Scorning another’s weary neck topreß,
Or in a lazy chariot lollat eaſe.
The pantingfoldier to histoil ſucceeds,
Where no command, but great example leads.
Sparing offleep, fill for the reft he wakes,
And at the fountain laſt his thirft he flakes ;
Whene’er by chancefome livingfiream is found,
Heffands, andfees the cooling draughts go round;
Stays till the laſt and meanefi drudg be paft,
And till his flaves have drank, difdains to tafte.
Iftrue good men deferve immortalfame,
Ifvirtue, tho diffrestºd, befillthe fame;
Whate'er our fathers greatly dar’d todo,
Whate'er they bravely bore and wifely knew,
Their virtues allare his,and all their praiſe his due.
}
H 5 Who
Servatâque fide templi difredit abaris,
Non exploratum populis Ammona relinquens.
Ipſe manu ſua bila gerens, precedit anheli
Militis ora pedes : mønstrat tolerare lahores,
Non jubet: & nullâ vehitur cervice fupinus ,
Carpentove fedens. Somni parciſſimus ipſe eſt,
TUltimus hauffør aquæ : cum tandemfonie reperte
Indiga cogatur laticespotare juventus,
Stat, dum lixa bibat. Si veris magna paratur
Fama bonis , ċr ffucceſfu nuda remoto
Jºſpicitur virtus, quicquidlaudamu in ulio M
44
I 22 A D ISC O U R S E
Whoe'er with battels fortunately fought ?
Whoe'er with Roman blood fuch honours bought ?
This triumph, this on Lybia's utmoff bound,
With death and defolation compaߺd round,
To allthyglories, Po M P E Y, I prefer,
Thytrophies and tby third triumphal Car,
To M A R I U s mighty name , and great Ju
gurthine war.
His country’s father bere, O Rome, behold,
Worthy thy temples, prieſts, and fhrines of gold:
Ife’er thou break thy lordly maſter's chain,
Ifliberty be e'er refor’d again,
Him thoufhalt place in the divine abodes,
Swear by his holy name, and rank him with thy
Gods. -

( 1o.) SE N E c A, whoſe excellent Morals are

in moft Engliſhmens hands, and whoſe virtue and
learning are fo celebrated, has many paflages in
his works which ſhow that he was a great fee-thin
ker; and particularly had a noble notion of the
worſhip of the Gods : forwhich fome of the mo
dern Priefthood would not only call a man who
fhould talk fo now a free-thinker, but an Atheiß.
Says he, declaring how the Gods are to be wor
ſhip’d. * Let us not fuffer any one to light lamps to
the
Majorum, fortunafuit. Quis Martefecundo,
Quis tantum meruit populorum fanguine nomen !
Hunc ego per Syrtes, Libya que extrema triumphum
Ducere maluerim, quam ter Capitolia curru
Scandere Pompeii, quam frangere colla Jugurthe.
Ecceparens verus patria , digniſſimu aris
Roma tuis, per quem nunquamjurare pudebit,
Et quem, fifteteris unquam cervicefoluta,
Tunc olim fattura Deum.---
Lucan l. 9.
* Accendere aliquem lucernam fabbatis prohibeamus , quo.
niam nec Dii lumine egent, črne homines quidem fuligine de
" lestan«
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 123
the Gods upon fabbath-days, becauſe they want no
light, and men are not pleas'd with foot. . Let us not
pērmit men toperform any morning-devotions, or to
ft at the doors of temples; He worſhips God, who
knows him. Let us forbid men to carry any linnen
or combs to J U P I T E R, or hold a looking-glaſs to
J U No. God has no need ofministers or fervants.
ivhyfo ? Becauſe he himſelf ferves mankind; and is
ready to affiff every body and every where. Would
you render the Gods propitious to you ? Be a good
man. He honours the Gods fufficiently, who imi
tates them.

Likewife he fays, † Superffition is a mad error.

It fears thoſe who are to be lov'd, and injures thoſe
it worſhips.
Again, this religious man , like his religious
brethren the Stoicks, deny'd the immortality ofthe
foul. * You ought, fays he to M A R C I A in com
fortingher for the death of her fon, to think that
he who is dead fuffers no evil. All that is feign'd to
be

lettantur. Vetemusfalutationibus matutinis fungi, ċr foribus

affidare templorum. TDeum colit, qui novit. Vetemus lintea
&rftrigilis Jovi ferre, & ſpeculum tenere Junoni. Non querit
ministros Deus. Quid ni? Ipſe humanogeneriminiſtrat : ubi
que & omnibus prašto est. Vis Deos propitiare ? Bonus effo.
Satis illoscoluit, quiſquis imitatus eſt. Epift. 95.
t Superffitio infanns ef error. Amandos timet, quos calit
violat. Epift. 123.
* Cogita nullis defunffum malis affici. Illa que nobis inferos
faciunt terribiles, fabulam effe. Nullas imminere mortuiste
nebras, nec carcerem, nec flumina flagrantia igne, nec oblivio
nis amnem, nec tribunalia. Luferunt ista Poeta, ở vanis
nºsagitavere terroribus, Mors omnium dolorum & folatio eff
& finis : ultra quam mala noſtra non exeunt, que nos in illam
tranquillitatem in quâ antequam nafteremur jacuimus, reponit.
Si mortuorum aliquis aniferetur, & non natorum mifereatur.
Conf. ad Marciam, c. 19.
124 A D I S C O U R S E
be fo terrible in hell, is but a fable. We know well
that the deadare not ſubject to darkneß, norprifons,
nor burning rivers, nor to waters of forgetfulneß,
norto any tribunals. The poets have pleas'd them
felves in feigning them, and have difturb'd us with
vain fears. Death puts an end to all our mifery.
Beyond that, our misfortunesgo not. That places us
in the fame tranquillity in which we were before we
were born. If any one would grieve for thoſe who
are dead, be ought to grieve for thoſe who are not
yet born.
This feedom ofS EN E c A was fofar from leffen
ing the juſt eſteem which the primitive Chriſtians
had ofhislearningandvirtue, thatthey thought to
do confiderable fervice to Chriſtianity, by forging
a correſpondence of*Letters, between St. P A U L
and him. Thefe Lettersare cited by † St. J E R o M
and # St. A u s T 1 N as genuine; and the former
was fo charm’d with S E N E c A, as to put him in
his * lift offaints. -

(11.) So L o M o N is declar’d by the word of

God to be the wifefi ofmen, and fome of his writ
ings are authoriz’d as part ofGod’s word tous, in
which I find fuch inſtances offee-thinking, that
had he liv'd in our days, and wrote in the fame
manner, he would have been calumniated as an
Atheift, unleſs he had recommended himſelf to
the prieſt by building ofChurches.
He

* Tet extant, and are printed in feveral of the old editions of

Seneca's wºrks:, and very lately in Fabricius's Codex Apo
cryphus Novi Teft. p. 892. -

† In Catal. Script. Eccl.

# Epiß. 54 ad Macedonium.
* In Catal. Sanctorum. In Cat. Script. Eccl.
 of FREE-THINKING. 125
Hefays, One generation paſſes away, and ano- Eccl. 1.4
ther generation cometh : but the earth abideth for 5.6.7.9.
ever. Thefun alſo arifeth, and the fun goeth down,
and hasteth to itsplace where he arofe. The wind
goeth towardthe ſouth, and turneth about towards
the north; it whirleth about continually, and the
wind returneth again according to its circuits. All
the rivers run into the fea, yet the fea is not full :
unto the placefom whence the rivers come, thither
they return again. The thing that hath been, it is
that which fhall be ; and that which is done, is that
which fhallbe done: and there is no new thing under
the fun. All which isan elegant defcription of the
eternity
Poet M ofANtheI LI
world,
U S : not much unlike that of the Lib
lb • I •

Omnia mortali mutantur lege creata:

Necfe cognoſcunt terre vertentibus annis.
Exute variant faciem perfecula gentes.
At manet incolumis mundus, fuaque omnia ſervat,
9ua nec longa dies auget, minuitvefenectus,
Necmotus puncto currit, curfufvefatigat :
Idemſempererit, quoniam ſemper fuit idem.
Non alium videre patres, aliumve nepotes |

Aſpicient ; Deus eff, qui non mutatur in avum,

Again , So Lo M o N fays , I faid in my heart Eccl. 3.
concerning the eſtate of the fons of men, that God 18. ***
might manifeſt them, and that they might fee that
'they themſelves are beafs; . For that which befalleth
beafs, even one thing befalleth them ; as the one
dieth, fo dieth the other; yea, they have all one
breath, fo that a man hath no pre-eminence above
a beaſt: for all is vanity. All go to oneplace, all
are of the duft, and all turn to duft again, * Who
kno
* So this verf is render'din the Vulg. and by Caſtalio. JAnd
inderd the context shews it ought to be render'd/º, -
 126 A D IS CO U R S E ,
knoweth that the ſpirit of a man goeth upward ,
and that the ſpirit ofa beaf goeth downwards to the
earth ? Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing
better than that a man rejoice in his own works, for
that is his portion : for who ſhall bring him to fee
what ſhall be after him ? In another place he argues
againſt a future ſtate, and obviates the common
argument for it, drawn from cur bonis malè, cơ
Eccl. 7. malis benè , in theſe words : In the day ofproſperity
14. be joyful, but in the day ofadverſity confider : God
alſo hath fet one over againſt the other, to the end
9 5. 1o. that man ſhould find nothing after him. Laftly, he
fays, The dead know not any thing, neither have
they any more a reward; and that there is no work,
nor device, nor knowledg, nor wiſdom in the grave.
Thefe paffages (which fome without any manner
offoundation fuppofeto be the words of an Epicu
12. I 4
rean introduc’d :
S o L o M o N ) , plainly fhow ,
that when S o L o M o N ſpeaks elfewhere in this
book of a judgment, he means a judgment in this
world, (agreably to the whole tenor ofthe Jewiſh
Religion & Laws where all the rewards & puniſh
ments promis'd & threatned are temporal) and
nota judgment in the world to come, as Chriſtians
underſtand that word in the New Teſtament. But
it is : that you, who are fully perſwaded,as
you have reafon to be, of the immortality of the
foul upon the authority ofJ E su s-CH R i s T who
has brought immortality to light, may be furpriz’d
that fo wife ::::::::::::::: by
his fee - thinking to deny fo important a truth.
Wherefore, for the vindication of So L o M o N s
wifdom in this point, I obferve , Ift. That the
immortality of :: foul was no where plain in the
OldTeſtament; was deny'd by the Sadducees, the
moſt philoſophical part of :: Jewiſh nation »
and of whom their magiſtrates principally con
- fifted;
| ºf FREE-THINKING.
fifted; was thought doubtful by moſt fećts of the
127
Grecian philoſophers, and deny’d by the Stoicks,
the moſt religious fećt ofthem all; * had never,
according to C I C E R o, been afferted in writing
by any Greek author extant in histime before P H E
R E c Y D E s of the Iſland Syrus ; and was f firſt
taught by the Egyptians; or, according to our
learned SI R J o H N M A R s H A M , was # their
moff noble invention. No wonder therefore , if
S o L o M o N, who liv’d before moſt of thefe, rea
fon'd in the fame manner with thelearned men of
his own country, and the more learned Philofo
hers of the neighbouring nations. 2dly. I ob
: that the true principles, upon which the
immortality of the foul depends, are only to be
fetch’d from the New Teſtament. We learn in
the Old Teſtament , that A D AM by eating the
forbidden fruit ſubjected himſelf and all his pofte
rity to death : but the New Teſtament teaches
us to underſtand by death, eternal life in mifery;
and from thence we know, that God had but one
way to put mankind in a capacity of enjoying
immortal happinefs, viz. by fending J E su s
C H R 1 s Tinto the world, who (as God andman,
and God’sfon, and the fame numercial being with
that God whoſe fon he was, and yet perſonally
distinct fom him ) only could by his ſufferings
and death (tho God can neither dye nor :?
give an infinite fatisfaction to an infinitely offend
ed and infinitely merciful God, appeafe his wrath,
and thereby fave the elect. , Now I would ask,
how : man without revelation could know that
death fignify'd eternal life in mifery ; or that
A D AM ’s
| * Pherecydes Syrius (quod literis exftet) primum dixit ani
mos hominum eſſe ſempiternos. Tufc. Quæft. Edit, Davifii.
- 33.
t Herºdotus, Edit. Genevæ, p. 123;
# Chron. Canon. p. 2 1.
 128 A D I S CO U R S E
A D A M’s poſterity ſhould beliable to eternaldam
nation for his tranſgreifion; or how without re
velation fo wonderful a fcheme as this Goſpel
fcheme (which alone lays the foundation of a hap
pyimmortality) couldenter into the wifefi man's
imagination?
(12.) The Prophets (who had the moſt learn
ed Education among the Jews, and were bred up
in Univerſities call'd Schools of the Prophets, where
they learnt to prophecy, andamong other means
to* obtain the Prophetick ſpirit, play’d upon muſical
infruments and drank wine) were greatfee-think
ers,andhave writtenwith as great liberty againſt the
eſtabliſh’d Religion of the Jews (which the peo
ple look'd on as the inſtitution of God himſelf )
as if they believ’d it was all'impoſture; and with
greater liberty againſt their inſpir’d prieſts and
Prophets, than the Author of the Rights of the
Christian Church has done againſt the uninſpir'd
prieſts and Prophets of our Iſrael.
Iſaiah 1. 1. As to the eſtabliſh’d Religion of the Jews,
1 I , 14 they fay, To what purpoſe is the multitude of your
facrifices unto me , faith the Lord ? I am full of
burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed Beaſts;
and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of
lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear
before me, who hath requir’d this at your hands,
f0

* In fudæorum ſacrificiis incipiebant hymni & shores in lau

dem numinis, propterea ut videtur, quod poft hilaritatem illam
quam è vini hauſtu conceperant, aptiores viderentur facrº iki
enthuſiaſmº percipiendo quo facra illa effentperagenda. Multis
hac probari poterant, ni vidiſſem orationem potiùs effe contrahen
dam. Et vero corporeis id genus auxiliis judeos uſos eſſe confas
adconcipiendum ſpiritum Propheticum. . Sic muſicam adhibuit
Eliſeus _cibum filii Efavi, & vinum fenior Iſaacu. Dodweli
de Jure Laic. p. 359,
 of FREE-THINKING. 129
to tread my courts ? Bring no more vain oblations,
incenfe is an abomination to me , the new moons
and fabbaths , the calling of aſſemblies I cannot
away with, it is iniquity, even the ſolemn meet
ing. Tour new moons, and your appointed feafs,
my Soul hateth: they are a trouble to me » I am
weary to bear them... To what purpoſe cometh in- Ezek.6.
cenfe fom Sheba º And the fweet cane fom a far 2o.
country ? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable ,
nor yourſacrificesfweet unto me. Nay, they make
Godfay plainly , Iſpake not unto your fathers, nor 7. 22
eommanded them in the day that I brought them out
ofthe land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings and
facrifices... Igave them ſtatutes, faith the Lord, ao 2;.
that were not good, and judgments whereby they
could not live... I deſpiſe yourfeaſt-days, and I will Amos 5,
not fmell in your folemn aſſemblies; tho ye offer me 21, 22, 23.
burnt-offerings, andyour meat-offerings, I will not
accept them : neither will I regard the peace-offerings
of your fat beafs. Take thou away from me the noife
of thy fongs, for I will not hear the melody of thy
viols.

2. As to the prieſts and prophets, they fay, the

prieſt and the prophet have erred thro ftrong drink, Ifa. 27.7.
they are fwallow'd up of wine, they are out of the -

way thro ſtrong drink , they err. in viſion , they

fumble in judgment... The prieſts faid not, where Jer. 2.8.
is the Lord? And they that handle the law, knew
me not : the pastors have tranſgreß’d againſt me,
and the prophets prophecy’d by Baal , and walked
after things that do not profit... The prophets pro- 5. 31.
phecyfalfly, and the}: bear rule by their means,
and my people love to have it fo... , From the prophet 6. 13.
even unto the prieſt every one dealeth falfly. . . Then 8. 15.
the Lordfaid unto me, the prophetsprophecy lyes in 144,
my name; I fent them not, neither have I com
- I manded
 139 A D IS CO U R SE ,
manded them, neither fþake unto them : they pror
phecy unto you a falfe viſion and divination, and
a thing ofnaught, and the deceit of their heart....
23. 11. Both prophet and prieſ are profane... I have feen
13. folly in theprophets of Samaria, they prophecy'd in
Baal, and cauſed my people Iſrael to err. i have
feen alfa in the prophets of Jeruſalem an horrible •

thing : they commit adultery, and walk in lyes :

they firengthen alſo thehands ofevildaers, that none
doth return from his wickedneß : they are all of
them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof
Jer. 23. 15. as Gomorrah... From theprophets ofJeruſalem pro
16 fanenestis goneforththro all the land... Thus faith
the Lord afhofis, hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that prophecy unto you ; they make you
vain : theyſpeak a viſion of their own heart, and
2c, not out of the mouth of the Lord... Ihave not feat
thefe prophets, yet they ran; I have not ſpoken to
25. 26. them, yet they prophecy'd. They prophecy lyes in
55. my name, yea they are prophets of dereit.... I ame
27. 16. í 5. againſt the prophets, faith the Lord... , Hearken not
to yourprophets, for they prophecy a lye unto you;
but ferve the King of Babylon... . The enemy have
Lam.4.13. entred the gates ofJeruſalem, for thefins ofher pro
- phets and iniquity afher prieſis, that have ſhed the
Ezek. 13. hlaod afthejuß in themidstofber... Prophecyagainſi
2. the prophets. There is a conſpiracy of her prophers
22. 25 like a roaringlion ravening the prey: they have de
vour'd fouls: theyhave taken the treaſure and pre
28. cious things : they have made many widows. They
have divined, faying, thus faith the Lord, when
Hof 6,9 the Lord hath not ſpoken... Astroops ofrobbers wait
for a man, fo the company of prieſts murder in the
Micah. 3. :) by confent; for they commit leudneß... The
I I. prieſts teach for hire, and the prophets divine for
naony ; yet will they lean upon the Lord, and fay,
is not the Lord among us ? - -

e Thef
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 13r
Thefe are allfuchinſtances offee-thinking, that
had any Engliſhmen talk'd fo in our days , they
would have had a place in Dr. S A C H E v E R E L’s
Tryal, and in the Repreſentation of the Lower
Houſe of Convocation, as proofsofthe Profaneneß,
Blaſphemy, and Atheiſm of the nation.
(13.) Next to the Prophets I place Jo s E P H u s,
who is the moſt antient uninfpir'd evidence now
remaining for the authority ofthe canon of the Old
Teſtament. He was the moſt learned and polite
author the Jews ever had; and has wrote a hiſtory.
of his Country, not much inferiourin ftile, order,
and perſpicuity, to the beſt ofthe Grecian or Ro
man hiſtòries; infomuch that in reading him I have
often wiſh’d he had had a better fubjećt, than fuch
anilliterate, barbarous, and ridiculous *people. ,
Now Jo s E P H u s is allow'd by the prieſts to be
a great Latitudinarian, andaddicted to the general
- I 2 opi
* The reverend Dr. South admirably well defcribes
the Jews in part, when he fays, They were all a long
a croß, odd. untoward fort of People, and fuch as God
feems to have eſpous 4 to himſelf upon the very fame accounº
that Socrates did Xantippe, only for her extreme all con
ditious abºve all that he could poſſibly find, or pick out of
that fex; and Jº the fittef both to exercife and declare his ad
mirable patience to the world. Sermons, vol. 1. p. 539,
But our reverend and learned Drs. Spencer and Burnet
have defcribed them more at large. Says the firft ,
Nature form’d the Jews a Natura gentem Hebræo
bove all the other inhabitants rum præter cæteros orbis
of the earth, of a morofe, ill incolas ingenio morofo, dif
natur'd, and infamouſly obſti ficili, & ad infamiam ufque
nate temper. - They were a pertinaci, finxit –Moribus
barbarous and cruelpeople.-- afperis & efferatis.— Gens
Superfitious and deſtitute of fuperſtitiofa & omni penè
almost all literature, literaturâ deftituta.
- «And
r32 A D I S CO U R S E
opinions of the excellency of* virtue and goodneg,
t;: is, to be a Man offee thought, and a lover of
virtue.

. A few inſtances of his fee-thinking will not be

UlIl

And he adds, to juſtify God's Inftitution of the

Jewiſh laws :
That fuperffition is a fub Contumax autem bellua
born monffer, eſpecially when fuperftitio, fi præfertim ab
by the darkneſſ of ignorance it ignorantiæ tenebris novam
takes in fresh barbarity and erociam & contumaciam
obſtinacy : And therefore God, hauferit. Quando itaque
in dealing with this illiterate deo jam negotium effet cum
and exceedingly fuper/titious populo tam barbaro & fu
nation , was oblig'd to make perftitioni tam impenfe de
allowance for their infirmity, dito; penè neceſſe fuit, ut
and draw them to himſelf by aliquid eorum infirmitati
a fºrt of craft , and not by daret, eoſque dolo quodam
reaſon. For no brute is more ( non argumentis) ad feip
srefſ-grain'd or requires great fum alliceret. Nullum ani
er cunning to manage, than the mal fu perítitiofo, rudi præ
ſuperfitious brute, eſpeeially if fertim , morofius eſt, aut
hebe ignorant, majori arte traĉtandum.
Spencer de Legibus Hebreor.
p. 628, 629.
The latter fays, That from Ex Hebræorum Legibus
the laws of the Jews and the & Oeconomia Mofaicâ ju
Moſaick æconomy, one may dicare licet , crafTam hebe
judghow groß and fupid they temque fuiſſe iftius populi
were , anilincapable ofunder indolem : neque rebus na
(tanding either the things of turalibus contemplandis .
this world or the other. Their aut divinis percipiendis ,
mºff wife legiſlator would ne idoneam. Tot ritibus exter
ver have burden’d Philoſophers, mis , tot ceremoniis infrugi
or «Men capable of divine feris, tot minutiis & obfer
things, with fo many external vatiunculis, viros philofo
rites , fo many unprofitable ce phos aut coeleſtium dociles,
remonies, fo many triftes and nequaquam onerâffet fapi
*hings of no confequence. He entiffimus legiſlator. Ni
mix'd nothing ſpiritual, orak hil intellectuale, aut a fen
fraćřed from fenfe, not fo fibus abſtraćtum, neque pro
* - much priarum
· * Dr. Willes's Diſc, on Joſephus, p. 3o
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 133
unacceptable to the reader. He fays , * That
CA I N, after a tedious journy thro feveral coun
tries, took up ar length at Nais , and fettled his
abode: but was fo far from mending upon his afflic
tion, that he went ratherfrom bad to worfe; aban
doning himſelf to all manner of outrage , without
any manner of regard to common justice. He en
rich’d himſelf by rapine and violence ; and made
choice of the moſtprofigate of monftersfor his compa
mions, instructing them in the very myffery of their
own profeſſion. He corrupted the fimplicity of for
mer times with a novel invention of weights and
meaſures, and exchang’d the innocency of that pri
mitive generofity and candour, for the new tricks of
policy and craft. All which feems plainly to fup
poſe men before A D A M.
He fays, † The Iſraelitespaſſage of the Red Sea
avas thefame that happen'd to the Macedonians un
der the command of A L Ex A N D E R at the Pam
hilian Sea: in which there was nothing miracu
ous , if # A L E x A N D E R himſelf is to be be
liev'd. -

I 3 When

much as the immortality of ptiarum animarum immor.

their ºwn fouls, in his institu- talitatem, fuis institutis &
tions and religion ; and in the religioni intexuit ; pariter
rewards and punishments pro que in præmiis & pænis, ad
mis'd or threaten’dfor the ob legem corroborandam pro
fervation or breach of their pofitis, nihil pollicitus aut
law, there were none beyond minatus eſt ultra hujus vitæ
this life, nothing but temporat terminos, atque bona aut
good and evil: and this not mala temporalia : idque non
an the account of his own ig ob fuan , fed populi iftius
morance, but on account ofthe ignorantiam, & animorum
ignorance, or rather ſtupidity. ut ità dicam, craffitudinem,
ofthis people. JArcheol. Phil. p. 332.
* Jewish Antiq. l. 1. c. 3. L’Eſtrange's
f Ibid. l. 2. c. 16.
Tranſlation.
* Litera Alexandri, apud Plutarchum in vita Alex.
134 A D Is co u RsE 2
when he relates the miraculous appearance of
God at * mount Sinai, he adds » that the reader
may take this as hepleaſes.
Inſtead ofrelating the hiſtory of N E B o cHA D
NE z z A R like D A N I E L, who fays, f. He was
driven from men , and dideatgraß like Oxen, and
his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his
hairs were grown like eagles feathers and his nails
like birds claws : Jo s E P H u s tellstheftory thus,
# That N E B U ch Ap N Ez z A R afterfeven years
fpent in folitude, and no one daring, during that
time , to make any attempt on his Government ,
God was prevail'd on to reinstate him in the exercife
of his kinglypower.
-

I could cite many other paffages of thelike na

ture, but that I may not be tedious , I will give
you only one more; and that ſhall be the most re
markable paflage in his whole works, out ofhis
fecond book againſi AP P I o N, as it is tranſlated by
the reverend * Dr. W I L L E s : That M os Es
fem his justice and piety might very welljudg that
he had God for his guide, and when he was once
perfuaded of that himſelf, he did well toperſuade
the people to think fo too ; juſt as the Greeks pre
tended to have their laws from AP o L L o , whe
ther they really thought fo orno, orthought that the
beſt way to make them receiv'd of the people.

To account for this free-thinking of Jos EP Hus,

the prieſts themfelves have recourſe to as free a
fo

* Jewish «Antiq. 1. 3. c. 5.
t Dan. 4, 33, 34. 36.
* Antiquites, l. 1 o. c. 1 r.
* Firſt Diſc, on Joſephus, p. 3.
 of FREE-THINKING. *3;
folution. Our reverend and learned † GREGoRr
fays, Jo s E p H u s being defirous that his work
might find acceptation with the Gentiles, took di
ligent heed to make the diſpoſition of his hiſtory of
fuch a temper, as that nothing ſhould bepropos’dfo
incredible, as not to bearfome congruity with fuch
things which had been known before, and were
like to be hereafter.
( : O R 1 G E N ( who was the firſt Chriſtian
that had any general literature ; and whoſe great
abilitys, according to a reverend * Divine, wip'd
of a very popular objection againſi Chriſtianity,
during the two firſt centurys, that none but fools
were Christians; and on whoſe learning and piety
Eu s E B 1 u s employs the whole fixth book of his
eccleſiaſtical hiſtory ) was a ver #:free-thinker;
and for that reafon was not call’dfaint, like fome
other fathers who feem to have had the true title to
that appellation, from their want of learning and
exceſs of zeal. There is likewife another conſpi
cuous teſtimony ofhisfree-thinking from the great
debate in the Čhriſtian Church , whether he was
damn'd or no; which wasat length determin’dby
the fifth # General Council in the affirmative ,
upon the viſion of a boly old man who dreamt he
faw O R I G E N in hell, and upon the requeſt of the
then ::" to have O R I G E N and his opinions

(1 g.) Mr N v r 1 v s FÈ L 1x , another polite

and learned father of the Church , has left us an
Apology for the Chriſtian IReligion,
4
which a Ve
re

t Gregory’s Pºsthuma, p. 32.

· * Reeve's Apel. in the notes, vºl. 2. p. 325.
* Binet du Šalat. d'origene, p. 191.
136 A D I SCOU R S E.
verend # author thinks one of the beſt books next
the Bible; wherein he, asallunderſtanding Chriſ
tians muſt be, appears to have been a great free
thinker.

He has fuch a noble idea of Chriſtianity as to

fay, * that either the Chriſtians were all Þhiloſo
phers, or all the old Philoſophers were Chriſtians.
*«

And to the heathen objećtion, † Why the

Chriſtians had no Altars, no Churches, no publick
Preaching, nor publick Aſſemblys; he anfwerslike
a true modern Latitudinarian#:: Chriſ.
tian : † What Churchfhould I buildfor God, when
the whole world cannot contain him? And when I,
who am only a man, live unconfin’d, fhall I confine
the majeſty of God in a little houſe ? Is it not more
becoming the Deity, to have a Church in our
minds and in our hearts ? Shall I offer facrifices
and oblations to the Deity of thoſe things he has
made for my uſe, as if I turn’d back on his hands
the preſents he has made me ? this is ingratitude;
fince
# Reeve's Pref before his Apologys. p. 1.
* Aut Christianos Philoſophos effe, aut Philoſophos fuiſſe
Chriſtianos. Min. Felix . notis var. p. 155.
t Cur nullas aras habent, nulla templa, nunquam pa"
lam loqui, nunquam liberè congregari ? p. 91.
# Quod templum ei extruam, cum totsu hic mundus eum
eapere non poſſit ? Et cum homo latius maneam, intra unam
ediculam vim tanta Majeſtatis includam ? Nonne melius in
moſtra deducandus eſt mente ? In nostro imo confecrandus eft
pettore ? Hoftiau ở vittimas domino offeram. quas in ufum
mei protulit, ut rejiciam ei fuum munus ? Ingratum est ;
cum fit litabilis hoſtia, bontu animus, ċr pura mens , &
fincera conſcientia. Igitur qui innocentiam colit, Domine
fupplicat ; qui juſtitiam, Deo libat: qui fraudibus abstinet -
propitiat Deum ; qui hominem periculo Jubripit, opimam visti
mam cedit. Hoc nostra facrificia, hac Dei facra funt. Sie
"Pºd nos religioſior ille est , qui justior, Ibid., p. 313.
 |

ºf FREE-THINKING. Hz
Fince all the facrifice he requires is juſtice, purity,
and fincerity. Therefore he who lives innocently,
zvorſhips him. He who does juſtice, facrifices. He
who abſtains fom injuſtice, gives full fatisfaction
to the Deity : and he who faves another from
danger , offers the nobleft victim. Thefe are our
facrifices, this is our divine fervice; fo that we
esteem the homeſteſt man among us the moſt reli
gious. -

As MI N U T I U s FE L 1 x thought Altar, and

Sacrifice, Churches eo Preaching, to be no parts
of the Chriſtian Religion and Worſhip, : by
confequence a proper prieſthood neither effential
nor neceſlary; fo he has painted outin very lively
colours the miſchief of fuch a prieſthood , and
fhown how happy the world was when there was
none. Says he, * where are there more affigna
tions made, more ::::: , more adulterys concer
ted, than by prieſts in their Churches and at their
Altars ? And there is more flaming luftperpetrated
in Religious : than in the publick ftews. The
Afſyrians , Medes, Perfians, Grecians, and Egyp
||
tians, had flouriſhing empires without and before
there were any orders of prieſts in tbe world.
Laftly, M I N U T I U s F E L 1 x underſtoodwell
both the weakfide and knavifh fideofhuman nature,
when he faid , † We learn fables and abfurditys
I 0773

* Ubi magis à facerdotibus quam inter aras & delubra

conducuntur Jłupra , traffantur lenocinia . adulteria me
ditantur ? Frequentitu denique in edituorum cellulis, quam
in ipſis lupanaribus flagrans libido defungitur. Et tamen
ante eos, diu regna tenuerunt, Aſſyrii, Medi, Perfe, Graci
etiam . & < Egyptii, cum Pontifices & Arvales. & Salios,
& Vestales, ở Augures non haberent. Ibid. p. 238.
Fabulas ó errores ab imperitis parentibus diſcimus &
;:t 293
º/i gravius, iffii ſtudiis ć, diſciplinis elaboramus.
138 A D Is co U R S E ,
from ourignorant ancefors; and what is more ina
tolerable, we employ our learning and ſtudys to
make fenfe of them.
16. ) S Y N E s 1 u s, a celebrated African
Biſhop of the fifth century, and a great Philofo
pher , had , like O R 1 G E N and M I N U T 1 U s
F E L I x, too much :::: and too little zeal to
be call'd faint ; and was fo uprightly fincere ,
that he would not accept of his Biſhoprick but
on the following free-thinking terms, as he ex
prefies himſelf : * To ſhake thoſe doctrines, fays
he,
* Kaxerá isw, si u) è aízy dłóvalov,
się ļvx), ra ởi årışhung ei; &rèầeğiw ix
Bóla Báyuara gaasv9#væı. Birĝa 3' 3ri
zroAAº puxoropía roi; 9ęvaasuśrois rároig
cirriðiwrørlerai ôóyuærv. ciuźne rń, þv
x) är ciğióra worè ráuørG” ósepoyevi vo
uíġew rá, xoguov s pýra } răAA« péen
vvydızpºetęerĝa. r)v xºĝeuanuávºv civá
saviv lepo» ri è årófinrov ſympaxi, è roxas
đẠraig rã năm 9ĝç öron#ļeriv duoĂoyfræı.
všs wèv šv QıàóropG- izróxlạc ở rcianºše,
«vzºệel rã xẹela r㺠leóềegºwi. aivaśavyov
yaç isi pas zręòs casteiz», ? ởuuz zręôr
ềnuov. n šv öp3æAuGºeie xxxáy ảº ciroazó
rele, parròs, }} n roig ö49æAutãri rò vxór@
aipeapztóregov røúrg } rò ļsú3G- 34eaG
stras ríº epai Biaº, # Éaaĉeșè, r) *a*
Setar rost šº iexóssi» ivarsvíra, zręós r?»
-- » » ./ - |- |

*** Bºrº inégystav., ei rastrº è di r.); xa8

 of FREE-THINKING. 139
he, that are demonſtrated, is difficult, or rather
impoſſible. And you know that Philoſophy is in
confifient with the receiv'd opinions, I cannot
grant the foul to be of later original than the body.
I ſhall not fay that the univerſe and its parts will
periſh together. The commonly receiv'd fiory of
the refurrection contains fomething facred and not
fit to be divulg'd, and I am farfom acknowled
ging the common opinions concerning it. Indeed,
'a philoſophical mind, tho a proper judg of truth,
yields to the : of diſguifing. For as light is
to the fight , .fo is truth to the common people.
Whereas therefore the fight without hurt Bannot
enjoy immoderate light, and darkneß is better for
infirm eyes : fo I affirm diſguife is more uſeful to
the vulgar , and truth hurts thoſe who cannot
look into the evidence of things. If therefore the
laws
e - , ** - e |- A 3 /- --
iuãs feệørówns ºv/xaệśrw tuol váuoi , Bo
v«luny dy fegãºĝwi, rºuầy ăıxoi piaogopär,
rcò dl žğa çıàouv9ãy , ei uì đầcírkov,
ciał sà pèr roi wélzầuðárkºv , uśweiy đề
sãy ir rís agoàýlewe. ei Bè party šro Bey
; xiverĝas, à 3huey eñal rèv ſegía rai;
óğais , &x à pºchopu pavegò tuzvrès
àɔrasi waºises. Býsa yºệ 3} : patogopíz,
rł zręès daAnàº; rrv prèv aiagºslav rã, Selar
cirdi; ſlov eiyai dei rò Bề xx#99- trégaç
Ēģeºs ºsfræi... ởvºis đề ù woaxáns sęs,
pandéuss diváſzºs xøęsúrn;. år inizsiv ro
«pòv, ºr êxáxeơ9ai. xanguev@ 3 els iepa
vówny, sx ciğıã rạorworeirºa Bóyuala, rag
rø eeèv , røör« svºgárus "agrégºuai.
Opera, p. 249.
143 A D Is co U R s E
laws of Epiſcopal confecration eſtabliſh’d among us
allow of this, I can fubmit to be confecrated;
while I have the liberty to philoſophize at home ,
and talk myſteriouſly to the people in publick, nei
ther teaching them any thing thorowly , nor un
teaching them any thing, but fuffering them to
continue in their preconceiv'd opinions. But if
thoſe laws fuppoſe a Biſhop fhould be fo affected ,
and be like the common people in his opinions , I
cannot avoid publickly diſcovering my felf. For
what relation has philoſophy to the common people ?
The truth in divine things ought to be kept myffe
rious. But the people ought to be affected otherways.
Again and again I will ſpeak it , I think a wife
man, without urgent neceſity to the contrary ,
ought to leave others to their fentiments, and at
the fame time to retain bis own. But ifyou make
me a Biſhop, I will not counterfeit my opinions.
Of this I call God and man to witneß. And he
was made Biſhop of Cyrene on thefe free-thinking
teľII1S. -

But I muſt not conceal from you, that as they

who elected him knew the mighty efficacy of a
Biſhoprick to convert, and therefore doubted not
of his ſpeedy orthodoxy; fo * he did not fail them,
but was foon enlightend in the point of the re
furrection. For when † E v A G R 1 u s, a Hea
then Philoſopher, and his old friend , came to
viſit him upón his promotion, SY N E s 1 u stook
a great deal of pains to convert him ; infomuch
that the Philoſopher declar’d himſelfconvinc'd of
the truth of the Chriſtian Religion, and in parti
cular of the refurrection. Andthe following par
t1
* Photii Biblioth. Cod. 26.
† of
out Dºpin Bibl.
Pratum ::::::: Þ par, p.
Seicle. 5. pram, par, p. 845 , 846,
84 taken
 of-FREE-THINKING. 14r
tícular is recorded in eccleſiaſtical hiſtory, as an
evidence of the fincerity of them both, and like
wife as an undoubted proof of the refurrection
it felf. The Philoſopher, after he had receiv'd
his baptiſm , came to SY N E s I U s, and gave
him a fum of mony to diſtribute among the poor,
and requir’d a note under his hand, by which he
fhould oblige himſelf to pay it him again in the
other world. S Y N E s 1 ở s made no ſcruple to
give him fuch a note. . The Philoſopher kept the
note, and fome time before his death orderd his
children to put it into his coffin with him. Three
days after his death, he appear’d to SYNESIUs,
and defir’d him to come to his tomb, and take
up the note he had given him, becaufe he had
receiv'd his mony, and affur'd him he ſhould
find a receit under his hand at the bottom of the
note. S Y N E s 1 u s, who knew not that E v A
G R 1 u s’s children had put the note in their fa
ther’s coffin, fent to them, and having found
out the truth of the matter, and acquainted them
with what had happen'd, went with the clergy
and magiſtrates óf Cyrene to the tomb, open'd
the coffin, found the note , and a receit under
E v A G R I U s’s hand. And as a proofofallthis,
the note and receit were preferv'd in the vestry
of the Epifcopal Church of Cyrene.
(17.) My Lord BA co N ſhow'd himſelf to be
a great free-thinker, not only by throwing offthe
old and introducing a new philoſophy, but by
feveral paffages in his works relating ::::: IO
Religion. . He explain’d the whole fecret ofſuper
fiition, when he faid, * That nature has planted
- 172
* Natura rerum omnibus viventibus indidit metum ớ
formidinem, vite atque effentiæ fue conſervatricem , ac mala
ingruentia vitantem & depellentem. Vermntamen eadem :
--
142 A DI SC O URSE
in every living thing a kind of care and fear foả
the prefervation of its own life and being, and for
the Jhunning and refifting of evils that may befal
it : and yet this nature knows not how to keep a
mean, but always intermixeth vain and empty ·
fears; fo that all things ( if their infides might be
feen ) are full of Panick fears : and above all,
men and eſpecially the vulgar, who are loadedand
toߺd about with fuperfition ( which is nothin
elfe but Panick :) eſpecially in times of #
culty, danger, and adverſity. And he com
mends this faying of E P I c U R U s as divine ,
„ that wife men are not profane when they deny
,, the Gods of the common people , but they
,, are profane when they think the Gods are
», fuch as the common people believe in. *
He likewife ſhows his fufpicion of the faſts
upon which moſt of the ſuperſtitions of the world
are grounded, when he fays, † that whatever
anyway has the leaft relation to Religion, is par
ticularly liable to fufpicion ; as for instance , the
firange fiorys and prodigys recorded by L. I v r.
Laftly, he faw clearly into the miſchief offu
per

sura modum tenere neſcia est, fºd timoribus falutaribus femper

vanos & inanes admiſcet ; adeo ut (/ intur conſpici daren
tur) omnia Panicis Terroribus pleniſſima fint : prefếrtim
humana, & maximé omnium apud vulgum, qui ſuperfitione
[qua verè nihil, aliud eſt niſi Panicus Terror] in immen
fum laborat & agitatur, pracipuè temporibus duris, ở tre
pidis, & adverfis, Augm. Scient. l. 2. e. 13.
* Ut divinė Epicurus locutus fit, Non deos vulgi ne
gare profanum, ſed vulgi opiniones diis applicare pro
fanum Ibid.
t Maxime babenda funt pro fufpestis que quomodocunº
que dependent a religione , nt prodigia Livii, Nov. Org
4. 2. aph. 29. - - , -
 –--

of FREE-THINKIN G. R43
perstition, when in his Eſſay upon that ſubject he
prefer'd Atheiſm to it.
(18.) TH o M A s Ho B B E s of Malmesbury,
notwithſtanding his feveral falfe opinions and his
High-Church politicks, is a great instance of lear
ning, virtue, and free-thinking. My Lord CLA
R E N D o N fays, * His Leviathan contains in it
good learning of all kinds , politely extracted, and
very wittily and cunningly digeſted in a very com
mendable method, and in a vigorous and pleaſant
fiile... That among the excellent qualitys, parts,
and facultys with which Mr. Ho B B E s is plenti
fully endow'd , his order and method , and his
clear expreſſions, his conceptions in weighty , pro
per, and Jignificant words , are very remarkable
and commendable... That his whole book diſcovers
a master-faculty in making hard things eaſy to be
underſtood. But for his virtue , my Lord fays,
He is one of his oldefi acquaintance, and of whom
he has always had a great efteem, as a man who,
befides his eminent parts of learning and knowledg,
hath been always look'd on as a man ofprobity, and
of a life fee from fandal.
(19. ). The next inflance I ſhall lay before
you, ſhall be Archbiſhop TI L L o r s o N; whom
all Engliſh free-thinkers own as their head, and
whom even the enemys of fee- thinking will
allow to be a proper inſtance to my purpoſe.
His learning :good fenfe are diſputed by none.
And for his virtue and fee-thinking, I appeal to
Dr. H I c k E s, who fays, † He caus'd feveral to
turn Atheiſts, and ridicule the Priefthood and Re
ligion ; and who records him for the graveß
- Atheifi
* Survey, p. 2. 16. 21. 3.
' t Hickes's Dife, ºn Tillotfon and Burnet, p.38, 4o, 74:
144 A D I S C O U RSE
Atheift that ever was. Where by a promoter of
Atheiſm and contempt of the ::::
, and by
Atheift, ought to be underſtood (confidering
whoſe language it is, and to whom it is apply'd
a man who did not take up his opinions upon the
authority of any man, or encourage others to do
fo, that is, a free-thinker; and by grave, ought
to be underſtood a man of virtue and morals.
But his works are the nobleft teſtimony. , They,
tho chiefly confifting of * Sermons , tend to the
promoting of true Religion or virtue ( in the
praćtice whereof the peace and happinefs of fo
ciety confift) and free-thinking : and in themhe
has greatly exceeded the idea he us'd to give of
the goodneß of a fermon, by frequently repeating
the words of a witty man , that it was a good
fermon which had no hurt in it.
What a charming idea does he give us of the
Deity ? It is alone ſufficient, without any further
argument, to make the Atheift wiſh there were
a Deity, and by filencing his prejudices difpofe
him tó convićtion. Í Ďid but men , fays he »
C0%

* What is here faid about Sermons may poſſibly give

offence to all preachers of Sermons , and to fome
hearers : wherefore I humbly offer to their conſidera
tion the following paíTage of that wife and free-think
ing Princefs, Queen Elizabeth, taken out of her admi
rable proelamation to forbid preaching, printed in the ap
Pendix tº Strype's Annals: viz. That Jince from preaching
there rifeth amongst the common fort ºf people not only un
fruitful diſputes in matters ºf TReligion, but alſo contention,
and ºccaſion to break common quiet; her majeſty hath for
*he quiet Governance of her fuljetis thought it neceſſary to
fharge and command all her futjeãs, as well clergy a
laity, that they do forbear to preach or teach, or give au
dience tº any manner of doārine or preaching: her majesty
defiring by all means poſſible to procure and refore virtue
: godlineſs, with univerſal charity and concord , to
this her realm. |

† Sermons, vol. 1. p. 69.

 of FREE-THINKING. 145
eonfider the true notion of God, he would appear
fo lovely a being, and fo full of goodneß, and of
all defirable perfections, that even thoſe very per
fons who are of fuch irregular underfandings as
not to believe there is a God, yet could not refrain
from wiſhing with all their bearts that there were
one. For is it not really : to every man,
that there fhould be fuch a being , as takes parti
cular care of every one of us, and loves us ;. and
delights to do us good; as unde:ftands all our
wants, and is able and willing to relieve us in
our greateſt fraits, when nothing elfe can ? Is it
mot every man’s intereft, that there ſhouldbe fuch
a governour of the world, as really defigns our
happineff, and hath omitted nothing that is necef
fary to it; as wouldgovern us for our advantage,
and will require nothing ofus but what is for our
good, and yet will infinitely reward us for the
doing of that which is bef for our felves ? And
we have reaſon to believe God to be fuch a being ,
if he be at all.
4f,
What a Chriſtianity, and how different from
that of the impofers ofcreeds, ceremonies, and
particular forms of eccleſiaſtical government ,
does he fet before us ? * All tbe dutys, fayshe,
of Chriſtian Religion which reſpect God , are no
other but what natural light prompts men to, ex
cepting the two facraments , and praying to God
in the name and by the mediation ofChriſt. And
even thefe things (which lay no obligationupon
us, but as they are the pure poſitive commands
of God) he juſtly obſerves, are of lefs moment
than any of thofe parts of Religion which in
their own nature tend to the happinefs of human
fociety. † For, fays he, I think my felf oblig'd
K #é
* Ibid. p. 169.
i Six Sermons, ởs. p. 73.
146 A D I S C OU R S E
to deal plainly, and to be fo faithful to mothers »
as to tell them that nurfing their own children is
a natural duty; and becaufe it is fo , of a more
indiſpenſable obligation than any poſitive precept of
reveald Religion. - And as he plainly faw, *that
all fects are commonly mof hot and furious for
thofe things for which there is leaft reafon : fo
whenever the belief of reveal'd religion was ac
company'd with heat and fury, he ſcrupled not
to fay, † Better it were that there were no re
veal'd Religion, and that human nature were left
to the condućf of its own principles and inclina
tions, which are much more mild and merciful,
much more for the peace and happineß of human
fociety, than to be acted by a Religion which in
ſpires men with fo wild a fury.
Then # in the interpretation of what God has
reveal'd, he fays we are to govern our felves by
our natural notions; and that a miracle is not
enough to give credit to a Prophet, who teacheth
any zbięg contrary to our natural notions.
With reſpect to the meetings of prieſtsin their
Councils, Convocations, General Affemblys, Sy
nods, and Presbyterys, his enemys record this
bon mot of his, ** that he never knew any good
to come fom the meetings of prieſts. Buthis own
words of the fecond General Council of Nice ,
more fully ſhow his judgment of the authority of
fuch bodys: †f that if a General Council of Atheiſts
had met together with a deſign to abuſe Religion,
by talking ridiculouſly concerning it , they could
not have done it more effettually. But nothingcan
CX

† Vol. 3. p. 3 ço.
v« #:: :::::::::a. º :# 77.

îi Rule of faith, p, 2 51 •
 of FREE-THINKING. 147
exceed the freedom , courage , and honeſty of
what he fays elfewhere ; * that if all the great
Mathematicians of all ages, A R C H I M E D E s,
and E U C L I D , and A P o L L o N I U s, and D Io
P H A N T U s, co c. could be fuppos’d to meet in a
General Council, and fhould there declare in the
moff folemn manner, and give it under their hands
and feals , that twice two did not make four,
but five; this would not in the leaf move him to
be of their mind.

Laftly, he not only afferts our right to think

feely, : expreffes his aftonifhment at our ftu
pidity, for allowing it to be call'd in queſtion.
Says he, † Our beſt reafon is fhort and imperfect:
but fince it is no better, we muff make ufe of it
as it is , and make the beſt ofit. And he has
often wonder'd that people can with patience endure
to bear their teachers and guides talk againſt rea
fon ; and not only fo, but they pay them agreater
fubmiſſion and veneration for it. One would think
this but an odd way to gain authority over the
minds of men; but fome skilful and deſigning men
have found by experience, that it is å very good
zvay to recommend them to the ignorant , as nur
fes uſe to endear themſelves to children by perpe
tual noife and nonfenfe.
I cannot cloſe this account offee-thinkersbet
ter than with this excellent perfon ; becauſe no
fee-thinker will be difturb’d to ſhare with him in
the reproaches of Atheifm, Libertiniſm, or any
other groundlefs or fanctify'd calumnys ; or be
concern’d for his reputation among any , except
thofe who have fuch a degree of underſtanding
C 2 and
* Sie Sermont, p. 13. - -

* Sermºns, Ince his Death , vol. I. p. 68. 69.

148 A D ISCO U R S E
and morality, as to value a Perfon whoſe Works
tend fo much to the improvement of thoſe two
things, wherein alone confils the perfettion of
-3724172 s -

I might in like manner have inflanc’din E R As

M U s, Father P A U L, M o N T A G N E, J o s E P H
S C A L I G E R, CA R T E S I U s , G A ss E N D U s,
G R o T I U s, H o o K E R, C H I L L I N G w o R T H,
Lord F A L K L A N D , Lord H E R B E R T ofCher
bury, S E L D E N, HAL E s, MI L T o N, WI L
K I N s, M A R s H A M, S P E N C E R » W H I T C H
c o T , C U D w o R T H , M o R E , Sir W. TE M
P L E, S A M U E L J o H N s o N, and Lock E; but
that I am afraid I have been already too tedious:
and befides, they are all knownfor their penetra
tion, virtue, ::::::: , tothofe who apply
themfelves to the reading of the beft :::::
authors, and even by fame to others. I willon
ly add, that as I take it to be a difficult, if not
impoífible task, to name a man ditinguiſh’d for
his fenfe and virtue, and who has leit anything
behind him to enable us to judg of him, who
has not given us fome proofs ofhisfee-thinking,
by departing from the opinions commonly re
ceiv'd ( as indeed every man offenfe who thinks
at all muft do , unleſs it can be ſuppos’dpoffible,
when opinions prevail by mere chance without
any regard to reafon , that reafon and chance
ſhould produce the fame effećt; } fo I look upon
it as impollible to name an enemytoffee-thinking,
however dignify'd or diſtinguiſh'd, who has not
been either crackbrain'd and enthuſiaſtical , or
: of the moſt diabolical vices, malice, am
ition , inhumanity , and fticking at no means
(tho ever fo immoral ) which he thoughttended
to God's glory and the good of the Church ':
2$
 ºf FREE-THINKING. 149
has not left us fome marks of his profoundigno
rance and brutality; or elfe : to make his
fortune by courting the prieſts , the Women ,
and the Mob.

Thus, Sir, I have endeavour'd to execute your

commands, and give you free leave to make any
ufe you pleaſe of what I have written, with this
limitation, that if you think fo well of it as to
commit it to the prefs, you would conceal your
name, and let it go abroad without the credit of
your approbation : for I think it virtue enough,
in a country fo ignorant, ftupid, ſupertitious,
& deſtitute of alſ private & publick virtue as
ours, to endeavour to do good, only withinthe
bounds of doing your felf no harm. I am

Tours, &c.

F I N I S.
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