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pugnant and impossible, that the work of a God infinitely wise, be not such as it ought to be; therefore,.... therefore,...

XXXI.

SECTION V.

Man is not such as he was created by God.

We have now made gigantic strides in a very winding, intricate, and arduous road. We have discovered, and not without delight, many truths, but the most difficult and the darkest part of the road remains yet, perhaps, to be encountered. We have to reconcile two truths, which are equally as incontestible, as they seem to be opposite, repugnant, and incompatible with each other.

Man is the work of God: man is not such as he ought to be. Man is the work of God; therefore, he was created such as he ought to be: but to be such as he ought to be, he ought to have been created with a natural and sufficient aptness to know God, because he was created for God; and still man has not that natural and sufficient aptness to know God; man, therefore, is not such as he was created by God.

This truth, which presents itself to us with so clear and resplendent an aspect; this truth, which, beaming all on a sudden on our mind, forms a most admirable connexion of ideas, and lays open to us in full sight, as it were, the whole nature of man; this truth, I say, will perchance not be equally understood by all. Let us then try some other method; let us call men to their own heart; let them feel this humiliating truth, which they have not as yet known by their understanding.

SECTION VI.

XXXII. Two most intimate and opposite natural tendencies in the heart of man, demonstrate that man is not such as he was created by God.

To a man of an upright and candid mind, to a man that is sincerely disposed to listen to the language of his own heart, I here present a prospect worthy of his attention. He has

nothing else to do, but to place it before himself, and, after having divested himself of every selfish view and prejudice, to give ear to the inmost, natural, and sincere voice of his heart.

O MAN!

In all thy actions have nothing else in view but virtue only. Let this be the principle, the means, and the end, of all thy undertakings.

The love which thou owest thy Creator and thyself, shall be the sole spring and mover of all thy actions; and nothing but rectitude, justice, and equity, will lead thee to the fulfilment of the one and the other.

Remember that one single act of virtue is preferable to all the treasures and pleasures of the world.

Man was created for virtue; virtue alone constitutes his felicity.

Love thy fellow men as thy brethren in God and for God; and let thy love be sincere and pure, upright, disinterested, benevolent, and constant. Do not do to others what thou wouldst not wish that others should do to thee; and do to others what thou wouldst wish others should do to

hee.

Forget injuries, and avenge thyself upon thy enemies, by a generous forgiveness.

Let thy present happiness make the happiness of thy brethren; and, vice versa, let the happiness of thy brethren constitute thy own happi

ness.

In all thy actions, and at all times, have nothing else in view but thy own self. Let thy personal interest be the means and the end.

Pain and pleasure shall be the primum mobile of all thy actions: provided thou escapest the former, and attainest the latter, do not mind the

means.

The enjoyment of even the smallest pleasure, is preferable to any thing else that is not pleasure.

Man was created for pleasure; sensible pleasures are the object of his heart.

Love, indeed, thy fellow-creatures, but take heed never to love fruitlessly, or uselessly. This principle, “Do not do to others what thou wouldst not wish that others should do to thee, and do to others what thou wouldst wish others should do to thee," this principle, I say, thou must wish to see deeply stamped upon the heart of all other men, but as to thyself, regulate every thing according to thy own personal interest.

Cause, if thou canst, all those that oppose thy will, to feel the effects of thy resentment. Compassion for thy enemies would be weakness. Thy enemies thwart thy felicity: they deserve no pardon.

Let thy felicity consist in putting down thy fellow-men; and let the putting down thy fellow-men constitute thy felicity.

If, first of all, we set about examining these principles, so opposite, and so contradictory to each other, we shall certainly discover in the one, the character of virtue, and in the other, that of vice; we shall discover, that those form the very basis of social order and mutual love, and that these, by destroying the one and the other, raise upon their ruins a selfishness, which is deservedly detested by all other men, and we shall, finally, comprehend with the most certain and clear evidence, that man was, and is naturally, designed to follow the first, and to fly from and abhor the second, chiefly because he is designed to practice virtue, not vice, to preserve social order, not to overturn it. This once granted, let us simply propose these principles to our heart, and we shall see, that notwithstanding the favourable prepossession of our reason in behalf of virtue, our heart discovers, both in the one and the other, something good and something beautiful; we shall find that something pleases it both in the one and the other, and that it feels two attractions, two natural inclinations, which incline and draw it, the one to these, the other to those. Nothing can be more reasonable than these truths.

If, therefore, man has two natural inclinations opposed to each other; one to virtue, the other to vice; if man feels himself drawn to follow, not only what he ought to follow, but also what he knows and conceives ought not to be followed, I conclude that man is not such as he was created by Almighty God: and I prove it.

God, who is the fountain head of all virtues, who naturally abhors all that is not beauty, that is not perfection, that is not virtue, cannot, assuredly, form a creature with an internal natural inclination to vice, with an internal natural inclination to that, which the creature itself infallibly knows, and naturally conceives, it ought not to follow; therefore, God has not created man with an internal inclination to vice, with an internal inclination to that which he infallibly knows and naturally conceives he out not to follow: but man actually feels such an internal natural inclination, to what he infallibly

knows, and naturally conceives, he ought not to follow: therefore, man is not such as he was created by God.

Any man, that reflects but a moment on the infinite perfection of the divine essence, cannot, I am sure, entertain the least doubt of the first and fundamental proposition, viz: that God cannot give to any of his creatures a natural and wicked inclination; and no man in his senses can find difficulty in the proposition which contains the conclusion: for if God cannot do it, it certainly follows that he has not done it.

As to the minor, or second proposition, to wit: that man feels a natural internal inclination to vice, I hold it for certain, that no one can deny it, except he who is determined to stifle 1 the voice of his own nature, and to give the lie to all other men, who naturally experience within themselves two natural opposite inclinations, two contrary tendencies. What, then, shall we say? We shall say, that it is certain, self-evident, and altogether undeniable, that man is not such as he was created by God.

We shall not, however, stop here, but in holding out to our heart again the above view, we shall search for other proofs, for other evidences, in confirmation of so striking and important a truth. Behold us here at opposite principles: if we try to put in practice either the one or the other, such an experiment will make us feel, in a most lively manner, a certain intrinsic repugnancy, a certain, I know not what abhorrence, a very great difficulty with regard to those principles, which invite us to perfection and to virtue, and, on the contrary, an easy adhesion, a tendency, which draws us, and, as it were, forces us to those principles which form the character of a wicked man. This is another most intimate truth, which needs no proof; every man feels it within himself. Resuming therefore, with more strength, with more evidence, and with more conclusiveness, than ever, our argument, let us reason thus:

God is the principle, as well as the end, of all creatures: God created them within himself, for himself, and according to his divine essence: therefore, all creatures were

created for God, not against God; they were adorned with nothing but beauties, and perfections, and virtues, because they were created to the image of the most perfect essence of God, and they could not be created otherwise; but if all creatures were formed for God, and not against God; if they were endowed with nothing but beauties, perfections, and virtues, then man was created for God, not against God.This truth again is self-evident to every reflecting mind.

But at present, man is not such; therefore man is not such as he was created by God. Man is not such, because he is against God; because man has a natural and internal abhorrence of those means, which lead him to virtue, God being the very original virtue. Man is against God, because he has an easy and natural attraction to all that is against beauty, against perfection, and against virtue, God being perfec tion and virtue itself: but if man be against God, then he is not only not such as he was created of God, but he is quite the reverse of what he was created of God, the reverse of the most perfect essence of God, naturally against God; and on the other hand it is most certain that he was created for God, and to the image of the beauties and perfections of God.

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SECTION VII.

XXXIII. The conclusion is, that the nature of man is vitiated and corrupted.

If man naturally bears within himself a strong inclination opposite to virtue, and opposite of course, to the most perfect being of God, he, assuredly, is not such as he was created of God; and next if it be true, that this wicked inclination is stronger than that which man feels for virtue, it must be likewise true, that not only he is not such as he was created by of God, but that moreover he is the very reverse of what he was created of God. There is no medium, no escape, here. He only, that is obstinately determined to deny the most intuitive and incontestible truths; he, that wishes wilfully to blind himself and to give the lie to the common sense of man

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