c

"Prince (looking down upon the Emmet) that thofe alone are diftinguished by his prefent and future Favour, who correfpond with his great Defign of promoting the Good of all his Creatures, and guide their Lives by the unerring Dictates of Reason, and the "tender Suggestions of Humanity. 'Tis " in my Power, whom you lately fo "threatened in your Wrath, to make << you continue in this Body, as a Punish"ment for the rafh Attempt; but as I

perceive by my Art, that there will "be a thorough Reformation of your "Mind with the Change of your Shape, "and that your future Conduct will be "both a Bleffing to yourself and the "reft of Mankind; you fhall immediately be conveyed back again in your own Form, with your Attend

ants, to the Court of your Father at "Thebet." Having faid this, AKALLAH touched the Talisman, by which MONOPHAZ found himself where the Magician promised to convey him; and being convinced, by this Experiment, of the Weakness and Infuffiiency of Man in Comparison

Comparison to the Power of Heaven, he became afterwards, by his Example, a living Precept of Goodness to the reft of the World.

ESSAY

ESSA Y V.

On TRUE and FALSE RELIGION.

Cum multæ res in Philofophia nequaquam fatis adbuc explicatæ funt, tum perdifcilis, Brute, quod tu minime ignoras, & perobfcura quæftio eft de Natura Deorum: quæ ad agnitionem animi pulcherrima eft, & ad moderandam RELIGIONEM neceffaria.

CIC. de Nat. Deor.

F all the Comforts which the great Creator has bestowed upon Mankind, the early Love and Admiration of his Perfections, which he implanted in in us, called RELIGION, is the most delightful; for what can more exhilarate Life, than the conftant Exercise of our rational Faculties, in contemplating upon the Attributes of an Almighty Being, whofe Power is guided by univerfal Benevolence? Nothing upon Earth can be more heavenly than a Worship of this

Sort,

Sort, where Gratitude leads us to the Shrine, and the Wings of Hope and Peace protect us. Such a Religion does not confift in external Rites and the holy Trumpery of Ecclefiaftical Ceremonies, in the fuppliant Fawn of Sacerdotal Grimace, nor the unintelligible Jargon of Hierarchical Riddles, but in the pure Obedience of the Heart to the Will of him, who created every thing to co-operate in the univerfal Harmony of Nature. These Thoughts form us betimes to the ftrictest Rules of moral Beauty, they poize the Mind in the Balance of Juftice, and open the Heart for the Reception of the cœlestial Family of Charity. Here Contentment sits on her Throne fupported by Reason and Innocence; and Happiness, her Offspring, effufes her divine Influence around the Scene. These are the infeparable Companions of true Religion. But what composes the Train of Superftition? A far different Groupe of Figures. Remorse, mental Perturbation, Fear, and Malice; and I am inclined to think, if it had not been for the Affiftance. of this Dæmon, the natural Propensity of Mankind to Good is fo great, that a Multitude together, never could have been guilty

N

4

guilty of those innumerable Cruelties which ftain the Annals of all Ages. There is nothing fo barbarous, nothing fo unnatural but Superftition can convert into Duty. We read in holy Writ, that 'twas a Religious Ceremony of the Priests of MOLOCH to facrifice Children to their Deity; and numberlefs are the Paffages in profane Writers, of the bloody Effects of Pagan Idolatry, befides all the domestick Calamities, Injuries, and Immoralities of private Life; and all these accrued from the falfe Opinions the Perpe"trators entertained of the Deity. For as 'tis natural to imitate the Objects of our Admiration, if He was painted by their Priefts, a revengeful, luftful, ill-difpofed Being, 'twas noWonder theVotaries followed the high Example, and became at length fo perfect in all kinds of Wickedness. Of this Stamp was the Heathen Jove, who, according to the Holy Legends of ancient Paganism, began his Reign with dethroning his Father, and made it afterwards one continual Scene of Incest, Adultery, and every Act of the moft flagrant Infamy. A very proper Object of Adoration!