cry out with the poet, "O thou great Creator of heaven and earth, who governest the world with constant and unerring sway, who biddest time to flow throughout ages, and, continuing unmoved thyself, givest motion to every thing else, &c."?* It is also a great comfort to have the faith of this providence constantly impressed upon the mind, so as to have recourse to it in the midst of all confusions, whether public or private, and all calamities from without or from within; to be able to say, The great King, who is also my Father, is the supreme ruler of all these things, and with him all my interests are secure; to stand firm, with Moses, when no relief appears, and to look for the salvation of Godt from on high; and, finally, in every distress, when all hope of human assistance is swallowed up in despair, to have the remarkable saying of the Father of the faithful stamped upon the mind, and to silence all fears with these comfortable words, "God will provide." In a word, there is nothing that can so effectually conform the heart of man, and his inmost thoughts, and consequently the whole tenor of his life, to the most perfect rule of religion and piety, than a firm belief and frequent meditation on this Divine Providence, that superintends and governs the world. * O! qui perpetua mundum ratione gubernas Terrarum cœlique Sator, qui tempus ab ævo, He Ire jubes; stabilisque manens das cuncta moveri, &c. + Vere Θεον απο μηχανης. who is firmly persuaded, that an exalted God of infinite wisdom and purity is constantly present with him, and sees all that he thinks or acts, will, to be sure, have no occasion to overawe his mind with the imaginary presence of a Lælius. or a Cato. Josephus assigns this as the source or root of Abel's purity: "In all his actions," says he, "he considered that God was present with him, and therefore made virtue his constant study."* Moreover, the Heathen nations acknowledge this superintendence of Divine Providence over human affairs in this very respect, and that it is exercised in observing the morals of mankind, and distributing rewards and punishments. But this supposes some law or rule, either revealed from heaven, or stamped upon the hearts of men, to be the measure and test of moral good and evil, that is, virtue and vice. Man, therefore, is not a lawless creature,† but capable of a law, and actually born under one, which he himself is also ready to own. "We are born in a kingdom," says the Rabbinical philosopher, "and to obey God is liberty." But this. doctrine, however perspicuous and clear in itself, seems to be a little obscured by one cloud, that is, the extraordinary success which bad men often meet with, and the misfortunes and calamities to which virtue is frequently exposed. * Πασιν τοις ὑπ' αυτα πρατίομενοις παρείναι τον Θεον νομίζων, apelys goεvozilo. Antiq. lib. i. cap. 3. + Ζωον ανόμον. parere, libertas. The saying of Brutus, "O! wretched virtue; thou art regarded as nothing," &c. is well known; as are also those elegant verses of the poet, containing a lively picture of the perplexity of a mind wavering, and at a loss upon this subject: "My mind," says he, "has often been perplexed with difficulties and doubts, whether the gods regard the affairs of this earth, or whether there was no providence at all, &c.-For when I considered the order and disposition of the world, and the boundaries set to the sea-I thence concluded, that all things were secured by the providence of God, &c.-But when I saw the affairs of men involved in so much darkness and confusion, &c."+ But not to insist upon a great many other considerations, which even the philosophy of the Heathens suggested, in vindication of the doctrine of a providence; there is one consideration of great weight to be set in opposition to the whole of this prejudice, viz. that it is an evidence of a rash and forward mind, to pass sentence upon things that are not yet perfect and brought to a final conclusion, * Ω τλημων αρετη, ώς εδεν, &c, † Sepe mihi dubiam traxit sententia mentem Nam cùm dispositi quæsissem fœdera mundi. hinc omnia rebar Consilia firmata Dei, &c. Sed cùm res hominum tanta caligine volvi Aspicerem, &c. Claudian in Rufinum, lib. 1. which even the Roman Stoic, and the philosopher of Chæronea insist upon, at large, on this subject. If we will judge from events, let us put off the cause, and delay sentence, till the whole series of these events come before us; and let us not pass sentence upon a successful tyrant, while he is triumphant before our eyes, and while we are quite ignorant of the fate that may be awaiting himself or his son, or at least his more remote posterity. The ways of Divine justice are wonderful. "Punishment stalks silently, and with a slow pace: it will, however, at last overtake the wicked." But, after all, if we expect another scene of things to be exhibited, not here, but in the world to come, the whole dispute, concerning the events of this short and precarious life, immediately disap pears, and comes to nothing. And, to conclude,1 the consent of wise men, states, and nations on this subject, though it is not quite unanimous and universal, is very great, and ought to have the greatest weight. But all these maxims we have mentioned, are more clearly taught and more firmly believed in' the Christian religion, which is of undoubted truth; it has also some doctrines peculiar to itself,† annexed to the former, and most closely connected with them, in which the whole Christian world, though by far too much divided with regard to other disputed articles, are unanimously agreed, and firmly united together; but of this hereafter. 2 * Σιγα και βραδεί ποδι σείχεσα μαρψει τις κακες όταν τυχή. † Κυριας δόξας. LECTURE IX. Of the Pleasure and Utility of RELIGION. THOUGH the Author of the following passage was a great proficient in the mad philosophy of Epicurus, yet he had truth strongly on his side, when he said, "That nothing was more pleasant than to be stationed on the lofty temples, well defended and secured by the pure and peaceable doctrines of the wise philosophers." Now, can any doctrine be imagined more wise, more pure and peaceable, and more sacred, than that which flowed from the most perfect Fountain of wisdom and purity, which was sent down from heaven to earth, that it might guide all its followers to that happy place whence it took its rise? It is, to be sure, the wisdom of mankind to know God, and their indispensable duty to worship him without this, men of the brightest parts and greatest learning, seem to be born with excellent talents, only to make themselves miserable; and, according to the expression of the wisest of kings, "He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow."t We must, therefore, first of all, consider this as a sure and settled point, that religion is the sole Bené quam munita tenere Edita doctrina sapientum templa serena. † Qui scientiam, auget cruciatum. Eccles. i. 18. LUCRET. |
