to our fellow-creatures, are fummed up by the prophet Micah in the following emphatic words. "He hath " fhewed thee, O man, what is good: and what doth "the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" The two articles first mentioned, are moral duties regarding our fellow-creatures; and as to fuch, what is required of us by the Lord is to do our duty to others, 'not only as directed by the moral sense, but as being the will of our Maker, 10 whom we owe abfolute obedience. This branch of our duty is referved for a fecond fection: at prefent we are to treat of religious worship, included in the third article, viz. the walking humbly with our God. SECT. I. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. THE obligation we are under to worship God, or to walk humbly with him, is, as obferved above, founded on the two great principles of gratitude and obedience'; both of them requiring fundamentally a pure heart and a well-difpofed mind. But heart-worship is alone not fufficient: there are over and above required external figns, teftifying to others the fenfe we have of these duties, and a firm refolution to perform them. That fuch is the will of God will appear as follows. The principle of devotion, like most of our other principles, partakes of the imperfection of our nature: yet however faint originally, it is capable of being greatly invigorated by cultivation and exercile. Private exercife is not fufficient, Nature, and confequently the God of nature, requires public exercise or public worship: for devotion is infectious, like joy or grief (a); and by mutual communication in a numerous affembly, is greatly invigorated. regular habit of expreffing publicly our gratitude and refignation, never fails to purify the mind, tending to wean it from every unlawful purfuit. This is the true motive (a) Elements of Criticism, vol. 1. p. 180. edit. 5. A of public worship; not what is commonly inculcated, viz. That it is required from us, as a teftimony to our Maker of our obedience to his laws: God, who knows the heart needs no fuch teftimonys. I fhall only add upon the general head, that lawgivers ought to avoid with caution the enforcing public worship by rewards and punishments: human laws cannot reach the heart, in which the effence of worship confifts: they may indeed bring on a liftlefs habit of worship, by feparating the external act from the internal affection, than which there can be nothing more hurtful to true religion. The ut moft that can be fafely ventured, is to bring public wor fhip under cenforian powers, as a matter of police, for preferving good order, and for preventing bad example. The religion of Confucius, profeffed by the literati and perfons of rauk in China and Tonquin, confifts in a deep inward veneration for the God or King of heaven, and in the practice of every moral virtue. They have neither temples, nor priefts, nor any fettled form of external worship every one adores the fupreme Being in the manner he himfelf thinks beft. This is indeed the most refined fyftem of religion that ever took place among men. There is however an invincible objection against it, Arnobius (Adverfus gentes, lib. 1.) accounts rationally for the worship we pay to the Deity: "Huic omes ex more profternimur, hunc collatis precibus adoramus, ab hoc jufta, et honefta, et "auditu ejus condigna, depofcimus. Non que ipfe defideret fup. plices nos cffe, aut amet fubfterni tot millium venerationem *videre. Utilitas hæc noftra eft, et commodi noftri rationem fpecians. Nam quia proni ad culpas, et ad libidinis varios appetitus, vitio fumius infirmitatis ingenita, patitur, fe femper noftris cogitationibus concipi: ut dum illum oramus et mereri ejus contendimus munera, accipiamus innocentiæ voluntatum, et ab omni nos labe delictorum omnium amputatione purgemus." [In English thus e "It is our custom to proftrate ourselves before him; and we afk of him fuch gifts only as are confiftent with "juftice and with honour, and fuitable to the character of the Be ing whom we adore. Not that he receives pleafure or fatis "faction from the humble veneration of thoufands of his crea **tures. From this we ourfelves derive benefit and advantage; for being the flaves of appetite, and prone to err from the weak"neis of our nature, when we addrefs ourselves to God in prayer, and ftudy by our actions to merit his approbation, we gain at leaft the with, and the inclination to be virtuous."] 143 which is, that it is not fitted for the human race: an excellent religion it would be for angels; but is far too refined, even for fages and philofophers. Proceeding to deviations from the general worfhip required by our Maker, and gross deviations there have been, I begin with that fort of worship which is influenced by fear, and which for that reafon is univerfal among favages. The American favages believe, that there are inferior deities without end, most of them prone to mischief: they neglect the fupreme Deity because he is good; and direct their worship to foothe the malevolent inferior deities from doing harm. The inhabitants of the Molucca islands, who believe the existence of malevolent invifible beings fubordinate to the fupreme benevolent Being, confine their worship to the former, in order to avert their wrath; and one branch of their worship is, te fet meat before them, hoping that when the belly is full, there will be lefs inclination to mifchief. The worship of the inhabitants of Java is much the fame. The negroes of Benin worship the devil, as Dapper exprefies it, and facrifice to him both men and beafts. They acknowledge indeed a fupreme Being, who created the u niverfe, and governs it by his Providence: but they regard him not; "for," say they, "it is needlefs, if not impertinent, to invoke a being, who, good and gracious, is incapable of injuring or molefting us.” The aufterities and penances that are practised in almoft all religions, fpring from the fame root. One way to please invifible malignant powers, is to make ourselves as miferable as poffible. Hence the horrid penances of the Faquirs in Hindoftan, who outdo in mortification whatever is reported of the ancient Chriftian anchorites. Some of thefe Faquirs continue for life in one posture: fome never lie down: fome have always their arms raised above their head and fome mangle their bodies with knives and fcourges. The town of Jagrenate in Hindoftan is frequented by pilgrims, fome of them from the dif tance of 300 leagues, which they travel, not by walking or riding, but by measuring the road by the length of their bodies in which method of loco-motion, fome of them : : confume years, before they complete their pilgrimage. A religious fect made its way fome centuries ago into Japan, termed Bubfdoifls, from Bubs, this founder. The fect has prevailed over the ancient fect of the Sintos, chiefly by its aufterity and mortifications. The spirit of this fuct infpires nothing but exceffive fear of the gods, who are painted prone to vengeance, and always offended. The people of that religion past most of their time in tor menting themfelves, to expiate imaginary faults; and they are treated by their priests with defpotifm and cruelty, that is not paralleled but by the inquifitors of Spain. The manners of the people are fierce, cruel, and unrelenting, fuch as never fail to be infpired by horrible fuperftition. The notion of invifible malevolent powers, formerly uni verfal, is not to this hour eradicated, even among Chrif tians; for which I appeal to the faftings and flagellations among Roman-Catholics, held by them to be an effential part of religion. People infected with religious horrors, are never feriously convinced, that an upright heart and iound morality make the effence, of religion. The doctrine of the Janfenifts, concerning repentance and mortification, fhows evidently, however they may deceive themselves, that they have an impreffion of the Deity as a malevolent being. They hold the guilt contracted by Adam's fall to be a heinous fin, which ought to be expiated by acts of mortification, fuch as the torturing and mafcerating the body with painful labour, exceffive abftinence, continual prayer and contemplation. Their penances, whether for original or voluntary fin, are carried to extravagance; and they who put an end to their lives by fuch severities, are termed the facred victims of repentance, consumed by the fire of divine love. Such fuicides are efteemed peculiarly meritorious in the eye of heaven; and it is thought, that their fufferings cannot fail to appease the anger of the Deity. That celibacy is a ftate of purity and perfection, is a prevailing notion in many countries: among the Pa gans, a married man was forbid to approach the altar, for fome days after knowing his wife; and this ridiculous notion of pollution, contributed to introduce celibacy among the Roman-Catholic priests. The Emperor Otho, anna 1218, became a fignal penitent: but instead of atoning for his fins by repentance and reftitution, he laid himself down to be trod under foot by the boys,of his kitchen; and frequently fubmitted to the difcipline of the whip, inficted by monks. The Emperor Charles V. toward the end of his days, was forely depreffed in fpirit with fear of hell. Monks were his only companions, with whom he spent his time in chanting hymns. As an expiation for his fins, he in private difciplined himself with fuch feverity, that his whip foon after his death, was tinged with his blood. Nor was he fatisfied with thefe acts of mortification; timorous and illiberal folicitude till haunting him, he aimed at fomething extraordinary, at fome new and fingular act of piety, to difplay his zeal, and to merit the favour of Heaven. The act he fixed on was as wild as any that fuperftition ever fuggefted to a diftempered brain: it was to celebrate his own obfequies. He ordered his tomb to be erected in the chapel of the monaftery: his domeftics marched there in a funeral proceffion, holding black tapers: he followed in his fhroud: he was laid in his coffin with much folemnity: the fervice of the dead was chanted; and he himself joined in the prayers offered up for his requiem, mingling his tears with thofe of his attendants. The ceremony clofed with fprinkling holy water upon the coffin; and the affiftants retiring, the doors of the chapel were fhut. Then Charles rofe out of the coffin, and ftole privately to his apartment. The hiftory of ancient facrifices is not fo accurate, as in every inftance to afcertain upon what principle they were founded, whether upon fear, upon gratitude for favours received, or to folicit future favour. Human facrifices undoubtedly belong to the present head: for being calculated to deprecate the wrath of a malevolent deity, they could have no other motive but fear: and indeed they are a moft direful effect of that paffion. It is needlefs to lofe time in mentioning inftances, which are well known to those who are acquainted with ancient history. A number of them are collected in Hiftorical Law-tracts G 1 |