Chap. XVIII. A N T I E N T METAPHYSICS. 255 



the ufe of Intclledt, retaining fllU the capacity of it. And fuch was 

 the ftate of man when he firfl appeared on this earth ; where his 

 bullnefs is to recover from that fallen ftate, or at leaft to make fomc 

 progrefs in that recovery, which I have fliown can only be by the 

 means of civil fociety. 



But civil fociety, at the fame time that It gives us tlie ufe of in- 

 telle£l, produces many more temptations to vice and folly than the 

 natural ftate ; and by thefe temptations an animal of an imperfeft 

 intelle£l, fuch as man, muft, in the conduit of his life, be led into 

 great errors, which of necefllty muft produce much evil in that ftate. 

 But the wildom and goodnefs of God has fo ordered matters, that 

 civil fociety has likewife furniilied a remedy, in fome degree, for 

 thefe evils j for, as the love of knowledge is eflential to an intelli- 

 gent animal, that love of knowledge has, by the means of civil fo- 

 ciety, and that clofe intercourfe and communication of men which 

 it produces, invented and cultivated arts and fciences, by which the 

 defed of our intelligence, the caufe of all our evils, is, as I have 

 iliown, in fome degree remedied. 



From the Improvement of our intelligence there arlfes another re^ 

 medy of evil ; and that is, the belief in God, or in a Being, one 

 or more, much fuperior in wifdom and in power to man, and who 

 takes concern in his affairs, and rewards or puniftnes him according 

 to his deferts ; a belief alfo in a future ftate, which I have fliown is 

 univerfal among all civilized nations *. But as to religion, I have 

 fliown that the Chriftian religion is the beft religion that ever exift- 

 ed, or that can be conceived to exift, for making us as happy in 

 this life, as we can be, and for fecuring to us a much greater happi- 

 nefs in the life to come. And it is this religion which makes the 

 goodnefs of God to men as compleat as it is poffiblc to conceive : 



For 

 • P. 247 of this VoL 



I 



