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miscarriage) to answer the purposes for which it was intended, viz. to guide men to, and engage them in the practice of their duty here, and to bring them to happiness hereaf ter. But if the latter be the cafe, that is, if by Adam's tranfgreffion, the difcerning faculties of all our fpecies became so weakned and impaired, as to be infufficient for these purposes; then, I fay, as before, that mankind are very hardly and unequally dealt with, in and by the prefent conftituton of things; and that if reafon is not, yet it ought to be, a fufficient guide in matters of religion. Surely, if every man, who is placed upon this globe, is to act a part upon which an eternity of happiness or mifery to himfelf depends, (which is fuppofed to be the cafe;) then, moft certainly, every man ought, in justice and equity, to have fair play for his life, or rather for his foul; and not to be put under any difadvantage, in a cafe where points of fuch vaft importance to him are depending. And can we fuppofe, that the great and wife Maker and Governor of the universe, who has no intereft to ferve by the mifery of his creatures, and who is much more concerned to fecure their happiness to them, than they are to fecure it to themselves; Can we, fay, suppose, that he would fo conftitute things, as that out of, and from that constitution, would neceffarily arife fuch eminent danger to a whole fpecies of beings, as that it is great odds if even a few or any of them fhould cfcape?

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efcape? than which no fuppofition can be more contrary to true piety. And yet this is the very cale, if reafon be not a fufficient guide in matters of religion.

Indeed, if any individual of our fpecies is regardless of his higheft intereft, if he neglects or abufes any capacity or power he is invefted with, or if he brings any disadvantage, difficulty, or danger upon himself, which it was in his power to have avoided or prevented, all fuch are justly chargeable upon himself. But as to thofe difficulties, difadvantages, and dangers, which unavoidably arife from the conftitution of things, and which could not poffibly have been avoided (which is the prefent cafe) these are only chargeable upon the Author of that constitution, If it fhould be faid, that it was in Adam's power to have prevented every thing of this kind; and that all is owing to his miscarriage: I anfwer, as above, that the difadvantage to mankind is the fame, whether it was in Adam's power to have prevented it, or not; and that it is unequal and repugnant to reafon for things to be fo conftituted, as that the right use and exercife of the faculties of a whole fpecies of beings, upon which our all depended, fhould be rifqued upon one fingle fact only; or that it fhould be left to the will and pleasure of Adam, whether his numberlefs offspring fhould be involved in fuch eminent danger, or not; which danger, if Adam mifcarried (and which proved to be

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the cafe) it would be great odds, if even a few or any of our fpecies fhould escape. Again,

If it fhould be farther urged, that reafon is not a fufficient guide in matters of religion, and that divine revelation was kindly given of God to man, to fupply the defectivenefs, or infufficiency of reafon in that refpect; for if reafon had been a fufficient guide in matters of religion, then there would have been no need of revelation :

I anfwer; that if this were the case, then the original conftitution of things must have been very defective, as I obferved above; becaufe then, there would have been a whole fpecies of beings, made accountable for their actions, without being furnished with capacities and powers fufficient to anfwer the purpofes of fuch creatures; and then numberlefs millions of our fpecies would have been very unequally and unkindly dealt with, becaufe they have been deftitute of such a divine revelation, as would have fupplied the defect which arofe from the original conftitution of things. For as to the Jewish revelation, that was not intended to be a guide in matters of religion to all our fpecies, but only to the Jewish nation. And as to the Chriftian, many ages were paft before it was given; and fince it has been given, it has been far from prevailing all over the world; and confequently multitudes of our fpecies have been very hardly and unkindly dealt with.

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But furely if the original conftitution of things had been thus defective, as the prefent objection fuppofes; and if God had kindly provided a revelation to fupply the defect, he would have given it to the whole fpecies; because otherwise the fupply is not equal to the defect, nor does it answer the kind purpose of the Creator towards his creatures. The deficiency, in this cafe, being general, as it affects the whole fpecies; and it being fuch as all are involuntary in, with refpect to the bringing it upon themfelves (Adam and Eve only excepted) and fuch as it was not in the power of any to prevent or remove; therefore, in reafon and equity, the supply to that deficiency fhould have been as general. And in this cafe divine revelation is not to be confidered fo much the produce of bounty, as of juftice and equity. For if man is an accountable creature, who is anfwerable to God for his actions, and who will be rewarded and punished in another world, according as he behaves himself in this; and if he is not invested with such a capacity or power, as is fufficient for these purposes; and if divine revelation is provided as a Jupply to this deficiency (which is fuppofed to be the cafe) then, I fay, that every man has a right, by the laws of common equity, to that revelation; and if it be withheld from any of our fpecies, then they are very unkindly and unequally dealt with. But feeing divine revelation has not been afforded to all, and there

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by it has not been a fupply to the aforefaid general defect; from hence, I think, I justly infer, as above, that either reason is, or elfe that it ought to be, a fufficient guide in matters of religion. And,

Suppofing reafon to be a fufficient guide in matters of religion; yet it will not follow (as is urged in the objection) that there is no use for, nor need of revelation. Reason (like divine revelation) is liable to be neglected or abused. And this, I think, was the cafe of the Pagan world, in which they were fo far from attending to, and following their reason in matters of religion, that, on the contrary, they laid it afide, for the most part, and committed themfelves to the guidance of priests, and oracles, and pretended divine revelations. And this introduced all those vile and abominable things, both in fpeculation and practice, which prevailed amongst them; and which, if they had attended to and followed their reafon, they could not poffibly have fallen into. And as this became generally the cafe; fo the most noble and valuable end of a revelation to mankind, under fuch circumstances, was to bring them back to a right use and exercise of their reafon in matters of religion; and thereby to deliver them from the bondage and corruption of all pretended divine revelations, and all the abominable burthenfom and hurtful fuperftitions, and idolatry, they were funk into, and to reflore them again to a manly

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