"to do the same. To punish this slight curiosity and natural "desire of life and knowledge, God not only threw our first parents out of paradise, but he condemned all their posteri"ty to temporal misery, and the greatest part of them to eter"nal pains, though the souls of these innocent children have "no more relation to that of Adam than to those of Nero and "Mahomet; since, according to the scholastic drivellers, fa"bulists, and mythologists, all souls are created pure, and in"fused immediately into mortal bodies, so soon as the fœtus "is formed. To accomplish the barbarous, partial decree of "predestination and reprobation, God abandoned all nations "to darkness, idolatry, and superstition, without any saving "knowledge or salutary graces; unless it was one particular "nation, whom he chose as his peculiar people. This chosen "nation was, however, the most stupid, ungrateful, rebellious, "and perfidious of all nations. After God had thus kept the "far greater part of all the human species, during near 4000 "years, in a reprobate state, he changed all of a sudden, and "took a fancy for other nations besides the Jews. Then he "sent his only begotten Son to the world, under a human form, "to appease his wrath, satisfy his vindictive justice, and die "for the pardon of sin. Very few nations, however, have "heard of this gospel; and all the rest, though left in invin"cible ignorance, are damned without exception, or any pos"sibility of remission. The greatest part of those who have "heard of it have changed only some speculative notions a"bout God, and some external forms in worship: For, in other respects, the bulk of Christians have continued as corrupt as "the rest of mankind in their morals; yea, so much the more perverse and criminal, that their lights were greater. Un"less it be a very small select number, all other Christians, "like the Pagans, will be for ever damned; the great sacri"fice offered up for them will become void and of no effect; "God will take delight for ever in their torments and blas"phemies; and though he can by one fiat change their hearts, "yet they will remain for ever unconverted and unconverti"ble, because he will be for ever unappeasable and irreconcile"able. It is true, that all this makes God odious, a hater of 46 66 "souls rather than a lover of them; a cruel vindictive tyrant, "an impotent or a wrathful dæmon, rather than an all-power"ful beneficent Father of spirits: Yet all this is a mystery. "He has secret reasons for his conduct that are impenetrable; "and though he appears unjust and barbarous, yet we must "believe the contrary, because what is injustice, crime, cru"elty, and the blackest malice in us, is in him justice, mercy, "and sovereign goodness." Thus the incredulous freethinkers, the judaizing Christians, and the fantalistic doctors, ⚫ have disfigured and dishonoured the sublime mysteries of our holy faith; thus they have confounded the nature of good ' and evil; transformed the most monstrous passions into di⚫ vine attributes, and surpassed the pagans in blasphemy, by ' ascribing to the Eternal Nature, as perfections, what makes ⚫ the most horrid crimes amongst men. The grosser pagans 'contented themselves with divinizing lust, incest, and adul⚫tery; but the predestinarian doctors have divinized cruelty, 'wrath, fury, vengeance, and all the blackest vices.' See the Chevalier Ramsay's philosophical principles of natural and revealed religion, Part II. p. 401. The same author asserts, in other places, that the Arminian and Molinist schemes serve very little to mend the matter: And having thus thrown himself out of all received sects of Christianity, he is obliged to advance a system of his own, which is a kind of Origenism, aad supposes the pre-existence of the souls both of men and beasts, and the eternal salvation and conversion of all men, beasts, and devils. But this notion, being quite peculiar to himself, we need not treat of. I thought the opinions of this ingenious author very curious; but I pretend not to warrant the justness of them. INDEX. *The NUMERAL LETTERS refer to the Volume, and the A A BASEMENT, not the natural consequence of polytheism, ii. 422. Abstraction, what, ii. 467, Note (P.) Absurdity, not always the greatest in polytheism, ii. 424. Addison quoted, i. 83, 188. ii. 176. Æschines quoted, i. 321, 419. Æschines Socraticus quoted, ii. 357. Etolians, their number, i. 423. Agathocles, the tyrant, his cruelty, i. 401, 530, Note (CC.) to ourselves, ibid. &c. to others, ii. 297, &c. Agriculture, how best encouraged, i. 256, 257, 410. Alcoran, its ethics, i. 223. Alexander the impostor of Lucian, his artifice, ii. 120. his emulation of Bacchus, ii. 423. Alexandria, its size and number of its inhabitants, i. 427. Allegory has naturally place in polytheism, ii. 404. Anacreon quoted, ii. 372. Analogies, and sometimes slight, have influence in jurisprudence, ii. 234, Anaxagoras, the first theist, and the first accused of atheism, ii, 486 Ancillarioli, what, ii. 496, Note (XX.) Angels, modern, equivalent to the deities of the philosophers, ii. 402. Antioch, its size, i. 427. Antipater, the Cyreniac, his saying, i. 172. Appian Alexandrinus quoted, i. 322, 369, 389, 394, 398, 400, 404, 415, Arnobius quoted, ii. 400, 407. Ariosto, his character, i. 226, quoted, 84. Aristides the sophist quoted. i. 534, Note (KK.) Aristocracy, Polish, Venetian, in what respects different, i. 14, 15. R Aristotle quoted, i. 208, 384, 421, 430, ii. 354, 486, Note (YY.) Arrian quoted, i. 124, 546, 407. ii. 421, 424. Atheism, whether possible, ii. 150. Athenæus quoted, i. 418, 419, 421. Athens, i. 89, 253, 321, 403, 417, 418, 420, 451. Athenians, on what they chiefly valued themselves, ii. 295. Athenian man of merit, ii. 359, &c. Augustine (Saint) his dogmatism, ii. 432. Augustus, his impiety mixed with superstition, ii. 400. his age compared with that of Camillus, i. 254. Aunoy, Madame, quoted, i. 183. Aurelius, Marcus, his theism, ii. 404, his superstition, 436. Authority of teachers useful, i. 115. B BACON, quoted, i. 50, 85, 204, 262, ii. 130, 255, 410. Balance of power, i. 30, 331, &c.—Of trade, i. 307, &c.—Of property, Banks and paper-credit, whether advantageous, j. 281, 317. Barbarity, an attribute of the Deity in popular religions, ii. 465. Bartoli's plans of ancient buildings, i. 425. Bayle, quoted, ii. 423, 466. Beauty, why the object of pride, ii. 180. Belief, what, ii. 49, & c. Bellarmine, Cardinal, his saying, ii. 423. Benevolence, i. 79. disinterested zeal, ii. 233, &c. its kinds, 334. a vir tue, 214. from its utility, 217. from its agreeableness, 293. Berkeley, Dr, a real sceptic, ii. 466, Note (N.) quoted, i. 204. Berne, canton of, its treasure, i. 322. Bentivoglio quoted, i. 205. Boccace quoted, i. 174. Boileau quoted, ii. 289. Bolingbroke quoted, i. 24, 40. Boulanvilliers quoted, i. 543. ii. 413. Brasidas, his saying, ii. 423. Brumoy, Pere, quoted, ii. 399. C CESAR quoted, i. 394, 437, 438, 520, Note (K.) ii. 399, 408. his account of the number slaughtered in his wars, i. 532, Note Cambyses, his extravagance, ii. 427. Capitolinus quoted, i. 484. Caprice, an attribute of the Deity in popular religions, ii. 432, Carlisle, Earl, of, quoted, i. 26. Cartes, Des, quoted, i. 239. ii. 456, Note (D.) Carthage, its size and number of its inhabitants, i. 430. Carthaginians, their human sacrifices, ii. 487, Note (BBB.) Catholics, Roman, genius of their religion, i. 72. led into absurdities, ii. 428. Cato de Re Rustica, quoted, i. 387. Cato of Utica, his speech to Cæsar, i. 269. Cause and effect, its ideas, whence, ii. 24, &c. Its definition, 77, 459, Causes, moral, how far they contribute to national characters, i. 194. physical, how far, i. 203. Causation, a reason of association, ii. 22, 51, &c. Cavalier party, i. 63. Cervantes, his merit, i. 188, quoted, 230. Chance, what, ii. 57. Its influence in society, 111. Characters, national, i. 195, &c. Charles XII. of Sweden, his character, ii. 295. Chastity, its merit, whence, ii. 244. Cheerfulness, its merit, whence, ii. 286. China, its excellence and defects, i. 115. Christian religion founded in faith, not in reason, ii. 131. Cicero quoted, i. 17, 87, 94, 98, 171, 341, 380, 400, 408, 417, 420, 439, 522, Note (0.) ii. 52, 215, 218, 354, 373, 431. City, reasons which limit the greatness of every city, i. 430. Cleanliness, its merit, whence, ii. 303. Clergy, why no friends to liberty, i. 59. Cold, greater in ancient times, i. 431, 432. Colonesi and Orsini, parties in modern Rome, i. 51. Columella quoted, i. 305, 383, 388, 389, 434, 439, 525, Note (T.) · Comitia centuriata et tributa, their different powers, i. 367. Commerce, its advantages, i. 252. Foreign, its advantages, 259, 260. Commonwealth, perfect idea of it, i. 492. Companionable qualities, ii. 298, &c, Comparison, its effect, i. 74. necessary to forming the taste, 254. |