150 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



*' lefs privation ; one God of Nature, and anoiher 

 *' God of Religion. He is totally uncertain whe- 

 *' ther of the two he is bound to pleafe ; and 

 *' whatever be the choice which he is determined to 

 *' make, how can he tell whether he is rendering 

 " himfelf an objcift of love or of hatred ? 



** His virtue itfelf fills him with doubts and 

 *' fcruples ; it renders him miferable, both in- 

 " wardly and outwardly ; it reduces him to a ftate 

 *' of perpetual warfare with himfelf, and v.'ith the 

 " world, to the intcrtfts of which he is obliged 

 " to make a facrihce of himfelf. If he is chafle, 

 *' the world calls hirn impotent; if he is religious, 

 " he is accounted filly ; if he difcovers benignity 

 *' of difpofition to thofe around him, it is becaufe 

 *^ he wants courage ; if he devotes himfelf for the 

 *' good of his country, he is a fanatic; if he is 

 ** limple, he is duped; if he is modeft, he is fup- 

 *' planted ; he is every where derided, betrayed, 

 '^ defpifed, now by the philofopher, and now by 

 " the devotee. On what foundation can he build 

 " the hope of a recompenfe for fo many ftrugo^les 

 '' and mortifications ? On a life to come? What 

 ** aflurance has he of it's exiflence ? Where is the 

 *' traveller that ever returned from thence ? 



*' What is the foul of man ? Where was it a 

 *' hundred years ago ? Where will it be a century 



" hence ? 



