18 A View of tbe DEisTicAL Writers. Let. 257

¹*Fture is to be tried, whereas here they are conſidered only *« collectively; that the moſt ſecret actions, nay, the very «« thoughts of the heart, will be laid open, and ſentence will ** be pronounced accordingly b:“ Where he ſeems to argue, that becauſe individuals are not called to an account, or re- warded and puniſhed here according to their particular merits or demerits, therefore they fhall not be ſo hereafter. Whereas the argument ſeems to hold ſtrongly the other way, ſuppoſing the juſtice of divine providence; that ſince juſtice neceſſarily requires that a regard ſhould be had to men's particular actions, caſes, and circumſtances, and ſince there is not an exact diſtribution of rewards and puniſhments to individuals in this preſent ſtate, according to the perſonal merit or demerit of each individual, therefore there fhall be a future ſtate, in Which this ſhall be done, and the righteouſneſs of providence fhall be fully manifeſted and vindicated. And it cannot but appear a little extraordinary, that this author ſhould make ſuch a mighty parade of his zeal for vindicating the juſtice of divine providence, when according to his ſcheme the juſſice of providence cannot conſiſtently be ſaid to be exerciſed or dif- played, either here or hereatter. 2dly, It is proper farther to obſerve, that what Lord Bo- lingbrobe hath offered with ſo much pomp for vindicating the proceedings of divine providence in the preſent conſtitution of things, hath nothing in it that can be called new, or which had not been faid as well, or better, by Chriſtian divines and philoſophers before him. They have frequently ſhewn, that this preſent world is full of the effects and inſtances of the divine goodnefs: That many of thoſe that are called natural evils are the effects of wiſe general laws, which are beſt upon the whole: That the evils of this life are, for the moſt part, tolerable, and overbaxnced by the bleſſings beſtowed upon us, which, ordinarily ſpeaking, are much ſuperior to thoſe evils: That in the preſent conſtitution, virtue has a manifeſt tendency in the ordinary courſe of things to produce happineſs, and vice miſery; and that this conſtitution is the effect of a wiſe and good providence, from whence it may be concluded, that ihe great Author and Governor of the world approves the one, and diſapproves the other: So that it may be juſtly ſaid in general, that good and virtuous perſons enjoy more true ſatisfaction and happineſs, even in this preſent lite, than the bad and vicious. Divines may ſay much more on tkis head

b Vol. v. p. 404.. Wan