we examine religion by the light which reason affords us, without any assistance from revelation, we shall be led to consider it as consisting in praying to and praising God, and doing good unto all men; in bearing with patience the evils of life, looking to the hope of a happy immortality after death. This happiness right reason tells us, is probable, from the immortal nature of the soul and the power of the Deity.

Those who have had only the light of reason to guide them, those who have never been assisted by revelation as we have been, have not arrived at the hope of a resurrection of the body: on the contrary, they have invariably spoken of it as a thing impossible. Had they formed a just estimate of infinite power, they would readily have allowed it to be possible, since it does not imply any contradiction; and they might have entertained an idea of its probability also, since reason and justice might have led them to imagine, that the body which had been a partaker with the soul in its actions, would also share with it either its happiness or misery in a future state. This idea seems only consistent with the wisdom and justice of the all-intelligent Director of the universe.

When we consider the creation of the world, the Providence which guides it, the service which reason allows to be due to the Deity, the evident distinction between good and evil, the eternal

happiness or misery to which we are destined after this life, the resurrection of the body and the universal judgment, when we remember that these articles of religion could only be to a certain degree established by reason; we are compelled to admit, that it was requisite and necessary that they should be more fully explained, sustained, and confirmed by revelation, that is to say, by a particular declaration from God himself: that every one may learn, from clear and infallible testimony, those things which the Almighty has done, which he now does, and will do, and what he promises, threatens, and requires of us.

Those, who deny the possibility of a Divine revelation, even after they have admitted the Being of an all-powerful intelligent God, certainly must be considered as in one and the same breath contradicting themselves. When we have acknowledged the existence of a Supreme Being, the Creator of the universe, reason will not permit us to deny his power to give us a revelation of his will: on the contrary, it obliges us to acknowledge, that the omnipotent Governor of all things, by whom alone we live and have our being, must have the power of communicating to mankind, by such means as he sees fit, all that is necessary and proper for them to know. And reason still further teaches us, that revelation was necessary to give a firm foundation to religion, since the chief truths, which

it enforces, are so many declarations of what God has done and will do for men.

For example: the resurrection, the final judgment, the life to come, being the free acts of the Almighty, being entirely the result of his will; his own declarations of such facts became necessary to teach mankind to believe them with assured confidence. Our reason alone never could have brought her calculations nearer than to establish the possibility or likelihood of such circumstances, and nothing but a revelation from God himself could bring us to a clear and satisfactory conclusion upon all these matters. We will not detain our readers to apply this mode of argument to many other articles of faith, which we learn in the Holy Scriptures; such as the natural depravity of man, his constant proneness to sin, and other things which revelation alone can explain to us. We wish only to shew in this chapter, that the religion, which right reason establishes in the human mind, conducts it undeviatingly to revelation.

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE TRUTH OF REVELATION. THE FIRST PROOF OF ITS DIVINE ORIGIN.

WE must observe, in the first place, that it suffices only to prove, that the books of the Old and New Testament contain nothing but what is strictly true, to be fully assured of that religion which they teach.

The essence of truth consists in its possessing an entire conformity and perfect connection in all its relations with the object which it represents : but it may be at the same time quite independent of the author who circulates it. That which is in itself true cannot become untrue, let who will relate it, let who will deny it or believe it; it cannot be more or less than true; it is the same, it has been the same, and will remain the same. Truth is unalterable and altogether beautiful. Thus, if we admit that God has published his holy law on Mount Sinai; that Jesus Christ was crucified; that he died on the cross and was buried: these facts are clear and certain truths independent of the authors who relate them.

I am led to make this observation, to teach the infidel that we shall be prepared to meet all the cavils which he can raise. Nothing, which he can object against the inspiration of the sacred historians, will give the slightest shock to religion, if we can prove the facts which they have related to be true. Take the Bible as they will, as an inspired Volume or not; if it is certain, that the words which it contains are true, the religion which it teaches will be firmly fixed, the laws which the Holy Scriptures give us will be the laws of God, and the salvation which they promise to man will be salvation to all those who believe.

Another question which perhaps may be put by the caviller is, whether the authors of the Sacred Volume had choice of their words, or whether the inspiration of the Holy Spirit extended to every expression and sentence. This question appears to me altogether useless: it is enough for the reality of religion, that the authors of the Divine Book teach us nothing but what is true, and that every word is in strict conformity with this. Religion, to be true, must be worthy of God, as a sovereign and intelligent Being, and calculated for man as a reasonable creature, who is to be taught by it, to know, to praise, and adore his Maker; to serve him and to render him obedience; to put an entire confidence in, and to submit himself totally to, the guidance of his providence. This idea of religion