to his former wickedness, and to his present want of more rehgion ? If pain arise to the body during the cure of an inveterate disorder, is that pain to be im- puted to the medicine, or the disease ? to the disease, no doubt : to that therefore must be ascribed all the pain of sorrow and contrition, even supposing it to be ever so great, and ever so long continued. As for rehgion itself, we need only ascertain what it is, and we shall immediately see the absurdity of calling it a source of misery. What ; is it melancholy to walk with God, to enjoy God, to glorify God ? Was our Lord melancholy ? Were his Apostles melancholy ? Are the angels in heaven melancholy ? Then shall we be melancholy in proportion as we resemble them! But if " the ways of religion be ways of pleasantness and peace," and they who believe in Christ be privi- leged to " rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified," then are they perverse who deem religion melancholy; *' they call evil good, and good evil, they put dark- ness for light, and light for darkness, they put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter."
To complete their perverseness, men go farther still, and actually represent religion as contemjitible. What is there under the sun more despised than this? With what opprobrium has it not been stigmatized? We appeal to all, whether terms of reproach are not uni- versally assigned to religious characters, and whether the name given them do not universally convey the idea of a weak contemptible enthusiast ? Is not their very profession considered as a just bar to their pre- ferment ? Yea, are they not so odious in the eyes of the world, that none but those infected with their mania will venture to associate with them, or to acknowledge them as their friends ? The drunkard, the whoremonger, the sabbath-breaker, the infidel, shall find a more favourable reception than they ; and solely on account of their religion.
But does religion deserve this character ? What is there in it that is so contemptible ? What is there in it that to an impartial judge would not appear lovely,, great, and venerable ? Is the subjugation of the