System, but a whole, exhibited with a due consistency, or agreement, of all its parts ? And, if this be the only just sense of the word, can there be any Art or Science, any general truth made up of particulars, without it? What is a System, but a body of science, in which all the constituent branches are suitably arranged and properly connected, so that the whole may be conveyed in one perspicuous view? The lucidus ordo of any given science must inevitably produce a system: and, however his pretensions may differ, he must be an enemy to the former, who would destroy the latter.

، There is, then, a concatenation, an harmony, a connection, in the truths of Religion. There is a System, or complete body of Doctrine, in the Gospel. But a Religion, in which there is such a golden chain, ought not to be taken by bits and parts. The more ingenuity there is in a machine composed of divers wheels, the more necessary it is, to consi

der it in its whole, and in all its arrangements, and the more does its beauty escape our observation, when we confine our attention to a single wheel. In a compact System-in a coherent body of Doctrine, there is nothing useless; nothing, which ought not to occupy the very place, that the Genius, who composed the whole, hath given it." This, indeed, is what constitutes the Perfection of Christian knowledge. There is an Integrity in Science, as well as in morals.

Not at all shy of meeting any idea of exception, which may arise in the mind of my readers, I can easily anticipate, that some of them may arraign the very Title, I have selected, as confident and presumptuous and, I should readily allow the justice of the charge, if this Temple of Truth be not erected upon that basis, which the divine Architect himself has laid in his own oracles of Inspiration. In that case, let it sink into utter ruin, nor leave one trace behind. My own hand should be

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the first to crumble it into atoms. But, if it be reared on the foundation of sacred Verity, not all the powers and malice of Infidelity itself shall be able to 'overthrow it. To that Criterion it is submitted; and, persuaded, as I am, it will pass that ordeal, I do not hesitate to affirm, that it must contain the very best scheme of Reason, Philosophy, Virtue, and Morals, that can be proposed.* Each "of these topics may perhaps have been recommended with greater erudition,and with more acute argument, in larger works. If so, some merit may be adjudged me, for having reduced them to this compendium, and to a style of more popular, or less abstruse, simplicity. Is it not of greater consequence, that the many should be informed, than that the few should be amused?

* When the great Sir Isaac Newton had delivered an opinion, which any one choose to controvert, he never was at the pains to defend it, but contented himself with saying, "I believe, Sir, if you will be at the trouble of examining my opinion, you will find I have very good reasons for it."

After having fled, with an eagerness of curiosity, and pryed, with a diligence of inquisition, I cannot describe, into every thing that has fallen in my way, for an uninterrupted series of years, on each of these subjects, I have found no refuge from the intellectual confusion and distraction, in which they have involved me, but in "THE ORACLES OF GOD": which I now consult, as the only oracles of Reason, Philosophy, Virtue, and Morals, in which an Immortal can either repose or confide.

Here, then, it might naturally be expected, that something should be presented in defence and confirmation of their divine original. But, have you ever applied, for all the requisite intelligence on that desideratum, to the valuable writings of Abbadie-Butler-Leslie-

Beattie-Paley-Doddridge-HartleyWatson-and many others? Have you seriously considered the truth of the Scrip

tures, and their divine authority, by inquiring fairly into the genuineness of those Scriptures; into the principal facts they contain; into the manner in which they have been handed down to us; into the great importance of their matter and subject; into the surprising peculiarity of their style and language; into their agreement with universal history; into their perfect harmony with themselves; into their numerous and wonderful prophecies; into their miracles, no less numerous and wonderful; into the moral character of Moses, and the prophets, of Christ, and his apostles; and into the amazing propagation of the Christian faith, within the three first centuries? Have you really digested all these particulars with an impartial, virtuous, and persevering examination? And, can you still remain an Infidel? If so, you demand more and greater evidence than satisfied the capacious intellect of a Bacon, a Newton, a Locke, a Pascal, an Addison, a Grotius, a Selden, and a Boyle!