universe without the help of a future state, has been sufficiently tried. The necessity of general laws, or the imperfection of matter, or the inevitable consequences of human liberty, or the degrees of perfection of possible worlds, may serve by turns to exercise, or amuse, or perplex the reasoning powers of a few philosophers. But something more satisfactory must confute the sceptic; something more consolatory must soothe the afflicted; something more irresistible must arm the moralist. It is easy for a philosophical Emperor to exclaim, "O world, all things are suitable to me which are suitable to thee. Nothing is too early or too late for me which is seasonable for thee. All is fruit to me which thy seasons bring forth. From thee are all things; in thee are all things; for thee are all things." But the voice of the multitude will still reply: Why must our poverty contribute to another's prosperity? Why must Epictetus be depressed, that Epaphroditus may be elevated? Cannot Omnipotence provide general good, except at the expense of individual misery? The truth is, that Reason and Revelation mutually support and assist each other in contemplating the justice and goodness of the Deity, no less than in ascertaining the fact of the creation. If we look to this world alone, we see indisputable benevolence, and are convinced; we see indisputable evil, and are confounded. We argue, that "if there's a power above us, he must delight in virtue; and that which he delights in, must be happy;' but the question still recurs, does not the actual appearance of the world disprove this rational conclusion? On this account, it was a sound and excellent judgment, which directed that the attributes of the Deity should be treated of, "in the first place, from considerations independent of written Revelation; and in the second place, from the Revelation of Jesus Christ.' Natural reason conducts us to the doors of the temple; but he, who would penetrate farther, and behold in their just proportions the greatness and majesty of the Deity within, must consent to be led by Revelation. No other guide can enter the sanctuary in which He resides, or read the book in which His counsels are written. Indeed, I feel, that in pursuing those counsels through the intricate paths of natural and moral evil, though with the light of Revelation before me, I have sometimes ventured upon dangerous ground. But wherever sceptics dare to tread, the firm believer of Revelation need not be afraid to follow; in full confidence that every just research into the laws by which the moral man is regulated, as well as every fresh discovery in the constitution of the natural world, will tend eventually to illustrate the majesty of that Being, whose eternal counsels direct the whole, and from whom the will and the power to search out those counsels ultimately proceed. ADVERTISEMENT. I HAVE availed myself of the present opportunity to make occasional corrections and additions throughout the Work: and in particular I have attempted to do more justice to the argument arising from the Principles of Hebrew Morality, Chap. III. Sect. vii. in Vol. I.; and to state more clearly my view of the Principle of Population, in Part II. but the alterations are by no means of such a nature or extent as to depreciate the First Edition. ETON, |