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Numb. 110. Saturday, April 6, 1751.

 

At nobis vitæ dominum quærentibus unum Lux iter est, et clara dies, et gratia simplex. Spem sequimur, gradimurque fide, fruimurque futuris, Ad quæ non veniunt præsentis gaudia vitæ, Nec currunt pariter capta, et capienda voluptas.	Prudentius.
We thro' this maze of life one Lord obey;   Whose light and grace unerring, lead the way.   By hope and faith secure of future bliss,   Gladly the joys of present life we miss:   For baffled mortals still attempt in vain,   Present and future bliss at once to gain.	F. Lewis.

 

TH A T to please the Lord and Father of the universe, is the supreme interest of created and dependent beings, as it is easily proved, has been universally confessed; and since all rational agents are conscious of having neglected or violated the duties prescribed to them, the fear of being rejected, or punished by God, has always burdened the human mind. The expiation of crimes, and renovation of the forfeited hopes of divine favour, therefore constitutes a large part of every religion.

The various methods of propitiation and atonement which fear and folly have dictated, or artifice and interest tolerated in the different parts of the world, however they may sometimes reproach or degrade humanity, at least shew the general consent of all ages and nations in their opinion of the placability of the divine nature. That God will forgive, may, indeed, be established as the first and fundamental truth of religion; for though the knowledge of his existence is the origin of philosophy, yet