love God and his laws, is itself a very inexcuseable perverseness. All the motives to holiness, are motives to serious attention and consideration. Strong alienation of heart is at the bottom of carelessness, and inattention to things of infinite importance.

But besides all this, experience shews that the strongest motives to holiness, are frequently found ineffectual, even when considered with a good deal of attention, and concern. This is, in a special manner, very manifest as to that consideration and concern, which is the effect of distress or danger. Ofttimes these things have a considerable effect on mens' minds for a time, producing bitter remorse for past offences, joined with many good purposes and resolutions. But, as was observed above, these things may be found, where there is no sincere returning to God with the whole heart. It is in vain to object, that where the motives to holiness are not effectual, though they be considered with attention, there are other important defects in the manner of considering them; and that they are not attended to with a right disposition of soul. Though this be a truth, it is no argument against the power of human depravity, but rather a confirmation of it. The motives to holiness are not only motives to good actions, but to a right disposition of heart. Since attention to motives is aot sufficient to rectify the heart, it is an argument of our need of the grace of God for that end.

These things are far from being just objections against the necessity or usefulness of the attentive consideration of motives. As it is in the use of means that we are to seek after divine grace, so a chief mean of holiness, is due attention to motives to it.Not only is such attention a chief mean of holiness, but a prevalent propensity to it is a chief part of holiness. The suitable exercise of love to God, and hatred of sin, necessarily implies the actual contemplation of the motives to these holy affections. But though the consideration of motives be so very useful and necessary; there is a very great difference between that consideration of them, which is joined with self-confi

dence, and a disclaiming of dependence on divine grace, and that which is undertaken with humble dependence and earnest application for it. It is this last sort of attention to motives, that is the main scope of the proofs of their insufficiency, of themselves, for the great end proposed by them.

It may not be amiss to observe, that the wickedness of hypocrites, and the many infirmities of the sincerely religious, which are frequently made objections against religion, are indeed strong confirmations of some of the chief doctrines of it; they shew the pow er of human corruption; they shew that there is not such efficacy as some imagine, in the mere consideration of motives. It is certain, that not only the sincerely pious, but also hypocrites, are ofttimes employed that way. It is remarkable, that there are many severe invectives, especially in the writings of those who oppose revealed religion, which suppose those to be the worst of men in the world, who are most employed in considering the motives to goodness and holiness namely, the men whose office it is to inculcate these things on others. In the mean time, there is no ground to look on these men as of a different make from the rest of the world. And though there be a good deal of injustice and partiality in such invectives; yet, is there so much truth in them, as shews, that the efficacy of motives and consideration, is not so great as is pretended; and that it is mens' wisdom, in the diligent consideration of motives, to depend on a superior efficacy, that can make them have a due effcet on the heart, and can triumph over all opposition.

Those writers who appear biassed against the doctrine of divine grace, sometimes lay down such grounds of self-diffidence, as are very favourable to it, and evidently tend to prove the necessity of it. They own sometimes, in very strong terms, the necessity of distrusting the most promising good impressions. There is a remarkable passage to this purpose, in the writings of a celebrated modern author, well versed in the moral writings of the ancients. His words are, "But alas! the misfortune of youth, and not of youth

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merely, but of human nature, is such, that it is a thousand times easier to frame the highest ideas o virtue and goodness, than to practise the least part. And perhaps this is one of the chief reasons why virtue is so ill practised; because, the impressions which seem so strong at first, are too far relied on. We are apt to think, that what appears so fair, and strikes us so forcibly, at the first view, will surely hold with us. We launch forth into speculation, and after a time, when we look back, and see how slowly practice comes up to it; we are the sooner led to despondency, the higher we had carried our views before." Here it is owned, that the motives to goodness may have considerable effects on mens' minds, without rectifying the prevalent dispositions of their hearts: and that, with out having that effect, they may strike very forcibly, and make impressions which seem at first very strong. Though such impressions of goodness as he describes, are not the easiest things in the world, he affirms that it is a thousand times more difficult to prac tise the least part. It is evident, that a culpable weakness or perverseness, which defeats so promising impressions, and ideas of goodness which strike so very forcibly, affords strong arguments against that selfconfidence, that excludes dependence on divine grace. The author affirms, that so bad success in the pursuit of goodness, tends to despondency. It must, of course, tend to make men quit the pursuit. This shows how desirable, yea, how needful it is, to have so powerful a preservative against despair of success, as the prospect of these powerful aids, that are sufficient for surmounting all difficulties. It may perhaps be objected, that the passage just now cited, treats only of the highest degrees of goodness. But though the beginning of the passage speaks of the highest ideas of goodness, what follows about the inefficacy of the most promis ing impressions, scums plainly to be affirmed of the practice of goodness in general.

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SECTION IV.

Of divine supernatural operations, and mistakes concern, ing them.

THEY who duly consider the danger of extremes, especially in the concerns of religion, must observe, that there are two extremes relating to the efficacy of second causes, which have a very bad influence on mens' minds, in inquiries of the greatest importance. The one is, an unreasonable propensity to imagine di. vine interposition in things, that are really the effects of the course of nature, acting in a constant dependence on the Deity. The other is, an excessive fondness for accounting for every thing, by the natural efficacy of second causes, without admitting any imme diate divine interposition whatever. The first of these extremes, is ofttimes the occasion of various sorts of superstition and enthusiasm: and the other of more direct impiety.

Some speculative men, who set no bounds to the love of accounting for every thing, are strongly biassed against the doctrine of grace, as clashing with their favourite prejudices. They are disgusted at a doctrine which ascribes to the first Cause, a manner of operation, in producing holiness and happiness, so unsuitable, as they imagine, to his manner of operation in his other works; and to the order that obtains both in the material and intellectual world. They seem to imagine, that in all the other divine works, every thing, without exception, happens merely, according to a natural course, or according to the efficacy of second causes, operating suitably to general established laws, while the Deity only preserves these laws, and the creatures governed by them; the doctrine of grace, appears to those men disagreeable to reason, as interfering with the uniformity of the divine works. And whereas, the efficacy of grace, is sometimes termed supernatural; because, it exceeds the natural energy of second causes; sometimes people annex to that

word, several wrong notions, which strengthen their prejudices against the thing intended by it. They seem to imagine, that supernatural operation, denotes such effects, and such a inanner of working, as is unsuitable to the frame of hunian nature; and reverses the established order of nature, as to the connexion between causes and effects. It is proper, therefore, to make some remarks on supernatural operation, or immediate divine interposition in general, which will illustrate several important properties of the opera. tions of grace; and shew that the prejudices in view are ill founded.

It is of importance to observe, that supernatural operation does not imply a reversing of any of the established laws of nature. When people imagine all supernatural operation, to be unsuitable to the perfec tion of the divine works, they seem to confound two things that are very different; namely, the reversing the order of the laws of nature, and changing the state or disposition of natural objects. The state or dispo sition of natural objects, may be changed by the first Cause, without any greater alteration of the laws of nature, than when such changes are produced in any object, by external second causes, and particularly by free agents. Thus, for instance, when men turn a river into a new channel, though they are said to change its natural course, the motion of that power, after that change, is really as natural, or as suitable to the laws of nature as before, though the change be an effect, which there was nothing in the nature of the river itself sufficient to produce. In like manner, it is evident, that the first Cause can easily work good and useful alterations in the state or disposition of various sorts of creatures, without any alteration of the laws of nature, or even any total alteration on the nature or disposition of these creatures themselves. Thus, even in the hearts void of holiness, the Deity can easily restrain wickedness, by good impressions, contradicting particular corrupt passions; or turning some hurtful passions, such as anger and wrath into kindness and good will, Gen. xxxii. In such a case, though