rc CC CC CC CC Cc CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC CC << CC (C CC (C (C CC The PREFACE. xxf upon this one point, that they feem to argue againft the wifdom and kindnefs of providence to me) for furely the prin- ciples of religion are not fuch, as to re- quire that any objeäions againft them fhould be Rifled, as being too ftrong. The fum of my deliberate thoughts, af- ter a ferious enquiry, are, that if in- deed the gratifications of fenfe, of ani- mal affeEtions and pallions, be the per - fe&ion and true end of life, I am not able to anfwer the objeltion; for, though it is certain, I have many good things from God (and, I am perfuaded, there is more of them, than evil in my lot; and, it may be, the enjoyments I would further defire, might be hurtful to life upon the whole) yet I cannot fay, that this amounts to a fatisfying anfwer. But taking life in another view, and confi- dering the human nature, as made for the purpofes of virtue and religion, and for the final fruition of God in a perfeft Rate, and the objeìion vanifhes, there is no force at all in it; for then it appears, that the main ends of my being are not ob- ftruded, but promoted rather, and ferved, by the very troubles and difappointments " çomplained
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