Tranfcribers, Tranflators, Commentators, Expounders, and the like. And thefe, through the weakness of fome, and the wickedness of others, introduce that great variety and contrariety, that confufion and perpexity, as we fee at this day. And this, (as I faid before) must, and will be the cafe of all traditionary religion, whether in it's first promulgation it were of God, or not; and whether those who firft committed it to writing were divinely infpired, or not. How neceflary and defirable a thing muft it therefore be, that there should be fome plain, obvious, certain principles in nature or reason to be a folid foundation for religion, which honeft upright men may fafely and fecurely tay their minds upon, amidst that diverfity and perplexity which all traditionary religion is liable to, and is constantly attended with; and this, to our fatisfaction and comfort, is the truth of the cafe. religion, when confidered abstractedly from what may be made the outward figns and tokens of it, from what may be used as means and helps to it, and from what may be annexed to and blended with it, is not liable to fuch toffings and changes. For, as it is grounded on the eternal reafon and truth of things; fo it must of neceffity be the fame, both yesterday, to day, and for ever. And, indeed, it would be a very hard cafe, were true religion (which is of univerfal concern to mankind) to depend upon the fenfe and derivation of words, the understanding of

True

which, men of letters are apt to boast of, and value themselve upon; feeing words, with regard to their fenfe and derivation, like shittlecocks, are liable to be battled to and from, according to the art and fkill of the opponents, And, though this is what many learned men would fain have the cafe appear to be, because then, they only would be capable judges concerning it; yet the truth is, true religion is not of fo light and airy a nature, but is more folid, as being grounded on eternal reafon and truth, (as I have already obferved) and therefore admits of no alteration, and is to be dif cerned and judged of by every man, whether he has learning, or not.

To conclude: I obferve, that I have not reafoned from general and received opinions, nor from the fentiments of great and learned men, in any age, or ages, nor from any other kind of authority, nor indeed from any uncertain and precarious hypothefis whatever; but only from fuch principles as are founded on the eternal reafon and truth of things. So that fkill in criticism, in hiftory, in arts and sciences, is not wanted here; but a capacity and attention fufficient to difcern and diftinguish betwixt just and folid arguments and reasonings and their contraries, fuch ability and application being neceffary to render a perfon a proper judge of what I have laid down; and therefore, I appeal to all those of fuperior abilities, of greater attention, and quicker difcernment, as the best judges in the prefent Q.2. cafe.

cafe. But then, as to the Horlers or Tumpeters of the age, who found an alarm of danger, and call to arms the whole Ecclefiaftical Soldiery to wage war with me, who are much better qualified to fing a love fong, and to dance a born-pipe, than to reafon upon questions of fo important and ferious a nature; and alfo to all our fyftematical Divines, Preachers, Writers, and Difputers, their judgments, furely, must be of less weight in the cafe under confideration. Nevertheless, though I have appealed as above; yet, I am fenfible, that great men, who have obtained popular applause, are usually very careful not to turn the tables and bring upon themselves popular odium; and therefore, when popular errors, that is, errors which have been generally received as important truths, when fuch errors are brought upon the carpet, and are under examination, great men feldom come openly, plainly, and fully into the defence of truth; efpecially if there be fomething in view worth rowing * for, and if there be a profpect of obtaining it; I fay, under thefe circumftances, great men feldom come openly, plainly, and fully into the defence of truth. Indeed, there are fome inftances of great men, who, when not engaged in controverfy, have acted bravely and boldly in afferting truths not greatly po

pular.

*Rowing here alludes to the print, in which three Bishops were reprefented as rowing hard for Lambeth, otherwife the Archbishoprick of Canterbury, though, (by the way) they all three loft it.

pular. Thus for example, Dr Sherlocke, by the King's ordinance now Lord Bishop of Salisbury, in a Sermon preached before the Society for propagating the gofpel in Foreign Parts, (pages 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.) hath expreffed himself in the following manner.

'I fhall now proceed to lay before you fuch confequences as feem to me to be the na¿ tural refult of this method made ufe of by ⚫ our bleffed Lord and his Apoftles, in publishing the gospel to mankind.'

And the first is this: that the religion of the gospel is the true original religion of

'reafon and nature.'

This appears, by confidering the nature ' of that repentance, which our Lord, and those who came after him in the ministry of the gospel, preached to the world: repentance fuppofes a tranfgreffion, and tranfgreffion fuppofes a law; for as the Apostle argues, where there is no law there is no tranf greffion and fince repentance confists in a change of mind, in rectifying what was be'fore amifs, and in fulfilling that obedience

which was before wanting; it is evident, 'that to repent of the violation of any law,

is to return to the obedience of it: and he' that exhorts and calls you to repentance, 'calls you back to the obedience of that law, ⚫ against which you had offended. The queftion then is, against what law thofe offences were committed, the repentance for which was so neceffary, that without it there was

< no

no admittance into the fellowship of the gofpel of Chrift? The laws of the gospel, confidered as fuch, are evidently excluded upon the present view; for repentance being the first thing every where taught, and antecedently to the publication of any of the • rules and precepts of the gofpel, the law not yet published could not be the rule of that repentance, which related to fins already ⚫ committed. At the time of the publication ' of the gospel, there were many forms and ⚫ inftitutions of religion fubfifting in the world but as these were very different from one another, infomuch that if fome were true,' others were certainly false; fo they could not be the ground of that repentance, which being generally taught to all the world, to the Gentile as well as the Jew, muft refpect ⚫ fome general law, which related alike to all, and the obligations to which were in fome ⚫ degrees univerfally felt and acknowleged: and this can be no other than that which the Apostle to the Romans has described in the fecond chapter, ver. 14, 15, when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, thefe having not the law, are a law unto themfelves: which fhew the work of the law written in their hearts, their confcience alfo bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accufing or elfe excusing one another.. However the light of reafon and nature was darkened and obfcured by the ignorance

• and