CHAPTER Y. 41 good sense nor good language in it. Whereas, alas, if our opinions of things were certain and infallible truth, yet a silly Author may draw his pen in the defence of them, and" he may attack even gross errors with feeble and ridiculous arguments. Truth in this world is not always attended and supportedby the Wisest and safest methods; and error, though it can never be maintained by just reasoning, yet may be artfully covered sod' defended: an ingenious writer may put excellent colours upon his own mistakes. Some Socinians, who deny the atonement pf Christ, have written well, and with much appearance of ar- gument for their own unscriptural sentiments, and.some writers for the Trinity and satisfaction of Christ have exposed, them- selves and the sacred doctrine, by their feeble and foolishmanner of handling it. Books are never to be judged of merely by .'their subject, or the opinion they represent, but by the justness' Of their sentiments, the beauty of their manner, the force of their expression, or the strength of reason, and the weight of just and proper argument which appears in them. But this folly and weakness of trifling instead of arguing, does not happen to fall only to the share of Christian writers there are some who have taken the pen in hand to support the deistical or antichristian scheme of our clays, who make big, pretences to reason upon all occasions, but seem to have left it quite behind them when they are Jesting with the bible, and grinning at the books which we call sacred. Some of these per - lormances would scarcely have been thought tolerable, if they had not assaulted the christian faith, though they are now grown up to a place among the admired pens. I much question whe- ther several of the rhapsodies called the characteristics, would ever have survived the first edition, if they had not-discovered' so strong a tincture of infidelity, and now and then cast out Profasneer at our hob; religion. I havè sometimes indeed, ne ready to wonder, how a hook in the main so loosely written; should ever obtain so many readers- amongst men of sense: Purely they mist be conscious in the perusal, that sometimes a- patrician. may write as idly as a man of plebeian rank, and trifle ás much as an old school-man, though it is in another form. I am forced to say, there are few books that ever I read, which Made any pretences to a great genius, from which. I derived so little valuable knowledge as from these treatises. There is in- deed amongst them a lively pertness, a parade of literature, and muchof what some folks now-a-days call politeness ; but it is hard that we should he bound to admire all the reveries of this:* author, under the penalty of being unfashionable. IV: Another mistake which some persons fall into is this When they read a treatise on a.suhject with which they have:, but little acquaintance; they find almost every thing. new and
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