POSTSCRIPT. 453 thisauthor maintains. Is it not a thing very commonly practised amongst men, thatthe childrenare banished or disinherited of their father's estate, and become poorand miserable for the sake of their father's treason, or other crimes ? Is not something of this'kinddone in almost every nation, without any complaint of injustice, and without any censure upon the magistrate on this account? And why should it be esteemed utterly unjust in things sacred, that the great God should impute sin to the posterity of Adam, by bringing misery and death upon them ? Or that he should impute thesins ofmankind to his Son Jesus Christ, who was a voluntary surety, and punish them upon him, which is acknowledged to- be the plain, natural and literal sense of the expressions of scripture I' But we are told, these must be figures and meta- phors, becausethis author does not allow the literal sense to be consistent with truth and justice. H. This argument for the same reason would forbid any reward to be given tofamilies and posterity, upon the account of great and worthy actions performed bytheir ancestors : For when the son or grandson of some eminent patriot, or deliverer of his country, has the honour of nobility paid him, which were first given tohus father upon his personal merit, this is as much contrary' to truth, and as much a falsehood in fact, as if the treasons of a father were punished Upon a son. This son or grandson did never perform these glorious and honourable services himself, which is evidently known to the world, and yetthe rewards- beingcontinued to them, seem to say, that this son or grand- son did perform them, in thesame sense as this author supposessufficient to contradict truth, and to destroy all imputation of guilt to another. The trans- lation of rewards in this manner, is as contrary to truthin fact as a translation of penalties. III_ The force of this argument seems to beall taken from the late Mr. Woollaston's supposed foundationof moral virtue and religion, which is built entirely upon natural or logicaltruth, in his book of the Religion of Nature delienated. Truth, as he supposes, may be expressed. inactions as well as in words ; and consequently, that all such actions as donot represent things ex- actly in their natural or logical truth, are falsehoods in fact, or a sort of lies, and therefore unlawful and unjust ; being contrary to truth, they are contrary to morality, religion and justice. But this notion of Mr. Woollaston has never yet been proved to be true, though there are many excellent sentiments found in that treatise. It is not evident, that God has any where, either by the light of reason or revelation, told us, that actions have the same power to distinguish and determine veracity and falsehood as words have. It has always been granted byour best casuists, that simulation in action, that is, a feint, ordis- guise, or a mere appearance, or counterfeit of things, may be often good and virtuous, where dissimulation, however it beexplained, or falsehood in words, is never lawful or virtuous. But this notion of Mr. Woollaston tends to bring in much superstition, that is to make more sins than God Lath for- bidden, and more duties than God hath prescribed, by making all simulation ;a action to be unlawful. And if ever that generaldoctrine should obtain, it `stands in need of many cautions and limitations to guard our consciences from endless scruples, or from iutrenching upon morality and truth at every turn. I say yet further, This doctrine seems to forbid all the common con- duct even of wise and good men, in covering or disguising any action or design in the civil life, even though the same was practised by our Saviour or his Apostles : It rendersall stratagems in war immoral and unlawful, even . though appointed by God himself'. Let un- survey this matter a little. WhenGod ordered Joshua and all Israel tó lay an ambush behind the city of Ai, and when by Joshua's command they fled from the battle, andmade as if they were beaten, Josh. viii. 2, 15, were they guilty of such a falsehood in Fact, by their flying when they were not afraid, as turns this action into immorality, or made it unlawful? When Gideon with three hundred men, F f;3
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