CONFERENCE I. 425 victory more ,than truth, and when each person is resolved to to maintain his own opinion at all adventures. Hy this happy temper and conduct which has appeared in this conference, I am innopain about giving you my freest thoughtson thesubject, since I am inno danger of displeasing persons of your generous senti- ments. Give me leave' then, in the first place, to take notice, that you have confined the greatest part of your discoufse to the sufficiency of human reason, in the rude and uncultivated nations of Africa" and North -America, to lead them to the favour of God and happiness, by the knowledge and prac- tice of religion : And indeed, I cannot but think you have wisely fixed- this scene for your controversy; and limited your discourse to this sort of people, which are some of the most barbarous and brutish on the 'earth, and where reason has no supposed assistances from revelation. Logisto has taken great pains to prove, that human reason, even in such savage na- tions as these, is sufficient to guide and conduct them in the way of religion, to the favour of God, and future happiness; or else indeed, the proposition is not universally true, That the reason of all men is sufficient for this purpose ; and, in my opinion, he has gone a great wav toward proving the natural sufficiency of human reason for this purpose, by shewing how rational every article of natural religion appears, and by what natural and just steps of inference, it may be derived from such principles as lie within the reach of mankind, and his rea- soning powers. On the other hand, Pithander has shewn us plainly in fact, how unassisted reason is turned aside perpetually from the truth, and that these several nations, in many successive ages, have been born, and lived, and died, by thousands and ten Thousands, and have never sought nor found out any tolerable scheme of natural religion, and hardly done' any thing toward it; not that he supposes them to be innocent and blameless in these shameful neglects of God, and aversions to true religion ; but it is so in fact, from age to age, and there are many evident causes or occasions of it. Give me leave, Logisto, to sum up in one view the varions considerations that Pithander has intimated in several parts of this debate, why he thinks human reason, in these savages, to be insufficient to lead them to true religion. í. He considers the early and inveterateprejudices of whole nations against the prin- ciples and rules of true religion, the obstinate and deep rooted prepossessions .which they labour under, and the gross and shame- ful errorswhich.they are led into from their youngest infancy by all who are about them : And their crime is, that there is scarce a soul of them, that ever bethinks himself so far, as to question the truth of what his parents and neighbours have taught him in his childhood, let it benever so much contrary to reason and vie- tue.--2. He considers their irreligious customs and the vicious
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