war, rats of rebellion and anarchy. There are rats of superstition and
idolatry, rats of heresy and infidelity, rats of intemperance and
licentiousness. And it is right to try to kill them off. But we had
better go to work carefully. We cannot put things right in an instant.
And when wicked laws, or vicious principles have received their death
blow, we had better give them time to die in quiet. Haste and impatience
may spoil all.

12. Though unbelief may not always be a sin, it is always a great
calamity. As we have said, its tendency is always to immorality, and
immorality always tends to misery and death. Byron perished in his
prime, and his short life and his untimely death were both unhappy.
Unbelievers are seldom happy in their domestic relations. And in cutting
themselves off from God, they reduce the noblest affections of their
souls to starvation. They have no suitable exercise or gratification for
their natural instinctive gratitude, their reverence, or their love.
They have nothing in which they can securely trust. Even their family
and social affections often decline and die.

Many unbelievers are poor, and infidel poverty is always envious. The
world is a very trying one to unbelievers: hardly anything pleases them;
and nothing pleases them long. Rulers do not please them: they are
despots and tyrants. Their fellow subjects do not please them: they are
cowardly slaves. Their masters do not please them: they are
extortioners. Their men do not please them: they are knaves. The rich do
not please them: they are leeches, caterpillars, cormorants. The poor do
not please them: they are mean, deceitful and dishonest. Religion does
not please them; it is superstition: and philosophy does not please
them; it is a bore and a sham. Priests do not please them; they are
cheats: and the people do not please them; they are dupes. The climates
do not suit them: they are too hot, or too cold; too damp, or too dry;
and the seasons do not please them--they are always uncertain, and
seldom right. The world at large disgusts them: it takes the part of
their enemies. It favors the religious classes, and mocks and tortures
the infidel philosopher. Their bodies are not right; they are always
ailing, and threatening to give way: and their minds are not right; they
are never contented and at rest. There is nothing right in the present;
and there is nothing promising in the future. They think themselves the
wisest people in the world