444 STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSS 05' HUMAN REASON. favour or displeasure of God, and from everlasting, happiness andMisery in a future state, are traced out by reason in the hea- then world, though they are not all set in their full light and strength, but arise only to a degree of doubtful probability, yet they may be called, in some sense, naturally sufficient to enforce the practice of religion ; and the reason is plain, because even the mere probability of the love or au'er of an almighty Being, and of an eternal state of misery, or happiness, ought to over- balance all our present views ofcertain pleasure or certainunea- siness, whichbelong to this short and perishing life ; and so they ought to incline a reasonable man to chose the hardships of virtue, with the love of God, and the probable or doubtful hopes of eternal peace, and to refuse the pleasures of vice, with the anger of God, and, the probabledanger or fear of eternal pain. III. Though I allow the sufficiency of reason to enforce the practice of virtue and piety in this sense, yet when we con- sider how very little influence it has ever had, even in polite nations, to reform the world; or to render men truly religious, and no influence at all, so far as we can find, in the darkercor- ners of the earth, those habitations of atheism, idolatry, andcru- elty, I think we can account it little more than a mere speculative and notional sufficiency, arising from the nature of things ; but since it is confirmed by experience of success in so very few, if any evident instances, it can scarce be called a practical suffici- ency to bringmen to heaven in a way of religion, where it acts, or rather sleeps, in such a manner as to let'whole nations of mi- serable mankind runon in the practice of shameful vices, from one generation to another, thoughtless of the true God, virtue, and religion, and careless about his love or his anger .in a fu- ture state. Upon the whole, I think, we must conclude, that since hu- man reason in a remote and speculative sense, may be sufficient to guide and conduct all mankind to religion and future happi- ness, Logisto is so far in the right, and may be allowed to say, reason is sufficient. But since, in a practical or experimental sense, we find reason has scarce any, or rather no sufficiency to attain these ends, Pithander may continue to maintain his opi- nion also, that reason is insufficient ; yet it ought to be remem- bered, that it is in this sensé only, and with this limitation. Whensoever therefore I read any christianwriters, who are men of good understanding and ofmoderate principles, asserting that human reason in heathen nations, is not sufficient to guide and conduct men to happiness in a way of religion, I take them to mean, such apractical insufficiency as I have distinguished andde- scribed here : And in this sensel would understand the bishop of London in his Second Pastoral Letter, whenhedeclares reason to
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