had heard on Mount Sinai, in a manner somewhat different from the terms of the statements given in Exodus. In this respect, every prophet used his own liberty, sometimes transposing words and clauses, sometimes substituting equivalent expressions, sometimes omitting what was sufficiently obvious, and sometimes adding what was necessary to render the meaning plain: all of which is evident to those who will examine the matter. Even the apostles and evangelists, when they recite the discourses of the Lord Jesus, and even when they introduce him directly speaking, do not adduce the very words which he used; as is manifest from the variety of expression which obtains in their respective recitals. Also, in their quotations from the Old Testament prophets, they do not tie themselves to the identical words. This observation should warn us not to be, in this respect, word-catchers; as if the wisdom of God lay in the mere syllables. Let only the principle be adhered to, that the prophets, when they spoke [or wrote] in their prophetic character, by the influence of the Holy Spirit always spoke according to his will, and always faithfully expressed the mind of the Spirit."-Miscell. Sacra, vol. i. p. 86, ed. 1712.

CHAP. V.

ON THE MORAL STATE OF THE MIND AND AFFECTIONS IN RELATION TO THE PRESENT INQUIRY.

Hazard of intemperate passions in controversy, especially on theological subjects. -Common prejudices against divine truth.-Prejudices to which persons of reading and speculation are peculiarly liable.-Why some persons eminent in letters or in science have been inclined, or attached to Unitarianism.-How far that system is congenial with the essential dispositions and duties of practical religion. Worldly amusements.-Observance of the Lord's day.-Effect of Unitarianism on christian communities.-Instance in the church of Geneva.Favourably regarded by M. d'Alembert and other distinguished infidels.-Voltaire.-Franklin.-Jefferson.-Degrading conceptions of God the basis of the worst errors.-Unitarians chargeable with entertaining such conceptions.Comparison of their assertions with those of the Bible.-Necessity, in order to successful inquiry, of humility and a devotional spirit.

It is not the prosecution of theological controversy alone that has excited the hateful passions of the human heart. The wordy dialectics of the middle ages, and the controversies, philosophical and critical, political and historical, which have been agitated in our own times, furnish more than sufficient proof that, in any sort of contest, men can arouse each other's feelings to rancour, and can employ all the unworthy arts of aiming at the mere victory.

But frequently, in religious questions, there is more to interest the susceptible tempers of men than is to be found in other disquisitions; and that not only in the heat of controversy, but in the privacy of cool and silent reflection. Nor is it more injurious to the

serenity and purity of the soul, to have our passions heated in the public polemics of religion, than it is to study divine things privately under an unfavourable state of the moral feelings, from any cause whatever. If, in human science, the mere exercise of the intellectual faculties may enable a man to escape mistake and discover truth, (though even there rashness and party-passion often enslave the judgment;) the same means will not insure a similar issue in the investigations of religion. Here we have to contend, not only against the ordinary prejudices of education, custom, authority, interest, and connexions, but against a more potent and often less suspected cause of erroneous conclusions; a deep-seated aversion from the very design of real Christianity, a secret dislike of those spiritual, sublime, and holy realities which are the seminal principles of true piety. It would have been a hard task to persuade a practised slave-trader, that his lucrative employment was detestable villany. As difficult, at least, must it be to open a way for the doctrine whose very genius is holiness, through the dark and cold mists of moral prejudice, the love and retention of sin.' An "evil heart of unbelief" denies free entrance to the light of "the truth which is according to godliness;" refuses a fair and honest consideration to its evidences; and treats it as a foe, whose first approaches must be resisted, from the pre

· Οὐκ ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν, ἀλλ' ἐν ἡμῖν, τὸ αἴτιον αὐτῆς [τῆς χαλεπότητος.] Ωσπερ γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῶν νυκτερίδων ὄμματα πρὸς τὸ φέγγος ἔχει τὸ μεθ ̓ ἡμέραν, οὕτω καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας ψυχῆς ὁ νοῦς πρὸς τὰ τῇ φύσει φανερώτατα πάντων. "The cause of the difficulty lies not in For as the eyes of bats to day-light,

the things, but in ourselves. so is the human mind to objects which in their own nature are the clearest of all."-Aristot. Metaph. lib. ii. cap. i.

sentiment that, once admitted, it will grant no quarter to the corruptions of the spirit, any more than to those of the flesh, and will unsparingly "cast down imagina❝tions and every high thing that exalteth itself against "the knowledge of God."

Those who are superior to gross vices may be lying in the riveted fetters of mental sin. Ingenious persons, addicted to reading and inquiry, but little attentive to the moral state of their affections, are in no small danger of conceiving promptly but rashly, and concluding boldly but very erroneously, on religious subjects. They are unwilling to concede that the doctrines of the gospel require, for their discovery and their reception, any thing more than speculative research. With respect even to intellectual exercises, a readiness to believe ourselves in possession of all the information requisite as data, and a confident fearlessness in regard to the conclusions which we draw, perhaps without much labour or patience, mark that pride of intellect which is often the parent of error, but is never a cordial friend to truth. If we take up our sentiments without humility, and maintain them without seriousness, they will bring us little good if even they be true; but the greater probability is that they will be erroneous, because the sacred truth of God will never coalesce with such a state of mind. I would submit the question to all persons who have formed habits of self-reflection; what is the class of religious doctrines into which they are most ready to slide, when levity, self-confidence, the opinion of superior talent, or unholy feelings of any kind, have the predominance; and what are those, on the other hand, which experience proves to be most congenial with all

that is lowly, reverential, pure, and affectionate, in the spirit and practice of religion.

Upon these principles, it is not difficult to account for a fact which has appeared a paradox to some, and has been a cause of stumbling to not a few. This is, that so many eminent persons in science and literature have either openly espoused the Unitarian system, or have been evidently inclined to it. Let not the serious, but inexperienced inquirer, permit his judgment to be biassed, or his feelings to be dazzled, by this circumstance. Genius, high talent, and extraodinary attainment, are benefits of the same class with rank, riches, and power: each of them is a favour from Heaven, involving a greater responsibility, and capable of being applied to noble uses; but history and experience shew that each of these blessings is, in the majority of cases, perverted, so far as the moral and religious character of the possessor is concerned. The motives, which most generally are the remote causes, from which the exertions arise which earn worldly celebrity, are curiosity, self-confidence, the pleasure from gratifying a favourite passion, a jealous sensibility to human opinion, the thirst for contemporary applause and posthumous fame, and very frequently a great degree of known and cherished pride: while it is in only a few instances, compared with the general course, that those feelings are corrected by humility and piety. Such motives and principles are not barely unsuited, not simply unfavourable; but they are positively and strongly inimical, to the acquisition of divine knowledge. The temper of mind

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"As spiritual pride is the worst sort of pride, so this is the worst degree of spiritual pride, when men do not acknowledge God in