I shall then be in my grave, it is likely,—but " I rejoice in seeing that day beforehand, and am glad;" and I call upon the young, the ingenuous, and the ardent to assist in bringing it forward. What I have now said is a mere nothing in the cause, and has no merit, except, perhaps, as it may give a sort of glimpse of the spirit in which such inquiries ought to be conducted. At present, let us conclude them, my friends. I do not ask you, Cleanthes, to reply to me, nor do I inquire whether I have said any thing to convince you. Would to Heaven that there were no opponents of Christianity more rancorous than you! It is the spirit of the Gospel, not the mere opinions, that I would have introduced; and you have more of the spirit than many who lay claim to a greater orthodoxy of belief.-But, Pamphilus, I wish you to feel, that what Cleanthes may have in a good degree gained without the direct aid of Christianity, most men would entirely miss but for that religion, and that its progress is of essential importance for the general happiness of mankind, and for the advancement of truth and of virtue. Give then to its examination the time which you can spare from that high calling in which you are engaged, in which you have already won laurels, and which in this day, my friend, your country* must look to, as to the safeguard of its liberties from a foreign foe. Believe me, that the pure spirit of the Gospel is not less adapted to form the character of a patriotic soldier, than the heroic maxims of Greece or Rome; and there are no encouragements or consolations so powerful as those which it offers amidst the present calamities and dangers which encompass the world! Here, my Hermippus, Philo concluded his harangue; and I will own to you, that, though I have long been accustomed to be influenced by all the opinions of Cleanthes, I cannot help thinking, that, on this subject, those of Philo approach still nearer to the truth. *These Dialogues were written some years before the conclusion of the late war with France. DISCOURSE I. ON THE CONSTANT AGENCY OF THE DEITY.* JOHN V. 17.-But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. It was in these words that our Saviour replied to the Jews, when they accused him of infringing upon the sanctity of the Sabbath, because he had on that day performed one of his miraculous cures. As applied to the occasion on which they were spoken, the words point out the mistake into which this people had fallen, respecting the manner in which the Sabbath was to be kept holy. They conceived that an absolute suspension of all active employment, however beneficent and charitable, was commanded on the seventh day, in imitation of that rest which their inspired lawgiver ascribes to the * Preached in Advent. |