PROOFS FROM THE LIGHT OF NATURE. 



4? 



what opinian to form of a world where so many 

 beauties are blended with so much deformity, 

 and so many pleasures mingled with so many 

 sorrows and scenes of terror, or what ideas to 

 entertain of Him who formed it. But I need 

 give myself no trouble in inquiring into such 

 subjects ; for my time on earth is short and un 

 certain, and when I sink into the arms of death, 

 I shall have no more connexion with the uni 

 verse. 



I take a retrospective view of the moral world 

 in past ages, in so far as authentic history serves 

 as a guide, and perceive little else but anarchy, 

 desolation and carnage the strong oppressing 

 the weak, the powerful and wealthy trampling 

 under foot the poor and indigent plunderers, 

 robbers, and murderers, ravaging kingdoms, and 

 drenching the earth with human gore. I behold 

 the virtuous and innocent persecuted, robbed and 

 massacred, while bloody tyrants and oppressors 

 roll in their splendid chariots, and revel amidst 

 the luxuries of a palace. In such scenes I per 

 ceive nothing like regularity or order, nor any 

 traces of justice or equity in the several allot 

 ments of mankind ; for since their whole exist 

 ence terminates in the grave, the virtuous sufferer 

 can never be rewarded, nor the unrighteous 

 despot suffer the punishment due to his crimes. 

 The great mass of human beings appear to be 

 the sport of circumstances, the victims of op 

 pression, and the dupes of knavery and ambi 

 tion, and the moral world at large an assemblage 

 of discordant elements tossed about like dust 

 before the whirlwind. I hear virtue applauded, 

 and vice denounced as odious and hateful. But 

 what is virtue? A shadow, a phantom, an 

 empty name ! Why should I follow after virtue 

 if she interrupts my pleasures, and why should 

 I forsake vice if she points out the path to pre 

 sent enjoyment ? It is my wisdom to enjoy life 

 during the short period it continues; and if 

 riches be conducive to my enjoyment of happi 

 ness, why should I fear to procure them either 

 by deceit, perjury, or rapine ? If sensual in 

 dulgence contribute to my pleasure, why should 

 I refrain from drunkenness and debauchery, or 

 iny other action that suits my convenience or 

 gratifies my passions, since present enjoyments 

 are all I can calculate upon, and no retributions 

 await me beyond the grave. 



I feel myself subjected to a variety of suffer 

 ings, disappointments and sorrows to poverty 

 and reproach, loss of friends, corporeal pains and 

 mental anguish. I am frequently tortured by the 

 recollection of the past, the feeling of the present, 

 and the dread of approaching sufferings. But 

 I see no object to be attained, no end to be ac- 

 complislied by my subjection to such afflictions : 

 I suffer merely for the purpose of feeling pain, 

 wasting my body and hastening its dissolution : 

 I am sick only to languish under the burden of a 

 feeble emaciated frame perplexed and downcast 

 16 



only to sink into deeper perplexities and sorrows , 

 oppressed with cares and difficulties only to enter 

 on a new scene of danger and suffering. No 

 drop of comfort mingles itself with the bitter cup 

 of sorrow : no affliction is sweetened and allevi 

 ated by the prospect of a better world ; for the 

 gloomy mansions of the grave bound my views 

 and terminate all rny hopes and fears. How, 

 then, can I be easy under my sufferings ? how 

 can I be cordially resigned to the destiny which 

 appointed them ? or how can I trace the benevo 

 lence of a superior Being in permitting me thus 

 to be pained and tormented for no end ? I will 

 endeavour to bear them with resolute despera 

 tion, merely because I am borne down by neces 

 sity to pain and affliction, and cannot possibly 

 avoid them. 



I lift my eyes to the regions above, and con 

 template the splendours of the starry frame. 

 What an immensity of suns, and systems and 

 worlds burst upon my view, when I apply the 

 telescope to the spaces of the firmament ! How 

 incalculable their number ! how immeasurable 

 their distance ! how immense their magnitude ! 

 how glorious their splendour ! how sublime their 

 movements ! When I attempt to grasp this stu 

 pendous scene, my imagination is bewildered, 

 and my faculties overpowered with wonder and 

 amazement. I gaze, I ponder ; I feel a longing 

 desire to know something farther respecting the 

 nature and destination of these distant orbs ; but 

 my vision is bounded to a general glimpse, my 

 powers are limited, and when 1 would fly away 

 to those distant regions, I find myself chained 

 down, by an overpowering force, to the diminu 

 tive ball on which I dwell. Wherefore, then, 

 were the heavens so beautifully adorned, and so 

 much magnificence displayed in their structure, 

 and why were they ever presented to my view ; 

 since I am never to become farther acquainted 

 with the scenes they unfold? Perhaps this is 

 the last glance I shall take of the mighty con 

 cave, before my eyes have closed in enC^ss light. 

 &quot; Wherefore was light given to him that is in 

 misery, to a man whose way is hid, and whom 

 God hath hedged in ?&quot; Had I been enclosed in 

 a gloomy dungeon my situation had been toler 

 able, but here I stand as in a splendid palace, 

 without comfort and without hope, expecting 

 death every moment to terminate my prospects ; 

 and when it arrives, the glories of the heavens 

 to me will be annihilated for ever. 



I behold science enlarging its boundaries, and 

 the arts advancing towards perfection ; I see nu 

 merous institutions organizing, and hear lectures 

 on philosophy delivered for the improvement of 

 mankind, and I am invited to take a part in those 

 arrangements which are calculated to produce a 

 general diffusion of knowledge among all ranks. 

 But of what use is knowledge to beings who are 

 soon to lose all consciousness of existence ? It 

 requires many weary steps and sleepless nights 



