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Arbitrary

Cred. Pray, Sir, let us have no more of this Decla- Unreafonamation. For if you feriously confider the Cafe, you bleness of · muft needs allow of our Saviour's Determination, that Divorces. Divorce is not to be allowed upon Unagreeableness of Temper. As you have ftated the Cafe, you lay all the Blame on the Woman's Side; but, upon View, there might be as many Women likewife found, who would be as glad of a Divorce, upon Account of intolerable Husbands. And I believe most of your Friends, who complain fo much of this Restraint, by their Lewdnefs and Ill-treatment of their Wives, have brought them to that discontented Humour. 'Tis true, there is frequently a very uncomfortable Living together of fome, in a married State, either through the Fault of Husband or Wife, or both; but why can't these Faults be alte red, without difanulling the Marriage? If a Man, or a Woman, be of an angry, fretful, or pofitive Temper, they must fubdue their Nature, and rectify thefe ill Habits, and bare with one another's Failures, and then they may live as comfortably together, as other People: But as long as they give the Reins to these exorbitant Pasfions, they may divorce and marry, and divorce again, till Doomsday, and live never the more happy for it. But granting, that there are fome married together, of fuch a Difparity of Temper, that they can never live happy; it is better they should fuffer a little, than the World hould be put in Diftraction by a Licence of Divorce, upon Pretence of this. The beft Laws, that are in the World, happen accidentally, fometimes, to lie hard upon fome, and yet fo univerfal is their Benefit, that no reafonable Man would defire the repeal of them, because fome few Men may chance to fuffer by them. Would you be content, that the Nation fhould fuffer all the Miferies which arbitrary Divorces would bring, only to have fome of your Friends rid of crofs Wives? How many wicked Prerences would there be to caft off ho neft and virtuous Wives, when the vitious Husbands had feen fome Body elfe they liked better? Divorces upon some special Reafons, were allow'd to the Jews

but then, as appears by their Rabbies, they were incouraged
by this, to take any Occafion to do it. Maimonides allows.
it a juft Cause for Divorce, That the Wife is not Well-bred,
others, that he does not falt, or dress her Husband's Meat
well, and R. Akiba fays the Caufe is juft, If he can Marry
a Woman handsomer than his Wife, because it is faid, if he does
not find Favour in his Eyes. And if Divorces fhould
once come to be tolerated; fuch fort of Cafuifts as thefe,
would be mightily in Requeft. But put the Cafe home
to your felf: If you had a civil virtuous Daughter, Mar-
ried to a lewd Gentleman, would you be willing, that,
when he had given her all the Provocations imaginable to
provoke her Pailion, by an alienating of his Affection;
and by a Converfation with lewd Women, I fay, would
you be willing after all this, that he fhould have the Power
of branding her with the Name of an untameable Shrew
and turning her Home again. If this was tolerated, it
would bring an unknown Train of Wickedness into
the World, in an Age which is but too wicked alrea-
dy. Husbands would throw off their Wives for their
Waiting-Women; Wives would often leave their anti-
enter Husbands for young fpruce Gallants; the Chil-
dren of the divorced Wife would often be turned out,
with their Mother, or Difinherited of their lawful In-
heritance, to gratify the new Spoufe; Law-Suits would
continually arife among the different Children, for their
Share of the Patrimony, or when they were Young,
would be cruelly abufed by the latter Wife, or by their
Father, who would be influenced by her; and the best
Families, in little time, would be reduced to Beggary,
by Contentions, or a multitude of Children. Now thefe
are fuch miferable Inconveniencies, that a little uncom-
fortable Living with a froward Wife, is much rather to
be chofen, than to be forced to undergo them. There-
fore
you Unbelievers have no Reafon to find Fault with
this Injunction, or Determination of our Blessed Saviour
in this Cafe; but have rather great Reason to admire his
Wifdom, in forbidding a Cuftom, which tends fo much to
the Bane of the Common-wealth, and of all humane So-
ciety.
Phil. Ano-

.Phil. Another Objection, which I have against the doctrinal Part of Chriftianity, is, because it teaches Mecknefs and Humility, which in my Mind, are Qualifications for a Sheep, and not for a lan. Thefe are *Defpondencies of Mind, for a Man's not being fo confiderable as he ought to be; but then he ought to arrive to that Pitch, and not to be creeping in a lower Clafs of Virtue, when he ought to have advanced himself to an higher. And therefore I like Machiavel's Notion very well, who fays the Chriftian Religion is not a proper Religion for a brave Prince, for if it have any Influence upon him, it will infect his Soul with fuch a poor Pufillanimity, as will render him unfit for any great or glorious Actions. Thefe are Virtues unheard of by the Greeks and Romans, who ftudied thefe Matters the beft, #! for their Philofophers read noble Lectures upon Magnanimity, and a Generoufnefs of Soul but never thought of two fuch narrow-fpirited Habits, as Meekness and Humility.

ne's moral

Virtues.

Cred. I very much wonder, you thould go about Humility to undervalue and expofe that modeft and humble Tem- and Meekper of Mind, which our Religion recommends, under the Names of Meekness and Humility; I should think you should rather look upon it, as the great Glory of our Saviour's Inftitution, to recommend a Virtue, which is fo useful to Society, and which yet the most learned Sages of the World have paffed over unregarded, in their Ethicks. The Heathen Philofophers make a mighty Stir, with their Magnanimity, or Bravery of Soul, and yet all this, at the bottom, is nothing but unregenerate Pride. A Man perhaps had enjoy'd the Honour of a confiderable Victory, was born in the famous City of Athens, had ftudied fome Years in the Porch or Academy, had gotten fome Fallacies together, to prove that Nothing could be made out of Nothing, that there could be no Motion, that a wife Man was happy in Pain, or that Virtue was an Animal, &c. and the vain Man was fo elated with one or two of thefe Trifles, that he defpi

fed all the World befides, as barbarous Fools, and an unthinking Mob. Others laid down for themselves fome Principles of Honour which were in Repute with the common People, and they chofe closely to follow thefe, because they found they fhould be applauded for it, and mightily admired. Now this Sort of Pride they gave a good Name to, and ftiled Magnanimity, or Greatnefs of Soul, and made this pass too for another venerable Quality amongst the People, who were fo well managed as to admire the Philofophers the more for their defpifing them. But I wonder you should fo abandon your Reafon, as to find Fault with our Chriftian Humility, and extol this philofophick Pride for a famous Virtue. Do you your felf be Judge; which is the most commendable Quality, for a Man humbly to acknowledge his own Imperfections and Failures, and to own how far he falls short of the Measures of the exacteft Vertue, or arrogantly to pretend that he is arrived to a Pitch of Virtue, by which he is equal to the God's? Is it not more modeft and reafonable, to atrribute the Succefs of our best Actions to the Grace of God; than to afcribe it to, I know not what infallible Rules of Virtue, and to pretend we are a Sort of Gods to our felves? What Reason was there, that thofe old Sages fhould be fo elated upon their natural Stock of Parts, upon the Advantage of their Education, and their philofophick Studies? Is not a Chriftian much the better Man, who tho' he stands poffeffed of thefe Qualifications, does reflect no Glory upon himfelf for them, but humbly confiders, that these are all the Gift of a gracious God, to whom all the Praise of them belongs? There is no way to excufe the Philafophers for their arrogant Contempt of the common People, because they wanted the Education they enjoy'd; and for their refufing them the Knowledge of thofe virtuous Rules, they kept under Lock and Key among themfelves. How much more is the Chriftian Religion to be admired that teaches an Humility, to be kind and obliging to all, and to look upon the whole Race of Mankind, as our Fellow-Creatures and Brethren; to defpife no one's

Imperfections, when we confider our own; to undervalue none for their Wants and Failures, but rather to pity them, and when 'tis in our Power to relieve them; to think no Body fit to be defpifed, that God has given an immortal Soul to, and that we can never be too great to do good to our Fellow-Creatures, who have received all that we have from an infinite God. But if our Religion instead of Humility taught, your Heathen Magnanimity, what a conceited World should we in a little while fee? Tho' Men are daily taught to have as humble and mean Thoughts as they can of themfelves; yet notwithstanding this, many will be meddling with Matters out of their Sphere, and neglect their Profeffion to be menders of Church and State; but if all Men thould once get in their Heads your Notion of philofophick Bravery or Magnanimity, we should have all mean People defpife their Callings, and leave the Fields, and their Shops, to turn Philofophers, Statefmen, and Politicians.

But is it a Fauft to be humble, because Humility is a Spinofa's Sorrow for not having that juft Perfection a Man thould Argument have? If it be a Virtue to defire to be as good as one against Christianity car, it is fome Degree of Virtue to be forry one is no afwered better. But your Philofopher Spinofa miftakes the Matter, when he makes Humility a Sorrow of Mind, for want of that virtuous Perfection we would have: This is properly that Paffion of the Mind, we generally call Emulation. But Humility is quite another Thing, it is a fix'd Temper of Mind, whereby, after a ferious Confideration of humane Imperfection, and the Divine Bounty, we attribute no Giory, to our felves for any thing va uable we poffefs, nor undervalue others for want of them. And if by God's Grace, the whole World was brought to this Chriftian Temper, we should find that Mankind would be more peaceable and good, more kind and caritable, than when they are led by their own Paffions, nay, than if they were all inftructed, by the fwaggering Principle of your Philofophick Magnanimity.

Nor is there any Weight in your Machiavelian Rea- and Mafon; that a good Chriftian can't be a brave Prince, It chiavel's

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