CONTENTIONS AMONG MANKIND. 



ISO 



calm &quot;Basoning, and all the civil and ecclesiasti 

 cal despots on earth, with all their edicts, and 

 bulls, and tortures, will never be able to extir 

 pate (hem in any olher way. For the more that 

 force is resorted to to compel belief in any sys 

 tem of opinions, the more will the mind revolt at 

 such an attempt, and the more will it be con 

 vinced, that such a system is worthless and un 

 tenable, since it requires such irrational meas 

 ures for its support. It can only tend to pro 

 duce dissimulation, and to increase the number of 

 hypocrites and deceivers. An enlightened mind 

 will also perceive, that such conduct is no less 

 irreligious than it is irrational ; for, where per 

 secution begins religion ends. Religion pro 

 claims &quot; peace on earth and good will to men;&quot; 

 all its doctrines, laws, and ordinances are in 

 tended to promote the happiness of mankind, 

 both in &quot; the life that now is and that which is to 

 come.&quot; But actions which tend to injure men 

 in their persons, liberty, or property, under the 

 pretence of converting them from error, must be 

 directly repugnant to the spirit of that religion 

 which is &quot; pure, and peaceable, gentle, and easy 

 to be entreated,&quot; and to the character of that 

 Benevolent Being whose &quot; tender mercies are 

 over all his works.&quot; If our religion required for its 

 establishment in the world, the infliction of civil 

 pains and penalties on those who oppose it, it 

 wou d be unworthy of being supported by any 

 rational being ; and it is a sure evidence that it 

 is not the genuine religion of the Bible, but error 

 and human inventions, under the mask of Chris 

 tianity, that are intended to be established, when 

 *uch means are employed for its propagation and 

 support. It requires very little reflection to 

 perceive, that religion does not consist in mere 

 opinions or ceremonial observances, but in the 

 cultivation and excercise of those heavenly vir 

 tues and dispositions which tend to cement the 

 family of mankind in brotherly affection, and to 

 prepare them for the intercourses and employ 

 ments of the celestial world ; and if these are 

 wanting or disregarded, religion becomes a 

 mere inanity, and it is of little consequence 

 what opinions men profess to entertain respect- 

 in&quot; it. 



In short, in an enlightened state of society, 

 men would be disposed to allow the utmost free 

 dom of thought on every subject, not inconsistent 

 with the good order of society, and would never 

 theless hold the most friendly intercourse with 

 each other. They would clearly discern, that 

 the best way to reclaim the vicious, and to con- 

 ve.t the erroneous, is, not to rail and to threat en, 

 but to be affable and gentle, to bring forward co 

 gent arguments, and &quot; in meekness to instruct 

 those who oppose themselves to the truth.&quot; They 

 would see, that many of those opinions and dog 

 mas, in regard to religion, which have created 

 heart-burnings and dissensions, are comparavive- 

 ly of trivial importance, that the doctrines in 



which all Christians agree are much more nume 

 rous, and of far greater importance, than mose 

 about which they differ, that there are suojects 

 on which the limited faculties of human beings 

 are unable to form any clear or decisive opin 

 ions, that the mind must form its opinions, in 

 accordance with the limited or the expansive 

 range of its intellectual vision, that where its 

 mental vie w is narrow and confined, its conclusions 

 must be somewhat different from those which are 

 deduced by a mind qualified to take in a more 

 extensive field of vision, that the philosopner 

 whose mind takes in at a grasp the general system 

 of the world, and the diversified phenomena of the 

 universe, must have ideas and modes of think 

 ing materially different from those of the peasant, 

 whose views are limited chiefly to the confines of 

 his parish, and the objects immediately around 

 him, that there are are few men wilfully erro 

 neous, and that ignorance and vice are the prin 

 cipal causes of false and untenable opinions, 

 that due allowance ought always to be made for 

 educational biasses, local prejudices, social in 

 fluence, and the range of thought to which indi 

 viduals have been accustomed, that the exer 

 cise of love towards God and man is of infinitely 

 greater importance than mere coincidence in 

 opinion, and that a complete unanimity of opin 

 ion on ever) subject is not to be expected in the 

 present state, perhaps not even in the future 

 world. Were such considerations taken into 

 account, (and they would be all recognised in an 

 enlightened state of society,) those contentions 

 and animosities which now rankle in the Chris 

 tian church, and separate the different sectaries, 

 would be laid to rest, persecution in every shape 

 would beheld in universal abhorrence, and peace, 

 moderation, and candour would distinguish the 

 friends of religion and all classes of society. 



IV. A universal diffusion of knowledge 

 would vanquish the antipathies of nations, and 

 tend to produce union and harmony among man 

 kind. 



&quot; God hath made of one blood all nations of 

 men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth.&quot; 

 But although they are all the offspring of one 

 Almighty Being, and descended from one origi 

 nal human pair, they have hitherto lived, for the 

 most part, in a state of strife and variance, of 

 contention and warfare. The history of the 

 world contains little else than details of the dis 

 sensions of nations, the feuds of chieftains, &quot; the 

 tumults of the people,&quot; the revolutions of em 

 pires, and the scenes of devastation and carnage 

 which have followed in their train. If we go as 

 far back in our researches as the curliest histori 

 cal records can carry us, we shall find that wars 

 have prevailed, almost without intermission, in 

 every age, in every country, and among every 

 tribe. No sooner has one series of battles ter- 



