To conclude; the author of this enquiry having heard it fo much, and as he thought fo unjustly calumniated, has reviewed it with all poffible care and impartiality, and though he finds many things in the ftile and compofition, which have need enough of amendment, he fees nothing in the fentiments which ought to be retracted. His intentions were to reconcile the numerous evils fo confpicuous in the creation, with the wisdom, power, and goodnefs of the Creator; to shew, that no more of them are admitted by him, than are neceffary towards promoting univerfal good; and from thence to perfuade men to an entire refignation to his all-wife, but incomprehenfible difpenfations. To afcertain the nature of virtue, and to enforce the practice of it; to prove the certainty of a future ftate, and the justice of the rewards and punishments that will attend it; to recommend fubmiffion to national governments, and conformity to national religions, notwithstanding the evils and defects, which must unavoidably adhere to them; and last ly, ly, to fhew the excellence and credibility of the Christian revelation, to reconcile fome of its most abftrufe doctrines with reason, and to anfwer all thofe objections to its authofity, which have been drawn from its imperfections and abuses; these, and these only, were the intentions of the author; and if, after all, a work fo defigned, however unably executed, fhould by the united force of ignorance and malevolence, of faction, bigotry, and enthusiasm, be reprefented as introductive of fatalifm, immorality, flavery, corruption, and infidelity, he fhall be little concerned, and shall only look upon it as an additional inftance of that imperfection of mankind, which he has here treated of; from them he defires only an exemption from calumny; honour and applause he has not the vanity to hope for; thefe, he knows, they bestow not on their benefactors or inftructors, but referve for thofe alone who deceive, disturb, and destroy them. LET. LETTER I. ON EVIL IN GENERA L. SIR, HAV ; AVING enjoyed the pleasure of many accidental conferences with you on metaphyfical, moral, political, and religious fubjects; on which you ever seemed to converse with more fagacity, as well as more candor, than is ufual on the like occafions I imagined it might not be unentertaining either to you or myself, to put together my fentiments on these important topics, and communicate them to you from time to time as the absence of business, or of more agreeable amusements, may afford me opportunity. This I propofe to do under the general title of an Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Evil; an inquiry which will comprehend them all, and which, I think, has never been attended to with that diligence it deferves, deferves, nor with that fuccefs, which might have been hoped for from that little that has been bestowed upon it. The right underftanding of this abftrufe fpeculation, I look upon to be the only folid foundation, on which any rational fyftem of ethicks can be built; for it seems impoffible, that men fhould ever arrive at any juft ideas of their Creator or his attributes, any proper notions of their relation to him, or their duty to each other, without first settling in their minds fome fatisfactory folution of this important queftion, Whence came Evil? Whilft we find ourselves liable to innumerable miferies in this life; apprehenfive of ftill greater in another, and can give no probable account of this our wretched fituation, what fentiments must we entertain of the justice and benevolence of our Creator, who placed us in it, without our folicitations or confent? The works of the Creation fufficiently demonstrate his exiftence; their beauty, perfection, and magnificence, his infinite power and wisdom; but it is the happiness only which we enjoy or hope for, which can convince us of his goodness. It is the folution therefore of this important queftion alone, that can ascertain the moral characteristic of God, and upon that only must all human virtue eternally depend. If there's a power above us, (And that there is all Nature cries aloud But should this divine reasoning of the philofopher be at last inconclufive; could we once entertain such blafphemous notions of the Supreme Being, as that he might not delight in virtue, neither adhere to it himself, nor reward it in others; that he could make any part of his creation miferable, or fuffer them to make themselves fo without a just cause and a benevolent end, all moral confiderations must be vain and useless; we can have no rule by which to direct our actions, nor if we had, any kind of obligation to purfue it; nor in this case can any revelation in the least affift us, the belief of all revelation |