for such a faith. For anything he knows, a man may sow
villany, and reap honor and blessedness. He may live by injustice and
cruelty, and meet with no punishment, either here or hereafter; while
another may spend his days in doing good, and give his life for the
salvation of his fellows, and receive only torture, reproach, and death.

Nor is there any security for the triumph of truth on the infidel
principle. For anything infidelity knows, truth may be always in the
mire, and its friends be forever reproached and shunned; while error may
always be in the ascendant, and its propagators honored and rewarded.
Indeed this is the case at present, if infidelity be true. For
infidelity is in the dust, while faith in God and Christ is in high
repute. And infidels are suspected and dreaded, while consistent
believers are loved and trusted. Faith smoothes man's way through life,
and in some cases raises him to honor and power; while Atheism makes a
man's pathway rugged, and prevents his elevation. This state of things
is exceedingly unsatisfactory to unbelievers. They ought, if they are
the wisest of men, as they suppose, to be everywhere received with
honor. They ought to be placed in power. The world should ring with
their praise. The universe should enrich them with its treasures. The
names of their predecessors in unbelief should be had in the greatest
honor. They should stand first on the roll of fame. Their monuments
should fill the earth. The sweetest poets should sing their praises;
the most eloquent orators should proclaim their greatness; and the
nations should delight to celebrate their worth. Their pictures and
statues should grace our courts, our temples, and our palaces. Their
deeds should form the staple of our pleasant histories, and their
writings crowd the shelves of our libraries. Children should be taught
to lisp their names with reverence, and the aged should bless them with
their parting breath.

On the other hand, if religion be false and foolish, if it be unnatural
and mischievous, its friends should be pitied or despised, if not
rebuked and punished. Its founders and propagators should be branded as
the weakest or the basest of men. Their names should be had in contempt
or abhorrence. Their writings should be everywhere decried. Their
pictures and statues should fill some chamber of horrors. Historians,
poets, and orators should hold them up to reprobation. Christians should
be kept from places of trus