379 



being and high perfections from God ; and surely 

 it must also be owned to have been left in some ob- 

 scurity by God himself in the writings of the Apo- 

 stles, (otherwise so many men, wise and good, 

 would not have differed, and still continue to differ 

 concerning it,) and so left, it should seem, on pur- 

 pose to whet human industry and the spirit of in- 

 quiry in the things of God, and to give scope for the 

 exercise of men's charity and mutual forbearance of 

 one another, and to be one great means of cultiva- 

 ting the moral dispositions, which is plainly the de- 

 sign of the holy spirit of God in the Christian Re- 

 velation, and not any high perfection in knowledge, 

 which so few can attain." * 



Let it not be supposed that Sir James was indif- 

 ferent to opinions, and considered all systems 

 equally good ; on the contrary, he preserved his 

 own through good report and evil report, and no 

 temptation of interest ever made him swerve one 

 moment from the maintenance and vindication of 

 those he had adopted : but among these, the first 

 was charity ; exclusiveness he considered as the 

 very characteristic of Antichrist and pride. There 

 was no sect of Christians, among the good and sin- 



* "In matters of eternal concern," says the biographer of Sir 

 William Jones, " the authority of the highest human opinions has 

 no claim to be admitted as a ground of belief; but it may with 

 the strictest propriety be opposed to that of men of inferior learn- 

 ing and penetration : and whilst the pious derive satisfaction from 

 the perusal of sentiments according with their own, those who 

 doubt or disbelieve should be induced to weigh, with candour 

 and impartiality, arguments which have produced conviction in 

 ♦^o minds of the best, the wisest, and most learned of mankind." 



