LEet. 3. Mr. Horzs's Writings. 33

be thought too ſevere a cenſure to ſay, that Mr. Hobbos's ſcheme ſtrikes at the foundation otf all religion, both natural and re- vealed. That it tendech not only to ſubvert the authority of the ſcripture, but to deſtroy God's moral adminiſtration. T hat it confoundeth the natural differences of good and evil, virtue and vice, and taketh away the diſtinction between ſoul and body, and the liberty of human actions. That it deſtroyeth the beſt principles of the human natufe, and inſtead of that innate benevolence and ſocial diſpoſition, which ſhould unite men together, ſuppoſeth all men to be naturally in a ſtate ot war with one another. That it erecteth an abſolute tyranny in the ſtate and church which it confounds, and maketh the will of the prince or governing power the ſole ſtandard of right and wrong; and that it deſtroyeth all the rights of private conſci- ence, and indeed leaveth no room for conſcience at all.

Butnotwithſtanding the ill-tendency of many of Mr. Hobbeg's principles, yet the agreeableneſs of his ſtile, of which he was a great maſter, joined to his dogmatical way of pronouneing with a very deciſive air, and the very oddneſs and apparent no- velty of his notions, gave them a great run for a time, and did no fmall miſchief. He himſelf boaſteth of the good reception his Leviathan met with among many of our gentry: but the mani- fold abſurdities and inconſiſtencies of his ſcheme, and the per- nicious conſequences of it to religion, morality, and the civil government, have been ſo well expoſed, and ſet in a clear Üight, that there are not many of our modern Deiſts that would be thought openly to eſpouſe his ſyſtem in its full extent. And yet it cannot be denied, that there are not a few things in their writings borrowed from his; aud that ſome of them have choſen rather to follow him than Lord Herbert in ſeveral of his principles; and particularly in aſſerting the mate- riality and mortality of the human ſoul, and denying man's free agency.

Mr. Hobbes met with many learned adverſaries; among whom we may particularly reckon Dr. Serh Ward, afterwards biſhop of Saliſbury, and archbiſhop Brambal. The latter argued with great acuteneſs againſt that part of his ſcheme which relates to liberty and neceſſity; and afterwards actacked the whole of his ſyſtem in a piece called the Catching& the Levia- than, publiſhed at London in 1658; in which he undertakes to demonſtrate out of Mr. Hobbes's own works, that no man who is thoroughly an Hobbiſt can be“a good Chriſtian, or a good commonwealch's-man, or reconcile himſelf to himfelf.“ The reverend Mr. Teniſon, afterwards archbiſhop of Canterbury,

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