H 



U 



M 



A 



N 



S 



P 



E 



C 



I 



E 



S. 



infant ftate, is exadly as the individual in the firll years of his cX- 



- 



iflence: the ideas of a Supreme Being, and the obligation of wor- 

 fliipping him, are by no means of fuch a clearnefs and evidence. 



that they fhould be eafily difcovered by a child ; thofe who have 



the care of his educat 



therefore fol 



at this 



lyp 



riod, v^hen the faculties of apprehending, judging, and reafoning, 



are not yet developed or ftrong enough in the child, to "treat the 



great truth of the exigence of God, and the obligation of wor- 

 iliipping him as a precept, or as an univerfally acknowledged, in- 

 difputable axiem ; and inculcate it as fuch into the minds of their 

 children. Afterwards, when they find the faculties, by exercife 

 and education, to be more enlarged, and to have acquired more 

 ftrength, they lead their pupils back, and teach them to invefli- 

 gate the exiftence of God and his attributes, together with the na- 

 ture and obligation of woriliipping him, by arguments and by the 

 force of reafoning. Divine Providence fecms then in this refped:, 

 to have treated mankind like children ; and to have given the firft 



r 



1 



notions of himfelf and his exiftence, as an axiom, and inforced its 

 worihip by precept, conforming thefe great and falutary truths to 



F 



the infant ftate of mankind ; as long therefore as the ufe of reafon 

 and of the intellectual faculties is not yet pradifed in a nation, thefe 

 religious notions muft be communicated by precept and tradition : 



but 



foon 



men feel themfelves flrong 



Z zz 



gh, they will no 



longer 



S37 



RELIGION. 



^' 



* 



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