wealth, strength, and greatness of this nation, which with your leave I shall presume to discourse of at some other time, there is methinks in this notion of persecution a very gross mistake, both as to the point of government and religion. There is so, as to the point of government; because it makes every man's safety depend upon the wrong place, not upon the governors, or man's living well toward the civil government established by law, but upon his being transported with zeal for every opinion held by those, that have power in the church which is in fashion. And I perceive it's a mistake in religion, for that it is positively against the express doctrine and example of Jesus Christ: nay, my Lords, as to our Protestant Religion, there is something yet worse; for we Protestants maintain, that none of these opinions, which Christians here differ about, are infallible; and therefore in us it is somewhat an inexcusable conception, that men ought to be deprived of their inheritance, and all their certain conveniences and advantages of life, because they will not agree with us in our uncertain opinions of religion. My humble motion to your Lordships therefore is, that you will give me leave to bring in a Bill of Indulgence to all Dissenting Protestants. I know very well, that every Peer of this realm has a right to bring into parliament any bill, which he conceives to be useful to this nation. But I thought it more respectful to your Lordships, to ask your leave for it before; and I cannot think that doing of it will be any prejudice to the Bill, because I am cónfident the reason, the prudence, and the charitableness of it will be able to justify it to this House and the whole world.'

Accordingly, the House gave the Duke leave to bring in a bill.

From a Discourse on the Reasonableness of Men's having a Religion.'

My design in this paper is, to induce men to a belief of religion by the strength of reason; and, therefore, I am forced to lay aside all arguments which have any dependence upon the authority of Scripture, and must fashion my discourse as if I had to do with those that have no religion at all.

The first main question, upon the clearing of which I shall endeavour to ground the reasonableness of men's having a religion or worship of God, is this; whether it is more probable that the world has ordered itself to be in the form it now is, or was contrived to be so by some other being of a more perfect and more designing nature? For whether or no the world has been created out of nothing, is not material to our purpose; because if a supreme intelligent Agent has framed the world to be what it is, and has made us to be what we are, we ought as much to stand in awe of it, as if it had made both us and the world out of nothing. Yet, because this latter question ought not to be totally passed by, I shall take the liberty to offer some conceptions of mine upon it.

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The chief argument used against God Almighty's having created the world, is that no man can imagine how a thing should be made out of nothing; and that, therefore, it is impossible he should have made the world, because there is nothing else out of which it could be made.

First then, I cannot choose but observe, that to say, because we are not able to imagine how a thing should be, therefore the being of that thing must be impossible, is in itself a disingenuous way of argu

mentation; especially in those, who at the same time declare they believe this world to be eternal,' and yet are as little able to comprehend how it should be eternal, as how it should be made out of nothing.

• In the next place I conceive, that nothing can be properly said to endure, any longer than it remains just the same; for in the instant any part is changed, that thing, as it was before, is no more in being.

In the third place, that every part of this world we live in is changed every moment; and by consẹquence, that this whole world is so too, because, the whole is nothing else but what is composed of every part and that therefore we cannot properly say, this world has continued for many ages, but only that all things in this world have been changed for several years together.

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• To evade which opinion, those who maintain the eternity of the world are forced to say, that the matter of it is not changed, but the accidents only. Though this be a sort of argument, which they will not allow of in others; for when it is by the Romanists urged in defence of transubstantiation in the sacrament, that the accidents of the wafer remain, though the substance of it be changed,' they reject that as a ridiculous notion: and yet it is not one jot more absurd to say, that the accidents remain when the matter is changed,' than that the matter remains when the accidents are changed.' Nay, of the two, the assertors of this latter opinion are the least excusable, because they boldly attribute it to a natural cause; whereas the Romanists have the modesty at least to own it for a mysterious miracle.

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But that the weakness of this imagination, of

separating accidents from bodies, may the plainlier appear, let us examine a little what the meaning of the word 'accident' is. Accident then does not signify a being distinct from body or matter, but is only a word, whereby we express the several ways we consider of what is in a body or matter that is before us. For example: if we perceive a body to have length, then we consider of that length as an accident' of that body; and when we perceive a body to have a smell, or taste, then we consider of that smell and that taste as 'accidents' of that body. But in none of these considerations we mean, that any thing can have length, or smell, or taste, but what really is body; and when any thing, that had a smell or taste, has left off to have a smell or taste, is no more in it. So that, upon an examination of the whole matter, I am apt to believe, that there can be naturally no change of 'accidents,' but where there is a real change of bodies.

But to proceed a little farther, the question being, whether it be more probable that the world or that God Almighty has been from all eternity; I think I may adventure to affirm, that of two propositions, the least probable is that, which comes nearest to a contradiction. Now nothing can come nearer to a contradiction than eternity, or abiding the same for ever, and a continued changing or not abiding the same one moment. And therefore I conclude, it is less probable that this changeable world should have been from all eternity, than that some other being of more excellence and greater perfection should be so, whose very nature is incapable of change.

fection, I call God; and those, who out of a foolish aversion they have for the name of God, will call it * Nature,' do not in any kind differ from this notion of that Being, but only change it's name, and rather show they have a vain mistaken ambition of being thought Atheists, than that they have any reason strong enough to convince them to be so.

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If then it be probable that there is a God, and that this God will reward and punish us hereafter for all the good and ill things we act in this life, it does highly concern every man to examine seriously, which is the best way of worshipping and serving this God; that is, which is the best religion.

Now if it be probable, that the instinct which we have within us of a Deity be akin to the nature of God, that religion is probably the best, whose doctrine does most recommend to us those things, which by that instinct we are prompted to believe the virtues and good qualities. And that, I think, without exceeding the bounds of modesty, I may take upon me to affirm, is the Christian religion.

And for the same reason it does also follow, that the religion among Christians, which does most recommend to us virtue and a good life, is in all probability the best religion.

• And here I must leave every man to take pains, in seeking out and choosing for himself; he only being answerable to God Almighty for his own soul.

I began this discourse, as if I had to do with those who have no religion at all; and now, addressing myself to Christians, I hope they will not be offended at me, for ending it with the words of our Saviour: