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natural confequences, the immediate principle of confcience independent of reafon; and, tho' it were impoffible, it is not at all neceffary: for fince thofe who reject this principle (admitted however, and acknowledged in ge neral by all mankind) do not prove its nonexistence, but content themselves with affirming it only when we affirm that it doth exift, we stand at least on as good a footing as they; and have befides that internal teftimony for us, the voice of confcience depofing in behalf of itself. If the first glimmerings of the understanding dazzle our fight and make objects appear at first obfcure or confused, let us wait but a little while till our optics recover themselves and gather strenght, and we shall prefently fee those fame objects, by the light of reafon, to be fuch as nature at first prefented them: or rather, let us be more fimple and lefs vain; let us confine ourselves to the fentiments we first discovered, as it is to these our well regulated studies must always recur.

O confcience! confcience! thou divine instinet! thott certain guide of an ignorant and confined, though intelligent and free, being; thou infallible judge of good and evil, who makest man to resemble the Deity! in thee confist the excellence of our nature and the morality of our actions: without thee I perceive nothing in myself that should elevate me above the brutes, except the melancholy privilege of wandering from error to error, by the affistance of an ungovernable understanding and unprincipled reafon.

Thank Heaven, we are delivered from this formida. ble apparatus of philofophy: we can be men without being fages; without fpending our days in the study of morality, we poffefs at a cheaper rate, a more certain guide through the immenfe and perplexing labyrinth of human opinions. It is not enough, however, that fuch a guide exists, it is necessary to know and follow him. If he fpeaks to all hearts, it may be faid, how comes it that fo few understand him? It is, alas! because he speaks to us in the language of nature, which every thing con fpires to make us forget.

Confcience is timid, fhe loves peace and retirement; the world and its noife terrify her: the prejudices the has been compelled to give rife to, are her most cruel enemies, before whom fhe is filent, or avoids their prefence; their louder voice entirely overpowers hers, and prevents her being heard; fanaticifm counterfeits her nature, and dictates in her name the greatest of crimes. Thus, from being often rejected, the at length ceafes to fpeak to us, and answers not our enquiries; after being long held in contempt, alfo, it costs us as much trouble to recall, as it did at first to banifh her from our bofoms.

How often have I found myfe'f fatigued in my re fearches, from my indifference! How often have uneafinefs and difgust, poifoning my meditations, rendered them infupportable! My infenfible heart was fufceptible only of a lukewarm and languishing zeal for truth. I fail to myfelf, why fhould I take the tro ble to feek after things that have no existence? Virtue is a mere chime. ra; nor is there any thing defirable, but the pleasures of fenfe. When a man hath once lost a taste for the plea fures of the mind, how difficult to recover it! How much more difficult it is alfo to acquire fuch a taste, who never poffeffed it? If there be in the world a man fo miferable as never to have done an action in his life, the remembrance of which must make him fatisfied with himself, that man must be ever incapable of fuch a taste; and, for want of being able to perceive that goodness which is comformable to his nature, must of neceffity remain wicked as he is, and eternally miferable.

But can you believe there exists on earth a human. ereature fo depraved as never to have given up his heart to the inclination of doing good?

To be continued.

New York: Published every Saturday, by ELIHU PALMER, No. 26, Chatham-street. Price Two Dollars per ann. paid in advance.

PROSPECT; or, View of the Moral World.

VOL. I.

SATURDAY, August 18, 1804.

No. 37.

Comments upon the Sacred Writings of the Jews and Christians. Exodus Chapter 19. .

THE

HE preceding chapter contains nothing but wholefome advice, given by Jethro, Priest of Midian, and father-in-law to Mofes, relative to the establishment of a judicial fystem; but in this 19th chapter we again behold the fame deceptive conjurations of the dexterous leader of an ignorant, credulous and fanatic people. The farce of fpiritual arostocracy is here played off with great art and impressive ingenuity; the people are kept in a state of blindnefs while Mofes is reciprocating his visits from Mount Sinai to the Plains, and from the refidence of the people back to the Mount, under the pretence of being the bearer of important meffages from Jehovah to the chofen band. Thefe delufive movements mixed with terrific confiderations were intended as preparatory steps to the promulgation of the Decalogue on which fo much praise has been bestowed, and concerning the character of which we fhall comment at large in our next number. It is curious to obferve but it is a folemn truth that all miraculous fystems of religions are stuffed with hypocricy and unfair dealing; this is remarkable in the cafe before us and no one can read with attention this 19th chapter of Exodus without being fully convinced that Mofes and Aaron with their little fpiritual band of pretended demi-gods were impofing grofsly upon the people, under colour of holding fecret communication with the most high upon Mount Sinai. Verfe 21 is as follows: "And the Lord faid unto Mofes, go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perifh." Here the true character of priest-craft is manifest, and stands fully expofed to our view! They were terribly apprehenfive that the people would break through and gaze!-Gaze at what? Why gaze at the tricks and deceptions of Mofes and Aaron

and thus difcover that they had been the dupes of their more artful and defigning leaders. Thefe men had skill and dexterity enough to know that their own power and fafety depended upon keeping the people in ignorance. If they had been permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorem, the holy of holies, and had found nothing there but the cunning hypocrify of dexterous juglers, they would have been difgusted with fuch unrighteous impofitions, and fworn vengeance against their authors. Such however, has been the character of priest-craft in all ages and countries; the priests are always afraid the people will break through and gaze-that is break thro that veil of mystery which they have piously spread over the beautiful fun of truth, to conceal it from vulgar eyes lest it fhould destroy vifion. Good fouls how much mankind are indebted to you for your kind care of their intellectual optics! Were it not for this facerdotal circumfpection rash and thoughtless man would have broke through the facred veils of religious mystery-would have difcovered the glories of the most high,-the en chanting dexterities of the priesthood, and must have utterly perished! O ye holy fathers how much we owe to your pious and spiritual care! Go on to perpetuate your mysterious ceremonies,-to blind the eyes of the people, and to render indistructible your clerical predicament; but remember that reafon has fworn upon the alter of eternal justice, that you fhall one day answer at her bar, and at the bar of God, for your crimes and impofitions for the miferies you have brought upon the

human race.

To the Rev. JOHN MASON,†

One of the Ministers of the Scotch Presbyterian church, of New-York;

With Remarks on his account of the vifit he made to the late General Hamilton.

Come now, let us REASON together, saith the Lord." This is one of the paffages you quoted from your bible, 4 This piece was intended to be in the Prospect of last week, but did not arrive time enough to be inserted.

in your converfation with General Hamilton, as given in your letter, figned with your name, and publifhed in the Commercial Advertifer, and other New-York papers, and I re-quote the passage to fhew that your Text and your Religion contradict each other.

It is impoffible to reason upon things not comprehensible by reason; and therefore, if you keep to your text, which priests feldom do, (for they are generally either above it, or below it, or forget it) your must admit a religion to which reafon can apply, and this, certainly, is not the Christian religion.

There is not an article in the Christian religion that is cognizable by reafon. The Deistical article of your religion, the belief of a God, is no more a Christian article, than it is a Mahometan article. It is an univerfal article, common to all religions, and which is held in greater purity by Turks than by Christians; but the Deistical church is the only one which holds it in real purity; because that church acknowledges no co-partnership with God. It believes in him folely; and knows nothing of Sons, married Virgins, nor Ghosts. It holds all the fe things to be the fables of priest-craft.

Why then do you talk of reafon, or refer to it, fince your religion has nothing to do with reafon, nor reafon with that. You tell people, as you told Hamilton, that they must have faith. Faith in what? You ought to know that before the mind can have faith in any thing, it must either know it as a fact, or fee caufe to believe it on the probability of that kind of evidence that is cognizable by reafon: But your religion is not within either of thefe cafes; for, in the first place, you cannot prove it to be fact; and in the fecond place, you cannot fupport it by reafon, not only because it is not cognizable by rea fon, but because it is contrary to reason. What reafon

can there be in fuppofing, or believing, that God put himself to death, to satisfy himself, and be revenged on the Devil on account of Adam; for tell the story which way you will it comes to this at last.

As you can make no appeal to reason in support of an

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