valuable thing that he is not willing to part with For when a Man has lost all that he has will he thank his friend for the comfort he gives him by telling him that now he is as low as he can be and that though he has not the advantages of his former better condition yet he cannot be in a worse than he is This is his trouble and affliction And so it must be to the Atheist likewise to know that he cannot for ever enjoy the Life that he takes so much pleasure in For suppose it true that he shall at last be reduced to a state in which he shall neither feel good nor evil what comfort can that be to him when he knows he must lose all the Good he now delights in There is no question but were Life and Death at his choice and in his power he would much rather chuse to live on and be what he is than to die and be nothing at all And since he values Immortality as so desirable a Blessing does he not make a tacit confession that Religion is too agreeable to our Nature to be false But. 3. He not onely desires to live but he desires a Life perfectly free from trouble and vexation The pleasures he loves are not 't is true of the same nature with those in Heaven which Religion teaches us to aspire after but he is desirous they shoud be as lasting and as little interrupted as full of satissaction and have as little Evil mingled with them as those have Though he considers himself onely as a sensitive Creature and goes no further for his Happiness than the Objects this World sets before him yet he loves his Body as well as Religion teaches us to do our Souls and woudl enjoy all bodily Pleasures in as high a persection as Religion informs us holy Souls do those that are Spiritual What-ever is apt to put the Body into a painfull uneasie condition is in the opinion of all the World and Affliction and Calamity No Man doubts but it is a great Blessing to be capable of seeing the Glories and tasting the sweet and feeling the good that is lodged in this sensible World But if by having such bodily Powers we did tast nothing but what is bitter and unsavoury nor see any thing but what is troublesome and vexatious nor hear any thing but what is ungratefull and harsh we should not much rejoyce in our privilege 'T is this consideration for the Body is the reason that the Atheist is sfallen out with Religion For he pretends that it is an enemy to our happiness and suffers us not to enjoy our selves with that freedom as otherwise we might That it lays severe restraints upon us and makes self-denial a necessary Vertue That in some cases it obliges us to quit our Enjoyments to vex our Bodies with severe Mortifications and to undergo with patience Pains and Torments Now although this be true and the Atheist makes use of it as a very considerable prejudice against Religion yet it is very much for the reputation and advantage of Religion that he undertakes to prove thereby That Mankind cannot be satisfied with a less degree of Happiness than what Religion sets before us For he plainly intimates that he would have the Body suffer no kind of pain nor be denied any thing that is good and gratefull to our Senses That he would enjoy the pleasures of this life with as much freedom and as much untainted as those the good Man looks for hereafter And to this purpose he takes care to improve his Pleasures and to make all his Enjoyments as poinant and delicious as possibly he can And now what is it that this Man does quarrel at Religion for Upon what reason does he report it to be an invention and persuade himself that its Principles are laid in our Minds by Art and Education when he is so great a friend to and so desirous of them He has nothing to except against a Being that is absolutely perfect for 't is such a friend that he desires He has no quarrel with an Immortal life for 't is such a life as he would live nor does he find fault with Joys and Pleasures that have nothing to sully and interrupt them for he is sensible that no less delights do deserve the name of Happiness All the difference then between him and Religion lies in this That it deferrs our hopes of such enjoyments and such a life to another state and he would have them now But since he finds it impossible we should have them here he has infinite reason to think well of Religion because it takes care to satisfie his desires at the last if he will but depend upon it If his deesires of these things be reasonable he has little reason to believe Religion to be so unreasonable an imposition as he complains it is And although he is not reconciled to the Notion of spiritual Delights yet he ought For the reason why he laughs at them is because he believes he has nothing but a Body to please And it is certain that if he be right in his Faith he is not mistaken when he makes this World his onely place of pleasure and delight But how then comes he to desire such a degree of Happiness as is not to be had here below Whence is it that he cannot content himself with the sensible pleasures of this life such as he finds them For no bodily Delights are pure and unallay'd uninterrupted and endless and if these be the onely Delights we are capable of how comes it we are capable of wishing for better If his Desires be reasonable he has as much reason to desire and value the spiritual Enjoyments of another life as to desire such Joys as are endless For since nothing in this World can satisfie such a Desire he must either look upon himself to be very ill framed for any kind of Happiness at all or he must look beyond this life for pleasures as endless and full as the desires And since the nature of his Desires do necessarily lead him thither at the last he ought not to despise the notion of spiritual Enjoyments since there are no other there I come 2. To consider how all that Vertue which Religion teaches us is likewise the Matter of every Man's desire 'T is every Man's defire that Truth and Faithfulness Justice and Honesty Uprightness and Integrity were Universally practis'd in the World The Violence of humane Passions the unruliness of Humour and the extravagancies of our Appetites are so troublesome to the World And all kind of Immoralities are attended with such bad effects that there is none but wishes that they were utterly extirpated and the contrary Vertues establish'd For who is there that would not gladly dwell in safety and peaceably enjoy the fruits of his labour Who would not live free from vexation and trouble and pass his life with as little disquiet and disturbance
But now let a Man believe that his shame and guilt will follow him into another World where he is like to suffer among cursed Spirits for ever nd he has so much reason against a profligate life as no Temporal consideration can out-weigh This is so very plain that the Atheist makes no exception to the power that these Terrors have to persuade Men but onely to the Truth of them And it is strange he should when it is so visible that it is so much his and every man's Interest they should be true and that it is not possible Man should be kept in awe without them CHAP. III. From the Desires of all Men that there should be such a thing as Religion in the World NOthing I presume can be more obvious than this Truth That if all Mankind be desirous that the Principles which Religion teaches and the Duties it requires should be true we have a great deal of reason to believe it is highly agreeable to our Nature For why should all Men agree in such a desire if there be not something in us that tells us it is of extraordinary advantage to us and that takes a secret pleasure and delight in it Such a Universal Desire cannot be of the nature of those suddain Pasions which owe their Birth to humour or fansie but must spring from some certain and fixed Reason which it is impossible for us to withstand Our Desires 't is true are sometimes so unaccountable that when we come to reflect upon them with seriousness we see a great deal of reason to be ashamed of them But a Desire in which all Mankind agrees can never be lookt upon as a hearty Transport but must arise from the Reasonableness of the thing that is desired and be the Effect of a Cause that has its foundation in our Nature Now that there is such a Desire will easily be granted if I can make good these Two things 1. That we naturally desire all that is implied in the fundamental Principles of Religion 2. All that Vertue that it teaches 1. We naturally desire all that is implied in the fundamental Principles of Religion We love and take pleasure to think of all the Perfections that Religion teaches us do belong to the Notion and Nature of a Deity and are very desirous to find them some-where that we may rest upon them We are so extremely affected with Life that we would never lose it if we could possibly prevent such a loss And since this is not possible Nature startles at and abhorrs the Thoughts of Death as is most formidable Enemy And as it is an Immortal life we are desirous of we would live such a Life as Religion describes that which is to come to be Neither is this a fansifull Wish of some particular Persons onely but the natural Desire of all Mankind It is not a Desire that sticks to the Minds of such onely as have been educated in the Principles of Religion but which the most Prophane and Atheistical person as well as the most Religious does allow to be reasonable Though he would have us to believe that he sees no reason to believe there is a God or a furture state of Immortality and Glory yethe is too great a friend o himself to think that Death is as desirable as Life and Misery as gratefull as Happiness Though he loves not to think there is a God yet he cannot but wish that there was someghing that was as wise and powerfull as good and comapssionate as we believe God to be And though he be an Enemy to the Notion of another life yet he seels himself strongly inclined to approve of the Immortality and to wish for as quiet and easie a life as belongs to that state The truth on 't is he is no enemy to the Wisdom and Goodness that is in God or to such uninterrupted Joys and Pleasures and such lasting Enjoyments as Religion teaches us to look for hereafter but he does not love to think that there is a God that is thus perfect or to be put off to a future state where we are taught That Immortality and Life will be disposed of as we qulifie our selves for them in this life The Enmity then that he bears to Religion is not because he believes the Principles thereof to be unreasonable but because he can find nothing in this World that he loves and doats on so much to contain all that Excellency and Good that Religion informs us of For was this World as glorious and happy a place as Heaven is represented to us to be or was there any thing that he loves in it as great and perfect as God is he would have no quarrel at all with these things But his great spight to Religion is That when it acquaints with things so desirable as Immortality and Life the Wisdom and Goodness and other Perfections of a Deity it puts him upon a contempt of those Enjoyments he loves here for the better qualifying himself for those hereafter But as to the Things themselves 1. He is desirous as well as other Men are of a friend who is every way qulified to be helpfull to him As confident as he appears that there is no God and as much sport as he makes himself with our belief that there is he as much as any other Man feels the imperfection of humane Nature and a necessity of having a recourse to something without him for relief and refreshment He thinks himself wise in disowning a God and yet he is sensible that no less Wisdom and Power and Goodness than that which is in God is sufficient to his happiness And therefore he does not think it fit at all times to rely upon the Abilities of his own Nature as if he was an independant Being but like all other Men is desirous of a friend that will be kind and helpfull to him A friend that has Wisdom enough to know how to advise and direct him and so to order his affairs that he need not doubt of a good issue to them That has power sufficient to relieve him when he is press'd with any difficulties and who above all has so much goodness and compassion in his Nature as assures him of a favourable reception when-ever he makes his address to him Now to desier such a friend is to wish that there was a God to govern and order all Events and to preside ove and be a ready help to us in all our Exigencies So that let us suppose that this wise discoverer was really right in his belief concerning this Principle of Religion yet when ever he reflects upon his own Wants he will not have much cause to rejoyce in his discovery but every moment furnishes him with fresh Reasons to wish he was mistakenl and all the World will consess that he is much in the right when he wishes for such a friend as we believe God to be For to wish for a friend that is at all
unless we employ the several Powers of our Nature a-right It is as much against Nature to make use of an understanding Faculty in the service of our Bodies onely I mean in worldly or bodily Solicitudes what we shall eat and what we shall drink or how we shall drive on our worldly Aims as if a Man should resolve to hear with his Eyes And hence it comes to pass that when Men make no other use of this Faculty than this comes to after a life of many years spent in Thoughtfulness and anxious Solicitudes for the things that relate to their Bodies onely they are as far at last from being happy as they were at first It is with Men in this case as it is with Children who think if they were but at the top of such a Hill as lies at a good distance from them they should touch the Sun and yet when they come there they are no nearer it than at first And thus it would be should they go round the World Thus Men that use their Understandings onely in worldly or sensual Projects believe that in compassing such a design or enjoying such a good they shall compleat their happiness and yet when they have done it they are as far from being satisfied as they were before And this they continue to be when they have gone the whole Round of their Lives Now the reason of this dissatisfaction does lie in this That they abuse their own Minds and do not make a right use of their Understandings For it is not the bare using our Faculties will make us happy but the using them to their own true and proper Ends. And it must needs give great distast and be very dissatisfactory factory to our Minds to have its noblest Faculty employ'd in mean and sordid Services and not be permitted to discover its true and utmost usefulness to us to drudge for the Body and not do its own proper work and consult its own good 3. The satisfaction must arise from the enjoyment of that good as is suitalbe to the Nature of each Faculty So the satisfaction of the Eye is from beholding the light and the beauty of those Objects which the Day discovers And the thing that is dissatisfactory to this sense is Darkness or the want of an Object to behold or else such an imperfect Light as is not sufficient for a clear perception But yet that which is gratefull to the Eye does give no satisfaction to the Ear and the best Melody in the World as much as it pleases the Ear does not at all affect the Eye So it is likewise with a respect to the higher Powers of our Souls They have some good that does peculiarly belong to them from the enjoyhment of which alone does arise their satisfactgion And 't is as preposterous a thing for a Man to think himself happy without it as it is to gratifie the Eye without light Men may boast of the mighty Pleasures and wonderfull Satisfactions they meet with in a voluptuous senfual way of living but what pleasure can a Soul take in the delights of a Hog How is it possible that the Mind of Man should be satisfied with the glories of the World which is the pleasure of the Eye or with those gratefull Sounds that are the delightes of the Ear or with those well-cook'd Dainties that gratifie the Palate The Mind and Soul of Man is no more made for these things than the Eye is to rejoyce in the Melody of Sounds But if we will as well satisfie them as our bodily Senses we must search for delights that are more accommmodated to their Nature Who can think that his Understanding is given him for no other pleasure than that which his Eye or his Ear is sufficient to him for Or that he has a Soul which a Beast wants onely to tast the Pleasures of a Beast Bodily Enjoyments are onely proper to satisfie our bodily Senses but the Happiness of a Man does suppose that our Souls as well as our Bodies are possess'd of that good that they can take pleasure in This then being the Nature of that Happiness we are to aim at I come 2. To make it appear That without Religion it is impossible our Nature should be perfectly at ease and fully satisfied And this is very evident from what has been said concerning the Nature of that satisfaction that our Happiness consists in For if there be something in us that all the bodily Pleasures and Enjoyments of this World cannot satisfie there will after all the care we can take to provide for our Flesh be something in us that is dissatisfied And so long as there is any thing in us that is no satisfied we must be troubled with such gnawings as will not suffer us to be any more at ease than if we had Eyes and yet nothing to see But besides this we have the tacit Confession of the Enemies of Religion against themselves For while the satisfactiion they aim at respects onely the Body they leave their Souls out of their care and consideration For no Man eats and drinks or gratifies his Eyes and Ears for the ease and quiet of his Mind They do not pretend to the satisfying their Minds or delighting their Consciences by indulging to the Pleasures of a sensual life No the Soul is so little concern'd in these things and they are so sensible of the wrong and mischief they do themselves in this respect that as soon as they resolve upon such a way of living they as it were throw away their Souls and tie up their Conscience that they may without disturbance reap the satisfaction they aim at They are forced to run away from themselves and to avoid all communications with their own hearts and find a necessity of being strangers at home and of forbidding their own Minds to tell their dissatisfactions For should they but ask their own Souls what pleasure they take in their Rioting and Excess or what content their bodily Enjoyments give them they would let 'em know that these are things that grieve and vex that make 'em weak and languishing and that expose them to Death and Misery They would complain of their hard fate of being compell'd to feed upon Husks and Trash and deprived of the pleasure of their own proper Entertainments And therefore every wicked Man is put upon hard shifts to avoid all interviews with his own Mind lest he should be chid and upbraided for his brutishness in taking so little notice of hmself Which is an argument of an inward sense that all is not right with him within but that he carries those dissatisfactions in his breast that if he should once hearken to them would damp all his mirth For why should he be afraid of meeting his own Conscience if he was not sensible he has done it a great deal of wrong Why should he avoid enquiring of his own Mind whether his was of living be good for it if he