REMARKS ON THE SPEECH of Mr. DUPONT, ON THE SUBJECTS OF Religion and Public Education.

IT is preſumed that it may not be thought unſeaſonable at this critical time to offer to the Public, and eſpecially to the more religious part of it, a few ſlight obſerva⯑tions, occaſioned by the late famous Speech of Mr. Dupont, which exhibits the Con⯑feſſion of Faith of a conſiderable Member of the French National Convention. Though [2]the Speech itſelf has been pretty generally read, yet it was thought neceſſary to prefix it to theſe Remarks, leſt ſuch as have not already peruſed it, might, from an honeſt reluctance to credit the exiſtence of ſuch principles, diſpute its authenticity, and ac⯑cuſe the Remarks, if unaccompanied by the Speech, of a ſpirit of invective and unfair exaggeration. At the ſame time it muſt be confeſſed, that its impiety is ſo monſtrous, that many good men were of opinion it ought not to be made fami⯑liar to the minds of Engliſhmen; for there are crimes with which even the imagina⯑tion ſhould never come in contact.

But as an ancient nation intoxicated their ſlaves, and then expoſed them before their children, in order to increaſe their horror of intemperance; ſo it is hoped that this piece of impiety may be placed in ſuch a light before the eyes of the Chriſtian reader, that, in proportion as his deteſtation is [3]raiſed, his faith, inſtead of being ſhaken, will be only ſo much the more ſtrength⯑ened.

This celebrated Speech, though delivered in an aſſembly of Politicians, is not on a queſtion of politics, but on one as ſuperior as the ſoul is to the body, and eternity to time. The object here, is not to dethrone kings, but HIM by whom kings reign. It does not here excite the cry of indignation that Louis reigns, but that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Nor is this the declaration of ſome ob⯑ſcure and anonymous perſon, but an expo⯑ſition of the Creed of a public Leader. It is not a ſentiment hinted in a journal, ha⯑zarded in a pamphlet, or thrown out at a diſputing club; but it is the implied faith of the rulers of a great nation.

Little notice would have been due to this famous Speech, if it had conveyed the ſen⯑timents [4]of only one vain orator; but it ſhould be obſerved, that it was heard, re⯑ceived, applauded with two or three ex⯑ceptions only—a fact, which you, who have ſcarcely believed in the exiſtence of atheiſm, will hardly credit, and which, for the honour of the eighteenth century, it is hoped that our poſterity, being ſtill more unacquainted with ſuch corrupt opinions, will reject as totally incredible.

A love of liberty, generous in its prin⯑ciple, inclines ſome good men ſtill to fa⯑vour the proceedings of the National Con⯑vention of France. They do not yet per⯑ceive that the licentious wildneſs which has been excited in that country, is deſtructive of all true happineſs, and no more reſem⯑bles liberty, than the tumultuous joys of the drunkard reſemble the cheerfulneſs of a ſober and well-regulated mind.

To thoſe who do not know of what ſtrange inconſiſtencies man is made up; [5]who have not conſidered how ſome per⯑ſons, having at firſt been haſtily and heed⯑leſsly drawn in as approvers, by a ſort of natural progreſſion, ſoon become principals: —to thoſe who have never obſerved by what a variety of ſtrange aſſociations in the mind, opinions that ſeem the moſt irrecon⯑cilable meet at ſome unſuſpected turning, and come to be united in the ſame man;— to all ſuch it may appear quite incredible, that well-meaning and even pious people ſhould continue to applaud the principles of a ſet of men who have publicly made known their intention of aboliſhing Chriſti⯑anity, as far as the demolition of altars, prieſts, temples, and inſtitutions, can aboliſh it; and as to the religion itſelf, this alſo they may traduce, and for their own part reject, but we know, from the comfort⯑able promiſe of an authority ſtill ſacred in this country at leaſt, that the gates of hell ſhall not prevail againſt it.

[6]Let me not be miſunderſtood by thoſe to whom theſe ſlight remarks are principally addreſſed; that claſs of well-intentioned people, who favour at leaſt, if they do not adopt, the prevailing ſentiments of the new Republic. You are not here accuſed of being the wilful abettors of infidelity. God forbid! ‘we are perſuaded better things of you, and things which accompany ſal⯑vation.’ But this ignis fatuus of li⯑berty and univerſal brotherhood, which the French are madly purſuing, with the in⯑ſignia of freedom in one hand, and the bloody bayonet in the other, has bewitched your ſenſes, and is in danger of miſlead⯑ing your ſteps. You are gazing at a me⯑teor raiſed by the vapours of vanity, which theſe wild and infatuated wanderers are purſuing to their deſtruction; and though for a moment you miſtake it for a heaven⯑born light, which leads to the perfection of human freedom, you will, ſhould you join in the mad purſuit, ſoon diſcover that [7]it will conduct you over dreary wilds and ſinking bogs, only to plunge you in deep and inevitable ruin.

Much, very much is to be ſaid in vindi⯑cation of your favouring in the firſt inſtance their political projects. The cauſe they took in hand ſeemed to be the great cauſe of human kind. Its very name inſured its popularity. What Engliſh heart did not exult at the demolition of the Baſtile? What lover of his ſpecies did not triumph in the warm hope, that one of the fineſt countries in the world would ſoon be one of the moſt free? Popery and deſpotiſm, though chain⯑ed by the gentle influence of Louis the ſixteenth, had actually ſlain their thou⯑ſands. Little was it then imagined, that anarchy and atheiſm, the monſters who were about to ſucceed them, would ſoon ſlay their ten thouſands. If we cannot re⯑gret the defeat of the two former tyrants, what muſt they be who can triumph in the miſchiefs of the two latter? Who, I ſay, that had a head to reaſon, or a heart to [8]feel, did not glow with the hope, that from the ruins of tyranny, and the rubbiſh of popery, a beautiful and finely-framed edi⯑fice would in time have been conſtructed, and that ours would not have been the only country in which the patriots' fair idea of well-underſtood liberty, and of the moſt pure and reaſonable, as well as the moſt ſublime and exalted Chriſtianity, might be realized?

But, alas! it frequently happens that the wiſe and good are not the moſt adventu⯑rous in attacking the miſchiefs which they perceive and lament. With a timidity in ſome reſpects virtuous, they fear attempt⯑ing any thing which may poſſibly aggra⯑vate the evils they deplore, or put to ha⯑zard the bleſſings they already enjoy. They dread plucking up the wheat with the tares, and are rather apt, with a ſpirit of hope⯑leſs reſignation,

[9]While ſober-minded and conſiderate men, therefore, ſat mourning over this complicated maſs of error, and waited till God, in his own good time, ſhould open the blind eyes; the vaſt ſcheme of reform⯑ation was left to that ſet of raſh and pre⯑ſumptuous adventurers, who are generally watching how they may convert public grievances to their own perſonal account. It was undertaken, not upon the broad baſis of a wiſe and well-digeſted ſcheme, of which all the parts ſhould contribute to the perfection of one conſiſtent whole: it was carried on, not by thoſe ſteady mea⯑ſures, founded on rational deliberation, which are calculated to accompliſh ſo im⯑portant an end; not with a temperance which indicated a ſober love of law, or a ſacred regard for religion; but with the moſt extravagant luſt of power, and the moſt inordinate vanity which perhaps ever inſtigated human meaſures— a luſt of power which threatens to extend its de⯑folating [10]ſolating influence over the whole globe;—a vanity of the ſame deſtructive ſpecies with that which ſtimulated the celebrated incendiary of Epheſus, who being weary of his native obſcurity and inſignificance, and preferring infamy to oblivion, could contrive no other road to fame and immor⯑tality, than that of ſetting fire to the exqui⯑ſite Temple of Diana. He was remem⯑bered indeed, as he deſired to be, but only to be execrated; while the ſeventh wonder of the world lay proſtrate through his crime.

It is the ſame over-ruling vanity which operates in their politics, and in their re⯑ligion, which makes Kerſaint^* boaſt of carrying his deſtructive projects from the Tagus to the Brazils, and from Mexico to the ſhores of the Ganges; which makes him menace to outſtrip the enterprizes of the moſt extravagant hero of romance, [11]and almoſt undertake with the marvel⯑lous celerity of the nimble-footed Puck,

It is the ſame vanity, ſtill the maſter⯑paſſion in the boſom of a Frenchman, which leads Dupont and Manuel to un⯑dertake in their orations to aboliſh the Sabbath, exterminate the Prieſthood, erect a Pantheon for the World, reſtore the Peri⯑patetic Philoſophy, and in ſhort revive every thing of ancient Greece, except the pure taſte, the wiſdom, the love of virtue, the veneration of the laws, and that degree of reverence which even virtuous Pagans profeſſed for the Deity.

It is ſurely to be charged to the inade⯑quate and wretched hands into which the work of reformation fell, and not to the impoſſibility of amending the civil and re⯑ligious [12]inſtitutions of France, that all has ſucceeded ſo ill. It cannot be denied per⯑haps, that a reforming ſpirit was wanted in that country; their government was not more deſpotic, than their church was ſuper⯑ſtitious and corrupt.

But though this is readily granted, and though it may be unfair to blame thoſe who in the firſt outſet of the French Revolution, rejoiced even on religious motives; yet it is aſtoniſhing, how any pious perſon, even with all the blinding power of prejudice, can think without horror of the preſent ſtate of France. It is no leſs wonderful how any rational man could, even in the be⯑ginning of the Revolution, transfer that reaſoning, however juſt it might be, when applied to France, to the caſe of England. For what can be more unreaſonable, than to draw from different, and even oppoſite premiſes, the ſame concluſion? Muſt a re⯑volution [13]be equally neceſſary in the caſe of two ſorts of Government, and two ſorts of Religion, which are the very reverſe of each other?—oppoſite in their genius, un⯑like in their fundamental principles, and widely different in each of their component parts.

That deſpotiſm, prieſtcraft, intolerance, and ſuperſtition, are terrible evils, no can⯑did Chriſtian it is preſumed will deny; but, bleſſed be God, though theſe miſchiefs are not yet entirely baniſhed from the face of the earth, they have ſcarcely any exiſtence in this country.

To guard againſt a real danger, and to cure actual abuſes, of which the exiſtence has been firſt plainly proved, by the ap⯑plication of a ſuitable remedy, requires di⯑ligence as well as courage; obſervation as well as genius; patience and temperance as well as zeal and ſpirit. It requires the union [14]of that clear head and ſound heart which conſtitute the true patriot. But to conjure up fancied evils, or even greatly to aggravate real ones, and then to exhauſt our labour in combating them, is the characteriſtic of a diſtempered imagination and an ungo⯑verned ſpirit.

Romantic cruſades, the ordeal trial, drowning of witches, the torture, and the Inquiſition, have been juſtly repro⯑bated as the fouleſt ſtain of the reſpective periods in which, to the diſgrace of human reaſon, they exiſted; but would any man be rationally employed, who ſhould now ſtand up gravely to declaim againſt theſe as the predominating miſchiefs of the preſent cen⯑tury? Even the whimſical Knight of La Mancha himſelf, would not fight windmills that were pulled down; yet I will venture to ſay, that the above-named evils are at preſent little more chimerical than ſome of thoſe now ſo bitterly complained of among [15]us. It is not as Dryden ſaid, when one of his works was unmercifully abuſed, that the piece has not faults enough in it, but the critics have not had the wit to fix upon the right ones.

It is allowed that, as a Nation, we have faults enough, but our political critics err in the objects of their cenſure. They ſay little of thoſe real and preſſing evils reſulting from our own corruption, which conſtitute the actual miſeries of life; while they gloomily ſpeculate upon a thouſand ima⯑ginary political grievances, and fancy that the reformation of our rulers and our le⯑giſlators is all that is wanting to make us a happy people.

The principles of juſt and equitable go⯑vernment were, perhaps, never more fully eſtabliſhed, nor public juſtice more ex⯑actly adminiſtered. Pure and undefiled religion was never laid more open to all, [16]than at this day. I wiſh I could ſay we were a religious people; but this at leaſt may be ſafely aſſerted, that the great truths of religion were never better underſtood; that Chriſtianity was never more complete⯑ly ſtripped from all its incumbrances and diſguiſes, or more thoroughly purged from human infuſions, and whatever is debaſing in human inſtitutions.

In vain we look around us to diſcover the ravages of religious tyranny, or the triumphs of prieſtcraft or ſuperſtition. Who at⯑tempts to impoſe any yoke upon our rea⯑ſon? Who ſeeks to put any blind on the eyes of the moſt illiterate? Who fetters the judgment or enſlaves the conſcience of the meaneſt of our Proteſtant brethren? Nay, ſuch is the power of pure Chriſtianity to enlighten the underſtanding, as well as to re⯑form the heart, and ſuch are the advantages which the moſt abject in this country poſſeſs for enjoying its privileges, that the pooreſt [17]peaſant among us, if he be as religious as multitudes of his ſtation really are, has clearer ideas of God and his own ſoul, purer notions of that true liberty wherewith Chriſt has made him free, than the mere diſputer of this world, though he poſſeſs every ſplendid advantage which education, wiſdom, and genius can beſtow. I am not ſpeaking either of a perfect form of Government, or a perfect Church Eſtabliſh⯑ment, becauſe I am ſpeaking of Inſtitutions which are human; and the very idea of their being human, involves alſo the idea of imperfection. But I am ſpeaking of the beſt conſtituted Government, and the beſt conſtituted National Church with which we are yet acquainted. Time, that ſilent inſtructor, and Experience, that great rec⯑tifier of the judgment, will more and more diſcover to us what is wanting to the per⯑fection of both. And if we may truſt to the active genius of Chriſtian Liberty, and [18]to that liberal and candid ſpirit which is the characteriſtic of the age we live in, there is little doubt but that a tem⯑perate and well-regulated zeal will, at a convenient ſeaſon, correct whatſoever ſound policy ſhall ſuggeſt as wiſe and expedient.

If there are errors in the Church, and it does not perhaps require the ſharp-ſighted⯑neſs of a keen oppoſer to diſcover that there are, there is at leaſt nothing like fierce in⯑tolerance, or ſpiritual uſurpation. A fiery zeal and an uncharitable bigotry might have furniſhied matter for a well-deſerved eccleſi⯑aſtical philippic in other times; but thanks to the temper of the preſent day, unleſs we conjure up a ſpirit of religious chivalry, and ſally forth in queſt of imaginary evils, we ſhall not apprehend any danger from perſe⯑cution or enthuſiaſm. If grievances there are, they do not appear to be thoſe which [19]reſult from polemic pride and rigid bigotry, but are of a kind far different.

If the warm ſun of proſperity has un⯑happily produced its too common effect, in relaxing the vigour of religious ex⯑ertion; if, in too many inſtances, ſecu⯑rity has engendered ſloth, and affluence produced diſſipation; let us implore the Divine grace, that the preſent alarming cri⯑ſis may rouſe the careleſs, and quicken the ſupine; that our paſtors may be convinced that the Church has leſs to fear from external violence, than from internal de⯑cay; nay, that even the violence of attack is often really beneficial, by exciting that activity which enables us to repel danger, ſince increaſe of diligence is the trueſt ac⯑ceſſion of ſtrength: that the love of power, with which their enemies perhaps unjuſtly accuſe them, is not more fatal than the love of pleaſure: that no degree of orthodoxy, in opinion can atone for a too cloſe aſſimi⯑lation [20]with the manners of the world; that hereſy without, is leſs to be dreaded than indifference from within: that the moſt regular clerical education, the moſt ſcrupu⯑lous attention to forms, and even the ſtricteſt conformity to the eſtabliſhed opinions of the Church, will avail but little to the en⯑largement of Chriſt's kingdom, without a ſtrict ſpirit of perſonal watchfulneſs, ha⯑bitual ſelf-denial, and laborious exertion.

Though it is not here intended to animad⯑vert on any political complaint which is not in ſome ſort connected with religion; yet it is preſumed it may not be thought quite foreign to the preſent purpoſe to remark, that among the reigning complaints againſt our civil adminiſtration, the moſt plauſible ſeems to be that excited by the ſuppoſed danger of an invaſion on the Liberty of the Preſs. Were this apprehenſion well-found⯑ed, we ſhould indeed be threatened by one of the moſt grievous misfortunes that can [21]befal a free country. It is not only a moſt noble privilege itſelf, but the guardian of all our other liberties; and, notwithſtand⯑ing the abuſe which has lately been made of this valuable poſſeſſion, yet every man of a ſound unprejudiced mind is well aware that true liberty of every kind is ſcarcely inferior in importance to any object for which human activity can con⯑tend. Nay, the very abuſe of a good, often makes us more ſenſible of its value. Fair and well-proportioned Freedom will ever retain all her native beauty to a judi⯑cious eye, nor will her genuine form be the leſs prized for our having lately con⯑templated the diſtorted features and falſe colouring of her caricature, as preſented to us by the daubing hand of Gallic patriots.

But highly as the Freedom of the Preſs ought to be valued, would it really be ſo very heavy a misfortune, if corrupt and inflaming publications, calculated to deſtroy [22]that peace which every good man is anxious to preſerve, ſhould, juſt at this alarming period, be ſomewhat difficult to be ob⯑tained? Would it be ſo very grievous a national calamity, if the crooked progeny of treaſon and blaſphemy ſhould find it a little inconvenient to venture forth from their lurking-holes, and range abroad in open day? Is the cheapneſs of poiſon, or the facility with which it may be obtained, to be reckoned among the real advantages of medicinal repoſitories? And can the eaſineſs of acceſs to ſeditious or atheiſtical writings, be numbered among the ſubſtan⯑tial bleſſings of any country? Would France, at this day, have had much ſolid cauſe of regret, if many of the writings of Voltaire, Rouſſeau, and d'Alembert, (the prolific ſeed of their wide-ſpreading tree,) had found more difficulty in getting into the world, or been leſs profuſely circulated when in it? And might not England at this moment have been juſt as happy in her [23]ignorance, if the famous orations of Ci⯑tizen Dupont and Citizen Manuel had been confined to their own enlightened and phi⯑loſophical countries ^*?

[24]To return to theſe orations:—We have too often, in our own nation, ſeen and de⯑plored the miſchiefs of irreligion, ariſing incidentally from a neglected or an abuſed education. But what miſchiefs will not irreligion produce, when, in the projected ſchools of France, as announced to us by the two metaphyſical legiſlators above-men⯑tioned, impiety ſhall be taught by ſyſtem? When out of the mouths of babes and ſuck⯑lings the monſtrous opinions, exhibited by Dupont and Manuel, ſhall be perfected? When the fruits of atheiſm, dropping from their newly-planted tree of liberty, ſhall pollute the very fountains of knowledge? When education, being poiſoned in all her ſprings, the riſing generation will be taught to look on atheiſm as decorous, and religion as eccentric? When atheiſm ſhall be con⯑ſidered as a proof of accompliſhed breed⯑ing, and religion as the ſtamp of a vulgar education? When the regular courſe of obedience [25]to maſters and tutors will be to renounce the hope of everlaſting happineſs, and to deride the idea of future puniſh⯑ment? When every man and every child, in conformity with the principles profeſſed in the Convention, ſhall preſume to ſay with his tongue, what hitherto even the fool has only dared to ſay in his heart, That there is no God ^*.

[26]My fellow Chriſtians! This is not a ſtrife of words; this is not a controverſy about opinions of comparatively ſmall im⯑portance, ſuch as you have been accuſ⯑tomed at home to hear even good men diſ⯑pute upon, when perhaps they would have acted a more wiſe and amiable part had they remained ſilent, ſacrificing their mutual dif⯑ferences on the altar of Chriſtian charity: But this bold renunciation of the firſt great fundamental article of faith, this daring re⯑jection of the Supreme Creator and Ruler of the World, is ſtriking with a vigorous ſtroke at the root of all human happineſs. It is tearing up the very foundation of human hope, and extirpating every true principle of human excellence. It is annihilating the very exiſtence of virtue, by annihilating its motives, its ſanctions, its obligations, and its end.

That atheiſm will be the favoured and the popular tenet in France ſeems highly probable; [27]whilſt in that wild contempt of all religion, which has lately had the arro⯑gance to call itſelf toleration, it is not im⯑probable that Chriſtianity itſelf may be to⯑lerated in that country, as a ſect not perſe⯑cuted indeed, but derided. It is, however, far from clear, that this will be the caſe, if the new doctrines ſhould become generally prevalent; although the great apoſtles of infidelity, Voltaire and his diſciples, have employed all the acuteneſs of their wit to convince us that irreligion never perſe⯑cutes. To prove this, every art of falſe citation, partial extract, ſuppreſſed evi⯑dence, and groſs miſrepreſentation has been put in practice. But if this unſup⯑ported aſſertion were true, then Polycarp, Ignatius, Juſtin, Cyprian, and Baſil, did not ſuffer for the faith once delivered to the Saints. Then the famous Chriſtian apo⯑logiſts, moſt of them learned converts from the pagan philoſophy, idly employed their zeal to abate a clamour which did not exiſt, and [28]and to propitiate emperors who did not perſecute. Then Tacitus, Trajan, Pliny, and Julian, thoſe bitter enemies to Chriſti⯑anity, are ſuborned witneſſes on her ſide. Then Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory is a ſeries of falſehoods, and the Book of Martyrs a le⯑gend of romance^*.

That one extravagant miſchief ſhould produce its oppoſite, is agreeable to the or⯑dinary courſe of human events. That to the credulity of a dark and ſuperſtitious religion, a wanton contempt of all de⯑cency, and an unbridled prophaneneſs, ſhould ſucceed; that to a government abſo⯑lutely [29]deſpotic, an utter abhorrence of all reſtraint and ſubordination ſhould follow; though it is deplorable, yet it is not ſtrange. The human mind, in flying from the ex⯑treme verge of one error, ſeldom ſtops till ſhe has reached the oppoſite extremity. She generally paſſes by with a lofty diſdain the obvious truth which lies directly in her road, and which is indeed commonly to be found in the mid-way, between the error ſhe is flying from, and the error ſhe is purſuing.

Is it a breach of Chriſtian charity to conclude, from a view of the preſent ſtate of the French, that ſince that deluded people have given up GOD, GOD, by a righte⯑ous retribution, ſeems to have renounced them for a time, and to have given them over to their own hearts luſts, to work ini⯑quity with greedineſs? If ſuch is their pre⯑ſent [30]career, what is likely to be their ap⯑pointed end? How fearfully applicable to them ſeems that awful denunciation againſt an ancient, offending people—‘The Lord ſhall ſmite thee with madneſs, and blind⯑neſs, and aſtonis;hment of heart!’

It is no part of the preſent deſign to enter into a detail of their political conduct; but I cannot omit to remark, that the very man in their long liſt of kings, who ſeemed beſt to have deſerved their aſſumed appella⯑tion of moſt Chriſtian, was alſo moſt favour⯑able to their acquiſition of liberty^*: his moderation and humanity facilitated their power, which, with unparalleled ingrati⯑tude, they employed to degrade his per⯑ſon and character in the eyes of mankind, [31]by the blackeſt and moſt deteſtable arts, and at length to terminate his calamities by a crime which has excited the grief and indignation of all Europe.

On the trial and murder of that moſt unfortunate king, and on the inhuman pro⯑ceedings which accompanied them, I ſhall purpoſely avoid dwelling, for it is not the deſign of theſe remarks to excite the paſſions. I will only ſay, that ſo monſtrous has been the inverſion of all order, law, humanity, juſtice, received opinion, good faith, and religion, that the conduct of his bloody executioners ſeems to have exhibited the moſt ſcrupulous conformity with the prin⯑ciples announced in the ſpeeches we have been conſidering. In this one inſtance we muſt not call the French an inconſequent people. Savage brutality, treaſon, and murder have been the noxious fruit ga⯑thered from theſe thorns; the baneful pro⯑duce [32]of theſe thiſtles. An overturn of all morals has been the well-proportioned off⯑ſpring of an inverſion of all principle.

But, notwithſtanding the conſiſtency, in this inſtance, between cauſe and con⯑ſequence, ſo new and ſurpriſing have been the turns in their extraordinary pro⯑jects, that to foretel what their next en⯑terpriſe would be from what their laſt has been, has long baffled all calculation, and bid defiance to all conjecture. Analogy from hiſtory, a ſtudy of paſt events, and an inveſtigation of preſent principles and paſſions; judgment, memory, and deduc⯑tion, afford human ſagacity but very ſlender aſſiſtance in its endeavours to develope their future plans. We have not even the data of conſiſtent wickedneſs on which to build rational concluſions. Their crimes, though viſibly connected by uniform depravity, are yet ſo ſurpriſingly diverſified by interfer⯑ing [33]abſurdities, as to furniſh no ground on which reaſonable argument can be founded. Nay, ſuch is their incredible eccentricity, that it is hardly extravagant to affirm, that improbability is become rather an additional reaſon for expecting ſuch an event to take place.

But let us, in this yet happy country, learn at leaſt one great and important truth, from the errors of this diſtracted people. Their, conduct has awfully illuſ⯑trated a poſition, which is not the leſs ſound for having been often contro⯑verted, That no degree of wit and learn⯑ing; no progreſs in commerce; no ad⯑vances in the knowledge of nature, or in the embelliſhments of art, can ever tho⯑roughly tame that ſavage, the natural human heart, without RELIGION. The arts of ſocial life may give a ſweetneſs [34]to the manners and language, and induce, in ſome degree, a love of juſtice, truth, and humanity; but attainments derived from ſuch inferior cauſes are no more than the ſemblance and the ſhadow of the qualities derived from pure Chriſtianity. Varniſh is an extraneous ornament, but true poliſh is a proof of the ſolidity of the body; it de⯑pends greatly on the nature of the ſub⯑ſtance, is not ſuperinduced by accidental cauſes, but in a good meaſure proceeding from internal ſoundneſs.

The poets of that country, whoſe ſtyle, ſentiments, manners, and religion the French ſo affectedly labour to imitate, have left keen and biting ſatires on the Roman vices. Againſt the late proceedings in France, no ſatiriſt need employ his pen; that of the hiſtorian will be quite ſufficient. Fact will put fable out of countenance; and the crimes which are uſually held up to our [35]abhorrence in works of invention, will be regarded as flat and feeble by thoſe who ſhall peruſe the records of the tenth of Au⯑guſt, of the ſecond and third of September, and of the twenty-firſt of January.

If the ſame aſtoniſhing degeneracy in taſte, principle, and practice, ſhould ever come to flouriſh among us, Britons may ſtill live to exult in the deſolation of her cities, and in the deſtruction of her fineſt monuments of art; ſhe may triumph in the peopling of the fortreſſes of her rocks and her foreſts; may exult in being once more reſtored to that glorious ſtate of liberty and equality when all ſubſiſted by rapine and the chace; when all, O enviable privilege! were equally ſavage, equally indigent, and equally naked; may extol it as the reſto⯑ration of reaſon, and the triumph of na⯑ture, that they are again brought to feed on acorns, inſtead of bread. Groves of conſecrated [36]miſletoe may happily ſucceed to uſeleſs corn fields; and Thor and Woden may hope once more to be inveſted with all their bloody honours.

Let not any ſerious readers feel indig⯑nation, as if pains were ungenerouſly taken to involve their religious, with their poli⯑tical opinions. Far be it from me to wound, unneceſſarily, the feelings of people whom I ſo ſincerely eſteem; but it is much to be ſuſpected, that certain opinions in politics have a tendency to lead to certain opinions in religion. Where ſo much is at ſtake, they will do well to keep their conſciences tender, in order to which they ſhould try to keep their diſcernment acute. They will do well to obſerve, that the ſame reſtleſs ſpirit of innovation is buſily operating un⯑der various, though ſeemingly unconnected forms. To obſerve, that the ſame impatience of reſtraint, the ſame contempt of order, peace, and ſubordination, which makes [37]makes men bad citizens, makes them bad Chriſtians; and that to this ſecret, but al⯑moſt infallible connexion between reli⯑gious and political ſentiment, does France owe her preſent unparalleled anarchy and impiety.

There are doubtleſs in that unhappy country multitudes of virtuous and reaſon⯑able men, who rather ſilently acquieſce in the authority of their preſent turbulent go⯑vernment, than embrace its principles or promote its projects from the ſober con⯑viction of their own judgment. Theſe, together with thoſe conſcientious exiles whom this nation ſo honourably protects, may yet live to rejoice in the reſtoration of true liberty and ſolid peace to their native country, when light and order ſhall ſpring from the preſent darkneſs and confuſion, and the reign of chaos ſhall be no more.

May I be permitted a ſhort digreſſion on the ſubject of theſe exiles? It ſhall only be [38]to remark, that all the boaſted conqueſts of our Edwards and our Henrys over the French nation, do not confer ſuch ſubſtan⯑tial glory on our own country, as ſhe de⯑rives from having received, protected, and ſupported, among multitudes of other ſuf⯑ferers, at a time and under circumſtances ſo peculiarly diſadvantageous to herſelf, three thouſand prieſts, of a nation habitually her enemy, and of a religion intolerant and hoſtile to her own. This is the ſolid tri⯑umph of true Chriſtianity; and it is worth remarking, that the deeds which poets and hiſtorians celebrate as rare and ſplendid ac⯑tions, and ſublime inſtances of greatneſs of ſoul, in the heroes of the Pagan world, are but the ordinary and habitual virtues which occur in the common courſe of action among Chriſtians; quietly performed with⯑out effort or exertion, and with no view to renown; but reſulting naturally and ne⯑ceſſarily from the religion they profeſs.

[39]So predominating is the power of an ex⯑ample we have once admired, and ſet up as a ſtandard of imitation, and ſo faſci⯑nating has been the aſcendancy of the Con⯑vention over the minds of thoſe whoſe ap⯑probation of French politics commenced in the earlier periods of the Revolution, that it extends to the moſt trivial circumſtances. I cannot forbear to notice this in an in⯑ſtance which, though inconſiderable in it⯑ſelf, yet ceaſes to be ſo when we view it in the light of a ſymptom of the reigning diſeaſe.

While the fantaſtic phraſeology of the new Republic is ſuch, as to be almoſt as diſguſting to ſound taſte, as their doctrines are to ſound morals, it is curious to obſerve how deeply the addreſſes, which have been ſent to it from the Clubs^* in this country, [40]have been infected with it, as far at leaſt as phraſes and terms are objects of imitation. In other reſpects, it is but juſtice to the French Convention to confeſs, that they are hitherto without rivals and without imita⯑tors; for who can aſpire to emulate that compound of anarchy and atheiſm which in their debates is mixed up with the pedantry of ſchool-boys, the jargon of a cabal, and the vulgarity and ill-breed⯑ing of a mob? One inſtance of the pre⯑vailing cant may ſuffice, where an hundred might be adduced; and it is not the moſt exceptionable.—To demoliſh every exiſt⯑ing law and eſtabliſhment; to deſtroy the fortunes and ruin the principles of every country into which they are carrying their deſtructive arms and their frantic doc⯑trines; to untie or cut aſunder every bond which holds ſociety together; to impoſe their own arbitrary ſhackles where they ſucceed, and to demoliſh every thing where they fail.—This deſolating ſyſtem, [41] by a moſt unaccountable perverſion of lan⯑guage, they are pleaſed to call by the en⯑dearing name of fraternization; and fra⯑ternization is one of the favourite terms which their admirers have adopted. Lit⯑tle would a ſimple ſtranger, uninitiated in this new and ſurpriſing dialect, imagine that the peaceful terms of fellow-citizen and of brother, the winning offer of freedom and happineſs, and the warm embrace of fraternity, were only watch-words by which they, in effect,

In numberleſs other inſtances, the faſhion⯑able language of France at this day would be as unintelligible to the correct writers of the age of Louis the XIVth, as their faſhion⯑able notions of liberty would be irreconcile⯑able with thoſe of the true Revolution Pa⯑triots [42]of his great contemporary and vic⯑torious rival, William the Third.

Such is indeed their puerile rage for novelty in the invention of new words, and the perverſion of their taſte in the uſe of old ones, that the celebrated Voſ⯑ſius, whom Chriſtine of Sweden oddly complimented by ſaying, that he was ſo learned as not only to know whence all words came, but whither they were going, would, were be admitted to the honours of a ſitting be obliged to confeſs, that he was equally puzzled to tell the one, or to foretel the other.

If it ſhall pleaſe the Almighty in his anger to let looſe this infatuated people, as a ſcourge for the iniquities of the human race; if they are delegated by infinite juſtice to act, as ſtorm and tempeſt fulfilling his [43]word; if they are commiſſioned to per⯑form the errand of the deſtroying lightning or the avenging thunder-bolt, let us try at leaſt to extract perſonal benefit from national calamity; let every one of us, high and low, rich and poor, enter upon this ſerious and humbling inquiry, how much his own individual offences have contributed to that awful aggregate of public guilt, which has required ſuch a viſitation. Let us carefully examine in what proportion we have ſe⯑parately added to that common ſtock of abounding iniquity, the deſcription of which formed the character of an ancient nation, and is ſo peculiarly applicable to our own—Pride, fulneſs of bread, and abundance of idleneſs. Let every one of us humbly in⯑quire, in the ſelf-ſuſpecting language of the diſciples to their Divine Maſter—Lord, is it I? Let us learn to fear the fleets and [44] armies of the enemy, much leſs than thoſe iniquities at home which this alarming diſpenſation may be intended to chaſtize.

The war which the French have declared againſt us, is of a kind altogether unexam⯑pled in every reſpect; inſomuch that human wiſdom is baffled when it would pretend to conjecture what may be the event. But this at leaſt we may ſafely ſay, that it is not ſo much the force of French bayonets, as the contamination of French principles, that ought to excite our apprehenſions. We truſt, that through the bleſſing of GOD we ſhall be defended from their open hoſtilities, by the temperate wiſdom of our Rulers, and the bravery of our fleets and armies; but the domeſtic danger ariſing from licentious and irreligious principles among ourſelves, can only be guarded againſt by the perſonal care and vigilance of every one of us who [45]who values religion and the good order of ſociety.

GOD grant that thoſe who go forth to fight our battles, inſtead of being intimi⯑dated by the number of their enemies, may hear in mind, that "there is no reſtraint with GOD to ſave by many or by few." And let the meaneſt of us who remains at home remember alſo, that even he may contri⯑bute to the internal ſafety of his country, by the integrity of his private life, and to the ſucceſs of her defenders, by following them with his fervent prayers. And in what war can the ſincere Chriſtian ever have ſtronger inducements to pray for the ſucceſs of his country, than in this? Without en⯑tering far into any political principles, the diſcuſſion of which would be in a great meaſure foreign to the deſign of this little tract, it may be remarked, that the un⯑chriſtian principle of revenge is not our motive to this war; conqueſt is not our object; [46]nor have we had recourſe to hoſ⯑tility, in order to effect a change in the in⯑ternal government of France^*. The pre⯑ſent war is undoubtedly undertaken entirely on defenſive principles. It is in defence of our King, our Conſtitution, our Religion, our Laws, and conſequently our Liberty, in the ſound and rational ſenſe of that term. It is to defend ourſelves from the ſavage violence of a cruſade, made againſt all Religion, as well as all Government. If ever therefore a war was undertaken on the ground of ſelf-defence and neceſſity—if ever men might be literally ſaid to fight pro ARIS et focis, this ſeems to be the occaſion.

The ambition of conquerors has been the ſource of great and extenſive evils: reli⯑gious fanaticiſm, of ſtill greater. But little as I am diſpoſed to become the apologiſt of either [47]the one principle or the other, there is no extravagance in aſſerting, that they have ſeemed incapable of producing, even in ages, that extent of miſchief, that com⯑prehenſive deſolation, which philoſophy, falſely ſo called, has produced in three years.

Chriſtians! it is not a ſmall thing—it is your life. The peſtilence of irreligion which you deteſt, will inſinuate itſelf im⯑perceptibly with thoſe manners, phraſes, and principles which you admire and adopt. It is the humble wiſdom of a Chriſtian, to ſhrink from the moſt diſtant approaches to ſin, to abſtain from the very appearance of evil. If we would fly from the deadly contagion of Atheiſm, let us fly from thoſe ſeemingly remote, but not very indirect paths which lead to it. Let France chuſe this day whom ſhe will ſerve; but, as for us and our houſes, we will ſerve the Lord.

And, O gracious and long ſuffering God! before that awful period arrives, which [48]ſhall exhibit the dreadful effects of ſuch an education as the French nation are inſtituting; before a race of men can be trained up, not only without the knowledge of THEE, but in the contempt of THY moſt holy law, do THOU, in great mercy, change the heart of this people as the heart of one man. Give them not finally over to their own corrupt imaginations, to their own heart's luſts. But after having made them a fearful example to all the nations of the earth, what a people can do, who have caſt off the fear of THEE, do THOU graciouſly bring them back to a ſenſe of that law which they have violated, and to a participation of that mercy which they have abuſed; ſo that they may happily find, while the diſcovery can be attended with conſolation, that doubtleſs there is a re⯑ward for the righteous; verily, there is a GOD who judgeth the earth.