CONFERENCE III. 475 ¡would not applyhimself to the easiest ? You know, Sir, how to ,apply this to the ease in hand. Loc. Then you do net assert, that their reason it prac- tically insufficient to have taught them the chief part or their .¡duty, or to have enabled them to perform it, if they had been well inclined to it, and sincerely diligent in their attemptsto their utmost ? PtTtt. loo, Sir, I , assert no such thing: Fen. it is their . great and universal sloth and negligence, anddisinclination both to learn and perform their duty, that is one of the chief things that renders theirreasoning powers thus insufficient in n practi- cal sense : It is ¡owing to their powerful prejudices, their evil moral habits, and their strong aversion to God and virtue, that they do not exercise their reasoning powersto the utmost of their ,capacity : And it is by this means they continue in darkness, guilt, and death : Whereas if they had a real inclination, and sincere desire, to search out and perform their duty to God and man, if theyobeyed every secret dictate of conscience, every hint of truth that arose within them, and used their natural light, both as to belief and practice, to the utmost of their power, God would never be wanting to any of his creatures; I am per- suaded, he would have graciously accepted the utmost that their reasoning powers could perform : or, if it were necessary, he would have given sucht well -disposed persons, greater light and greater strength, to learn and fulfil the necessary parts óf reli- ion ; for to him that hath, shallbe given; that is, greater helps shall be given to him that improves what lesser talents God has entrusted himwith. Butthe case of these brutal creatures seems to be represented in the latter end of that text ; Luke viii. I S. Prom him that hathnot, shall be taken away that which he bath, or seemeth to have ; that is, those who improve not the feeble light that is given them, even those feeble glimmerings of light shall be taken from them, and by the righteousjudgment of God they shall be left in deep and utter darkness: And thus they are greatly culpable, though their reasoning powers are p cacti- cally insufficient. Loc. Very well, my friend ; I can hear this with more pa- tience, since you impute the crime to men's own abuse of their rational powers, andnot to God their Creator. I proceed there- fore to a second argument, and forgive me if I express it in pretty strong terms : Does not the great and blessed God equally. behold all the dwellers on the earth, free from partiality and pre- judice? And can he be supposed to make some people his favourites, without any consideration of their merits, and merely because they believe certain propositions, and practise certain duties, which he has revealed, and which are taught and known generally in that country where they happen to be born ;
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