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works of Plato, and Cicero, and Epictetus, and all the uninspired sages of antiquity, were but weak rules in respect of the divine oracles. It is the mercy and power of God in the triumphs of grace, that restores mankind from the bondage and ignorance of idolatry. To this the sinner owes the conversion of his soul. It is the statutes of the Lord that rejoice the heart and enlighten the eyes. What are all the reasonings of the philosophers to the melody of that heavenly voice which cries continually "Come unto me all ye that travel and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." And what could their lessons avail without those express promises of grace and spiritual assistance, which the blood of the new covenant confirms to mankind? The philosophy of Greece and Rome was admirable for the times and men: but it admits of no comparison with the divine lessons of our holy religion, and the charter of God's pardon granted to us by his blessed Son. Beside, the philosophers were in some degree dark and doubtful in respect of death and futurity; and in relation to this world, there is not a power in their discourses, to preserve us from being undone by allurements, in the midst of plenty, and to secure our peace against the casualties of fortune, and the torments of disappointments; to save us from the cares and solicitudes which attend

upon large possessions, and give us a mind capable of relishing the good things before us; to make us easy and satisfied as to the present, and render us secure and void of fear as to the future. These things we learn from revelation, and are informed by the sacred records only, that if we are placed bere in the midst of many fears and sorrows, and are often perplexed with evils in this world; they are so many warnings not to set up our rest here, but to keep a stedfast eye upon the things which God has prepared for those who love him. It is the gospel informs us, there is another scene prepared for the moral world, and that justice only waits to see the full proof of the righteousness, or unrighteousness of men: that that scene will open with the judgment seat of Christ, and we shall either receive glory and immortality, if we have obeyed the calls of grace to virtue and holiness; or, be doomed to the most dreadful miseries, if we reject the counsel of God, and live quite thoughtless of the great concerns of eternity. These considerations made me prefer revealed religion, in the beginning of my rational life. The morality of the antient philosophers I admired. With delight I studied their writings, and received, I gratefully confess, much improvement from them. But the religion of our blessed Lord I declared for, and

look on the promised Messiah as the most consummate blessing God could bestow, or man receive. God having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities. And would men but hear and obey this life-giving Redeemer, his gospel would restore reason and religion to their rightful authority over mankind; and make all virtue, and true goodness, flourish in the earth.

But I must observe that, by the religion of the New Testament, I do not mean any of those modern schemes of religion, which discover the evident marks and signatures of superstition and enthusiasm, or of knavery and imposture; those systems which even miracles cannot prove to be true, because the pieties are absurd, inconsistent, and contradictory. The notions that are not characterised by the reason of things, and the moral fitness of actions, I considered as repugnant to the veracity, wisdom and goodness of the Almighty, and concluded, that that only could be christian religion, which bore the visible marks and signatures of benevolence, social happiness, and moral fitness, and was brought down from heaven to instruct mankind in the worship of one eternal mind, and bring them to repentance, and amendment of life. This was the religion I found in my Bible. I

saw with pleasure, as I thoughtfully went through the divine pages, that natural religion is the foundation and support of revelation: supplies the defects of nature, but never attempts to overthrow the established principles of it, and casts new light upon the dictates of reason, but never overthrows them. Pure theism, and Christ the appointed Mediator, Advocate, and Judge, by a commission from God the Father, to me appeared to be the gospel; and the directions of the Holy Spirit, to believe in one supreme independent first cause, and worship in spirit and truth this one God and Father of all, in the name of Christ Jesus; as the disciples of the Messiah; to copy after the life of our blessed Saviour, and to the utmost of our abilities, obey all his commands. This was the religion I found in the writings of the apostles, and I then determined to regard only this gospel doctrine.

The manner of my studying cosmography and mathematics is not worth setting down, as there was nothing uncommon in it. In the one I only learned to distinguish climates, latitudes, and the four divisions of the world; the provinces, nations, kingdoms and republics comprised therein, and to be able to discourse upon them. And in the other, I went no further than to make myself a master of vulgar and decimal arithmetic, the doctrine of infi

nite series, and the application of algebra, to the higher geometry of curves. Algebra I was charmed with, and found so much pleasure in resolving its questions, that I have often sat till morning at the engaging work, without a notion of its being day till I opened the shutters of my closet. I reconimend this study in particular to young gentlemen, and am satisfied, if they would but take some pains at first to understand it, they would have so great a relish for its operations, as to prefer them many an evening to clamorous pleasures; or, at least, not be uneasy for being alone now and then, since their algebra was with them.

In reading history, my last year's principal employment, during my residence in college, I began with the best writers of antient history and ended with modern times, epochs, centuries, ages; the extent of empires, kingdoms, commonwealths; their progress, revolutions, changes and declensions; the number, order, and qualities of the princes that have reigned over those states and kingdoms, their actions military and civil; the characters and actions of the great men that flourished under them; and the laws, the arts, learning and manners, I carefully marked down, and observed not only how the first governments were formed, but what the progress was of industry and property,

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