1802.] 
jects ;°? from this holy light, of which the 
fun is the prototype, to the light .of 
45,000 ftars, which bawe been counted, 
and of ninety comets, whofe courfes have 
been ‘afcertained. Of,, light,, terreftrial, 
great is thevariety, from the hallowedlight 
of nature to the light of an auto da fé, or 
that of the funeral pile prepared for the felf- 
devoted victim of fuperitition on the banks 
of the Ganges ;, from the pure light of 
Chriftianity (the;beft of commentaries on 
the law of nature) to all the gradation of 
leffer lights, which each feé& calls the light 
of orthodoxy ; from the light of philofo: 
phys which illumines the. underftanding, 
and cherifhes the adoration of the heart, 
to the light of modern methodifm, if that 
can be called a “ght, which propagates 
the darknefs of myftery, and perpetuates 
the blindnefs of ignorance, with a proud 
pretence to extraordinary piety, fets reli- 
gion at variance with philofophy, and 
would dare to make the worfhip of God 
incompatible with the knowledge of his 
works. : 
There is a fort of piety. grown into 
fome degree of popularity, oftentatious in 
its humility, and proud in its felf-abafe- 
ment, which affects to difcredit and de- 
{pile all inveftigation into the nature of 
things—-which pretends to fee God czly, 
who can be feen only in his creation, over 
which this falfe devotion would drop a 
curtain of darknefs, and plunge the world 
of Newton and Franklin and Eavoifier 
into the ignorance of the middle ages, In 
the extreme of infatuation, it fits with the 
Indian faquir ; and with eyes fhut, and.all 
the fenfes ob{tinately clofed againft any ex- 
ternal impreffion, fondly and foolifhly fup- 
pofes, that felf-annihilation is an ablorb- 
tion into the Divine Mind. Ina degree 
fomewhat lefs abfurd, it becomes the apa- 
thy of the Turks, or the~indolence of tie 
Quietifts, with whom the dogma of their 
devotion fupplies the place of all know- 
ledge, and fuperfedes all inquiry. The 
‘Turk cloaths himfelf with the raiment of 
the dead, and, when attacked by the 
plague, exclaims, ** Such is the will of 
God!"’ Invention fearches for the caufes 
of things, and, having mounted to a higher 
link in.the feries of caufes and effe&s (b 
which this univerle is fufpended, as oth 
a golden chain from the throne of Heaven, ) 
he not only commands‘a more extenfive 
view of nature, but can aét upon the fur- 
rounding elements with greater power, 
with a ftronger purchafe, and make them, 
s Walks by the FireSide, No. Ff. 
which can alone irradiate all our intel-- 
483 
as it were, the Ariels. of his bidding; for 
ufe, or for pleafure. The firft and final 
anfwer which the light -of Methodilm af- 
fords to any queftion concerning thé phe- 
nomena of nature, or the,ufes of their dif+ 
ferent changes, ratifies and fan&tifies ignos 
rance and inaction. by the mame of God. 
The truer worfhip. of God conlitts in. the 
performance’of our various duties, the af. 
{ertion of our rights, the purfuit of know- 
ledge, and ‘the communication. of. happi- 
nefs.., When held).in. the light -caft. by 
fuch a worfhip, the light of Methodifm is 
asa candle held in the mid-day fun. The 
flame becomes invifible. ; : 
If man, be made after Ged’s own image 
—if the divine fimilitude ever defcended 
in glory upon the head of mortal, i¢ is 
upon him who has conquered for his coun- 
try liberty and peace; who in the tu- 
mult of battle can maintain a prefence of 
mind, and, at the fame time, a faculty of 
looking before and after tar beyond that 
of other men ;’ whofe power of combina- 
tion deferibes, as it were, a great circle, 
which includes and circumvents their 
plans, and defcends in thunder and light- 
ning from Mount Cenis, to blaft at once 
their confidence and faccefs; who confc- 
lidates victory, not by laws martial, but 
by the wife magnanimity of amnelty, and 
the conciliation of the moft adverfe parties 
to the common attachment of country, to 
the delight of feeing public glory in the * 
forum, and feeling happinefs at the fire- 
fide; who, after a conflagration which 
threatened general diflolution of daw and 
order, does not feek to build a golden pa- 
lace for himfelf with the ruins of the an- 
cient regime, but wifhes to eftablifh a 
civil code, which, like a new city built on 
the fame foundation, and? with the lame 
materials, will be regular in its conftruc- 
tion, plain to every ‘pafienger, nay, to 
every ftranger (who muft now Jofe his way 
‘at every turn in the- crooked Janes and 
y 
dirty cul-de-facs of feudal laws and feudal 
conftitutions), ‘and will fupply the accom- 
modations of life to the doweit as well as 
the higheft of the public family ; in fine, 
a man who will gradually, aad uot flowly, 
force 2revolution in other countries, not 
by the: cannon andthe bayonet, but by 
the irrefiftible influence of perfonal and na- 
tional example; not by the invafion of 
rafts, and flat-bottomed boats, but by 
the conftant contemplation, and confequent 
imitation (Oh Britain! Ob land of Magna 
Charta, and the Bil? of Rights! that I 
muit ule the term imitation)! of a truly. 
great 
